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ROADRACE
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Dale Quarterley was running second until he crashed. He still ended up fifth.
Scott Russell celebrates his successful return to AMA Superbike racing.
Russell returns, captures pole position
S
8
cott Russell (right) has never been accused of
lacking confidence. At New Hampshire
International Speedway he was brimming with
it. A late-hour decision to race in the AMA National
Championship race during a lull in the World
Superbike Championship allowed Russell to return
to a race track that has always been good to him.
Consequently, from the moment he arrived he
became the man to beat. In qualifying, at least, that
held true.
The Muzzy Kawasaki rider went out on a stilldrying pavement in the second session - iffy conditions that kept many of the top riders in the pits and he bettered his first session time in the process,
clicking off a one-minute, 14.806-second lap (76.806
mph) to secure pole position. All this after only
deciding to do the race the Monday prior to the
event.
"I put the bug in Rob's (Muzzy -team owner) ear when I called him Monday night,"
said Russell, who was riding teammate Takahiro Sohwa's spare machine. "The team
needs an uplift and that's whatI'm here for. Yesterday the bike was too lean - everything was not what I wanted. We changed everything last night and it was really good
this morning. The thing's really driving up the hill good."
Was Russell's return going to put an end to the three-race win streak of Fast By
Ferracci's Doug Polen? Russell, after all, had won the last two Loudon Camel Classics
at New Hampshire International Speedway, a tight and twisty, l.6-mile race track deep
in the heart of New England.
.
"Tomorrow he will be beaten," Russell stated, matter of fact1y. "That's what I'm
. here for - to end that Ducati streak. This is my track. I miss racing over here. I've got a
lot of fans here. The way I look at it, if there's a weekend 1can go race and possibly win
- let's go. I really want to beat Doug (polen) and this is a ~ track for it. These guys
have been dealing with one of the best in the world (Polen) - and he's on a Ducat!.
That's a tough deal." The second spot on the grid was taken by a Vance & Hines
Yamaha, but it wasn't"rookie sensation Colin Edwards' YZF750SP. Instead, it was the
new Yamaha of veteran Jamie James that would sit next to Russell's Kawasaki. James
had clocked a 1:15.295 in the first session as Russell was the only rider to improve his
time in the semi-wet second session.
24. James Lussier (Kaw); 25. Brett Ray (Suz); 26.
Anthony Parua (]
