Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Colin Edwards rode an impressive race 10 finish fourth after running 11th early. Doug Polen took over the championship points lead with his Laguna victory. them, but the tire was saying no way. 1 could have pushed harder, but even if I got up with 'ern I wouldn't have had enough tire left 10 do anything. I couldn't be happier. I've proved myself and that's as good as anything."Back to the lead trio, with DuHamel taking the lead for the first time on the 13th lap. The French Canadian was having his best ride of the young season, and he would lead every lap until the 26th. On the 23rd lap, Polen's Ducati spluttered its way up the front straight on one cylinder. The twin was spitting out some oil, and some of tha t oil had collected itself on the electricals, causing it 10 cut out and petrifying Polen in the process. On the 24th lap, Russell thought he'd blown up the Kawasaki when he missed a shift coming out of turn four while right on DuHamel. "1 thought it went bad," Russell said later. Polen blew past and he and DuHamel opened a gap over the Georgian who now calls Monterey home. A lap later Polen and DuHamel came very close to running off the track and that gave the lead back to Russell. "We went inlo turn five and I went on the outside and Miguel went on the inside:' Polen explained. "He caught a false neutral and ended up pushing the front end and going wide. I was on the outside of him and he pushed me all the "It was running on one- cylinder all the way over the hill," Polen explained. "They took off. I looked back to make sure I was clear of everybody else. Then it was like, 'Okay, fine.' It wasn't putting out enough (oil) to do anything to the race track. But it was enough to bother somebody if they were behind me for three or four laps." DuHamel was aware of the smoking Ducati: "When I looked at him I saw smoke coming off his boot so I just convinced myself that it was his boot burning. When a racer thinks oil they start slowing up. I said, 'To hell with that, it's just his boot burning up: and I just kept going at it." Polen beats rain for ole A deluge of rain washed out any hopes of a final qualifying session showdown at Laguna Seca Raceway on Saturday, and the fast time ended up being the one turned in by Fast By Ferracci's Doug Polen (right) during Friday's first session. Polen lapped the 1Hurn, 2.214-mile Laguna Seca Raceway circuit in a record-setting one-minute, 28.734-seconds during Friday's only timed session at an average clip of 89.824 mph. From then until Sunday morning's warm-up session the Ducati stayed parked under the Ferracci awning as rain pelted down during the final two sessions on Saturday. Even though -the timed sessions were cut short, Polen still knocked .717-of-a-second off his qualifying record set during last year's National As expected, Scott Russell came the closest to matching Polen's pace with the Muzzy Kawasaki rider on a break from his World Otarnpionship Superbike Series duties to contest what is likely his final AMA race of the season. Russell, who lives only minutes away from the race track in nearby Seaside, was also under last year's lap record with his 1:29.354lap. And the rest weren't far behind. Muzzy Kawasaki's Miguel DuHamel was the third fastest superbike rider with a 1:29.812 while the back-from-injury JamIe James filled the front row on the Vance &< Hines Yamaha at 1:30.018. While the rain hampered most of the field, Polen was unfazed by the missed sessions. "I'm set-up, bike-wise:' he said. "1 would have liked 10 try a harder tire just to see what the performance was, but even though I didn't get to run it I'd feel confident using it. It's the tire in the middle between the soft and the hard. I'll try it in the morning session. 'I1u:...soft tire would make it through the race distance. I used it in three of the last five World Superbike races last year. I was doing low 305 on the slower of the two bikes after 22-24 laps on the same tire. That tire is reasonable, but it'd be nice to have good grip for the whole race." As usual, Polen was extremely confident of how the race would turn out. ''The pace will be whatever (Scott) Ru~ll goes - until the end," Polen said. "If I have to, I can do 28s if the setup is good. At the end you'll probably see some 28s. I just hope it turns out real good and it's close at the end. I hope he's (Russell) right on my butt - it's good for the people in the stands. That's what they're here to see and they're going to get it. For at least 90-95% of the race it'll be close - but it's up to me." Russell was one of those who could have used an extra dry session. The Muzzy Kawasaki was for the most part a replica of what Russell used in the opening round of the World Championship Superbike Series a week ago in England: "I needed that extra session bad:' he said. "I can go fast right now - it's just difficult. I hope what we did to the bike today will be right. I think the pace will be in the 29s. I think 1 can go with him (polen) if what I did to the bike is right." DuHamel was the only one of the top stars to brave the wet conditions on Saturday. way out. Then Scott went underneath both of us. I was only three feet away from running off the track." With two laps 10 go, Polen darted up the inside of DuHamel in tum three to take over second place. On the final lap, Polen did the same to Russell - but the defending AMA Superbike Champion was able to square it off and come out of the comer ahead of the Ducati, making sure he ran nice and wide to push Polen on the white line and nearly on to the dirt. This set up the run to the flag with Polen taking the lead as they headed up the hill towards the Corkscrew. From there it was just a matter of who could outbrake whom in Tum 11. "l went out because it's my job 10 go out in the rain:" he said. "How do you ever hope to be a good rain rider if you don't go out in it You never know about the weather for tomorrow. We also found out that the bikes suck a lot of water in the rain - and it was better to find that out today. The session was good for us. The bike is pretty good. I've got to think some more about gearing. I used the same tire for the whole dry session and was able to do low 305. I think you'll see some 29s but then it will go to low 305. I don't think Doug (polen) can run 28s all day. I'm going to race with them and if Doug doesn't have a second he hasn't shown us yet, it'll be a good race." Vance & Hines' Jamie James further enhanced his reputation as one tough customer by posting the fourth quickest time on his Yamaha OW01. Despite missing the first two rounds of the series because of a hand that was badly injured during a preseason test session, James was able 10 quickly dispel any thoughts that he was finished. He may have cracked into the 29s if not for a tum 11 crash on what he predicted would have been his fast lap. "1 really felt good physically coming in 10 Laguna,," James said. "I've been training and really pushing myself before this race. It's like riding a bike, it came back pretty quick. I'm still riding the old bike and we're working to break the new one out for the next race. Since I missed testing here, we're a little bit behind and we've only made minute changes from last year. You really have to get going fast before you can make any real changes. I thought about some stuff during the night and I'm pretty sure the changes we'll make will do nothing but make it better. There's 10 guys out there that really ride good and it'll be Iough. I'm happy to be back." Following James to lead the second row was his teammate, Colin Edwards n. The 19-year-old turned in a lap time of 1:30.029 to lead the rest of the second row which included Muzzy Kawasaki's Takahiro Sohwa (1:30.526), Yoshimura Suzuki's Thomas Stevens (1:3O.536), and Fast by Ferracci's PascalPicolte (1:30.636). "It would have been nice to have another session to try and straighten it out a little better:' Stevens said. "1 don't think you'll see people go 28s • maybe Polen or Russell. We're going to use a tire we can go the distance on - not one that's good for only 10 laps. Last year we only had a hard or a soft one to use here. This year Dunlop has something in between. Using a soft tire would be stupid." The third row was led by the two Camel Commonwealth Honda's of Tom Kipp (1:30.865) and Mike Smith (1:31.083), leading the Team Mirage Kawasaki of Dale Quarterley (1:31.418) and Gold Hill Racing's Christian Gardner (1:32.363). Quarterley was the victim of a high-speed crash at the end of the first qualifying session when he stepped off his Kawasaki in tum four. "We've made some pretty big changes," said Kipp, who was hoping to use the AMA/CCS Endurance race for practice but eventually sat out because of the rain. "Mainly with the front end. I really want to go out and do some laps. I hope it's right. The front end is really giving me problems. I'm trying 10 get it to push instead of chop. We need to drop another second and I think we can come close. H this works, it'll be really good. It'll definitely be a lot more relaxing for me." Smith, too, was working hard to get the Honda RC30 setup: "1 needed that session:' Smith said. "We're trying some stuff we've never tried. We're trying to get it to come off the comers and this is the first weekend we've been able to to do that. 'But it's a case of give and get: I think we've got the stuff we need. I'm taking it slowly because I don't want to go past the point where it works the best. The pace will be whatever Russell runs. You know Polen - he'll dick with ya.''' Thirty-six riders qualified on a race track the riders had nothing but praise for: "I've never seen this place in better condition,." Stevens said. 7

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