Laguna Seca Formula 750 Road Race
Laguna Seca Formula 750 Road Race
Kent Peterson
Professor Roberts, Ph.D.,R.R., gives lessons while the racing returns to Formula 750
Rich Schlachter sat atop a case of oil in the back of the Kawasaki truck (his Superbike sponsors), soaking up the shade and large quantities of orange juice between heats of the Champion Spark Plug 200 F750 race at Laguna Seca. When asked about his second-place performance in the first 100 kilometer heat, he replied, “Boy, I just received one hell of a lesson in riding fast!” His teacher, of course, was Kenny Roberts, the man who, if such a thing were available, would surely hold a Ph.D. in motorcycle road racing. Unfortunately for his pupils, KR’s lessons are taught under a great deal of pressure, special help is almost non-existent, and the time allotted for active student participation and observation is brief.
Schlachter was lucky on this occasion because for 28 laps of the 33-lap heat he and Roberts, along with Skip Aksland, jockeyed for the lead—changing positions sometimes six times a lap. Queried again as to what the most significant thing he learned was, Schlachter said succinctly, “Use less brakes and more gas!” To Rich, who is known on the East Coast as the “king of the late brakers,” this meant a large-scale change in riding tactics. “I now realize that the brakes are only there to slow you down. It’s more important to be on the gas as soon as possible, getting the hard drive out of the corners.”
Aksland’s motor began to lose power on lap 25. It finally threw a rod on the last lap, necessitating a push across the finish line and relegating Skipper to 14th place. Schlachter continued to shadow Roberts until lap 28 when KR used his ability in traffic and a 1:08.25 lap to break away, winning the heat by a three second margin. Asked by Roxy Rockwood between heats how hard he’d had to ride, Roberts said “about 90 percent” and that except for a faulty kill switch which was shorting out (he’d ripped away the wire) and fading front brakes (he’d forgotten that the 750 was some 80 lb. heavier than his 500), everything went okay. Schlachter had been hampered by a gas tank vent line which had come adrift, spraying premix on his windscreen and forcing him to raise his head above the bubble in order to see. Other than that he was pumped for heat two.
Gene Romero looked as though he was going to do well in the first heat, making his customary lightning start from the outside of the front row and leading Roberts, Patrick Pons, Raymond Roche, Schlachter, Randy Mamola, Aksland, David Aldana and Mike Cone past the line on lap one. He held the lead until lap five when a throttle cable jammed open and he pitted, leaving Schlachter, Roberts, Aksland and Pons in a group at the front. Romero’s crew replaced the cables and he returned on lap 27, circulating at a high rate of knots and giving notice of his intentions for the second heat.
Patrick Pons, the F750 points leader, had been on the pole for heat one, thanks to the annual Laguna Seca timing and/or scoring foul-up. This year it took the form of wildly optimistic qualifying times handed out on a roughly equal basis. Since those whose positions were enhanced weren’t complaining and those who felt they’d been jobbed were in the minority, the FIM jury decided to let the times stand—Pons’ 1:08.046 went into the record books. He did justify his starting position, hanging onto the leading trio until his tank vent also began to leak, covering his helmet visor with gas, and he began to drop back. Aldana got by him on lap 22 and Mamola passed him on the last lap, leaving Pons in fifth place following Aksland’s demise.
Aldana and Mamola had a good duel going until lap 15 when David got away.
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He continued to charge, winding up 4 sec. behind Schlachter. Mamola, fresh from his second place in the Finnish 500 GP, was riding a borrowed bike, as was Dale Singleton. Both had left the A-team machinery in Europe and both were missing the horsepower. Randy, who had unloaded heavily in practice, said he was “riding as hard as I know how” but just couldn’t stay with the leaders. Singleton also found it frustrating to be blocked by slower riders on the corner exits and then have them motor away on the straight. Nonetheless he maintained a heat-long dice with Swiss rider Michel Frutschi until lap 28 when Frutschi pulled away and left Dale in seventh place. Behind Singleton were Roche, a very on-form Kevin Stafford, and Ron Pierce.
Between heats activity was based as one would expect on the first heat performances. The front-running bikes received a thorough inspection and in most cases new rear rubber. Roberts’ bike was also given a new kill switch. Most needed repairs were of a minor nature, but Mike Cone was back inside his motor in a deja vu reenactment of his Sears Point performance. Once again through heroic effort he managed to be ready in time only to have a crank let go in heat two—yet another long, quiet ride back to Texas. Ron Pierce, whose Yamaha Motor Canada bike didn’t even arrive until Sunday morning due to a transporter breakdown, was changing gearing, suspension and tires in an attempt to find the right combination. Even Bob Work and factory machinery can’t compensate for lack of track time. The brothers Aksland would be spectators for heat two.
Heat two at Laguna should go a long way toward silencing the people who say that 750 racing is boring. The bike brand name may have been monotonous, but the riding wasn’t. Rich Schlachter grabbed a three bike-length lead over the start-finish hill and led an unruly pack consisting of Mamola, Aldana, the still inspired Stafford, Pons, Roberts, Roche, Harry Klinzmann and Frutschi on lap one. For the next five laps the leader remained the same but the rest were in a constant state of change. Roberts dropped back to 10th briefly as his new kill switch also began malfunctioning, but after tearing the wire away once more, he quickly reeled in the leaders. The teeming mass had been joined by Singleton and
a listing of the position changes would require more space than this article allows. By lap four another newcomer joined the fray—Gene Romero. Tiger Gene had fire in his eyes as he started the second heat from last position. He passed 17 riders on the first lap and worked his way up to seventh place by lap four. As Roberts said after the race, “You always know when Gene’s going for it—he comes out of the hairpin with his elbows straight out.” On lap 11 the elbows really straightened out as he passed Roberts and Aldana in a move that brought the corner nine crowd to its feet. Aldana was literally leaning against Roberts’ leg as they rounded the 100 mph righthand corner eight, with Romero just behind. Aldana drifted out to the left, leaving barely enough space for Romero to brush past both riders into corner nine. Gene left his braking so late the bike fishtailed into the corner, then he gassed it so hard coming out that he almost lost it again. Then he looked back at Roberts and gave him a come-on wave! Roberts in turn looked back at Aldana and just shook his head.
Romero’s lead was short-lived, however, as on lap 14 Roberts repassed and again using his expertise in traffic pulled out a comfortable lead, entertaining the crowd with huge wheelies for the last 10 laps. Schlachter, who had led the first six laps, had learned another lesson. He hadn’t changed his rear tire between heats and now it began to get slippery. After several lurid slides he decided to ease off and finish on the pavement. His second overall was assured when Aldana overshot the hairpin on lap 16 and lost about 10 seconds before rejoining.
Patrick Pons threw away his chance to> solidify his F750 points situation when he used too much rear brake entering the corkscrew and crashed. Fortunately, only Pons’ pride and the bike suffered. Mamola also had an excellent performance go for naught when his clutch cable snapped on lap 16. Frutschi passed Schlachter on lap 21, finishing third about 5 sec. behind Romero and fourth overall. Aldana came in fifth, followed by Frenchmen Roche and Marc Fontan. Singleton was eighth after a long struggle with Pierce, John Bettencourt, Klinzmann and Stafford.
As Kenny Roberts lifted the front wheel of his bike out of turn nine and set it down again at the start-finish line in a 747-like puff of smoke his brief U.S. tour ended. Two races and two masterful victories. School is out for another year. E3
