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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127371
means safe from attack as James and
Amaiz closed the gap . On lap 55,
Stevens ' st ill had two seconds on
James/ Amaiz, but a lap later and th ey
were on him. James set himself up for
the draft as they en tered the tri-oval,
and he sho t by his teammate at th e
finish line to take seco nd p lace. Arnaiz
would settle for fourth, followed by
Russell, Quarterley, McMuner, Mackenzie , Chin and Hislop.
DuHamel was ecstatic, and let out
a few Scotty Parker-like screams from
Victory Lane: " It feels terrific. It 's a
dream come true," he said. " I was
screaming in my helmet coming down
the banking on the last lap. Randy
(Ren frow) was a big help. It 's too bad
I got the ride because of Randy's
misfortune, but he 's doing much better
and healing quickly. I just want to
thank Martin Adams for giving me the
opportunity to race for the team. "
James was pleased with his second- .
place finish, and especially happy with
the way the Vance Be Hines Yamaha
performed: "It was working better than
it ever had at the end of the race," he
said. " It took three-quarters of the race
before the shock started losing its
damping and working good. I th ink
I did a 1:54.9 on the last lap, and that's
not bad for the las t lap. I thought I
could draft pas t Thomas, and I
thought, 'Boy, is Thomas going to be
pissed. ' "
Stevens said his Yamaha had loaded
up when the pace car ca me ou t,
causing h im to lose ground to
DuHamel: "Thank God it cleared out
and here we are. "
Arnaiz was relieved to be rid of the
pain: " I almost did it, but not quite,"
he said. "I was pretty happy when I
took the lead early in the race. We were
just drafting each other back and forth,
my hand wasn' t hurting and I was
feeling prett y fresh so I took the lead.
I had a good rhythm and a good pace
going. The caution flags and th e pa ce
car got us mixed up with the slower
riders and that's what began to wear
me out. After that I began to lose my
drive and I got tired . .. I do feel a
sense of accomplishment, it was a good
race and I'm glad for Miguel. "
Russell said he made a mistake in
pitting the final time under th e
DuHamel takes both hands off the handlebars after winning his first Daytona 200 and second career AMA National
caution: " I bl ew it myself," he said.
" I wasn't real sure if I had enough gas
so I pitted. I might have held second
if I hadn't come in , I don't ·know. I
didn't have any brakes at the end. I
didn 't come in for a tire , I didn't want
a tire. I only wanted gas . We'll get 'em
nex t time. I would have made it easy
without getting gas; with the pace car
we were going slow - I just wasn 't
thinking. "
Quarterley was happy wi th his bestever Daytona fin ish , but the vetera n
said he erred in gearin g choice, causing
the Honda RC30 to overrev halfway
down the fro nt straight, Quarterley
went the entire 200 miles on a single
rear tire.
CI'I
Results
Q UAUFYING: I. Doug Po len (1:53.638); 2.
Miguel Du Hamel ( I:53.881): 3. Ja mie Jam~s
(1:5-1.021); 'I. Scott Russel l (1:.5-1.829); 5. Freddie
Spencer ( 1:55.910); 6. Mike Smith (1:55.995); 7. Ri ch
Amaiz (1:56.083); 8. Tom Kipp(I :56.ISO);9. Thoma .
Stevens ( 1:56.3 12); 10. Rueben MeMuner (1:56.'118);
II. Ro b McElnea (1:56.5-15); 12. Pascal Picotte
(1:56.586); U . Dale Quartttley (1:57.1\2); H . Peter
Rubatto (1:57.265); 15. Carl Fogarty (1:57.331); 16.
Robert Holden (1:58.062); 17. Tommy L yn ch
(1:58.196); 18. Mike Hanb (1:58.358); 19. 5 teveH..lo p
(1:58.659): 20. Jacq ues G uene tte, Jr. (1:58.729); 21.
Nia ll Mackenzie (I :58.835): 22. Jeff Fanner (1:59.093);
23. Da vid Leach (1:59.17'l!; 2'1. Britt T urkington
(2:00 .508); 25. Mark Ch an (2:00.592); 26. Jay
Spri ngsteen (2 :00.68 1); 27. J ohn H op per stad
(2:00.728): 28. Jo hn Ashmead (2:00.832); 29. Mark
Foster (2:00.969): 30. Kimm o Kop ra (2:0J.3 79); 31.
Wee Coo ley (2:01.511); 32. Eri c Moe (2:0 1.610); "Phil Kress (2:0 1.877); M. Bob Sandy (2:02.123); 35.
Frill Klin g (2:02.266): 36. Keith Pinkstaff (2:02.'111):
37. Esko Kuparinen (2:02.81'!): 38. Barry Burke
Theloung~Du==H==m~e~l
a
__
rior to his first AMA National Superbike win
in August of 1990, Miguel DuHamel was more
famous for being Yvon DuHamel's son than
for being a top-level road racer. Now he's on his
way to stardom, thanks to an impressive sweep
of the 600cc Supersport class and the Daytona 200.
"It feels great to win Daytona, " the 2~-year-old
French Canadian said. "The names that come to
your head are Freddie Spencer, and (Kevin)
Scbwantz and all these guys. I can't believe I'm
here. I can't believe I've won this race. This is
the greatest feeling you can have."
DuHamel hasa history of crashing and of being
injured In June of 1989, he broke his left leg while
practicing for the Suzulea 8-Hour. The rod from
.
the badly-broken leg was only removed this past
' .~. .
November. Last year at Daytona, DuHamel crashed during his Twin 50 qualifier
and injured his hand - he didn't take part in the race. He was not to be thwarted
in 1991.
.
"I'd like to thank my pit crew ," he said. "They were steering me. My eyes
' were ,those guys. I don't know what's going on and I never looked~ack. They
gave me great pit signals. We .had calculated that with maybe six laps left we'd
coine in and put on one of those really good tires - 626 Dunlops. ;The pace car
even pulled into the pit lane there at the end, so I thought thatmaybe I'd stop.
But there were like 15 to 20 guys waving me by, yelling ' Don 't stop,don't stop.'
I sOrt of got the message right there. The Daytona 200 is a long race and it's
a team effort. The Commonwealth Honda Camel team came hereand we won it."
Yvon DuHamel was a proud papa: "I couldn 't be more happy," Yvon DuHamel
said, who competed in the Daytona 200 I4 times. "I wanted to win that race
since 1961 and couldn't do it, I got a second in 1969, but now Miguel has won
ii so it's oleay with me. I can't be more happy."
P
(From left to right) Stevens, DuHamel and James in Daytona's Victory Lane.
(2:02.886); 39. Robert Wright (2:03.531); '10. Rick
Sha w (2:03.573); 'II. O ui s L:ance (~: 03 . 679) ; '12. Ray
Yoder. J r. (2:03.7'10); '!3. Michel Simeon (2:03.966):
H . Tom my Sloan (2:0'1.230); '15. Kevin Bl a..
(2:0'1.30'1); '16. Todd Hoge (2:0'1.'163): '17. Ol iver
Bip in gsley (2:0'1.613); '18. John Lo ng (2:0'1.802); '19.
M.ke Walsh (2:0'1
.957): SO John D. Cox (2:0'I.98'!).
.
HEAT I: I. Dou g Polen (Duc) ; 2. Rich Arnaiz
(Hon); 3. Carl Fogany (Hon); 4. Niall Macke nzie
(Hon ); 5. Thomas Steven. (Yam); 6. Ro b McEl nea
(Yam) : 7. J amie James (Yam); 8. David Leach (Yam) :
9. Tommy LynCh (Sur): 10. Steve Hislop (Hon); II.
Freddie Spe ncer (Hon): 12. Jo hn Ash mead (Kaw);
13. Jay Springsteen (SUl); 14". Eric Moe (Hon) ; 15.
Ouis Lance (SUl): 16. Esko Kuparinen (Ho n ); 17.
Michael Simeon (SUl); 18. Dean Mizda l (SUl); 19.
Da vid H a nsen (SUl) ; 20. Randy Texter (SUl); 21.
Craig Gleason (SUl); 22. Fra nk Kinsey (Ya m ); 23.
Lawrence Hanlo n (Kaw); 21. Greg Kopp (Due): 25.
Bob Bossardet (SUl); 26. Stephen DeCamp (Kaw) ;
27. Phil Pummell (H on ); 28. Klaus Moehrle (SUl);
29. Devin Bartley (Duc); 30. Bobby Franklin (SUl);
31. Tomml Sloan (Ya m); 32. Robert Wright (SUl);
33. Dale Quarterley (H on); ''I. Britt T urkington
(SUl); 35. Kimmo Ko pra (Yam ); 36. Fria Kling
(Ya m); 37. Jell Atwell (SUl): 38. Lo uis Sacx:ocrio
(SUl); 39. Kur t Liebmann (Duc): 40. Mike Wal.h
(Ya m); 'II. J ames Adamo (Due); 12. Randy Shemwell
(SUl).
Time: 29 min.• 9.670 sec.
DUtane<: 15 laps . 50 miles.
Avera~ Speed: 109.872 mph.
Mugull of Victory: 3.970 sec,
HEAT 2: I. Scou RU55ell (Ka w); 2. Miguel
Du Ha mel (H on); 3. Tom Kipp (Yam ): 1. Rueben
McMu rtrr (Hon); 5. Pasca l Picotte (Yam ); 6. Jacques
Guenette. Jr. (Kaw): 7. John H o pper stad (Yam); 8.
Robert Holden (Hon ); 9. Mark Ch in (Yam); 10. Mar k
Foster (Yam ); I I. BobSandy (Kaw); 12. Wes Cooley
(Ho n ); 13. Pe ter Ru bano (Yam ): 1'1. Barry Bur ke
(Yam): 15. Keith Pin ksta ff (Kaw ): 16. Brad Haze n
(Ya m ): 17. Ri ck Sba w (Yam ); 18. Ray Yoder. J r. (SUl);
19. John Cox (Yam); 20. J oh n Lo ng (Duc); 21. Kenny
Kopecky (Sur) ; 22. Mike Karm (5ul): 23. James
O ' H a re (SUl); 21. William O'Beesch (SUl); 25.
Charles Terrell (SUl); 26. Steve Morehead (SUl); 27.
Ala n Berta~oli (SUl) ; 28. Kevin H um (SUl); 29.
Bryan Bem isderfer (SUl); 30. Jo h n Burgoyne (SUl):
31. Scott Slump (SUl): 32. Paul Zieschang (SUl); 33.
Don Vance (SUl): 3'1. David Alley (Kaw); 35. J ell
Stern (Kaw): 36. Larry Gruen (SUl): 37. Jell Farmer
(H on ); 38. Todd H oge (SUl); 39. B.B. Montemayor
(Ka w); '10. Chri. Haldane (SUl) : 'II. Fra ncesco
Fabiano (H on ); '12. Christian Gardner (Yam ): '13.
Mike Smith (SUl); 'l'! . Mike Har th (Ya m); '15. Paul
Schwemmer (Han); 46. Warrm Elli o u (Due). •
T im e: 29 min., 6.550 sec.
Distance: 15 Iaps , 50 miles.
Average SP

