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
Kurt Hall rode a Suzuki GSXR750 to repeat as B Production Champion, then switched to a Yamaha FZR1 000 to top A Production and Superbike. Stevie Patterson (141) and Alan Bertagnoli (14) fought tooth and nail in Saturday's C Production Expert race. w ith Patterson taking the win. Yoshim ura Suzuki's Tommy l ynch rode Jamie James' Superbike t o a convincing B Superbike win . WERA Grand National Finals obles, Hall, lenatsch big winners at Road Atlanta GNF By Brian Catterson Photos by Larry Lawrence and Catterson BRASELT ON, G A, NOV. 2-5 For the second week In a row, Novice An dre w , "T rip p" Nobles III of Macon, Georgia, went undefeated to become the winningest rider a t a National road race 8 fin al. Last week at Da yto na In tern a t ion a l Speedway, I Nob les won three AMA /CCS ti tles. T his week at R o a d Atla nta he went one bett er, ta king home th e number on e plat e in fo u r \VERA class es. .N o b les ' d omin an ce b ega n o n Thursday, th e o nl y ra in y da y in an o the rwi se sunny four-da y wee kend whi ch saw 431 rid ers compete in so me 30 sp rint races (Frida y was reserved for the six-hour end u ra nce race), But No bles' day started on a so u r note with a crash in tur n o ne - an up h ill , rig h t-ha nder w h ich leads into the u nd u lati ng 2.52-m ilc, 12-turn road co urs e. " 1 went o u t in practi ce an d tri ed to go a little too fast o n a cold, slick track," Nobles sa id of th e morning i ncid en i. The fall did li llie but br u ise the determined Novice, a nd wit h crash ing out of h is .system , Nob les rode his Vi c Faso la-t un ed S uzuki GSX R7 50 to convi ncing wins in bo th th e A and B Superbike Novice divisions. On Sa turda y, th e Ph il Flack Racing Services/ Du n lo p / Downstaging/ Su zu ki of Macon-sponsored rider came from 10th at th e sta rt to wi n the B P ro duction race. But it wasn' t easy, as he ran off the trac k on th e short ch u te between turns six and seven shortly a fter taking the lead. "I do n 't lik e 'em li ke tha t," No bles sa id, " fa ll ing back, making m ista kes. 1 tried to pass a co u pl e of guys; I'd have th e lin e and th ey'd slam th e door o n me. 1 though t, 'O kay, I' ll get yo u.' 1 tried to make a ll rea l clean passes." Nobles th en posted h is fourth and final victory in typi cal runaway fas hion during th e A Production Novice race. T here were two o ther multipleclass winners - Ku rt Hall and Nick len a tsch - who each wo n thr ee Expert-class races. H a ll, \VE RA ' s o rga n iza t io n a l ma nager an d m ember of top-ran ked end urance ra cing effort T he H u man Race T eam , pos ted h is first win in Thursday 's eig h t-la p A Superbike race. Ha ll rode h is Dave Zupan prepared (a. k.a. " Zuper-t uned " ), Michelin-sh od Yamaha FZRIOOO to th e win o ver Dutchman Racin g tea m ster Tom Kipp o n hi s Michelins ho d Wi seco Yam ah a FZR 75 0 . Superb ike. Hall th en switc hed to a Suzu ki GSXR 750 fitted with Mctzeler DOT tires to defend hi s 1988 B Producti on titl e. Hall wo n eas ily, pa ssin g ea rly leader J ason Pr idmore on a Dunlopshod Su zu ki en ro ute to a whopping m arg in of victo ry. H a l ls HRT teamma te Tim Morrissey finished seco nd o n a Pirelli -sh od Suzuki, with Pridmor e wi nd ing u p th ird . Hall's fin al wi n ca me la reSa tu rda y in the A Pro d uct ion race wh ere he ra n a way to a n over 30-second ad va ntage o n a Me tzel er- sh od FZRIOO O. After h is B Production wi n, Hall th ank ed h is broth er Sco tt, wh o i n trod uc ed him 10 m o tor cycl es th rou gh motocross raci ng, and hi s friend Edw ard Hessel , wh o go t Hall to join \VERA in 1984. . Ienatsch . Mot orcyclist magazine's feat u re ed ito r, beg an h is winni ng streak with two back-to-hack victories o n Thursday. T he Uta h na tiveturned -so uth ern Ca lifornia n fi rs t rode Don McCp llough 's 0 & J Racin g Group Honda RS I25R to the win in a wet Form u la 3 race. Icna tsch raced early on wi th defendi ng F-3 ch a m p Al La inh a rt on h is twostroke, twin -cylinder I25cc MBA, bu t Lain hart had prob lems and faded to sixth. .