Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE e WERA Pro Series/RACE Canadian National Championship: Rounds 3/1 • Canadian Darrell Cooney was a popular winner in the rain-sodden F-2 race. Alan Scott (44) crashed out of the F-2 race ; Richard Nelson (5), meanwhile, passes. 16 (Left to right) PascalPicone, Jeff Gaynor and Tom Kipp in the winner's circle. 7. Michael Taylor (Kaw); 8. Donald J aw (Suz); 9. Ru eben McMu n er (Hon); 10. Attila Szabo (Su,); I I. Brian Bernard (Vam ); 12. Britt Turkin gton (Suz); 13. Rick Tripodi (Vam) ; 14. John Ramsey (Hon); IS. Mike Lavalee (Vam); 16. Michael Graves (Vam ); 17. Chuck Graves (Suz): 18. Will iam H immelsbach (Vam); 19. Steve Lo mbar do (Vam ); 20. Michael Martin (Suz). Time: 46 m in ., 23.07 sec. Dista nce: 22 laps. 55 mil es. Average Speed : 71.138 mph. Margin o( Vict. ry : 7.9 sec. o F-2 FINAL: I. Darrell Coo ney ' (Vam); 2. Da ve Sjoblom (Hon); 3. Richard Nelson (Vam ); 4. Mik e Lava llee (Vam); 5. Ri ck Tripodi (Vam); 6. Jo n Cornwell (Va m ); 7. Kenny Roberts Jr . (Yam ): 8. Brad Sawyer (Va m); 9. Mark Orchard (Varn); 10. Steven Lombardo (Va m); II. Jim Bea tt ie (RTX ); 12. Thomas Wach ner {Hon]: IS. Michael Graves (Yam ); " Now I kn ow h o w Miguel (Du Hame l) felt wh en he was about to win Daytona, a nd I guess tha t for me, ri gh t now, thi s is just as good," q uip ped Gayno r in th e winner's circle. " T he bi ke was great, I had a couple of n ear misses, b ut t hat's to be expected. The hardest part was holding my co ncentration for so long with such a big lea d . Yo u can't help wo ndering just wha t could go wrong." Gaynor also thanked sponsors Co mpe tition Systems, Yoshimura R&D, Castrol, Mobile Welding, Shoei, Dainese and Au togr aph Trim. The F-2 race started in a dr iving rain, the worst co ndi tio ns of the da y, a nd first heat cha llengers Cooney a nd Scott were im media tely setti ng the pace, the Rainey-backed rider pushing hard to grab first as he struggled to stay bet ween the puddles. Bu t on lap two, Scott lost co ntrol coming off the back straig ht, ha nding Cooney a lead he would never relinquis h. Sco tt rushed back onto the track only to fall off for good o n lap six, ha ving charged up to seventh. Brad Saw yer had the RAD-Yama ha .in second early o n, wi th Gr eene a nd Sjoblom joining him in a good dice. • T he 1990 Yamahas of Michel Lavallee and Andrew Trevitt were right beh ind, while Rich ard Nelson moved in to ch alle nge from the back of the grid. Riding an ex-G uenette 1989 Yamaha FZR600 superbike, N elson wa s unhappy with the just-purchased machine's performance and considered skipping the F-2 race. By lap six , he was in second ahead of the hard- '~ ' c hargi ng Rick Tripodi's Brutane Yamaha T Z250. The story of the 250cc race can mostly be told with cras hes: Greene falling in ' a pudd le on lap fo ur, D'Alu isio never ha ppy with h is setup before he departed in the treacherous tum l ion la p three. Foll owin g the race, Cornwell described problems simi lar to D'Aluisio, bu t Co rnwell got goi ng to move quickly up to fou rth, passing Tripodi before sli di ng off i n turn I I. Cornwell remounted to place sixth. . Keep in g h is nose clean through the carnage was Rob erts Jr., who proba bly witness ed a lifetime of cras hes firs tha nd o n his way to a most resp ectable seventh. "T his is all new, so I just wa nt to stay up and learn. I've never ri dde n a 250 in the rai n before , so it shoul d be an important step,"explained the earnest l 7-yea r-o ld in th e pre -race introductions. The dice for second was resolved in a controversial last lap pass, Sjoblom putting the only 1991 Honda RS250 in to the ru n nerup spot. Based i n Vancouver, Sjoblom has no local track thanks to the closure of Westwood, and the Match Races marked his Shan no nville debut. " I just rod e as hard as I could without falling down, the race went on and on," he said. " I wanted to get by Nelson, sin ce my mechanic would never forgiv e me if I fin ished behind a diesel (four-stroke). This result reall y helps my Nation al plans," l1¥ Results F·USA FINAL: I. Jell Gaynor (Suz); 2. Pasca l Picot te (Yarnl: 3. Tom Kipp (Yam): 4. Yves Brisson (Hoo);S. Li n ey O ar ke(V am);6. Rich Oliver (Varn); 14. J im Srruke (H o n); 15. Mike H immelsbach (H oo): 16. J ohn Bickle (H on ); 17. Brian Bernard (Ho n). . Time: 53 min ., 50.22 sec. DistaDcc IS laps . 375 mil es. Average Speed: 66.85 mph. Margin ot"Vietory: 26 sec, . , MAT CH RACFS: I. Team Canada (106); 2. T eam USA (26). ~ F·USA C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. Ricll Ol iver (54); 2. Robbie Petersen (41); 3. (TIE) Chuck Grav.es/Dona ld Jaw (33); 5. Britt Turkington (26); 6. Bnan Bernard (21);7. (TIE) Kurt Hall/Tom Kipp l. Jell Ga yno r (20). F-2 C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. Kenn y Ro bert s, J r. (48); 2. Alla n Scott (40); 3. Ch ri. D'Al uu io.(38); 4. Nick lena tsch (37); S. Brad Sawyer' (36); 6. Mich ael G raves (26); 7: Darrell Coo ney (20); 8. Bria n Bernard (19): 9. Dave Sjoblom (17): 10. William H imm elsbach (16). U .teamgivesC Coone~ first win .S anuk A ltho ug h his is well known in Cartada and he ran with the leaders on a Spondon-Rotax at Mid-Ohio last year, Darrell "Boom Boom" Cooney (r ig h t) can hardly be described as a motorcycle household name. But the likeable 25year-o ld car mechanic from Waterloo, Ontario, made a huge step towards road racing recognition with his dominant performace in the rain in the F-2/25Occ GP event for the newly-formed LA. Mot orworks team. Although Cooney's normal 1991 mount is the famous ex-DuHamel/Lassak 1988 Yamaha TZ250 tha t still holds the lap record at Shannonville, hi s Match Race ride was a one-off organized by L. A. Mot orworks team manager Maurice Murray. Tuning Andy Leisner's Aprilia in 1988, Murray met rookey Yamaha R.Z350 Cup competitor Cooney when Leisner competed in the Canadian Pro 250cc Nationals. When Murray returned to California from h is native Ireland in late 1990 and found the money to form the new team,he happened to see a tape of the televised Mid- Ohio AMA 250cc Grand Prix National. Murray co ntacted Cooney and asked him to ride selected events, but recent changes meant that Cooney's only chance would be the Match Races, since Jimmy Filice is schedu led to take over the machine for the AMA events. Nonetheless, Murray brought the brand-new 1991 Yamaha TZ250 up to Canada for the tearn 's debut, a nd was pleased that Cooney was under his personal best in Thursday's unofficial practi ce around the tricky, seven-tum south circuit, " He wasn 't very pleased with the setup initially," laughed the knowledgeble Murray foll owing their storybook debut, "But I told him there were lots of knobs we cou ld fiddle with and eventually we d id get them all right." A Saturday morning crash inv olving a slower rider didn't cause much damage, and a heat win over Allan Scott really motivated the small crew . The arrival of the famed, just signed tuner Bruce Maus on Sunday morning was the icing on the cake. " T he race seemed really long, and I just concentrated on running my same pace," Cooney said. "The puddl es were bad in spots, I think that's what caught f Allan out, but there are ways around." Cooney's fastest . lap ,came on the '12th" of 15 laps, the lanky redhead two-wheel drifting the TZ with apparent" ease j throughout the final, } So what does the win do for Cooney's career? "I hope it helps, because I'm J back to running my own bike after this. I'd really lilte to stay with the new equipment, it was a terrific experience," "Boom Boom" explained. "He really did us proud," Murray said. "I'm going to tty and get another 50 we can keep Darrell on with us. 1 think he has a great future, and he the chance. He that today."

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