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/127151
"Coming off of two a couple times, I got both wheels off the ground," Ron nie J ones 'said, Finally, the front straight also drew complaints from Steve Morehead, who pointed out grommets and pieces of steel, making any roosts potentially dangerous. . " It's probably one of the worst situations we've had to deal with all year, as far as track safety , rider safety," Carr said. " Bu t if everybody uses their heads, it should be all right. " Time Trials Dan Ingram won his first Grand National Championship race at Syracuse. after Bubba Shobert was disqualified . AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Series: Rounds 15/13 Ingram claims first win at Syracuse Mile By Ty van Hooydonk Photos by van Hooydonk and Flat Trak Fotos SYRACUSE, NY, SEPT. 11 Dan Ingram benefitted from his sp on sor Bubba Shobert's m isfortu n e at the Syracuse Mile, winn in g h is first-ever National. When th e checkered flag came out, Ingram - riding Shobert's personal Honda RS750 - finished an apparent second behind t?-e three-time AMA Grand Nauonal Champ- 6 ion. But when measured on the trackside scale, Shobert's bike weighed under the required minimurn of 320 pounds. AMA officials then impounded the factory Honda RS750 to place it on a certified scale the following day in Syracuse. "If this gets protested or appealed, we'll have our bases covered," said AMA Professional Dirt Track Manager J.B. Norris . Ingram was awarded the victory as the post-race weigh-in showed that the bike was one-and-a-half p o unds too light (3l8.? lbs) and was disqualified, Norns said on Monday, September l2;,It's a bad deal all the way around," Shobert said at Syracuse on Sunday, prior to knowing he was disqualified. He said that the trackside scale had been inconsistent throughout the season and he wanted to include the petcock and fuel lines while the bike was on the scales. He said the rule book requires only the gas tank to be removed, not its additional parts. The disqualification also moved Steve Morehead up into second place at Syracuse, with Tim Mertens, Chris Carr and Alex Jorgensen rounding out the top five. The ruling had other ramifica- tions as well. Before the Syracuse Mile, race watchers guessed that GNC point leader Scott Parker and Shobert were the only safe wagers in the championship chase. After Syracuse was over all bets were off because neither one scored a ny points. Parker's goose egg hatched during the final with a major motor failure. The double knockout was a blessing for Carr, who suffered a noscore two weeks ago at Indy. Carr, third in the points with 184, once again became a player in the drama of dirt track 1988. Parker's tally holds at 208 points while Shobert's also stays put at 192. . "It's like a damn soap opera from week to week, it seems like," Carr said on "Sunday. "As Camel Pro Turns.... Also among the Syracuse surprises was the track itself and its dismal condition. Usually soaked and damp ' on arrival, the racers this time found it dry and sprinkled generously with sand and marbles. " I don't think they touched the race trac k," said a disgruntled Scott Parker. There was one noteworthy excep tion to the dryness - the apex in tum three. A recently-built bridge spanning the moat between the track and the infield had stopped up drainage pipes, causing water to back up and flood the corner. "You can stand there and sink a cou p le inches," Parker said. The solution from the AMA officials was a setof cones strung at the outer edges of the muck. "They' re knocking 15 feet off the track, and the comer's already narrow," Parker added. Tum two was also a trouble spot - a rough trouble spot. Shobert found his way around the cones, bumps and marbles to wi nd up at the top of the time trialheap. His Honda RS750 was sporting a new intake system, dyno tested by Honda engine builder Ray Plu mb. " H opefu lly, it will run a little better," P lumb said. "It's untested on the bike." Shobert's time trial test of the new intake was successfu l, w i th h i s clocking of 36.483 seconds. Although n o de tai ls were given, the new intakes angle th e carbs up, apparently giving the fuel/ ai r m ixture a straighter shot into t he cylinders. P lumb said it makes more horsep ower, but he wasn 't giving away any numbers. Parker qualified a close second, with a 36.579 run. Third fastest was Ingram - again on Shobert's personal Honda - with a 36.838 time. Right behind was Honda-mounted Terry Poovey with a 36.959 mark. Tim Mertens followed with a 37.050 recording. In six th was a surprising Rusty Rogers, clocking a 37.095 and earning the last available spot in the six-man Camel Challenge. Rounding o ut the top 10 were Doug Chandler (37.122), veterans Alex Jorgensen (37.226) and Steve Morehead (37.284), and the alwayspopular Tammy Kirk (37.333). Cartadian John Parker was the 44th and final man to qualify for the 48 available_ pen ings-. o Heats . The first IO-lap heat race provided some more Shobert foreshadow ing. He easily wo n, beating second place Morehead by 2.5 seconds: Shobert took marge on lap two and pulled away to win in six minutes, 11.234 seconds. J orgensen snatched second on lap three, while Billy Herndon rode in fourth. Morehead, however, muscled into second, af ter some swapping with Jorgensen, and held on to the end. Jorgensen claimed third, ga ining the last direct transfer to the main. Herndon, Brian Atherton' and the rest of the fourth-through -ninth place finishers earned tickets "to th e semis. Heat two saw Parker winning comfortably over Chandler. Kirk put her. pink Harley up front briefly, before Parker sailed by on the backstraight. Kirk received a standing cheer from the crowd of around 10,000, but all of the good will in New York couldn't keep her Harley from breaking a rod 'on lap three. Chandler was soon into second, with Pete Hames just behind and Rodney Farris tagging along. They held their positions, following Parker to his 6:12.853 win. Ingram showed what a force he has become in heat three - the fastest hea t and the one with the biggest margin of -victory, Ingram led off the line. Behind him was Keith Day, who slipped into first in tum two on the next lap, only to lose the advantage "to Ingram on the backstraight, Day challenged once more, but had to be happy wi th fending off R usty Rogers in third.