Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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* ROAO'RACE ., " Round 1: Daytona International Speedway ~", ' , A AHP4 600Cc Sujlersport Series M By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams 8 DAYTONA BEAQl FL MAR, 12 , upersport races at Daytona Inter- , national Speedway are supposed to be exciting, nail-biting races that aren 't decided until a frantic run through the draft from the chicane to the finish line. The 1995 ed ition of the 600cc Supersport race was no different, except for the fact that sprint race to the finish was for second place. Srnokin ' Joe' s Honda 's Migu el DuHamel d idn't want anything to do wi th an exciting race and he didn't care much for wo rrying about where to be on the final run from the chicane. DuHamel took the easy way out - he simp ly dominated from the restart of th e red- flaginterrupted race and nev er looked back, scoring the 15th 600ce Supersport win of his career. . Wh en all was said and d one, th e French Canadian was long gone, having ridden his Camel-backed Honda CBR600 F-3 to a resounding victory. Second place was a different story. Try as they may, none of the seven riders in . the group could pull clear, and thu s the race was decided in good old Daytona fashion - w ith a drafting battle from the chicane to the finish line on the final lap . Th at batlle was won by non e othe r th an John Kocinsk i.ยท Th e former 250cc World Champion and four-time 500cc Grand Pri x winner made a triumphant return to Supersport racing after having not raced a stree tbike-base d motor cycle since he won the race here in 1989. Kocinski rod e his Erion Racing-backed Honda CBR600 F-3 to a narrow se cond place over a horde of pursuers, including third pla ce finisher Mike Hale on the Smokin' Joe's Honda CBR600. The first non-Honda was fourth placed Steve Crevier on the Mu z zy Kawasaki with the Honda Austria entry of Christian Zwedom filling the top five. Smokin' Joe's Doug Polen was sixth with Kawasaki-mounted Todd Harrington, Honda-mounted Jam ie Bowman, one time leader Michael Barnes an d Yves Brigu et, bo th riding Hondas, rounded ou t the top 10. The man who likely would ha ve given DuHamel a run for h is mon ey d idn't m ake it through the first lap . Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell was the man to beat a fter qu alifying, but h is Kawasaki failed him on the opening lap and he was alrea dy in his motorhome by the time the red flag' ca me ou t on the fourth g oaround . "We think it was a plugged vent line or some thing, " Muzzy Kaw asaki team manager Steve Johnson said. "We took it apart and there was nothing wrong and it ran fine after they put it back together ." Prior to the race there was some controver sy with tires, nam ely surr ound ing Kocinski, but later includi ng Polen . Kocinski 's problems started the weeke nd prior to th e AMA ra ce, w he n he crashed twice d uring the NASB weeke nd . Prior to qualifyin g for the AMA 600cc Su pe rsp ort race, Kocinski receiv ed per mission from Michelin to switch to Dunlops beca u s e there si m ply we re n 't enough of the French tires. When a crew member went to Dunlop to try to get free tires, th ey were turned d o wn byIim Allen and Kocinski ended up buying his Dunl ops from an outs ide vendor. "His mechani c came and asked if he cou ld have tir es and th at he'd run the stickers (Dunl op )," Jim Allen said . " I told him I w ou ld n' t eve n se ll tir es to John Kocinski. We don 't want anything to do with him. He's burned us before and he won 't bum us again . We do n't need that publicity. If John Kocinski wins, he wins for himself and not for Dunlop. If he finishes thi rd h e' ll b la me the tires. It ' s a shame because he's a hell of a talent." Michelin wa s a little more accommoda ting to the former 250cc World Champion: "I told him he could swi tch to Dun lop or Brid gestone," sa id Jean Herisse, Michelin's World Superbike tire technician. "We di d n' t have any tires for him early in the week. We had the 180s for the 750s and they fit on the 6005now with the wide r rims, but he likes the sma ller tire the 160 - better. We just wa nt John to be happy. That' s wha t's important to us." " I'm just following Michelin's orders," Kocinski said . And then on race da y, Michelin's tire supply prob lems forced Pole n to make th e sw itch to Dunlops. "It was on ly a week and a half before the event that we heard abo ut Kocinski and Polen being . here on 6005 Michelin 's Oaude Leroux ," said. Polen also ran into a road block from Dun lop : "Why help someone who is trying to sink us," Allen said in reference to Polen, who als o ended up get ting tire s from another Dunl op sou rce. A ll was fo rgo tten w he n the fl a g dropped and the racing began - wi th Russell leading the way into the International Horses hoe, drifting both wheels on the exit while tak ing a hand off the, bars to antagonize DuHamel with a urging wave onward. " I think he was saying, ' Me and you, let's go for it and take off:" DuHamel said later . " I was thinking, 'Hey, bring it on.'" , That little conflict lasted abou t as long as a quarter in Las Vegas and Russell was soon coasting down the back straigh t. At the end of the first lap it was Russell 's teammate Pasc al Picotte with the lead over DuHamel, Hale, Barnes, Kocinski and Crevier. By this point all hell had broken loose in the chicane and a red flag