Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE MRA Race of the Rockies ~ ~ O'l l-< V ,.0 o .... u o Even tual winner Dan Turner (2) leads th e way in the Race of th e Ro ckies. Amateur GTO action with Ra nd y Kirschbaum (113) passing J eff Alleman (213). Titlesclinche datSteamboat By David Lucas TEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, SEPT. 15 he Motorcycle Roadra cing Association (MRA ) sailed into Steamboat for its l l th year or mountain magic on the streets or this laid back, good-time town. Excitement was in the atmosphere Ior a number or reasons. Three days or AH RMA vintage competi tio n had finished unde r a rain storm that had been playing guessing games with racers and spec tators alike for most o r Satu rday. The intermi ttent drumming of the rain th rough out the night probably kept numerous racers from a peaceful rest. Heavy gray clo uds perched on the surrounding mounta in s a nd a wet stree t/ race co urse greeted early risers o n Sunday. Those racers wh o have been traveling with rain tires in their trailers all seaso n fina lly had an op po rt un ity to p ut them to use. T hose no t sim ilarly eq u ipped were looki ng hard at their slick shod superbi kes. Practice began u nder these co nd itions and it was not until the later sessio ns that a vague racing line began to a p pear. O ne Class leader comme nte d T 16 that Novice class practice made for interesting comer approaches. "They left a dry line into the corners which doesn't quite ru n where you'd like it to." Ho wever, the rain gods must have been appeased and the first races began on dry but cool asphalt. The Race or the Rockies events could no t have been ru n against a more filling backgrou nd. T he GTU race gri dded the current class leader, Kurt Dimick o n the Goldhill Racin g '9 1 Yamah a TX250, beside the VanMar Perform an cePl a st ic/ Ad van ced backed Yamah a FZR 600 or Ma rk Sch ellin ger. H e was carrying th e momentum of a win over Dim ick from th e previous seri es event . J on T erry had the outside spot on th e G ran Prix Motorsports /R-G o od Autob od y FZR600 as well as str ik in g distan ce on Schelling er for secon d p lace in class. T he seco nd row co n ta ined Aaron T u rner's TZ2 50 , Bo bb y Mi o sek 's FZR600 and expa triate MRA racer' Dann y Walker a board the cu rre nt AMA #6 Goldhill Racin g TZ250. Kurt Dimick (1) leads eventual winner Dan n y Walker in Formula Colorado. Miosek, combining quick reactions with the downhill sla nt or th e track , grabbed the lead a t the gr een. Dimick a lso too k ad van tage of a downhill slope a n d s li p pe d und er Mio sek between turn seven and eig h t, to lead bac k to the start line. Walker was alert to seize an opening from Mio sek and quick ly had Dimick's rear tire with in to uching distance. T he two Goldhill riders broug h t the specta tors to their feet as the lead was traded lap after la p. Schellinger fin all y wrested third placefrom Miosek, who in tu rn held Turner at bay to th e Iinish . T he Dim ick/Wal ker bailie appeared to be posing Ior a chewing gu m ad as riders and bikes were similarly attired. It was fina lly decided at the run to th e fini sh , with Walker nosin g Dim ick for the win. Th e re mai n ing th ree ra cer s checkered in the same order as they ra n their race (Sche ll inge r, Miosek and Turner), to complete the top five. Alt hough o ne race remai ns o n the schedu le, the 1991 Race or the Rock iesGTU chapter is closed with Dimick the class cha m p. He is beyo nd cha llen ge wit h 164 points. T he other half of the MRA 's premie r series, Race of th e Rocki es-C'TO, was wrapped up Ior Dan Tu rne r as well with a crus hi ng dom ination o r the remainder of the field. Turner had his ' YMS of Lovela nd / P h il Flack Suzuki GSXRIIOO p utti ng dis tance o n the remainder o r the gri d after tu rn tWO on the openi ng lap. Don Hough, with a near perfec t str ing o r fini shes marred by a cost ly early DNF, briefly held second place but was ultimatel y relegated to fifth. The middle positions were filled by Utah Sport Bike Association's Robert Wrigh t, past MR A Champion and current AMA uperbike number 14, Gold .Hill Racing's John Hopperstad and AFM racer Brad Haze n. Suzu ki Ch ampion Cup Series prize mo ney and region al poi nts were on the line, and the raci ng was eq ua l to the cha llenge. Class point s lead er, Mik e Surrat t, sat o n th e pol e for the 750CC Supersport go with an excep tio na lly ta lented field poised behind h im which included eig ht top riders from Cal ifornia and Utah. Surra tt led into th e first and second tu rns. But Su rratt's tir es began to fade under th e pa ce and after three lap s he was quickly under siege from Dave Deveau 's T eam Valvol in e/Dunlop/Kerk er-backed Suzuki GS XR. Devea u made his pass o n the climbing turn five and left Surra tt to conte nd with the victor of a four-rid er d uel just beh ind. A tigh t pa ck had formed up behind the leaders which had Dennie Burke being pressed by Robin Holiday and J on T erry. Burk e was passed by Holiday befor e turn three and T erry struck at the foll owing co rner. Burke tenaciousl y attem p ted to gain back his pos itio ns in th e downhill run tow ard turn eight but a fals e neutral occurred as he began down shi fting. Burk e swep t past hi s braking point and came to rest in the hay bales, inj uring hi s hand. Mark McDan iel had been gaini ng gr ound on both Hol ida y and Terry. McDaniel bri efly struggled with Terry and th en Holiday before moving into third place. McDaniel was pa st the halfway stage in the race as he quickly set off after the second p lace Surratt. McDaniel tested Surra tt severa l tim es in th e fin a l laps befor e pressing in the sweep ing turn rive o n the outside of Surratt as Deveau had befo re. Deveau had secured a com fortab le lead and motored easily to the fin ish before McDaniel could cha lle nge . Desp ite his fin ish , Surratt garnered the necessary points to secure the seaso n championsh ip in th is class. "Leaving On A J et Plan e" cou ld have been the theme song for Turner as Open Supersport, lik e the Ro R GTO race, proved again to be within hi s co ntro l. He rod e to an unchallenged win. Although alone in front , he still blazed around the track in a new unofficial lap record, clocked at o ne-m in u te, 26.34-seconds on hi s third pass over the start / fin ish line. Turner was foll owed by Pete Homan o n hi s elde rly '86 Suzuki GSXRIIOO in seco nd pl ace for most of th e race. H om an , g ri dded on th e la st ro w behind th e visiting racers, deserved th e hol esh ot of the day award with his gutsy driv e th rough the pa ck to second position o n th e fir st lap. H oman relu ctantl y relinq u ished hi s position to Robert Wright's '9 1 GSXR after Wri ght had pou nded on th e door repeatedl y in the waning lap s. Phillip Noyes was success fu l in hi s a ttem p ts to hold Mark McDaniel at bay until Noyes found the fin ish line in fourth p lace. T urn er arr ived a t Steamboat wi th the class cha m pio nship in hi s poc ket befor e unloading his racer. Th is fin ish was pure icin g on the cake. rx Results R ACE OF THE ROCK IES-G T U: I. Da ~ n y wal ker (Yam): 2. Ku rt Di m ick (Ya m) ; 3. Ma rk Scheifinger (Ya m): 4. Bob by Miosek (Ya m );.5. Aaron Tumer tvarm. RACE OF THE ROCKI ES-GT O: I. Dan Turner (SUI) ; 2. Robert Wr ig h t (SUL); 3. J oh n Ho p perstad (Yam) ; 4. Brad Hazen (SU1): 5. Do n H o ugh (Ya m) . 4~ SlBK: I. J im Forington (Ya m) ; 2. Aaron La nning ban (Yam); 3. Kel ly Newman (Ya m) : 4. Ma rl Erickson (Ya m); 5. Vern Bun d y (Yam ). 600 B/BK: I. Mar k Schellinger (Yam ); 2. Bobby Miosek (Yam ): 3. Shane Turpin (Ya m) : 4. Terry , H arn ish (Kaw); .s. Rod Bruske (Ya m) . 750 S /BK: I. Mike Surratt (SU1); 2. Ro bi n H o lida y (Su z); ~ . Shane Turpin (Yam); -t. Tony J ohnson (Sua); 5. Richard Kim ba ll (Suz). OPE.'i S/ BK: I. Brad Harm (SUl); 2. Don Hough (Yam) ; 3. Mik e Surratt (Suz); 4. ~l.ar k McDan iel (Sw); 5. Dav e Deveau (SU1). 600 SlSPRT : I. Bobby Miose k (Ya m): 2. Wes Hjel m (Ho n); S. Shane Turpin {Yarn ): -I. Greg N ichols (Ya m) ;.s. Terry H arn ish (Kaw). 750 SlSP RT: I. Dave Deveau (Sur) ; 2. Mar k McDaniel (Suz); 3. Mi ke Surra tt (SU1): 4. Rob in Holida y (Sur ): 5. Jo n Terry (SUl ). OPE.."'J S/SPRT: l. Dan Turner (S U1); 2. Robert Wr ight (SU1); 3. Pe te H oman (SU1); 4. Phill ip No yes (SU1.); 5. Mark McDan iel (Suz). r..cOLO: I. Dan n y Wa lker (Ya m ); 2. Kur t Dimick (Ya m) : ~ . M i ke C un ni ng ha m ( Ya m) ; 4 . Jim Fo ring to n (R tx ); 5. Kell y Newman (Yam) . AM·GTU: I. G reg Kochi ss (Kaw); 2. Rob Nel ler (Ya m); 3. Pa ul Co nley (Yam) ; 4. Mik e Kru pa (Yam); 5. DoUR Vickery (Yarn) . AM·GTO: I. Randy Kirschbaum (Sur); 2. Seen Kitt in ger (Yam); 3. Frank Co wg ill {Ka w): 4. Rob in Holiday (SUl); 5. Jdl Alleman { Kaw ). NOV-CTU: I. Rob Mellor (Va m); 2. Jo sh Gr aha m (Yam): 3. DoUR Vickery {Yarn): 1. Jell Van Drd l (Ho n); 5. Jel l Yekel (Raw). NOV-CTO: I. Fran k Cow gill (Raw); 2. Ran d y Kirschbaum (Sw ); 3. J ell Alleman (Raw); 'I. Scou Bailey (SUl); 5. Sha u n Vork (Suz]. MO D VINT-GTU: I. Sca n Balaun (Raw); 2. Jim Fori ngton (Ya m ); ~ . Dave T erry (Hon) ; 4. R ick N ix (Yarn): 5. J im Marchba nk (Yarn). MOD VIlIo"T-CTO: I. G reg Frazier (BMW); 2. J ay Yarrington (Hon ); 3. St eve Ruhnke (SU1); 5. Dave Tharp [Yarn).

• Cover