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/126967
Wayne Rainey (6) rode his Honda to the win over Kevin Schwantz (34) lilt Brainerd International Raceway. Yamaha-mounted Rueben McMurter (24) leads Bubba Shobert (67) and Dan Chivington (53) early in the final; Shobert ended up third. AMA/Superbike Road Race Series/Camel Pro Series: Rounds 3/5 Rainey takes his third straight at Brainerd By Paul Carruthers Photos by Rick Corwine BRAINERD, MN, JUNE 7 Team Honda's Wayne Rainey turned in a flawless ride at Brainerd International Raceway, upholding his perfect 1987 road race record. - three wins in three starts. Rainey topped rival Team Yoshimura Suzuki pilot Kevin I Schwantz by nearly five seconds on the ultra-fast Brainerd circuit. Third place went to Rainey's teammate, AMA Grand. National Champion Bubba Shobert. Honda-mounted Dim Chivington put his Honda across the line in fourth place with Doug Polen nursing his ailing uzuki to fifth. For Rainey it was a perfect weekend of racing. The Downey, California, resident won his heat race, picked up 10,000 for winning the Camel Challenge sprint race and collected 20 more points towards the Camel Pro Series Championship when he won the National. For rival Schwantz it was a less successful weekend. The Texan survived a violent, 160 mph crash in the fastest portion of the track during practice on Saturday, and finished second behind Rainey in the heat race, Camel Challenge and the National. Schwantz' Yoshimura Suzuki teamqlate Satoshi Tsujimoto was less fortunate than SchwanlZ. The Japanese champion was following Schwantz into turn one when the mishap occured. When Schwantz lost the front end, Tsujimoto grabbed too much front brake and also crashed hard. The Suzuki rider was airlifted from St Joseph's Hospital in Brainerd to North Memorial Hospital in Minneapolis with a fractured cervical vertebra and a fractured left ankle. Prior to the crash on Saturday, both Schwantz and Rainey had showed their ability to tum lap times in the one-minute, 42-second bracket. The crash occured with Schwantz running his race setup; checking the condition of his Michelin tires after running at a good pace for a number of laps. "I went around a guy on the outside, lost the front end and all hell broke loose," SchwanlZ said after his medical checkup revealed only road rash and a swollen right ankle. "I got my knee down, but it just tried to tear my leg off. He (Tsujimoto) hit his head pretty hard." When the ambulance attendant got to SchwanlZ, they asked hin what day it was? "I told 'em, as fa as I slid it could be Sunday." Botb Suzukis were destroyed in th. crash. Schwantz' rear wheel was ir pieces while Tsujimoto's front ene was completely torn from the rest oj the bike. The two were covered anc left in a corner of the Suzuki garage Schwantz would ride his backu!= bike, which, according to the Texan. was not quite up to par with his nowdestroyed mount. Saturday was Yamaha's Jimmy Filice's first ouring of the weekend and things weren't going well for the northern Californian. "I got a cortisone shot in my shoulder yesterday, so I didn't get any practice," Filice said. "There's something in my shoulder, a calcium buildup or something." Filice's troubles were compounded by an ill-n,mning, wrongly-jetted Yamaha FZR750. It was the beginning of yet another miserable weekend for Filice. Rumors ran rampant through the paddock on Saturday that Suzuki would claim Honda's carburetors . following Sunday's NationaL Suzuki was reportedly upset with the Road Atlanta disqualification of Tsujimoto, following a random weigh-in that the Suzuki failed to pass. The weigh-in was £umored to be instigated by Honda, thus Suzuki's thoughts of a carburetor-claim retaliation. The ugly can of worms was never opened, thus putting a hold, albeit temporary, on World War 111_ The first heat race got underway on the 10-turn, three-mile circuit with Rainey following Jeff Farmer into turn one. Schwantz, who was lucky to be walking after his horrific crash only hours before, was a little hesitant, but still crossed the line behind Rainey at the end of the first lap. Farmer dropped to third with Steve Crevier, Doug Polen and Kevin RenlZell fighting for fourth. By tbe end of lap two, Rainey led Scbwantz by three seconds, by lap three the gap was 4.5 ("There was a bird on the outside of turn one, it flew right up at me and I thought it was going in my helmet," Schwantz said. "It scared me; today's not a good day for racing for me") and by the finish it was seven seconds. Farmer took an easy third with Crevier edging Polen for fourth. Poleri's bike bad "dropped a cylinder" on the second lap. The Texan was also trying to .cure a chattering problem and had fitted a treaded Dunlop K-series front tire to his Kosar Racing Suzuki GSXR750; he would laler go back to a slick for the National. Rainey had s11?ashed the five-lap record that he set last year, traveling the 15 miles in eight minutes, 38.9 seconds for an average speed of 104.48 mph. Heat two was a Shobert, McMurter, Shorts, Chivington battle that saw Shobert edging McMuner and Kawasaki-mounted Shorts. . . Shorts' third was disallowed, however, when the Kawasaki was . found to be one pound under the 390-pound limit. ShoTts was tossed out of the entire program, missing the chance to put the Kawasaki into the Camel Challenge and the National. The Ninja was the same bike ridden by Ricky Graham at Daytona, and showed plenty of promise with Shorts at the helm. Shorts later tested the Kawasaki on Sunday with 36mm Mikunis, but was black-flagged from the track because of his Saturday disqualification. "We got it Friday night, and I'm excited about it," ShoTts said of the Kawasaki. "It's a lot faster today

