Cycle News

VOL. 53 ISSUE 29 JULY 26, 2016 P105 1990 race several teams were having trouble with chunking tires during the endurance race held the day before the Formula USA Final. Could Gray's tire hold up under the extreme pressures put on it by the bike's high horsepower, his relatively heavy weight and his blistering pace during the 20-lap dash? At Willow, tires are put to the ultimate test. "This track is tougher on tires than any track in the U.S.," said Dunlop Tire technician Jim Allen. "Even Daytona doesn't put the continued stress on them like Willow does, and we record the high- est tire temperatures seen in the world right here in turn eight." On the other end of the spectrum was the Marl- boro Yamaha TZ250 ridden by Rich Oliver. During practice, Oliver was second fastest, but that was during runs on an open track. The challenge that faced Oliver was being able to keep that fast pace on a track crowded with Superbikes. "The problem is that I really make time by using the advantage of the light weight and handling of my 250 going into turns. If a Superbike is blocking my way I have no way to get around them," Oliver explained. Any doubt that people might have had about Big Papa's superiority was laid to rest by after the heat races. Gray started from the back row, but still won easily. For everybody else, after the heat races it suddenly seemed like it was a race for second place. Gray's fastest lap in the second heat was 1:26.18 versus a 1:28.14 by first heat race winner Barry Burke. The grid was now set for the final. Gray, Burke and Sadowski occupied the front row. On the second row were Kurt Hall and Stevens. Cooley headed up the third row which was rounded out by Curtis Adams and Phil Kress. At the start of the final Gray grabbed the lead but was closely pursued by Stevens and Sad- owski. Hall was in fourth followed by Graves and Cooley. By the fifth lap Gray had a surprisingly small lead (2.5 seconds) over the Stevens/Sad- owski battle. Chuck Graves, the previous year's race winner, moved into fourth five seconds back; then came Burke. Gray became a blue-and-white blur, turning a 1:26.74, the best time in the race. During the middle stages of the race Gray continued to con- solidate his lead, getting as much as a seven- second lead on Stevens and Sadowski. By the halfway mark, Gray had his biggest lead of the day. Stevens continued to hold a tiny lead over Sadowski. Graves was barely holding off Burke in fourth and Mike Smith was putting some distance on Oliver. In the second half of the race the battle be- tween Stevens and Sadowski was heating up and became the center of attention. The two Vance & Hines riders were pushing their bikes through the turns at an unbelievable pace. Watching the duo go through turns eight and nine was amazing, the FZRs running side-by-side with both wheels drift- ing all the way to the edge of the track. The battle was so intense, that the V&H riders were turning 1:27s and closing on Gray. Up front Gray spent the closing laps monitor- ing his lead and preserving his tires. He took the checkered flag and the win 4.6 seconds ahead of Sadowski. It was a sweet victory for Gray, who most people thought was through with racing. Gray was casual about the victory. "I was really riding conservatively out there. I got stuck in some traffic near the end but I knew I had a big enough cushion," he said. The victory over the factory-back Yamaha Superbikes, along with the sheer audacity of Yo- shimura's Big Papa caused the machine to be- come an instant icon. People who were around road racing during that era still talk about the sheer power of Big Papa all these years later. According to one of Big Papa's mechanics Carry Andrew, "The Big Papa project was dis- solved and the parts returned to SB rotation," Andrew said. "The original GSX-R1100 was resurrected in street form, then sold." CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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