Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE e ilIA Suptrbike National Championship_R_oad_Ra_c_ee_ri_es:_RO_UD_d_1 S James leads iron man Rich Arnaiz; Amaiz finished fourth despite riding with a badly-injured left hand. Third place went to last year's pole-sitter Floridian Thomas Stevens. 10 the results of the second Twin 50 as Mike Smith and Farmer both suffered crashes and Mike Harth's Hank Dowowned Yamaha blew up. " It was a slick tire," Smith said. "I just got a little anxious." Amaiz spent Saturday resting his sore hand, but the Twin 50 race had taken its toll on him and he was . suffering on Sunday morning: "The . cold's not helping it," he said. "I'm just having problems with it when I first go out there, but it gets better when it gets warmed up after some laps." DuHamel and James warmed up for the Daytona 200 by finishing first and second in the 600cc Supersport final on Sunday morning while the others planned their strategy for the big race. Polen and the Ferracci team wouldn't have to make two gas stops, according to Polen, but Eraldo Ferracci was worried most about the tire change. The Ducati didn't have quick wheel change capabilities like the Hondas, Suzukis, Yamahas and Kawasakis. "It could take us anywhere from 15 seconds to .. .' Ferracci said with a grimace. "You'll see when they come in for the first gas stop, I'll keep goi ng," Polen said with a smile. Daytona 200 Sunny skies and a cold wind gree ted the Daytona 200 field for what en ded up being a 2:25 p.m, start time. The race was slowed after only a single lap when Massachusetts' James O'Hare crashed his Suzuki GSXR750 in the dogleg tum four, bringing out the pace car for the first time. . Russell was leading at the time, and he and the pace car led the field around the 3.56-mile course for three laps while the crash debris was removed from the track. By th is time, pole-sitter Polen had pushed the Ducati back to the pits. "We had a problem with the chain and I'm not sure what caused it," Pol en explained. " It started right as I left the line on the start. The chain felt like it was skipping every other tooth on the sprocket. I couldn't get it to accelerate and it would skip, skip, skip every time I got on the gas. When I finally got onto the banking, the chain came off and I coasted around as close to the pits as I could before I had to begin pushing. We got it going, but the chain was bent so it wasn't fixed. We put on a new chain, but then we found another problem - when the chain came off it apparently cracked the casing where the hydraulic clutch is and we were seeping fluid. I was three or four laps down so there wasn't anything to be gained by going back out and risking a possible bad situation just so I could make some more laps. " When the pace car exited the track, Kipp took his tum at leading the way, heading Russell , Picotte, James, DuHamel, Arnaiz, Spencer, Fogarty, McMurter, Mike Smith, and Stevens as the top riders fanned a freight train of superbikes, On the 10th go-around, it was Arnaiz riding bravely to head the field, clocking a 1:56.1~ in the process. Two laps later, though, and James was at the front of the pack. By this time, Smith had crashed hard at the Iruernatignal Horseshoe and was being transported to the hospital. Fogarty was also in trouble, being docked a lap for passing under a waving yellow flag. Kipp pitted on the 14th lap, the first of the lead group _ to do so, but it wasn't a planned stop and he rejoined the field before eventually stopping with a blown head gasket. " Fo r a change things were going real well, " Kipp said. "We went to the front, and the pace was real comfortable. I kept waiting for somebody to go around me, but they didn't. I didn't really want to lead. I was just trying to conserve fuel and my tires. Then that (engine problem) happened." On the 15th lap, Spencer, who was running in the lead group at the time, pitted and called it a day - his Honda ROO suffering from a slipping clutch. "We made our mark out there," Spencer said on pi t road. " I was telling the crew before the start of the race that I thought we had the combination to win - the bike was running good and the tire combination was right on. The problem was that off the start, the clutch got cooked and then it got worse and worse. I could run with them on the straights and in the infield. I really think we could have been there at the end because I could have.run the pace we were going all day." James continued to lead, now with DuHamel chasing as those two put distance on the Picotte/ Amaiz battle behind them. On the 19th lap, James was the first of the leaders to make a scheduled gas /tire stop and he rejoined the race in ninth place, giving the lead for the first time to DuHamel. Picotte's day ended on the 20th lap in a cloud of smoke as the Yamaha blew its motor on the exit of tum five. By this time, DuHamel had established himself as the man to beat, and on lap 24 he led Russell by just over 12 seconds. Amaiz was third, followed by Arnaiz , James, Stevens and Quarterley. Dirt track legend Jay Springsteen crashed his Suzuki on the 29th lap in the doglegged turn five, all but handing the $5000 top dirt tracker bonus to Steve Morehead, who ended up finishing in 34th place. Springsteen would later be suspended for using an llOOcc engine. The 30th lap saw the pace car take to the track for the second time while corner workers soaked up an oil spill, bringing DuHamel's challengers back ' to his rear tire. By this time, second place was held by James over Russell, Arnaiz and Stevens. DuHamel had lapped up to 15th place with New Zealander Robert Holden the last rider on the lead lap. DuHamel and Russell used the caution period to pit for gasoline and tires on the 33rd lap, and Amaiz would follow suit a lap later. All this handed the lead back to James, who would give it to Stevens a lap later when he pitted under green conditions. Stevens led until the 39th lap, when he pitted for gas. DuHamel again took over the lead. Farmer then had his second crash of the day in tum one, repeating his 600cc Supersport performance. DuHamel again put his head down and opened up a lead on the field, with Russell now second ahead of Stevens, QuarterIey, Amaiz, James, Mark Chin, McMurter, Guenette and Mackenzie. On . the 44th lap, Craig Gleason 's Suzuki soaked the tri-oval with oil, and Fogarty went down in turn one, bringing out the pace car with only II laps to go - again at a time when DuHamel had broken clear of the pack. By the time workers got the mess cleared up it was lap 51, and it set up a six-lap dash to the flag . But no one could match DuHamel, and he instantly opened up a three-second lead on second-placed Stevens. The drama would not include the Canadian, but Stevens was by no

• Cover