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/127592
gRDAD RACE AMA NationalChampionship Road Race Series: Final round ~ . . Early in the race Scott Gray gave chase to Miguel DuHamel; Gray eventually settled in to a third-place finis h behind DuHamel and Polen. tire tha t was too hard, held on to finish fourth. "1 was doin' a little slidin'," James said. "I had to concentrate real hard and ride real hard to finish where 1 did. 1 was counting on our tire .selection that 15 laps in those guys would have a problem. I sta rted charging and 1 did my three fastest laps but didn't gain. Then 1 overshot a comer and figured, 'Hey, you don't ha ve it and you better concentrate on s ta yi ng ahead of Quarterley .' 1 just rode it ou t to the end ." While James' main concern was a Du n lop tire th at wa s to o ha r d, Quarterley battled wit h a Michelin that was too soft. "1 d idn't th ink it w ould come apart, but the hard er yo u rode it the more it slid ," th e New England er expl ained . "1 knew five or six la ps in and at that point 1 knew 1 had to take it easy to finish fifth. We ha d a good dice un til (Steve) Crevier go t into it. He ran in to Ja mie d own the end th ere and 1 could n' t turn. Jam ie pu lled ou t seven, eight, 10 bike lengths on me right there:' Behind Q ua rt erley came Stev ens, endin g his firs t season on the fact or y Suzuki with a si xth-place fin ish: "We had a sh oc k fad e problem," Stevens said. "I couldn't go forward and 1 had to just ride around. It's the same problem we 've had before late in the race." . Edwards was disappointed after hoping for a better end to his rook ie season: "1 really thought we could win this race," he said. "From lap two to the end it (the tire) was the same. We had a couple of choices on tires and we gambled. We expected this one to come in on the fifth or sixth lap and it never did:' Some distance back carne Smith, with Sohwa equally as far behind in ninth. Tenth place went to a n impressive Calvin Rayborn II, riding a fairly standard Kawasaki ZX750 sp onso re d by Cycle Gear in h is only Superbike National of the season. l:N Results Jamie James (2) fin ishe d fourth after getting past a fading Colin Edwards II (45) and holding off a determined Dale Quarterley (32). / (Left to right) Scott Gray, Miguel DuHamel and Doug Polen; 1-2-3at Sears Point 6 some dirt out the re because no one was going there. It made it real interes ting, but 1 got it all und er co ntr o l. Th ere are n' t too man y sa fe places to pass at Sears Point. 1 contemplated passing him on the outside of nine. 1 was inchin g up on him and thought, 'Nah, this wo uldn't be a go od spo t: 1 rem embered Scott's (Gray) crash in the Camel Cha llenge in 1988. It jus t wasn't enough . He jus t (DuHamel) rod e good eno ug h in those few (passing ) areas." DuHamel's vic tory was even m ore impressive considering it was h is firs t tr ip to th e d ifficult a nd so mew h a t da unting circuit: "I knew he was going to squa re it off and try to beat me to the lin e," DuHam el sa id . "1 got on it real hard and flicked it ba ck. 1 knew then that he cou ldn' t get by:' After his run-in with Crevier, James wa s ab le to m ake so m e time on Quarterley who was stuck waiting for Crevier 's slid ing Duca ti to vaca te th e racin g line. James, despite choosing a SB QUALIFYING: I . Doug Polen (H I.700 /88.496 mph); 2. Sco tt Gra y (1:42.114); 3. Co lin Ed w a rd s 11 (1:42864); 4. Jamie James (1:43.073); 5. Da le Qu arte rley (1:43.227); 6. Mike Smith (1:43.243); 7. Miguel DuHamel (1:44.080); 8. Steve Cre vie r (1:44.104); 9. Thomas Stevens (1:44.311); 10. Ta ka hi ro Schwa (1:44.540): I I. Andrew Stroud (1:45.696); 12. Joe Pittm an (1:46.897); 13. Calvin Raybo rn II (1:47.254); 14. Eric Moe (1:47540); IS. Nick Felli (1:47.905); 16. Dav id Devea u (1:48.1%); 17. Darrell C linge rman (1:48.197): 18. Keith Pin kstaff (1:48.336); 19. Brad Ha zen (1:48.701): 20. Dav id Kieffer (1:49.131); 21. Pablo Real (1:49.402); 22. Michael Benso n (1:50.014): 23. Tim Blasqu ez (1:50.800); 24. Rick Shaw (1:51.334); 25. Linsa y Thom as (1:57512): 26. Edwin Woo (2:02.243); 27. Steven Pe wtr ell (2:07.434). 58 FINAL: 1. Migu el DuHamel (Kaw); 2. Dou g Polen (Du e); 3. Scott Gray (DUe); 4. Jam ie James (Yam); 5. Dale Quarterley (Kaw) ; 6. Thomas Stev en s (5uz) ; 7. Co li n Edwa rds 11 (Ya m ); 8. Mike Sm it h (Hon) ; 9. . Ta kah iro Schwa (Kaw); 10. Ca lvin Rayborn II (Kaw); 11' Joe Pittman (Due); 12. Dav id Deveau (Suz); 13. Keith Pinksta ff (Kaw); 14. Pab lo Real (Due); 15. Eric Moe (H on) ; 16. Darre ll Clingerman (Kaw); 17. Brad Hazen (Kaw ); 18. David Kieffer (Due); 19. Tim Blasqu ez (Suz); 20. Ric k Shaw (Ya m) ; 21. St e ve Cr e vi er (D ue); 22. Andrew Stro ud (Du e). T ime : 42 min, 58.378 sec. Distances 25 lap s, 7? mil es. Average Speed: 87.264 m ph. Margi n of Vidory: .053 sec . FINAL SUPERB IK E C'SHIP POINT STAN'DlNGS (After 10 of 10 rounds): 1. Do ug Polen (326/6 wi ns); 2 Dale Quart er ley (263/ 1); 3. Migu el Du Hamel (261/1); 4. Jami e Jam es (230); 5. Ta kah iro Sohw a (189); 6. Colin Edwards (183); 7. Mike Smit h (181); 8. Thom as Stevens (181); 9. Pa b lo Real (169); 10. Pascal Picotte (147); I I. Er ic Moe (14 2) : 12 . Jo h n As hmead (13 2): 13. Sco tt Russell (131/1); 14. Brad Hazen (128); 15. Scot t Gray (127); 16. Jacq ues Guenette Jr. (121); 17. Rick Sha w (I l l); 18. David Kieffer (108): 19. Jim Sabin (88); 20. Tom lGp p (85).