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/127218
mat es a nd fellow Georgians Smith and Bra y were locked in a ba ttle for secon d , with Sm ith finall y p u ll ing ou t a sma ll adva ntage which h e'd ' hold ti ll the fin ish. '" gai ned on him (Smith) a littl e in traffic, bu t' co ul d n 't rea lly ca tch him , h e was rid in g too hard ," sa id Bray, who like his tea mmate wa s rid ing on Dunlops. H arth ran fift h all race; though he lost a position to Turkington at th e Nissan bridge, he gai ned o n e as Sadowski slid ba ck wards. In th e en d , Turkington led ' Ha rt h across th e stripe to claim fourth pl ace, wi th Harth fifth , even though T urki ngton said hi s bike wasn't running well - he'd pi cked th e wrong ca rb ureto r jetti ng. David Deveau , fellow Ca li fornia n Dean M izda l, Wisconsin 's An dy Fenwick, Texas' Ol iver Bill in gsley and California 's Pete DeLeo ro u nded ou t th e top 10. Both Deveau an d Fenwick were riding with in ju ries su ffered in di rt b ike accide nts Deveau wi th broken ribs an d Fenwick wit h a brok en collarbo ne. GSXR1100 Final T he GSX RIIOO final was th e n ex t race o n Su nday's agenda, though a local no ise ordi na nce dictated that it be h eld two-a nd-a- ha lf hours af ter the Katana race . Tha t H arth likes rid ing the b ig bikes was apparent as he led the fiel d in to turn o ne. Bu t h is lead was shortlived as R ussell o utbraked him into tum six. the right-han der a t th e far end of the raceway. J ames ran thi rd a t th e start. a nd was up to seco nd by lap th ree. H e then set au t to catch th e fleeing Ru ssell , who had already pulled o ut a sizea b le advantage. On lap fou r, J ames took th e lead , and though it appeared that R ussell was riding smoother, perhaps wai tin g for the right opportunity, at the fini sh it was James over R ussell by a scant .22 of a seco nd, with Harth a lo nely third. "Scott lost th e draft," sai d H a rt h , '" wa s up there with th em a t th e sta rt. I cou ld have done a little better, b u t I'm h appy." Both Yoshimura riders a nd Su zuki of Corpus Christi -sponsored H ar th rode o n Mich elin H i-Sport ra d ia ls. Bra y raced wi th Sm it h for fourth, with Sm ith ac tua lly p assing H arth o nce for third before h e sta rted to ru n out o f gas: he p us hed it across th e lin e to ta ke a d isappo inting 16th p lace. " It wa s nobody 's fa ult bu t mi ne ," sa id Smi th , wh o did his own wrenching for the S uzu ki C up rac es. '" wis h I could bla me it on someo ne else." Bra y cruised h ome for fourth with Pi ttman , Sadowski , Turkington , Yoder , Devea u a n d southern Californian Curtis Adams fillin g in th e fifth th rough 10th positions. GSXR750 Fina l The la st Suzu ki Cup race on th e sch edu le was th e GSX R750 Final. A full field o f 34 riders gridded for th e start, with R ussell on pole and James righ t beside him. . Mizdal 's ra ce loo ked to be in jeo pard y fro m the onset. He'd blown a motor in h is hea t race, a nd had bo ught a moto r from Sa dowski, b u t it too wa s sm o kin g o n th e warm-u p lap so he pulled into the p its. H all 's Metzeler tires appeared to be workin g good fro m th e ver y sta rt, an d he led th e field for th e fir st few laps, pu lling o u t a su bs ta ntia l lead . R ussell raced with J ames, with James once pa ssing R ussell a t th e Nissan bridge and Russell ta kin g it right back. On la p four, Russell dr aft ed past H all on th e lo ng backstra ig h t to ta ke th e lead. " Every thing went j us t right," said R ussel l. " Ku rt (H a ll ) took off , so I j ust relaxed a nd let th e tires h eat up; Kurt Hall (60) pulled out a big lead early in the GSXR750 final. but Scott Russell (22) passed him to w in . later, Hall (6 0) became embro iled in a battle with Paul Bray (5), M ike Harth (88) and M ike Smith (hi dden). it 's real easy to th row it away in th e first few laps. I reeled h im in a nd I never saw h im again ." J ames p assed H all on lap six, a nd set h is sigh ts o n Ru ssell , bu t R ussell just stre tche d hi s adva ntage, turn in g I:29s to post a 5,43-seco nd margi n o f victory. " H is (R usse ll 's ) bike was a little better; they proba bly hi t the jetti ng just righ t," sa id J ames. " It was n't wo rt h throw ing it a way ." H all hel d h is ow n over Smi th, Bra y and H arth , a ll run ni ng in tight forma tion. By lap 10, Bray a nd H arth h ad bo th gotten past H all , with Harth al so . passing Bra y for third before th e fin ish. H all held off Smith to fini sh fift h. Lyn ch had sta rted at th e rear of th e grid in hi s h eat ra ce an d finished nint h, and was simila rly working h is way up in the final. H e was ridi ng in pain from hi s end u ra nce race cra sh on Fr id ay, a nd raced with Sa do ws ki, wh o was a lso riding with pain, u ntil Sadowski cras hed in tu rn seven o n la p eigh t. Lynch's pace let h im ca tch the foursome in fro nt of h im , but h e co u ld make no impression and fini shed seventh. Wri gHt, Pitt m an and AMA/CCS 600cc Supersport Champion Scott Zampach rounded o u t th e to p 10. Results 600 : 1. Jamie Ja mes; 2. M ike Smith; 3. Paul Bray; 4 . Br itt Turkington; 5. M ike Hart h; 6. David Deveau; 7 . Dean M izdar; 8 . Andy Fenwick; 9 . Oliv er Bill ing sley; 10 . Peter Del eo; 11. Rick Kirk; 12. Ray Voder; 13 . John Craigmile; 14 . Al an Sm ith ; 15. Jim Still; 16. David Sadows ki; 17. Phil Pumm ell ; 18 . Gary Hatherly; 19 . David Bryan t. 750 : 1. Scott Russell ; 2. Jamie James; 3. M ike Hart h; 4. Paul Bray; 5. Kurt Hall; 6. M ike Smit h; 7. Tommy Lynch: 8 . Roben Wright; 9. Joe Pittma n; 10 . Scon Zampach; 11 . J eff Hei no; 12 . Britt Turkington ; 13. Rick Kirk; 14 . Ray Yoder; 15. Curti s Ad ams; 16. Tod Hebert; 17. Craig Gleason; 18. Mark Chin; 19 . M ike Sullivan; 20 . Chr is Mart one. 1100: 1. Jam ie J ames; 2. Scott Russell ; 3. M ike Han h; 4 . Paul Bray; 5. Joe Pin man; 6 . David Sadowsk i; 7. Br itt Turkington; 8. Ray Yoder; 9. Dav id Dev eau; 10 . Curt is Ad a ms; 11. M ar k McDaniel; 12. Jay Denham; 13. Craig Gleason; 14 . Ken Evans; ยท15. Doug Kidd; 16. Mik e Smit h; 17. Oliver Billi ngsley; 18. Donny Briggs; 19. Ma rk Reynolds: 20 . Gary Hatherly. II