Ms. Grothe's MotoHistory 101: Road Atlanta 1980
by
John Burns
Published: June 5th, 2018
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Road Atlanta, Braselton Georgia: AMA Winston ProSeries, Formula 1: 21 June 1980
In one of my all time favorite races, says Mary Grothe, two of our unsung heroes contended for the AMA’s F1 championship at Road Atlanta, 1980. In the season’s most hotly contested 4 vs 2-stroke battle, Rich Schlachter aboard a Microlon/Arai/Sky Cycles Yamaha TZ750 held off a mighty charge from 1025cc Yoshimura Suzuki mounted Wes Cooley.
Rich Schlachter, 48, and Wes Cooley engaged in a race-long duel for first.
Schlachter leading through the esses… not sure where Cooley is in this shot.
Cooley dogging Richie Schlachter for the lead, TZ750D versus Yoshimura GS1000 Superbike…
Schlachter goes by into the lead…
Cooley settled for second that day, but wowed the crowd anyway with one of his deluxe wheelies. Finding this shot in her archives, Mary says, relaunched her career. Cooley won the Superbike championship that year, Schlachter took the Formula One championship – a series which became extinct after 1986.
Mary inherited photography from her dad, who was a professional photographer and shot this image of her brother Scotty pulling her hair…
… followed shortly there after by this one of Mary about to connect with a left hook. Thanks for the memories, MG!
Cooley thrilled fans with his super deluxe wheel stands. Finding this one in her archives, Mary says, relaunched her career.
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Love these retrospective/archive articles...keep 'em coming John!
Those are super pics of a bygone era when big 2-strokes still topped American racing. This race and those that followed showed the writing was on the wall for smokers - in the domestic series at least. GPs were woefully delayed in getting the 4-stroke religion.
Man, did I ever enjoy Cooley's racing. Wes was so hardcore on the track; he just gave his all every time.