Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROAD RACE WERA Pro Series: Finalround ~ Oliver crowned at Road Atlanta By Larry Lawrence BRASELTON, GA, NOV, 3 ich Oliver won the 1991 Formula USA Championsh ip by scorin g the overall win at the final round at Road Atlanta aboard his Marlboro Roberts Yamaha YZR500 , Oliver needed a little luck to overtake teammate Robbie Petersen in th e title chase, and he got what he needed when Petersen's similar YZR500 blew up in the first leg. Oliver finished second in the first leg and won the second leg to secure the overall victory and the championship by a two-point margin, 126·124, over Petersen in the final point standings. For his efforts, Ol iver pocketed the $3200 winner's share of the $12,500 F· USA purse. Kurt Hall became only the second rider of the season to finish in front of the Marlboro 500cc V-Iour GP bikes. Hall won the first leg on his high. po wered Valvoline Suzuki, dubbed th e " Methanol Monster." Man y will say that Oliver won the title simp ly because of his superior eq uipment . But no one really deserved it more. Remember that in 1990 the 30·yea r·o ld Californian struggled to be compe titive in the F· USA series on an underpowered Yamaha TZ250. H e pai d his dues on the 250 and came back this year to di sh ou t some of th e horsepo wer lashing administered to him the year before. All th e whil e the goo d man in the sto rm has been Petersen . T he Zirnbabwe rider led th e cha m p ionsh ip points standings coming into Road Atla nta; he had acco mplished th is feat by riding well within his capabil ities on th e short·fused two-stroke, But the re was little doubt th at O liver had become the fastest rider on the team. Even tho ugh Petersen led the series mos t of the year, it was Oliver who was getting the mos t p ubl ici ty. Newspaper, radio and TV stations all a long the F· USA stops conducted interviews wi th Ol iver. And even Marl boro seemed to favor Oliver in its advertisi ng, yet n ever a wo rd o f complain t from Pet ersen. Instead Petersen - th e consummate professional - chose to always con centra te on th e positive. " I' ve got the best ride in the country," Petersen would always say. " My goal ever since I began road racing was to ride a 500 GP machine, and now I'm doing it, " Petersen had a near miss in practice wh en Mike Smith went down right in front of him. Somehow, though, he was lu cky enough to miss the fallen Smith and his bike. The Yoshimura crew had parts shipped in overnight and Smith was ready to go the next day. The final a t Road Atlanta was somewha t of a reunion. On hand were several rid ers who hav e been top guns in pas t F·USA seasons. Scott Gray was th er e tr yin g to rekindle hi s racing caree r. He looked so me wha t overweigh t a nd o u t o f shape, but he still had no mechanism of fear that told him he cou ldn' t go through a turn that fast. R Rich Oliver (97), Tom Kipp (l6x), Kurt Hall (60) and Mike Smith race for the lead in Fomiula USA action from Road Atlanta; Hall won the first leg. Rich Oliver wrapped up the F·USA dass championship by taking the overall win. (Left to right) Kurt Hall, Rich Oliver and Tom Kipp celebrate in the winner's circle. $ StJ~UK METZELE "',::;tfl $ S UZ UK I , : 12 METZ ELEf 'H,::;tfl Smith was back wearing th e number one plate. After being injured this year and missing the majority of the the AMA Superbike season, he was eager to have a good showing at the F·USA final. Yoshimura certainly gave him the bike to do well on. Another version of "Big Papa,'" this Suzuki GSXR with unknown displacement (rumored to be 1300cc) was probably the most powerful machine in the paddock. Not far behind in the horsepower chase was 1989 F·USA champ Hall on his Valvoline Suzuki. The Valvoline Suzuki crew had been perfecting the machine during the latter part of the season, and Hall looked to be a serious threat at Road Atlanta. In qualifying, Oliver nudged out Smith for the pole with a lap of I minute, 26.12 seconds (over 105 mph average) on the 2.52·mile track on a very cold day . Smith was second quickest , clocked by WERA officials at 1:26.14 in a somewhat controversial session sin ce many pit row watches had Smith turning qui cker laps than Oliver. Smith shook it off, saying that it was the race that reall y mattered, not qualifying. Petersen, who first rode the YZR500 here last year, was third fastest with a 1:27.04, foll owed by Hall and T om Kipp both in th e 1:28s. Chuck Grav es figured to be one of the fast qualifiers but blew the mot or on hi s Yoshimurabu ilt Suzuki 1100 and was forced to go to a 750cc powerplan t, Graves.who qualifi ed seventh behind Don ald J acks, sai d the eng ine cha ng e cost him two seconds a lap. , U n fo rtu na tely, G ray crashed in p ractice and would not be able to ra ce. Petersen go t a hin t of thi ngs to come whe n his Yam ah a started smoking under acceleration in the final practice sessio n prio r to the first leg on Sunday morning. T he pro blem was diagnosed as a leaking cra n k sea l, but th e Marlboro crew didn't have the time to repl ace th e seal and Petersen was forced to pray th at the bik e didn't blow up. Petersen did have a spare motor, but Petersen's crew doubted that the well used spare would make it for both races - they decided to change to the spare motor after the first leg. Tom Kipp jumped out to the early lead in the first race, the Ohioan knowing his chances of a win were based on being able to get away ear ly. That plan was snuffed out, however, when Oliver motored by down the long Road Atlanta backstraight to take the lead. Smith's hope of proving himself the fastest rider came to an end on the starting line. The powerful Yoshimura motor was too much for th e clu tch and Smith was left sitting at the line while everyone else blasted away. ' Back on the track, Oliver wa s beginning to pull away from Kipp, wh o was now being shadowed by Hall. Mik e H arth, rid ing the Dutchman Suzuki, moved up quickly and was just a few clicks behind Hall and Kipp . On th e third lap, Donald Jacks crashed violently as he cam e out of turn

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