Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Higbee had led much of the 17-lap, 25.67-mile race before Zampach came up to challenge, and take the lead on the 11th lap . The pair would trade the point back and forth until the final run to the flag, when Zampach would better Higbee by .020 seconds. Z a m p a ch won the race in a new record of 20 minutes, 4.222 seconds at an average speed of 76.740 mph. Fenwick moved into third on the 15th lap after getting the better of a sp irited dice with R.c. Cycle's Robert Cunnington, who would finish fourth. Harley- Davidson of Citr us Heights' Donnie Green e finished fifth, Hansen Motorcycles' Billy Graef was sixth, and Br ia n ' s Harley-Davidson's Ro n a ld McGill was seventh. Fifteen of the 18 en tries finished the race. The podium here was the same as at the op ening round at Daytona, p ut ting the trio at the top of the cha mpionship point sta ndings. After two of 11 races, Zampach has 70 points, Hig bee 64, and Fenwick 60. Green-flagged on a sunny d ay, wi th a moderate western breeze, the 18-rider pack headed for turn one with Higbee in th e lead followed by Greene, Fenwick, and Zampach. Zampach had broken his n u mber-o ne Harley- Davidson 883 in practice and was riding a machine Don Tilley had bu ilt for Pomona. "We had no practice time on it ," Zampach said. "I came off the line and the clutch was real grabby. Shawn was gone. I kept calm for two or three laps until the .tire came in, making up 10ths here and there. The draft was very critical on the 883. We had a pretty strong headwind." "I wanted to break awa y so I wouldn't have to deal with the draft, but Scott was abl e to stay with me, " Higbee said. "I took a few precau tions in tra ffic and used up my tires early." Entering tum one on the third lap, Zampach moved into second to stay, and set o u t fo r H igb ee. H e waited patien tly, moving up to challenge on the 11th lap wi th a slightl y better drive onto the banking and better use of the draft. "My g earin g w as different than Scott' s," Higbee said . "He used a higher gear an d was better on the banking than I was. I was fast in the infield an d better coming into turn one." The first time Zam pach took the lead was in tu m six, in a looping right-hander on the 11th lap, but he lost the position to Higbee at the line before taking it back a lap later. Sta r ting th e 13th lap, Higbee took over in turn on e and held on for two laps before Zampach drafted by going into turn one with two laps to go. Higbee stayed behind, never giving up, though his final run to the line was not enough. "I don't think it could have been closer," Higbee said. "Scott had something in reserve. I got a good drive in the last corner and was just inches short." "In th e last couple of laps I thought he was going to catch me at the hairpin, so I swung wide and used up another 10 feet of the track," Zampach said. "I was the m ost aggressive on th e ba nking. 1 was in a two-wheel drift thro ugh th e last tu rn. I used th e slingsho t pass to complete the last pass." Just as Zarnpach had stalked Higbee, Fenwick did the same with Robert Cu nnington. On the fifth lap Fenwick took over fou rth, th ou gh a t so me distance fro m Cunn ington. He chipped away at the interval, closing upon the nin th lap an d loo king for an opening. He found it six lap s later, passing Cunnington in the fast left-hand turn five. "I sized up a couple of places I could (Right) Defending Unlim ited Class Champions Erio n Racing wo n it s first race of the season at Phoen ix International Speedway. (Below ri ght) Muzzy Racing 's Fred Merkel prepares to hand off to teammate Tripp Nobles en route to their th lrd·place fi nish. pass him," Fenwick said. "I passed him once and he repassed me right back. I decided to stay behind him and jus t wait it out, hoping fo r him to make a mistake. He didn't make a mistake, so I needed to force the issu e an d 1 pa ssed him in the infield. It's a bit bu mp y the re for the Harleys, but I do a lot of ice racing in the w in ter, so I' m used to the bumps. "My bike wasn't working as good as 1 wanted. 1 didn't hav e a pit crew, so 1 worked on it myself," Fenwick added. Cu nnington was a close fourth, and Donnie Greene was alone in fifth, with Billy Graef leading Ron McGill to the line for sixth. Dean Mizdal was the best of a trio con testing eighth, and the top 10 was rounded out by Low Country Harley-Davidson's Chuck Blackmon and Skip Fe rdyce Harley-Da vid son Motorcycle Center's Joe Winston. a Phoen ix International Raceway Goodyear, Ar izona Results: March 27, 1994 H·D TWIN SPORTS FINAL: 1. Scott Zampach; 2. Shawn H igbee: 3. And y Fenwick; 4. Robert Cunnington; 5. Do n Greene. 6. Billy Graef; 7. Rona ld McGill; 8. Dean Mizda l; 9. Chuck Blackm on; 10. Joe Winston; 11. Ma tt Wa it; 12. Ben Bostrom; 13. Matthew Gu idera; 14. Shawn McNary; IS. Rick HutdUns; 16. Danny Rcberts; 17. Jim Whi taker; 18. Brian Kohl. Tim e: 20 m inutes, 4.222 seconds. Disbncr: 17 laps. 25.67 miles. Average speeds 76.740 mph. Margin of victory: 0.020 seconds. AMAlCCS ·H-D TWIN SP ORTS CHAMPIONS HIP SERIES POINT ST ANDlNGS (Aft er 2 of 10 rounds): I. Scon Zampach (70/ 2 wins); 2. Shawn Higbee (1)1 3. ); Andy Fenwick (60); 4. Man Wail (48); 5. Don Greene (45); 6. (TIE) Sha w n McNa ry /Bm y Craef (41); 8. Jim Whita ker (39); 9. (TIE) Joe Winst on / Da nny Roberts (32); 11. Ro ber. Cun n in gton (28); 12. (TI E) Ric k Hutchins/Dick Koehler (26); 14. Ronald McGm (24); I S. (TIE) Dean Mizdal / Richie Morris (23); 17. (TIE) Rand y Texte r/ Ch uck Blackm on (22 ); 19. Yvon Du Ham el (21); 20. Roger Reiman (20). AMAlCCS ESC Brakes Unlimited Team Challenge Round 2: Pheonix International Raceway Erion Racing returns to the top By Henny Ray Abrams GOODYEAR, AZ, MAR '}J rion Racing's Christ ian Gardner got his first taste of victory as a member of the cha mp io n s h ip defending Unlimited Team Ch allenge squad, teaming with Michael Barnes to win the one-hour UTC at Phoenix international Raceway. Gardner took over the team's Honda CBR900RR fr o m Barnes with about 22 minutes left, and made the once-<:ompetitive affair a da y in the park. Before Gardner reliev ed Barnes, their lead over second -pla ced Dutchman Racing was onl y a few seconds, but that soon changed. Gardner added over a second a lap to their lead until th e team was 15.211 seconds in front at the checkered flag. He felt confident in his riding, but the credit, he felt, belonged elsewhere. "After Day tona (where Erion Racing finished fourth) we knew we had to do the best we could," Gardner said. "Here, we mana ged to show up with the bike on Thursday and get it set up . Basically, we got the bike dialed in right away. I've go t to pl ug the bike be cause thi s track (the tight, ll-turn PIR road course) is the track for it. The bike is so easy to E handle. It's easier to hand le than a 600 Supersport," Gardner said. Barnes and Gardner co mp leted 54 laps, 81.54 miles, at an average speed of 81.810 mph. As easy as it was for Gardner, it was equally difficult for Dutchman's second ri der, An d y Fenwick. Fenwick, who joined the team at Daytona after Miles Bald w in inju re d himself in 250cc GP practice, took over from Scott Gray on th e sa me lap tha t Gardner joined the race, bu t couldn't match Gardner's pace. Still, he brought the Dutchman Yamaha YZRlOOO home seco nd, nearly 14 seconds in fron t of the Daytona-winning Muzzy Kawasa ki pil ot ed by Takahiro Schwa and Trip p Nobles. "I t's a to ugh situation," Dutchman team owner Dave Schlosser sa id . "We set up the bike for a g uy (Gray ) tha t weighs 50 lbs, mo re than Andy, and the ti res are w orn o u t. We've got to be pleased ." Sch lo ss er also said that they'd built a new en gine after Da ytona, w here their motor sucked water t hrough the hea d g asket and selfdestructed . "He (Gardner) was up ahead a little ways," Fenwick said . "H e worked his way up to a 12-second lead. I couldn' t pu t a dent in it. If an yt hing, 1 slip pe d back - but we beat the Kawasaki, so that's good." Sohwa was the lead rider for Team Kawasa ki / Mu zzy, and the Japanese ri der held a st eady th ird before relinquis hing the ZX-9 to Tripp Nob les just past the 3O-minute mark. Nobles put the team in the lead, though just briefly, and would fin ish third after completing 54 la p s. Muzzy Kawasaki was th e final team on the lead lap. Since th ere is no displaceme nt limit on en d urance mach in er y, th ere was questi o n about w hat size engine the Muzzy Kawasaki used at Daytona, as well as here. Team owner Rob Mu zzy wasn't saying. At Daytona, he said "It was a ZX-9 chassis and engine. However, the displacement was not standard." A rival team owner believed it to be a 750cc Superbike en g in e, ju d g in g from a ma rk ing on the cylinders, something Muzzy wouldn't confirm or deny. "It no longer says on the cylind ers w ha t it is. My intention is to run different displacements all year. Those guys (the other endurance teams) run d ifferent displacements, and we w ill do the same." Muzzy pointed out that the 750cc and 900cc engines we re identical, except for one millimeter on the bore, and the stroke. "I could build a 900, but I'm not exactly sure we could ride it," added Muzzy, who also said that he wasn't sure why another team w ould want it known that they lost to a 750. One lap down, in fourth place, was the Fastline/MCM Suzuki. The team got behind early in the weekend when their truck broke down on the way to th e race, an d they arrived at 11:00 a.m, on Saturday morning. Jacques Guenette [r . . rod e the Su zuki GSXRllOO first, followed by Tommy Lynch. H.I. Racing and Blackhawk Racing were fifth and sixth, respectively, both two laps d ow n on the w inners. Dale Kieffer teamed with John Hilton on the

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