Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·;,R AD AC O .R E····: .. Round 4: Laguna Seca •'~MA U;S. Superbike National Champlonsliip. Tom Kipp (Soz); 12. Donald jacks (Suz); 13. Dan Turner (yam); 14. Chuck Graves (Suz); 15. Eric Moe (}(aw) ; 16. Keith Pinksta ff (Kaw); 17. Fri tz Kling (H-D); 18. Joe Pittman (Due); 19. Tommy Lynch (Suz) ; 20. Nick Felli (Kaw); 21. john Hi lton (Hon); 22. Rick Shaw (Yam); 23. Aaron Lanningham (Kaw); 24. Michael Smith (Suz); 25. Kevin H olm an (Kaw); 26. Timothy Lanningham (Kaw) ; 27. Bret t Ray (Kaw) ; 28. Lee Shierts (Kaw ); 29. Darrell Clingerman (Kaw) ; 30. Migu el DuHamel (H-D); 31. Paul H arrell (Yam); 32. Brad Hazen (Due ); 33. jo hn Ashmead (Kaw); 34. Mark Schellinger (Yam); 35. Co lin Edwards II (Yam); 36. Thoma. Stevens (Suz ); 37. Scott Gray (Due) : 38. Mike Hale (Hon); 39. David Kieffer (Due ): 40. Pablo Real (Due) . . Time: n fa d ue to red flag . D is tance: 29 laps, 63.206 miles. Average Sp eed: n fa due to red flag . M.ugin of Vict ory: 1.345 sec . AMA U.S . SUPE R BI K E NAT'L C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 4 of lO..rounds): 1. Troy Corse r (135 / 2 wi ns); 2. Jamie James (112); 3. Steve Cre vie r (104); 4. Takahiro So hwa (99); 5. Mike Smi th (91); 6. (TIE) Dal e Qu a rterle y / Pascal Picotte (90) ; 8. Fre d Merkel (SO): 9. Tho ma s Stevens (70); 10. Co lin Edwa rd s II (66); 11. Tom Kip (62); 12. Da ve Sadowski (52); 13. Kevin Magee (49); 14. Ch uck Graves (48); 15. Dan Turner (46); 16. Scott Gray (41); 17. Eric Moe (40); 18. Tom my Lynch (38); 19. Brad H azen (36); 20. (TIE) Scott Russell/ Fri tz Kling (35). . Upcoming Rounds Round5: Elkhart Lake,Wisconsin - June 12 Round 6: Loudon, NewHampshire - June 19 (Left) Fred Merkel (27), Mike Smith (68) and Steve Crevier (14) do battle; Merkel was fourth. Smith was ninth and Crevier was seventh. (Below) Dale Quarterley finished eighth and was fined for "endangering an official." 8 stop in turn four. His teammate, Fritz Kli ng, was running 13th un til h is VR1000 broke on the final lap . Magee, w ho had been running as high as sixth in the first part of the race, made somechanges to the RC45's setup that didn't work: '~I di dn't change tires, but I changed a coup le of other things," Magee said , " ,..th ings which obv iously weren't so good. We were still in serious tes t mode as op posed to race setup. I was reasonably happy with the first part of the race." Corser didn 't waste much time in getting around Sohwa, and on the sixth lap he moved in to second place after di sposin g of James, who w a s riding hard in an effort to keep the Ducatis in sight. On the eighth lap, James tried to run it un der Corser in turn 11, but had to pick it up a nd ru n wide when the Australian gave him no quarter. "He (Corser) didn't even flinch when I stuc k it in there," James said later. As th e tw o Du cat is started to pull away, James s ta rted to co me u nder attack from Merkel. With three laps to go, the Californian pulled the Kawasaki to th e rear of the Yamaha and on th e fi na l la p h e s tuffed it under in tu rn th ree . Ja mes wasn't finished, th ou gh , a nd a ft er a wild run fo r bo th rid ers throu gh turn 10, he ran it under Merkel on the brakes. "I hate to have to stuff Fred (Merkel) like that, but I'm sure he 'd do the same thing to me if the tables were turned," James said . He was right. "I h ad no choice," Merkel said of losing third place. "He wo n. I'd have 'd one th e sa me to him . We bo th ro de h a rd . The start absolutely kills me. I was being gingerly w ith the clutch - a little overginge rly. Hey, I was satisfied with that (fourth p lace)." Altho ugh he h ad moved by James, Corser couldn't make much of a dent in Picotte 's lead . "I s till need so me more tim e here," the Australian said . "I was making some mis takes in th e d ou ble 'righ t-h an d ers (t urns th ree and fo u r). He (Picotte) wanted to win this one, so I jus t come second . It's better than throw ing it into th e bal es. I had so me different lines. Wh en I follow ed h im (Picotte), I' d do ' em really w ell. When I couldn't see him, I d idn't know wh ere to go. Pasca l was on a mission here. He looked to be doing it easier than me." James had qualified third (see sidebar), and he wasn't prepared to finish any lower than that in the race. "I d idn 't go with a soft tire (after the red flag) an d I wish I would have," James said. "The. crews worked hard all week an d I didn't want to sli p back. I wasn't going to give up . I try as hard as I can. I think on the righ t d a y, a t th e right race track, our bike is capable of beating them (the Ducatis). We just have ' to w ork harder. They deserve it; I'm glad to see Pascal win." Picotte 's win was the culmina tion of both a de termined man and a motorcycle that he said was working to perfection: "All weekend I was pushing real hard," Picotte said . "Every corner, every second . I knew I could do a pre t ty s teady 29 low. Going into the corners, I cou ld ca tch every body. I'd pitch it in and it'd stay right there. I've never had a bike ru n so well as that. I was so determined to win, I was willing to try anything without cras hing." Picot te was also determined not to let the race stoppage halt his progress: "I was real disappointed," he said . "I jus t tried to th ink positively. I figured if I could do it in the first 15 laps, I cou ld do it aga in. Inside of me, I feel as tho ugh I (N wo n two races instead of one ." Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California . Results: May22, 1994 S U PE R BIK E QUALI FYING: 1. Pascal Pi co tte (1:28.691); 2. Troy Co rser (1:29.067); 3. Jamie James (1:29.225); 4. Fred Me rke l (1:29.27S); 5. Dav e Sado wski (1:29.698); 6. Colin Edward. II (1:29.815); 7. Takahiro Sohwa (1:29.922); 8. Thomas Steven s (1:29.929); 9. Scott Gray (1:29.948); 10. Dal e Quarterley (1:30.182); 11. Tom Kipp (1:30 .332 ); 12 . Mike H a le (1:30.529); 13. Steve Crevier (1:30.534); 14. Mike Smi th (1:30.702); 15. Kevin Magee (1:31.428); 16. Migu el DuHa me l (1:31.475); 17. Fritz Kling (1:31.986); 18. Bra d H a zen (1:32.208); 19. Brad Hazen (1:32.208); 20. Paul Harrell (1:32.356); 21. Donald jacks (1:32.414); 22. Tommy Lyn ch (1:32.899): 23. Lee Sh ierts (1:33.527); 24. Eric Moe (1:33.533); 25. Dan Turner (1:33.797) ; 26. Keith Pin ks taff (1:34.377); 27. Chuck G raves (1:34.413); 28. Pabl o Real (1:35.458); 29. Joe Pittman (1:35.535) ; 30. John H ilt on (1:35.891) ; 31. Darrell Clingerman (1:36.127); 32. Nic k Felli (1:36.250): 33 . Mark Schellinger (1:36.276); 34. Aaron Lanningham (1 :3 6.755) ; 35 . Rick Shaw (1:36 .8 55) ; 36 . Ti m o th y Bla.q uez (1:37.497); 37. David Kieller (1:37.740); 38. Brett Ray (1:37.765); 39. Michael Smi th (1:37.803); 40. Kevin Holman (1:37.807); 41. John As hmead (Ka w) . SU PE RBIKE FINAL: 1. Pascal Picotte (Due) ; 2. Troy Co rse r (Due); 3. Jam ie Jam es (Yam) ; 4. Fred Me rke l (Kaw); 5. Dave Sado ws ki (Du e); 6. Takahiro Sohwa (Kaw) ; 7. Steve Cre vi er (Kaw); 8. Oal_e Quarterley (~aw); 9. Mike Smith (Hon); 10. Kevin Magee (Hon); 11. · V·.". ·Brle'fl".. . r», _-'-'~_. __ .......,] ;" . .Y ear, l.will.".Corser madehisWorldSuper. . .:':bike 'debut at Oonington Park, cras hingwhile ' . •. . • ..... '" .' " . ' .. :::.' ~6~.~~~· t~~d~=C~df~:~~~g ;~nd then finishing . :' Yoshimura Suzuki's Donald Jacks' was 'ba~k ':. . , .. ... .. . . .: :: :... ... ... . ..' "':" . ..: · in action after hurting'h lmself ili:a qualifying :: S uperbike firsHimer Mike .Haletu med some : cras h·at·the second round the series in :.

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