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/127270
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" I figu red if I sat back a nd settled
for seco nd pl ace th at 1 wou ld be in
good p o siti on fo r the res t o f th e
seaso n," Smit h sa id. " I kn ew if I went
afte r h im (Ara ta ) th e chances for me
cras hi ng wo u ld be high. Then I woul d
have to wor k my b u tt off th e rest of
the seaso n to win th e champio ns h ip."
Petersen kep t hou ndi ng Kirk for
fou rth p la ce , but t he Yo shimura
uzuki rid er had enoug h pow er to stay
in fro n t. Mean wh ile, Ol iver had (lulled
away from th at battle a nd was rid ing
com forta bly in third.
Despi te hi s brok en fin gers, Gra y had
stead ily worked h is wa y throug h th e
field. The Yoshi m ur a cre w had fash io ned a specia l throttle to enable Gray
o ride in th e fin al. and he ended th e
rac e in e x haust io n , b u t s ixt h
non eth eless.
Bernard. Quarter ley, Hall a nd Harth
ro u nded o ut th e top 10 fini sh ers.
On th e win ner 's podium Arata had
to have hel p ta king o ff his ra cing
g loves, as a ll the rid ers looked a li tt le
worse for wea r. Sti ll, Ara ta smi led.
~ When asked what typ e of traini ng
p rogram Arata was on to keep in
s hape , Yam ashita rep lied: " I put h im
to work for me. H e does everyth ing,
no one pays m e to have him rid e, so
I hav e to ge t so me t h i ng for m y
money."
, In sprin t race ac tio n, Tom my Lyn ch
broke a lo ng dr y spe ll by winn ing first
.place Suzu ki money in th e B Superstock race. Lyn ch put his Yoshim ura
Suz u ki b y Team H a mm er' s Br i ll
T urkingto n o n th e first la p . Lyn ch was
so o n bei ng ho un d ed by hi s ne w
' tea mma te Kirk, but th e th rea t fro m
Kirk didn 't last long as th e Okla homa
rider cras hed.
Kirk was n 't in th e mood to co m men t
after th e crash (his thi rd in th ree
.weeks), but he did say th at h is bik e
·hit a false neutral.
I Lynch then proceeded to pull a way
from a seco nd -p lace batt le betwee n
T u rking to n a nd Mich ael Martin . " I
just went as hard as I needed to,"
.Lynch said. " It felt goo d to get back
to winning,"
-m Kir k didn 't,le t his cras h g et to him.
IH e lat er went out and cha sed d own
(T u rki ng to n in the cl o sin g la p s to
.win th e S uzuki-paying A Superstock
rac e.
CN
~
F- USA I. Tatsuro Arata ( Ya m); 2. Mik e Smith
{ S UI): 3. R ich Oli ver ( Ya m): .1. Ri ck Kir k. (S U1); 5.
Robbi e Pe-t e-rse-n ( Y.1I1I); 6. 5("011 Gr a)" (S UI); 7. Brian
Berna rd (Yam): R O;llt' Qua rtt'r1t") (S UI ); 9. Ku rt H all
'
' S UI ); 10. Mil t' H a rrh (SUI ); 11. Brill 'T u t kiu gtou
(~ i
ll): 12. J. rr H aga n (S UI ); 13. Jim Sobi n (S UI ): H .
J o h n Ho p pcr stad (Ya m): 15. Christian Gard,lt'r
(Yam ); 16. Joe P ittma n (SUI) : 17. Brad Sa wyer (Ya m);
18. Peter ~f a rti n ~ ( S tu ) ; 19. j ot"Breu Will iams (B o n );
20. Ku n 1 .l·l1l l (SUI ).
F· lJSA C' SH t P POI:-;T ST A:-;I>I:-;C S: I. ~lik .·
~ Smith (. )
I X); 2. R ich Ol iver (52); j. ~OH G ra y (50);
·f ~l ilt" H arth ('1-1 );5 . Rick Kirk (30 ); 6. Brian Bern ar d
($OJ; 7. Ta tsu ro Araw (28); M J(·rr H agan (2 1): 9.
.
).
Robbie Peterse n (20 ); 10. Brill Turking to n (1M
A SISTI': I. Rick Kirk (S UI ); 2. Brill Turk in gt on
(Stl1): j . Ch uck G ra \t·~ (Stll): .f. Da vid Ot...-ea u (S UI) ;
r>i Pete ~la n in\ (SUI).
B S/ STI<: I. T ommy Lyn ch (S UI) : 2. ~li c h at'1
~l arti n (SUI); 3. Britt T ur kin gt o n (SUI) ; -I. Davi d
' Devea u (SUI) ; 5. Ku rt H a ll (Su i) .
C S / ST K: I. S It"U' ROOd...n (Ya m) ; 2. Seo n \\' i ll Ol.J..
(Ya m ): 3. j Ot· Prussia no (Ya m ): -I. ju rnes S