Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·~ ROAD RACE AMA 250((Grand Prix &ries: Round 2 In th e absence o f Team Rob ert s, th e focus has shifted 10 what was form erl y a di ce for th ird-o r-so pl ace. H owever , th is is not necessaril y a bad thing, as in years pa st Brauneck , Green e, Coe , Jon Cornwell a nd, tow ards th e latter part o f last seaso n, D'Aluisio have enga ged in some of th e closest racing seen o n the AMA circu it. D'Aluisio a nd Brauneck provided an indication of th e season to co me this year a t Daytona, wh ere th e duo mixed it up with some foreign co m pe titors to finish in close fifth a nd sixth places, resp ectiv ely. ~ Heal races T he start of the 250cc GP final saw winner Chris D' Alu isio (I I) lead Darr~lI Cooney (70), Lee Shierts (85), Doug Brauneck (46), Danny Coe and Jon Cornwell. AI Salaverria (22) tried his best to hold off three-ti me AMA Formula Two Champion Donnie Greene (3), but the wily veteran outfoxed the young upstart to take third. D' Aluisio's dream comes true By Brian Catterson Photos by Paul Carruthers BRASELTON, GA, MAY 6 h r is D'Al u isio defea ted Doug Brauneck a t Ro ad Atl anta 10 finall y make hi s dream o f winning a n AMA 250cc Grand Prix final co me tru e. DavHar Ra cing's D'Aluisio look advan tage o f a near-vertical wheelie by H asty Racing 's Brauneck com ing over th e backstrai ght Can-Am hill to tak e th e lead on lap \4 of th e 20-lap even t. Th e West Redding, Conn ecti cut , resid ent then fended 0[( repeated advances from th e Georgia veteran to tak e hi s first major win in wh at is just his fifth yea r of road racing, D'Aluisio a veraged 100,53\ mph en route to a sca m , 10 o f a second margin of victory, co llecting $1525 of th e $8000 250cc Grand Prix purse, Mclver Ra cing's Donnie Green e ou td ue led young upstart Al Sal averria .to narrowly claim third place in th e C 8 fina l, wi th GK Racing 's Danny Coe a so me wha t d istant fifth , Th e e n ti re 25-rider field rod e Yamaha TZ2 50s, Th e vic to ry was bittersw ee t for D'Aluisio, how ever , as it came in th e ab sen ce of form er class stando u t Rich Oliver and top privateer Robbi e Pet er sen , both o f w ho m a re now contesting th e WERA Formula USA Seri es for Kenn y Robert s' Team Marlboro Yamaha, .. [ wish Ri ch were here," sa id th e sh y D'Aluisio, who 's sponso red by DavHar Racing and Dunlop. " l think I stood a cha nce of beat ing him thi s weekend. I gu ess we'll never kn ow ," " Despite winning, we wish the y were here," interj ect ed D'Aluisio 's tuner David H arold. " T hey provide a ga uge to measure o ur performance aga inst.': D'Aluisio was especiall y fast from the first practice sessio n on a t Road Atlanta, as were Brauneck a nd threetim e clas s cha mp Greene, Brauneck tri ed some Dunlop slicks in pra cti ce before sett ling o n his tri ed-and-true Mi ch elin s ; Green e a ls o u sed Mich elins. D'Aluisio led the first five-lap heat race from sta rt 10 fini sh , with Green e pa ssin g Co rn well a nd Coe for th e runner -up pos itio n by lap two, th en follo wi ng D'Aluisio across th e str ipe by j ust .66 o f a seco nd. Co rn well , Coe a nd ' T ex an Ri ck Kirk (backed b y P et e rsen ' s fo rm er spo nsor OTS ) rounded ou t th e top five, Ol iver 's ex-Ra ndy Mam ol a Racing teammat e Salaverria won th e seco nd hea l race a fter a frantic, race-long baili e with Braun eck a nd Mark Dru cker. Each rid er took turns lead in g, wi th Dru cker running wide in tu rn o ne after passing for th e lead on th e fin al lap, allowing the ot hers to get away, Sa laverria bar ely edged Brauneck by .02 o f a second, wi th Drucker th ird, Cl iff Bigon ey a nd Lee hiert s fill ed in th e fo u rt h a nd fi ft h p o siti ons , resp ect ivel y. D'Alu isios [our-second quicker heat race tim e ea rned him the o u tside po le posi tion, with Sala verr ia, Greene and Bra un eck co m p leting th e [ou r-rider [ro m row; Co rn well , Dru cker, Coe a nd Bigon ey filled in ro w two. 250cc Grand Prix final Green e's Sunday began o n a so ur not e with a practi ce cras h headl ong in to a n eart he n em ba n kme n t o u tside o f left-hand turn two. The three-time AMA Formula Two cha m p suffered a bu ised left ankle, h ip a nd thumb, but was abl e to make th e fin al. Green e was forced to wear hi s Dutchman Racing (h is end u ra nce team ) lea the rs because his us ua l o nes had a 10 m sea t. D'Aluisio got a flyer of a sta rt, a nd led Ca na d ia n Darrell Cooney, Shierts, Bra un eck and Coe up th e hill to begin la p one. Green e go t box ed in a t th e s ta rt, a nd ran se ve n t h behind Co rn well. By lap two, Brauneck was nipping a t D'Aluisi o 's heel s, w ith Co oney hold ing 0 [( Co e, a fast -cl imbin g Sa la verria , a fading Shi erts, G reen e, Co rnwa ll and Drucker , One lap lat er, Brauneck had ta ken th e lead, whil e Sal averria had worked hi s way up to third to set th e stage for th e rem a inder o f th e race. Drucker's race ended wh en he tossed awa y his Roland Cushway -tun ed machine in turn three . Cornwell's race ended short ly thereafter with a broken wrist pin , as did Cooney's with a broken ho se clamp and subsequent seizure, D'Aluisio led across th e stripe o n lap four , but lap five saw Brauneck run up th e inside o f D'Aluisio in turn one 10 aga in take th e lead. Brauneck th en began to ease awa y, until the aformention ed big wh eel ie. "The front end cam e up a nd the wind caugh t it , so I had to back o ff," said Brauneck of th e in cid ent. " T hat allo wed Chris to ca tch up. I don 't think he co u ld 've beat en me if that hadn 't happened. One wh eeli e cost me th e race !" D'Aluisio took th e point for th e next four laps, with Brauneck lead ing br iefl y o n lap 18 before D'Aluisio again got by; he held it till th e finish . " I didn 't look back at all - I was just feeling the tir es," said D'Aluisio, " When I saw Doug, I thought, 'Good, someone to race with.' I tried to put backmarkers betw een us, but Doug kept getting aro u nd them. On th e second-to-last lap I saw a group of riders th at we'd need to pass, so I thought, 'Now it 's time to' go .' '' The two recorded th eir quickest times that circuit, with D'Aluisio posting a I;28,80 to Brauneck's 1:29,17. A 30-seco nd margin separated th e leaders from th e pair in third a nd fourth places, Green e had elbowed his way into fourth by lap five, th en hunted down Salaverria, It was la p 17 before Green e finall y got by, with Sal averria returning th e favor in turn seven a lap lat er. On th e penultimat e lap, Green e again snatch ed th e posi tion whi ch he would not relinquish. " O nce I go t pa st Coe I had p retty mu ch of a clea r track ," said Green e. ..At th at point, Al had a strai ghtawa y o n me. Hi s bik e accele ra ted bett er th an m in e, but we had abo u t th e sa me to p speed . H e kept lo okin g o ver hi s sho ulde r , so I d id th e things a ny expe rienced rid er would do ." " Expe rience pa ys o ff - Donnie Green e sure showed th at ," said Salaverria in agreeme nt. The you ngster from Sa n Francisco , Ca liforn ia , added tha t he felt hi s bike was o vergeared a nd tha t th e jet tin g was a tad off: he said th at he wa s lookin g behind him because he didn 't hav e a pit boa rd. Coe rode h is m irrors, figura tively spea ki ng, to fin ish fifth . " I kept track o f how far back th o se g uys were and wh en th ey go t close I'd cli ck o ff a qui ck la p. I figured I'd sa ve my tires for th e end rather th an burn th em up," Coe sa id. " T hose guys" behind Coe included Kirk , Willia m Himmelsbach a nd Jeff Fa n ne r, wh o engaged in a race-long . three-wa y battle: th ey finished in th a t order. . Bigon ey ran sligh tly o ff th e pace to finish nimh, with Ca nad ia n Andr ew T revitt claiming 10th after a baule with Jim Bonner a nd Sh ierts, wh o fini shed 11 th and 12th, respect ively. I:N Resu lts HEAT I: I. Chris D'Alu isio (Ya m); 2. Don Gr eene (Yam ); 3. Jo nathan Co rn well (Ya m ): 4. Dan iel Coe (Y311); 5. Rick Kirk (Ya m); 6. Da rrell Coo ney (Yam) ; 7. Wi ll iam Hi m melsbach (Ya m): 8. Andrew Trevitt (Ya m ): 9. j eHr

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