Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127565
middle portion of the race, however, the
sun broke through, raising the track
temperature and possibly causing additional problems with tire wear.
One of the largest Daytona 200
crowds in recent history watched as
Russell led the 79-rider field into tum
one for the first tin\e, and by the time
they reached the International
Horseshoe he'd already opened up a
slight lead over Picotte, Slight, Lawson,
Guenette, DuHamel and Scotland's
Brian Morrison. It didn't take long for
Lawson to notice that Russell was
breaking away, and by the end of the
first lap he was with the Kawasaki factory rider.
By this time, Smith was already a
spectator, his Honda RC30 coasting to a
stop on the inside of the International
Horseshoe. "It was something in the
clutch: Camel Honda crew chief Ray
Plumb said. "I don't really know what
it is yet. We put a new one in last nightI don't know."
Attention also focused on Polen and
Edwards, the pair starting the race from
rows 12 and 16, respectively, after both
had encountered problems during the
Twin 50 qualifying races (see sidebar).
By the third lap, Polen was 15th and
Edwards was 18th. Kipp, who also
started from the 16th row, was also on
the move - he sat a few places behind
Edwards.
Lap three also saw Lawson take the
lead for the first time, clicking off a oneminute, 53.74-second lap as he and
Russell started to pull clear from the
rest. Third place was being held by
Slight over former World Superbike
Champion Raymond Roche and his
Ducati, with a gap back to DuHamel,
Yoshimura Suzuki's Akira Yanagawa
and Canadian Steve Crevier, who had
started slowly from his spot on the front
row.
Muzzy Kawasaki's Takahiro "Tiger"
Sohwa's day started badly as he took
his ZXR750 to the pits for the first of
many stops in an effort to repair a misbehaving gearbox. Crevier, too, ran into
problems, pitting on the sixth lap when
one of his exhaust pipes fell off: "We
Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson (7) and AMA Champion Scott Russell (1) were this dose for most of the 2lJO-mile race.
safety wired it and hoped it would stay
on - it did," Crevier said. Between that
and another unscheduled pit stop to
adjust a chain, and the Canadiar} ended
the day in 28th place.
On the seventh lap, Adamo crashed,
bringing out the pace car and the caution flags on the ninth go-around. As
the pack slowed behind the pace car,
Russell, who had taken over from
Lawson on the seventh lap, led the way
with the four-time World Champion in
tow; Slight was third with Roche,
DuHamel, Yanagawa, Stevens, Polen
(now eighth), Guenette, Farmer and
Russell battles wind,J~1U?ole for 200
M
uzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell (right) was
having trouble telling time prior to qualifying for the Daytona 200 by Arai. so he did the
logical thing - he went out and earned himself a
new wristwatch.
Russell smashed Doug Polen's one-year-