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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127658
Round 1: Daytona In a n Speedway tern tio al Russell wins, Corser thrills will also head to Europe, out of the picture. New ri de rs , n ew teams an d new motorcycles brought intense anticipation for the 53rd running of the Daytona 200 by Arai. Lawson was here with a factory Yamaha; Polen was now Hondamounted; two-time World Superbike Champion Fred Merkel was returning to the AMA series on a Muzzy Kawasaki and would be teammates w ith Steve Crevier for the season, to be joined at Daytona by World Superbike Champion Scott Russell; Corser was set to make his AMA debut on the Ferracci Ducati while Picotte was back as the number one Ferracci pilot; Smith would be joined on the Smokin' Joe 's team by Australian Kevin Magee, a former 500cc Grand Prix winner; Colin Edwards II and Jam ie James were back on the Vance & Hines Yamahas; the Suzuki team was all dressed up in Lucky Strike colors with Thomas Stevens and Donald Jacks joined by new recruit Tom Kipp, and Japan's Akira Yanagawa; and the Harley-Davidson VRI000 would make By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams and Kinney Jones DAYfONABEACH, FL, MAR 13 hen Scott Russell sat on the grid prior to the start of the 53rd edition of the Daytona 200, he could look ah ead and see nothing but the backs of the 64 riders who sat in front of him. At the com' " pletion of the red-flag interrupted Daytona 200 by Arai, Russell had turned the tables on the field, showing his back to the 73 riders who finished behind him, and becoming the only rider to ever win the p restigious event from so far back on the grid . A victim of a mechanical failure in the Twin 50 qualifying race on Thu rsday (see sidebar ), Russell was forced to start from the 16th of the 2D-row grid in the 200. It mattered not. The Georgian and his Muzzy Kawasaki had worked their w ay all the w ay u p to second place when a red flag temporarily halted the race, after German Berhard Schick crashed heavily on the front straight on the 31st lap. The race ended up being held in two parts - the first part totalling 106.8 miles and the second adding up to 96.1 miles. On the restart, Russell managed to hold off the advances of Australian Troy Corser as the race boiled down to a battle of pi t crews. The Muzzy Kaw asaki team elected to not change Russell's tire during the Geo rgian's final pit stop, while the Fast By Fer ra cci crew went ahead and fitted new rubber to Corser's Ducati. That proved to be the difference, with Russell emerging from the pits for the fina l time with an insurmountab le advantage. Corser, though, gave it his all, only to come up 2.918 seconds short at the finish line, finishing second in his scintillating AMA Nationaldebut, Third place went to defending Daytona 200 champion Eddie Lawson, the four-time World Champion riding a factory Yamaha YZf750 in what will be his only AMA road race of the season. Law- e ~ . -.:Ii 0\ 0\ ...... g:f "5 ltl '0:::' ,..:::; 6 (Abo ve) Doug Polen (1) leads Eddie Lawson (7). Pascal Picotte (21) and Dale Quarterley (32) at the start of the S3rd running of the Daytona 200 by Aral at Dayt ona International Speedway. (Right) Scott Russell came from a 16th row starting position to win his second Daytona 200. son finished in front of defend ing AMA Superbike National Champion Doug Polen, in his debut race on the factory Honda RC45 - raced at Daytona in Smokin' Joe's Racing livery. Vance & H ines Yamaha's Ja mie James completed the top five finishers. Jam es had run wi th the leaders - but was not one of the four men who led laps, a group that included Russell (19 laps) , Corser (27 laps), Lawson (8 laps) and Polen (3 laps) - until an unscheduled pit stop to chan ge a rear tire ruined his chances of a trip to Victory Lane. A sta r-studded line-up featured big nam es finishing all the way down the results lis t, w ith Muzzy Kawasa ki 's Steve Crevier, Smokin' Joe's Racing's Mik e Smith, Lucky Strike Su zuki' s Thomas Stevens, Smokin' Joe's Racing's Kevin Magee, and Team Mirage's Dale Quarterley filling the remainder of the top 10 positions. Russell's win came in front of a large crowd, estimated by Daytona Intema- ti on al Sp eedwa y staff to be 60,000strong, an d it netted him $16,500 from the $161,000 purse. Corser earned $11,000 for second place, while Lawson pocketed $7600 for finishing third. The win was also the 10th of the Georgian's career; it moved him out of a tie with Kevin Schwa ntz on the all-time Superbike win list and into the sixth spo t. Russell completed the red -flag interrupted, 200-mile race in two hours, 23 minutes and 13.242 seconds at an average speed of 85.010mph. In the race for wha t man y feel will be a stunning U.S. Superbike Na tional Champ ionship, Corser grabbed the upper hand by out-scoring his championship rivals. With Russell head ing to Europe to defend his World Superbike Ch ampionship, Corser is actually the points leader in the AMA title chase . with his 32 points . James' fifth place ride (which netted him 26 points) places him second in the title chase when you take the semi-retired Lawson and Polen, who its debut in the capable hands of Miguel DuHamel. The qualifying ba ttl e wa s won by Picotte and Ducati in somewhat of a surprise (see sideba r), then he and Corser went out and won the pair of Twin 50 qualifying races (see sidebar). That put the two Duca tis on the front row for the start of the race, with Russell well back in th e second w ave - in betw een sat what man y felt was the mo st talented field in recent history. Doug Polen and the purple and yellow Smokin' Joe's RC45 led the way into turn one as the race got started under sunny skies with temperatures hovering in the mid-70s . Lawson, Corser, Quarterley, Picotte, Merkel, James and Smith followed, with Russell waiting patiently for the second wave to get the green flag . When the second wave finally launched, Crevier wasn't a quick starter from his spo t on row 16, having stalled the Muzzy Kawasaki . "We put new needles in the carbs