Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ DAYTONA PREVIEW CycleWed<'90 ! Anew decade dawns 0') ....... ~ r- By Brian Catterson ..c: u l-< C'd ~ new decade of motorcycle raci ng is about to commence, and it all sta rts at Florida's ' Da ytona International Speedway, "The World Center of Racing," Marc h 2-11. Camel Motorcycle Week is actually 10 days worth of non-stop motorcycle happenings , headlined by the 49th Ann ua l Daytona 200 by Ara i scheduled for Sunday, March II , a t 1:30 p .m. If thi s year's 200-miler is as wild as last year's, the n there's no such thi ng as a sure bet. T he 48th edition of the Spring Classic saw leader after lead er fall by the wayside right down to th e final laps when Yoshimura Suzuki 's Jamie James checked int o the pi ts whi le lead ing . The move ha nded the wi n to Honda-mounte d priva teer J ohn Ashmead , wh o thought he 'd finished secon d! T a lk abo u t dra ma . . . Co m i ng in to th is yea r's 200 , Yoshi mura Suzuki's Doug Pol en had to be cons idered the favo rit e. But a frea k test session accident in California has temporarily sidelined the T exan , and in his absence th e for ecast becomes a little murk y. In th e no t-too-distant past, Daytona was a showcase for Grand Prix stars like Freddie Spe ncer , Edd ie Lawson, Wayn e Rain ey and Kevin Schwantz, who all wo n there o n superbi kes befo re hea d in g to Europ e fo r fam e a nd fortune o n the Wo rld Champio ns hip road racing cir cuit. Wit h this in mi nd, Sco tsman Niall Mackenzie can no t be d isco u nted . A former Ho nda a nd Yam ah a SOOcc GP co nte nder, Mackenzie will be riding a Loctite Yamaha FZR7S0RR O WOI at Daytona, and if hi s eq uipment eq ua ls h is un dou bted riding abi li ties he'll be toug h to bea t. Another European who bears no tice is West German Martin Wimm er who 'll be participating in the 200 for the second tim e. Las t year the 2S0cc GP ace fin ished sixth on a painfully stoc k Su zu ki su per b i ke co bbed toge ther at the last mom ent, but thi s year he'll be riding a (ho pefu lly mor e co m p eti tive) H ein Ger ick e-b acked Yamah a. As fa r as Ame ri ca 's ho pe fo r a winner, that's a toug h o ne. The sillyseason sha keup has left precious few to p riders o n the same team s, and of Muzzy Kawasaki recruits Scott Russell and John Ashmead; Commonwealth Honda RC30-mounted Randy Ren frow; Yoshimura Suzuki 's pair of talented Canadians, Steve Crevier and Miguel DuHamel; Australian Paul Lewis on a Sports Motorcycles Ducati; Sadowski's Vance & Hines teammate Thomas Stevens; Canadian veteran Rueben McMurrer on a Honda; Dal e Quarterley on th e ven erable GeeVee Honda VFR7S0; and who knows who else? . Supporting road race events incl ude Friday's Pro Twins GP I, GP2 and 7SOcc Supersport final s, as well as th e "T win SOs," a pair of SO-mile qual ifiers which det ermine starting pos itions for the 200. Sunday will see a ' , pair of 100-kilometer contes ts for 600cc Supersport and 2S0cc International Lightweight machines, while HarleyDavidson fans will di scover a new type of Roll ing Thunder Show with the U.S. Twin Sports race for almost-stock 883 Sportsters. Not to mention the preceding weekend's AMA Championsh i p Cup Seri es a m a te u r eve n ts, including th e first three-hour ro u nd of the 1990 EBC Brak es Enduran ce Challenge Series on Sunday, March 4. Many of th e top profession al teams use the AMAlCCS races to dial in their new, unproven equipment, so bear this in mind before you dismiss them as bein g " just a bunch of Billy-Bobs." A 14 those, eve n few er o n ' th e sa m e eq u ip ment . Dirt tracker-tu rned-road racer Dou g Chandler is o ne of those who stayed wh ere he was, and this fact may well work to his adva n tage at Daytona. The Cal if o rn ian won th e fin al tw o Nation al Supe rbike races of the '89 season on hi s Muzzy Kaw asak i ZX7, , so he's in the midst of a winning streak. A win in th e first race at Dayton a would keep his strea k ali ve, and get hi s seaso n started on the right foot. Rei gn ing AMA Su perbi ke a n d AMA/CCS 7S0cc Supersport Ch amp ion J amie J am es has swi tched from a Yosh imura , Suzu ki to a Fast By Ferracci Ducat i, and if hi s bike can go the distance there's little doubt that J ames' co nsistency will ho ld h im in good stead at the fini sh . Da vid Sadowski s tuck w i th Vance & Hines through the team 's cha nge of brands and crew ch ief, and will no w be riding a Yamaha prepared by once-upon-a-time factory Kawasaki mechanic Steve Johnson. The V & H cre w recently underwent exten sive testing at Daytona where 'Ski turned hi ghly-competitive lap times, so look' for th e aggressive New Englandercu m-Georgian at the head of th e pa ck. The fact that V & H was the o n ly o ne of th e top su perbike teams not thrash ing wren ches to fini sh their bikes prior to Dayto na may in itself be worth something. Other possible winners include new Monday, March S, will see AHRMA H isto ric Cup road races wi th riders of vintage / classic machinery taking to a special circuit wh ich uses access road s to connect the .west-end banking and infield road course. Ever seen an MV Agus ta up close? Better yet - ever heard one? A stro ll through the pi ts is like turning back the hands of time, so get there early. , On the way to Dayt on a, vin tage road ra cers can get so me testing in at Roebling Road Ra ceway in Savannah Georgia, site of an AHRMA H istoric Cup road race and school o n Sa turday, March 3. But before you start thinking that Daytona is nothing but road raci ng, think again I

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