Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

las1 year, rid ing Marlboro Yamaha YZR500s fo r Kennv Roberts in the WERA Pro Series . Alt hough Petersen esca ped uninj ure d, O liver was transport ed to the hosp ital with a possible fraCtured a nkle. " It pi ssed me off," Petersen said. "I was j ust letti ng the tires get warm and we were start ing to get o n them a li ttle bit!" U p fro nt, the race remained tig ht. Roberts led laps on e through eigh t, before Wal ker took his tu rn at the front. T hat las ted for th ree laps before Kirk blasted hi s way to the point position. Rob erts had tr ied to go u p the insi de of Kirk in turns 1-2, but th e man e uver didn 't wor k and he ended up losin g a little grou nd because of it. ' " I stu ffed hi m and he didn 't see me," Roberts sai d. "The fro n t tucked a nd I !lad to ' run st raight before flicking it back down." Alt houg h Rob ert s battled back to catch Kir k by the final la p, he co uldn 't get by the H onda RS250 rider. " In th e last ch ica ne I lost th e fro nt an d had to sh ift down to first gear a nd chi tch it. We ended u p second," said Robert s. I mu st ha ve lost the fro nt abo ut five times, a nd the rea r a bo ut. sev n tim es. I th ink I had the sus pene sio'n too soft." Kir k, wh o stru gg led in quali fyin g whe n th e RS250 broke a co n nec ti ng rod~ was o bvio us ly pleased with hi s effort: " I th in k I was just rid ing th e turns ha rder. I knew I had to gel Ken n y ear ly because he had mor e motor th an I did . We cut a set of Brid geston e slic ks and they worked reall y well. " As is beco ming th e norm , the 250cc final was aga in a thriller, a nd Wa lker wished he had foo tage of it. " It was unbeli evabl e," he said. " I wish there was a ca mera o n o ne of those bik es' beca use there was a lo t of bumpi ng and sliding a nd feet flyin g off the pegs. I can 't even co unt the num ber of tim es tha t a ll three of us almost cras hed. " Aft~ moving into a co mfo rta ble fifth ea rly o n; Ed wards started to fade back wards as the tires hea ted a nd h is sore wrist a nd knees started to tire. .He was ca ug h t and passed by D'A lu isio, who mo ved by Sabin o n the fina l la p , and almost by Ba ldu s. "T he fir st five laps I co u ld n' t do anyth ing," Edwa rds sa id. "The wri st went away, bu t th en start ed ac hing a t abo u t halfwa y. Ch ris (D'Aluisio) ca me by a nd I wicked it u p a litt le bit, but fN I co u ld n' t catch him ." Results 250 Q UAUFYIN G : l. Kenny Rob er ts. J r. ( I min u tes . 09.020 !I'(" nd s.l93.886 m p h ); 2. Ch r is t o O'Alu isio (1:09"' 25); 3. J im m y Filice (1:09.961); 4. Rich O liver (1:10.354); 5. Dan n y Wal ker (1: 10.365 ); 6. R o b b ie Peter sen (1: 10.369 ); 7. Bru ce Bal d u s (1:10.395); 8. Rick Kirk (1:10.487); 9. Fa bia n Co r tez III ( 1:10.538); 10. Mich ael An th o n y Myers .(1 : I O. 6 8 ~ ); II. To m my L yn ch ( 1: 10.88 2 ); 12 . J im Sab~ n (1:10.992 ); 13. Brad Sa wyer ( 1:11.177); 14. Co lin y Edwa rd , II ( 1: 11.328); 15. Jim m y Mosil" ( 1:11.72 1): 16. Do u g Ca rmichae l ( 1: 11.859); 17. Will ia m Q u in." (1:12.330); 18. Chu ck Soren so n (1:12.608); 19. j a m ie Bo w m an (1 : 12.68 1 ); 20. Man hew wi nn a ck er (1:13.295); 2 1. Ra ymon d H a thcock ( 1: 14.011); 22. [o hn Fra nce (1:14.492); 23. Steve Dav iso n ( 1:17.357). . 250cc FINAL: I. Rick Kirk (Ha n ); 2. Ken n y Roberts. jr;o (Yam ); 3. n '!nn y W...lker (Ya m); 4. C h ~ is D'Al uisio (Yarn ); 5. jim Sab in (Ya m) : 6. Col in Edwa rds II (Ya m ); 7. Bruce Bald us (Yam ): 8. Tommy Lynch (Ya m) : 9. Fabi an Cor tez III (Yam ): 10. J im my Moslq ' (Yam ): I I. Mik e M Yf'TS (Ya m) ; 12. Ch uc k Soren so n (Yam) : 13. Ma u hcw Winnacker (Ya m) ; 14 ~ Jamie Bowman (Yam ); 15. Doug Ca nnichael (Ya m ); '16. Steve Davison (Ya m ): 17. J o h n Fran ce (H u n ); 18. Ra ymond H athcock (Yam) ; 19. Rich O li ver (Yam ); 20. Robbie Peter sen (Y am) ; 21. Brad Saw yer (Yam ). Timet 24 min., 39.903 sec. Distance: 20 lap s. 36 mi les. A " tra~ t S~ : 8i.5?3 l1l . .ph Margm o f Victorv: .:>83 sec. 250 GP c-SHtP POINT STANDINGS: I. Kenn y Rob ert s; Jr. (66); 2. Co lin Edw ards 11 (65); 3. R ick Kirk (.53); 4. Chr is D 'Alui sio (40); 5. Rob bie P el er ~en 1 32~ 6. Jim Fil ice (3 1); 7. Dan n y Wa lker (29); 8. R ICh Oliver (28); 9. Bru ce Baldu s (27); 10. Fab ian Co rtez III ( 16); I I. Al Sa lav err ia (14); 12. (T I E) J oo Com welllTom P ari s/Jim Sab in ( I I ); 15. Ji m Mo sley (10); 16. (T I E) T o mmy L ynch vj a mi e Bo~ man (8); 18. W illiam Himmelsbaeh (7); 19. (T IE) MIke Myer s/ Dou g Ca rm icha el (6). Stephen Mathews (2), Ron McGill (8) and J im my Adamo (26) led the opening lap of the SuperTwins race; Pascal Picotte won, Scott lampach (I ) leads a dirt-tracking J ames Leslie (13) in Harley Twin Sport action. Picotte again in T x e as By P a u l Carruthers COLLEGE STA TION, TX, MAY31 leven rid ers starte d the SuperTwins race at T exas Worl d Sp eed' wa y, bu t one of them was in a race by h im self. . Fast By Ferracci's Pascal Pi cotte wo n his fourth straig ht Su per'Tw ins race, ma kin g a com plete mockery of the class by wi n ning by o ne-min ute a nd 14.290-seconds a nd lap pi ng everyo ne but secon d- p lace fini sh er Stephe n Mathews. And he still had time to p lay. "I was pa intin g black mark s everywhere." P icotte said. " It was fun. " And tha t was reall y th e o nly excitement in what turn ed out to be a ra th er dull pa rade. T he race started in dry co ndi tio ns, bu t under a dark eni ng sky, as it didn' t begin until 6:25 p .m . Ronald McGill led the wa y into turn o ne o n hi s Do ll Ho use-backed Hon da 700, but Ji m my Ada mo and th e Gi a Ca Mot o Ducat i was q uickly o u t fro nt an d pul ling a way fro m Ma th ews. Pi co tte, meanwhile, was tryin g to a t least make it in teresti ng for the few spectators p a ti ent e no ug h to sit thro ug h a n afternoo n of rain dela ys. T he Fren ch Canadian started in seventh pl ace, moved into th ird o n the second lap , to seco nd on the fourth lap , and then sta rted to reel-in Ada mo. By the eighth la p thos e two were lo c ked to geth er , m il es a h ead o f Mathews and his Fast By Ferraccibacked Ducati. On lap nin e, Pi cotte . took o ver th e lead a nd started to pu ll E a way. O n the l l th lap , Adamo crashed, ending a ny ho pes for a decent race. T he New Yo r ker rem o u nted to fini sh ni nth , a la p behind Pi cotte. Pico tte pulled clear, slidi ng the Du cati in each a nd every co rne r, as Mathews di d likewise to the rest of the pa ck. At the fini sh it was Ni gel Gale and h is Harl ey-Davidson fin ishi ng th ird with McG ill a nd G reg Kopp ro undin g mit the top five fin ishers. eN Resu lts S U PE RTWINS FINA L: 1. Pas cal P ico n e (Due); 2. Step he n Mat hews (Due ); 3. Ni gel Ga le (H ·D); 4. Ro na ld Mc..:G ill (H on ]: 5. Greg Ko p p (Due) ; 6. DaVId Kieffer (Du c); 7. Kiyo Watana be (H o n ); 8. Sh aw n Hi gbee (H · D); 9. J ames Adamo (Due ); 10. Mark Cruz (Due); I I. Mik e Tibe rio (MG ). T ime: 18 m in.• 8.913 sec. Distan ce: 15 la ps, 27 m iles. Avera ge Spee d : 89.263 mph. Ma rg in of Vieto ry: 1 min.• 14.2tJO sec. SUPER TWt NS C 'SHIP POINT ST AN DI NG S: I. Pasca l P ico t e (80); 2. Stephen Ma th ews (58); 3. J im m y Ada (56); 4. David Kieffer . (44 ); 5. Gr eg Ko p p (37); 6. R on ald McG Ill (35); 7. N igel G ale (27); 8. An drew Stroud (17); 9. Peter J oh nson (16); 10. (T I E) Ki vo Watana be/ Mi ke Ti berio ( 15). Zampach wins a.wet one in Twin Sport By Brent Plummer Photo by Pau l Carruthers COLLEGE STATION, TX, MAY31 a in poured down durin g t he en ti re H arl ey-D av id son .T wi n Spor ts eve nt a t Texas World Sp eed way, a n d SCOll Zam p a ch R eme rged supreme ou t of the waterlogged even t by fini shi ng nearl y two seconds ahead of Andy Fen wick. As the Pure Pl a tin um / Doll H ousespo nsored Ronald McG ill cl imbed u p the ra mp o n to the winner' s circle sta nd in th e th ird p lace 'position, he sum med u p the race : " Goi ng slo w fina lly paid off for once ." Bu t slow racing was by far the best plan of the day. Because in the early stages of the race, Zampach was heavil y p ressured from both ser ies poi nts lead er Nigel Gale and u pstart rookie J im Leslie. Bartels' pilo t Gale was the 'first to crash. " My shi eld fogged, a nd I hit so me sta ndi ng wat er , of which there was p len ty, in tu rn II a nd went sai ling out 'in to th e mud." Gale rem ounted to fin ish fourt h, which ga ve him enough points to reta in th e p oints lead over T i ll ey H-D ri der Zampach , 65-60, respec tively. Chuck Blackmon is th e third seeded ri der, ahead of today's : third-p lace fin isher McGill,.43-41. J im Leslie "was dirt tracking it aro u nd the track" with h is left foo t pla nted fir m ly on the track, ena bling him to ass ume the lead fo r the maj or ity of the race. But whe n the 10th lap was . just begin n ing, Leslie p itched his Moroney's Cycle 883 Sp or tster away in turn o ne, out of the lead a nd into II th overa ll. . Zampach, Gale a nd Lesli e proved domin ant fro m the very beginning of the race , and q ui ckly opened a slig h t lead over Fenw ick. The lead trio was wi ldl y swapp ing _ p laces alo ng the on ly safe passing poin t - the front stra igh t. But after Gal e a nd th en Lesli e crashed o u t, Zampach wa s all alo ne out front, but Fenwick had h im in hi s sights. " I didn 't want to ris k cras h ing. I felt . th a t I co u ld hav e go ne faster, but I held back a t a smoo th pace because I need the (second p lace) mon eyl" Fenwick CI\" said la ter. Results H ·D T WI N SPORT fl N AL: I. SCOll Zampach; 2. Andy Fe nw ick ; 3. Rona ld McG ill ; 4. Nige l Ga le; 5. Ch uc k Blackmo n; 6. Shaw n Higbee; 7. J on S t.:I u f ~er; 8. j er ry Wall ace; 9. Na ncr Delga do ; 10. Ri c h ie M or n s; 1 1. J a m es L es h e : 12. T o n y Mon ten eg ro . T ime: 24 mi n ., 56.124 sec. Distance: 14 la p s. 25.2 m iles. Avera ge Speed: 60.637 m ph. Margin of Vic lo ry: 1.796 sec. H·D TWIN SPORT C'SHIP POINT STAN DINGS: I. N igel Ga le (65); 2. See n Zampach (60); 3. Ch uck Blackmon (43); 4. Ro na ld McGill (41); 5. Sh awn H igbee (3 1); 6. '(T IE) Ra ndy T ex ter/Andy Fen w ick/James Leslie (28);' 9. J er)' Wa lla ce (24 ): 10. T o ny Monten egro (20). 7

• Cover