Throwback Thursday: Lawson and Pierce Win AFM Budweiser Six-Hour
Larry Lawrence | July 27, 2017
Eddie Lawson and Ron Pierce are all smiles after winning the 1981 AFM Six-Hour on a factory Kawasaki Superbike.
Talk about your awesome endurance racing teams – try Eddie Lawson and Ron Pierce racing a factory Kawasaki KZ1000 Superbike! Sounds pretty unbeatable right? Yes it was.
Lawson and Pierce took victory in the 1981 AFM Budweiser Six-Hour race at Riverside International Raceway, winning the race by five laps over Team Hammer’s Bruce Hammer and John Ulrich on a Suzuki. Third went to David Emde and Harry Klinzmann on a San Jose BMW. That’s one seriously talented rostrum.
In this photo from the event Lawson is hugging the trophy girl while Pierce is all smiles.
Outside of the AMA Nationals, the AFM Six-Hour was the biggest road race in America during the 1970s and early 1980s. The endurance race brought together some of the top AMA road racing stars and very often factory entries.
You could say it was America’s version of the Suzuka Eight-Hour. The race helped launch Superbike racing in America and then later hosted some of AMA Superbike’s elite teams.
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