Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"trying to get in there and force an erro r or cause some com motion," he said, but well ou tgu n ned on th e straights. Still, his riding im pressed Sadowski. "I went d own there after the race and said to him, 'Rich, do n't be discouraged. That's so me of the best riding I've eve r seen:" Sadowski said. Chuck Grav es ran th e whole race a lonely fifth, welI in fron t of the battle for sixth be tween Mo to Liberty's Takahito Mori and Du tchman 's Kling. The fight went to Kling wi th a last-lap pass . The start of the second race was better for Sadowski, the Georgia res ident getting away second to Michael Martin and taking the lead late on the opening lap. As in the firs t race, a quartet soon form ed up at the front, though this foursome was slightly different. Sadowski led Mar tin and Chris Taylor , but now Du tchman Racing's Kling was u p fron t while firs t-race cha rger Rich Oliver was tryi ng to recover from a blown start. Oliver later explained that his Yama ha sta lls if he overrevs it at the start a n d tha t h e had to be cautious. Once away, he had a lot of catching up todo. In short order Martin was out fron t, Sadowski se co n d with Taylor still in front of Kling an d hoping to make a ru n at the lead ers. Between ra ces, th e Virgi nia Bree ze te a m h ad m ad e a few changes to th e Yama ha FZR1000 tha t suited Taylor. "We ad ded some compression an d pre loa d to th e rea r shock. It was definitely why I cou ld go faster th ro ugh tum 12 and tum seven:' Taylor said. "It was slid ing real p rogr essively, I could control it easily." Taylor's wasn't the o n ly crew at wo rk between races. Look ing for more grip, Mike Velasco raised the rea r rid e hei g h t of the Te am La Belle Honda, added so me p reload, and also ad ded a few pounds of air to the tires . "It was still sliding a little bit:' Sadowski said. "I was sliding bo th wheels throug h tum one. But we expected the wheels to slide b eca u se of the t rack temperature." Martin's Valvoli ne Suz uk i crew also made so me small suspension adjustmen ts and they help ed p ut him at the front on the third of 12 laps, but Sadowski retook the spot entering turn one. "I thought that number-one bike (Sadowski) was really running good. I just couldn't get around him on the back straigh t," Martin said, even though he had the stronger motor. The lead was where Sadowski wanted to be and that' s where he stayed . Marti n was always there in the shadows, and the pai r swa pped spots a cou ple of times, but Sadowski had him cover ed and took hi s seco nd win o n the day . "I was really burning the infield the first eight laps. Each time I'd pull out of tum seven maybe 30 bike lengths ahead and he'd (Martin) be right on me at the dip:' Sadowski said. Martin knew he was destined for second or worse, and didn't want to look back. "I d idn't know what wa s behind me. I knew there wa s a train of ten guys and I'd get nervous:' he said. But as the race wore down the lead duo pu lled away fro m the battle for third and Ma rtin's se cond was secure. "Dave Sadowski didn't win the Daytona 200 for nothing. He had t hat bike going through the infield." It wasn't until the final stages of the race th at the lead ers were able to put any ground on what had become the battle for th ird involving Chris Taylor agains t Fr itz Kling, and that mostly beca use of some un expected help from Dale Q uarterley. After h a ving clutch problems in th e first race, Quarterle y was running near the front of the second race w hen he was black-flagged because he was losing coolant. He pitted on the sixth lap, repairs were made, and he rejoined the race a few laps down , eventua lly depositing himself in third place, behin d EBC Brakes Triple Crown Challenge teamm ate Sadowski, an d Marti n, and the Taylor-Kling spa t. His prese nce caused third and fou rt h to lose touch with th e leaders and fall into a race strictly for third. "He kind of messed us both up," Taylor said. "I have to commend Quarterley for getting out of the way," Kling said, facetiously . "I di d n 't think tha t was very professional, especially coming from Dale." Taylor had run in second as late as the sixth lap befor e Martin was by for good . Then Ta yl or had to deal with Kling, who never let up, but never got by, and the top four were set. "They we re all staying ahead in the infield . I could pull up next to him (Taylor> on the st raight," Kling said . His cha nce to pa ss ca me la te in the race when Taylor slid the rear coming out of tum six, bu t a lap later Kling did pretty much the sa me thi ng coming out of tum seven. "My se t up w a s proba b ly not quite on to 22s." Fifth place, after recovering from his bo tched sta rt, was O liver. Early in the race he hooked up with Chuck Graves and Quarterley, th en Quarterley was black-flagged and Graves appeared to be slid ing excessively throu gh tu m one, slowing his d rive up the hill. Oliver took advantage and rode the second ha lf of the race by him self. "I co uldn't ha ve caught th ose to p four guys. I got through Graves, Quarterley, and (Fra nk) Wil son . T h e n I thought 'I' m not attacking as much as I would if I was leading: "All of a sudden I had a serious ru n down into the 23s:' Oliver said. Graves was alo ne in sixth and looking comfortable w hen Moto Liberty's Takahito Mori mad e a ru n at him wit h a lap to go. The Honda 250-mounted Mori ran it deep under Graves into turn one to take over sixth o n the fin al lap , Gra ves ending seventh with Darryl Sayl.~ lor of Team Pearls Suzuki eighth. Road Atlanta Braselto n, Georg ia Results: May 21, 1995 RACE ONE: 1. Da ve Sa do ws ki (Ho n); 2. C h r is Taylor (Yam); 3. Michael Martin (Suz ): 4. Rich Olive r (Yam ); 5. Chuck Graves (Suz); 6. Fritz Kling (Yam ); 7. Ta kahl to Mo rl If-len): 8. Dave McGra th (Yam); 9. Darryl Say lor (Suz); 10. Fran k Wilson (Suz); 11. Michael Barnes (Honk 12. Tripp Nobles (Ka w ); 13. C huc k Sore nsen (Yam); 14. John Ashmead (Kaw): 15. Lanny Allen (Suz) : 16. Steve Patte rson (Suz); 17. Jona tha n Bolton (Suz); 18. Greg Abbo tt (Han); 19. Bill Himmel sbach (Yam); 20. Neil Jenkins (Yam); 21. Gordon Miller (Ho n): 22. Joh n Sharrard (Yam); 23. Rick Kirk (Hon): 24. Aaron Yates (Suz) ; 25. Michael Dye (Ka w): 26. Pete Martin.s (Suz); 27. Dale Q ua rter ley (Ho n). RACE TWO: 1. Da ve Sadowski (Hon); 2. Michael Marti n (Suz); 3 . Chris Ta ylor (Ya m) ; 4. Fri tz Kli ng (Yam); 5. Rich Oliver (Yam); 6. Takahito Ma rl (Ha n); 7. Chuck Graves (Suz ); 8. Darryl Say lo r (Suz) ; 9. Tri pp N obl es (Ka w): 10. Da vid McGr ath (Y.l m); 11. Fran k Wilson (Suz); 12. Lann y Allen (Suz): 13. Chuck Sore nsen (Yam); 14. Rick Kirk (Ya m); 15. John Ashmead (Kaw): 16. Steve Patterson (Suz) ; 17. Greg Abbo tt (H en): 18. Jon athan Bolton (5uz); 19. N eil Je n kins (Ya m) ; 20 . Co rdo n Miller (He n): 21. John Sha rra rd (Yam); 22 Dale Quarterley a-Jo n); 23. Micha el Mcln tyr e a-Jon). FORMULA USA NAT'L CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 2 of 5 rounds): 1. Rich O liver (64/2 wins); 2. Micha el Martin (62); 3. Chris Tay lo r (S7); 4. Chuck Graves (54); 5. Dave Sadowski (47/2 wins); 6. Chuck Sorensen (26 ); 7. OlE) Gl enn Szare k / Fritz Kling (23); 9. Ta kahito Mari ( 9); to. Cu rtis Ada ms ( 8); 11. (T IE) Jeff St em!Glenn Saylo r OS) ; 13 . (TI E) Da vid McG r ath ! Ke n t Kunit sugu (14 ); 15 . (T IE) C h ris Voelker /Fran k Wilson /Tripp Nobles (11); 18. Tra cy McIntyre (9); 19. Dean Vince nt (8); 20. mE) Michael Bamea /Lannie Allen (5). Upcoming rounds: Round 3 - Grattan, MI, June 24-25 Round 4 - Portland, OR, August 26-27 Performance Machine/Goodridge WERA N ational Endurance series Team Suzuki sprints By Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, MAY 20 ust in to' the fou rth hour, a red flag was thro wn th at reduced the Performance Machine/Goodridge Na tio nal End urance event at Road Atlanta from a four-hou r gri nd to a 38-mi nu te sprin t. But , by then, Team Suzuki Endurance had better tha n a one-la p lead and when the race was resta rted afte r abo ut a 16minute de lay, they cruised to thei r 103rd WERA endurance win on a beautifully sunny day in northern Georgia. "I was rea l conservative, ta kin g it easy in t raffic," Team Suzuki Endurance's Dave Stan ton, who, for the first time in his career brough t the Keith Parry-tuned GSXRI100 across the line, Said. "With 20 minutes to go I didn't feel a need to take any chances:' "I told Dave to take it easy, be careful:' Stanton's co-rider Michael Martin said. "He had a lap lead and wicked it up at the end and pulled away to win." . The pair completed 148 laps of the 2.52-mile course and won by better than a lap . And, though they lost by a lap, Team Pearls Suzuki was encouraged by their second-place finish . Using four riders, Team Pearls Suzu ki wa s second at every hour interval and teammate Reuben Frankenfield had nearly a lap on third place when the red flag came out. But, though they'd come within ten seconds of lapping the eventual third-place bike when the race was interrupted, the GSXR 1100-mounted team regridded in thei r original starting sp ot a nd was therefore forced to start the final 38-minute run on equal terms with Team Northwest Honda. Frank Wilson was in the Pearls' saddle for the end stage and he took the lead on the tenth lap of the restart, dropping No rthwest Honda's Gordon Miller to second ahead of Suzuki Endurance's Stanton. Sta nton took over second on the 15th lap a nd, with about five minutes to go, Stan ton forged ahead of Wilson exiting the righ t-handed tum six to take the lead and the win. J David Sadowski celebrates his two-leg victory while Michael Martin and Chris Taylor congratulate each other on their second and third place fin ishes. Wilso n ca me second , M iller, who p artnere d Greg Abbott on the Honda CBR900RR, was third, with Airport Racing's Kawasaki-mo unted Ken Melville fou rth and the HP Motorsports tea m of Dea n Hayes a n d Lan n y A llen , also Kawasaki mou nted , in fifth place. The win , t heir seco nd th is yea r , increases Team Suzu ki End urance's lead in th e He avyweig ht Su perb ike p oint sta nd ings. Af ter two even ts, they lead the overall standings with 230.38 points. Tea m Pe a rl s Suzuki is seco n d w it h 209 .41 p oin ts a nd Northwest Hon d a Racing is third with 193.44. Three waves of riders, 58 in all, took the gree n flag on a warm Saturday afternoon, wit h Team Pearls Suz uki's Darryl Saylor storming into a very short-lived lead . Whe n the riders crossed the line to end the seco nd lap it was Team Suzuki End urance's Michael Martin at the front and quickly edging away, despite some early caution. "I was a little co ns erva ti ve at the start . 1 was bedding in a brand-new rear tire andwanted to make sure it was bedded in real good," Martin said. "It was a little bit harder tire than we usually use:' But he didn't appear te rribly • conserva tive, pulling away at better than a second a lap and turning in the best times of th e ra ce with laps in the 1:26 range. "When 1 took over:' at about the 1:08 mark, "1 had a 4O-second lead:' Stanton said. "When I got off I had a 74-second lead . The bike wa s working real well . If made the job a lot easier for me:' By then it was into the third hour and the tea m had lapped all the way u p to second place. Martin was back onboard and getting toward the end of his shift when a red flag was thrown at the 3:06 mark after TMTS Racing crashed in tum eleven. The track wa s quickly cleared and the field regridded in their original starting spots. A new rule, instituted this year, has the restart grids being determined by the rider's position on the lap prior to the red flag . But, configuring the gri ds that way is time-consuming, and the track was green about ten minutes after the red flag . Had the WERA officials tr ied to figure out the positions, it

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