Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA Circle Bell Pro Twins Series: R ound7 . Aam d odominates,'Crte oz dindes championship R OADRACE ~ 1 TOPEKA, KS, AUG. 9 n th e absence of newly-crowned Pro Twins G PI Champion Jamie J am es , tw o -time Battl e of the Twins Ch a m p ion Jimm y Adamo proved just as do minant as he wo n the 16-1ap Pro Twins fin al at Heartland Park T opeka in runaway fashi on. r Adamo led from start to finish , turn ing lap times over two seconds faster than second-place fin isher Kevin Erion en route to a near ly 45-second mar gin of victory , thus becoming th e fir st rider o ther th an J am es to win a P ro Twins fin al this year. . But the real story was in the GP2 ' ca tego ry, where Fabian Cortez's fifth win of the seaso n secu red him th e class champ io nsh ip - the seco nd this year - for the Fast By Ferr acci Ducati equipe. Cortez now holds an ins urmoun tab le lead over Craig Shambaugh in th e GP2 point standings, 103-80. -J With J am es off racing a factory Ducati in the World Superbike round in Le Mans, France, th e question was whe th er Erion 's T wo Brothers Racing 860cc Honda H awk ha d the stuff to ch allenge Adamo's potent GiaCaM o to 888cc Ducati for second p lace in the GPI po int sta ndi ngs. It didn 't . Ada mo grabbed a nother o f his paten ted holesh o ts and motored off into th e distan ce, as Erion was left behind, fighting his mach in e as it bucked 0 [£ the start ing line. At th e end of lap one , Ada mo alr eady ha d a th ree-second lead over Erion , and would continue to stretch hi s adv antage at a co mparable ra te. Behind the lead twosom e, the blac k Ducati 851 of Pabl o Real led a pair of red ones belo ngi ng to Dr. David Kieffer and Randy Sh emwel l. While Real's th ird p lace would be largely u ncontes ted , Kieffer and Sh emwell traded fourth p lace back and forth , with Sh em well claiming permanent ow ner ship of the po sition in the fin al minutes. Asked when he last won a race, Adamo had to th ink lo ng and hard. "It would have to be three years ago , I th ink at Mem phis (Ten nessee, on August 9, 1987)," said the Lo ng Islan d, New Yorker. Adamo th a n ked his sponso rs Arai , F&L Raci n g Fuel, Tsu ba ki and Auto liie, and hi s mecha nic Enzo . Er io n was d isa p po i n ted by th e margin Ada mo had pulled o n hi m, but was ha ppy to get thro ugh th e weekend . " We' re way down on po wer . I kn ew I cou ld n't beat J immy here, so I figured I'd just cruise and save th e motor for nex t weekend at Willow Springs," Erion said. Like Adamo and Real , Erion rode on Dunlop radial slicks. " We tried. We just need more cubic inches," Erion's tuner Mik e Velasco said. GP2 action saw th e cu sto mar y Cortez runaway win as he finished a credible sixth overall from his secondwave start, but a ten se, three-wa y battle for second and a two-way tus sle for fifth in class enlivened what would otherwise have be en very -bla nd contest. I a Two Brothers Ra cing's Pete J ohnson overca me a see-saw struggle with Minnesota's Sco tt William s to claim the runner-up slo t, while Finn Jussi Hau tanierni mo stly spectated from his nearby fourt h posi tion. Shambaug h worked hi s way up from a sixth-p lace start to pass Kevin Sta sny for fifth pl ace befor e the fini sh ; all but Cortez (Duca ti 750 Sp ort ) a n d J ohnson ( H o n d a H awk) rode Ducati F-I s. " Wha t a warl T he pace wasn 't too fast at first, but it kept bu ild in g an d bu ildin g," said Williams, who was making hi s first appearance in th e winner' s circle with hi s Metzeler-shod Wheels Un limited Ducati. " I have to th ink Pete (Johnson) was pl ayin g with e Fabian Cortez clinched the Pro Twins GP2 Championship by riding his Fast By Ferracci Ducati 750 Sport to his fifth win of the year at Heartland Park Topeka. me." " It was tough. I definitely wa sn 't holding anything back ," said 1987 Battle of th e Twins Modified Production Champion Johnson , refuting Williams ' claim. Cortez down pla yed his accomplishmen t. " I just wanted to take it easy. I didn't want an ything stup id to happen," he said, seeming happier th at he wou ldn 't have to go to Willow Springs th an he was to cli nch the title. Cortez also apologized to Yokohama, as he'd switched to Dunlop radials this weekend aft er usin g the J apan ese tires everywhere else. (;N Results PRO TW GPI : I. J ames Adam o (Due); 2. Kevin Er ion (Hon) ; s. Pabl o Rea l (Due): 4. Randy She mwe ll (Due); 5. David Kieffer (Due): 6. Timo thy Seebo ld (Kaw); 7. Walter Sa kowski (Due); 8. Edward Abdo (Hon). P R. TW CP2: I. Fab ian Cor tez (Due): 2. Pete O . Johnson (Duc); S. Scott Willia ms (Due); 4. J ussi H autaniemi (Duc); 5. Craig Shambaugh (Duc); 6. Kevin Stasny (Due ); 7. Rona ld McG ill (H on); 8. Eron Flo ry (BMW); 9. Mark R~n ol ds (H on); 10. Lan ce Baker (M·G ); I I. Mike Tiberio (M·G ); 12. Sherry Dowlin g (Kaw). Time: 30 min.• 22.680 sec. Distance: 16 laps . 40 miles Avera$ < Speed : 79.005 mph Margl o o(Viaory: 44.270 sec. PRO TW GPI PO INT STAN DINGS: I. Jamie James (120); 2. j immy Ada mo (97); ~ . Kevin Erion (84); 4. David KIeffer ( 5~ ) : 5. Pablo Real (51): 6. Kurt Liebma nn (29); 7. Alan H ip pensteal (28); 8. Doug Brau neck (27): 9. Walter Sakowski (23); 10. Randy She m well (22). PRO TW G P2 POINT STA NDINGS: I. Fabian Co rtez ( IO~) : 2. Crai~ Shambaugh (80): ~ . Pete Joh nson (66); 4. J U SSI Ha uta ni em i (54); 5. Frank Shock ley (49); 6. Cu rt Kimbl e (46); 7. Mik e Tiberio (44); 8. Rober t G riffiths (41); 9. Soon Williams ( ~4 ); 10. Ran d y Kimec (27). AMA/CCS Harley-Davidson U.S. Twin Sports Series: Round 8 Nobles reigns By Brian Catterson P hoto by Werner Fritz TOPEKA. KS, AUG. 9 ndrew "T ripp" Nobles III took advantage of a m istak e by Nigel Gale to win his fo urth HarleyDavidson U.S. T win Sports final of the year at H eartland Park T opeka. Defending class cha mp Gale led Nobles until lap four, wh en the Bartels Harley-Davidson rider got into turn A Whe n Nigel Gale (I) oversho t a turn, Tripp No bles (2) took advantage 10 win his fou rth U.S. Twin Sports final of the year. Pa l Moroney (356) finished third. one too ho t and ha d to take to th e escape roa d. "The fro m forks aren ' t too good and if you brake too hard th e front end starts bo uncing up and down," Gale explained later. Nobles seized the opport u nity to put h is Downs tagi ng/ T he Motorcycle Shop/Dunlop-sponso red 1986 883cc Sportster into the lead , and was never headed as he led the nine-rider field to th e checkered flag at th e end of eigh t laps. " I think Ni gel (Gale) o u trode himself; it wasn't me that outrode him," quipped Nob les. Gale recovered to fini sh seco nd, relegatin g the Metzeler-sh od Moroney's Harley-Davidso n of Pat Moroney to third. Shawn Higbee fough t off Matthew Win nacker to finish fourt h and fifth , respectively. (;N Jimmy Adamo celebrates his first Pro T wins victory since August 1987. Results u.s. TW/ SPRT: I. Andrew Nobl es 111; 2. Nigel Ga le; 3. Pal Mor on ey: 4. Sha wn Hi gbee: 5. Matth ew Winn acke:r; 6. Mike Patt erson ; 7. Darrell J on es; 8. Jon Stauffer; 9. Donald Geo rger. T im e: 16 min .• 32.220 sec, Dislanct:~5. 20 miles la A.erag< S : 72.565 mph Margin Vietory: 4.150 sec. 13

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