Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·R ADRACE .: '. Round 4: Mid-OhioSports Car Course O . A AlHP M 4600Cc S persportSeries u Ie Tw o-tim e World Motocross Champion Donny Schmit finished 17th in wh at was his firs t-ever Nationa l-level road race . The Minneso ta resident rode a Hi Pe r Sports-backed Hond a CBR600F3, jus t tw o weeks after winning th e 4Stroke MX World Championship in California. The race was red-flagged wi th nine laps co mpleted, whe n Mot oLiberty' s Takahito Mori and Kinko's Kawasa ki's To m Wilso n were invo lved in a frighte n ing accid en t o n the ba ck s tra ig h taway. Mori, Mi ya gi and Wil son w er e fighting ov er 'third place on the ninth lap when Mori's Honda stalled on th e back straight. Miyagi swerved one wa y, and Wil son had no ch ance of mi ssin g Mori. The Ohi oan slammed into the rear of the Japanese ace , went up and over the handlebars, yet managed to rid e his bike to a s top. Wilson escaped unhurt with Mori su ffering a cracked bone in his ankle. A remarkable outcome considering the impact of the collision. "His bike jus t quit," Wilson sai d . "I was drafting Miyagi out of the Keyh ole and he wen t right like he missed a shift or so met hing. I wen t left and Mori was right there - parked. I glanced him hard. Ther e was no hand signal. No nothing. Ther e was no w ay ou t for me. It' s too bad because the bike was workin g good. 1 was riding aro u n d a t 80-90 p er cent, tryi ng no t to spend my tires. It was pretty spectacular an d it co ul d have been fata l." either Wilson no r Mori were able to ma ke th e restart, th ough Miya gi not only reappeared unscathed, bu t a lso ended up finishi ng third . It was Hale w ho led the way at the start of the 600cc Su persport final, while (Left) Miguel DuHamelcelebrates his second 600cc Supersport victory of the season, this one com ing at Mid-oh lo. (Below) DuHamel (117) had his hands full throughout the race with his teamma te Mike Hale. The two were this close for the final laps ; the pair are tied for the lead In the champ lonsh lp. By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams LEXINGTON,OR JUN. 4 hin gs simply can' t get any closer in th e 600cc Supersport Series. After fo ur rou nd s Mig uel DuH amel has won twice, finished second once and third once. Ditto for Mike Hale. At the Mid- O hio Spo rts Car Course it was DuHamel 's tu m to win , wi th his Smokin' Joe's Honda teamm ate Ha le following him across the finish line. Less than a second separated th e two at the finish line. Nothing separates them in the championship point standings. . With four rounds in the books, the title chase seems to be out of reach for a nyone other th a n the two Ca melbacked rid ers. DuHamel and Hale are tied at 132 points - 34 poin ts better than th e two ri ders tie d for second , Jamie Bowman and Hikaru Miyagi. Erion Racing Honda 's Miyagi finish ed behind the two Smokin' Joe's rid.ers, ma tchin g their pace early in the second porti on of the restarted race, bu t no t when it counted. Still, Miyagi was a safe d is ta n ce clear of Bowm an a nd his CBR600F3. The firs t non-Hond a was Mld-Ohlo Sports Car Course Lexington , Ohio Results: June 4, 1995 T 10 a lap later and then took over a t the front on that very sa me lap, lap four. The winningest 600cc Supersport rider of all-time started to put so me space between himself and Hale on th e fifth lap, th e sa me lap th at sa w Tayl or p it with an ill-running Kawasaki. Ju st w he n it lo oked as t hough DuHam el was free a n d clea r, Hal e rebounded to reel him ba ck in. On the 10th go-around, the red flag was thrown when Mori and Wilson had their collision. With new tires fitted front and rear, the pack restarted with DuHamel getting the jump this time around . He led into turn one with Miyagi second and Hale third , and was able to op e n an immedia te gap as Hal e tried in vain to work around the Japanese rid er. By this time , Crevi er was out, after having crashed on the opening lap: "It was a cold tire a n d a bad s ta r t ," Crevi er explained. "H ale and DuHamel wer e going to run away. 1 tried to go ins ide and it was dirt; a cold , dirt track. 1 lost the brake lever, so 1couldn't continue." Hale m oved into s e co n d o n th e fourth lap, and slow ly but surely started to inch back to hi s teammat e DuHamel. Mi yagi , meanwhil e, wa s alone in third, well clear of an equally lonel y Bowman. H al e was ri ght on DuH ame l' s tailpip es on the eighth la p as the pair re adied fo r their run to th e flag. Bu t Hale 's att empt for a seco nd straight win was thwarted as he hit lapped traffic on the final lap and was actually forced off the race track on th e exit of tum 12, a fast left-hand com er. "He got in the wa y, but 1d id n't tou ch him," Hale exp lained. "My only optio n w as to go around him. Once 1 caug ht Miguel it was really hard to mak e the pass. He beat me." It was a little rol e reversal from the outcome of the laguna Seca 600cc Supersport fina l, held a month earlier in California. " 1 s lo w ed down a bit toward the end," DuHamel said. "I had a ga p of 1.8 seconds and 1 took it ea sy and didn't brake as hard. With five laps to go it was down to one second and I got back on it. 1 was riding around and hoping he did n't get too close. Eve rythin g went pretty well. 1 figured for sure he (Hale) was going to be there. He likes to win, so 1knew he'd keep trying." The second Kinko's Kawasaki, rid den by James Randolph, was a non-finisher, with the Californian crashing the bike early in the race in the Keyh ole. fX Pascal Picotte's Mu zzy Kawasaki in fifth pla ce, just clear of ano ther ZX6 ridden by former 750cc Supersport Ch ampion Britt Turkington. Erion Racing's Michael Barnes, Hyd-Mech Saws Owen Weichel, p r iva t eer Gerald Ro t h m a n [r., an d Racer' s Edge's Dale Kieffer filled the top 10 finish ers. DuH am el co mple ted th e fi rs t lap in six th pl ace af ter sta rting on th e third row of the grid . Hale led Wilson, Muzzy Kawasaki 's Steve Cre vier, Miyagi, Ca nadia n Michael T a yl or, Mori a n d DuHamel at the end of the first lap. But DuHam el was a man on a mission: he moved to third on the third lap, second 600cc SUPERSPORT FINAL: 1. Migu el DuHam e l (Hon); 2. Moo, Hal. lHon); 3. Hilooru Mi yag1 (Honl; 4. Jami e Bowman (H an); 5. Pascal Picott e (](aw); 6. Britt Turkington (J(a w); 7. Micha el 8.lmes (Hon ): 8. Owen weichel (Ka w ); 9. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Hon); 10. Dale Kieffer (Hen); 11. RU5Sdl Katzenberger (Kaw); 12. lMry Pegram (Ho n); 13. Don Munroe (f

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