Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

R A AE O DR C AMA Circle Bell Pro Twins Series: Final round I ~nce apin, the V.S. Twin Sports final pitted Tripp Nobles (2) against friend and nval NIgel Ga le (1). Nobles drafted past Gale to win his fifth race of the year. . It's Adamo again By Brian Catterson Photo by Kai Schwerdtfeger . ROSAMOND, CA, SEPT. 16 im m y Adamo took his second cons ecutive Pro Twins GPI win , and p ut a lock on second pl ace in the final point standings by defeating Kevin Erion at the sou them Californian's home track, Willow Springs International Raceway. " I love wi n ning in California," Adamo, a New Yorker, said . "They (the Cal iforn ians) always think they're gonna kick our asses when we co me o ut here. " Adamo's win moved him to within three points of new ly crowned Pro Twins G PI champ Jamie James in the final point standings, the Fast By Ferracci Duca ti rider having clinched the title two races ago at Mid- Ohio. Adamo had a tense moment in the pits when he had to rep lace a broken clutch followingthe earlier Superbike final. As Adamo labored over his machine, Two Bro th ers Racing 's Cra ig Erion hovered a bo ve him , jokingly saying, "The pressure is on." Ada mo was n't laughing. It didn't matter, because with James still in Europe, Adamo had no rea l competition. The GiaCaMoto Ducati rider headed into turn o ne in first place, led the clos ely following Honda Hawk of Kevin Erion for a lap, and then stre tched his advantage at about a second per lap unt il he'd incr eased it to some eight seconds. At the finish 161ap s later, Adamo took th e win with a 7.73-second margin. Strong winds played a factor, forcing the riders to slow so mewha t from their practice pace. Adamo turned lap times mostl y in the I:30-31 range d uring the race, his fastest being a pair of 1:28.7s. " It was scary, " Adamo said. " O ne time, I co uldn ' t even see tu rn nin e with all the du st blow ing arou nd." Prior to th e race, Adamo had taken off h is lower fairing and gone o ne too th bigger on the rear sproc ket to cope wi th the headwind on th e front straigh t. Adamo's last few lap s were hi s s lo wes t, a s his rear tire wa s begi nni ng to come apart. Erion is fami liar wi th the desert's ha rsh wea ther conditions , but was unabl e to cap ita lize on his home track ad va n ta ge, blaming a lack of horsepower. " Su re, I'm di sappointed, " Er ion said. " You don 't kn ow how frustrating J i t is to know that yo ur o ppo ne nt has such a huge horsepower adv antage." The two leaders' pace was such that they lapped the entire field . " H e had a 'p lus forever' on the pit board," sa id Er ion 's tuner, Mike Velasco. " I sa w ' +40' o nce before Mike stopped giving me signals," added Erion. Adamo thank ed series sponsors Circle Bell , plus his own sponsors Arai, F&L Racing Fuel, Tsubaki and Autolite, and hi s mechanic, Enzo Assainte. Ro nal d McGill rode h is Honda H awk-based machine to third in th e GPI class , one lap behind the leaders. The former WERA class champ, who recently returned to racing after a 10year layoff, rode off th e edge of turn four and crashed during Saturday's practice, and was tak en to the hospital with a cracked shoulder and a ch ip ped hip. On Sunday, McGill scoured the pits, looking for a doctor to sign hi s medical release, and finally found one after th e announcer asked " Is there a 'doctor in the house?" . Local rider Bill Fennessy rode hi s Yamaha Virago-based ma chine to fourth in th e GPI class, two laps beh ind the lead ers. The fifth and last competitor in the anorexic G PI field , Randy She mw ell, retired his Duca ti 851 with mechanical probl ems while running third o n lap four. Two Brothers Racing's Pete Johnso n finall y won a G P2 final , taking ad vantage of the absence of Fast By Ferracci Ducati rider Fab ian Cortez, who clinch ed the G P2 titl e at Topeka and o p ted to skip Willow. Johnson raced wi th local rider Ki yo shi ge Watana be until the rear tire of the Californian 's H onda H awk chu nked, and he was forced to reti re. " I started on a used tire and it just did n' t work out," said Watana be. " He (Watanabe) go t into a big slide in turn ni ne and I cou ld see stuff hanging off his tire , so I went past hi m point ing down at it, H e probably though t it was some kind of cheap raci ng tric k, " sai d J oh nson . J ohnson then cruised the remainin g laps, maintaining his ad vantage over second- placed Craig Shambau gh to take an ' anticlimactic, but ha ppy win. Pete Johnson (14) fends off Kiyoshige Watanabe (I5) du ring the Pro T wi ns G P2 final. Johnson won with Craig Shambau gh (7) taking second aft er Watanabe retired. "When I got here and saw how fast these loca l guys went, I thought 'Uh, o h.' It 's a tough track and it wa s a tough race, and it means a lot to me to win it," said Johnson after taking hi s first win since Laguna Seca in 1988. Johnson is sponsored by Two Brothers Raci ng, T sub aki and Shoei. Early G P2 leader Jussi Hautaniemi of Finland was forced to retire aft er one lap when his Ducati F-I 's chain adjuster broke, taking th e chai n with it. Shambaugh, like Johnson fro m Pennsylvania, finished a distant second o n his Fast By Ferracci/ Klotz/ T subaki/Shoei-sponsored Ducati F-1. Noted vintage racer and 1989 AHRMA 750cc Sportsman Champion Rob Tuluie forsook the Steamboat Springs, Colorad o, vintage race this weekend to take third place here on a trick 920cc Norton owned by Ken Canaga, built by Jim Schmit, and sponsored by Left Coa st Racing, Fair Spares America a nd Machados, a ma chine shop in Tuluie's hometown o f Au stin, T exa s. Tuluie was competing o n the Norton for the first time; he 'd practiced on the bike at Dayt on a, but didn 't race because it seized. The top-three finishers , all from o u t of state, led home a parade of local riders: J ason Pereira on a Kawasaki -p C 500 finished fourth, wh ile Gary Mansfield o n a Ducati rounded o u t th e top five after a race-long battle with Charles Burnett on a Honda Hawk and Paul Orlandi on a Ducati F-1. Burnett finis hed sixth while Or land i retired, frustrated by the wind y co nd itio ns. T wenty-yea r vet er an Mick Ofiel d fin ished a credibl e seven th on his Ducati af ter p itting o n th e first lap. a Results PRO T W G Pt: l. J ames Adamo (Due); 2. Kevin Erio n (Han ): 3. Ron ald McG ill (Ha n ); 4. Bill Fen nessy (Yam ). • P RO TW G P2: 1. Peter Johnson (Ha n ); 2. Craig Shambau~h (Due); 3. Rob T uluie (Nor); 4. Jason Pe reira (Kaw ): oS. G ary Mansfield (Due); 6. Charles Bumen (Ho n ); 7. Mick Ofield (D ue): 8. Eric D'Ianson (Ha n ). . Time: 24 min.. 13.340 sec. Distance: lfi Iaps, 40 mi les Avera)le Speed: 99.082 m ph Ma rgm o ( Victory: 7.730 S«. PRO TW GP I fiNAL POINT ST ANDING S: l. J amie J am es (120); 2. James Adam o (117); 3. Kevin Erion (100); 4. David Kieffer (5~); 5. Pablo Real (51); 6. Randy Shemwell (~2) ; 7. Kun Liebm ann (29 ); 8. Alan Hippenstea 1 (28); 9. Dou ~ Brauneck (27); 10. Walt er Sakow ski ( ~); 11. Chrn Thom as (20); 12. J ohn Virgada mo (18 ); 13. (TI E) Dale Q uar ter ley/ Randy Ren frow (16); 15. (TfE) Ronal d McG ilVJoh n Long (I ~ ). P RO TW Gn fiNAL POtNT STANDINGS: 1. Fabi an Coner ( I O~) ; 2. Craig Shambaugb (96 ); ~ . Peter Johnson (86); 4. JU:U I Hautaniemi (54); 5. Frank Shockl ey (49); 6. Cun Kimbl e (46); 7. Mike T i ber io (44) ; 8. Ra ben Griffiths (4 1); 9. SCali Willi am s (34); 10. Ran dy Kirn ec (27); 11. (T IE) Kevin Stasn y/ Rich Pax son (26); 13. Mark Reynolds (19); 14. Paul Kell y (18); 15. Kevin Erio n ( 16). AMA/Crs Harley-Davidson U.S. Twin Sports Series: Round 9 By Bri an Catterson Pho to by Kai Schwerdtfeger ROSAMOND, CA, SEPT. 1 6 ndrew "Tripp" Nobles III took .h is fifth U.S. Twin Sports win of the seaso n by nipping Nigel Gale a t Will ow Sp r i ngs Internat ional Racewa y. The rookie expert from Macon , Georgia, exchanged the lead back and forth with Ga le throug ho ut the eightlap race , then drafted past at the finish line to win by a scan t bike-length. Local rider Bruce Reimer, star of the Police Ol ympics, raced with Nobles and Gale until he acc identally turned off his igni tio n key with hi s knee and broke the end off his shift lever. Before tha t, Reimer made the mo st spectacul ar pass of the race, go ing from th ird to the lead by riding around th e o u tside of the two leaders in high-speed tum eig ht. Motor cyclist magazine Sen ior Editor Dexter Ford rode a lonely race to fin ish fourth, with Mark Bau tzer an eq uall y lonely fifth . Dave FioreI l na rro wly defeat ed J o n Stau ffer to ro und o ut the field. a A Results u.s. TW/SP RT: l. Andrew Nob les III ; 2. Ni gel Gale; 3. Bruce Reimer; ... Dexter Ford ; 5. Mark Bautzer: 6. Dave Fiordl; 7. Jon Stauffer. T im e: 13 mi n. , 15.070 sec. Dis tan ce: 8 lap s, 20 miles Avera ge Speed: 90.558 m ph Margin o( Victory: . 150 5('(:.

• Cover