ROAD RACE AMA/CCS 750(( SupersportSeries: Round 1
Scott Russell (1) lead s Steve Crevier (16), Tripp .Nobles (hid den) a nd even tua l winner
~Iik e
Ha rth in th e
i5~cc
Sup ersport fin al.
Mike Harth took advantage of R ussell 's mechanical failu re to win the race.
Russe
ll'sstreak broken,
Harthwins Daytona
By Paul Carru thers
Phot os by H enny R a y Abram s
Dr\.nO:\A BEACH, FL. MAR. 6
uzzy Kaw asa ki's SCOll R ussell
was ro bbed o f certa in victor y in
the AMA/CCS 750cc Supersp ort
fina l at Da yton a Int ernati on al Sp eed wav when h is Ka wasak i coas ted to a
stop on the fina l la p , end ing a o neyear wi n streak for th e Geo rgia n.
Russell. who h adn 't lost a 750cc
Supersport race since ep rem ber of
1990 at Willow Springs Internati onal
Racewa y, ha d thi s o ne in th e bag until
th e ZX R750 e nco u n tered igni tion
p robl ems a nd sto p ped run ning after
14 of th e 15 la ps o n th e 3.56-m ile roa d
M
co urse.
8
The victory instead went to fellow
Georgi an Mike Hart h, riding a Ka wa sa ki backed by Bocca Rosa In suran ce
and Max O il. The veteran p riva teer
kepi Ru ssell in sig h t for most of the
ra ce a nd too k advantage o f th e situatio n to tak e the win a nd gai n a n ea rly
lead in the race for the cha m pio ns h ip .
Ha rt h averaged 106.205 mph to bea t
Fritz Klin g by 5. 192 seco nds after 53.4
m iles of racing. T h ird place wen t to :
th e Tw o Broth ers Ra cin g H onda
CBR600 of Ca na dia n Steve Crevier,
w ith th e Ka wasa ki o f Gera ld Roth ma n, Jr., a nd the Su zuk i o f Bruce
Bal du s ro u ndi ng out th e top five.
R ussell , who q uali fied fastest wit h
a 1:58.200/107.516 lap durin g T h u rsday's qualifyin g, got th e j um p o n the
52-ri der field a t th e drop of th e flag
a nd was never headed unt il enco u ntering his p rob lem o n th e fin al goaro u nd. T he initia l laps o f the fin al
were held in slig h tly wei co nd itio ns
a fter rain mov ed through th e area in
the aftern oo n, but it d id n 't seem to
bot her th e fast sta rt ing R ussell. But it
was a ll for na ug h t.
" It' j ust qu i I, " R ussell said, ma nagin g a sm ile. " I was go ing to try a nd
p u t in m y fastest lap o n that lasI one.
Oh, well , I'm g lad some body else cou ld
win one. Now I'll have to win 'em a ll
to win th e cha m pio nship."
H a rt h fin ish ed th e open ing lap in
