Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Dutchman Raci ng (3) and Eri on Racing (1) fo ught to the bltter end In the SuperTeams race , with Dutchman coming out on top. AMA S uperTeams Series DU1,hman's doozy By Donn Maeda Photo by George Roberts ELKHART LAKE, Wl,]UN.I0 t wa sn't a nail-biter, even Dutchman Ra ci ng' s Fritz Kling will a ttest to that. The ma ssive Yamaha rid er took over from his teammate Nick Ienatsch at the 27-minute mark of th e hou r-long Su perTeams Challenge and po ured it on in th e clo sing laps to overtake Erion Racing' s Michael Barn es and race on to the team' s third .win of the series. Barnes a nd his teammate, Larry Pegram, had st ruggled th ro ughout the race with a severely fa ding front b rake, a nd saw th eir cha nces of victory slip away with a mere five laps to go. "I kn ew that so mething was w ro ng wi th their bik e, because Barn ey usually d o e sn 't rid e li ke h e was," a d mi tted Klin g. "He just oversho t turn five and I w ent under him . Tha t was it." Once into the lead, Kling extended his lea d to an eventual seven se conds before the checke red flag brou gh t the race to a close. Barnes held on for secon d aboard the Er io n Racing CBR900RR, d esp ite a intense late-race charge by third-placed Mark McDaniel, aboard the Cycle Motion Racing Suzuki GSXRIIOb. Th e Cycle Motion Racing team had lost several preci ou s seconds during their mid-race pit stop, as first-leg rid er Aa ron Yates used up the rea r tire and a full 17-seconds was req uired to fit their bike with a new one . As it turned out, the new tire allowed McDaniel to turn in so me blistering la ps near the en d of the race, bu t it would be too little, too late. The same th ree teams control the top three spo ts in the series point standings, as they a re the only sq u ad s to h a v e sco red wi ns in '95. Dutchman Racing's win a llowed th em to fur ther ex tend their series p oint lead over Erion Racing, 165-148. Cycle Moti on Racing ha s 138. Slipping from fourth in the standings to e ighth w a s th e M a rk Mille r Ra ci n g te am. Because Miller also con tests the 750cc Supersport class aboard the team's who filled in for regular team me mber Da v id De vaux, who was e xcus ab ly absent with his soo n-to-gi ve-birth wife. "When I figured out that we were going to ha v e to d o it , I fig u red , 'W hy no t smoke th e thing off if we' re making a change anyway?' The bik e fell off the stand and made our tire change a lot slower tha n it s hou ld have been. In practice, we had it down to 10 seco nds or so, but in the race it took 17." Barnes did the best he could wi th the front brakes, but was unab le to match his u sual torrid pace, Kling slowly bu t surely closed in and waited for the kill. Kling' s chance came with five laps to go, as Barnes went wide in turn five. With that , th e finishing ord er was set. Klin g pulled away, and McDani el closed in on Barnes, but th e top three remained the same to the finish . Birt hday boy Kling (Right) Eventual w inner Shawn Higbee (1) leads the way in the HarleyDavidson SuperTwlns race ; he's being chased by Ben Bostrum (11) and the rest of the pack. I Kawasa ki ZX7, a fra ntic d ash to cha nge tires and numbers has become the norm between the two events. This week, they were a few mi nutes too slow. "We w ere in te ch inspection when the five-minute board w en t up: ' said Da vid Roy , th e team' s second rid er . "They wo uld n't let us out. It' s our fault, though, we were just ho ping that we'd get a break." Pegra m was the fas test in the LeMans-style start, and was the first to hop a boa rd h is m ou n t. Bu t it wasn't Pegram who go t the holesh ot. Instead, it was Ienatsch who got th e Du tchma n Racing Yamaha FZR I 000-power ed , Y2:F750-framed, entry out in first. " I missed the s hift l e ve r : ' s ai d Pegra m, s heep ishly. "I w as fourth off the li ne, bu t into thi rd by th e second tum." As the pa ck completed the first lap, Dutchman led the way . Cycle Motion and Erion Raci n g were clos e behind, already pulli ng a w ay fro m four th placed Ba ttle y Cycl es a n d th e r e st. W h ile Ienats ch did h is best to brea k away, Yates smo ked the tire through the corn ers and stayed right on his rear tire. Pegram, meanwhile, see med to be struggling in the early going. "On about the second lap, I went in to turn one and the front brake lever came all the way in to m y knuckles," he said. "Tha t sca red me , because yo u are ente ring turns one a nd five so fas t here . I couldn' t d ecid e what to d o. On lap five I reached up and adjusted the lever ou t some ." Afte r m aki n g the a d justment, Pegram came to life and moved into the lead by lap 10. "1 ha d led the firs t seven laps, but then 1 got the back end chattering into turn five," said Ienatsch. " I di dn't 'g e t the r e v s up q u ick enough before I dow nshifted , and the back end s ta r ted t o h op a roun d . I expected Yates to come under me, but it turned out to be La rry (Pegra m) and Yates." Ienatsch moved back past Yat es on the 11th lap, bu t pitted on the following circuit a nd ha nded off to Kling , who took to the track in third. Pegram was the next to pit , pulli n g in whil e h e enjoyed a slim 'l O-bik e length lead over Yates. A sp lash of gas, and Barn es was ou t in second, fou r se co nds ahea d of Kling . Yates was the last of the top three to pit, doing so on the 16th lap, 39 minutes into the race. Though he enjoyed a 15second lead befo re the pit, a lengthy tir e cha nge saw McDaniel take to th e track nin e seconds behind Barn es and Kling. "We had a feeling that w e would have to cha nge a rear tir e," said Yates, raced home wi th th e win over Barnes a n d McDani el , whil e Don C an e t brought the Action Speed Racing Honda CBR900RR that he a nd Hikaru Miyagi shared home in fourth. Miyagi ran fifth in the early stages of the race , but took over fourth shortly before handing off to th e Cycle World editor. 0 Road Ame rica Elkha rt Lake, Wis consin Results: June 10, 1995 SUPE RTEAM S: 1. Dutchman Racing (Ya m) ; 2. Erion Racin g (Hon), 3. Cycle Motion Racin g (Suz) ; 4. Act ion Speed Racing (Ho n); 5. Keystone /Northstar Racin g (Yam); 6. Bartley Cy cles (Yam) ; 7. Anaheim Yam a ha (Ya m ); 8. Team America Racing (Hon ); 9. Anderson /Dynam ic Racin g (Hon}; 10. Oa ts Racin g (S u z) ; 11. Lombard /Specter Racing (Ka w): 12. G&M Ra cing (H o n); 13. Miller Genuine Draft (Ka w ); 14. Racing Motorcycle Wor ks (Hon) ; 15. Genration X (Hon); 16. Him melsbach Racing (Y am). T imr: 1 hour. 18.760 sea. D istance: 26 laps , 104 m iles Avera ge speed: 103.461 mph. Margin of victory: 6.994 seconds. SUPERTEAMS C SHIP POI NT STA ND INGS (At ter 5 of 10 e ven ts ): 1. Dutchm an Raci ng (165 / 3 w in s); 2. Erion Raring (148/ 1); 3. Cycle Motion Racing (138/1 ); 4. Act ion Sp eed Raci ng (110); 5. OATS Racing (106); 6, Keyston e Northstar (102); 7. Bartley Cycles (97) ; 8. Mark Mill er Ra cin g (90); 9. Mill er Ge nui ne Dra ft (8S); 10. Anderson Dynamic Radng (85); 11. Fastline Racing (83); 12. Gra nd Pri x App arel Su pe rteam (57) ; 13 . Team Am erica (5 4); 14. A na hei m Ya maha (49); 15. Himmelsbach Racing (38); 16 . Barnett Racing (35); 17. Racing Motor Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Loudon , NH, June 17 Round 7 - Brainerd, MN, July 16 ~ •• ~ ,_ ~ S !!? ......" 0\ t""""'4 t""""'4 N

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