Race Watch
RACE WATCH
DEPARTMENTS
Honda Announces Road Race Team; Eagan Gets Moriwaki Ride; Karsmakers Wins 4-Stroke MX
HONDA GOES RACING
American Honda Motor Co. has signed Ron Pierce, Steve McLaughlin and Fast Freddie Spencer to race Superbike Production and Winston Pro Series national road races. The trio will ride Superbikes based on CB750F Hondas and 1025cc four-stroke GP bikes specially built by Honda Racing Service Center (RSC) in Japan.
Honda’s big-money offer headed off Pierce’s initial plans to race Moriwaki Kawasakis in 1980.
KARSMAKERS THUMPS TO FOUR-STROKE NATIONAL VICTORY
In his only race appearance in America all year. Team Yamaha development and test rider Pierre Karsmakers won the Open Pro class of the 5th Annual AMA FourStroke National Championship held at Carlsbad Raceway. Riding a 600cc Pro-Tec Yamaha built and owned by friend Ken Combs, the 1973 AMA 500cc National Motocross champion had his work cut out for him in both motos of the Knobby Shop International-promoted and Motocross Nutrition-sponsored event.
The choppy and hilly Carlsbad course turned into a wild battlefield in the first moto as Karsmakers fought for the lead with Jeff Jennings, Rex Staten, Danny Turner and previous Four-Stroke National champ, Marty Moates. After a few laps Jennings began stretching out a large lead with his Franks Racing Products modified 500cc Honda, but a bailofif turned the lead back over to Karsmakers, pursued by Staten. Jennings remounted and charged back up from the rear of the pack, passing Moates on the Knobby Shop 450cc Honda for third place and closing on the lead again when a flat tire put him back to sixth. Karsmakers held off Staten’s ultra trick Pro-Tec 600cc Yamaha to win the moto followed by Moates, Turner and Tim Lunde.
Jennings was out for revenge in the second moto after his flat tire episode, bashing his way through first lap leaders Staten, Moates and Karsmakers to pull away by a huge gap, holding it all the way to the finish. Moates lost out in a handlebar bending bash with Staten at the bottom of the big Carlsbad downhill when Staten clipped his front wheel and sent Moates cartwheeling through the fence and out of the race. Then Karsmakers closed on Staten for second in an all-out attempt to keep his Yamaha factory teammate from garnering the overall win. The two riders bounced off one another for seven laps before Karsmakers finally pulled out a short lead. When Staten overrevved and blew his motor in an attempt to pull back the lost distance, Karsmakers’ overall win was assured.
Jim Gianatsis
MORIWAKI GOES FOR UNKNOWNS
Mamoru Moriwaki has decided to bring his potent Kawasaki Superbike Production and 1025cc GP machines to America, but has signed three relatively unknown riders after losing Ron Pierce to Honda.
Best known of the Moriwaki pilots is Eddie Lawson, who will ride a Moriwaki GP Kawasaki in at least the Daytona 200, as well as a Superbike prepared by Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S. Lawson will be joined in the 200 by Masaaki Tokuno on another Moriwaki machine.
Moriwaki entries in the Superbike production class will be Tokuno and CW contributor Pat Eagan.
VANCE AND HINES ON THEIR OWN
Pro stock star Terry Vance and engine wizard Byron Hines have left R.C. Engineering to form their own company.
The new' name is VHR (for Vance and Hines Racing). Vance and Hines have a two-year contract with U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp., and will campaign GS1100 and GSlOOOs now being built. VHR will also manufacture and sell high-performance parts, for street, road and dragstrip use, for the Suzuki Fours, and they’ll offer specialized competition work, for instance, head porting and racing engine assembly for all brands. The new shop is located at 14010 Marquardt Ave., Santa Fe Springs, Calif. 90670, (213) 921-7461.
TRIPLE CROWN OF SUPERCROSS TO HOWERTON
Team Suzuki’s Kent “Rhinestone Cowboy” Howerton of Texas clinched the Triple Crow n of Supercross with a bang by taking first in the Anaheim Motocross Finals. It was the last major race of the 1979 season in what was a very successful year for Howerton, marked by his 2nd overall in the AMA 250cc National Championship behind Team Yamaha’s Bob Hannah and then winning of the fall’s Trans-USA Series.
Howerton’s victory at Anaheim Stadium came before a sell-out crowd of almost 50.000 people. The feature moto of the evening saw Howerton getting off the line in seventh place behind Warren Reid, Gary Semics, Jim Weinert, Donnie Hansen, Scott Gillman and Steve Wise. From that position Howerton steadily charged his way forward to pass leader Reid on lap 18 of the 20 lap race. Still holding on to second place, Reid was making it his last race with Team Honda as he plans to move to Team Kawasaki for 1980. The bike he was forced to ride was a production CR Honda practice bike since Team Honda refused to allow him a works bike and mechanic for the last race because he was switching teams.
Other than Howerton’s exciting ride to victory, the most noteworthy event of the evening was Honda’s unveiling of the new RC 250 Pro-Link watercooled bikes in the hands of Steve Wise and new team rider Chuck Sun. The exotic machines featured a single rear shock suspension similar to Kawasaki’s Uni-Trak, but with the shock and leverage system inverted to Kawasaki's. The bikes looked competitive with Wise finishing fourth for the evening and could signal a high technology race
between the major factory teams for next season. Watching from the sidelines at Anaheim was Yamaha's Bob Hannah, nearly recovered from his broken leg and walking about with the cast now removed. Hannah had clinched the Supercross Series Championship for 1979 earlier in the year, making it his third straight win of the title. The Triple Crown which went to Howerton included Anaheim, Atlanta and Los Angeles events within the Supercross Series, helping to add interest which the Series might have lost without Champ Hannah present.
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—Jim Gianatsis
MORIWAKI TO RENT RACEBIKES FOR SUZUKA
Mamoru Moriwaki will make rent-aracers available to foreign riders wishing to compete in the 1980 Suzuka International Eight-Hours Endurance Race, scheduled for August. The machines available for rent will be Kawasakis similar to the one ridden by Graeme Crosby in Formula 1 and endurance events in 1979. The deal will include services and support.
In addition, the Suzuka Circuit Hotel will provide one week’s free lodging to foreign riders entering the event. For additional information write to Moriwaki Engineering, 6477-1 Minami-Tamagaki, Suzuka-City, Mie-Ken, Japan 513.
