~
o
Racing wa s another of the top-running
. teams to end th eir day in tum seven
as Je ff H ein o crashed the team's Suzuki
20 minutes into the race.
Du tchman Raci ng 's only potential
problem came at the 49-min u te mark,
when Haldane passed a lap ri der under
a waving yellow flag in the tum seven
area. Realizin g his error, the New
Zealander waved the rider by on the
exit of the comer and then went about
his business. Shortly thereafter, Hanh
(Mad Dog) took th e lead for the first
time as the ba ttle up front intensified.
" I waved them back by," Halda ne
said. " And then got 'em back in the
next comer."
Keystone Racing's Mario DuHamel
ha d the George Fins-owned team up
near the front when he crashed the
Suzuki in th e tum 14 area, adding to
a hard-luck season for the team.
Mad Dog's problems came with Kirk
aboard. The hard-riding Oklahoma
resident brought the Yamaha into th e
pits for an unscheduled stop when he
found the bike wouldn't shift, He was
forced to pick a single gear - fifth
- and keep it there for the duration.
Surprisingly, he was able to make a
run, passing at least two teams after
adjusting to the problem.
" Fifth gear only," Harth said. " H e's
amazing. He said he worked a lot o n
cornering speeds."
Wh ile Dutchman cruised to the win,
Kirk wasable to bring the Yamaha up
to second. ah ead of the ba ttle between
R.E.S. and Gold Hill.
"Sometimes it wo u ld load up," Kirk
said. " But if I didn 't have anybody in
front of me I could get around it okay.
I'd slip the clutch o ut of the turns; you
could shift wi th your hand but that
wasted more ti me."
Du tchman o wn er Dave Schlosser
and crew were well prepared for MidO hio. With Dutchman II ri der Fab ian
Cortez on th e inj ured list, the team
opted to run only the lead squad, so
they had three bi kes at their disposal:
one setup for th e rain; one for intermediate conditions and one for a dry
race track.
. .
" We're back on track, " Schlosser
said. "You've got to gi ve Chris (Haldane) a lot of credit. He turned 36s and
37s the whole time. We were never
pressured. " It was also Haldane's firs t
trip to Mid -Oh io.
Mad Dog 's reven ge came the foll ow ing day in the Monster Bike Shootout,
a five-lap dash in which teams are
required to pit once for a rider change.
Mad Dog reeled in The Human Race
T eam 's T o m Douglas after Q uaner ley
had given the team a substantial lead.
Haldane, meanwhile, had crashed th e
Dutch man bike early in the race in tum
nin e.
C'I
Results
GT O: I. Duu:hman IUcing (Suz); 2. T""", Mad
5. T""", R.LS. (Suz); 4. Gold Hill
IU
