Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

knew Polen was suddenly a threat: "I was just cruisin' and watching the other guys and then - boom, he (Polen) was past them," Russell said. "I knew he was comin' so I picked up the pace. My bike's really not working too well. There's just no grip and I can only really ride it at about 80 percent." According to Dunlop tire technician Jim Allen, the majority of the field were fitting hard compound 632 tires while the two Camel Hondas of Kipp and Smith were opting to go with soft-compound 612s. Surprise, surprise, surprise... the leader of the restart was none other than Edwards. "I just thought, 'To hell with sittin' still, I'm rollin: " Fdwards said later. Behind Edwards came Smith, Stevens, DuHamel, Kipp, and Russell. Polen, again, was off to a slow start. Edwards and Smith started to open up a small gap as nine riders flew in formation around the banking for the second time in the IS-lap sprint to the flag. Russell wasn't wasting any time in charging to the front; he was sixth after two laps, fifth after four laps, fourth after fi ve and in the lead after seven goarounds. With Russell leading the wayan the eighth lap, Edwards stood his ground in second, followed by Stevens, Picotte, Smith (fading fast as the soft compound tire started to wear), DuHamel, Polen Scott Russell (1), Doug Polen (23) and Pascal Picotte exit the hairpin for the last time in the run to the flag. and Kipp. Quarterley, meanwhile, was ninth and all alone. Picotte moved around Stevens on the ninth lap to take over third and Polen also zapped the Suzuki a lap later. Picotte didn't stop there and he continued his best superbike ride to date by moving around Edwards and closing in on Russell. Polen got by Edwards on the brakes for the hairpin (turn nine) and instantly Colin Edwards (45) holds off Mike Smith (68); Edwards finished fourth, Smith was DQd Polen starts it with aban Two-time World Superbike Champion Doug Polen opened the AMA Superbike National Championship in style, earning pole position at Phoenix International Raceway and the single championship point that went along with it. The Texan and his Fast By Ferracci Dueati circulated the 1.6-mile combination oval/road course in one-minute, 02.973-seconds at an average speed of 85.751 mph. But not all went well for the Texan. During Sunday moming's warm-up practice session, Polen lost the front end on the high-speed banking, lIliding back fi.tst into the hay bales and concrete retaining wall. The accident further proved that racing in the rain at PIR is not a good idea, and action was later postponed until Monday. "The layout is interesting," Polen said after qualifying on Saturday. "It's technical enough that you have to watch what y()u're doing. It keeps you on your toes. There's some hard braking at the end Of the infield followed by some bard acceleration on to the banking. And there's that wall looming out there. Still, that's my favorite part • NASCAR three and four· it's r:eally a lot of fun." Polen was haVing no prob1enl whatsoever with setting up the 1992 model Dueati 888: "I haven't touched it since Mexico (an internatiOnal race Polen won at the end of '92)," he said. "We changed the gearing and put tires on it. It's as simple as it gets. Txres won't be a problem. I did 30 laps on a soft one, but it was pretty hairy out of the last corner. We'll use the next step up and be ready to go:' Second quickest was Camel Honda's Tom Kipp, riding an updated version of the Honda ROO he campaigned a season ago to a 1:03.309. Kipp was making good use of the changes which include a slight variation of the ram-air induction system used at Texas World at the end of last season; some new suspension pieces; different carburetors; a larger lower radiator; and miscellaneous engine parts. "Everything we Ce~:eron is working better than what we had," Kipp said. just as much as the bike is ,I'm better. It took me moet of last year to figure out the bike. The rider position change is a big thing for me. I can CQIItrol the bike a lot better now - I can brake a lot deeper now, as deep as anybody, sometimes deeper. The bike's got more power so it's easier to ~heeI steer it now. The whole package is better. I'm where I should be • last year I was really disappointed on the Superbike. I reaDy want it now. I don't want to be beat and now winning is a reality. The tires we qualified on are probably not what we'll race with. The race is going to be at my pace until somebody passes me because I will get the holeshot." Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell (1:03.571) was third fastest, the defending AMA Superbike National Champion struggling a bit with the setup on his ZX7R. "I'm not happy unless I'm the fastest," Russell said. "I can't go any faster with the bike like it is. The track is so rough. We started with the wrong setup and we've got to go back to what we know works. We're having problems getting the new front end (46mm Ohlins) set up. I can go faster, but the bike won't let me." Polen's Fast By Ferracci's Pascal Picotte filled the front row with his 1:03.676 lap. Vance &: Hines Yamaha's Colin Edwards (1:04.285), Muzzy Kawasaki's Miguel DuHamel (1:04.352), his teammate Takahiro Sohwa (1:04.422) and Yoshimura Suzuki's Thomas Stevens (1:04.427) filled row two. "The toughest thing is dialing the bike in Without Jamie's Uames) help," said Edwards, enjoying his Superbike debut despite not haVing his experienced teammate who is out with a hand injury. "If he was here ~'d help a little. I'm not ~rised to. be where 1 am - what surprises me is who is behind me. I can go faster, It s)USt getting everything working right. If possible I'll try and run at the front. Hell, yeah, 111 try and get the holeshot. [ will run where I feel comfortable - we'll just have to wait and see. I haven't really raced with any of these guys, so I don't know if they'll try and intimidate me. Anything's possible, but I don't think ['11 be intimidated.... -----------"'" started gaining ground on the lead pair. By this time, DuHamel had finally worked his way around Stevens and was trying to catch fourth-placed Edwards. The top three were now clear of the rest, and Polen was all over Picotte and Russell with two laps to go. At the start of the final lap, Polen moved by Picotte in turn one and went after Russell, bringing Picotte along for the ride. Tha t set up the furious dash to the finish line. "There was one line through the oil:' Polen explained of the last-lap dash. "1 got by him, but the front end slid all the way to the wall. I was nice and high and squared it off on the throttle." Edwards held on to fourth with DuHamel fifth, Stevens sixth and Smith edging Kipp for seventh (prior to them both being disqualified). "I didn't take full breaths," Polen said. "I was having a real problem breathing. After five or six laps I started to move up. I was going faster every lap and they were going slower. The restart didn't help. Everything started to stiffen up again." Russell was unusually upbeat in defeat: "I was never ready to win this race all weekend," he admitted. "It was just one of those weekends. I couldn't get the bike set up. The main problem was getting the new forks worked out. "I tried to get on the throttle early out of the hairpin (on the last lap) and it just lit up. At the end I was just caught 9ff the throttle for too long." Picotte's second-place finish was a career best for the French Canadian, and he was also privy to the best seat in the house for the final lap. "I saw two guys and I wanted to pass one and the other was too far. Doug (Polen) changed my plan a little. (During the break) I just added a little more rebound on the rear (suspension) and changed the tires," he said. "In the second race I had more corner speed. Before it was almost stop and go." When asked it he was surprised to see Polen on the grid after learning of his trip to the hospital, Russell said: "I knew he'd ride - he needs the points. He's a racer - you do what you've got to do." Edwards was all smiles following his fourth-place finish, though you get the feeling that he expects to do well. "It feels good knowing I can run with the big boys:' Edwards said. "I knew it would be a·tough deal holding them off. I knew they'd be knockin' on my door sooner or later. I'm still getting used to the carbon-carbon brakes. I can't get used to how good they work." So what was it like running with the big boys? "It seemed kind of docile," 7

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