Racewatch
RACEWATCH
Drag Racing's Fast Seca; Where the Big Races Are; Schlachter's Hard Year
WORTH AND YEAGER PROVE SHAFT CAN FLY
Riding Ray Worth’s Yamaha Seca 750, Joe Yeager, 32, of Belton, Missouri entered six NMRA Super Modified races and won five, setting new E.T. and mph records at four events. The single race Yeager didn’t win was rained out.
The Super Modified class is virtually identical to Pro Stock but has a 760cc displacement limit. In some circles it is referred to as Junior Pro Stock, or 750cc Pro Stock.
In the course of the 1982 season, Yeager won the class championship and lowered the class record from 10.46 to 10.03 sec. and 132.74 mph. The rest of the Super Modified field is running about 0.4 sec. behind in E.T. Even though the Seca already must carry more weight than competing Suzukis and Kawasakis with two valves per cylinder, NMRA officials are besieged with demands that Worth’s Yamaha be slowed down. The bike was completely disassembled at one race and found to be legal.
The bike displaces 748cc with stock bore and stroke, running Wiseco pistons and VHR cams, valve train and cylinder head porting. It is equipped with 31mm Keihin CR carburetors, an MRE air shifter, a VHR modified transmission, Kosman chassis parts and the stock Seca 750 driveshaft with modified final gearing prepared for the bike by Yamaha.
Yeager and Worth have been a rider/ tuner team since 1975. When not racing, Yeager operates a motorcycle chrome shop. Worth owns two motorcycle dealerships in Belton, a Harley-Davidson shop and a combined Yamaha/Suzuki store.
SCHLACHTER’S HARD YEAR
CCI thought you would be the one evI eryone had to beat this year,” reigning 250cc Road Racing World Champion Anton Mang told Rich Schlachter in West Germany. “But you had such a bad year.”
For Schlachter, 30, of Old Lyme, Connecticut, things didn’t work out in 1982.
Schlachter’s arch-rival (on-track) and good friend (off-track) Martin Wimmer of West Germany won his first Grand Prix and visited the winner’s circle several times in 1982, but the man he raced at grand prix after grand prix in 1981 Schlachter—could manage no better than a best finish of 10th place.
The problems started when Schlachter signed to ride a Rotax-engined Waddon for a two-race trial period, and promptly broke his right wrist when the front wheel washed out in an international race in England. Schlachter attributed that crash to a problem with weight distribution and size and shape of the gas tank, all of which kept him from putting enough weight on the front wheel in fast turns.
Just when Schlachter’s wrist had healed, he crashed the Waddon again in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix—a mechanic forgot to tighten and safetywire the transmission oil drain plug, which fell out and lubed the rear tire. That fall inflamed his wrist and Schlachter couldn’t work the throttle and brakes.
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The Waddon deal fell apart soon after. Waddon wanted Schlachter to take two bikes and pay his own expenses, while developing the machines. Schlachter figured he should be paid to develop the motorcycle, since the company planned to sell replicas of the machine.
Finally Schlachter and mentor/sponsor Bob MacLean decided it would be, best to go back to the Yamaha TZ250 that carried Schlachter to success in 1981. But after his wrist healed, Schlachter found that his bike, which was competitive in 1981, was out of the hunt in 1982.
The problem came from a works parts kit—including different pistons, cylinder heads, pipes and electronically-controlled power valves—sold by the Yamaha factory to Yamaha distributors. Wimmer and others had the kit. Schlachter could only get the kit through Yamaha Motors Corp., U.S., but the company had already committed to its 1982 budget and wouldn’t order the parts.
Despite the troubles, Schlachter’s effort in Europe showed some improvements, notably a switch from a Ford Transit mini-van to a 24-foot Winnebago with attached garage tent. And Susan Schlachter accompanied her husband for the first time.
Schlachter would like to return to Europe in 1983, riding in 250cc Grands Prix and selected internationals. But there’s also a chance that he may stay in the U.S. and race Superbikes or Formula One if the right deal comes along.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACING
T he following events were on the FIM World Championship Road Racing calen dar at presstime:
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ENDURANCE RACING
he 1983 World Championship Endurance Road Racing Calendar follows:
1983 CAMEL PRO SERIES
A t presstime the 1983 Camel Pro Se ries schedule was as follows. (Be fore setting out to attend any event, first call the American Motorcyclist Assn. (AMA) to verify that the event has not been cancelled or postponed. The AMA's number is (614) 891-2425.)
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MOTOCROSS
T he 1983 FIM World Championship Motocross Calendar follows:
ADVICE TO ASPIRING MOTOCROSSERS
We asked Suzuki’s Mark Barnet? (former Supercross and threetime I25cc National Champion), Yamaha’s Mike Bell (former Supercross Champion) and Suzuki’s Kent Howerton (former 250cc and 500cc National and Trans-USA Champion) what advice they’d offer an eight-year-old with eye$ on a career in racing.
“Start out by riding around for fun,” said Barnett. “Just keep riding for fum until you feel like racing. Ride, ride, ride, that’s all there is to it. Don’t even worry about training until you get serious. Training at eight or 10 years old i$r ridiculous.”
“When you start out, you don’t really know if you want to be a racer or not,”-« said Howerton. “That doesn’t come until later. Just go with whatever feels natural. If you get out there and really like to race, go for it. Just don’t force yourself tQ| do anything you don’t want to do.” “Stock machinery is fine,” Bell told us. “I practice on all stock equipments Take your time, don’t push beyond your limits. You have to push a bit to find those limits, but not to the point of injuring yourself a lot. Use common sense.” All three offered advice to the parents of young racers. “The worst thing i¿ when a dad yells at his kid,” said Howerton. “Yelling is negative input. You shouldn’t have to worry about yell-, ing until you get paid for racing.”
“Dads should never push the kid,” adds Barnett. “If he’s a winner he’ll do it by himself. Guide them, but don’t push. My dad used to talk the race over withr me, but he’d never lose his cool. If you take the fun out of it at an early age, the kid will never go the distance.”
“My dad gave me a lot of pointers,” remembered Bell, “but he was never standing there telling me what to do. If I did poorly he would ask me if I knew what I did wrong, and if I learned my lesson there was no harping on it. He never told me I blew it, or that it was my fault.
“It’s all pretty much self motivation,” continued Bell, “and that’s very important. You're out there all by yourselD You have to push yourself, like any other athlete, and nobody can do it for you.”
Tom Mueller
CLINE WINS RACEWATCH CONTEST
Joe Cline of Sharon, Pennsylvania won Yes, Another Racewatch Con test (December, 1982 Cycle World, page 81) by being the first reader to correctly name the rider, machine and track shown in the contest photo. The rider is new 500cc World Champion France Uncini, the machine is a Suzuki Katana, and the track is Silverstone in England. Cline wins a Suzuki jacket.
Incorrect rider guesses included Steve Anderson, Kork Ballington, Kerry Bry ant, Russ Collins, Wes Cooley, Peter Egan, Allan Girdler, Tracy Grieger, Ron Griewe, Steve Kimball, Ken Lee, Randy Mamola, Henry N. Manney III, Hans Muth, Marcel Proust*, Doug Spencer and John Ulrich. Incorrect racetrack guesses included Daytona, Laguna Seca, Riverside, Sears Point, Willow Springs and the Suzuki test track near Hammamatsu, Japan.
*Obviously a wild guess. FIM records. show Proust's racing career was limited to motocross and trials.
HEAVYWEIGHT COWBOY WINS WERA ENDURANCE CROWN
R ay Dysle, 27, of North Canton, Ohio led his Team Cowboy endur ance road racing effort to the WERA Endurance Championship. Appropri ately enough, Dysle, who weighed 276 lb. at the end of the season, ran in the Heavyweight Superbike class. His bike, a 1002cc CB900F Honda equipped with Ontario Moto Tech pistons, cams, valve springs, exhaust system; Carrillo rods: and 31mm CR carburetors, covered 8697 mi. in 11 endurance races, includ ing three 24-hour events. .
Consistently finishing in top positions gave Team Cowboy the title rather than a string of wins—the team won only two of 11 events, but finished second and third several times. During the year the team decided not to tear down their bike’s engine as long as it ran well and didn’t use oil. Since the bike ran well all season, the head wasn’t removed until after the final event. The parts were all in good shape after 8697 mi., although Ontario Moto Tech’s Kaz Yoshima recommends tear downs and inspections every^ 2000 racing miles.
During the year Dysle teamed with Todd Reynolds and Ed Key, with Bob Leasure serving as pit crew.
THE OTHER GUY TO WIN B.O.T.T.
Jimmy Adamo and his Reno Leoniprepared Ducati won every Battle of the Twins AMA road race they entered, except one, at Seattle, where the bike broke. That race was won by John Williams, 23, of Emeryville, Calif., who finished second to Adamo at Sears Point.
Williams is the first black to reach victory circle on an AMA-sanctioned national professional road racing series. The Ducati he rode at Sears and Seattle (his only two B.O.T.T. rides) was prepared by Dale Newton.
CALIFORNIA SUPERBIKE SCHOOL EXPANDS
Keith Code’s California Superbike School is bringing its fleet of GPz550 Kawasakis to more racetracks in 1983, including Mid Ohio, Road ' America, Loudon, Pocono, Brainerd, Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Willow and Riverside. Other tracks may be added throughout the year. The school provides riders with helmets, leathers, boots, gloves, instruction and GPz550s for track time. To find out when the school ’ will be at a track in your area, call (213) 484-9323.
