Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"It felt really good," Merkel sai d. " It was just go, go. I wasn't using my brain. I sh ould have sat behind h im and then split later. It was just a silly mistake. Fortunately, the brake lever didn't break off. The right footpeg was gone, so I just hotfooted it on the pipe for the rest of th e race." With Merkel picking up the bike way back in the pack, Kipp was free and clear. Though he was pushed throughout, he never led by less than three seconds and barring a mi stake there was never any doubt about this one . "They kept the pressure on me the whole race," Kipp said. "It got to three seconds, but it was no cakewalk at all. We mad e some pretty big changes and I was concentrating more on figuri ng ou t how I had to ride it to get the most out of it." Initially, it was Randolph who seemed secure in second place. But his teammate Wilson was on the mo ve, charging from seventh at the end of the first lap to third at the end of eight laps - after disposing of Erion Racing's Barnes, who was putting in a spirited ride on the Bridgestone-shod Ho nda CBR600F3 . Once he moved into third, Wilson sat on his teammate's rear fender until passing him on the 16th of 23 laps. Rand olph in turn was balked by lapped riders, giving Wilson some short -lived breathing room. By the end of the race, Randolph was back for more and he chased Wilson till the bitter end, coming up just short at the finish line. "I missed a gear going into the chicane one lap and he went by," Randolph said . "I was hanging with him. but he was riding really good. He passed traffic right before the turns and I got stuck behind one guy bad in the carousal. I managed to close back in, but.;." For WilsOn the seco nd place was the crown jewel of a pretty good week. The Ohioan's wife, Lynn, delivered a baby boy, Jordan, on Monday, March TJ, just a few days before the Pomona event. "I never focused on Tom w hatsoever," Wilson admitted. "It took me awhile to ge t past James (Randolph) and I didn' t realize I was in second un til I saw Tom. I just tried to mai ntain what I had." McDaniel eventually broke free from the battle for fourth, taking the position for the first time on the 18th lap and holding his grou nd to the fin ish. Barnes slipped from his original spot near the top to take fifth, an im pressive effort for the 600cc-moun ted rider. Merkel regrouped to finish sixth. clear of Gerald Rothman Jr. and Hikaru Miyagi. Valvoline Suzuki's David Stanton rounded out the top 10 fin(~ ishers. Pomona Fairplex Pomona , California Results: April 1, 1995 7S0c< SUPE RS PO RT: I. To m Kip p (Ya m) ; 2. Tho mas Wilso n (Kaw); 3. James Rando lPh (Ka w ); 4. Mark McDaniel (Suz~ 5. Michacl Barnes (lIon~ 6. Fred Me rkel (Su z) ; 7. Ge ra ld Rot h ma n Jr. (Su z); 8 . Todd Harrington (Kaw): 9. Hikaru Miyagi (Hon ); 10. Da vid Stanton (Suz ); 11. Fritz Kling (Yam ); 12. Mark Min e r (Kaw ~ 13. Tommy Lynch (Suz~ 14. Dale Keiffer ( Hon~ 15. Jaso n Smandych (Suz~ 16. Gk'OO Filshie (Suz~ 17. David Roy (Kaw ): 18 . Denni e Burke (Suz ); 19. Ben Welch (Ya m); 20. Mike Krynock (Kaw ); 21. M att Cucmano (Suz); 22. Lee Brow n (Han); 23. Jim Leste r (Ya m); 24 . Aki haru Sh ige no (Hon); 25. Lome Banks (Kaw ), 26. Jo h n Ferdi na n d (Ka w); 27 . Murray Cli ft (Kaw); 28. Anthon y Lupo (Ya m); 29. Robert W r ight (Han); 30. Shane Turpin (Ka w ). Time; 34 min., 14.778 St.'C. Di5~nce: 23 laps. 48.3 miles . Average speed: 84.662 mph . M. rg in of vidory: 4.114 sec. AMA 75 0cc SUPE RS PORT CHA MPIONSHIP STA N D INGS (Aft er 2 of to ro unds ): 1. Tom Kip p (67 /1 w in ); 2. Fre d Merkel (60 /1 ); 3. Thomas Wil son (57); 4. Mark McDaniel (56); 5 . james Randolph (54); 6. Cerald Rothm a n Jr. (46); 7. Fritz Kling (33); 8. Donald Jacks (30 ); 9. David Sta nto n (28 ); 10 . (TIE ) M ich ael Barn esIJim Leslie (26); 12. Ma rk Miller (24); 13. (TIE ) Shane Turp~/ Todd Ha rrin gton (23); 15. Hlkaru Miyagi (22) ; 16. (TIE ) Se th Hahn / Ben Welch (19); 18. Da vid McGrath / Tommy Lynch / Robert Wright (18). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Monterey, CA, Apri l 30 Round 4 - Lexington, OH, June 4 (Left) David Estok (92) won the HarleyDavidso n SuperTwlns race at the Fairplex, topping defending class champion Shawn Higbee. (Below) The 750CC Supersport final gets started on the drag strip portion of the Fairplex trac k. gone," said Wait. "So meone wa s blowing oil all over the pla ce, and I was sliding all over the place. I'm still hurting a little bit from the sh oulder I se parated in Daytona." Estok greeted the checkered flag with 10 bi ke le ng ths to spare over Hi gbee, who in tum enj oyed a siza ble cu shion over Wait. Duhamel dropped off the pace toward the end of the race , finishing some 35 bike lengths behind Wait. Andy Fenwick, Eric Bostrom an d Owen Weichel rounded out the top seven. Springsteen battled throu gh out the race with Matthew Guidera for eighth, but was ninth as he crossed the finish line. Still, such a finish cou ld n' t faze the AMA SuperTwins Championship series Estok hog wild By Donn Maeda Photo by Kinney Jones POMONA, CA, APR. 2 ro m the moment David Estok took to the Pomona Fairplex race track, he knew it suited his styl e . Last yea r, the makeshift track was the center of a huge controversy, and though it underwent many improvements for th is year's event, many riders s ti ll com plained of its rough conditions. But not Estok. "Nah, the bumps don't really bother me," said Estok after qualifying secondfastest aboard his Woody Kyle Racingtuned Harley-Davidson 883. "I just want to go racing." . Multi-time Twinspo rts National Champion Scott Zampach led Est ok for the first five laps o f the 12-lap event, but it was obvious fro m the start th at Estok was th e man on the move. Th e Daytona Beach, Florida, rider powered past his more experienced rival and wa s never challenged for the lead, scoring hi s fir st-ever National win in convincing fashion. Zampach wo uld eventually pull off the track wi th an engine failu re, leaving second to the reigning Su perTwins Champion Shawn Higbee. Third went to Modesto Harley -David son ' s . Matt Wait. Thanks to Zampach's demise, Estok also took control of th e seri es point lead and sits atop the field with a 67-point total. Wait is second with 58. Higbee sits 13th with 32. Sitting on the pole after turning in th e fas test qu ali fying time was Super Tw ins newcom er Ben Bostrom. The Bartels ' Harley-Dav id son-sponsored Northern Californ ian w as only one of many dirt tr ackers wh o filled the grid, as th e SuperTwins series has become a po pular training ground for dirt trackers m ak ing th e s w it ch to road racing. Amongst the dirt trackers on hand were both Bostrom brothers, Ben and Eric, Ma tt Wait, Jeff Eklund, Joe Winston III, and of cours e - three-time G ra nd National Champion Jay Springsteen. Though Ben Bost rom sa t on th e pole at the start, all was no t perfec t for the 1993 Grand National Cham p io n sh ip Ser ies Rooki e of the' Year. "I crashed in the morn in g pra ct ic e session," said Bostrom. "I ground a couple of my fingers down pretty bad. They won't stop bleeding." Still, Bostrom lined up for the race F with hi s rac e face and a heavily banda ged hand. Zampach had the quickest reaction s and led Bostrom, Estok , Higb ee and Wait through th e fir st few turns . Estok wasted little time and sneaked past Bostrom for second on lap two, and as it turned out - made the pass just in time. Bostrom's 883 sprung a leak on the second lap and began to leak oil onto his rear tire, the track, and his pursuers' face shields. "After I crashed, they had .to pull off the prim ary cover," said Bost rom later. "W e think that the primary-cover gasket wa s torn or s o m e th in g . Oil started spraying on my rea r tire and I was slipping everywhere." . Because he was right behind Bostrom, Higbee got th e worst of the spray. "All of a sudden, my face shield was cove re d, " sa id Higbee. "The track got real slick, too, so we had to be carefu l until the oil blew away." Bostrom immediately began to slow, and would finish an eventual 13th. Meanwhile, Zampach continued to le ad Estok in the battle for th e point p ositi on, and it looked as if the latter was superior in the braking department. Enterin g tum seven, Estok would close to within inches of Zampach's rear fend er. Su rp ris ing ly, Estok' s pass for the le ad ca me not entering a co rner, but powering ou t of one. "I go t a real good dri ve ou t of the bu s sto p co rner, and ju s t went by Scott," said Estok. "Once I go t in front I really put my head down for a couple laps and tri ed to get away. A few laps later, I loo ked back and saw that I had a lead. Scott was gone." Go ne, indeed. Zarnpach coasted to a stop sho rtly after be ing passed by Estok, becoming one of the eight riders whose machines had failed them. With Zampach ' s demise, Higbee inherited seco nd, and wo uld ride a relatively uneven tfu l race to th e finish . Wait, m eanwhile, had h is hands full with a hard-charging Mario DuHamel. Th e tw o riders swapped third back and forth several times before Wait eventuall y gai ned control of the position for good. "It felt like my tires were completely popular dirt tracker, w ho scored his 41st Grand National w in at th e prev ious evening's half mile Nation al. " Man, it was slicke r tha n sno t out there," said Springsteen. "To tell you the truth, I was out there th inking about my win last night." a . Pomona Falrplex Pomona, California Results: April2, 1995 SUPERTWINS NATIONAL: I. David Esto k; 2. Shawn H igbee; 3. Matt Wait; 4. Mario DuHamel; 5. And y Fenwick; 6. Eric Bostrom; 7. Ow en Weichel; 8. Matthew Guidera; 9. Jay Sprinsgteeru 10. Randy Texter; 11. Judy He ndley; 12. Alan Eadie; l.3. Ben Bostrom; 14. Pet e De mas; 15. Jim Wh itaker; 16. Sco tt Zam pach; 17. Jeff Eklund ; 18. Billy Graef; 19. Jerry ascicro. 20. Dean Mizdal; 21. Joseph Winst on JU; 22. Ron McGill; 23. Brian Kohl. Time: 19 min, 4.205 sec . Disl,1.nce: 12 la ps, 25.2 mile . • s Mugi n of vidory: 0.798 sec. Ave rage spee d: 79.286 mp h. SUPE RTWINS CHAMPION SHIP POINT STANDINCS (After 2 of ]0 rounds): 1. David Estok (67 /1 win); 2. Matt WaH (58); 3. And y Fenwick (52); 4. Sco tt Zampach (SO /1); 5. Eric Bostrom (50); 6. Ma tthew Gu ide ra (44 ); 7. Billy Graef (4J~ 8. Jay Sprin gsteen (42 ); 9. Rand y Texter (311 ~ 10. Jeff Ek lund (37); II. Ma rio D u Hamel (36); 12 . Owen We ich e l (35); 13 . Shawn H ig be.. (32); 14. (TIE) Jim IA'Slic/ Ala n Eadie (22); 16. Brian Kohl (21); 17. (TIE ) Jim Whi tak e r/lody Henley (20 ~ 19. (TIE) Ben Bostro m / Steve Blackbu rn (18). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Monterey, CA, April 30 Round 4 - Lexington, OH, June 4 S uperTeams Endurance series Revenge By Donn Maeda Photo by Kinney Jones POMONA, CA, APR. 1 ri on Racin g arrived at the Pomona Fairplex an d Exposition Center with a point to prove. After making a less-than-spectacul ar 1995 debut at Daytona In ternational Speedway o ne month earlier, th e duo of Michael Barnes an d Larry Pegram were anx ious to s h o w w hy t he i r te am ' s Honda CBR900RR ca rries th e number-one p late. At Daytona, Pegram crashed earl y in the race and the team found themselves able to only salva ge a 14th-place finish b y the time th e checke red flag came o ut. "We had some trouble with the tires E ....... .- ..... 0- -c 11

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