Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Final round: Road Atlanta "Tha t was a hell of a race," Crevier said . "M y brothe r-in-law about kicked my ass. I tried to break aw ay, but I ran wid e in the ha irpin an d gave it all back. I was pushing really hard and the pushing ge ts too mu ch. It's al ways easy to get seco nd, but it's not something I wan t to get used to. I was intimidated by him (Tay lor). He's very eager to win or do better than me. He's had a lot of bad luck and he's hungry to do we ll." Smith seemed to alwa ys have things under contro l, thou gh he g av e t he im pression it was busin ess as usual: "Th ey got pas t me and I jus t hop ed I could get by before the end of the race," he said . " I just kep t on pounding 'e m and I guess they got ti r ed of it and backed of." a Road Atlanta Braselto n, Georgia Results: September 18, 1994 600cc SUPERSPORT FINAl.: I. Mike Smith (Hon); 2. Stev e Crevier (Kaw ); 3. Michael Taylor (Kaw); 4. Jason Pridmore (Yam); 5. Brian Gibb s (Han); 6. Jam ie James (Vam); 7. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Kaw); 8. Thomas Wilso n (Yam); 9. David Estok (Hon); to. Jamie Bowman (H on); 11. H ikaru Miyagi (Hon ); 12. Mike Murphy (Ho n); 13. Jim Le ster (Hon); 14. James Milroy Jr. (Kaw ); IS. Roger Minor (Hon ); 16. Tom Coccia (Hon); 17. John Oli ve r (H o n ); 18. O w en Wei ch el (Yam); 19 . St e ve Bla ckburn (Ho n); 20. Brook Anthony (Ho n); 21. Mike Hale (Hon); 22. Jason Sincla ir (Hon ); 23. AI MacMartin (Ho n); 24. Jeff Co vington (Hon ); 25. Barry Thomas Jr. (Han); 26. Shane Clarke (Ho n); 27. Dam ian Webe r . (Kaw); 28. Mar k Lary (Hon); 29. Ralph Herrero (Hon); 30. Tim Galvez (H on); 31. Joe Wolf e (Ho n); 32. James Wo rt hi ng to n (Hon ); 33. Mike Reed (Kaw); 34. Derek N ich ols (Ho n); 35. G len n Sza re k (Ya m); 36. Robert Wrig ht (Kaw) ; 37. Jeff Williams (Ho n). T im e: 28 min ., 16.178 sec. ps, Disbnce: 19 l.1 47.88 miles. Average Speed: 101.621 mph. Ma rgi n of Victory: 0523 sec. FI N A L 600•• S UP ER S PORT C HA M PIONS HI P STAND INGS: 1. Jam ie James (315/4 wins ); 2. Mike Smith (297/6 wins); 3. Steve Crevier (287); 4. Mike Hal e (262); 5. Gera ld Rothman Jr. (234) ; 6. Jason Pridmore (216); 7. Robert Wright (165); 8. Randy RenIro w (159); 9. Owen Weichel (148); 10. Ja mie Bowma n (143 ); 11. Thomas WHson (141); 12. David Estok (127); 13. Hi karu Miyagi (106); 14. Jon Co rnwell (103); IS. (TI E) Larry Pegram / Mike Murp hy (91). AMAlC S750CcS C upersport series It's 011 _ Kipp's By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams · W BRASELTON, GA, SEPT. 17 inner take all was exem plified in .' t he 750 cc Supersp ort fi n al at . Road Atlanta . Tom Kipp won the race, a n d To m Kip p won the seri es cha m pionship. With the series point sta ndings tied going into the final round of the championship at the scenic 2.52-m il e Roa d Atlanta Raceway, whoever won the personal d ual between Yoshimura Suzuki team mates Kip p and defending cla ss champion Britt Turkington would ultimately win the series title. Simple enough. But jus t when it appeared as though it would all come down to a last-lap battle to the finish line, Turkington's Suzuki GSXR750 coasted to a stop with a broken transmis sion. At that point, Kip p was able to hold off the advances of Team Su z uk i Sport's James Rando lp h and Aaron Yates to take the victory an d the championship, the first 750cc Super sport title of his career. The Ohio an' won the 600cc Sup ersport title in 1992. "1 feel really good, " Kipp said after taking th e title. "It's been a long season. I struggled in the first three races and then -things started to work - the chemistry was there. I knew I was back in the game at Laguna Seca, and I knew it was going to come down to this last race. I had a lot of pr epa ration for this race." . . For Turkington, Road Atlanta turned into a $30,000 mise ry when the transm ission failed in the closin g laps. " It p re tty much went all at once," the Texan (Right)Jamie James finished seventh in the 600cc Supersport final, but that was good enough to earn him the class championship. (Belowright) Tom Klpp (16) won the 750cc Supersport race and the se ries championship at Road Atlanta. sai d of the GSXR's gearbox. " Thi r d (gear) went, then fourth, then it stopped. I' m totally confident that I could have won tha t race. He (Kipp) used a (Dunlop) 0 364 and I used a (Dunlop) Sport max on the front. I didn't have a problem doing low 26s and he seemed to be struggling. I was just getting ready to bust a move and jus t let it go. It cost me abo ut $30,(}()()." Whil e m ost o f the attention was focused on the champion ship rivals, Randolph and Yates rode steady races to ea rn spots on the podium. The pair kept Kipp a n d Turkington in ch eck throu gh out, wit h Randolph just getting the better of Yates at the finish line. Kinko's Yama ha 's Thomas Wilson and his teammate Jason Pridmore filled out the top five, with Pridmore earning the season's AMA/CCS Top Expert award. In the final championship tally, Kipp ended . up w ith 308 points to Turkington 's 284. Pridmore was third wi th 264, just eight points clear of the late-seaso n ch arge of Randolph. Gerald Rothman [ r ,; a non-finis her at Road Atlanta, ended the season as the fift h- ranked rider. Prid more started the 19-1ap race from pole position, but it was Kip p leading th e 3O-ride r field into tum one for the first time. Turkington , meanwhile, started from the th ird row of the grid , bu t work ed his wa y to fourth by the end of the first lap . And the stage y.-as set. Kipp and hi s Darrin Lopez-tuned Suzuki led Randolph across the line to complete lap two with Tur kington mo ving by Muzzy Kawasaki's Fred Merkel to take over third. A lap later and Tu rkingt on was in the lead. " 1 turned a ro u nd and saw this big number-on e plate staring rig ht at me," Kipp said later . "1 couldn't believe it. It surprised me. I thought, 'Okay, here we go. Bring it on.' I d idn't know his bike was that strong. This place is noto rious for races being won an d lost in these last two co rners, a n d I w as g o ing to d o everything I had to do to get by him before the back straight." Turkington led until the eighth lap when Kipp moved back in fron t. By this point, Yates was the man on the move as he jetted past Merkel and started to close the gap to the lead trio. On the ninth lap, Merkel pitted with an overheating motorcycle. "On the first lap I was goin g as hard as I could and I almost high sid ed in tum seven ," Yates said later. "1 went off in the grass and everybody went by. I just watched the person in front of me because I didn't ha ve a pit board or an ything. I couldn't hang with those gu ys down the straightaway. I wanted to try the outside on Randolph in the last corner, bu t I didn't want to risk it." On the 11th lap , Kipp got a break in traffic in tu m one and ins tantly put a gap on Tu rkin gton a n d Rand o lph. . When they cros sed the start/finish line at the end of tha t lap, Kipp had dose to a one-second lead. A lap later, though, and Tu rki ngton, Randolph a nd Yates were righ t on Kipp's tail. With three laps to go, Kipp and Turkingto n put sp ace bet ween them selves a nd th e duel be tween Randolp h a nd Yates, but Tu rkington's threat en de d a lap late r w h e n he dropped b ack to fourth and then coasted to a stop with a broken gearbox. End of story. Race wi n and title to Kipp. . "1 got in with Kipp and he was going good and got a good start," said Rand olp h, the w inner of the last round at Sears Point. He (Kip p) came d own on me in tum one an d we hooked up a little bit, but I saved it. I was just glad to be a part of it, but I d idn't want to mess an ybody up. It's been a learning curve for me all year. I had to learn how to race with these guys." "1 think Britt was more in tune to the po ints thing between us and that may have helped me," Kipp said. "1 concentrated on doing my own thing and win ning races. I didn't have a choice." (N Road AUanta Braselto n, Georgia Results: September 17, 1994 75Oa: SUPERSPORT FINAl.: I. Tom Kipp (Suz) ; 2. James Rand olph (Suz ); 3. Aa ron Yates (Suz); 4. Thomas Wilson (Ya m ); S. Jaso n Pri d mo re (Yam) ; 6. Da vi d McG ra th (Ya m ); 7. Da vid Stanton (Su z); 8 . Bill y Eisenacher (Ya m) ; 9. Joe Pruss ia n o II I (Kaw ); 10. Michael Taylor (Kaw); t 1. Anthony lupo (Su z); 12. Mark MilJer (K.aw ); 13. Michael Fitzp a tri ck (Yam); 14. Dean Mizdal (Yam); 15. John Oli ver (Ho n); 16. Oax Sn ow (Suz ); 17. Mark Barlow (Yam ); 18. Dav id Roy (Kaw ): 19. Matt Cusamano (Suz); 20. Britt Tu rkington (5uz); 21. David Estok (Hon); 22. Brook Anthony (Hon ); 23. Robert Wright (Kaw); 24. Rod Burr (Kaw ); 25. Fred Merkel (Kaw); ·26. Mar k McDaniel (Suz); 27. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Kaw); 28. Derek Nicho ls (Hon); 29. Dav id Olin (Suz); 30. Joey Gillela nd (Kaw). T ime: 27 min., 31.636 sec. D istance: 19 laps, 47.88 miles. Ave rage Speed; 104.362 mp h. M.u gin of Victory: 1.605 sec. 750 ec SUPERSPOR T C'S HIP POINT STANDI NGS (After 10 of 10 round s): 1. Tom Kipp (308/ 5 wins ); 2Britt Turkington (284/2 wins ); 3. Jason Prid more (264); 4. James Rand olph (256/1 win); 5. Ge rald Rothman Jr. (236/1 w in); 6. Aaro n Yates (206); 7. Thomas Wilson (203); 8. Fred Merkel (189/1 win); 9. Dean MizdaI (156); 10. (TIE) An tho ny Lupo/ Dav id Roy /Mark McDa niel (13I); 13. Mike Krynock (94); 14. Aaron Lann in gham (80); IS. David Stanton (71). AMAICCS H y-Davidson T Sport serie arle win s t1i~bee crowned Kin~ttQ~ By Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, SEPT 18 artels' Harley-Davidson's Shawn Higbee ended the reign of three_ time Harley-Davidson Twin Sports Champion Scott Zampach by riding a calculating race to fourth place - and his first championship - in the final race of the season at Road Atlan ta. "It's been a really good season , really close," Higbee said at the end of the race which was red-flagged on the seventh of 10 laps. "Scott and I have battled all year. We had a couple of DNF s each. But it was more than Scott and I all year." Ind eed it was. Today the race was won by Moroney H-D's Aaron Yates, who nabbed his third win of the 'year when he crossed the line in the lead at the end of the seventh lap . He was tussling with Tilley's Za mpach a nd th e Mitchell's Mod esto H-D of Matt Wait at the time tha t fou r ride rs wen t down in tum three on the eighth lap, causing the race to be called . Higbee-had moved up to fo urth on the sevent h lap an d was leaving the battle for fifth when the race ended. "I was just kind of watching, following them around to see how it would end up," Yates said. "I couldn' t outb rake B 11

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