Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Japan 's Tatsu ro Arata ro de hi s Moto Liberty-backed Yamaha FlR750RR to a fifth p lac e fin ish in wha t was his first-ev er AMA Superbike National. co mpetitors hea da ch es by di p p ing into the 2: 19s during Su nday morning 's practice. The grip a t Roa d Am erica was co nt in u ing to im prove wi th each and every la p , a nd Chandl er felt 19s wo u Id be the race p ace. , The Fa st By Ferracci crew was set bac k when J a mes' Duca ti 85 1 b lew a n engine in th e morn in g session o n Su nday. T h e crew ma naged to ge l the spare eng ine insta lle d p rior 10 th e fin al practice sessio n, and J a mes rode th e bac kup in the N at ional. N a tio n a l ; The first sta rt of the Natio na l sa w Cha nd ler leadi ng, but Renfro w wa s in the 101' spot as they reach ed th e end of th e back stra ig ht , Cha nd ler was in tow with Sadowsk i, J a mes, Steve ns a nd Ru ssell. _ T hat order wou ld remain th e sa me for th e next lap , pr ior 10 th e event fu l Gray crash wh ich br ough t OUI th e red fla g 10 stop th e race. ''I' m a lu ck y man," G ray sa id la ter. " I was trying 10 get a good draft a n d he just ca me right back 10 me. My fro nt w heel wen t right in to h is back wheel a nd th a t wa s it. It wa s a n in nocent rac ing accide nt, an d I'm just h app y 1 did n 't ge t h urt. I was real relaxed d uri ng th e race, a nd that's proba b ly wha t helped me." T he race wa s resta rted in its 15-lap , 60-m ile ent irely a fter th e front stra ig h t was clea ned up fro m th e Gra y m ishap. Kip p an d Q uarterley co lli ded a t th e drop o f the flag a s bo th riders went for a hol e in th e fro nt row , b UI th ey mo to red on . Ch a n d ler, mean wh ile, gra bb ed th e ea rly lead. That was short lived , however, a s th e Cal iforn ia n gOI into tu rn three 100 hOI as he tried 10 brea k a way early ; he wa s forced 10 backshift in order to ge l th e bik e back up to spee d , a nd Renf ro w took advantage o f the situat io n 10 la ke th e lea d. Ch andler took over the top spot by the li me the pack got to turn five for the seco nd time, a n d his lap tim e o f 2: 19.75 quickl y gave him so me brea thing roo m. " I was just tryin g to keep m y pace a nd be as smooth as I co u ld," Cha ndl er sa id la ter. " I was a ble to ge t rea ll y good drives off th e corners. " As it tu rns ou t, Ch andler 's turn th ree mista ke on the first la p was h is o n ly error. T he Kawa sak i rid er p u t hi s h ead aown from the seco nd la p o n a nd event ua ll y opened u p a lead o f over six seco nds on the ba ttle for second. T h at battle co ns is ted in itial ly of R en frow , Ja m es a nd S tevens, b UI Stevens prob le ms with th e lea rn 's new Perform ance Machine br ak es ca u sed h im to run o ff th e track ea rly . " I had to use my fu ll hand to gel it slo wed down ," Stevens sai d. " Goin g into (tu rn) eig h t I co u ld n 't ge t it sto p ped. I stra igh ten ed up and rode it OUI. At that po int, I just wanted 10 finish th e th in g , bUI it hap pen ed agai n. After that th e throt tle stuck wid e open go ing int o turn two an d I had to clutch it to ge t it slo wed down. 1 got it o u t into the roc ks a nd lost the fro nt ." T h at tu rn ed th e race for seco nd into a two -rider a ffa ir between Renfrow a nd James. T h e D uca li seeme d to be a little down o n horsepower co m pared to the u ltra -fas t Commo nw ealth H onda , a nd when Ren frow gOI a better break th rough traf fic o n th e 12th lap , J ames lo st th e draft a nd u lti ma tely hi s shot a t seco nd p lace. The top th ree was set for th e rest o f th e race. Sadows ki, meanwhile, was havi ng a lo nel y rid e in lourth p la ce b UI wa s still feelin g th e effects of hi s b rok en co llarbone . After th e demise of R u ssell a n d Stevens, the bat tle for fifth was bel ween Ara ta a nd Quan erley. The J apanese ride r wa s ab le 10 ge the better o f th e New Eng la nde r, a nd Q uaner ley wo u ld eventu a ll y crash o n th e l l th lap. " It locked up a t th e en d o f th e stra ig h ta way ," Quanerl ey sai d lat er. . " It may nOI be th e en gine, I th ink it' s so me th ing in the rear wheel. I was o n ly. going abou t 10 m ph 'wh en I crashe d , I just co u ldn' t gel it sto p ped in th e ro cks." The longest last in g bail ie wa s th at for sixth bel ween Ashmead and Kip p. It wa s o ne th at was won by Ashmead a nd th e Mu zzy Ka wa wsak i. " T h a t wa s a fun ra ce," Ashmead sa id. " We had a good time ou t th ere." C h in ro de h is Yamaha to eigh th place with Ca lifor nian Ba rr y Bu rk e ta king n imh in h is first AMA Superbi ke N atio na l. J o hn H o pper s ta d ro u nde d OUI the to p 10 fini sher s. " We made a lot o f cha nges to the bi ke," Ren fro w sa id. " And we ha d it set up real well. We did all we co u ld , bu t it wasn 't enough 10 ca tch Doug (Ch a nd ler) thi s week ." ('~ R esults H EAT 1: I. Du u/< Ch andler ( JU.w) ; 2. Thomas Ste.." ens (Ya m); 3. Dav id Sad ow ski (Ya m) ; .1. Da le Quaflf'rley {Ho n}; 5. T at surc Arata (Ya m); 6. Sco n Gr a y (Sul) ; 7. ~1a rk Chin (Yam ): 8. Keith Pin kstaff Randy Renfrow finished second in the National after holding off Jamie James early in the race, Renfrow's 16 points keeps him second in th e championship. Tom Kipp (16) and John Ashmead (37) were featured in one of the few battles that lasted the duration of the 60 miles. Ashmead edged Kipp for sixth place. (SUl); 9. Ch t isn a n G ard n er (Ya m ); 10. Pablo Rea l (Due): II. Barry Burke (Yam); 12. Da le Robi nson . (H e n): 13. Craig G leason (SUl); 14. Kevin Ren ez ell (Sur): 15. Dav id Kieffer (Ho n ): 16. Mike Karm (Suz): 17. Mike w a lsh (Suz): 18. j ell R hea u me (SUI ). Time: II min .• 53.340 sec, Distance 5 la ps. 20 mites. A.erage Speed: 100.934 mph. Mar gin o(Victory: 5.480 sec. HEAT 2: 1. J am ie J am es (Due) ; 2. Randy Renf row (Hnn ); 3. T o m Kip p (Yam) ; 4. Sco tt R ussell (Kaw ); 5. Mig uel Du Ha mel (SUI ); 6. J acques G uene tte (Yam); 7. Joh n."Ashm ead ( Ka w ); 8. J am es Ada mo (D ue ); 9. Da vid Smi th (SUl ); 10. J o hn Hopper stad _ (Ya m); I I. jnhn jacob (Ya m); 12. Ray Yod er , j r.. (Su z); 13. Eric Moe (SUI ); 1-1 . Tnd H ebert (Suz ): tS. Kurt Li ebmann (Due); 16. Ro ber t San dy ( Ka w); 17. Fra n k Kin sey (Yam) . Time: II m in.• 55.950 sec. Dis tan ce: 5 la ps. 20 m iles. Avtraj; t S~~ : 100.566 mph . Margin of \ letOry: .020 sec. SU PE R BtK£ N ATIO NAL: I. Doug Chandler (Ka w): 2. Ra nd y Renf row ( H on ); ~ . jamie James (D ue); 4. David Sadowski (Yam ); 5. Tatsuro Ara ta IYa m j: 6. j o h n Ash mead (Kaw]: 7. Tom Kipp (Ya m ); 8. Mar k C hi n (Yam ): 9. Ba rry Burke (Yam): 10. Jo h n Ho p per stad (Ya m) : I I. David Sm it h (Suz}; 12. Kei th Pinksta ff (SU1); 13. Joh n J acob (Yam) : 14. Rober t Sa nd y (Kaw); 15. Tnd Hebert (Suz): 16. Mike Karm (Sua): 17. Da vid Kei ffer ( Ha n ); HI. Eric Moe (S UI) ; 19. Fra nk Kinsey (Yam); 20. Sco u R ussell [Kaw ): 21. D31e Quanerley {H o n ); 22. Christian Gardner (Ya m ); 211. Thom as S tevens ( Ya m ); 24 . Scan Zam paeh (Yam); 25. Kurt Li ebmann (Duc); 26. Dal e Robmson (Ha n); 27. J acq ues Guen ette J r. (Ya m). AMA SUPERBtK£ NATIONAL C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. Doug Chandler (69); 2. Randy Renf ro w (53 ): 3. David Sadowski (31): 4. T om Kipp (28): 5. (TIE) Thoma' Srevens/ j amie j a mes (26); 7. Scott Russel l (25): 8. j oh n Ashmead (24); 9. Mar k Chi n (2 t ); 10. Da le Qua nerley (20); II. J acq ue, . G ue ne tte (15); 12. Dona ld J acks (11); 13. T atsu ro Ara ta (10); 14. SIeve Crev ier (9); 15. (T t E) Pa ul Bra yl Jo h n H oppe rstad (8).

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