Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Gary Goodfellow came down from ' Canada to finish fourth on the Gee Vee Racing Honda VFR750. Goodfellow posted a 4 -4 finish. I Doug Chandler (101 leads Bubba Shobert (1 I. Doug Polen and Gary Goodfellow (111 through the corkscrew during the Superbike Nationa l. AMA Superbike Series: Round 5 Shobert perfect at Laguna Seca By Paul Carruthers Photos by Mike and Dennis Scully MONTEREY, CA, JULY 10 Honda 's Bubba Shobert turned i n an immacu la te performance, leading all but tw o lap s in each of the twin fi l-rrrile segments to wi n th e N issan Superbike Challenge at Laguna Seca R . aceway. . Shobert, who hai ls from Carmel Valley, California, stole 8 t he show o n hi s h ome circ u it, toppinl7 Yoshimura Suzuki's champi onship leader Doug Polen by 4.43 seco nds in the first 28-lap segment and th en securing th e overall win by beating Polen by 6.04 seconds in th e second.. T exas' Polen took th e runner-up spot with h is 2-2 fini sh , and in the process maintained his slim championship point lead over Shobert, 8885, with two races remaining, Third p lace at Laguna went to SuperTrapp Racing's Doug Chandler (3-3), the on ly rid er other than Shobert to lead a lap, with Gary Goodfellow (4-4) finishing fourth on the Gee Vee Racin~ Honda VFR750. Yoshimura Suzuki's Scott Gray (5-6) finished fifth. Yamaha FZR750 mounted Ri ch - ard Arnaiz, Suzuki GSXR-mounted Paul Bray, Canada's Steven Dick, former F-2 Champion Sam McDonaid and Ohio 's T om Kipp ro unded o ut th e top 10. For Shobert , th e performance was a rewarding one. After bein g beaten b y Polen at Loudon a n d Road Ameri ca, Laguna Seca turned into a must-win situation for th e Lubbock, T exas , native. With on ly MidOhio (Augus t 7) and Sears Poin t (October 2) left on the sched ule, Shobert needed a win toda y to put himself in a position to challe nge Polen for the Superbike titl e. Win he did. Shobert took ' over from the faststarting Chandler on th e second la p in each segment and then proceeded to hold Polen at bay for the distance. While the first segment was a rather dull parade, the seco nd segment provided fireworks for the small-forLaguna crowd of under 15,000, as Shobert and Polen battled for the majori ty, th e duo slicing through fellow said lat er. "It goes good fo~ slower traffi c with pr ecision until the an old bike, and I'm having a bit Honda factory pilot was able to break of fun." clear lat e in the race. Fourth pl ace in the first heat went The differen ce in th e outcome to Renfrow with John Ashmead sho wed how idea lly suited Shobert fini shing fifth and Quarterley endand the H onda were to th e Laguna in g up sixt h. Seca cou rse. Sho bert's Michelin-clad Ashmea d, however, was not using VFR loo ked as th ou gh it was o n ra ils the ex -Bu bba Shobert flat-slide for th e ent ire distance, while Pol en 's carbure tors that he claimed at Road Dunlop-clad GSXR seemed to' ge t Ameri ca o n his Peter Brady Honda loose towa rds the end o f eac h VFR750. " I crashed on Thursday and segment. filled 'em with sa nd," he sai d. "T hey Sho bert's win earn ed him $3245 of (the new carbs) were a lot smoother the 47,500 Superbike purse. Pol en th an I thought th ey would be. I took home $2160 with Chandler figured the y would be like light earning $1530. Sh obert al so earned switches. I think th ey will be a lot $1000 in lap money and $100 for better on high-speed tracks." winning his heat race on Saturday. Ashmead was having problems The victory was Shobert 's second losing th e front end and, despite o n pavement in 1988 and brings his jacking up the rear in an effort to National win count to 36, only four cure th e confidence-sapping ills, it behind a ll-time National win leader would be something that would Jay Springsteen . p lague him all weekend. This year's National marked the Renfro w, on the other han d, was using - and enjoying - his recentlyfirst time that Superbikes were iun on the new ly-expanded, 2.196-mile claimed (from Polen at Road Amer'La guna Seca co urse. Most of the ica) Yoshimura carbs on the Vance riders enjoyed the new addition , but & Hines bike. "It pulls 1000 rp m lower' and revs 500 rpm higher on like the Grand Prix riders for which the track was lengthened, mos t had the track," said the former F-I problems setting up their sus pension champ. "They ma ke the bi ke a lot for th e half-smooth / ha lf- b urri py more resp o ns ive throughou t the track. Shobert an d Vance & Hines' powerband. You bolt 'em on and Randy Renfro w were the only top they work." A non-starter in the first heat was Superbike competitors with experience on the new section of track , Larry Shorts on the only Kawasaki both having ridden in the 250cc G P in the field. " It just wo uldn't start," back in April. Shorts said. The problem was later After Saturday's five-lap, 10.98diagnosed by tuner Rob Muzzy as inadequate valve clearances. Shorts mil e heat races, it appeared that Polen would again be the man to would be the first alternate for the beat. He ca me away with th e fastest National and would later make the heat of th e day, turning th e five laps grid, only to cra sh three laps into in seven mintues, 55.859 seconds for the first segm en t. an average speed of 83.066 mph. The Shobert led every lap of his .heat Denton, Texas resident. was trying race, but the Michelin-clad H o nda for three Nation al road race wins in rider's times were slower than Pol a row on hi s Dunlop-clad Suzuki - en' s. H e ended up turning the five GSXR750 Superbike. laps in seven minutes, 57.559 seconds That first heat saw Dal e Quarterfor an average speed of 82.771 mph. ley start ing th e fastest, but Polen was His five-lap tim e was slower than soo n past, bringing hi s teammate. Polen's by I. 7 seconds. Gray with him. A red-fl ag was Polen 's best lap tim e in his hea t, th rown at the completion of lap two , according to th e stop watches of however, as Stephen Wands crashed Dunlop tire technician Jim Allen, unhurt in turn five, littering th e ra ce was a I:33.46, while Shober t's quicKtrack with bike parts. est was a 1:33.87. Chandler, meanOn th e restart, Polen shot to an whi le, had turned steady 34s with immediate lead over Gray, G,oodfelGray (1:34.61), Goodfellow (1:34.63) low and Renfro w. Goodfellow was and Ren fro w . (I:35.71) among ti\e aboard th e George Vincensi-tuned q uic kest. " )J Honda VFR750 of Gee Vee Racin g Second place in th e second heat for the first time, and ended up ' race went to Chandler, 3.24 seconds finishing second after disposing of .behind Shobert. The northern CalGray. . i fornian's Hon da VFR75 0 was " George (Vince nsi) has been ask equipped with 32mm fla t-slide carbs; ing me to ride, but this was the only Shobert's carbs and the set claim ed one that fit into my schedule of by Ashmead, however, are 37.5 mm racing in J apan and Canada," Goodflat -slides . " It's boggin g a little