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/127146
" We wouldn't have c;aught Ashmead if he didn't have a tire problem ," said Russell, who along with Polen and Bray used Dunlop tires . Polen said he went a co mfortable pace, and was surp rised th at no o ne was giving chase after the first lap. • Results 1. Doug Polen (SUl); 2. Paul Bray (Han); 3. Scott Russell (SUl ); 4. John Ashmead (Han); 5. John Eidenberger (Han); 6. Larry Schwarzbach (Han); 7. David Sadows ki (SUl ); 8. Fritz Kling (Han); 9. M ike Smith (Han); 10. Brin Turkington (Han). 600 cc SUPERSPORT POINT STANDINGS: 1. Doug Polen (101); 2. John Ashmead (82); 3. David Sadowski (7 1); 4. Scan Russell (40); 5. Gary Goodfe llow (36); 6. (TIE) 8rin Turkington/Mike Smith (34); 8. Larry Schwarzback (30); 9. Paul Bray (27); 10. Doug Tosten (17). AliA/Vance & Hines 150cc Supersporf Series: Round 6 Polen tops Russell at Mid-Ohio By Paul Carruthers Photos by Bert Shepard LEXINGTON, OH, AUG. 7 Yoshimura Suzuki-backed Doug Polen made it a clea n sweep of the Supersport classes at Mid-Ohio as he stormed to Scott Russell (22) and Doug Polen (23) were this close for the entire 750cc Supersport race; Polen won. Polen followed his 750cc Supersport win with a lonely ride to the 600cc Supersport victory; he leads the championship in both classes. AMA/Yance & Hines 600cc Supersport Series: Round 6 Polen tops Bray in Mid-Ohio 6005 By Paul Carruthers Photos by Bert Shepard LEXINGTO N: OH, AU G. 7 Suzuki Katana-mounted Doug Polen took a giant step towards winning another 600cc Supersport championship today as he dominated the final from flag-to-flag at the 10 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Polen, who came directly to the grid from racing in th e Camel Challenge, led th e 14lap ra ce from the drop of the green flag, beating Georgia's Paul ' Bray and his H onda Hurri cane by 10.16 seconds. Another Georgian, Scott Russell , finished th ird o n a worn out 600cc Suzuk i. T he win was Polen 's second of th e seaso n , and it gives him a 19-point lead over h is nearest ri val , J ohn Ashm ead , fourth today, 10 1-82. Seventh p lace fi nis he r Da vid Sadowski is nex t with 71 points . Pol en won the first heat race o n Su nday morning, topping Sadow ski's Suzuki and Bra y's H onda. Pol en's h ea t was th e fastes t as he averaged 84.59 1 mp h on hi s Dunlop . K591-clad Suzuki. T he second heat race win went to Ashmea d on th e Peter Brady Racing H o n da CBR600 Hu rr icane. Ashmead topped Mike Smith on an other Honda and Douglas Tosten on a third Hurricane; surprisingly, th e second hea t was filled wi th H ondas as only a single Suzuki and Yam ah a were in th e field . Ashmead completed the five lap s in eig h t mi nutes, 35.199 seconds for a n average spped of 83.851 mph, . almost five seconds off Pol en 's pace. Pole sitter Pol en nail ed the holeshot in ,the fin al , and after on ly a single lap o n the 2.4-mile track led by 1.80 seconds from Gl en 'Sm ith , Sadowski, Bray, J ohn Ashmead, La rry Schwarzback and Ru ssell. . By the second lap th e gap was up to 3.97 seconds, then it went to 4.37, 6.22 and finall y into th e nine- and IO-second range before he fin all y wo n by 10.16. The battle for second started a two-rider du al betw een Bray and Ashmead, but Ashmead's Michelinclad Honda started slidi ng and the Floridi an started a grad ual march backwards th a t sa w h im fin is h fourth. e The 23-year-old Bray, in his best ride to date, then had a relatively un eventful ride to secon d place. Russell , meanwhile, reeled-in Ash mead and event ually got by on the 11th lap. H onda-mounted John Eidenberger fought through to finish fifth after hold ing off Schwarzbach , Sadowski and Fritz Kling. Mike Smith and Britt Turkington rounded o ut the top 10. Englishman Chris Knight, after crashing out of the heat race while lying second, pulled in early with a loose clip-on after fighting through from hi s last place start on the grid. a narrow win over Scott Russell in the 750cc cla ss. For Pol en it was hi s third win of the year o n hi s Dunlop-clad Suzuki GSXR750, but it wasn 't until late in th e race that he managed to get past . the charging Scott Russell , on 11 similar Dunlop-sponsored Suzuki. Third place went to New Hampshi re's David Sadowski with Ru ssell Paulk and Paul Bray rou nding out .th e top five po sitions on th e 2.4-mile road circui t. Pol en's win gives him a l2-point lead over Ru ssell , who passed Sadowski toda y in th e point sta ndin gs. Pol en has. 102 to Russell 's 90; Sado wski has a total of 88 points. At the start of th e fin al it was Ru ssell and Sadowski leading the slim l2-rider field into turn one . At the end of the first lap, Polen was fourth behind Pa ul k. Polen moved to th ird a lap later and in to second on lap thr ee. By th is time, Russell had opened up a sligh t lead , bu t Polen qu ickl y closed in. Fro m then on it was a two-rider duel up fro nt , wit h Polen content to sit behind Russell. Sado wski, meanwhile, held a stable th ird , but was being closed in o n by Paulk, wh o was unchallenged from beh ind. Paul Bra y had mo ved ahead 0,£ a Ricky O rlando /Joh n Eid enberger/Mike Smith battle for six th. In th e end it was Orlando sto pping Eid enb erger with Smith dropping back to a lonely eig h th. Edgar Strohn and Larry Gruen ro unded out the top lOin the 14. lap race. Up front, th e battle went to the end with Pol en taking over on th e final lap in traffic. Russell tried to come back la ter in th e lap, but cou ldn 't get past the flying Polen . "There was a bike do wn in th e line and I baulked for a second," Russell said. "He snuck in there on me. He got by one lapper that I couldn't arid I got held up for two turns . I'm not sayi ng I co uld have got him, but I would hav e tried." " I was just sitting back," Polen said. . Results 750cc SUPERsPORT: 1. Doug Polen (sult 2. Scan Russell (SUlk 3.' David sadowski (SOlI; 4. Russ Paulk (s ul); 5. Paul Bray (sUl); 6. Ricky Orlando (SUlk 7. John Eidenberger (suzt 8. Mike Smith (SOl); 9. Edgar strohn (SUl); 10. Larry Gruen (sUl). 750cc SUPERSPORT POINT STANDINGS : 1. Doug Polen (102); 2. Scan Russell (90); 3. David Sadowski (88); 4. Russ Paulk (49); 5. Mark Chin (291 6. Ricky Orlando (24); 7. Steven Dick (22); ; 8. (TIElJam ie James/Mike Smith /Mike Harth (21 ).