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(A bove) Don Greene (1) leads eventual winner Wayne Rainey (12), Richard Schlachter (1 01 ) and James Stephens in early F-2 action at SIR. (Below) This was all the pack saw of Kevin Schwantz. ANA National Superbike Championship: Round 9 Schwantz and Rainey shine in Seattle By Paul Carruthers KENT . WA. AUG UST 18 Yoshimura Suzuki 's Kevin Schwan tz didn't h ave Honda's Fred Merkel to contend with in the Superbike race at Sea ttle In tern a tion al Raceway, but the way th e yo un g Texan mastered th e tree-lined tra ck wa s so im p ressive th at it didn 't matter . I who wa s there. Sch wa ntz wa s in a class by 20 hi mself in the AMA points -paying race as he cr u ised to a 12-second win over J ohn Bett encourt. The Formu la T wo race was a no ther exam p le o f su pe riority as Wayne Rainey avoided dis aster to bea t Don Green e by six seco nds . The hard-braking. twisty track on th.e outskirts o f Kent proved to b.e tailor-m ade for Schwantz and Ra iney. With Merk el still out of ac tio n from h is La gun a Seca c ra sh , Schwantz' weekend wa s made ea sy a nd th e Suzuki p ilot took ad va ntage of th e situation. Rainey's da y, however , wasn't as smooth as Schwantz' , but the results turned o ut to be th e same. The first Superbike heat proved to be a preview of coming attractions as Schwantz promptly turned his seco nd -ro w start into a first-turn holesh o t. Todd Brubaker put his Starfire Racing Honda into second, but he co u ldn ' t keep pace with the Texan a n d after on e lap Schwantz had stret ched hi s lead to 3.5 seconds. Meanwhile, Brubaker's teammate, Randy Ren fro w, moved h is Honda into third place ahead of Bettencourt. Bettencourt 's Honda, however, sucked so me dirt into th e ca rbu ra tors and on th e second lap he was forced to pull in. With the limited field . not finishing the heat on ly meant a backof-the-grid sta rt in g position for the fin al. Dirt tracker Lance Jones quickly filled th e void left by Bettencourt 's retirem ent and mov ed hi s Yamaha FZ750 into fourth place. Lap three of th e five-lap heat saw Renfrow tak e o ver the nu mber two spot a head o f Brubak er. J o nes a nd Wash in g ton 's Dal e Slac k. Schwa n tz didn't ease up and went o n to post th e fastest heat time of th e da y. beating Renfrow by eigh t seco n ds. Brubak er a nd J ones fini sh ed th ird a n d fourth with Steve L ittlejohn moving his Yamaha into fifth o n th e last lap. Heat number two pitted th e Yamaha s of Sam McDonald and Dal e Quarterly against the Honda of G lenn Barry. McDonald quickly asserted himself with a flying start and th e ea r ly lead while Barry followed in seco n d with Quarterle y third. The first lap ended in that order with Quarterley desperately tryi ng to pass Barry'on th e inside of turn 10. On the second lap, McDo nald turned a one-minute. 31-second la p , but that was a full two seconds off the pace Schwan tz set in th e opener. The leading trio remained close throughout th e heat. and the positions rema in ed th e same. Kevin Monahan fin ishe d fourth with Keith Pinkstaff taking fifth. Since Schwantz rea ched one-mi nute. 28-second laps in his heat and co ns isten tly turned I:29's. th e o n ly sus pe nse for the final was who wou ld finish seco n d. When the pack rolled around at the end of the first lap. it seemed that Ren fro w was the prime ca nd ida te for the runner-up slot a s he foll ow ed Schwantz. McDonald wa s si tt ing in third with Bru ba ker fourth , Barry fifth a n d a ha rd-charging Bettenco urt in sixth. Schwant z im m ed ia tely shot to a 4. 17-seco nd lead after on ly two laps. Renfro w continued to look good in second place wi th McDonald still holding d own third. but the big mov e was coming from Bettencourt wh o sn uck by Barry and closed on the leaders. Schwantz continued to amaze up front wi th a one-minute, 28-second lap on the fourth circuit and a quick eigh t-second lead over the Ren fro w. Meanwhile, Renfrow was beginning to shake the others and Betten co urt nailed down fourt h after passing Bru baker going into tu rn one. Ren fro w came to an abrupt stop on the front straigh taway with a blown motor and Bettencourt seized the opportunity to move by McDonald and into second place going into turn one. " It started mak ing bodacious noises and I didn't want to destroy their engine," Renfrow said. " I had a real lack of p ractice time and I was finding some new lines in the race ; 1 don't think second would have been a problem." The p ro blems taking place behind were o f no conseq ue nce to Schwantz as he continued his blistering pace and at the end of seven laps he led by 10 seconds. Bettencourt was also on the move and immediately put some distance between himself and the fig ht for thi rd between McDo nald and Brubaker. A battle for fifth was also shaping up as Barry and Quarterley went at it. The positions remai n ed uncha nged until lap I I when both Brubaker and Quarterley moved by their rivals. McDonald, however, snuck back by Brubaker on the next lap and Barry did the same to Quarterley. T he Mc Donald/ Brubaker battle brought the pair closer to Bettenco u rt and on lap 15. the duo was only 1.80 seconds behind. In the late laps, Schwantz cooled off. but maintained a 12-seco n d cush ion while Brubaker moved up to cha llen ge Betten court after disposin g of McDonald. Jones, who was having his best tarmac outing, mo ve d up to pass Barry on lap 19 and a four-wa y battle between Quarterl ey, Jones , Barr y and Kevin Monahan ens ued . J ones didn 't stop with just Barry an d o n lap 20 he zapped Quarteriey to move in to fifth. The last la p saw Schwantz cruise in for the win fol low ed b y Be tt e n co u rt . Brubaker , McDonal d , J ones a nd Qua rterley. " I just went a t it for the first five laps," Schwantz sa id . "I g o t th e eight- or nine-second lead and then backed off. It wa s missing slightl y in th e mid-range towards the end. but it was nothing bad. " The Formula Two class only drew 15 entries. but it was quality a nd not quantity that counted here. Rainey, Greene. Schlachter , Baldwin and crew made up a small but impressive grid. When the flag dropped on the five- la p hea t race, James Stephens got the early jump on the field. Rai ney , how ev er , pulled out of Stephens' Rorax 's draft to grab the lead going into the first turn at the end of th e lo ng frontstrai ght. Ra iney turned a one-minute, 29seco n d lap to ga in an immediate three-second lead on th e field after two la ps whi le Stephens he ld off a Sc hlacht er. G ree n e and Bal d wi n cha rge. Bal d win was making up a lot of ground through turn four and moved by Green e first an d then Schlachter on lap three. T he order remained th e sam e unti l the last la p o f the heat ra ce when Green e nipped Schlachter at the flag for fourth place. Rainey was unstoppab le as he coas ted in wi th a fivesecond cushion over Stephens while Baldw in . Green e a n d Schlac hter rounded o u t th e top five. Whil e Sc h wa ntz ' lonel y ride to victory in th e Superbike ra ce was uneventfu l, Rainey's Formula Two win was full of m yster y from start to fini sh. Green e grabbed the lead off the start and seemed determined to stay there. Stephens held second after