Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ Q.) ..0 o ..... u o Thomas Stevens finished third, but saw his point lead dwindle to (our points. Georgian Mike Smith finished fifth, his best perfcrmance of the seven-race-old seasl?n. worked . The guys got aw ay early. Going into the race I thought it was run ning real well ," he said, though he wouldn 't elabora te on an y problems. U nofficially, he was abo u tl -t seconds in front of teammate James, in fourth. "The plate in my shoulder is sticking up, floating around," James said. " I t kind of makes th e sho ulder go dead. As soon as I get it o u t, I'll get up to speed." Getting up to speed is what Smith has spent all season doing. This was o nly his third race on the Yoshimura Superbike and second full race after an early season injury and he felt he was making progress. His progress i n the race began o nce he located his pi t board. " I couldn 't find the pit board; we didn't practice it a ll weekend," Smith said. " In the slo w stu ff I cou ld see if 4. Migu el DuH,amc1 (; :08.876); 5. Th o m~s Stevens (1:09.393); 6. MIke Smith (1:09.644); 7. RIch Am a u (1:09.755); 8. Dale Quarterley (1:09.863); 9. J acques Gu en ette. J r. (1:09.961); 10. Pa scal Picotte (1:10.024); II. Eric Moe (1:10.076); 12. T ommy L ynch (1:10.480); 13. Mik e Baldw in (1:10.578); 14. Larry Schwaru bach (1:10.668); 15. Jimmy Adam o (1:11.071); 16. T om Kipp (1:11.70 1); 17. J ohn H opperstad (1:11.791); 18. Ch mtian Gardner (1:11.922); 19. Britt T urki ngton (1:12.031); 20. Li n nley Clark e (1:12.03 1); 21. Mar io DuHamel (1:12.158); 22. Joe B. Willi am s (1:12.321): 23. Brad H azen (1:13. 150); 24. Pet er Villacaro ( 1:13.838); 25. J esus Rodriguez (1:13.947); 26. Craig G leason (1:14.622); 27. Pab lo Real (1:14.745); 28. G reg Abbott (1:15.839 ); 2~ . O liver Billing,l ey (1:15.863); 30. Bobb y Fran klin (1:17.320); 31. Pete Martins (I : 17.95 1); 32. Greg Kopp (1: 18.183). SUPERBlll NAT'~ I. Scott Ru ssell (Kaw); 2. Migu el DuHam el (H o n); 1t Thomas Stevens (Yam ); 4. Ja mie J am~ (Ya m ); 5. Mike Smi th (Suz); 6. Rich Amaiz (H on ); 7. Jacqu es Guenette, J r. (Kaw); 8. Dale Quanerley (H on); 9. Larry Schwarzbach (Yarn) ; 10. Tommy L ynch (Suz); I I. Pa scal P ico ne (Duc ); 12. T om Kipp (Yam ); 13. Er ic Moe (Ho n); 14. J oh n Ho pperstad (Ya m); 15. Brad Hazen (Yam); 16. Joe B. Williams (Hon); 17. Ch ristian Gardner (Yam); 18. Freddie Spencer (Hon); 19. J esus Rodrigu ez (H on); 20. Greg Abbou (Suz); 21. Peter Villacaro ( Ka w ); 22. Mario DuHam el (SUI ); 23. Pete Mar tins (Suz); 24. Lin n ley Clarke (Yam ); 25. Bobby Fra nklin (Suz); 26. Ol iver BillingslC'}' (Suz); 27. Mike ~Idw i n I was gaining or losing. Jamie's lead was a maximum of seven seconds and I gained it up to (our, four and a half. The bike ran good. It was th e best setup all year." Sm ith fin ished close to 15 seconds ahead of Arn aiz , the winner in the racelong battle with Guenette, though he was hoping for better. " T he rear would gri p, th en sli p, gri p , then slip," he explained. "There was just no traction," he added , looking at a sp li t down the middle of his rear slick. " I cou ld n' t get a dri ve o ff turn two. " Arnaiz was waiting (or Guen ette to make a last lap dash. " I knew I had to be in the right spot or he 'd stick me." 0'1 Results Q UAUFYING: I. Sco tt Russell (1:08.325); 2. Freddie Spe ncer ( 1:08.675); 3. Jamie James (I:08.775); (Ho n); 28. Britt Turking ton (Suz); 29. Craig Gleason (Suz). Time: 38 min. , 49.272 sec. Distance: 34 laps, 61.2 m iles. Average Speed: 94.587 mph. Margin o(Victory: 11.804 sec. C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. Thom as Steven, (108) I wi n; 2. Scott Russell (104) 4 wins; 3. Miguel DuHamel (88) I win ; 4. J amie Jam es (73) I win ; 5. Dal e Q uarterley (53); 6. Rich Amaiz (52); 7. J acques Guen ette, J r. (46); 8. Pascal Pico tte (38); 9. T ommy Lynch (37); 10. Tom Kip p (36); I I. Freddi e Spe ncer (28); 12. Reuben MeMu ner (27); 13. Jimmy Adamo (2 1); 14. J oh n Hc p per stad (20): 15. Mik e Sm; th (19). " We 'd gea red it ta lle r," Spencer began, " but I was still on th e rev limiter. " A fello w Louisianan, Vance & Hines' Jamie James, was third fastest, a tenth of a second behind Spencer. James felt he made up time going into one, but was slo wed in th e switchbacks because th e shoulder he 'd injured earlier in the season wasn't fully healed. W O Brothers Racing's Freddie Spencer was "I'm a little late sometimes, getting it fro m left to right," he said. James one of the few riders who'd raced at Texas .; .' World Speedway in the mid to late '70s. "It co mp ensated by changing his riding style and his crew was tuning his engines was a little di fferent then ," Spencer said. But loca l to get off th e corners better. "There are so many little, tight corners, the engine knowledge seemed to be urgi ng h im on - he was has to work well and give you a decent amou nt of grunt," he said. fast superbike after both of the firs t two sessions. Just over a tenth behind James came Commonwealth Honda's Miguel But in the bright and windy third session he DuHamel. The French Canadian improved about a second per session to take cou ldn 't get a clear lap and Kawasaki 's Scott the final spot on the front row. He, too, thought he could have gone bett er Russell (righ t) bested Spencer's best by .350-ofbut was slowed by too much pit work. . second to ta ke his fourth pole of the season. " In the last session we tried a lot of different stuff in the front forks - oil, Ru ssell said the difference in the third session rebound. We have a stability problem. The front end tends to wave going up was that he brought the rear end of the Muzzy a nd down the banking," he said. " We're getting the bike to steer quicker in the tight stuff, also." Kawasaki up: "It steers a little better and tracks DuHamel said in the third sessio n he, "came in, went out. Came in, went better," he said. ..It goes where you put it. At high out. We had a rear brake line cut and that made the rear tire slip pe ry, so we speed it was a problem in th e first session. chan ged tires. With 1:57 to go in th e session I went out and wh en I came across Wherever I was at, the bike wouldn 't hol d a line. th e line there were 39 seconds left . It was my best lap time and I know if there I felt uncomfortable," was more time I co uld be up to Fr eddie or Scott." He also said that he'd altered his approach to the sweeping first turn. "There was a slick line in the middle of the track." the Georgian added. "To Fifth-fast est was Van ce & Hines' Thomas Stevens, after having th e fin al sessio n enier the corn er righ t yo u hav e to cross it then re-eross it. I was following the mostly scuttled by "problems that couldn't be overcome on the pit wall. I can't line around on the ou tside." say wha t i t wa s. It was a small problem , but i t can be one big pain in the With few o pportun ities to pass on th e inf ield, Ru ssell felt he cou ld have go ne neck. We've already fixed it. It 's disappointing because I didn 't want to be kn ocked faster if the wind was less severe and there was less traffic, "I know that with off the front row ," h e sa id . Yoshimura Suzuki 's Mik e Smith was sixth fastest followed by the seco nd a new tire and good conditions I could go faster ," he said. "It was frustrating," Spencer said, echoing Russell's comp lai nts about traffic. Commonwealth Honda of Rich Arnaiz which wasn 't improving. " I remember the '85 French GP at Le Mans. It was the last session and it went " We've just been si tti ng in th e same spot," Arnaiz said. " We' ve been a lot the same way; I couldn't get one clear lap." fas ter , but not good enough to bump us up. In the last session we had a few With less than two minutes to go in the session , Spencer went for the pole, more probl em s with the front. We were hitting the rev limiter with the wind. but cam e up on Vance & Hines' Thomas Stevens in the worst part of th e t?:ttk. It's been a slow process, but we've been doing everything right." "There's one line through there. I'd gone quicker to then. It 's just hard to pass For the morning practice, Arnaiz said the team was going to try some new gearing. . here. When you 're blocked up by three or four people, and there's one line, you Dal e Quarterley fill ed out the second row, eigh th fastes t among the 32 don' t wa nt to take a chance. I feel comfortable with the time. " qua lifiers. . Asked if he th o ugh t he cou ld win his first race since 1985 the former Wo rld \ Ch am pi on sai d: "We feel we can ru n at that pace. We were thereat the end ,N o table among the other qua lifiers was Mi ke Bal dwin, teamed with Spencer on the Two Bro th ers tea m in p lace of the inj ured Steve Cr evier , a nd racing of Topeka! Here you've go t Mig uel, Scott, Jamie, a lo t of guys." for th e first time since Daytona. Ba ld win sa id h e wasn' t in raci ng shape a nd One no ticeable improvement in Spencer's riding as the seaso n progressed has felt sore after Saturday 's practice. H e was also slowed so mewhat by tires. been his work in tra ffic. Early in the season he was far too tim id, the talent He'd agreed to test Bridgestone slicks, but couldn 't fi nd o ne . that worked level of th ose aro und him an unknown. we ll enough to last the entire race. Aft er sw i tc h i ng to Michelins, he was " I' ve never been one to ' take whole lot of chances. It 's hard to gauge the well beh ind i n setting up suspension and gearing. " I' m not here to wi n the "peop le. It depends on the series," Spencer said. Still, i t was Spencer 's best qualifying performance of the season, even though race. I j ust wan t to be up th ere a t the finish," the three-time National champ .said, he was under-geared for the final session, Russell slips by- Spencer for p.. : . . : :. .ole"'- - c- _ T a 13

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