Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 8: Brainerd International Raceway Shawn Higbee (2) won the HarleyDavidson Twin Sport series fi nal and appears to be well on hi s way to capturing the class championship. Higbee jetted into the lead at the start of the nin e-lap race, but Zampach was glued to his rear fender and the stage lo o ke d se t for a not her class ic Higbee/Zampach duel. Behind the lead duo, Billy Graef, Ya tes, Matt Wait and Bartels' Eric Bostrom battled over third. Zampach and Higbee exchanged the lead seve ral times in the first three laps, bu t Zampach ' s race came to an unexpect ed end on lap four, as he flew off the track and towards the woods in turn three. " My bike hit a fals e neu tral going into tum thr ee," said Zampach, "I was going so fast off the trac k and towards the wood s - I thought I was gonna die . I laid it d ow n on the low side so I wouldn't hit the trees." With tha t, it looked as if all would be easy for Higbee, as he was left w ith a comfortable lead ove r the res t of th e field . On lap six, however, Higbee raced across th e sta rt /finish line with eigh t riders nipping at his heels. Yates led the challenge, with McGill , Kohl and Bostrom close behind. Bostrom caught fire on lap seven and raced all the wa y to the front of the pack, but his moment in the spotlight lasted on ly a few turns before Higbee, Yates and McGill drafted past. " I had started to back off.a little on th e front straight:' admitted H igbee. "There was a bad head w ind on the fron t straigh t and I didn't wanna over rev my engine. I wasn't really surprised wh en they caught up ." Yates led the cha rge past the white flag, bu t Higbee went to work in the tigh ter sections of the course and zipped back into the lead. Once clear of Yates, Higbee immedi a tely opened up a lead that would stretch to 20 bike lengths at the finish. Yates held on to Second, barely ahead of McGill, Kohl and Bostrom. "Tha t was a w ild one: ' sai d Yate s. "Th ere were thr ee, four riders d rafting back and fo u rth a r oun d th e w h o le track !' McGill was thrilled to finis h on the pod ium, saying, "I'm really happy to be third . I ha d to borrow some used tires from Eric Bostrom because Dunlop ran out of Ha rley tires . Also, my bike was only hitting the speed trap at 114 mph yesterday. Eve ryone else was 118, ma ybe even 124. 1 was serio usly down on power, but I was able to use the d raft to my adv an tage ." a Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota Results: July 31, 1994 H-D TWINSPORTS FIN AL: J. Shawn Higbee; 2.. Aaron Yates; 3. Ronald McG ill; 4. Brian Kohl; 5. Eric Bostrom ; 6. Billy Gr aef; 7. Chuck Blackmon; 8. Eric Lacruze: 9. Don Greene; 10. Dr. Jeffrey Joh nson ; 11. Shawn McNa ry; 12. Roy David Nicholson; 13. Michael Go lden; 14. Matthew Guidera; IS. Joe Wins ton lIJ; 16. Roge r Hendricks; 17. Robert Buffing ton; 18. Michael Friberg; 19. Da rv in Uoyd; 20. Jim Whitaker; 21. Jeff Harding; 22. Jerry Casciero; 23. Brett Donahue; 24. Matt Wait; 25. Scott Za mpach. Time: 17 m lns., 55.982 sees. Dista nce Tl miles . Average s peeds 90.336 mp h. Marg in of vidory: .870 seconds. AMAlCCS HA RLEY- DAVIDSON TW IN SPORTS CHAMPI ONSHIP SERIES POINT ST AN DI N G S (After 8 of 10 rounds): 1. Shawn Higbee (258/4 wins) ; 2. Scott Zam pach (219/3); 3. Billy Graef (206); 4. Ronald McGill (176); 5. Shawn McNary (170); 6. Andy Fenwick (169); 7. Chuck Blackm on (160); 8. Brian Kohl (155); 9. Ma tt Wait {147}; 10. Aa ro n Ya tes {134/l}; 11. Do n Greene (124); 12. Eric Bostro m (118); 13. Jim whitaker (118); 14. Matthew G uidera (106); 15. Eric Lacruze (76); 16. Rob e rt C u nn ingto n {70}; 17. (TIE) Joe Wi ns ton III/ Dick Koe hle r (68); 19. Jeff Ha rd ing (64); 20. Ben Bostro m (59). Upcomi ng Rounds: Round 9 • Sonoma . Califomia, August 21 Round 10 - Braselton, Georgia. Sept. 18 AMAlCCS ESC Brakes Unnmi1ed T Challenge eam Erion delivers By Do nn Maeda Photo by George Robert s "M BRAThiERD, MN, JULY 31 an, all I asked ofN ic k was that he give me the bike with a big lead . Is that too much to ask for?" quipped Erion Racing's Larry Pegram as he watched hi s teammate Nick Ienatsch battle for the lead in the early s tages of the Unlimited Team Challenge. "Well, 1 gues s I'll just have to go out and get it myse lf." Thoug h lenatsch didn ' t hand Pegram th e team' s H onda C BR900RR in th e lead, the Sport Rider editor had d one an impressive job of scrapping wit h Team Muzzy Kawasaki 's Tiger Sohwa and Fas tline / MCM Suzuki II r id er Sco tt Zampach throughout the first half of the hour-long race. "It's tough out there:' said the likable jo u rnalis t. "I was d efi nitel y runni ng 100% and ·the bike was fast. To be able to swap the lead with guys like that was great." Aft er tak in g to th e track in th ird , Pegram me thod ica lly r an d o wn h is co mpetito rs a nd p il ot ed the team ' s blac k, w hite a nd flo u rescen t orange motorcycle to it's fifth win of the series. Mounted aboa rd the sma llest - and slowest - m ach ine in the lead pack, Team Mu zzy Kawasaki' s Sohwa and Tr ipp Nobles took advan tag e of their Kawasaki 750's super ior infield handling cha racteristics to nab the ru nn erup spot, two seconds behind the leaders. "I was doing wha t I coul d wit h the 750:' said Nobles, who rode the final 23 m in u tes. " We w ere a little down on speed down the front straig ht, but it was easy to ma ke up in the tigh ter sections." After enjoying the po in t posit ion throughout much of the first half of the race, Team Fastline/MCM Suzuki II finished a distant third aboard their Suzuki GS XRll00. H a rley-Dav id son Twin Sports Champion Zampach bolted away from the res t near the halfway point of the race, and handed th e b ik e off to tea mmate [a mesRando lph with a sizable le ad. Rand o lph wa s u na ble to maintain the team's advantage, however, as he stru ggled with a used -up rear tire and a sketchy transmission. "I d id the best 1 could with what 1 had to work with:' said Rand olph. "Scott rode a hell of a race, but 1 think he migh t have used up the tire a bit too much." But what abo u t th e "n u m ber one " Fastline/MCM Suzuki team? First-leg rider Jacques Gu en ette d id bat tle wit h the leade rs in the early lap s of the conte st, b u t w as forced to a ba ndon th e chase when the bike's clutch went sour . Guenette pi tted well before the mand atory 2D-minute mark before returning to the tr ack to s pin a fe w slow la p s. Guenette returned to pit row a few minutes later to have the Fas tli ne / MCM crew ins tall a ne w clutch, and afte r a de lay that seemed like hou rs, Tommy Lynch took ove r in an attempt to salvage so me poin ts and keep the tea m's championship hop es alive. Remarkabl y, the team wo rked back up to 14th, but dropped to third in the se ri es po int stand ings behind Team Mu zzy Kawasaki. Erion Racing lead s the points race w ith 259, while Team Kawasaki /Muzzy trails with 246. Fastline /MCM Suzuki is third with 237. When the green flag waved to star t the race, Guen ette rocketed off the line with th e lea d. Zarnp ach, lena tsch , So hwa and Dutchm an Racing ' s Eric Moe latched on to the back of Guenette, an d the stage was se t for an unusually close five-team ba ttle for the lead . Zampach forced his way to the front of the pack and led the majority of the lap s across the start / finish line, though all five teams took t heir turn at th e point. Onl y five laps into the race, however, the Dutchman entry pulled from the track wi th a chunked rear tire . Lap 10 spelled disaster for Guenette, as he pulled into the p its a t th e 18minute mark pointing frantically at his clutch lever . As he slowed to a stop, the Fas tli ne/ MC M bike beg a n to smoke profusely, and it was apparent tha t the clutch had gone south . "It started to go out at the sta rt," said Guenette. "I adjusted th e lever all th e way in and it was okay for a while. Then it started to sli p only on top end, but whe n it starts to go out, it goes really fast. " Guenette re tu rned to the t rack to meet th e minimum 20-minute first-leg requirement, then pitted again to have the bike repa ired . Meanwhile, lena tsch, Zam pach and Sohwa continued to battle for the lead, each rider taking turns at the head of the pack, lena tsc h e njoyed an o bvious power advanta ge on the front straight, the Erion Racing ma chine easily out pow erin g Soh w a' s s ma ller ZX-7 and Za m pach ' s GSXR. So h w a, howe ver, could make up time in the tigh ter sections of the track by diving harder into the comers. "He's (Sohwa) not too content to follow," said Ienatsch. "He runs it into the comers so hard, it's a litt le nerve wra cking. I guess that's jus t his me ntality, though ." lena tsch was the first of the top three to pit, and hand e d th e b ik e o ff to Pegram at the 35-minute mark. Pegra m took to the tra ck in third, behind sec. ond-placed Sohwa. At the tim e, Zampach enjoyed a sizable lead . Second-placed Sohwa pitted on the next lap, and Nobles took to the track onl y fe et in fr ont of th ird-pla ced Pegram. Zampach brought the Fas tline/MCM II machine in one lap la ter, and Randolph raced out of pit row with· onl y a small advan tage over Nobles and Pegram . With that, the stage was se t and the three riders sprinted to the finish. The fastest of the three was Pegra m, as the dirt tra cker eas ily displaced his two rivals an d motored into the lead at the 47-ininute mark. Once into the lead , Pegram d ipped into the 1:43-range and began to steadily p ull away from Nobles and Randolph, w ho fade d fur th er and further back as the race wore on. At the checkered flag, Pegram piloted the Erion Racing machine home wi th a three-second adv an tage over Nobles and his Mu zzy Kawasak i, wh ile Randolph followed so me eight seconds later. " It was easy:' sai d a d e lighted Pegram. "We had the fastest bike, period . All I had to do was pass them on the front straig ht and pull away. 1 smo ked 'em ail." a Brainerd Internati onal Raceway Bra inerd, Minnesota Results: July 31 AMAlCCS EBC BRAK ES UNLI MITED TEAM C HALL EN G E: 1. Erio n Raci ng ( Hon) ; 2. Team Ka wasa ki / Muzzy (Ka w); 3. Pastl ine MCM Suzuki II (Suz ); 4. H I Ra cing (Ha n); 5. Keysto ne /Nor ths tar (Hon) ; 6. Th e Voi ght Exp re ss (Kaw ): 7. Bla ckh a wk Racing (Yam); 8. Eau Claire Racing (Yam ); 9. Fox Valley Ra cing (Suz); 10. Team Racelaw (Kaw); 11. T e am Eng lehart/ Jerry 's Kids (Suz); 12. Farrar 'Racing (Yam) ; 13. Ch ee ta h Ra ci ng (Suz); 14. Fas tline / MC M Suzki (Suz) ; 15. Team America (Hon); 16. And AI Ra ci ng (Suz); 17. Ha rle y-David son (H ·D); 18. Team Su z uki (Suz) ; 19. Team Screa m (Suz); 20. Du tchman Racing (Suz ); 21. Anderson Dynamic Racing (Yam). Ti me; 1 hour. 1 min., 295 15 ,S(."CS. D isl.l.n ce: 105 miles. Average s peed, 102.452 mph. M.l. g in of victory: 2.640 sees . r A MAlCCS EBC BRAK ES UN LI M ITE D TEAM CHALLENGE S ERIES PO INT STAN DI NGS (Aft er 8 o f 10 ro u nds): 2. Erio n Racing (259/5 wins ); 2. Team Ka wasaki / Muzzy (246/2) 3. Fas tli ne / MC M Suzuki (237); 4. Dutchman Rari ng (210); 5. Blackhawk Raring (186); 6. Spo rtsland of Larami e Racing (164); 7. Keystone No rthstar (162); 8. Tea m America (153); 9. And e rso n Dynamic Racing (142); 10. Fastlin e /MCM Suz uki II (116/1 ); 11. H I Racing (103); 12. Team Racelaw (85); 13New Tech Racin g (61); 14 . Cheeta h Ra cing (56); 15. Team Yoshimura (46); 16. K.W5. Motorspo rts (45); 17. No rthwest Rarin g (44~ 18. (TIE) Fox Valley Raring/Eau aaire Cyde (43); 20. Engelhart/Jerry's Kids (39). Upcom ing Rounds: Round 9 • Sonoma, California, August 21 Round 10 - Braselton. Georgia. Sept 18 AMAlCCS Middleweight T a e mChallenge Wrong one! By Donn Maeda Photo by George Roberts BRAINERD, MN, JULY 30 hen th e checkere d flag flew a t the end of the 60-m in u te Mid - , dl eweight Team Challen ge, no one was really surprised wh en a Team Moto Liberty bike raced across the finish line victorious. Well, mayb e crew W

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