Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

,77. tn Point ond Neilson Ritler 5€qri IMES The Ringer to corpoiate sponsorships, today it's lnfineon Raceway, but most racers still call the gnarly road course in Sonoma, Califor- nia, Sears Point. Sears was always a tough venue for the AMA regulars, not only because the tmck was, and remains, one of the most technical circuits on the calendar, it was also full of mov- ing landmines in the form of seriously fast AFM racers who called the track home. The list of Nonhem Califomia aces that showed up the national guys at Sears is long. lt includes riders such as smooth-riding endurance racer-tumed-sprinter, I 988 Supersport winner David Deveau; James Randolph, the 1994 Superstock victor who was known for his insane lean angles (one of the original elbow draggers); and Thomas Montano, a veteran who after l7 years of hon- inE his skills to a razor's edge at Sears, who finally scored an emotional win in Pro Thunder there in I 999. Of all Nor Calspecialiss, the one who scored the sin- gle biggest coup in the history ofthe Sears Point National was the original AFM ringer, Paul Ritter. Ritter didn't just humble the big boys at his home track, he shocked the AMA Superbike regulars with his victory on his Dale Newton Ducati 900SS (which wore the undeniably non-national number 276) at Sears Point in 1977- Ritter didn't take up motorcycling until he was in col- lege at Berkeley in the late 1960s. "l was always a fan," Ritter said. "l read the magazines and loved racing. Then in college lgot a Honda 350 and was hooked. By 1972 lcame upon a Ducati Diana and started trying to road race-" He says trying to race, because his liftle 250cc ltalian four-stroke single was seriously overmatched by the two-stroke Yamahas that ruled the roost in his class. ln wasn't well suited for racing, but he loved to work on the bikes. Ritter and Newton teamed and the pair made a winning combo in AFM club races. By 1977 Newton had pumped up a new 900 Sport to Superbike specs and Ritter went on a tear. win- ning six consecutive times in AFM events leading up to that year's National at Sears Point. "We thought we'd enter the Superbike National to see how we stood aSainst the pros," Ritter recalls. "l had no great expectations. lt was my pro debut. They were looking to fill the grid, so instead of earning the normal qualifications, the AMA allowed me to race on the strength of my AFM experience." Ritter was a little in awe of what he faced when he took to the Brid. At Sears Point in '77, he would be up against the talents of riders such as defending champ Reg Pridmore, having moved from the fa<- toD/ BMWS to the Racecrafters Kawasaki KZl000, Cycle magazine editor Cook Neilson on his Phil Schilling-prepared, Daytona-winning Ducati, Ron Pierce on a Beemer and Steve f'lclaughlin on a Yoshimura Kawasaki. Ritter's first National was nearly over before it started. A liftle overhyped in the qualifying heat race, he overcooked turn two and nearly highsided in the process, Ritter's body flew out of the saddle and he crashed back down on the bike, shaftering the bubble on his fairing upon landing- ''When I came back down it took a second for me to reSain my bearings," Rifter remembers. "The adrenaline did something to me and I suddenly got ve.y fast.'' So fast in fact, that he shaved a second off his personal-best lap time, got into the l:5 I bracket, chased down the leaders and passed Neilson on the linal turn to win the heat. 'Afterward, lhad no idea how lwon that race," he said. 'All I could do was,ust sit there and think how lucky I was to not crash." Ritter thought his nerves were bad before Saturday's heat race. He was even more anxious, even scared, he said, before the start of the flnal. Perhaps the realization that he actually had a shot at winning the race hit him- Another bad start forced Ritter to have to work his way through the field. He eventually made it through and past the Pridmore/Pierce battle, and had only Neilson in front of him. As the laps wound down it didn't look as if Rifter would catch the Daytona winner on the California hot rod, but then he got a break. Neilson's bike developed a clutch problem that slowed him, Ritter closed the gap and with two laps to go made the pass and suddenly broke through to a clear track in front of him. He pulled away from the ailing bike of Neilson's and took the checkered as winner. It marked one of the rarest moments in AMA Superbike history - a rider being victorious in his debut. "l was quite happy," futter deadpans. 'iAll the AFM folks were iumping up and down. The win actually took on mqre importance over the /ears. lEuess as Superbike ra€ing gained in popularity even/thing was magnified," lnspired by their victory Ritter and Newton tackled the entire series the next season. No longer an unknown, Ritter defended his Sears Point victory in 1978, and finished third in the final standings that year. By the end of l97g the Japanese fours had finally found handling to match the ltalian's bike awesome power, and the Ducatis fell from competitiveness for a dozen or so years. Newton Eot out of it and Rifter, with- out a sponsor and mechanic, never seriously pursued the series a8ain. ln 1998 Ritter faced the biggest challenge of his life when, after nearly 20 years away from the sport, he carne back to race a vintage event in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and was caught up in a freak high-speed crash when a rider highsided and landed on top of him. The accident resulted in Riner being paralyzed from midchest down. After a few yea.s of struggle Ritter began to rebuild his life. His disability didn't stop him from experiencing life ro the fullesr- ln many ways Rifter is more active than most. He's ridden motorcycles a8ain, rides a three-wheeled electric mountain bike, enjoys camping and has even become a certified scuba diver. ln 20O4 he married his wife, Dee, a former motocross racer. Ritter now lives in Oregon, work as a software engi- neer, and continues to follow road racing. Ever faithful tq his favorite ltalian brand, he keeps rooting for a Ducati comeback in Superbike. Today local riders still give series regulars fits at lnfineon Raceway, but it will be hard for any of them to ever duplicate the feat that Paul Ritter accomplished at Sears Point on that magical day nearly 30 years ago. Ol IO4 MAY 3I, 2006 . CYCTE Nf W5 BY LARRY LAWnENCE A (D. ) L-,-. rt ./ ,/\ '{ \\ t'. / Poul nifior Ehowld up ot Seors Point in 1977 ond

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