Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Well alone in fo u r th was Hondamounted Mi cha el Barn es with Jim Stroke fifth , at some distance. From the drop of the green th e two Japanese Moto Liberty riders were o u t front, Iizuka leading the first lap and then Mori for the second and third, with Rogers lurking back in third-place until the fourth lap when he made th e lead pack a trio. Halfway in and Iizuka was back in front at the line , then, a lap later, Rogers had lost touch with the leaders. It was th e sixth lap that Iizuka said he hooked up with Mori, literally. " It was scary. We were on the back straight in sixth gear and I caught my ha ndlebar on his leather su it, " Iizuka said. That lizuka led at the line was almost meaningless, though he could get down the hill and through the final tu m ahead of Mod with some co nsistency. Each time, Mori would move to the inside in tum one, then, at the last minute, move back out either bumping lizuka or forcing him up so that he could make th e tum. For Mori to win, he'd have to make his m o v e b efore they go t to the Goodyear Bridge. Otherwise it wo uld be too lat e. The move would come in tum nine just before th e bridge where lizuka lost th e drive and Mori pounced . "We had fun and it was fun for th e spectators," Mori sai d . Rogers had been with the leaders on th e eighth lap, losin g touch on th e ninth, but well in front of fourth pla ce. l~ Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia Resu lts : May 21, 1995 MOTa UBERTY 12See FINAL: 1. Takahito Morl (Hon); 2. Ma sa hiro lizuka '( Ho n); 3. Chris Rogers (Yam); . 4. Michael Barnes (Ho n); 5. Jim Stroke (Ho n) ; 6. John Ulrich (Hon); 7. Micha el Carter (Hen): 8. Jo hn Bickle (Ho n); 9. Mark la nnuzzelli (Hon); 10. Pa ul Black (Hon); 11. James Jyurovat (Hon); 12. Ch arl es Er}l;le (Han); 13. Jack Brill (Hon): 14. Na ncy De lgado (}-fon) ; 15. Roy Pe rry (Hen); 16. William Ha rrison (Hon) ; 17. Alicia Strok e (Hon ). Tbnei 15 min. , 31.35 sec. Disl.utcc 10 laps, 25.2 miles . MMgin of victory: 0.09 sec . Michelin Superstock Much more Mori By Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, MAY21 y o u want close racing? The combined m argins of victory for the three Michelin Superstock races was 0.91 seco nd. Th e most comfo rta ble ga p bel on ged to Valvoline Suzuki's Steve Patterson in winning the 750cc race over Team Suzuki Sports' Aaron Yates . Yat es reversed th e order in the ll00cc race, beating Patterson by 0.21 seco n d. And in the 600cc race, Moto Liberty's Takahito Mori bes ted fellow Honda CBR600-mounted teamma te Jami e Bowman by 0.17 seco nd . Th e 600's we re the first of the Superstocks to tak e to th e course, and it took awhile fo r the Moto Lib erty bo y s to m o ve to th e fro nt from th eir ba ck-row starting spo ts . By the fourth of eight laps they'd cut through the field to join the leaders and on the sixth lap it was Bowman leading Mori across the line . Mori sat back for on e more lap, then went under Bowman as the pair exited th e fa st right under the Good year Bridge on the seventh lap. Bowman didn't have an answer and th e win went to Mori. '1 had to be pretty aggressive to get to the front ," Bowman sa id. He was hoping to make a final run on the last lap, but Mori wo u ldn't have it. "I tri ed to set him up on the back straight to out brake him going up to the bridge. He shut me down under the bridge. He had that figured out fro m racing a couple of nationals here." Mori's problem wa s that th e race was run following his win in the l2Se c ra ce and he was ha ving trouble adjusting to the bigger bike. "If I accelerate too much, too ea rly, I'd crash ," Mori noticed. '1 could see th e leaders. I counted down how many laps as I dosed on them. "On the last lap, in tum seven, comin g off, I had too much rear corner speed and I thought that maybe Jamie might pass me. I had a big slide. Jamie had a big slide too . Coming off the corn er he lost a li ttle bit of drive," Mori ad ded. The two riders who fought over the lead , b e fo re the Moto Liberty team a rrived, ended up dis puting third . Kevi n Rentzell was th e first-lap leader wi th Kenneth Melville second. They were pushed back on the sixth lap and it wasn't until the final lap th at Melville wa s abl e to move up to third. Rentzell finished fourth, and then about four seco nds later came Team Pe arls Su zuki 's Reuben Franken field: Aga in in th e 1100cc ra ce it was Rentzell figh ting for third. But out front the fight was between Pa tterson a nd Yat es, thou gh Yat es had so me ground to make up at th e sta rt. Because he hadn't sco red points in a previous WERA race, Yates start ed from the 11th row. He was into second o n the second lap, u p on Patterson on the third, and into the lead on the fourth. Though he'd com e through the field and caught Patterson quickly, Patterson wasn't giving up and stuck with Yates as they left the rest behind. Lap si x and Ya tes was s li d in g around, looking like he'd spent his tire in pursuit of the leaders . But there was enough in reserve for him to hold off Patterson at the end and take the class win. From t he halfway point on third place was held by d efend ing class champion Tray Batey on the Valvoline Suzu ki, with Rentzell after him . Rentzell dropped ba ck a little on the fifth lap, gained ground on the sixth, and went by Batey on the se venth. He would finish third, about three seconds behind the leaders with Batey another seco nd back in fourth . Grant Lopez, who'd run as high as second on the first lap, was fifth . The top five finis hers were all rid ing Suzuki GSXRll 00s. Patterson a nd Yates ca me back at each othe r in the T;,()cc Su pe rstock race, Patterson again establishi ng the early pa ce and Yat es aga in stalking him . It took Yates longe r to catch up this time: He wasn' t in a position to challen ge until th e sixt h lap. Th en he made his run going into tum one o n the last lap, taking ov er the lead with Patterso n right ther e. By now they'd left everyone e lse b ehind , even though Kenn eth Melville had m ad e a good showing in staying with them right up to th e final two laps. Patter son followed Yates around for much of the final lap, making his mo ve to the front very late and making it stick for ' his first win of th e weekend. Yates was second with Melville holding on to th ird . Fourth pl ace went to Rentzell w ho passed Glenn Saylor on th e last lap to take th e s pot. Sa yl or to ok fifth with William Lee six th. Of the top s ix, a ll w ere Su zuki-mounted except Melville who wa s aboa rd a Kawasaki. C'l Road Atlanta Braselton, Georg ia Results: May21, 1995 MICHELIN 600 " SUPEKSTOCK FINAL: I. Takehito Mo d {Hen) : 2. Ja m ie Bo wm an (Ho n) ; 3 . Kenne th Mel vill e (Hon) : 4. Kevi n Rentzell (Kaw); 5. Reuben Fran kenfi eld (Kaw); 6. Tripp No bles ()(aw); 7. Joshua Kurt Hayes (Kaw): 8. Mik e Reed (Ho n); 9. Ian McKinslray (Ka w); 10. Bryan Hanson (Ya m); 11. Leslie Horne (Hen): 12. Chad Steve n Bynum (Kaw): 13. Eric Bien ias (H on ); 14. Mark Reed. (Hon); 15. Jam es Oeeland (Yam); 16. D us tin Sperbe r (Hon): 17. Danny Phibbs (Hon); 18. Scott Mouser (Ya m); 19. Jeffrey Curtis (Kawl ; 20. Steve Boucher (K.aw ); 21. Paul Wcmle Jr. (!<.aw); 22.. Michael Gage (Kaw); 23. Mike Ritter (ka w); 24. Scott Harwell (Yam); 25. Russel Masecar (Hon ); 26. William Lumsden (Hon); '17. Pet er Baymiller (Yam) . Time: 11 min., SO.82sec. Di stance: 8 laps, 20.16 miles . . M.argi.n of victory: 0.]7 sec. MIOIEUN 750cc SUPERSTOCK FINAL: I. Steve Patterson (Suz); 2. Aa ro n Yates (5 uz); 3 . Kenneth Melvi lle

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