Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1995 Daytona 200 By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams cott Russell has a scenario in his head he 'd like to see pla yed out in th e 54th running of the Da yt ona 200. He would get out front, look over his shou lder and see Freddie Spencer. The two would battle he ad -t o-head to the finish, and Russell would win a second straight Daytona 200 . S pe nce r would finish second and the tw o would be reunited in Victory Lane - Ru ssell and his boyho od hero. "I think Freddie cou ld be tou gh on the Du cati, " Russell sa id . " If I had m y way, I'd like to race head-to-head with Freddie. He. was my hero. I d on 't care wh a t peopl e hav e said or written abo ut him - I jus t like that gu y. I have a lot of respect for wh at he 's done, and I'd enjoy racin g with him. " Not so for the man that Rus sell will m ore th an likel y d o combat with at some point in th e Daytona 200 - Carl Fogarty . The Brit took Russell's Wor ld Su perbi ke crown in 1994, a nd Ru ssell wa n ts it back. He m ost d efinit el y doesn't want Foga rty to win a race on Ameri can soil, especially after the recent com ments mad e by the Brit to Eng land 's Motor Cycle News: "I hat e the track, the place and the Americans . That's why I a m going to w in. Nothi ng wo uld give me m ore pl ea s u re th a n b e atin g the Yanks in their own backyard ." Words that Ru s s ell a n d a lo t of Ame ricans didn't take kind ly to. "He's just not a professional; th at' s all I can say," Ru ss ell sa id . " I d on ' t kn o w why h e would say th in gs like that. I can tell yo u one thi ng - he'll be lu cky to find the race track m uch less the winner's circle. I d on 't particul arly like racing w ith Fogarty - I jus t like to kick his ass . He's coming to m y backya rd now, and I've always stomped his ass in his backyard at Donington Park. Let's just put it this way : there wo uldn't even be a Ca rl Foga rty if it wasn't for Du cati." Fogarty, who retu rns to Day tona for the first time since 1991, leads a strong contingent of riders wh o have a chance of victory in what is arguably the strongest field in the h istory of the race. Five World C ha mpio ns (Russell, Spencer; Fogarty , Dou g Polen and Fred Me rkel) an d eight AMA National Champions (Russell, Spen cer, Polen, Merkel, Jamie James, Troy Corser, Doug Chand ler, Thomas Stevens) head line the race . Throw in five forme r Daytona 200 wi nners (Russe ll, Spence r, Miguel DuH a m el , Da ve Sa dowsk i a nd Jo hn Ashmead ), a form er A MA Grand Nati on a l Ch a mpion (Chris Ca rr), tw o Aust ralian NationalChampions (Corser and Ant hony Gobert), and two Canadian Nati on al Champions (Pascal Picotte an d Steve Crevi er) and yo u have yo url!'l self quite an interesting field . 0\ 0\ ,....; THE TEAMS The amount of top-notch ma chin ery isn 't bad either, as factory team involvement is at an all-time high. Russell leads the fact ory Kaw asaki assau lt o f four riders on Rob Muzzyprepared ZXR750s. He will be joined by h is ne w World Su pe rb ik e teammate Anthony Gobert, the yo ung Australian findin g ins ta n t s u ccess with hi s n ew team w he n he w on a leg of the Au strali an World Superbike round in h is fir st ride o n the Kawasa ki last yea r; French Canad ian Pascal Picott e, a tw otime AMA Na tional winner last year on a Fast By Ferracci Ducati; and Ca nad ian Steve Crevier, back for a second term on the Mu zzy team after finishing sixth in las t year' s AMA Supe rbi ke Natio na l Championship. The Du cati team will be led by .World Ch ampion Foga rty in his firs t Day tona outing on the red V-twin. Foga rty will race for the official factory Du cati Corse team , managed by form er World Champ io n Virgi n io Ferra ri. Corser, meanwhile, will make his debut for the Promot or Du cati team after winning last year's AMA Superbike title on an Eraldo Fer racci-tu ne d 955. Ferracci will field two Ame r ica ns in thi s yea r's AM A se ries - Spencer a nd Georgi an Mik e Smi th - an d Japan' s Takahiro Sohwa. Spence r wo n his last AM A Superbike National in May of 1992 at Texas World Spee d way and Smith, wh o has made the switch to the Ducati team has yet to win a Su perbike Na tio na l. Soh wa fini sh ed th ird in las t yea r's A MA Sup erbike Cha m pions hi p on a Mu zzy Kawasaki. Ferracci's tea m ha s join ed Fogarty and Co rser in usin g Michelin rubber for 1995 wh ile the majori ty of the teams will continue to use Dun lop s. With an y of the Ducati men cap ab le o f winnin g, th e Day tona 200 will have a tru e tire wa r for the first time in the last five years. In addition to the factory Du cati men, a host of p riva teers have en te re d th e race on the V-twins - mos t notabl y Team Mirages ' Da le Qu arte rIey a n d Tea m De smo ' s Dav e Sad owski. They' ll be joined by Loui siana' s Jeff Reeves , England's Neil Hodgson and former Supersport race winner Gerald Rothman Jr. Yamaha ' s effort will a lso have an international flavor as World Superbike entries Colin Edwards II and Tasutomo Na gai will sta rt the 200 on their full fledged facto ry YZF750s, join ing AMA series reg u lars Jami e Jam es an d To m Kipp on the Va nce & Hi nes Yamaha tea m. While James ret urns for a th ird season on the V&H team, Daytona will ma rk th e d ebut o f th e Ohioan on th e Terry Vance -backed team . HR C' s two-time World Ch ampion Dou g Polen head s the list of Hond a riders, with the Texan running in Smokin' Joe's colors for th is race before joining th e World Su pe rb ike Series with the Castrol H onda team. Po len is looking for his first Daytona 200 victo ry. T h e regu lar AMA -based Sm ok i n " Joe' s Racing tea m will be made up o f former Da yt on a 200 winne r Migu el DuHamel and dirt tracker-turned-road racer Mike Ha le. DuHam el is hoping to return to Victory Lane, an d he is hoping to do so with the sa me team wi th which he w on th e Da y ton a 200 in ' 91. La st year, DuHam el rode the factory HarleyDavid son VR1000 w hile Hal e concentrated on th e 600cc Su pe rs po rt class wi th the Cam el-backed team . This yea r's Harl ey-David son factory team wi ll consist of 1990 AMA Superbike National Cha m pio n Do ug Ch and le r a nd 1992 AM A Gr and Na tiona l C ha m pio n C hris Ca r r . Ch andl er is returnin g to the AMA Series a fte r his four -year sti n t in th e 500cc World Cha m p io ns h ip and he is ex p ec te d to brin g bi g thing s to th e Harley team. Carr is hop ing to con tinue his good run at Mem or ial Stad ium in th e Nation al Short Track while learn ing the ropes at Dayton a In tern ati on al Speedw ay in wha t will be his first-eve r Dayton a 200. In a dd itio n -t o the fa ct o ry te am , multi-tim e 883 Twin Spo rt Ch amp io n Scott Zampach, Brit Mike Edwards, Ron McGill and veteran Mike Ha rth will all cam paign VR1000s fro m their Harl eyDavid son dealer-based team s. Suzu ki' s factory tea m will again run ou t of the Yoshi mura stable with tw otim e World Cha m p ion an d three-tim e AMA Su p erb ik e Champ io n Fre d Merkel joining 1991 AMA Cha m pion Tho mas Stevens and Do nal d Jac ks on the tea m's GSXR750s. Stevens finis hed ninth in last year's Su pe rbike Ch ampionship with Merkel en di ng up 10th in h is season a boa rd a Mu zzy Kawasaki. Jack s h ad a forgetta bl e yea r an d finished the season 17th overall. All thr ee are searchi ng for th eir first v icto ry in the Dayton a 200 and Suzuki's first win si n ce Ke vin Sc hwa n tz w on for th e Yosh imura team in 1988. NO TWIN 50s ' This year's running of Camel Motor cycle Week won't featu re the Tw in 50 qual ifyin g races which have been held (Above left) Sco tt Russell will be trying to win a second successive Daytona 200. One of the men who will be out to stop him is his bitter rival, World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty (left).

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