A serpentine line of racers run up the hill into turn five at Road Atlanta during the 1985 WERA Grand National Finals. The mid-1980s were a peak of club racing in America. The economy was roaring back after a recession of the early 1980s, baby boomers were at their peak racing age, motorcycles were cheap (you could still buy a new 750 production racer for around $3000) as were racing entries fees. With the advent of motorcycles like the Yamaha RZ350, Kawasaki’s GPz550 and later the Kawasaki Ninja 600 and finally the Suzuki GSXR series, production motorcycles were finally racetrack worthy, with good handling and brakes that actually worked.The manufacturers and aftermarket companies were also pitching in by paying generous contingency money in various classes. It wasn’t uncommon to have 40 or 50-rider grids in a single class. I count 32 riders visible in this shot alone! This is another excellent photo in the Greg Sickmeier Collection.
A huge number of racers run up the hill into turn five at Road Atlanta during the 1985 WERA Grand National Finals. (Greg Sickmeier Collection)
Rider Files 
I would be curious to see a shot fromthe same location now. The runoff seems rather minimal. I was never very comfortalbe racing there.
LikeLike
C’mon, Larry…tell us who’s in the shot!
Ed, have you ever had the pleasure of permanently dyeing your leathers with the famous Georgia clay? I’ve sampled the tire wall outside of 5, and also turn 7. That stuff NEVER comes off!
Looks like C or D class of some sort.
LikeLike
The runoff has been increased quite a bit in five.
I couldn’t say what race this is from this distance. It does look like a smaller calls and one reader points out it almost looks like a warm-up lap.
LikeLike
I can only recall crashing in the second 90 at the far end of the track, two turns after what we see in this picture. It was one of those sliding across the ground “oh crap I seem to have crashed” situations no warning. It must have been faily grassy there as i don’t recall any red dye No5 trouble.
I only ever raced there two events: GNF ’84 and early spring two weeks after Daytona ’91.
LikeLike
Yes, there’s significantly more runoff in almost every turn now than in the 80’s. When Don Panoz bought the track in 1997 and started hosting The American Le Mans sports car series there,(The Petite Le Mans in October) he was forced to make many safety improvements as per FIA and ACO rules.
He also has a way of improving and spending money on every track he buys. He also owns Sebring, and up until recently Mosport. His series, The American Le Mans Series motto is “For The Fans” and it shows. The AMA could learn from Don Panoz…
At RA, the back straight and “gravity cavity” are now changed with a downhill left-right sequence (10A and 10B) to change the angle of approach to the bridge, thereby making the track safer. The last turn (T12) has also been altered as a result of DuHamel’s crash and subsequent injury a few years ago.
World class facility and one of my all time favorite places.
Great picture!
LikeLike
Awesome picture! In 1985, I was twelve years old and just starting to get my taste for motorcycles on a Honda SL 70. I never knew that, the world in that picture, even existed. Road Atlanta has become one of my all time favorite racetracks now and thankfully, has substantially more run off area today. The one thing that I wish we had today was the sheer number of bikes on the grid, like in the photo!
LikeLike
Opie
It’s been a pleasure getting to watch you race over the years. Thanks for posting.
LikeLike
I’m second from last in the photo. 362 novice on a 1985 Yamaha RZ350. I raced both D and C classes (production and superbike)that year at the GNF on my RZ.
LikeLike
Good eye Sander.
LikeLike