Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127727
.R A O DRACE . AMA SuperbikeN ational Championship Road Race Series . Roun L un d3: ag aSeca Raceway • By Pau arruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams MONTEREY. CA. APR 3O-MAYI fter two days of on-again-off-again, weather-interrupted racing, it wa s fittin g that Fast By Ferracci's Freddie Spe nce r fin all y w on th e aptly named Rotten Robb ie Stati on s Superbi ke fi n a l a t La g un a Se ca Raceway. After all, this year marks the third revival of the three-tim e World Champion 's on-again-off-ag ain racing career. Finally completed on Monday morning after starting on Sunday afternoon, the Toyota Challenge of Lagu na Seca is one that won't quickly be forgotten both in terms of Spencer's stunn ing victory and the fact that the race was finally compl et ed on a dreary Monda y morning in front of virtually no one not associated with the media or the stillcompeting teams. The three-day crowd total was a n n o u nc e d a t 18,000 by a Laguna Seca sp okes p erso n, a number that w as obviou sl y hurt by th e p oor weather conditions that swept throu gh the area. The race was one held in two 'parts, over two days - the first time anyo ne could ev er remember thi s happen in g. With Tom Kipp and his Vance & Hines Yamaha lead ing the way ove r his teammate Jamie James on a wet track on Sunda y a fternoon, fog blanket ed th e race track in the afternoon, limit ing visib ility and forcing the AMA to sto p the race. The fog nev er lifted and the race was rescheduled for Monday morn ing, with the riders gridded bas ed on their running position aft er their seven Sunday laps . . But instead o f th in g s p icking up wh ere they left off, everything chan ged come Monday morning. Instead of Kipp takin g off at the drop of the flag, it was Spencer and his two Fast By Ferracci teammates leading th e wa y w ith th e ir n ow ha rd er-co m pou n d Micheli n rain tir es. Spencer stea d ily drew away, leading by as mu ch as 23 seconds at one poin t. Then things started to dry out, and th e Lo u is ia n a n was force d to star t aim ing for puddles and other wet spots on the track as his tires bega n to fatig ue . By th at p o int, h is Ducati team ma tes we re go n e . Mike Smith cra she d, pi cked it up an d th en retired with a broken cam belt; Takahiro Schwa, mea nwhi le, crashed out of se cond place in turn 11. By race' s end, the battle for second wa s between Team Mirage's Dale Quarterl ey a n d Srnokin' Joe's teamma tes Miguel Dul-Iarnel and Mike Hale, and it d rew th em eve r so near the s low in g Spen cer. Still, the former ph en om wa s ab le to closely monitor h is pit board, and he held the charging Quarterley off by 3.028 seconds at the finish. DuHamel ended up third, with Hale fourth. Spencer's victory was his first si nc e he won the rain-sodd en Texas World Speedway race in 1992 on a Two Brothers Racin g Honda RC30. In 1993, Spencer raced in the SOOcc World Cham pionship on a Sonauto Yamaha, and last year he spen t the season dabbling in the stock market while working as a television commentator for ESPN's GP coverage. Sp en cer ' s victo ry was h is second such resul t at Lagu na Seca - he last wo n a Superbike race at the Monterey facility 15 years ago, in 1980: Fifth place w ent to a reju venated Donald Jacks on the Yoshimu ra Suzuki , with teammate Fred Merkel sliding his wa y to sixth. Vance & Hines Yamaha's Jamie James ended the d ay seventh after fighting for gri p early in the race, but coming back strong late wh en the track started to dry. James wa s the only factory sta r to op t for an intermediate rear tire! full rain front tire , and his efforts netted him the fastest lap of the race.