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Using an engine borrowed from John Bettencourt, Roberto Pietri scored a
career-high second place.
Fred Merkel's Pocono win wes wheelie very simple. He dominated the
final for his fourth victory in six events.
Rich Oliver leads Rueben McMurter (24) and Ricky Orlando. McMurter
passed Oliver and they finished 3-4; Orlando crashed unhurt.
AltA Superbike Championship Series:
into the five-lap heat when his rear
wheel bearings went sour. He pulled
off, knowing he would start [rom the
back of the grid.
Tryg Westby had lhe dubious distinction of being the first rider out of
action in the final when he crashed
before the field had gotten through
the infield portion of the 2.8-mile
track on the start of the 22-lap, 62mile race. He sustained foot injuries.
Merkel was in command from the
start, and by lap two had turned on
the afterburners on the backstretch
and opened up a five-second advantage over Pietri at the end of the lap.
McMurter, Oliver and Ricky Orlando
followed. On the next lap, Orlando's
ride came to an end in a cloud of dust
as he crashed, unhurt, in the infield.
McDonald was 12lh in the 39-bike
field.
Merkel, clipping along at an average speed of 92.8 mph for the first five
laps, continued to open his lead with
Pietri now nine seconds adrift.
McMurter, Oliver and Mike Harth
rounded out the top five. Dale Quarterly, after a long work session to halt
an oiling problem on the number
one cylinder of his Kawasaki, was
sixth over Terry Hampton.
Hampton went down hard, but
unhurt on lap seven and that was the
only real change in the top) 0 until
lap II when Oliver closed dramatically on McMurter in third.
"The bike began overheating from
about lhe third lap on," said McMurter. "I rode nearly the entire race with
the thought the engine might seize ar
any momenl- b'utl didn't let off the
gas7" • - • - . • • • • •
,
RoundS
Merkel cruises to
win at Pocono
By Gary Van Voorhis
LONG POND, PA, JUNE 23
Honda's Fred Merkel easily breezed to his
fourth series victory in six rounds and a comfortable position atop the series point standings with a win in the Superbike final at
Pocono International Raceway.
Merkel led a relatively unchanging field of Hondamounted Roberto Pietri in
second and Rueben McMurter in lhird
to lhe winner's circle. The top three
were set from lhe first lap on, although
McMurter swapped his position with
fourth place finisher Rich Oliver a
few times in the closing laps.
Last week's Loudon Superbike
round winner, Sam McDonald, came
from a back-of-the-pack start - due
to problems in his heat race - and
took fifth.
Merkel's win enabled him to pad
his lead over McDorald, 96 points to
7~. ¥fMqrter.;s,seconq ~IHight.t~i~d
place' fImsn urn d the three-tlme
Canadian Superbike Champion to
third in the standings at 60 points.
Merkel went out to demolish the
rest of lhe field in the first qualifying
heat by over 14 seconds, but his win
was overshadowed by Rich Chambers
when he crashed and a handlebar
punctured the gas tank on his bike
and sparks set his Champion Hondasponsored Honda on fire. "It burned
five minutes too long," said Chambers. "I was five minutes short of finishing the repairs needed to get to the
line when the green flag waved. That's
racing. 1 do want to commend the
AAMRR corner workers for showing
what professionalism is. They know
their job." Chambers' remarks were
echoed by many.
.,pktfi'won the second heat and was.
d. McDorialdslo' . twolaps
urn .
a
By the halfway flags, Merkel held
an 18-second lead over Pietri and was
on his way to an easy win. McMuner
held of( Oliver while McDonald rolled
into fifth ahead of Quarterley, Harth,
Larry Shorts, and Glenn Barry.
Merkel continued with clockwork
precision, adding a second or more
per lap to his lead. Pietri held an edge
over the changing McMurterl
Oliver battle for third while McDonald cruised in fifth. The average speed
for 15 laps was 93.029 mph.
Oliver closed on McMuner on lap
17 as McMurter moved up on Pietri.
"I knew they were there," said Pietri,
"but 1 also knew 1 could pull out a
little extra if 1needed it."
The final laps saw the top seven
positions remain constant to the finish
with Merkel holding a 28-second advantage on Pietri at the flag and
McMuner ending the challenge of
Oliver in the last two laps. McDonald
was a lonely fifth with Quanerley
holding off Harth for sixth.
•
Results
1. Fred Merkel (Han); 2. Roberto Pietri (Han); 3.
Rueben McMurter (Han); 4. Rich Oliver (Han); 5.
Sem McDonald (Han); 6. Dele Ouarterley (Kaw); 7.
Mike Harth (Han); 8. Larry Shorts (Han); 9. Glenn
8arry (Han); 10. Gary Horton (Han); 11. Dwayne
Wassberg (Kaw); 12. Kevin Monahan (Kawl; 13.
8ud Morton (Suz); 14. Devin 8attley (BMW); 15.
Andrew Lindeman (Kaw); 16. Fred Dialman (Kaw);
17. Herb Williams (Kaw); 18. Anthony Russo (Han);
19. Fred Renz (Han); 20. Mark Chimbio (Han).
TIME: 33 min .. 49.258 soc•.
AVERAGE SPEED: 92.815 mph.
POINT STANDINGS; 1. Fred Merkel (96); 2. Sam
McDonald (75); 3. Rueben McMurter (60); 4. John
Bettencourt (53); 5. Dale Ouarterley (51); 6. Ricky
Orlando (39); 7. Roberto Pietri (37); 8. Rich Oliver
(31); 9. Glenn Barry (22); 10. Freddie Spencer (20);
11. (TIE) Jimmy Adamo/John Ashmead (18); 13.
Mike Harth (17); 14. Was Cooley (16); 15. Rich
Chambers (15); 16. Pol Hernon (13); 17. Gary
Horton (12); 18. EArl
11.1~ ll!· !< rty,B.,.."\,,.
(9); 20. Len Gembo (8).
RJft"t'
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