Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE e AMA 250[[ Grand Prix Series: Round 3 Kenn y Roberts, J r. (25) an d Colin Edwards (45) were never farther apart than this. "TheKids" dominate Charlotte By Paul Carruthers Photos by George R o ber ts CONCORD, NC, MAY 3 hey are begi n ni ng to be known simply as "The Kids," and at Charlotte Mo tor Spee dway there was no stopping th em. Col in Edwards II a nd Kenny Rob ert s, J r. put o n the best show of the day, as the pa ir of 18 year o lds battled th rough out th e 22la p 250cc Gra nd Prix fin al , w ith Edwards ta ki ng his second win o f the seaso n by a sca nt .464-o f-a-second. • The two were never separated by more than ha lf a second from start to finish as they pu lled away from the field to embar k on their own private ba ttle. Races don't get much better tha n this, and the outcome wasn't decided until the fina l laps. At that point, Edwards .and his Southwest Motorports Yamaha TZ250 were able to put a little room between himself and Roberts, riding a similar TZ250 in Team Rainey Racing Otsuka colors. The Texan earned 2880 of the $15,000 250cc p urse. Third p lace, but never rea lly wit hin stri ki ng distance, was Robert s' 30-year o ld tea m ma te Rich Ol iver. T he veteran co u ld do nothing but watch from beh in d as the "The Kids" put on a show . Fourth place went to the Two Brothers Racing H onda RS250 of Rick Kirk , wit h th e Ca mel H onda RS250 o f J im my Filice fin ish in g fifth - both H onda riders later co mplai ned o f a lack o f to p speed. Del Am o' s Robbie Petersen , H all 'N Still 's Bru ce Baldus, Viciou s Racing 's Fabian Co rtez III , Himmelsbach Racing's Will iam Himmelsbach a nd 17year-old newcome r J amie Bo wm an fill ed th e top 10 posi tions. . T he race for the 250cc Grand Pri x Na tiona l Ch amp ionsh i p is a lso quickl y becoming a two-m a n battle between th e tw o yo u n gs te rs, a s Edw a rd s leads Roberts , 55-49, af ter three ro u nds. Kirk (33), Petersen (32) and Fil ice (31) a re only separated by T 10 two points in the ba ttle for third. Last year's . Charlotte race winner and Edwards ' tea mmate, Chris D'A luisio, m issed th e fin al after suffering a cracke d hip in a p racti ce cras h . At th e drop o f th e flag, it was Robert s ta ki ng th e lead wi th Edwards tuc ked in behind. Kirk, O liver , Filice and Petersen' were d irectl y .beh in d the lead in g du o. On th e second go-around, Edwards took the lead -for th e first time, wi th O l i ve r m o vin g into third in the ch icane when Kirk ra n straight. By the fourth lap , "The Kids" had pulled a slight lead o n O liver , who had done the sa me to Kirk and Filice. Danny Wa lker, Petersen and Cortez, meanwhile, were locked in their own duel. At this point in the race the leading pair were ci rcu lating in the oneminute, 18-second range, a quicker pace than Edwards ' pole winning time, but a lo t of th a t had to do with the redesigned make-shift chicane on the backstraight. During qualifyi ng the chicane was a second-gear, leftrigh t co mbi nation. Pre-race changes, though, made it a third gear corner, dr oppin g lap times considerably. Edwards dipped into the 17s on the fift h la p , but Rob erts stayed with h im. At th a t point, Edwards knew the Ca liforn ian was th ere to stay. " I have to say th a t it did bo ther me tha t he was th ere," Edwards said lat er. "After four laps 1 knew he was going to hang with me." Thing s didn 't change unti l th e n inth la p , wh en Edwards ma de a shi fti ng m iscu e tha t a llowed Rob erts to pass: "Th ings started to get a little ha iry," Edw ards explained. " I ma de a m istake; 1 didn 't go down enough gea rs in tum five. H e ca me by and dr opped th e a nc ho r, do ing o nly 20s instead of 17s. It was a m in d ga me to slow th e pace, but 1 looked over my sho u lder a nd saw Ol iver. H e ca ugh t up a nd af ter that 1 just sai d, 'No way.' That would have been two against o ne. So 1 wic ked it u p and started doi ng 17s again." Oliver had indeed caught up when the pace slowed. But when Edwards moved back by Rob erts on la p II, the pace dropped a nd so did Ol iver. Edwards wou l d make time on Rob erts in the chica ne, with Roberts getting it a ll back o n braking for the entrance to turn one. It was settled in the final la ps when the Texan was able to put so me la pped riders between himself and th e Ca li fornia n. " I got through tra ffic a lo t better," Edwards said. " O n th e last la p going into the ch icane, 1broke abo u t 25 yards la ter and pitched it in th ere. " Kirk was able to put some dis ta nce on Filice in th eir race for fourth, with Petersen fin all y getting th e best of Baldus a nd Cortez to fini sh sixt h. "The kids were just too fast for me today," Oliver said in the win ner's circle. " I' ve got to hand it to them . . My bike was a little too rich. They just kept far enough ahead to keep me out o f their draft." Roberts was hap p y wit h his race: " Co lin rode his ass off," he said. " I just followed him. He got through some lappers better. We've siill got a lotto learn, bu t we' ll ge t the re. H e rode a great race and deserved to wi n." " I was over-rid ing the bike," Kirk said. " And 1 started mak in g mistakes. 1 was trying to m ake up fo r the lack Edwards gets itrig--C..ht o f horsepower th rough th e infield , but 1 was making too many mistakes." _ Fil ice was more to the point whe n di scussing his p ro b le ms w ith the RS250: " It was a dog," he sai d. " I don't kn ow wh y. Tho se guys are going fast, but it just didn 't feel good. I t go t real hot - up to 70 - a nd I j us t cruised to get fifth ." CN Results 250 GP Q UAUFYING: I. Colin Edwards 11 ( 1:18 .894 /102.669 mph ); 2. Kenny R~bem, .Jr. (1: 19.114): 3. Rick Kir k (1:19.449): 4. R Ich Oliver ( l: t 9.495) ; 5. Robb ie P etersen (1:19.589); 6. J immy Filice (1: 19.662): 7. Chris D'Aluisio (1:20.160); 8. ' Oanny Wa lker (1:20 .768 ); 9. Fabian Cortez III ( 1:20.896) ; 10. Bru ce Baldus ( 1:20.21.518); I I. Brad Sawyer (1:2 1.725); 12. Will ia m H im melsbach (1:21.938 ); 13. Mich ael Anthony Myers (1:22.248); 14. Ji mmy Mos ley (1:22.296); 15. Do ug Carmichael (1:22.433 ); 16. Jamie Bowman (1:22.469 ); 17. Greg Esser ( 1:22.680); 18. Ji m Sabin (1:23.570); 19. John France ( 1:25. 190); 20 . Mar cell o del Giudice {1:25.640); 2 1. jeflrey Jo hn son (1:25.740); 22. Dan Wisehart ( 1:26. II 3): 23. Malt jung laus (1:26.770 ): 24. Jim Bon ner (1:27.472) . 250 fiNA L: I. Co lin Edward. 11(Ya m ); 2. Ken n y Robe rts , J r. (Ya m) ; 3. Ri ch O liver (Ya m); 4. R ick Kirk (Han ); 5. J imm y Fi lice (Han); 6. Robb ie Pe tersen (Yam) ; 7. Bruce Ba ldu s (Yam) ; 8. Fabi an Co rte, III (Yam); 9. Will ia m Himmeslbach (Yam ); 10. Jam ie Bowman (Ya m) ; I I. Doug Ca rm ichael (Ya m ); 12. Jimmy Mosley (Ya m ); 13. Bra d Sawy er (Ya m) ; 14. Ma rcell o del Giudice (Yam); 15. Gr eg Esser (Ya m): 16. John France (Hon); 17. Jellrey Johnson (Yam ); 18. Dan Wishart (Yam); 19. Jim Bonner (Ya m ); 20. Danny Wa lker (Ya m) ; 21. Michael An thony Myers (Ya m ); 22. Jim Sabin (Yam); 23. Man jungklaus (Yam). T ime: 28 min.• 41.322 sec, Distance 22 laps. 49.5 m ilo. Avmo g< Speed: 103.525 mph. Margin o(Viaory: .464 sec. 250 GRAND PRIX csm e POINT STA:,-nL ,>;GS: I. Colin Edwards II (55): 2. Ken n y Roberts. Jr. (49): 3. Rick Kirk (33); 4. Robbie Petersen (32); 5. J immy Filice (31); 6. Rich Oliver (28): 7. Chris O'Aluisio (27); 8. Bruce Baldus (18); 9. (TIE) AI SalaverrialDanny Wa lker (14); 11. (TIE) Jon Cornwell/Tom Pari> ( II); 13. Fabian Conez III (9); 14. William H im me lsbach (7); 15. Jamie Bowman (6). _ fter struggling with a myriad of bike setup problems a week earlier at Laguna Seca, Colin Edwards II (righ t) and the Southwest Motorsports crew finally got their Yamaha TZ250 sorted o u t, and it was enough to allow the l8-year-old to ca p tu re the pole position a t Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards circulated th e 2.25,mile combination ro ad co urse, high -banked race track in oneminute, 18.894-seconds at an average speed of 102. 669 mph on his Mike Rockwell-timed Ya mah a. T h e team had apparently found the cure [or a case o f severe front-end chatter, and the young p he nom was co nfide n t th at he could drop th e times even lower for the race . " I thi nk it'll be low er than th at , probably 18.3s, or 18.2s," Ed wa rds predicted. " Maybe even some 17s. We'll make a few changes for to morrow, but if it 's not better we can go back to this setup. My plan is to try a nd break away and th en improvi se. My plan at every race is to break away." Edwards, wh ose only previous race experience at Charlotte came in last year 's AMA/CCS Endurance Challenge, said the key to a fast lap was a quick transition through the often -changed ch icane: " If yo u can get in and out faster , you can hold 'em o ff for th e res t of the lap," he said. None of the others were able to break into the l :18-bracket, but th ere was a five-rider pack in the I:19s, led by another 18 year old, T eam Rainey Ra cing O tsuka's Kenny Roberts, Jr. at 1:19.114. " I've got a little front -end cha tter, but that's about it," Roberts said. "I can go 7/10th s of a second faster, ma ybe even a second. It 'll be a long race." T hird quickest was Two Brothers Racing's Rick Kirk, on a Honda RS250 at 1:19.449: "It gets a little better every time we ride it ," Kirk said. "I think we ca n run a high 18 in th e race. 1 never could get in the draft of the good guys during qualifying. 1 was out there alone, so we'll go faster when we can get in th e draft." Roberts' teammate Rich Oliver was the final rider on the front row after his 1:19.495. Del Amo's Robbie Petersen (1:19.589), Camel Honda's Jimmy Filice ( I: 19.662), Southwest Motorsports Chris D' Aluisio' (I:20. 160) and Mota Liberty's Danny Walker (I :20.768) filled row two. Filice, who won the second round of the series six days earlier at Laguna Seca, wasn 't concerned about not sitting on the front row: " We tried some jetting changes and it made it lose top end," the dimi n u tive Californian said. " I couldn't stay with Little Ken n y (Roberts) on the banking, bu t 1 still th ink we'll be okay. The motor's a li ttle tired and we'll freshen it up for the race - like Laguna. Whatever tim es th ey do , I'll be there. We'v e got the handling covered, now it's just speed." D'Aluisio was suffering from a painful hip injury he suffered in practice when Mar cello del Giudice was highsided into him. "S tanding's fine," D 'Aluisio, who won here last year , said. "I can't ride, though. It 's crazy. 1 can't lift my leg off the peg to shift. It feels like it's cracked. I'm surprised I went as fast as 1 did." A

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