Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Yamaha -mounted Chr isti a n Gardner was having his best National o u tin g to dat e, runnin g wi th the Smith/Kipp/Quarterley group until chunking his rear Dunlop tire late in the race; he was credited wi th 19th place. Two Brothers Racing's Steve Crevier was a non -finisher, after he " torched" the motor on his Honda RC30. James was very emotiona l in the win ner's circle, dedicating his race win to good fri end Mike Harth, wh o suffered serious injuries after crashing on th e high-speed banking during Saturday's EBC Endurance Challenge. Harth was listed in critical/ stabl e condition at Carolinas Regional Med- ' ical Center on Sunday morning after su fferi ng head injuries and possible fractures to bon es in his face, shoulder and fing er. "At the end of yesterday 's pr actice I would pass the mar ks on the wall wh ere he (Harth) crashed and I'd p hysically mak e the fro nt end slide," J ames said . " It was weird. I was really weak. I was a little bit frightened. I sat on the bed last night and told myself, 'If you don 't want to do this, then quit - or get off your butt and think about your rid in g.' " l:N Results SUPERBtKE QUAUFYING: I. Dou g Polen (I min., 15.550 = .1 107.214 m ph ); 2. See n Ru ssell (1:15.567); 3. Mike Smi th (1:16.2 15); 4. J ami e J am es (1:16.337); 5. Pascal P irone (1:16.406); 6. Thomas Steve ns (1:16.622); 7. Fredd ie Spe ncer (1:16.701); 8. Tom Kipp (1: 17.0 13); 9. David Sad owski (1: 17.432); 10. Steve Crevier (1:17.979); 11. Jacques G uenette. Jr. ( 1:18.123); 12. Larry Pegram (1:19. 111); 13. Christian Gard ner (1:19.142); 14. Scott Zampach (1:19. 180); 15. J am es Adam o (1:19.268): 16. Er ic Moe (1:19.597); 17. SC Oll Gra y ( 1:19.640); 18. Michael Taylor (1:20.096); 19. J o hn Ashm ead ( 1:20.186); 20. J oe Bre t t Will iam s ( 1:20. 19 1); 21. Phil Kress (1:20.652); 22. Dale Q uarterley ( 1:20.944); 23. Robert Meister (1:2 U 99); 24. Linnley Cla rke (1:21.546); 25. Louis Saccoccio (1:21.640 ); 26. Cra ig G leason (1:2 1.757); 27. Bob San dy (1:2'2.627); 28. Pa blo Rea l (1:23.04 1); 29. Andrew Deatherage (1:23.280): 30. C lifton Bigo ney ( 1 : 2 .L~ 23 ) ; 31. Mike Harth (1:23.398 );' 32. Ro bert Wrig hl (1:23.835); 33. Mike Wa lsh (1:24.075); 34. Rick Shaw (1:24.120); 35. Bryan Bemisderfer (1:25.624); 36. Mike Karm (1:25.662); 37. Kevin Hun t (1:29 .649 ); 38. P a ul Schwemmer (1:31.786). SU P ERBIKE NATIONAL: I. J ami e James (Yam); 2. Scou Ru ssell (Ka w); 3. Thomas Stevens (Kaw); 4. Dale Quarterley (Kaw ); 5. Tom Kipp (Hon ); 6. MikeSmith (Ha n ); 7. ScollZampach (Yarn) ; 8. Pascal Picotte (Duc); 9. Michael Taylor (Kaw); 10. J ohn Ashmead (Kaw); II. Sca n Gray (Kaw); 12. Eric Moe (Han ); 13. Bob Sa ndy (Kaw); 14. J oe Brett William s (Ha n ); 15. Pabl o Real (Due); 16. Cra ig Gleason (Suz); 17. Rob ert Meister (Ya m ); 18. Li nn ley Clarke (Yam): 19. Ch ristian Gardner (Ya m); 20. Freddie Spe ncer (H o n ); 21. Robert Wright (SU1); 22. Clifton Bigoney (Han) ; 23. Mike Karm (Suz); 24. Jimmy Adamo (Due ); 25. Larry Pegram (H on ); 26. Rick Shaw (Ya m ); 27. Mike Walsh (Ya m) ; 28. Steve Crevier (Han); 29. Doug Polen (Due); 30. Phil Kress (Kaw); Louisianan Jamie James scored the third win of his career and his first of the 1992 season at Charlotte Motor Speedway. . 1. J acques C ueneue, Jr. (Ho n ); 32. Dave Sad owski 3 (Suz). . T im e: N I A due to red nag . Distance: 22 laps, 49.5 mi les. Avtragt Speed : n/a du e to red flag. Margin or Victo ry: 1.615 sec. AMA SU PER BIKE C'SHIP POINT STAN DING S, I. Scou Russell (54); 2. Mik e Smi th (40); 3. Doug Pol en (37); 4. Thomas Stevens (33); 5. Jam ie James (3 1); 6. (T IE) Pascal Picone/David Sadowski (21); 8. T om Kip p (20); 9. Steve Crevier (18); 10. (TIE) Scan Zampach/Da le Q uanerley ( 15); 12. (T IE) Michae l Taylor /Jimmy Adam o (9): 14. (TI E) Larry Schwarzbach/Eric Moe (7). Pole to Polen,~gl=a=n=-i _ ombine high temperatures and high speeds . . and you end up with tire problems, especially at a place like Charlotte Motor Speedway. It happened last year, and it was the number one concern for riders as qualifying concluded in 1992. In the end, it was Fast By Ferracci's Doug Polen (right) qualifying on pole position, but his oneminute, 15.550·second lap at an average clip of 107.214mph likely wouldn't be matched come race day . The Texan and the rest of the top superbike riders had used qualifying tires; tires featuring considerably softer compounds than the tires they would be forced to use at this dauntingly fast 2.25mile superspeedway . Still, it was Polen's third straight pole position. Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell ended the day asthe second fastest rider, clocking his 1: J5.567. like Polen, in th e second of the three timed sessions. There was less wind in the first two sessions , and just prior to the third session many had either witnessed or heard about Mike Harth 's frightening crash on the banking; al40 mph get-off (caused by a front tire failure) in whi ch the Georgian was lucky to survive. Only four riders in the top 10 managed to improve in the final session, and one of them was third fastest qualifier Mike Smith on the Camel-backed Honda RC30. The Georigan clicked off a 1:16.215 to squeeze ahead of Vance &: Hines Yamaha's JamieJames, who turned his 1 ;16.~~7 in the second session. The second row was led by Canadian Pascal Picotte (1:16.406) on the second C Thomas Stevens (1) and Scott Russell (17) finished th ird and second , respectively. Fast By Ferracci Ducati. He led Muzzy Kawasaki's Thomas Stevens (1:16.622), Two Brothers Racing's Freddie Spencer (1:16.701) and Camel Honda's Tom Kipp (1:17.013). Yoshimura Suzuki'sDave Sadowski and Two Brothers Racing's Steve Crevier rounded out the top 10 qualifiers. Crevier had switched from Bridgestone tires to Michelins: "I'm just "doing a comparison test between the two. I may try a Bridgestone rear with a Michelin front." "I tried a different front (in the final session) trying to get dialed in on what's good and what isn 't," Polen said at the completion of qualifying. 'T h is morning's tire was much better. The wind didn't help, but I would have been able to go faster if I'd stayed with this morning's tire ." Although his quickest laps had been recorded with a qualifying Dunlop mounted to the Ducati, Polen wasn't worried about doing fast laps with a race tire. "So far I'm the. only one that's been able to go fast on the race tire. This place is bad on tires and that's my number one concern. Going fast isn 't a problem - making everything last is definitely a concern. I can probably run 18s all day. I'll play the race similar to Laguna: I'll go through the race and the last two or three laps pull away - if I can. I think if the race slows down, a lot of guys will go that pace. At the end everything will get sorted out The bike's working good - in fact, we never touched it from Laguna." Russell summed up the probable race pace best when he stated: "We'll probably run 17s and 18s, and that. will bring a shit load of people 10 the party." The Georgian was also vocal about the safety of racing motorcycles at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "It's very dangerous. I don't like putting myself at that kind of risk." His teammate, Stevens, echoed Russell's sentiments: "Racing at this place is just plain crazy," he said. "Qualifying here doesn't mean anything. I think the attrition rate here will be high, but it depends on what the race pace ends up being." Like last year, the race,track featured a temporary chicane on the back straight of the superspeedway. And also like last year, the chicane was changed frequently thoughout practice and even after the first qualifying session. 7

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