Cycle World Race Watch
CYCLE WORLD RACE WATCH
Camel Pro Goes West
If the western swing of the Camel Pro/AMA National Championship is a forecast, this year's series will be fast and close.
The Ascot TT went to Alex Jorgensen, who came from behind in his heat race to make the main event, then came from behind again to take the lead half way through.
Jorgensen rode a Can-Am, as did second place Steve Eklund. Defending AMA champ Ricky Graham was third, followed by Randy Goss, both on Harley XR750s.
Traditionally the season’s real racing begins at the Sacramento Mile. Sure enough, Graham and all time AMA winner Jay Springsteen put on a fantastic duel, with 28 lead changes in 24 laps. Close behind was another two-man battle, Bubba Shobert vs. Goss.
Four laps from the end Graham’s engine began smoking. AMA officials conferred and at the start of the 25th and final lap, for the first time in anyone’s memory, they put out the white flag for Springsteen and the black flag for Graham.
It looked like Springsteen for sure. But going into the third turn, Springer saw a front wheel and some redwhite-black leathers. Why is Ricky passing? Springsteen wondered. He’s out of the race.
Except that it was Shobert, whose leathers are the same color as Graham's and who had remembered what Springer forgot, that is, the race ain't over 'til the man waves the flag. The finish was Shobert, Springsteen, Goss and Terry Poovey, who finally made Honda’s CX500-based miler look competitive. Graham was credited with 12th, but is appealing the disqualification.
The lesson was obvious, so at the Ascot half mile Springsteen didn’t look back. Nor did he need to. It was a fast, sticky track and Springer waltzed away from the field. Next home was the rest of the Harley team, with Randy Goss in second and Scott Parker third. Defending No. 1 Graham was sixth, Pete Harnes, near-sure bet for 1983’s top rookie was 7th and the canny Shobert didn't have the combination and came in 10th.
The San Jose double, mile and short track, was delayed by rain. The circus trooped back to Springfield, 111. The Springfield Mile once was The Mile, in fact before the current rules were adopted the Springfield winner was declared national champion.
Could be. Graham scored his first win of the year while Springsteen, the other half of the duel, suffered a broken pushrod in his heat race. Graham had a comfortable lead while Randy Goss battled for second with Hank Scott on the Honda RS750. Goss was one foot in front when it counted, at the flag. The other guys were in the dust, well, they all were in the dust. Seems the track crew with water and chemicals had gone home. The racers later said they'd had to stand up on the straights so they’d know where the next turn was.
Back to San Jose, where it had stopped raining and wasn't dusty, either. The short track looked awfully big, and is big enough for jalopy stocks on other occasions. A power track.
Too bad Alex Jorgensen doesn't compete on the full series. Can-Am mounted, he won his heat and the final. Close behind was Shobert, making good use of the Kawasaki he bought when that factory retired from flat track. Third was Terry Poovey on the motocrossfathered Honda.
Springsteen's old Aermacchifathered Harley blew up while he and Mickey Fay were tied in their heat, and Graham's similar Harley was good only for 10th. Fay won his heat and went on to 6th in the final, just behind the consistant Goss.
On Sunday, on a classically fast mile, Ricky and Jay did their twosome again, swapping the lead some 30 times. For 24 laps it was Jay slipstreaming and passing Ricky down the back straight, Ricky doing the same to Jay on the front straight.
On the last lap Springer got on the gas a fraction too early, lost that vital few feet and was second by that much. Shobert was third, ready for another Sacramento except it didn’t happen. Scott Parker was fastest qualifier but had to make the main event by getting second in a semi, then worked his way into fourth in the national. Jorgensen was 5th and Goss distracted by the birth of his first child the night before? was 6th.
As the Camel Caravan heads into the midwest and east, Goss leads the points race, followed by Graham, Shobert, Jorgensen, Parker, Springsteen and Poovey. There's more racing to come, and they all have a chance. Don't miss it.
Barnett leads Wrangler Super Series
Suzuki’s Mark Barnett led the Wrangler Super Series halfway through the complicated series, which combines points earned in outdoor and stadium motocross to determine a single overall U.S. champion plus an individual champion for each of three outdoor displacement classes.
In Barnett’s case, he combined points from the 125cc outdoor class with points earned in the stadium races to lead Honda’s Bob Hannah (250cc outdoor and stadium), 402 to 390, after 14 of the 28 races.
Both Barnett and Hannah won at the first outdoor race, in axle-deep mud at Hangtown in California. Barnett took both 125cc motos (with Jeff Ward second twice and Johnny O’Mara third twice). Hanna won both 250 motos (with Yamaha’s Rick Johnson second with 3-2 moto finishes and Honda’s David Bailey third at 2-3). Honda’s Danny Chandler topped the Open class with 1-2 finishes despite three crashes in the first moto. Kawasaki’s Kent Howerton was second with 33 and Honda’s Goat Breker Hannah won again outdoors at Saddleback, 1-1, with Johnson second with 2-2 and Bailey third at 3-3, ^Hannah ahead by 26 sec. in the first moto and 46 sec. in the second. Honda’s O’Mara topped the 125cc class 1-2 ahead of Ward (3-1 ),
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third with 2-5.
Yamaha’s Ron Lechien (2-4) and Barnett (4-3). Yamaha's Broc Glover was first in the KJpen class ( 1-2) followed by Howerton (4-3) and Honda’s Phil Larson (3-4). Breker and Chandler were both disqualified, Breker for receiving outside assistance in a restart and Chandler for aiding backwards on the course after crashing.
Back indoors for the Dallas Supercross, Yamaha's Mike Bell won on a hard, slick track, beating Hannah, Lechien and Ward.
It was back to three classes for the next round, outdoors in Florida, Barnett got 125cc (2-1, ahead of O'Mara’s 1-2 and Ward’s 3-3); Bailey won 250cc in Hannah's absence with a strong variety of flu called “Honda Plague” in the pits, Bailey going 2-5 to beat Johnson’s 7-2, Billy Liles’ 131 and Bell's 4-6. Howerton was fastest on the Open bikes, 1-1 ahead of Allan King (Suzuki, 5-2) and Larson (34).
The next three were all Supercrosses in stadiums, two-in-a-row in the Pontiac, Mich. Superdome and one in Kansas City. Hannah won the first night at Pontiac despite his continuing illness, with Bailey second, and Barnett third. Barnett won the next night, with Bell second, Glover third and Hannah fourth and sick.
Barnett won again in Kansas City, beating O’Mara, Ward and Bailey. Hannah was eighth after getting stuffed and leaving Turn 1 dead last.
Nobody can say it hasn't been an exciting series. But it’s also confusing.
Hannah is a tremendous talent. And a natural showman. And the crowd favorite. Atop all that his favorite technique is to tell everybody within range just how' much better he and his Honda are than the other guys and their Suzukis, Yamahas, Kawasakis, Maicos, etc.
However, because Barnett and his Suzuki have done better in the 1 25 class than Hannah and Honda have done in 250, the softspoken, controlled rider leads the flamboyant flyer.
On the other hand, in the stadium races, where the two compete directly, the score is Hannah 5, Barnett 4.
The track is always smoother...
And now, for road racers worried about deteriorating tracks, we present this photo from the 1972 Mukkulan TT in Finland. It seems that Pekka Ahonen (5) had a TR2 Yamaha 250 road racer and wished to campaign it. But there were no road racing tracks or road races in Finland. So Ahonen entered his TR2 in the Mukkulan J 1 and is shown here leading Kari Karvus (14) and eventual winner Pekka Välinoro (2) on a Bultaco. Ahonen finished second. Careful observers will note the roostertails of dirt flying from both wheels of Ahonen’s bike.
When not racing his Yamaha over dirt and rocks, Ahonen tuned road racers for Teppi Lansivuori.
Willow Springs honored for safety improvements
Bruce Hammer of the Jon Woo Memorial Safety Project presented Bill Huth of Willow Springs Raceway with an award for excellence in racetrack safety. “We were knocking our heads against a wall trying to get a couple of racetracks to make a few changes,” said Hammer, “and meanwhile Bill Huth, the owner of Willow Springs, was making improvements to his track without even being asked to. Willow Springs now has the best run-off of any track in the U.S. and when motorcycle racers crash they have a very good chance of sliding to a halt without injury, since there are no barriers to hit.”
On hand for the award presentation was Jerri Woo, widow of Jon Woo. Hammer founded the Jon Woo Memorial Safety Project last year following Woo’s death at Laguna Seca and his own paralysis from a crash at Elkhart Lake.
Roberts wins West German Grand Prix
Kenny Roberts won the fourth round in the 12-race 500cc road racing World Championship, in West Germany, using his Yamaha V-Four to beat Takazumi Katayama, Marco Lucchinelli and Freddie Spencer of Team Honda.
Spencer qualified fastest, turning a lap in 2 min. 8.66 sec. with Roberts second fastest at 2:10.25 and Eddie Lawson third at 2:10.45.
Spencer had a 3-sec. lead and was pulling away at 0.5 sec. per lap when an expansion chamber on his V-Three Honda broke on the fourth lap.
Spencer finished fourth in the rainshortened race, which ran 15 of the scheduled 19 laps.
Honda’s Takazumi Katayama was second, Luchinelli third and reigning World Champion Franco Uncini (Suzuki) fifth. Marc Fontan (Yamaha) was sixth, Raymond Roche (Honda) seventh, Randy Mamola (Suzuki) eighth, Lawson ninth (after a poor start) and Boet Van Duimen 10th.
Spencer wins in Spain; Roberts strikes back in Austria
Freddie Spencer won the Spanish Grand Prix by half a second after a wheel-to-wheel race to the finish against Kenny Roberts. But Roberts kept alive his 500cc Road Racing World Championship title hopes by winning in Austria.
The three-cylinder Hondas of Spencer and Ron Haslam both led in Spain, first Haslam, then Spencer, until Roberts and his V-Four Yamaha took over first place. Spencer was right on Roberts’ tail, however, and the side-byside battle ended with Spencer a tick of the clock ahead. Takazumi Katayama was third on another Honda, with Suzuki teammates Randy Mamola and Franco Uncini fourth and fifth. Yamaha’s Eddie Lawson was sixth. Haslam crashed.
In Austria the Yamahas of Roberts and Lawson had the àdvantage, the Salzburgring track featuring long straights and fast, sweeping turns instead of Spain’s tighter sections. Roberts was a full second faster in qualifying and jumped out into the lead. Spencer and Haslam had their hands full trying to keep up and both broke crankshafts. The finish was allAmerican, Roberts first, Lawson second, Mamola third, followed by Katayama, Uncini and Yamaha’s Marc Fontan.
After Austria, Spencer led Roberts 68 to 62 in the points standings. Si
