Racewatch
RACEWATCH
Team Kawasaki Still Dominates Superbike Racing; King Kenny Roberts Wins at Laguna, Loses in Europe; Freddie Spencer Loses at Laguna, Wins in Belgium.
ROBERTS AND LAWSON WIN AT LAGUNA SECA
Great rivalry makes great theater and great racing. For several years Ken Roberts has been the star of the Champion Spark Plug 200 at Laguna Seca. It’s been a homecoming parade and a chance for U.S. fans to see the machines with which Roberts competes for the world championship. Some years he wins, some years the bike breaks and somebody else inherits the win. Fun, but not great racing.
For 1982 things wound up differently. It began with Yamaha’s announcement that Roberts would ride this week’s V-Four, with aluminum frame, horizontal rear shock and massive Dunlop slick. The bike would be on its way from the Yamaha think tank to Europe’s Grand Prix wars.
Yamaha and Honda have been fierce, even bitter racing rivals for nearly 20 years. Well, said Honda in effect, if Yamaha is sending their best, so will we. They shipped the newest version of the NS500, the two-stroke Triple aboard which Freddie Spencer won the GP of Belgium the previous week and assigned Spencer to ride it, ably backed by Mike Baldwin on the V-Four Formula One 1000, as seen at Daytona and Steve Wise and Roberto Pietri on cross-frame FI bikes.
Suzuki got into the game with a production RG500 for Randy Mamola and an FI four-stroke for Wes Cooley. Kawasaki’s square Four two-stroke, the KR500, somehow hasn’t been competitive in Europe but Team Kawasaki got one for Eddie Lawson anyway, giving him the choice of the best Superbike or least GP bike, with Wayne Rainey on a pure Superbike running in that class and the FI race.
Saturday’s heat races were a hint. Spencer walked off with his heat, simple as that. Roberts and Lawson got in front and stayed there, with Roberts just barely ahead, then with a cushion, then barely ahead while he pulled wheelies down the corkscrew and up the start-finish straight. Spencer was lapping at least a second faster than Roberts . . . except that later banter between Roberts and Lawson resealed they were having a little fun and that Roberts had at least a second in hand.
So it proved. The 200 began with the two leading American road racers on the two best bikes in the world pulling away from the rest. They diced, they swapped and Roberts eased away, meanwhile doing wheelies on the straight, down the corkscrew’s curving drop and yes, going into Turn Nine. He’d brake hard, downshift, pop the front wheel up, slap it down and slide the corner, all quicker than it takes to tell.
Freak circumstances intervened. There was a grass fire on a hill inside the course and the smoke drifted across the track, so thick the riders couldn’t see and the race was stopped. There was an hour’s delay. Spencer had been slower in the race than in the heat, but he figured the track was cold and he’d run a fresh set of the Michelins that had proved to work. Roberts’ Dunlops were beginning to ball up, a sign they might not last. His crew swapped for a harder compound, gambling on the tires lasting the race while Spencer’s might not.
Spencer got the jump on the re-start and picked up a yard or so each lap. Roberts was no longer playing but still he couldn’t close up and the 40,000 fans got to see how good the best really are. Spencer led by nearly 14 sec. at the end of the first segment, followed by Roberts, Mamola a distant third, John Bettencourt on his self-sponsored TZ750, Dave Aldana on the Vesco/Work Yamaha and Cooley on the four-stroke Suzuki.
The second segment began like the first finished, with Spencer pulling away, Roberts pursuing and the rest falling back. (Lawson and Baldwin both had mechanical troubles and neither was in contention all day, Lawson later crashing without serious injury.)
But on the seventh lap, with both leaders already lapping traffic, Roberts began to catch Spencer and then Spencer dropped out with a cracked cylinder head of all impossible things. Well, the fire took Roberts’ win away, it’s just racing luck to have a freak mechanical problem give it back. It was Roberts’ 30th AMA win.
LAWSON TAKES SUPERBIKE
If Eddie Lawson averaged his terrible Sunday with his triumphant Saturday, he came out even. The defending Superbike champion won the Superbike race the perfect way, leading from flag to flag.
He had help. Freddie Spencer was leading his preliminary heat when just as he took the last-lap flag poof! the engine died in a cloud of smoke. So he began the race on the last row, charged to 9th in one lap and the engine quit again. Mike Baldwin spent the entire race on Lawson’s heels, hoping for the mistake Lawson didn’t make, Steve Wise crashed in his heat then retired with an oil leak, Suzuki teammates Wes Cooley and Dave Aldana raced each other for 3rd and 4th and that was nearly > it, because the others couldn’t keep the leaders in sight.
The guts trophy goes to Wayne Rainey. He grounded his KZ1000 at the corkscrew’s dip, lowsided and slid behind the bike into the haybales. He picked up himself and the bike, kicked it sort-of straight and re-started. He was one lap down but in the midst of Harry Klinzmann, Thad Wolff, and Pietri and he kept up with them until the finish. In the pits he learned that the crash had twisted his forks so much they only had half their travel, which says something about his determination.
O’MARA, BREKER WIN NEW YORK NATIONAL
Honda’s Johnny O’Mara beat the best in the 125cc class and Kawasaki’s Goat Breker bested the 500cc class in New York.
O’Mara and Kawasaki’s Jeff Ward raí? 1-2 all the way in the first 125cc moto. Mark Barnett was left behind after being taken down off the start, worked back up to third, but couldn’t close the gap that O’Mara and Ward produced in their frenzied their dice.
In moto two O’Mara, Ward and Barnett* left the line 1-2-3, with Ward dropping out with a seized engine. Barnett stalked O’Mara, finally using a fast inside line in a sweeper to lead and win. The overall went to O’Mara with Barnett second overall. Barnett holds a 13 point edge on O’Mara in the series points race with three rounds remaining.
Breker came to New York with an ’83 production bike, and showed everyone it worked well with his 1-1 performance. Second overall went to Yamaha’s Mike Bell, who worked his way into the 4-2 slots, despite injuring his still-healing right knee in moto two.
Honda’s Darrell Shultz, who retained the points lead in the 500cc class, was fifth overall. He was second in moto one, but once again injured his bad knee when it was hit by a rock. Suzuki’s Alan King, who consistently places near the front, moved into second in the points standings with his fourth overall day.
JOHNNY O’MARA ANNIHILATES EUROPEAN GP STARS
American Honda’s Johnny O’Mara won both motos of the sixth 125cc Motocross World Champion Grand Prix, in Switzerland. It was O’Mara’s first overseas Grand Prix and he dazzled the Europeans by setting fast time and by being the first rider to fly completely over a tricky stadium-style double jump. Only one other rider, Suzuki’s Eric Geboers, could repeatedly and consistently make the double jump in one leap.
Geboers finished second behind O’Mara in both motos, with Corrado Maddi and his Gilera third.
O’Mara entered the race on a free weekend from his U.S. schedule and won’t compete regularly in Grand Prix racing this year.
SPENCER WINS BELGIAN GP
Fast Freddie Spencer won his first 500cc World Championship road race, taking the lead just before the halfway mark and setting a new lap record in the process of winning by four seconds. Barry Sheene was second, Franco Uncini third, Kenny Roberts fourth and Randy Mamola fifth.
The win was Honda’s first Grand Prix victory in over a decade and Spencer’s riding earned the respect and praise of his competitors.
With seven Grands Prix completed and five to go, Uncini leads the World Championship with 73 points, followed by Roberts (68), Sheene (58) and Spencer (37). Mamola is 10th with 16 points.
BALDWIN, RAINEY WIN AT LOUDON
Mike Baldwin used the exotic Honda FWS V-Four to beat Eddie Lawson and his Kawasaki Superbike at Loudon, winning the 47-lap race by three seconds. The race was actually closer than that, with Lawson leading the first few laps and hanging within one second of Baldwin on the final lap, but a momentary burble from the Kawasaki’s engine brought back memories of running out of gas at Daytona and motivated Lawson to back off for the final lap.
Wayne Rainey was third on another Kawasaki Superbike with Steve Wise fourth and John Bettencourt fifth, first privateer on his own TZ750.
Rainey won the Superbike race with Lawson second and privateer Thad Wolff third.
Lawson had problems with the wrong choice of tires, and Wolff found himself in winner’s circle after Honda’s Steve Wise and Mike Baldwin both crashed. Wes Cooley was fourth, Roberto Pietri fifth.
KLINZMANN WINS IN CLEVELAND
Harry Klinzmann rode his Racecrafters Eddie Lawson Replica Kawasaki to victory in the Wiseco Superbike Invitational, an exhibition race held in conjunction with a CART Indy-car event in Cleveland. Ernie Kicklighter finished sec-
ond on another ELR, with veteran Rich Chambers third on his aging Kawasaki Superbike. Dan Chivington and Dale Richie were fourth and fifth on Hondas, and Vince Hill finished sixth on a Kawasaki.
HANSEN WINS SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Honda’s Donnie Hansen won the 1982 Supercross Championship with a 30point margin after the final event in Los Angeles.
Hansen won double-header races in Michigan’s Pontiac Silverdome, then lost to Suzuki’s Mark Barnett and Honda teammate Johnny O’Mara in Kansas City.
But in the final event in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Yamaha’s Mike Bell won after leading most of the race. Broc Glover was second, David Bailey third.
The predicted battle between Hansen and Barnett, never materialized. Hansen needed only to finish better than Barnett to win the title, which he did. Barnett led early on, but fell in a rough turn at the beginning of the second lap. Barnett restarted last and worked his way back up to eighth, but Hansen paced himself to sixth and the championship, winning a $100,000 bonus from Honda.
RACE WATCH CONTEST WINNERS
Six entrants tied for the win in the Yet Another Race Watch Contest announced in the June issue. It was a tie because the first six correct entries all arrived on the same day. The significance of the photo of David Emde and Jim Filice at Daytona is that both are the same height when Jim stands and David sits, illustrating the huge difference in height and weight. Filice weighs 110 lb. and Emde weighed 193 lb. at Daytona, and both ride TZ250 Yamahas with about 60 horsepower, giving Filice a gigantic power-toweight advantage.
To win, contestants had to not only point out the obvious fact (that Filice standing is as tall as Emde sitting) but also draw the power-to-weight conclusion from that fact. Winning entries came from Roger Hagie, Alan Gingerelli, Bart Muhlfeld and Dave Behrendt of California; Chuck Schneiber of Texas; and Jim Gouwens of Florida.
PFEIFFERS WIN LAS VEGAS 400
Brothers Kent and Scott Pfeiffer powered their Yamaha YZ250J to the overall win in the Las Vegas 400 desert race, The winning pair finished 18 min. ahead of the Open-class Husqvarna of* Scott Harden and Brent Wallingsford.
The Pfeiffers’ liquid-cooled production YZ was fitted with Fox Factory forks and White Brothers monoshock.
BARNETT, CHANDLER WIN MICHIGAN MX
Suzuki’s Mark Barnett and Honda’s Danny Chandler collected 1-1 moto scores in the 125 and 500cc classes, respectively, in the National MX rounds at Red Bud Track ‘N Trail. Heavy rains Friday night turned Red Bud to a quagmire, but sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s dried the top part of the track on Sunday. Low sections of the course remained wet and a one line track was the result.
Barnett, on a RA125 Suzuki works bike, beat Honda’s Johnny O’Mara in moto one. In moto two, Kawasaki’s Jeff Ward, who placed third in moto one, gave Barnett a real challenge. Barnett stayed 10 to 20 yards in front of Ward until the 30-min. mark, when lapped riders slowed Ward and Barnett pulled out a three second cushion. O’Mara was third after falling on lap one. After his perfect day Barnett had out a 21-point series points lead over O’Mara with two rounds remaining.
It was Chandler’s first National win. “Magoo” beat Yamaha’s Mike Bell, on the comeback from a knee injury, and Darrell Shultz in moto one.
In moto two Chandler worked on Suzuki’s Alan King, forcing his way past near mid-race. King, second in the 500cc series points, had a mediocre day after having a flu bug earlier in the week. While King faded, Chandler retained first and Bell and Shultz once again claimed the 2-3 slots.
REVEREND WINS RACEWATCH CONTEST
Reverend Phil J. Vaughn, Minister of Youth and Music for the First Baptist Church of Flat River in Flat River, Missouri won And One More Contest in the June issue by being the first entrant to state that Eddie Lawson is holding the pole position.
Rev. Vaughn won an autographed photo of Lawson and an Eddie Lawson T-shirt.
CROSBY WINS IMOLA 200
New Zealander Graeme Crosby won the I mola 200 on a works OW60 yamaha Square Four, beating reigning 500cc World Champion Marco Lucchinelli and the Honda NS500. Crosby won both 100mi. legs of the race, beating Franco Uncini in one and Lucchinelli in the other.
Best American finish was Jimmy Adamo^ 1,3th on a 750cc version of the Ducati Pantah V-Twin. Non-finishers included Rich Schlachter and Dale Singleton. Gina Bovaird was 18th.
VANCE & HINES WIN FIVE OUT OF EIGHT NMRA DRAG RACES
The team of Byron Hines and Terry Vance won the first four NMRA drag graces of the season, then went into a Pro Stock losing streak.
The year started out with Vance, 28, setting new records in both Pro Stock and Top Fuel on GS1100-based Suzukis built and tuned by Hines, 32.
The NMRA season started at Gainesville, Florida, where Vance turned 8.65 sec. at 151.50 to defeat Superbike Mike Keyte, setting a new Pro Stock E.T. record in the process. In qualifying at Atlanta, Vance set a new Top Fuel E.T. record of 7.17 sec., a full tenth quicker than the 1981 record held by Sam Wills. Vance’s terminal speed was 197.36 mph. The final was delayed by rain for two weeks, but Vance won.
In between qualifying and the final at Atlanta, NMRA returned to Gainesville, where Vance became the first rider to win both Pro Stock and Top Fuel classes at one race. (Both classes are not run at every NMRA event). Vance went 8.70 at 150.00 on his Pro Stocker, again beating Keyte. In Top Fuel, Vance went 7.30 at 194, defeating Frog Thacker.
But in Columbus, Ohio, Vance lost the Pro Stock final to Joe FoIgore‘s Katana. Vance won Top Fuel at Hartford, Connecticut with a terminal speed of 199.11, but was beaten in the first Pro Stock round by Randy Mason. Keyte won the Pro Stock final, beating Folgore.
At Englishtown, New Jersey, Vance lost the Pro Stock race in the final round to
