Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

said sitting in front of a fan after removing his leather s. "Christ ian (Gard ne r) wasn 't ready when I came in and that pissed the lead away:' Tommy Lynch put the Two Brothers machine in the lead, building up enough of a cushion that the team stayed in front when Nick Ienats ch took over just past the one-hour mark. "With how hot it is, you try to go as slo w as you can," Lynch said after the hand-off. "From pretty early on the suspension loosened up quite a bit on us. It's affecting it pretty much everywhere. "It seems like the field's thinned out a little bit. There are some guys out there that I'm catching pretty fast. It seems like every third or fourth lap," Lynch added. Jus t past the one hour mark Barely Human Racing pitted for fuel and a rear ti re, Mark Brubach er replacing Neil Jenkins. Ienatsch held the lead as the teams a p proached th e h a lfw a y mark, Fastline/ MCM Suzuki's Michael Barnes chasing him after taking ove r for Scott Zampach a t the 47-min ute ma r k. Zampach, like Lynch, noticed the traffic, but found it much more dangerous. "It's hot for me and I can deal with it," Zarnpach said. "A lot of the other riders on the smaller bikes are all over the track. They ha ve less experience and they 're fighting the bike. They' re not used to riding under these conditions. I' m real apprehensive when it comes to passing: ' Zam p ach took the co ntrols of the_ Fastline/MCM Suzuki from Barnes a minu te before the 90-minute mar k, pi t'ti n g for gas an d a new rear tire on the same lap that Ray Yoder went back out for Dut chman. Barnes had bee n out of racing since injuring his right shoulder at a WERA race in Seattle five weeks earlier and was pleased with how it was holding up under the severe conditions. "It's better than I thought it was going ' to be," Barnes said after his first shift. "I got into a wobble off of the hill and I had to ha ng on ti ghter th an 1 wa nted to . Besides that the heat was unbearable. My footpeg was so hot I had to take my foot off of it to make it bearable. Even on the front straight I was lifting it off the peg." Dutchm an became the next casualty, Yod e r drop ping o u t as the race approached the two-hou r mark . "It overheated and puked all the wate r out," Yoder sai d af ter pitting. "It was gradually losing power and I came in. " As Yode r was speaking, Ienatsch pitted for a rear tire change and gas and went back out, having lapped up to second place. Barely Human Racing took over third, Jenkins back on for Brubacher with 61 minutes left, and the order of the top three was set. "I can't remember racing in this heat ever," Jenkins said. "After 50 minutes I was cook ed . It took 10 mi nutes in the shower to get my pulse down. Neil'sa framer and he works outside all da y so he's more used to it. The next two spots had been decided by th e halfway ma rk with Keystone/ Norths tar in front of Team TSBA. Two Brothers came in one last time at the 2:24 for Lynch to take it to the end, which he did without incide nt. Fastline/MCM Suzu ki w as denied making a charge whe n Zampach was forced to pit a lap early when the engine sp uttered. The tank was topped off and he went out for another two laps before letting Barnes take over for the run to the flag. "I've got to thank Dr . Dave Kieffer for pu tting me back together," an apprecia tive Barnes said on the pod ium after finishing second . "It's only been five weeks since my surgery." "My ha t's off to everyone who finished," Zampach said. "I've been racing since 1985 and this is the toughes t race I've ever run." The final spot on the pod iu m was fille d by th e firs t- time pairing of Ca na dians Mark Brubacher and Neil Jenkins. Jenkins co mpetes ' in the 750 Supersport in Canada and wasn't accustomed to the built-up Yamaha. "I'm no t used to anything that big," Jenkins, who rod e nearly two of the three hours, said. "The track's real forgiving . 1 put in some good laps at the start an d tried to save fuel at the end. We wer e just banging off consistent times and that's wha t put us up here. "M y hands cramped up in the first session at abou t the 50-min ute mark. I had to change my riding style. I put my hands in ice between sessions and started usin g my l egs a lot more thesecon d time," Jenkins said. John Jacob ro de the firs t and third shifts fo r fo u rth-p laced Keys to n e / No rthstar, Gary Lenzmeier takin g the second and final shifts, though the team was for ced to make a n extra pit stop because of the heat. . "The re's no way you cou ld ride the last hour and be compe titive," Jacob said after his second shift. "It's unbearable out there. There's such hot air coming down the backstret ch when you're under the bubble you have to stand up ." The fifth place finishers, Team TSBA, had been assembled the morning of the race. Larry Locklear was asked to join his fellow Texans Robert Marsh and Mar k Black and he took the first shift, handing off to Robert Marsh. "We did qui te a few rid er changes," Locklear, who usually competes in the mu ch slower HarleyDavidson Twin Sports class said . "I kind of miss the speed. That thing is a scream er. Unfortunately, it doesn't handle at all. It's a pretty scary machine. The last hour we were without brakes for the most part." GTU Takahiro Mori led the second wave, the GTU r id er s, off the start, but officials thought the start was too goo d so they brought him in for a stop-and-go penalty on the third lap. No matter. By the 11th lap he was up to the leader, Ya maha of Leesburg's Michael Taylor, taking over the lead for one lap, then giving it up for one more. Mori crossed the line in front on the 13th lap and by the 35-minute mark had built up an eight-second cushion. Two laps later Harth made his return to AMA racing, 14 months after crashing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He'd ridde n in a WERA race at Willow Springs Raceway the previous weekend, but his motorcycle brok e after a handful of laps. About 26-minutes later, Harth pitted prematurely. "It's too hot. You need air cond itioned cars to go 'around that track," Harth said as he put a bag of ice on his head. "Tha t wall (a t Charlotte) made me 10 ye a rs older. It kind of d id me in. 1was getting a little deliri ous out there. I was feeling a little funny. I gave him (Mori) enough of a rest. Yamaha of Leesburg 's Jon Roberts chose not to ride at Road Atlanta, leaving it to the first time p airing of Mich ael Taylor and David Estok, who took over the Leesburg entry at 49 minutes. "Dave (Estok) and (Mike) Taylor are a secon d a nd a half faster than lam," Roberts said. "I had to let them ride:' Estok trailed Harth, then took the lead when he pitted at 1:04 for Mori to re-join the race. Harth wasn't through, though, taking back over again and finis hing u p with just under 40 minutes to go and the team in second. Leesburg changed jus t after tha t and Mori was able to run down the front-runners and take over the lead in the last half hour, building up a nine second lead with fifteen minutes to go and expand ing it to give the team their second win in the last threeraces. Mike Harth brings theGTU-elass winning Mota LibertylNankai entry in for fuel. Leesburg finished second , their best of the year, and congratulated the winn ers. "We too k our best shot," own er Roberts said. "We had a good day. 1 just wish we could have beat Moto Liberty, but it was their day." N or thw es t Racing fi n is he d third, Dean Mizdal and Andy Fenwick moving u p slowly throughout the race as the field began to diminish and they began to figure out their fuel mileage. "We had some new flat slide carbs and we were wondering how many stops we'd need," Mizdal said. "A couple of times it seemed to crap out, then it cleaned out." Sixth at the end of the first half hour, they mo ved up a spot at the hour mark, staying there until American Flyers and AGV Sport Group both dropped out between the halfway and two-hour point. Fastline /MCM Suzuki was also on the move, taking over fourth before getting passed by Fenwick in the last half hour. "We had to kind of run our o wn race," Fenwick said . "The bike was running hot. We had to back it back a notch. 1 used to do a lot of 24 hour races SO I figured they'd run me hard here," Fenwick, who rode nearly two hours, added. Craig Gleason fi ni she d up for Fastline/ MCM having re-entered the race with 20 minutes to go as the team rode shorter shifts than most. "I had the flu on Sunday and Monday and 1 had no energy," said Gleason, who was baking in his black leathers.."I felt better the second shift. I got used to it, I guess. 1 just h a ven 't had much track time." Keystone /Northstar II finished fifth, the wea the r ma king them cha nge their original pit plans. "(Jim ) Pennington and I were going to go wit h one pit sto p ," John Condron said. "We had a big enough lead that we thought we could make it. Then, at 50 minutes, I got a cramp in my right leg. I came in, Jim rode, then I rode almost an hour on my second stint. We were down a little bit on power." .~ Results eTO: 1. Two Brothers Racing (Hon) ; 2. Fastl ine /MCM Suzuki (Suz ); 3. Barely H uma n Racing (Yam); 4. Keystone /Northstar (Yam); 5, Team TSBA (Suz); 6. E.I.B. Racin g (Hon); 7. BattleyCycles (Yam); 8. Begotb Racing (!

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