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/127730
.. .ROAD RACE·.: '. :'. Sunoeo Race Fuels Formula USA Series : Round 2: Road Atlanta ? e By Hen!ly Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, MAY 21 ometown fa vorite Dave Sad. owski won both legs of the Sunoco Race Fuels Formula USA series at the Roswell Fun Machines Road Atlanta . Nationals in the first serious bid to defend his national title. Neither of the vic tories came easily though, the Georgian involved with a front -running quartet in each of the races and winning by about a second each time. "We learned a little bit in that first leg and applied it to the second . It really ben efited me in fro nt of the hometown cro wd," Sadowski, who lives in nearby Buford , sai d . In the first of the 12-lap races, held on a gorgeous spring day on the 2.52-mile road course, Sadowski bid ed his time befo re passing race leader Chris Taylor of Virgi nia Breeze Racing on the tenth lap . Sadowski controlled the second race early, moving to the front on th e first lap a nd ne ver really los in g th e lead . Valvoline Suzuki's Mich ael Martin took over the lead a few times, but never for long, and Sadowski held hi m off at the line. Eve n wit h th e tw o wins, Sa d ows ki still finds himself in fifth place in the FUSA point stand ings after two of five rou nds because of the off da y he had at th e op eni ng r ou nd a t Willow Springs. Team Oliver Yamaha' s Rich Oliver is the leader with 64 points, two better than Martin, and seven mo re than Taylor. Riding a Yama ha TZ250 against the big-bore four-strokes, Oliver finished fourth and fifth on the day, blitzing the infield, only to get eaten up on the long back s traight. He actually led the first race , but was never a factor in the second. He'd also qualified on the pole position. After finishing second in the first leg, Taylor was third in the seco nd, following Martin home. H l!) 0\ 0\ ,.... In the first race of the three-race EBC Brakes Triple Crown Challen ge, th e defending champions, Valvoline Suzuki, went into the lead. Martin' s fin ishes, along with a fifth and seventh by teammate Chuck Gra ve s,. gives th em th e early lead . Sad owski's teammate, Dale Quarterley, was forced ou t of both races with mechanical probl ems, a fa il ed clutch in the first race and a water leak in the second . Virgini a Breeze Racing' s Chris Taylor got the jump at the start of the first 12lap race, F-USA champ ion Sad ow ski in tow, fo llo wed by Va lvoli ne Suzuki's Mi chael M artin , Dutch m an Racing's Fritz Kling, and Dale Qu arterley, raci ng a Tea m laBelle Honda CBR900 for the first time, but not for long . an the next lap the clutch on Quarterley's Honda failed and he was done for the first leg. Taylor stayed at the front and let the race come tq him. "I knew those guys were comi ng," Taylor said. Soon he was joined by Martin, Kling, Rich Oliver and Sadowski, a free-flowing foursome that was swapping spots all over the track. The TZ25D-mounted Oliver was working the hardest, flying through the corners only to be consumed in the drive down the back straight out of tu rn seven. Sadowski was bid ing his time after a wa ke-up call on th e firs t lap . Coming ou t from under the Goodyear Bridge, the rear en d of his Team laBelle Honda go t loose. " It was a weird kind of slide," Sad owski said. "I thought I didn't have the tire hot enough. It kept doing it. I had to back ou t to look d own to make su re the axle was in place. Then I looked for oil. When I looked ahead of me I noti ced Taylor's tire was doing the same thing. I was the first to evaulate it and deal with it right away." Halfway in and Ta ylor w as st ill in front with Martin second, but Sad ow ski and Oliver were on the mo ve, both passing Martin in th e d ownhill tu rn four, Oliver passing them both. an the same lap , Kling dropped back and would end up di cing wit h Moto Liberty's Taka hito Mori. For the seco nd half of the race Taylor had company, Ma rti n, Sadowski, and Oliver all yapping at his heels and waiting to make a m ov e. It ca me on the ninth lap wi th Oliver now third, taking th e inside li ne on both Sadowski and Taylor for th e lead in turn fo ur. But Oliver knew that it wo uld n' t last. "I was in the lead in turns 5-6-7 an d I th ou ght , ' H e r e ' s m y b ig cha nce.' I slammed it ou t of seven and by the time I hit th ird gea r I w as in fourth place," Oliver said. Sadows ki was ou t front now , the spo t he would carry to the finish . Tire problems ke p t Taylor from ma king a run, and watching Sadowski gave him some consolation. "Ski (Sadowski) and I were sideways in every corner," Taylor said after finishing second. "I think the temperature changed my setu p ." Like the top tw o, Valvoline Suzu ki's Michael Martin w as a lso ha ving ti re trou bles, though he was ab le to come hom e a close third . '1 was running u p in the front gro up an d I was happy. The n the ti re came arou n d about ha lfw ay. I was gaini ng tim e on the ba ck straigh t a nd sli pping and slidi ng arou nd in the tu rns," Ma rtin sai d . The exact opposite was happening to Oliver. He was on rails in the -corners, (Abo ve) David Sadowski (1) gets the jump on the field In the second F-USA heat at Road Atla nta ; he Is being chased by Michael Martin (96), Chr is Taylor (28) and Fritz Kling (77). In the first leg, Taylor led Sadowski and Martin, and Co . through the esses . Brieflv·.. .