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/127602
on d and was honing in on McGrath. On lap six Batey took over, an d on the final two laps blew the race wide-open. "I saw the ba d news th at Tray was coining up fast on my pit board," McGrath said in good humor afte r the race. Batey, as always, took his wi n humbly. "I felt a little bad for David (McGra th). He was riding so well, bu t I just had so much motor on hi m th at there was nothing he could do." Formula One Novice was another cras hfes t, like B Pro duction Novice the day before . Once again WERA called the race after several red flags. In the confusion, no one knew who won' between Bill Zea r ley a nd Michael McMaugh; they were swapping the lead in nearl y every tum. After the race, the two riders wen t up to the scor in g to w er to see w ho 'd won. Zea rley was told he was the wi nner and McMau gh sho ok hi s hand and congratulated him. Saturd ay cam e cold and rain y, b ut Fran k Wilson d idn't let th e conditions get him down. The Canadian won hi s third straight WERA No vice title in C Superbike. Mike Messer was one of the few riders in the Formula II Novice field riding a two-stroke GP bike as th e majority of the riders were on Yam aha FZR400s. Messer, of Law rence, Kansas, used the speed advantage of his Yamaha TZ250 to hold off a la te-race cha rge by Aaron Obenberge r and Pau l Ne tterstrom, who were both on FZR400s. Matt Manspeaker sai d that he will re tire from sprint racin g now that he has won a WERA National title. Manspeaker came out on top in the red-flag shortened D Superbike Expert race . "I h ad fa ith in my rai n ti res," Ma ns p ea ke r said. "When I saw the ,halfway flag, I figu red the Hay de n kid would be comin g up on m e. Then I started seeing oil and bikes down and I figured the race would be stopped." Th e Hayden kid Manspeak er was talking ab out was Nick Ha yd en . H ayd en was moving u p and w as fo urth when the race was called. After the D Superbi ke Nov ice fin al, Aaron Obenberger probably had to feel like th e un-luckiest rider a t the GNF. Obenberger came up just short in the Formula II Novice race and had to settle for second. Once aga in, in D Superbike, Obenberger had his chances, but it was Flo rid ian Paul Net terstro in edging out Obenberger at the flag. ' In B Superstock Expert, Batey won hissecond WERA titl e by grad ually pulling away from Joe Prussiano to win by seven seco nds. Kevi n Rentzell was co ns idered to be a threa t in tha t race, but he pu lled in the pits ea rly w ith bike problems. Wilson ended his excellent ad venture so u th with a sens a tio na l w in in the B Superbike Novice fina l. In w ha t may have been the most exciting race of the weekend, Wilson beat Ray Litt on by maybe two inch es a t the finish line. Third place finisher Michael McMaugh was only about a half bike length behind. Rest assu red tha t Litton w ill never ag ain, in his entire racing career, celeb rate a wi n before he actually crosses the finish line. That's exactly w ha t he did at the finish of the race. Just as he was ta king th e flag, Litt on lifted his head and arm in celebration, at the sa me time letting off th e th ro ttle. Wilson, m eanwhile, was craw ling under the paint of his Yamaha and ha d the throttl e to th e stop . As the lea di ng trio hit the line it was Wilson slipping past for an incred ible victory. In the fi n al ra ce o n Sa t urday, A Superstock Expe rt, Batey took horne his third Na tional title . Again it was a win over his friend McGrath. Batey is qu ickly becoming on e of the top GNF performers in the history of the event with a tota l of five WERA National titles to his credit d ating back to his first title in 1990. Sund ay was freezing cold, but the action on Road Atlanta's two and a half miles hea ted up early . Grant Lopez was the surprise winner in the C Superstock Expert race. Lopez le d early, b u t on the white-flag lap found hi mself in th ird behind Glenn Sza rek and Aa ron Yates w ith Darryl Saylor b rea thing down his neck in fourth . On the fina l go -round, Szarek had the lead but the pressure was too much for him. He went wide under the Goodyear Bridge, allowing Lopez to slip u nde rneath and take the win. Yates an d Saylor were later d isqual ified; that pu t Mi ke Reed up to third. It was the first c h a m pi o n s hi p for th e 21-yea rold, seco nd -year rac er from Mobile, Alabama. , "I w as running some new compo un d Michelins today and I think tha t gave me the advan tage," said a happy Lopez. I\IAL FI Suzuki Cup Tension mou n ted as the rid e rs rea died th em sel ves fo r the 750cc Suzuk i National Cup Final. Valvoline Su zu ki teamm a tes Chuc k Graves and Steve Pa t te r son ha d each taken wins in the 750cc Suzuki Cup heat races, and it was polesitter Graves wh o led early. Rothman quickly got into th e fra y and led good p or tio ns in the m idd le and la te s tag es of the race. Mounting the bigges t charge of all was David Sadowski. Sadowski, riding a bike just rebuil t by Cycle Nu ts & Bolts and his former Yoshimura mechanic Craig Westwood, went from the back of the grid to the lead group by the halfway flags. The ' fo rmer Daytona 200 winner then took over the lead with two laps to go. The ra ce carne to 'a head on the last lap. Dave Deveau swooped in to the lead by making an inside pass on Sadowski. Su dd enly , Sa d o w s ki found himself p us he d back from first to third . Rothm an drafted b y De ve au as the lea d group, now six strong w ith the ad dition of Jame s Rand olph and Pa tterso n, headed to the end of the back-straight. As they came out fro m under th e bridge for the last time, Rothman was carrying a lot of speed. Still, he was able to maintain that speed thanks to a wide Suzuki Cup final, leading Rothman and line. He then forced his Suzu ki back to Stanton across the line by almost fiv e the inside edge of the track to protect his second s. It wa s unusual to see a rider lead as the pack arrived in the final corpu ll out to such a big lead in the highly ner. At the checkered flag, it was Rothcompetitive 600cc class, but Patterson said he was focused on this race. man by a bike length over Deveau. Sadowski, Gra ves, Rand olp h and Patterson "I've always wanted to see w ha t it feels like to win one of these Suzu ki Cu p followed in q u ick succession. Aa ro n Yates, Kurt Hall, Ray Yoder and David , , ra ces," said Pa tterson, w ho has either Stan ton rou nd ed out the top 10 Suzuki watched or rid den in every Suz uki C!1P race at Road Atlanta. "I felt good. I took Cup finishers. "Those are the kin d of races yo u live the lead and just decide d to try and get for," Rothman said, ju s t before he away ." ,accepted a $5000 check from Suz uki. "I Pa tt er son ' s father, Billy G., was in tears as his son was p resented with the knew that la st la p was going to be awa rds on the rostrumcA former racer inte nse, I just wanted to get to the inside to make it tough for someone to pass me himself, the elder Patt erson has suppo rted his son's racing since he was a sevenand it worked ." Steve Patterson ran awa y in the 600cc year-old racin g mini bikes. (Above) Kurt Hall (1) won a thrilling llOOcc final over Gerald Rothman Jr. (3) and Chuck Graves (24). (Left - left to right) The Seca II Challenge winner's circle consis ted of Steve Doolin, Scott Mouser and Ma rk Middleton. (Below - left to right) Da ve Sadowski, Gerald Rot hma n jr., and David Deveau cel ebrate their 3·1·2 fin ish in the 750cc Suzuki Cu p fin al. In the 'final race o f hi s career, Kurt Hall went ou t a w inner in the 1100cc Suzuki Cup event. Hall, who won all of the Su zuki races at th e final last year, d idn 't seem to be up to speed in the first tw o Suzuki Cup races this yea r. That's why when he emerged as the the leader of the race on the first lap , the shivering s pecta to rs were exci te d . Could Hall m us te r up h is d ominating s kill one more time? H all led a seven- bike fr eight train tha t held toget her un til lap fou r when Hall, Rothman and Graves broke awa y. Patt erson led the res t. On the last two laps Rothman mad e a co up le of va li a n t a tte mp ts two pass Ha ll, but the best he could do was pull up even with the number one bike . On 13