Rich Schlachter (4) leads fellow American riders Skip Aksland (11), David Aldana (10) and Wes Cooley (8) at Mallory Park during the 1980 Trans-Atlantic Match Races. This was during the period when F-1 rules allowed 1000cc four-strokes with the 500cc and 750cc two-stroke road racing machines and this photo illustrated the variety. I believe Schlachter and Aksland are on Yamaha TZ750s, while Aldana is on a Yoshimura Suzuki GS1000 Superbike, Cooley on a special GS1000-based Suzuki F-1 bike, utilizing a specially-designed racing frame and full fairing. The Americans, led by Kenny Roberts and upstart Freddie Spencer won that year’s Match Race. This photo is part of my monthly feature of Match Race photography by the legendary writer/photographer Jim Greening.

Previous Greening photos are featured here and here.

Rich Schlachter (4) leads fellow American riders Skip Aksland (11), David Aldana (10) and Wes Cooley (8) at Mallory Park during the 1980 Trans-Atlantic Match Races. (The Jim Greening Collection)