Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7:M id-Ohio S ports ear Course while running in the group contesting fourth place . . Smith led laps four through six, with James taking over again on lap seven. At this point, the tw o we re some' 1.3 seconds ahead of Hale , who was slowing wi th his brake fade problem . "The front brakes went away at about . halfway," Hale said. "The lever came all the wa y back to th e bar. That kind of blows your confidence and everything else. 1 figured I'd settled down and take third. 1 really want to get third in the championship." James led every lap from the seventh onward as Smith had his big scare on the 11th lap when he ran off the track at h igh speed, saving what could have been a devastating crash. When he finally recovered , Smith was almost three seconds behind the streaking James . He steadily cut that lead down; it was 2.35 seconds on lap 15, 1.85 on lap 17, .82-ofa-second on lap 18. There was nothing in it as the pair started the final lap, but James managed to hold on for his third win of the seven-ra ce-old series. "Those last two or three laps 1 really put my head down," James said . "I was d oing some tricks ou t there. I'm glad to be here. It was a killer race. There were several places 1 could go faster ·than him and 1 think I may ha ve sucked him into one of my good spots. I don't think I almos t fell off a moto rcycle more in my life than in those last five laps." "I was following Jam ie and he had a lot for me," Smith said . "1' guess I was thinking a little too much. I ran off and 1 was do ing a little praying. 1 go t go ing again and 1 was able to pull him in, but I needed a few more laps . My hat 's off to him - he can ride it." (N Mid-Qhio s port s Car Co urse Lexington , Ohio Results: July 17 , 1994 600c( SS FINAL: 1. Ja mie Ja mes (Ya m ); 2. Mike Smith (Ho n); 3. Mike Ha le (H on ); 4. Thomas Wilson (Yam); 5. Steve Crevier (Kaw) ; 6. Jason Pridmore (Yam); 7 . Michael Ta ylor (Kaw); 8. Owe n Weich el (Yam) ; 9. David Estok (Ho n); 10. Hikaru Miyagi (Hon); 11. Larry Pegr am (Hon) ; 12 . Phil Sch ill ing (Yam); 13. Al MacMarti n (H on ); 14. Joe Winston (Hon); 15. Marco Ferland (Hon); 16. Jeff Williams (Ho n); 17. Donald Berry (Yam); l B. Shawn Conrad (Ho n). 600cc SS C'SHlP POINT ST AN DI NG S (Aft er 7 of 10 rounds): 1. Jamie James (223/3 wins); 2. Mike Smith (221/4 wins); 3. Steve Crevier (197); 4. Mike Hal e (194); 5. Geral d Rothman Jr. (163); 6. Jason Prid more (158); 7. Robert Wright (121); 8. Ran dy Renf row (110); 9. Jon Co rn well (103); 10. O wen We ic hel (90) ; 11. Ja m ie Bowman (84); 12. Dav id Esto k (78); 13. Larry Pegram (73); 14. T r ip p Nob les (72); I S. (TI E) H ika ru Miyagi/ Thomas Wilson (69). Upcoming Rounds Round B: July 31 - Brainerd, Minnesota Round 9: August 19 - Sonoma, California AMAlCC S750Cc S upersporl S eries Four ~traight Kipp for . . By Pau l carruthers Photo by Hanny Ray Abrams LEXINGTON, OH,JULY 16 here are probably only a few people who can rest easy when it comes to the current situation in the 750cc Supersport Championship point standings. And even though those people are like ly employed by Suzuki, they most definitely aren't Tom Kipp or Britt Turkington. If It would be easy for Suzuki brass to be smiling at this point in the season as it appears the GSXR750 has a lock on win!ring the 750cc Supersport title. But those T wh o aren't we aring suits to work must be feeling a bit uncomfortable as the tension around the Yoshimura pits seems so high you could cut it with a knife. He re' s the si tu a tion: Everyone likes Britt Turkington. He ' s the d efending class champion and he started the season off with 1-2-1 finishes in the first three rounds to again position himself as the man to beat. Along comes Tom Kipp . Another likeable young man, and the newest addition to the Yoshimura team . Kipp politely starts the season off with 57-6 finishes , and there's not a whole lot of disruption in the Yosh camp. Then Kipp blitzes to his fourth win in a row as the series re ached round seven at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Suddenly we have a championship battle between long-standing and upstart teammates. Hmmmm. The two battled again on the race track at Mid-Ohio, and again it was Kipp who came out the better of the two. Still, Turkington finished where he needed to, and although his lead has shrunk, he still holds an ll -point margin over Kipp in the series standings, 226-215. With three races remaining on the schedule, Turkingt on can finish second behind Kipp at each and every rac e and st ill w in the title. The only question is whether or not the bonus check he would win for doing so would help ease the hum ility of losing the last seven races and still taking the title. One has the feeling it's going to come down to more tha n tha t, and it's much to early to start penciling Kipp in as the winner of seven straigh t races. When all was sai d and d one, Kipp had beaten Turkin gton by 5.205 seconds, but it was much closer than tha t for most of the race. Th ird place wen t to Kinko' s Yamaha's Jason Pridmor e. The Californian couldn't keep pace with the two Suzukis, bu t he was the best of the rest and he headed a group tha t consisted of Team Suzuki Sport's James Rand olph, Kinko's Thomas Wils on , Red Lin e Oil-backed Gerald Rothman [r ., and Tea m Su zu ki Sport's Mar k McDaniel. Pridmore's third-place finish further est ablishes him in a solid third in th e championship wi th 201 points to Randolph's 183 and Rothman's 178. The race sta rted with Kipp leading Rothman, Turkington, Randolph, Fred Merkel, Pridmore and McDaniel. The front running duo of Kipp and Turkington steadily pulled away from the rest, with a second group forming behind the m: Rothman, Randolph and Merkel. Pridmore, meanwhile, ran alone in sixth. Turkington took over at the front for the first time on the sixth lap and he s tay ed th er e un til the 15th go- arou nd, with Kipp hot on his heel s. On lap 15, Kipp took over and - as the pair hit heavy traffic - he pulled away, stretching the lead on each and every lap to eventually win by 5.205 seconds. Merkel, meanwhile, had crashed in the Carousel on th e 16th lap wh en he was high-sided from his Muzzy Kawasaki. By this point, Pridmore was in control of fourth place and Merkel' s get-off moved him to third, a position he would . hold to the bitter end. Pridmore had seen his friend Rothman run off the track at high-speed, and the pair nearly came together when Rothman made it back onto the pavemen t. "He just got stopped or we would have hit each other," Pridmore said. "He was going one way and 1 was going the other. It wo uld have been ugly." Turkington had crashed d uring qualifying , breakin g the knuckle in the Iittle fin ger of h is right hand, but he d idn't use the injury as an excuse for getting beat by his teammate: "I d on't thi nk it .· .R AD AC · O .R E .AMAlCCS C hampionship Road RaceSeries. (Abo ve) Britt Turking ton and Tom K1pp race t hrough the Caro use l In their 750cc SuperspOr1 battle. (Left) Fred Merkel crashed out of the race wh ile sitting In th ird place. slowed me down too much," Turkington said. "It's just some thing you shouldn't have to think about. He y, it's better to lose th ree points to him than 30. I just needed to be in front of him when we hit major tra ffic. We both blitzed throug h the first gu ys, but I missed a shift on the back straight. When we got to the group of five that you always ge t to, he we n t rig ht through . He's ru thless in traffic." Kipp thought there woul d be more . riders racing for th e lead : "I w as sur- : pris ed that it wasn't close between the top four qualifiers," he said. "Britt got in front, but it was no big deal. 1 just wanted to keep the pressure on him, hoping he' d work his tires too hard . The last five or so laps, I mad e a move." A t the end of the ra ce, the AMA announced that th ey had cla imed the . winning Suzuki GSXR750 belonging to Kipp. They in tum.would sell the bik e for $1500 over the reta il price. "The only thing that worries me is the backup bike ma y be twist ed or so me th in g," Kipp said. "It 's somewhat of an unknown, but these bikes are so easy to ride I'm not too w orr ied. It's jus t too b ad because it wo rks th e crew harder to get anot he r bike read y." . Cha mpionship Cup Series owner Roger Edmondson said he was against the AMA' s decision to claim the bike only two weeks prior to the next round at Brainerd . "I signed the paperwork on the condition that they (the AMA) told the persons who were affected that this was an AMA decision and no t mine," Edmondson said. "I recommended that they withhold that decision until Brainerd." B' Mld-Qhio Sports Car Course lexington, Oh io Resuns: J uly 16, 1994 15 0c( 5S FINA L: 1. Tom Kipp (Su z) : 2. Britt Turkingto n (Su z); 3. Jason Pridmore (Ya m); 4. James Ra ndolph (S uz ); 5. Tho mas Wilson (Yam); 6. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Kaw); 7. Mark McDaniel (Suz); 8. Aaron Yat es (Su z) ; 9. David Stanton (Su z) ; 10. Eric Wood (Kaw); 11. Daniel Ray (Yam); 12. Davi d Roy (Kaw ); 13 : Da vid McGra th (Yam ); 14. Hikaru Miyagi (Hon); 15. Anthon)': Lupo (Suz); 16. AI MacMartin (H a n); 17. Daniel Bailey (So2); 18. Dean Mizdal (Yam ); 19. Phil Schi Uins (Yam); 20. Jim Lester (Ya m); 21. Mike Krvnock (Kaw ); 22 . Craig Arcuri (Yam); 23. Scott Rue hle (Ka w) ; 24. Donald Berry (Yam); 25. Mar k Barlow (Ya m); 26. Brian D e d o es (Ka w ); 27 . Joe K ni esty (Yam) : 28 . Br ad Morehouse (Yam); 29. Ma rvin Marcelo (Kaw) ; 30. Fred Mer kel (!

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