Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126963
. Thomas Stevens (9 ) he ld off Doug Polen (2 3 ) to ta ke the EBC Brakes Supersport race at Road Atlanta. winning by .0 9 0 seconds.- Kevin Rentzell and Greg Tysor battled early on their Honda Hu rr icanes. but Tysor ran off the track giving Ren tzell the breathing room he needed to take th ird place; Tysor ma naged to salvage fourth place. AMA/EBC Brakes Supersporf Series: Round 2 Stevens edges Polen in Supersp.ort thriller By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA , MAY 17 Daytona Supersport winner Doug Polen was stunned by Thomas Steven s as the Floridian crossed the finish line .090 of a second ahead of th e Texan to win th e Supersports class, held at Road Atlanta. I was dom inated by Hthe race Much like Dayto na, onda 's n ew 600cc Hurricane, with th e first n on-Honda being a Kawasak i in 29th posit io n. The fastest Hurricane o n th is day, h ow ever , was the o ne tha t blew in from Florida - Stevens . Stevens won th e fastest heat o n Saturday by more th an 10 seco nds an d held off th e man regarded as th e rider to beat in 1987, Pol en, in th e fin a l. The two battled for th e en tire race, but Stevens never relinquish ed th e lead . Cha ttanooga, T ennessee's Kevin Rentzell fin ished third with Greg . Tysor fourth a n d Ron Ewerth fifth. " Grou n d cleara nce wa s th e on ly p robl em ," Ste vens sa id. " O nce we got go in g, th e tir es were fantast ic. Metzeler ha s don e really well for us and so ha s Speed and Sport Cycles." A six-ride r duel ensued in heat one o n Saturday with Polen leadin g th e Ka yo/Yokohama/D.I.D/GS/Daito/ Sl o ans H onda /Spe ctro /Shoeisponsored Rentzell across the line to end lap o ne. The order staye d th e same with Polen taking th e win over Rentzel l, Donald Jacks , Ew erth and Scott Russell ; Po len won by 2.9 seco nds. Dan Ch ivi ngto n cras hed a nd would sta rt uninjured from th e back row . The seco nd heat saw Speed-NSport Cyc les / Ar ai /M etz lerspo nso red Stevens .dom ina te, By the end of the five la ps h e had opened u p a n impress ive l G.fi-secorid lead over Greg Tysor a nd Cam Roos. It was the fastest hea t o f the two, givi ng Steve ns th e pole fo r the fin al. With $ 1500 in H onda conti ngency m oney u p for g ra bs , P ol en led Stevens , Donald J acks an d Rentz ell in to turn one . C h ivington wa s way back after co m ing fro m the bac k row on (he grid. Lap o ne ended with Pol en leading Stevens . followed bv Ren tzell , Tvsor and Jacks. The lead in g duo turned a I:34.5 la p time on th e seco nd lap a nd : Stevens snuck by to lead lap three. T he battle had p u lled Steve ns a nd Po len clear of the now devel o p ing Rentzell /Tyso r d uel. Ewert h h ad for ced hi s way in to fifth. Nothing cha nged until the fifth lap whe n Tvsor ra n off the trac k wh ile tryi n~ to pass Ren tzell , losing three positions in the pro cess. " He was lean in g on me a nd I j ust held m y grou nd," Rentzell said. " He went o ff." Tysor didn 't stay back lon g and soo n was up to fourth pl ace, bu t too far behind to cha lle n ge hi s sp rint race rival. Mean whil e, Steven s con tinued to hold o ff Pol en with th e two usin g to ta lly differen t lines th rough turn ·o ne. T he ba ttl e went to th e fini sh , but the yo unger Stevens held o ff Pol en to win by a sca n t .090 o f a seco nd. Rentzel l cru ised in .for third with Tysor fourth and Ew erth edg in g Scott Russell for fifth . The winner 's circle featured three different tir e brands: Stevens - Met zeler ; Pol en - Dunlop; Rentzell Michelin. : " I kn ew three laps in I wasn 't going to ge t him ," Pol en sa id. " O n th e la st la p I got out of shape in turn o ne a nd scrubbed o ff too much speed. I ca u gh t back u p , but it wa s i[l.Jlte wrong sp o t." • Results SUPERSPORT: 1. 'Thomas Steven s (Han); 2. Doug Polen (Han); 3. Kevin Rentzell (Han); 4. Greg Tysor (Han); 5. Ron Ewerth (Han); 6. Scott Russell (Hon) ; 7. Oeit er't..ane (Hon); 8 . Donald Jacks (Hon); 9. Dan Chivington (Han); 10 . R.T. Hampton (Han); 11. Douglas Tosten (Hon); 12. Graham James Jr . (Han); 13. Paul Bray (Han); 14. Mark Chin (Han); 15. Britt Turki ngto n (Han); 16. Gary D'A luisio (Han); 17. Adam Smit h (Han); 1B. David Reed (Han); 19. Hans Wilson (Han); 20. John Lowman (Han).