Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ o , ,.....; D' Alusio came back from a slow start to win the Air-Tech Formula Two race, Britt Turkington led the way in the Superstock classes, winning the A and B events. Kenny Roberts Jr, (17) finished fifth in the F-2 final; Chris D'Alusio (11) won , the lead ers. Others who retired during the course of the race were Je ff Hagan (crash ) and Robert Wright (cl u tch ). On the fin al lap slo wer traff ic aga in became a factor. This tim e it was Petersen wh o made it th rou gh th e jam , ensuring him th e victory. After the two Marlboro Roberts rid ers came th ree Team Hammer riders, Hall , Jacks a nd Turk ington. Hall a nd J acks went un challenged in th e latter stages of the race, but Turk in gton was getting a ll he co u ld handle fro m T ripp Nob les. At the finish it was Turk in g to n getting fifth place by a half second. Graves finished a lonel y seventh, while a fourth T eam Hammer rider Michael Martin, held off New Zeal and rider Brian Bernard in a close race for eighth. Colorado rider J ohn Hopperstad beat J oe Brett Williams to the finish to finish ins ide the top 10. Kenny Roberts J r. made hi s pro road racing debut in th e Air -Tech Formula II Seri es race, but it was Chris D'Alu isio who stol e the sho w, D'A lu isio rode his DavHar Racing Yamah a TZ 250 to an impressive 13-second margin of victory over Nick lenatsch . Roberts Jr. battled with two-time WERA F-2 cham p Brad Sawyer th e entire race and it was th e veteran Sawyer who crosse d the lin e just inches ahead of th e 17-year-old Roberts, Rob erts ' Ra in ey Racing tea m ma te Allan Scott, looked good in. h is first race for the team, The fo rm er 125cc World Champi onsh ip co m p eti tor fini shed a solid third o n his blue a nd gold Otsuka Electroni cs sponso red Yamaha. T h is new series durin g WE RA P ro events, p it s 250 cc t wo- strok e G P ma ch in es aga inst 600cc lour-stro ke race bikes. If the Road Atlanta ro und is an y in dicatio n, the 600s will hav e a to ugh tim e th is year. The top six fin ish ers wer e a ll Yamaha TZ250mou nted. T he firs t 600cc mach ine was th e seventh place Yama ha FZR600 ridd en by T ho mas Montano , Ienatsch gOI a great sta rt on hi s Del Amo Yamaha and felt co mfortable enough to pop a good wh eelie comi ng out of turn two on the first lap. The fast start ing 600s o f Roy Ni cholson, Ken Pruitt and Rex Miller, ra n second through fourth early in the race . The 250cc riders had the top speed advantage and most of the 600cc riders were passed on Road Atlanta' s lon g ba ck straight. By lap two i t wa s Ienatsch , follo wed by Scott: then came a big pack headed up by Robert s J r, th at incl uded Montano , D'Aluisio , Sawyer and Tripp Nobles. By lap five D'Aluisio was reall y pouring it on, getting into the I:28s on his Dave Harold tuned Yamaha. T hose times q ui ckl y p u t the Co n necticu t rider past Scott for second . Just befor e the halfway point in th e race, D'Aluisio moved by lenatsch to .tak e th e lead . Ien atsch later said that D'Alu isio was rid ing rea lly well but he wasn't pumped up enough to give chase. From tha t poi nt o n, D'Aluisio 's lead blossomed to o ver 13 seconds by the fin ish . " I had no doubt that I would catch Nick," sai d D'Aluisio at victory circle, " My bike was so good today, if it hadn 't been for the wi nd I co uld have gone even faster." Ienatsch and Scott were secure in seco nd an d th ird , respectively. T he real battl e in th e race was tak in g pl ace bet ween Rober ts J r. a nd Saw yer for fourth. Both, Sawyer a nd Robert s Jr. were riding very ag gressivel y in th e closing stages of th e race. Saw yer dr ew upon his years of racing experience to put a last la p pass on Roberts to nail down fourth, " I had to get forceful wi th the kid, " said a sm iling Sawyer. " I think he was waiting for the old man to get tired ," added 30-year-o ld Sawyer. Britt Turkington was the big winner in the Dunlop-sponsor ed Superstock races. The " T exas Tiger" first went ou t and had to beat new teammat e Michael Martin in the B Superstock race, Martin , rid ing for T eam Hammer for the fir st tim e, reall y wante d to prove him self. T he two T exas riders raced together th e wh ole race, with T urk ingto n gaining th e advan tage very late in the race. In the A Superstoc k race, Tu rk ington faced Martin again. Bu t th is race they were joined by T ripp Nobles. J ake Va n Vleet helped Nobl es get th e suspension dialed in o n hi s Suzu ki just before the race. " After Jake measured the rear sh ock sag a nd got me set up, I co u ld go through the dip in the back stra igh t wide o pen for the first time," said an enthused No bles, All th ree rid ers led du rin g the co urse of th e 12-lap race. Mart in nearly high sided comi ng o ut of turn seven a bo ut midway th ro ug h the race and backed off, leavin g Turking to n and Nob les to fin ish the ar gument. On the fin al lap , Nob les got balked in traffi c allowing just enough room for Turkington to get th rough an d win hi s second race of the day. In C Su perstock, No bles again had to play second fiddle. this ti me to fellow Geor gian Frankl in Knigh t, who put hi s Peach tree Performan ce H onda CBR 600 in fro nt early. Nobl es, Kevin Rentzel l a nd J ohn Choat e joined .Knight to ma ke it a four-way battle for the lead. As th e ra ce progressed, Rentzell dropped o ut with mechanical problem s, a nd Ch oat e, even th ou gh he stayed clos e, never really made a bid for th e lead. That left Knight and Nobl es who ran side-by-side most of the race. Knight got ca ugh t in traffi c o n the last lap, a llo wing Nobl es to take th e lead. Being in seco nd pl ace turned o u t to be a good th in g for Kni ght; he was ab le to draft pas t Nobles j ust befor e brak in g for the Nissan Brid ge, and he hel d on to win. Kni ght was ecsta tic after th e win o n his ho me track , befo re th e hom e crowd. WERA introduced a new class to th e WERA Pro Series th is year: Fu ture Stars. T he class is spec racing for novice racers who must run a 600cc Superstock mach ine with Metzeler Tires, D&D Exh aust and RK Ch ai n, T h is marked the first tim e Novi ce class racers co mpe ted in a WER A Pro Seri es weekend. Ca nad ia n O wen Weichel - on a raci ng sab ba tica l wh ic h included Dayto na , Mo rose and Roa d Atlanta led th e first lap. On lap IWO, T exa n Col in Edwards came fro m midpa ck all th e way to th e from to tak e over first p lace. From then o n ou t it was a ll Edwards' race. T he H onda-mounted ride r, who is spo nsore d by North west Honda and Howell Fuel, wem o n 10 pull o ut a 20-second margin of victor y, J apan ese rider Taizo H atakeyam a go t by Weichel to fin ish a di stant second . H atak eyama wa s join ed in victory lan e by proud sponsor Dave Sadow ski of th e Atla nt ic Mot orsports Group . eN 5. Bri n T urkin gto n (S uz); 6. Trirp Na bla (SUl ); 7. Ch uck Gr dves (Suz); 8. Michae Man iu (SU 9. I): Brian Berna rd (Yam ): 10. John Ho p perstad (Yam) ; II. Joe Breit w illia ms (Hon): 12. Dan ny Robert s (Ya m); 13. Da vid Devea u (Suz); 14. Steve Heil man (SU1); 15. Will iam H imm elsbach (Yam); 16. Clill Bigoney (Yam); 17. Georg e Wallace (Yam); 18. Many Le ntz (Hon ); 19. Pet er Vill aca ro (Ya rn): 20. Jim Bon n er (Ya m ). F·II : 1. Ch ris D'Al uisio (Yam); 2. Nick Iena tsch (Ya m ); 3. Alan Soon (Ya m); 4. Brad Sa wyer (Ya m ); 5. Kenn y Ro ber ts J r. (Yarn): 6. William Himmel sbach (Yam) ; 7. T ho mas Monta od (Ya m ); 8. Tripp Nob les (H o n ): 9. Clirr Bigoney (Ya m); 10. Bria n Berna rd (H o n); I I. Pa t O'wry (Ya m ); 12. Mark Lo ng (Yam); 13. Andrew Perkins (Ya m); 14. l im Bonner (Yam ); 15. Ken Pru iu (Yam ): 16. Rex MIHer (Ya m); 17. Roy Nicho lson (Han); 18. Mark Or chard (Yam) : 19. J imm y Ada m s (Ya m) ; 20. 'Thorton McP httters tH on ). A SI S: I. Brill T ur kin gton (Suz): 2. T ripp Nob les (SU1); S. Micha el Martin (S U1); ·1. Da vid Devea u (S Ul ); 5. jason Pri d more (SUl ): 6. De Mi l da l {Suz): 7. an Jell Atwell (SUL): 8. Andrew Dea therage (Su z): 9. Steve H eilma n (S Ul): 10. Da vid McG rath (Suz). BS/S : I. Briu Turki ng to n (S Ul); 2. Mich ael Man in (SUl ); .5. Fran klin Kn ig h t (SUl ); 1. Da vid Deveau (SUl );5. Jason Pri dmore (SUL); 6. Bruce Ba ld us (Suz); 7. Mar k McDa n iel (Suzt 8. David McG rat h (Suz): 9. Todd Hog. (Suz): 10. G len n Barry (SU1). Cs/s: I . Franklin Kn ight (Hon ): 2. Tripp Nobles ( I-Io n ); S. john 01031(' (Ya m ); 4. Ro y Nich ol so n (H en ): 5. Ken Pr u iu (Ya m); 6. Ma rly unit [Ho n): 7. Jim u ll (Ha n ); 8. Gle nn Cooper (Ya m); 9. Thomas Dinardo (Yam ); 10. Jimm)' Ada ms (....a m ). r UT. STARS: 1. Cc.lin Edwards I I (Ho n): 2. Taiec H a ta keva ma ( H on);~ . O wen Weiche l (Ya m). 4. Peter Jones ( H o n) ; 5. Tim Taylor (Ya m); 6. Kevin Roberts (Ya m); 7. O1arlC'S Saner (Ya m): 8. Drew Lincol n (Ya m); 9. Rod n ey Reim (Ya m ); 10. T im Bem isderf er (Yam). Results F· USA: l. Ro bb ie Petersen (Ya m); 2. R ich O hv er (Yam ); 3. Kurt Ha ll (Suz): 4. Donald J acko (SU1); 15

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