Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ l.C') ~ .... v .D. S v >- o Z The start of the abbreviated endurance race saw a cautious field led by Dutchman Racing II's Donald Jacks. Jay Springsteen congratu lates Tom Kipp in the winner's circle. In his f irst season on the National c ircuit, Lee Shierts led the Johnson & Wood team t o fifth in points; the team f in ished th ird at Daytona. Dutchman II used calculated rid ing and smooth pit stops to take their th ird consecutive w in, and to secure second in the series point stand ings. AMA/CCS ESC Brakes Endurance Challenge Road Race Series: Final round Dutchman II takes Daytona travesty By Brian Catterson Photos by Daytona lnt'l Speedway and Catterson DAYTONA BEACH . FL , OCT. 29 Few wi ll remember th a t Du tchman R acing II's Don ald J acks an d Tom Kipp won the final round of the 1989 AMA/CCS Enduran ce Challenge Seri es at Dayto na Internati on al Speed wa y to solid ify the ir second p lace in Ii I . . di uh e .Ina senes po int st~n m gs behind Du tch man Racing I. 8. What they wi ll remem ber are the at rocious condi tio ns th at th e race was held under - th e gus ting winds, m0!1soon rai ns and standi ng w~ ter which made an already demand in g track even more so. T he severity of the conditions was best illustrated by th fact that the pace ca r spun out whi le leading the field th rou gh the chica ne in one of its two appearances. T he cond itio ns were so poor that Du tch man 's number one rid er, Dale Quarte rley, refused to participat e. . " I wo n 't ride if it rains," Quarterl ey said as ea rly as Sa tu rday afternoon. "It's just too slic k. I don't wa n t to take a chance on ge tting hurt . I'm sup pos ed to fide Geor ge Vincens i's (Honda) VFR (750) in an Internat io na l Superb ik e race in Mexico in December, and I want to be in good sha pe." With the weather ca using Sunday's program to run behind sched ule, co mbi ned wit h the fact that th is was th e firs t day of Eastern Sta ndard Time , the race was sho rte ned to two hours to avoid the impendi ng darkness; it was eventua lly called com plete 15 mi nutes short of its sched ul ed fini sh . The weat her probl em s were com po unded by the fact that no manufacturer pr oduces a rai n tire suitable for Daytona 's 3 1-degree banking, leavin g the end urance team s to mak e the di fficu lt cho ice between hand-cut slicks and DOT -approved stree t tires. Dutchman Racing 's Don ald J acks took the lead from th e very start o n the team 's Suzuki GSXR IIOO, and wou ld lead unt il it came time to hand. off to teammat e T om Kipp. J ohnson & Woods ' Lee Shierts gave chase o n ano ther 1I00cc Suzu ki, in spite of th e fact tha t the San Diego, Ca lifornian, had never before road raced in the rai n; his mo tocross experience was obviously pay ing off. Fastli ne Racing and Cycle Mot ion both sta lled at th e start , with th e riders behind them scra mbli ng to avoi d a collision. T he second-wave GTU mach in es wai ted while the two riders pushed thei r machines to the side of th e grid, and wh en they did get go ing, the Yamaha FZR600s of Moore Racing and T eam OTS led th e way. There were on ly three team s with a mathematical cha nce of topping Du tch man II for second pl ace in the point standi ngs - T eam G ibsonia/ En glert Racing, Ro ugh Stock Racing All-S tars and T eam Motor Sport. Dr. David Kieffer did no t come to Daytona with th e All -Stars H onda RC30, and th e Yamaha FZRlOOOs of both Gibsonia/ En glert and Motor Sport met early demises. Gibson ia / Englert suffered a blow n shift shaft sea l on lap two, and Motor Sport, whose rid er Richard Arnaiz had run third at the start, had a rear tire deflate after just II laps. With their co mpe titio n elim inated and their seco nd p lace in th e point sta ndings secure, Dutchman II cou ld ha ve packed up and gon e hom e, but J acks stretched his lead ins tead. O ne hour and 10 minut es into th e race , th e pace car came ou t for the firs t tim e. A mad scra mble to the pits ens ued, with man y team s taking th e opportu ni ty to cha nge riders and refue l. Du tchm an II led the resta rt , followed by the I IO cc Suzuk is of Excel O Racing and defendi ng series Ch am p ion s H ype r-C ycl e. J oh n son &

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