Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMAlCCS Endurance Challenge: Round 3 ROADRACE; American FI ers takes GIll win ! By Henny Ray Abrams DAYTONA, FL, MAR 4 ith less than two laps to go in the Daytona GTU Team Challenge, American Flyers' Mike Murphy couldn't believe his eyes. Just ahead oI him, Southwest Motorsports' Chris Taylor had to take his right hand off the brake and throttle to search for the reserve switch on his fuel petcock. He'd run out of gas in the chicane. In traffic. "1 was having all sorts of problems with the wind and I started watching the leader board closely. I was gaining on Chris. Once that happened, all hell broke loose," Murphy said. "He had to switch the gas tank to reserve and I went around him. I got kind of lucky there." Murphy teamed with Todd Harrington to win the first-ever AMA GTU Team Challenge, a win that was also a first for the American Flyers team. The pair completed 30 laps of the 3.56-mile road course at an average speed of 103.340 and won by 5.310 seconds. "1 went aut and tried to run a decent pace," Harrington said of his first 30minute stint on the American Flyers Honda CBR600. "1 knew he was out at the end and you can't hold him back. When he goes, he goes. I'm just glad we finally won one. We've had plenty of seconds." Southwest Motorsports' Chris Taylor, who teamed with Danny Walker on a Yamaha TZR25O, held onto second, nearly a minute in front of Hornblower Racing's Bill Hornblower. Jonathan Cornwell had ridden the first leg on the Hornblower Honda CBR600. After three rounds of the EBC Brakes Endurance Series, Hornblower leads the GTU point standings with 97 points, four better than American Flyers. Southwest Motorsports is tied with Moto Liberty / Nankai II for third with 61. The Moto Liberty /Nankai II team finished fourth today, Tatsuhiko lino and Takahiro Mori riding the Honda CBR600 that Moto Liberty /Nankai rode to last year's GTU championship. Harrington and Murphy split the $1000 top prize from the $3500 GTU team purse, Southwest Metorsports' Walker and Taylor earning $700, and Hornblower and Cornwell pocketing W $500. Cornwell led the 37-rider field for the first lap, but Danny Walker sped by going into turn one of the second lap and Cornwell knew there wasn't a lot he could do. "I got a halfway decent start, but I could barely draft him on the banking and I couldn't do anything in the infield," Cornwell said. "I decided to just do the best with what I had and just let him go." The pace Walker was running, lap times in the 2:02 range, was unmatchable and he quickly built up a lead that was nearly eight seconds on the 10th lap, right about the 20-minute mark. The team pitted to change riders and add fuel just past the halfway point, Taylor replacing Walker aIter Walker had struggled with the wind. "The wind is a monster, it's really bad," Walker said. "It really blows this little bike around. That's what I told Chris. To be careful of the wind. I was doing a Colin Edwards with my butt up on the back of the seat on the front straight. If I didn't get a good drive out of four it would only pull 11,500 rpm. If 1 didn't get a good drive I had to go down the front straight in fiIth." Cornwell was replaced by Hornblower on the same lap, but he'd been forced in a lap early when he began to run out of fuel. "1 think with the wind, and at that pace, I actually got three less laps than we thoughf (we would). When I realized I was on reset'W!, I had to indicate to them that I was coming in early," Cornwell said. Hornblower and Taylor exited the pits at about the same time. and the pair took to the infield just as they were being passed for the lead by Moto Liberty/Suzuki's Doug Carmichael, the team waiting two more laps to pit, then relinquishing their lead. "I'm running wide on all of the exits because of the wind," Carmichael said after handing the Moto Liberty/Suzuki GSXR600 to Mike Himmelsbach. "All of us in the front group ran onto the grass in the chicane a t one time or another. I did it on about the third lap. I could make the left, but I couldn't make the right." But when Himmelsbach took over he found the setup which suited Carmichael didn't suit him and he gradually fell back to a. 10th-place finish. "Until we can get the bike set up to where the suspension works for both of us, we're going to struggle. Now we can get it where it won't shake him on the banking, but for me it's too loose," Carmichael said. The Moto Liberty/Nankai 1I team was faring better. At the halfway point they were up to sixth place, behind Semoff Brothers Racing, and getting ready to move up a spot when Team Holiday had fuel problems. "For some reason we didn't have enough fuel on board for the wind," Robin Holiday said after handing off to co-rider John Weiss. But their race would only last about a lap longer, the team retiring on the 16th lap. Murphy had taken over for Harrington just about at the halfway point and setting off for Taylor, though he wasn't sure of his position. "I didn't know where I was. Actually, it got kind of confusing. I was probably fourth or fifth when I jumped on it. I was gaining on Chris and when I got him in my sights I turned it up," Murphy said. As Taylor began to sputter and misfire in the chicane, Murphy pounced and raced to the checkered flag. "I'm too excited to talk right now," Murphy said after beating Taylor across the line for the team's first win. "Unfortunately we don't have all the bugs worked out just yet," Walker said after joining his Southwest Motorsports teammate in the Winner's circle. "We may have a thirsty twostroke, but these guys (American Flyers) have a pretty fast bike. Our strategy was to go for it from the start and get away from everybody. I know a lot of teams were thinking we could break like we did on Sunday. We didn't." Third, nearly a minute back, came Hornblower, happy to have picked up the points in a race format that he doesn't feel suits his team. "I didn't realistically think we could get up here on the podium in a short format race" Hornblower said. "In the three-hour I can'race like an old man at a American Flyers (46) won the inaugural GTU Team Challenge at Daytona. Second-place finishers Southwest Motorsports leave the pits after taking on fuel leisurely pace. When the other guys ran away, I couldn't keep up. I had Jon start because he's better in heavy traffic." Behind the leading trio lino, having taken over for Mori, moved up into the top five in the fmal 15 minutes when AGV Sport Group was held on pit row by AMA officials for having been on the track too long. In the GTU format, the longest a rider can stay on the track is 40 minutes and either AGV's Michael Taylor or Woody Deatherage was over the limit. They would finish 16th. Moto Liberty/Nankai II's lino and Mori moved up to finish fourth, one better than Team Norway's Thorvald Saeby and Jan Olav Noteng, the Norwegians racing a Kawasaki 600. Next came Team Raceco who finished sixth, Pete Johnson and Ronald McGill taking advantage of the rule allowing big-bore twins by using a Moto-Guzzi 992. I:N Results GTU P~OVlSIONAL RESULTS, 1. Am.dean F1yora (Hon); 2. Southwest Motoraports (Yam); 3. Homblower Racing (Hon); •. Moto uberty /NonIcol (Hon); 5. Tum Norway (lCaw); 6. Racoco (MG); 7. Xtroom Porformanco (Hon); 8. Go_ Ho.lin (Hon); 9. Koytsone Racing U (Suz); 10. Moto Liberty/Suzuki (Suz); 11. Team Hanson (Yom); 12. Apocho RacingToam (Hon); 13. MotorCO (Yom); 2B. Royol Plastics Racing (Hon); 29. Competition Motonports South (Yam); JO. Grimes (Yam); 31. Tum Techno (Yom); 32. G"phi< Racing GTU (Suz); 33. Mad M. . Racing (Hon); ~. WeoIcend W.mor Endurmco (Due); 35. Toam Holiday (Hon); 36. Vonce" Hines (Yam); "57. &-ja Racing (lion). Tune: 1 hour, 2 min., 0.542 JeC. Di.tance 30 laps. 106.8 miles. A.orago Spoo~ l03MO mph. MargIn of Victory: 5.310 soc. GTU CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS, I. Hornblower Racing (97/1 win); 2. American Flyers (93/1); 3. Southwest Motorsports (6]); 4. Keystone Racing n (60); 5. AGV Sport (55); 6. GotorahauJIn (53); 7. Xtroom Performance (52); 8. Molo uberty/Suzuld (~; 9. Semoff Brothers Racing (44); 10. Motorcycles Unlimited (43); 11.SemoU Brothers Racing (44); 12. Motor Suzu1d (26); 20. (TIE) T.om Holiday /1Uaco (25). 31

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