Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 9: sears Point International Raceway AI Salaverria (22) came the closest to stopping Rich Oliver (97), but Itwasn 't enough. Oliver cruised to victory and his first AMA 250cc National Championship. and by the 15th lap , he had a two-second cush ion. "I sta yed with him until we hit some backmarkers, " Salaverria said . "We hit some mo re backm arkers and I started sli p pi ng re ally bad. I alm os t put th e thing away a couple of times." "I got kind of lucky in traffic," Oliver said . "Tru thfully, I was trying to be real, real careful. It paid off in the end." What Oliver wasn't a wa re of th is whole time was that Danny Walker, the only rider with a chance to catch him in the championship, wa s out of the race. A water pump failure on his Southwest Motorsports Yamaha spit wa ter onto his rear tire and caused Walker to crash on th e second lap of the race. "If I knew that Danny was ou t I d on't know tha t I wou ld ha ve changed an ything," Olive r said. Instead of hearing noises at the end of the race, like many race rs nearing a championship, Oliver said his bike was running strong at the end. "I just really want to thank all of my crew. It's easy to get on a fast bike and know it's going to fin ish the race. It' s Oliver on track I t wa s h is eighth track record and 10th pole posit ion this yea r, but despite those ac complishments (in both AMA and WERA racing) Performance South Racing's Rich Oliver had more on his mind: This was the weekend he could clinch his first AMA 250cc G P title and he was to do it in front of a highly partisan crowd. "If it was a regular race and had nothing to do with the championship I would probably be a lot more aggressive," Oliver, who once lived in nearby Vallejo, said after breaking Jimm y Filice's track record. "I'm trying not to think about it. I was thinking about it a lot at Brainerd it seemed, then we had that little problem with a faul ty tire. It's hard for me to rid e at a d ifferent pace than I'm used to. I d on't feel like I'm riding over my head at that pace." Oliver's best lap around the bumpy 2.52-mil e track north of San Francisco was a 1:42.797, better than half a second under Filice's lap record set last year. And with a 47-point lead, and on e race after Sears Point, he knew that he only had to finish eighth or better even if Southwest Motorsports' Danny Walker won the race . The last time that Oliver rode here was in January of 1990 when he was testing a Yamaha 250 for Kenny Roberts. The difference was in the bumpiness, but he'd easy for me," Oliver said, thanking his full-time mechanic Steve Rounds, and assistants Jeff Myers and Mark Seruill . U Rich really has the experience and I hope when I get to be his age I can d o those things," Salaverria teased Oliver in the winner's circle. They were joined by Ienatsch, who said he really expec ted more of a battle. "My pi t board said plu s one, then plus two . I kind of got pulled along by Rich and AI. I got into a good rhythm and did a bunch of 43s. I qualified at 45.1," said lena tsch. . The battle for fourth was the best one for at least half the race. Sorensen was in front of D'Aluisio and Corn well, the margins elastic, though never grea t, with little swa ppin g. The trio chan ged places on the sevent h lap with Cornwell no w in fro nt of Sorens en a nd D' Aluisio, and pulling away sligh tly. But in shor t order two things would happe n: First, Cornwell's Dave Mayes-tuned Yamaha would begin to slow, th en D' Aluisio would crash, but not before taking the lead. It was o n the n inth la p w hen D' Aluis io moved from sixth to fou rth , getting past Sorensen in the fast bac k straight left-han d kink, and led through the carousel for the first time the following la p. He 'd been judging his en try sp eed off the o ther rid ers until that po int and on this lap he had no refe rence. Getti ng in a li tt le to o h ot , D' Alu isio d rifted ov er th e bumps and the front end tucked under. Th at left the race to Co rnwell a nd Sorensen, and Sorensen was biding his time as Cornwell was losing his . "Just after Chris went down the bike went for crap," Cornwell said. "Jon was stronger in some of the corners. I could get him back on the brakes. gotten help from Jim Lindemann in his suspension settings and found he was running the same line he used when he rode a Kosman Racing 1385 Kawasaki Z-l superbike in 1985. "We were doing 455 then without the chicane. Now we're doing 425 with the chicane:' Oliver said, referring to his record lap of 1:42.797. "Any tim e you break one of Jimmy's (Filice) lap records you have to work for it." Oliver also said he was thinking about how he'd like to clinch the title, and, again, he thought of Filice. "I remember last year wh en Jimm y did it with a win and I'd like to do it tha t way," Oliv er said. Second fastest was also a local boy, Enough Said Productions' AI Salave rria. The San Fra nci sco resid en t couldn't ma tch Oliver' s pace, though hewas somewhat respo nsible for Oliver's fast lap . "He d id the time when he was behind me. I was the carro t. He kind of outfoxed me: ' Salaverria said of Oliver. Just when Salaverria was about to go for a quick lap, the tw en ty-minute qualifying session was red-flagged with a few minutes to go. "I felt I could go faster. Another half a second, maybe more. I was using the same tires I used at Braine rd . With new tires I could do low 43s easy," Salaverria said after a best lap of 1:43.156. Since early in the seaso n Salaverria has been serving as his own tu ner and he found it paying off at Sears Point, though he was getting help from Scott Bolton and Jim Taffer, Between engine modifications he'd corne up with, mostly to streng then the mid-ran ge and acceleration, and some suspe nsi on help from Jim Lindemann, Salaverria said his Yamaha was working better than it had been all year. "I think me and Rich are going to run awa y," he said of the Sunday race. "It'll be a hard five or six laps, then well race on out. " Hyd-Mech Saws' Jon Cornwell was third fastest, the only other rider in the 43s, a time that surprised him. Toward the end I was making up a second a lap. I decided to make my move at the chica ne. 1 thought there was one lap to go:' Sorensen said, wh en, in fact, there were two . Knowing tha t his bike was slowing, and w ith pit signals sho w ing his lead shrinking, Cornwell tried using traffic to his advantage. "I put some Iappers between us, but Chuck rode a smart race . I ran o ut of lappers:' Cornwell said. eN Sears Point International Raceway Sonoma, California Results: August 21, 1994 2SOGRAND PRIX QUALIfYING, !. Rich O liver (I minute. 42.797 seconds); 2. AI Sala verria (1:43.516); 3. Jon Com well (1:43.845); 4. Chris D' Aluis io (1:44.373); 5. Danny Walker (104 4.586); 6, Ch uck Sorensen (1:44.630); 7. GeepTerranova (1:44.662); 8. Nick lenatsch (1:45.216); 9 . Masa hiro Ii z u ka (1:45 .201) ; 10 . Mike Su lli v a n (1:46 ,221) ; 11, Jeff Leggitt (1,47 .057) ; 12. Christopher Rankin (1 :47.397); 13, Pete r Wen sloff (1:47 .635); 14. Bobby Keith (1:47.813); 15. Michael Mon roya (b18.017); 16 . Ro la nd Sa nd s (1:48.485 ); 17. Ke nt Kunits ugu (1:48.826); 18. Don Grijal va (1:50.256); 19. Dave Avery (l 5 (H38); 20, Warren Dunaway (151.320); 21. Edward Sadvar (15 1.687); 22. Bill Borse lli (1:52.412); 23. And y Edwa rds (1:53.975); 24 . Frank Araga ld (1:55.149); 25. Chri stopher Tho ma s 0 :56 .096 ); 26. Jason Pad en (2:01.049 ). 2SO GRAND PRIX FINAL: 1. Rich Olive r (Yam); 2. Al Salaverria (Yam); 3. N ick lenatsch (Yam ); 4. Chuck Sorensen (Ya m) ; 5. Jon Cornwell (Yam ); 6. Mik e y Sullivan (yam); 7. Christophe r R.tnkin (Yam); 8. Bobb Keith (Yam); 9, Jeff leggin (Yam); 10. Ken' Kun itsu gu (Yam); 11. Michael Mon toya (Yam ); 12. Dave Avery (Ya m); 13. Wanen Du na wa y (Ya m ); 14. Bill Borse lli (Yam) ; 15. Edward Sadv a r (Yam); 16. Frank Aragaki (Yam) ; 17. Christopher Thoma s (Ya m) ; 18. Chris D' Aluisio (Apr); 19. Andy Edwards (Ya m); 20. Oon Gri jalva (Ya m ); 21. Rola nd Sand s (Ya m); 22. Jason Paden (Ya m); 23 . Pe ter We nsl off (Yam) ; 24. Da nn y Walker (Yam ); 25. Ceep Terranova (Yam ); 26. Masahiro lizuka (Hon ). Time 33 m in , 2.657 sec. Disbncr: 19 laps. 47.88 miles. Avenge s peeds 86.248 mph. Margin of victo ry: 4.753 sees. 250 GRAND PRIX CHAMPIO NSHI P PO I N T ST AND IN GS (Afte r 9 of 10 rounds); 1. Rich Oliver (286 /7 w in s -) ; 2. Chuck Sorensen (227/ 1); 3. Nick lena tsch (225); 4. AI Salaverrta (211); 5. Danny Walk" (209); 6. oms lY Aluisio (19-1) 7, Mike Sullivan (193); 8. ; J.. son Paden (159); 9. Christopher Rankin (151); 10. Jon Cornwell (134 ); 11. Bobby Keit h (13 2): 12. Donald Hou gh (126); 13. Geep Terranova (125); 14. John France (104); 15. Bill Bo",,1Ii (103); 16. Takahito Mon (99); 17. Bruce Lind (90) ; 18 . Bill Qui nn (83); 19. (TIE) Leon Cortes/oms Taylor (76). "clinched championsh ip. Upcoming Rounds: Rnd10 - Braselton. Georgia, September 18 "This place is intimidating to me:' Cornwell said after his 1:43.845 lap. "The lack of run-off, the walls, it makes it intimidating. To do consistent times you have to stay within your limits . "My best to that point was a 44.8 and to take a second off surp rised me. I did a couple of laps in the low 45s with traffic and I knew I could go qu icker if I could get away. I saw (Chris) D'Aluisio up ahead and I thought I could catch him." He not only caught him, he dr opped him to fourth fastest . Like Cornwell, D'Aluisio was surprised he could do the time he d id fu tra ffic. "1 did n 't se e a n y cl ear tr ack the w hole time, " D'Alu isio said . "To get a free lap was impossible. Then they cut it short. In the twisties, turns two, three, four, I never saw the place by myself. 1 sat back a bit 10 get a clear track, but it didn' t work." What was wo rking was the White Power suspension on his John Lassak-tuned Ap rilia. Southwest Racing's Danny Walker led off the second row in front of Performance South Racing's Chuck Sore nsen, Terranova Painting's Geep Terran ova, an d Zero Gravity's Nick Ienatsch. Walker was distressed by a lack of confid ence on a track whe re he received a concussion after crashing last yea r. On his fast lap he nearly crashed in the sam e spo t as last year's spill . "What we ha ve to do is get Dann y' s head straightened:' Walker said while examining 'gearing charts. "It's a confidence thing for me here." Sixth fastest went to Sorensen who grew up racing on this track. He hadn't been here since 1992, and found it a little bumpier, but didn't see that as his biggest obstacle. What he felt he needed to do was get more input from his teammate and team owner Oliver. "Maybe I need to pick Rich's brain more. He'll be able to get down there and immediately start doing quick times:' Sorensen said.

• Cover