Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE AMAICCS HP4 600cc Su~_ort_Se_ri_es:_Ro_un_d_6 ~ _ AMAICCS 750cc SUpersport Series: Round 6 Sohwa gets his revenge By Paul Carruthers Photo by George Roberts LOUDON, NH, JUNE 19 UZZy Kawasaki's Takahiro 50hwa finished a strong second on the race track last week at Road America. But that accomplishment was later taken away when a post-race teardown revealed that his 1993 Kawasaki had been fitted with 1992-model brakes and Sohwa was disqualified. The 27year-old from Japan bounced back qukkly, though, gaining a little revenge by earning his first-ever AMA victory at New Hampshire International Speedway on Saturday. In a thrilling race that had a little bit of everything, Sohwa was able to turn things around during the break between' the red-flagged first portion of the race and the second 14-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Sohwa fitted both a new front and new rear tire and changed the gearing on his Muzzy Kawasaki, then climbed through from as far back as fifth to take the lead on the sixth lap of the restart. He never looked back in storming to his first-ever win in the U.S. Second place went to Yoshimura Suzuki's Britt Turkington after a racelong fight with Class Racing's Fritz Kling and local hero Marc Smith on the New England Performance-backed Kawasaki. In the end, though, Turkington was able to hold off the two chargers behind him, with Kling and Smith rounding out the top four, respectively. Team Suzuki Sport's James Randolph rounded out the top five finishers. The second place finish moved Turkington further ahead of his teammate Gerald Rothman Jr. in the championship points standings. Turkington now leads Rothman 197·145. Sohwa moves to within one poinf of Rothman with 144 points. The unluckiest man on this day was Class Racing's Jason Pridmore. The Californian seemed to have things under control after having just worked past Turkington after 16 laps of the first portion of the race. The disaster struck as Pridmore was pitched off his Kawasaki when he hit the oil of some fallen motorcycles in turn three. Turkington was able to ride off into the dirt and around the incident, but his teammate Rothman wasn't so fortunate. The Manchester, Connecticut rider was highsided from his Suzuki and then was run over by the Honda CBR600 of Dave Rosno. The ugly incident brought out the red flag, and fortunately all involved were treated and released. "Jason (Pridmore) had passed me," Turkington explained. "There was a waving yellow and a debris flag, and they were telling us to go to the outside. He (Pridmore) hit some liquid and he went sideways. I stood it up and went for the dirt where I knew there would be more traction." At this point in the race, Sohwa seemed to be a non-factor. That would change quickly. On the restart, it was Turkington duplicating his fast start of the original start. Rothman's rush to get his bike repaired was for naught as he ground the cases on the Suzuki on the inside curbing in turn one, crashing for the second time. M Mike Smith (8) leads Britt Turkington (28) and a host of others in the 600cc Supersport final. Smith won his first race of the season. Smith delivers in the rain By Paul Carruthers Photos by George Roberts LOUDON, NH, JUNE 20 amel Honda's Mike Smith. would make a good mailman. After all, he deli vered part of his 600cc Supersport win at New Hampshire International Speedway in dry conditions, a portion in damp conditions and the most important part in soaking wet conditions. In the end it was Smith's ability to stay focused when the track conditions were at their worst that allowed him to emerge with his first victory of the season. Ironically, that win came at the race track where Smith crashed and brok~ his leg last year - while leading the 600cc Supersport class: The win also marked the first such victory for a Honda CBR600 in 1993, only a season after they had so thoroughly dominated the class. Smith's biggest challenge when the conditions turned unpleasant came from Kawasaki Canada's Steve Crevier. The Canadian hung on until the very end, pressuring Smith throughout and finally finishing only·1.604 seconds behind after getting the worst of a la te-Iap exchange with lapped riders. Smith's Camel Honda teammate Randy Renfrow turned in what was perhaps the most impressive ride. The diminutive Vir~inian started slowly after being run mto in the first corner, fought back when the conditions worsened and eventually finished third. It was his best result since his similar performance in the season opener at Phoenix international Raceway. Championship point leader Miguel DuHamel raced at the front until the weather changed. At that point it became a tactical race for the French Canadian, with his focus planted firmly on not throwing away his points lead. As it turns out he actually gained more points on his nearest rival Britt Turkington, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider only managing a seventh-place finish. Now DuHamel leads by 27 points, 200-173, with four races remaining in the 10-race series. Renfrow is third with C 10 157 points, with Crevier's 154 and Gerald Rothman Jr's. 132 points filling the top five. Rothman finished 12th at New Hampshire International Speedway. Smith led Turkington in to turn one on a dry race track with Renfrow back in the pack after being hit from behind in the first corner. "I haven't made it through the first lap in the last three races with out getting hit," the veteran Renfrow said. "The banging and bruising level in this class is higher than in any class I've ever ridden in." Smi th looked to be trying to run away from everybody as he opened a gap over Turkington at the completion of the first lap. DuHamel, meanwhile, was third with Crevier fourth and Canada's Don Munroe fifth. On the third lap the chasing pack started to reel Smith in and by the fourth lap they were all together, the top four breaking away a bit from a group behind them that consisted of Munroe, Jason Pridmore, and Owen Weichel. Turkington took the lead for the first time on the fifth lap and he held it for a lap before DuHamel took his turn at the front. By the 10th lap the rain started to fall and .the pace slowed. Still DuHamel led Turkington, Crevier and Smith - but Renfrow had started his charge and was up to fifth place and dicing with Munroe. Weichel crashed in turn five on the 14th lap; he would remount to finish an eventual 11tho Crevier took his turn at the front on laps 17, 18 and 19 before Smith came by to lead lap 20. At this point the rain started to fall harder and Smith and Crevier started to pull away from a cautious DuHamel and Turkington. Those two swapped positions at the front, with Smith gaining the upper hand each and every time they approached traffic. That included the last lap and the Georgian was able to beat his Canadian rival to the flag. "Mike (Smith) wanted it more than me and he's a hacker," Crevier said later. "I can't fall down and look stupid when I'm in the top three. I just want to keep showing that I'm competitive and maybe one damn day I'll get a job down here." Renfrew rid himself of the battle he was in with Pridmore, upstart Aaron Yates and DuHamel, to take control of third place in the late going. DuHamel was his toughest foe, but he used an outside pass in turn six to seal third spot. "We've struggled a bit this year; I've struggled in the first few laps," Renfrow said. "When it was dry I was picking up time, but I made some mistakes. When it got wet I started picking up time again." "I'm glad to be here," Smith said. "I tried last year, but didn't make it. Crevier did a good job - a lot of guys rode well. It took a lot of self control out there. I wanted to win, so I got out to see what I could do. I couldn't stay out there and then the rain changed the conditions. When you're leading you've got to make your own line - it was pretty spooky." DuHamel admitted that he had to play -the odds to finish fourth: "I saw some big rain drops and I didn't want to take a chance," he said. "I'm leading the championship so it wasn't worth taking the risk." CN Results 600« SS FINAL, 1. Mike Smith (Hon); 2. Steve Crevier (Kaw); 3. Randy Renfrow (Hon); 4. Miguel DuHamel (Kaw); 5. Jason Pridmore (Kaw); 6. Aaron Yates (Hon); 7. Britt Turkin~on (Suz); 8. Don Munroe (Kaw); 9. Tommy Lynch (flon); 10. Thomas Stevens (Suz); 11. Owen Weichel (Hon); 12. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Suz); 13. Timothy Samson (Hon); 14. Mike Murphy (Hon); lS. Peter lllich (Hon); 16. Christopher Borgman (Hon); 17. Anthony Johnson (Hon); 18. Pete Byrne (Hon); 19. Donald Berry (Yam); 20. Robin Holiday (Hon); 21. Todd Scranton (Yam); 22. John Scheehs.. (Hon); 23. Robert Meister (Suz); 24. Raymond Blanchard (Hon); 25. Chris Robinson (Hon); 26. Sean Sweeney (Hon); 27. Russ !

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