Cycle News

BWIDucrw~_ili _sS_rn_'~_b _d_l _fu _~ ��� _ e Pascal Picotte (34) and Andrew Stroud (28) battle early in the restarted SuperTwin final; Pi cott e won, Stroud DNF. Picotte takes SuperTwins win By Henny R a y Abrams DA\TONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 6 he Su perT wins fin al ran abo u t three hours sta rt to finish (a 750cc Supersport race was thrown in th e middle to keep th e program running), a very long time for a IS-lap race. But wh en it fin all y ended close to 5:00 p.m. o n a dark a nd stor my Friday afternoo n, Fren ch Canadi an Pascal Pi cotte had won hi s seco nd race of the da y o n a Fast by Ferracci Du cati, Earlier he'd won th e second of th e Arai T win 50 Superb ike qualifiers. The race was red -flagged on th e sevent h lap wh en a summer shower soaked th e track, with scoring reverting back to th e end of th e fifth lap. The riders waited a wh ile, a decision was mad e to run th e trea de d tire Supersp ort bik es, and, close to two hours after th ey sto p ped, th e twins went o u t for a fina l 10-lap sp rint. Gia Ca Mot os Du cati-m ount ed Jimmy Ad amo finish ed a d istant seco nd with Adriano Narducci o f Ita ly third o n a Du cati ba cked by STO-Ita ly. " I have to thank EraIdo Ferr acci ," Picotte sa id in th e winner's circle. "I think I have th e best tea m in th e world o n th e best m otorcycl e a nd good su p po rt from Dunlop. " Picotte had cha nge d to a so fter rear com pou nd during th e break a nd had also ch anged hi s gear in g for better acce leratio n. T 26 Pi cotte earned $2300 of the 12,500 p urse for winning wi th Adamo pocketing $ 1550 a nd Narducci ta king $1050 back to Brescia, Ital y, for thi rd . Ada mo had been clos e during th e first leg, but started slowly in th e second leg, slow enough to lo se to uc h wi th th e lead ers a nd de ny him a cha nce a t t he win. " I was n 't in th e dr aft, so I co uld stay wit h the m," Ada mo , who'd bui lt his engine fro m th e best parts of severa l in hi s hot el room th e night before th e race, said. " It reall y was n' t rig ht, but it worked." Under dark and threa ten in g skies, Q ua rterl ey go t the j u mp on th e field, bu t was qu ickl y passed by New Zealander And rew Stroud on th e exo tic Bri tten . Stro ud had suffered in qual ifying wh en someo ne for got to tighten th e bik e' s rad ia tor ca p, lea vin g th e coo ling system unpressurized. Onl y a few la ps were com pleted, good for 12th overall, but th e motorcycle ha d to be taken to th e Am er ican Mot orcycle In stitute after qualifyin g to be co mpl etely torn do wn . A four-inch crac k ' was found in th e cylinder sleeve a nd bi ke bu ild er J ohn Britt en brazed it si nce there were no spares: If there was a problem, it didn 't show, the Bri tten was clearl y th e stro nges t off the corners a nd best o n top spee d, th ou gh Stro ud was n' t sho wing h is hand . P icotte draft ed past Quarterl ey a nd passed St roud o u t o f th e ch ica ne. Ada mo mo ved into third wh en Quar ter ley had troubl e go ing into th e chicane. " It keep s dyin g in th e .ch ica ne," Q uarterley wo uld lat er say during th e ra in delay. " In a cou p le o f seco nds it comes bac k. Ada mo almost killed me a coup le of tim es. It ha p pen s just whe n you hit the two bumps go ing in ." The lead q uartet qu ickl y separa ted from th e field as a light rain began to fall. Stroud and Pico tte swapped places back and forth a nd Ada mo stayed ahead o f Q uarterl ey, th ou gh Quarter ley was ridi ng ha rder th rough the infield. The rai n increased stead ily a nd th e red flags ca me out o n th e seven th lap. P ico tte had the lead after the fifth la p and woul d be a n th e pol e for th e seco nd leg. Stroud next to him foll o wed by Adamo a nd Q uarterl ey. Na rd ucci led off the seco nd row w i t h Fast b y Ferrar ci 's Step hen Mathews si xth o n a Ducar i, Robert Ho lden seven th on a heavily-m odi fied Du cati, a nd raci ng journali st Alan Ca thca rt eigh th o n th e Bim ot a Tesi. " We're going to change th e gearing," Pi cotte said. " It' s not co ming ou t o f th e corne rs as wel l." T he crew had mounted a 33-toO[h rear sp roc ket, but went bac k to th e 34-too th sprocket th ey'd used in qualifying. T he Britten crew was a lso hard at wo rk cha ngi ng th e su sp en si on a t Stro ud's suggestio n. " We mad e th e sp ring too heavy," Stroud sai d. " T he front shock's wobbl in g a bit. Befor e it was rock so lid." It a p pea red th at Stro ud had motor to spa re, th e Britten wh eel yin g o u t of th e Internation al H orsesh oe a nd easily trailin g Picotte on th e bankin g. " A few times down th e stra igh t I was o nly three-quarters thrott le," Stro ud said. " J o h n 's pretty cl ever. Most o f th e things he does wo rk." In a n effort to find hi s sta lling p roblem, Quarterl ey repl aced th e dash , co m p u ter, a nd gas tank, o n ly to fin all y di scover tha t th e problem was th e fuel pump. " I can run with th ose g uys if it runs," Quarterley said. The on ly cha nge Ada mo ma de was to fit a new fro nt tire. The o ne he'd started the race wit h was left over fro m last year. T he Su pe rTwins riders were as ked to stay o n pi t row d uri ng the runn in g of th e Supe rSport 750 race, and th eir race restarted a t a bo u t 4:25 p.m . under cloudy skies a nd a mod erate breeze. Off th e start, Quarterl ey's day was o ver, the chai n o n th e Bimota sna p p ing. "T he Bim ota has so much to rq ue , it just snapped th e cha in," th e Massachusetts rid er sa id. " Yo u hav e to put the cha in o n so loo se because th ere's so much suspen sion mov em ent." And Adamo 's cha nce s a lso went a wa y a t th e start, Fearing he, too, might snap th e cha in, Ada mo gated slow ly a llowing Picotte a nd Stroud to get a clean break . " O ff the resta rt I th ought I could stay with th em . but I wasn 't in the dr aft, so I co u ldn 't ," Adamo said. Again th e race was betw een Picotte

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