Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA/CCS 600 and 750cc Supersport Series: Round 8 ROAD RACE Kirk gets his first in Texas By Henny Ray Abrams COLLEGE STATION, TX. ocr. 6 wo Bro thers Racing had two new entries for th e 600cc Supersport race at T exas World Speedway, Rick Kirk and Mike Baldwin. Wh o would have figured tha t they'd finish one-two, helped in part by a rare failure of th e Commonwealth H onda of series leader Miguel DuHam el. But despite dropping ou t on th e fifth lap , and fin ishing 28th , DuHam el won the class champions h ip. Third at T exas World went to Tripp Nobles on th e Atlantic Motors ports Honda CBR600 with T om Kipp sim ilarly moun ted in fourth. Nob les increased hi s lead in the T op Expert ca tegory in the cla ss. With Dayton a and Miami to be run, Nobles leads John Ch oate, 124-92. Kirk , who 'd finished fourth in the second heat, won by T wo Brothers T akanobu Koyama , finish ed th e 20lap , 36-mile race in 24 minutes, 32.193 seconds at an average speed of 88.043 mp h . H e beat Baldwi n to the lin e by 3.540 seconds. Koyam a led the first lap, but crashed, un hurt, ear ly in the second lap han ding th e lead to first heat wi n n er DuHa mel with Baldwin and Kirk up close. Vance & Hines' Larry Schwarzbach, who'd broken a bone in his right ankle wh ile practicing two weeks ago near his home in Houston , was fourth with Kip p fifth, Jeff Farmer sixth, and Choate seventh on the Commonwealth Racing Honda. The top three split from the pack wi th the leaders numbering two when DuHamel dropped out on the sixth lap with a broken valve spring. T he lead went to Baldwi n, riding the same bike , the Hon da CBR600, th at he uses in hi s racing school. On the ninth lap, Kir k took over with Baldwin second ahea d of Schwarzbach with four rid ers, head ed by Choate, goi ng for fourth. Schwarzbach joined the top two on the 12th lap and moved into second a lap later. H e seemed to make up tim e in the in field, but on th e 15th lost the front end in a sweepi ng righ t-hander and was ou t of the race. Baldw in closed up some on Kirk and was well in fro nt of the fig ht for thi rd . Nobles had taken over the spot with Schwa rzbach 's demise, having gained two spots a lap ear lier after nearly getting taken down . Instead it was Farmer wh o cras hed . "Tripp passed J ohn Ch oate and Ch oa te went int o a tan k-slap per," Farmer began, " a nd backed in to Nob les' bike. T his made Choate slide and hit my bi ke," whi ch su ffered severe cosm etic dam age in the tu mble. Kipp th en went into fourth ahea d of Ch oate with Ron McGill sixth . The win went to Kirk, hi s first National win in a sp rint race in hi s first race for th e Two Broth ers duo. " Mine and Mike's bikes were eq ua l," Kirk said. "I was a little better in the turns and that's wh ere I was able to make up tim e. I didn ' t know he was beh ind me. I didn' t loo k back. I felt I could take the lead and move on, tha t was basicall y the race th ere." Kirk 's only previou s 600 Supersport race th is year was at Daytona where he fin ished 29th. Baldwin looked to be sliding every lap o ut of the sweeping first turns, bu t said it was sliding "j ust out of the turns a lit tle. I wasn 't trying to push too hard. The first five lap s I. was in Migu el' s draft . Wh en R ick cam e by I kn ew we were teammates and I didn ' t want to dice with him." Thoug h he did n 't know it wh en the race ended, Nobles fin ish ed third, hi s best finish by far on th e 600. H is next best finis h were a pair of sevenths at Topeka and Mid-Ohio. " I was makin g time on. the brakes," Nobles explained wh en asked how he was abl e to get to the front of the fou rrider fight for third. " All three of thei r bikes were considerably faster. I knew traffic would p lay a big part. I put people between me and th em." After following Kipp for several laps, Nobles saw how he could brak e deeper in turn three and decid ed th at wo uld be a good pl ace to work traffic. " Abo u t the last five laps I go t back in front of them. I had a couple of close ca lls, too." Kip p wo uld finish a close fourth, tra iled closely by McGill and Choate wi th Doug Carmich ael all alone in front of J ames Leslie and Joe PrusCN siano II I. T Rick Kirk (9) beat teammate Mike Baldwin (48) to win the 600ccSupersport final. R esults H EAT t: I. Miguel DuHam el (Hon ); 2. Mike Ba ldw in (Hon ); .3. La rry Schwarzbach (Ya m) ; 4. J eff Farmer (H on ); 5. Doug R. Carmichael (H on ); 6. James E. Leslie (H on); 7. Jim Sabin (H on ); 8. Mike Himmelsbach (Han); 9. William L. White (Yam) ; 10. Frank H a mpel (Yam); I I. Micha el J. Myers (Han ); 12. Mark Black (Han); U . David Ku linski (Ka w) ; 14. Rona ld McG ill (H on ): 15. J a vier Martin ez-Abrego (Kaw ). Time: 6 min ., 15.762. Distance: 5 laps, 9 mi les. Average Speed: 86.225 mph. Margin of Victory: 0.282 sec. HEAT 2: 1. T akano bu Koyama (Han); 2. Tom Kipp (H a n ); 3. Tripp Nobles (H e n ): 4. Ri ck Kirk (H o n) ; 5. J o hn K. Ch oate (Ya m) ; 6. Larry Locklear (Hon) ; 7. Owen Weich el (Yam ); 8. Gen e Church (H on); 9. J osep h B. Prussian o, III (Hon ); 10. J eb Bridgeman (Hon ); II. Jordan Brown (Yam ); 12. - .Ie.su s Rodriguez (Hon) ; 13. Nancy Delgado (Ya m) . T ime: 6 rm n. , 22.292 . D istancr: 5 la ps. 9 m iles. Avera ge Speed: N /A. Margin o( Victo ry: 0.239 sec. 600cc SS FINA L: I. Rick Kirk (Ho n); 2. Mike Bal dw in (Hon); 3. T riPe Nob les (Han); 4. Tom Kip p (H on) ; 5. Ronal d McGi ll (Ho n ); 6. J ohn K. Choate (Hon ): 7. Doug R. Charmichael (Ho n); 8. J am es EI Les lie (Han) ; 9. J osep h B. P ru ssia n o , II I (Hon); 10. Larry Loch leare (H on ); 11. Michael J. Myers (H on ); 12.hm Sabin (Ho n); 13. Mark Black (Ho n) . 14. J eb Bridgem a n (Han); IS. Ge ne Ch urch {Han) ; 16._ Mik e H im m elsb ach (Han ); 17. Jesus Rodrigu ez (H a n ); 18. Fra nk Ham pel (Yam); 19. Willi am L White (Yam) ; 20. Jimm y Adams (Ya m) ; 2 1. David Ku linski (Kaw); 22. Mich ael Sull iva n (Y am ): , 23. j ordan Brown (Yam ); 24. J avier Martin ez-Abrego (Kaw); 25. N ancy Delgado (Yam); 26. Larry Schwarzba ch (Yam) ; 27. Jeff Fa rmer (H a n ); 28. Mig uel Du H amel (Hon ); 29. Takanob u Kaya ma (H on ); 30. O wen Weich el (Yam ). Time: 24 min., 32.193. Distance: 20 laps, 36 miles. Average Speed : 88.043 mph . Marg in of Victory : 3.540 sec. C'S H I P POI NT STAN DINGS: 1. Mi gu el DuHame l (120) 6 win s; 2. Tom Kipp (99); 3. Larry Schwarzbach (70); 4. Tripp Nobles (64); 5. J en Farmer (57) I win. Russell again! By H en n y R a y Abrams COLLEGE STATION,TX, ocr. 5 t shou ld come as no surprise th at Kawasak i's Scott Ru ssell won the 750cc Su persport final at Texas World Speedway. After a ll, he'd won the seven previous 750 Supersport races and wra pped up the titl e a t the last one. That th is one appeared to be somewhat · competi tive, is wha t may have set it apart from the others. Russell , who'd won the faster of th e ' two heat races, got his customary bad start and had to pi ck off riders one at a time. As he crossed the finish line to begin the eighth lap, he was up on race -leader Britt T u r ki n g to n a nd passed him on th e inside o f th e sweep ing first turn . Turkington stayed I close on his Team Suzuki Endurance/ Valvoline/Dunlop mount until the fin a l few laps when R ussell edged away to win the 36-mile race by 5.577 seconds. He completed the 20-lap race in 24 minutes, 22.421 seconds at an average speed of 88.620 mph. Turkington held onto second with Southern Land and Lumber/Atlantic Motorsports/Suzuki of Macon 's Tripp Nobles nipping Two Brothers Racing's Takanobu Koyama a t the line to tak e third. Koyama, who'd run th ird mos t of the race, was Honda CBR600 F-2 mounted. " After I got in to second I th ought I' d make a race out of it if I cou ld," Russell said. "The bike wasn 't working like I wanted it to so I didn 't wa n t to push it," After getting away poorly, Russell sai d he wante d to get the riders "one by one. I u sed to ride lik e a maniac and get th em all on th e first lap." Up to third o n the fourth la p , R ussell moved into second passing Koyama on the fron t straight to sta rt th e fi ft h lap. Second hea t-winner Turkington held over a second lead a t this po int, bu t knew Ru ssell wasn 't far behind. " I was pushing it as fast as the tires wou ld let me," the Texan said. " H e (R ussell) takes off like he's taking off on a street bike. I was happ y to stay with him as long as I could. " Russell was u p on T ur kington on the seventh lap , probing and prodd ing before diving under h im in the middle of the first tu rn . With his eye .on winning all of the races, Russell didn 't do any thi ng wil d to p u ll a big lead , preferr ing to ride co mfortably and safely ju st ahead of T ur kington . The two had pu lled away from the figh t for th ird between Koyam a and Nobles who were never far apart, excep t wh en they hi t oc casio na l patches of tra ffic, whe re Nobl es felt Koyama was better on the brak es. It came down to th e final straigh t an d Nobles was able to use the po wer of th e Suzuki GSXR750 to get past the Honda of Koyama. " I stayed with him off the banking . and drafted past him at the line," Nobles, the Top Expert championship leader, said. " I had to go like hell to track him down." Well back in fifth was Russell 's teammate, Jacques Gu enette, J r., who'd hooked up with Dave Deveau and Bob Sandy for most of the race. Guenette had moved into fifth a t the h alfwa y p oint m oving Team Hammer-sponsored Deveau to sixth, with Kawasaki Good Tim e Accessor ies-backed Sandy seventh. Like the figh t in front of them, this trio was often fouled by traffi c with Guenette handling it best and pulling away to a secure fifth. Sandy finished sixth an d Deveau sevent h. T itian Bue was among the no nfinishers, crashing spectacularly going in to the first turn on the secon d lap - his Cycle Connection Suzuki sliding well up , then down, the banking but q uic kly getting to his feet. Bue was later treat ed for a brok en finger on h is CN left hand. Resu lts HEA T 1: I. Scott R ussell (Kaw); 2. Takanobu Koyama {Hon k-S. Jacq ues Guenett e, J r. (Kaw) ; 4. Ma rk McDaniel (SUI ); 5. Bob Sa ndy (Kaw}; 6. R usty Allen (Kaw); 7. Owen Weich el (Su z); 8. Dean Mizdal (SUl) ; 9. Jef f H eino (SUl); 10. Andrew Deatherage (SU2); I I. Michael Myer s (H on); 12.ja vier Mart inezAbrego (Kaw): 13. Pete Mar tin s (Suz) . T ime: 6 m in., 12.239 sec. Di stance: 5 lap s, 9 mi les. Average Speed: 87.04 1 mph. Margin o( Vietory : 4.585 sec. HEAT 2: I. Br itt Turki ngton (SU2); 2. Tripp Nob les (H o n) ; 3. Titian Bu e (Suz); 4. David .Deveau "(Suz): 5. Lar ry Locklear (H on): 6. Jen Herzog (Kaw); 7. James Schae fer (SUI ); 8. David Kulinski (Kaw ); 9. David Hansen (S Ul ); to. David Ro sno (Suz); I I. Ol iver Bill in gsley (SUl ); 12. Mark Suggs (Kaw); 13. Lindsey Leard (SUI ); 14. Michael Steinman (SUI). ' Time: 6 m in . 6.110 sec. Dis tance: 5 lap s, 9 m iles . Average Speed : 86.145 mph. Margin o( Vietory: 1.232 sec. 750cc 55 FINAL: I. Scott Russell (Kaw); 2. Briu Turki ngton (S UI); 3. T ripp Nobles . (Hen ): 4. Takanob u Koyama (Han ); 5. jacq ues G uene tte, J r. (Kaw) : 6. Bob Sandy (Kaw); 7. David Deveau (SUl); 8. La rry Lock lear (Hon ); 9. J eff Heino (SUl ); 10. Andy Deatherage (SUl); I I. Ru sty Allen (Kaw); 12. Je ff H erzog (Kaw ); 13. Dea n Mizdal (SUI ); 14. Owen Weichel (Su z); 15. j a mes Schaefer (Suz); -16. O liver Billingsley (SUl ); 17. David Hansen (Suz); 18. P ete Martins (SUI ); 19. Mich ael Myers (H on) ; 20. Mark SuW (Ka w): 21. Mich ael Su lli van (Yam ); 22. Dav id Kulmski (Kaw ): 23. Mich ael Stei nman (Suz ); 24. David Ro sn o (Suz); 25. J avier Martinez-Abr ego (Kaw ); 26. L indsey Leard (S UI ); 27. Mark McD amel (SUl ); 28. Titian Bue (Sur ). . T imt: 24 m in ., 22.421 sec. Distance. 20 laps. 36 mil es. Avera ge S peed: 88.620 mph . Ma rgi n o(Vietory: 5.557 sec. C'SHtP POI NT STANDINGS: I. Scott Russell (160) 8 wins; 2. Britt Turkington (1 14); 3. jacques G uenette (92); 4. Tripp Nobl es (64); 5. Bob Sand y (62); 6. T iti a n Bue (60); 7. Je ff Heino (54); 8. James Shaefer (36); 9. G lenn Barry (34); 10. And y Deatherage (32); 11. Mike Moores (26); 12. Louis Saccoc cio (22); 13. David Deveau (20): 14. Todd Ho ge (19); 15. J en Her zcg/Cerald Rothman (18). 15

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