Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

< ~: ROAD RACE: ':;. . Round 9: Sears Point Raceway '..AMA U .S.Superbike National Championship series . Smokin' Joe' s Racing's Kevin Magee pulled in with handling problems on the RC45; Muzzy Kawasaki's Fred Merkel was a non-starter after crashing during Saturday's qualifying and injuring his right ha nd ; and Smokin' Joe's Mike Smith was another no-sho w after cra shing ou t of the 600cc Supersport fin a l earlier in th e day a n d injuring his foot. Sunshine a nd warm temperatures greeted the start of the 24-lap Californian Superbike Challenge with Co rser leading the 24 starters up the hill o u t of turn one and in to the right-hand tum two . James wa s in to w , with Edwards, Kipp, Gra y, Picotte, Crevier, DuHamel , Sohwa and Stevens in procession . (Left) Colin Edwards II (45) and Troy Corser (19) look ed set l or a battle royale In t he Superb ike National at Sears Point Raceway. but Corser crashed out leaving Edwards to take an easy victory. (Below) The race l or second between David Sadowski (25), Jamie James (2) and Pasca l Picotte (21). Picotte ended up finish ing second . ahead 01James and Sadows kI. By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henn y Ray Ab rams :c (J:, 0\ ,..-l OMA' CA, AUG. 21 he onl y thing tha t didn't change at Sears Point Raceway was th e wi nner. ' For the third straight race, Vance & Hi n es Ya ma h a's Co lin Ed ward s II pr oved that he is th e su perbike man of the m om en t as he tu rned in another flawless performance to score the victory . Behind him , th ough, things were mu ch d ifferent. Australian Troy Corser, the man many had alread y conceded the championship to, uncharacteristically crashed out of his battle with Edwards on the seven th lap, handing the points lead to Vance & Hines Yamaha's Jamie James. The Louisianan had just reeled in the leading duo o f Edwards and Corser when he was forced to take evasive off-track action to avo id the fallen Australian on' the climb up the hill towards tum two. With Corser uninjured, but out of the race, James instantly backed off the pace, allowing Edwards to disa ppear in to the distance. James, meanwhile, engaged in a cautious battle with Fast By Ferracci Ducati's Pascal Picotte and the Desmo-backed Ducati of David Sadowski. In the end, it was Picotte earning second place with James third and Sadowski fourth. But the points lead tha t had been Corser's since the second round in Phoenix back in April, suddenly belonged to James. But this championship is far from finished . With one r ound remain ing at Road Atlanta on September 18, Jam es leads Corser by three points, 248-245 the exact difference between wi n ning and fini shing second at Roa d Atlant a. Thus the scene is set for what should be a thrilling climax to the seaso n. If Corse r wins and James finishes second, the pair w ill en d the s ea s on tie d. The tit le, tho ug h, would go to Corser based on race wins . James must only worry abou t fi nishi n g in fr o n t o f his Australian cham pionship rival. And let's no t forget the championship po int that goes w ith winning pole pos ition. Just how Edwards will fit into all of this remains to be seen. After winning his third straight, the Texan said he will do whatever he needs to do to help his teammat e James ta ke the tit le a t Road Atl anta. Making s u r e that Corser doesn't get pole position wou ld help, stopping the Aussie him from w inn ing would also boost James' chances. Based on his efforts of late, Edwards' chances of doing both seem pretty good. Even after losing his points le ad , Corser's con fiden ce remained intact, at least publicly. 'TIl just go to Atlanta to win - there 's no thing else to d o," he said. Local hero Scott Gray finished a lonely fifth on his Sta rsport-backed Ducati 955, clear of Muzzy Kawasaki 's Takah iro Sohwa. Team Mirage's Dale Quarterley got the better of his race-long duel with Yoshimura Suzuki' s Thoma s Ste vens to fin ish eighth; Yoshimura Suzuki's Donald Jacks and European Cycle Specialti es' Brad Hazen completed the top 10. Sohwa 's sixth -place fini s h allowed him to ma intain th ird in th e cha m pi onship point standings with 230 points, 15 behind Corser and 18 behind Jam es. Picot te jumped ahead o f Muzzy Kawasaki's Steve Crevier to move into fou rth in the championship point standings, 213-212; Crevier crashed out of the race while holding down second behind Edwards on the 12th lap . Edwards is now sixth with 208 po ints. Crevier and Corser weren 't the only top superbike men who failed to finish at Sears Point. Yoshimura Suzuki's Tom Kipp retired after two laps wh en a fuel line came off the GSXR750; HarleyDavidson's Miguel DuHamel stopped on the 12th lap when the VRlOOO develo p ed throttle sticking problems; Yo un g gu ns Corser and Edwards instantly opened up a lead over the rest, with Edwards pu shing his wa y past on the en trance of tum 11 to end the second lap. By this time, the pair were 1.37-seconds clear of James and Picotte, who in turn had a gap over Crev ier and DuHamel. On the fifth lap Edwa rds and Corser touched in th e carousel, giving James the opportunity to rejoin the chase . "He (Edwards) rode straight into the side of me," Corser said later. " I thought, 'Okay, Colin's not going to give me any roo rn.?" Then came Corser's demise. As the trio headed up the hill towards turn two , the Australian lost the front end, crashing abruptly in a cloud of dust and sending James off-track and searching for safety. By the time the Vance & . Hines rider re-ent ered tum two, Crevi-

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