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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127390
eROAD RACE .; AMAlCCS Endurance Series: Round 5 Yamaha of Jacksonville's Rentzell and Mizdal were a close third overall. Dutchman Racing n (4) and eventual winner The Human Race Team (16) battle early at Charlotte. Gold Hill Racing (11) finished second, barely beating Yamaha of Jacksonville. The GTU winner's circle: (L.R) Elin Racing, Orion Racing and Team Toomer. Ahattrick for the H umans By Brent Plummer Photos by George Roberts 18 CHARLOTIE, NC, JULY 6 h e Human Race T eam ha s been ca u g ht in a do or di e sit ua ti o n all year. They ei th er win, or self destruct their cos tly Bimota ; m ed i- T oc re is one thing they are n ot . After . their Da ytona and Brainerd mi shaps, the Humans bounced ba ck with a ve n gea n ce to win the next three rounds, incl uding the latest at the Charlotte Mo tor Speedway. This wi n h as elevated them into second in the points past Team 'Mad Dog , to w h ich team owner/ head guru Dave " Zupe" Zu pa n was q uite ecstatic, and for ' o nce , re latively loose-l ipped abou t end urance racing , the AM A , and everythi ng .. . (more o n that lat er. ) Second place we nt to the Edge- : water , Co lorado-based team o f G ol d H ill Racin g. I n a spectacular finish, the race came down to a pass in t he final corner o f th e last la p . Kevin Ren tzell, o n th e Ya ma ha o f J ackso n ville ma chine, had a bo ut a th re eseco nd lead a t th e beg inning o f th e la p , but luck was n o t to be h is th is day . Angling towa rd s th e chicane, o n the back NASC AR straightaway of Cha rl o tt e' s banking , Rentzell tried to di ve .u n der a slo wer rider and cli p ped hi m. Rentzell ke p t th e bike u pright, sufferi ng o n ly a bent cl u tch lever , bu t he lost p reci ous tim e a nd G old Hill h ad closed the gap. When th e d uo roun de d the las t banking, Rentzellsprior deci sion to run the en tire race o n o ne set o f tires - mos t o f th e ot he r to p G TO teams swi tche d a t lea st o nce, if not tw ice - came back to haunt h im. Lea vin g an im pressive bl ack streak down the track, h e was sli di ng right to wa rd s the wall in his attem pt fo r seco nd . After neari ng the wa ll, he m ade the smart choice a n d back ed o ff, losing the d rag race to the finish line. After th e race, G old H ill 's rea r tir e looked sign i fica nt ly bette r t h an ei ther the Human ' s or the d ecr ep it Yamaha o f jackson vill e' s. Wh at g ives? A speci a l rear? " Na w" replies team ca p ta in J ohn H opperstad. " We just ch a n ged it. We were getting smoked out there , but we just hung in th ere. (At a bo u t the second hour), we h ad a tire change (they had the special Daytona tire, like the other top Michelin teams) because we are into safety. We want every o n e to go home at the end of the day, so we ch a n ged tires." A wise de cision, the sw itch not only got them second place and a safe rider home, it has left them one point behind third place Team Mad Dog, a n d a health y 12 .ahead of Yamaha o f J acksonvill e. What a bou t tw o -time def ending . cha m ps Du tch man Racing? H orrid luck was dea lt to th em . Fabian Cortez , h ighsided in turn fiv e, which h ad to hav e hurt co nsi dering th at he' s st ill recoveri ng from hi s Road America ge t-o ff. The cras h truck brought in , th e lame bike, a nd th e cre w went to work. T he machi ne even tua lly went o u t agai n, sa lvagi ng a 2 1st overall a nd 12th in cl a ss finish , en o ug h to hold o n to a seve n -poi nt lead ov er The Humans in t he cha m p io nsh i p . chase. Ya maha o f Jackson vi lle was not h a vin g mu ch b etter lu c k. Dean Mizd al took over the co ntrols at the o ne- hour, eight- minu te ma rk , and prom ptly we nt slidi ng into turn one. It appears, accordi ng to Mizdal and m any other ri ders, th ere was a slick spot right in th e m iddle of tu rn o ne. Not kn o win g abou t it beforehand , M i zd al cruise d rig h t over it slipped, slid , a n d stayed up - but ba rel y. Despit e recovering fro m a fi rst la p prac tice cras h a t R o a d Am er ica - w here he una vo id abl y came to geth er wi th Sco tt Ru ssell Mi zdal still managed to run within two seconds o f a n exceed ing ly qui ck Rentzell . Wh en Mi zdal entered th e pi ts with less th an an hour, .Rentzell hopped o n - a n d was o ff in a flash. A few laps later a nd he was back in , the funky pin k paint scra ped o n the u p per left side. The bik e see me d fin e, ex cept R entz ell was fr anti call y pointing do wn . T he sh ift lever wa s bent. Aft er a few ten se bends, R entzell was sti ll si tting in th e pits, the recalci trant Yam aha wo u ld n' t go into gear. Aft er so me more p rodig i o us h amm e r in g , bend in g , and language, he exi ted th e p it s, sl ipping the clutch h ea vil y. The bike d id not h a ve fir st o r second gear, b u t" h e so ld ie re d o n , sli p pi ng the clutch like cr a zy th rou gh the infield. With barel y a half ho ur rem aining , the Mad Do g team - wh o h ad be en d icing wit h HRT for th e lead pulled i n, sa ns a front fender , thanks to a ch u n ked fro nt tire. The tire flew a p art so vi ol ently th at it ripped not o n ly th e fend er a p a rt, but the tach omet er as well. At the time, R ick Kirk was push ing the machine hard as he chased the Human's go-fast-guy Quarterley the tw o were running in the oneminute , 22-second range, fast enough to place in the top three of Sunday 's 750 Supers port race - ' when the tire started to hop, and then chunk. Kirk was lucky enough to get in without taking a spill, which could have been gruesome at the speeds they were running around the walled track. Kirk, for the first time, was doing