Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) The flying Bostrum brothe rs, Eric (47) and Ben (11), lead the way In the SuperTwlns final with the ir big, dirt-track style hand lebars. (Below) Masahlro Iizuka was again the class of the class In the 125cc Grand Prix final. And erson Racin g Dynamic Racin g/Battley Cycles (1 02) ; 11. Fastline Raci ng (83); 12. Te am Am er ica (77); 13. Anaheim Yama ha (71); 14. Gran d Prix Appare l (65); 15. Stanto n Racing Ind ustries (St) . Upcoming rounds: Round 6 - Brainerd, MN, July 16 Round 7 - 51. Louis, IL, August12 AMA Progressive Insurance SuperT Series wins Higbee wins, gets D ed Q By Paul Carruther s Photo by George Robert s LOUDON, NH JUNE 18 , t may be a bit early for aspirin g road racers to throw away their clip-ons in fav or of dirt track handlebars, but the Bostro m brothers, Ben and Eric, showed tha t the setu p works, especially on the tight, twis ty and roug h New Hampshire International Speedway. But after a fast and furious four- and so m etimes five rider' battle at the front, it was Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Shawn Higbee, one of tw o pure road racers in the group, w ho took the narrow O .359-of-a-second victory over his teammate Ben Bostrom. But, as always, there was the dreaded p o st-race te ard ow n to worr y a bo u t. When AMA o ffici a ls ripped the top thre e fi n is h in g H arley s a p a r t, t h e y found that Higbee's had a bad charging system and that Bostrom's had a hole in the air filter . That moved everybody up two spots wi th the win going to Tilley' s HarleyDavid son 's Scott Zam pach, wi th the second o f the tw o d ir t track in g Bostrom b r o th ers , Eric, fin is h ing second on another Bartels' Harley-Davidson. Brian Gibbs was third on his Dayt ona Beach Harl ey-Da vidson entry . Zampach's win a lso gave him th e championship points lead, thanks also to previous points lead er Matt Wait crashing ou t of the race on the sec ond lap. Zampach now leads the title chase , 180-159, over Matt. Eric Bostro m is third with 156 po ints . In w ha t was one of the best races of the weekend, the 16-lapper started with 18-year-o ld Eric Bostrom leading the w ay in to tum on e for the first tim e in w ha t Higbee la te r described as, " the most hectic sta rt of th e season . It was pretty unsettling." Despite that, Bostrom led his brother Ben , the pair braking into turn three, high bars u p; while pure ro ad racers Zampach, Higbee, Brian Gibb s and Aaron Yates followed su it, la y-down s tyle . Yates 's race didn't la st much beyond that as he got sideways on th e exit of three, ran off the track and broke his H arley's s teeri ng d amper - ending his race. "It' s a bummer," Yates said . "I got I into a tank-slapper goi ng up the hill on the op ening lap. I go t off the track but s aved it. Unfortun at el y , I broke th e s te er ing d amper a nd yo u really can' t ride without one . It's a real short day for us." . Th e top fou r - th e Bostrorn s, Zarnpach and Hi gbee - broke clear of. Gibbs for a while , tho ugh Gibbs would strike back la te r, never movin g high er than fifth and ultimately finishing there. "It was the first time I'd eve r led that lon g," Eric Bostrom said later . "My arms pumped u p ou t there." The man on the move a t th is point was Mario DuHamel, the French Canadia n ju m pin g ri ght into th e th ick of thi ngs on the fou rth lap. He woul d stay with the lead group until the eighth lap when he crashed on the exit of tum 10, crashing int o the tire wall but esca ping withou t injury. By that point, it was the 21-year-old Bostrom who was es tablishing himself as the Bostrom to beat. H e w as going toe-to-to e w it h H ig bee a nd Zampa ch w hile his b roth er Eric g ot caugh t u p behi n d th e Du H a m el melee a nd lost tou ch wi th the lead trio . Th e r ace wou ld go to th e final la p w ith Bostrom gain ing g ro u n d on th e brakes, Hi gbee having the better corn erin g s p ee d, a n d Zampach content to w atch a n d t h in k abo u t h is cha m p ion ship poin ts lead, his Harley 883 running in termittently on one cylind er. Bos trom was p lanning to ou tbrake H igb ee go ing in to t u rn t hre e , but instead he was almos t high-sided on the exit of tum 2A an d he lost the necessary drive to make a run on the brakes in th ree . From there Higbee was able to keep the spot, with Bostrom and Zamp a ch fo llowing him ac ro ss the fi n is h line. Eri c Bostrom h ad a lonel y ride to fourth with Gi bbs doing the sa me in fift h . Gra e f e n ded up s ix th, to p ping A ndy Fenwick, O w en Weiche l, Dave Estok and Ron McGill - the rest of the top 10. Of course, that was all befo re the post race teardown. '1 kn ew Shawn (Higbee) had the corner speed, so I figured I needed to ge t past him on braking," Ben Bostrom said. "I di d, but he out foxed me. I got out of shap e in tum three (actually turn 2A) after that and he go t back by. I'm still green and I' m still learning. I ride dirt track style a lot. Every track we go to is new to me, so to d o this good is reall y gre at. I feel a bit tired after just 16 laps. I don't know how those Superbike guys ar e going to go 40 laps." After taking his third straight wi n - at least o n the race tra ck - Higbee w as pleased: "I've got a few more to win, but I' m happy to win here. I wasn't sure this would be m y track." When learning that the two ahead of h im had been d isqualified, Zampach sa id: "H ey, you 've got to play by the rules." CN Brotz's Billy Graef in third. The only action in the entire race was the ba tt le for fourth which was ultimately wo n by Ya ma ha Motor Corp .-b a ck ed Ch r is Rogers over cha mpions hip point leader Rod ney Fee. The sta rt-up series simply la ck e d an y r e al d r ama at the N e w Hampshire Internation al Speedway. As for the title chase, Fee has a ha nd le on tha t with a 24-point lead over Renfrow, 151-127 , with Gr aef holding d own' third on 120 points. Renfrow led early, but his lea d was sho rt-lived as Iizuka snatched the point position and promptly pulled away. At a second- a-lap clip, the Japanes e rider pulled clear to eve ntually win by 17.587 AMA 125cc G randP series rix seconds . A lonely Renfrow also had an une v entfu l ra ce, thoug h he fe lt he should have go ne much qui cker. "We just didn't go fast en ough," Renfr o w sai d. "I d id n 't eve n ha v e a ny slides. I'm a little ash amed of myself. I had some problems in the middle of the race. I got my foo t s tuc k and coul dn' t shift good. But that' s all my fault." As for Iizuka, well... "I think Renfrow and me have very close race," he sai d. " Bu t maybe I get p lus 7 seconds o n them. Then I slow the pace do wn." Iro nica lly, lizuka was the third ma n on Renfro w' s Su zu ka 8-Hou r team in 1989. lizu ka d id n't get to race that yea r because: '1 was not fast." How things chan ge. For Graef, thin gs wer e equally as lon ely. "It was kin da lonely ou t there, but that's racing sometimes," he said. "I cou ld n' t match the pace that lizuka and Randy w ere d oing, bu t I' m happy. We got some good points." 1..-'; Iimka in asleeper New Hampshir e International Speedway Loudon, New Hampsh ire Results: June 17, 1995 New Hampshire International Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire Results: June 18, 1995 SUPERTWINS: 1. Scott Zampach; 2. Eric Bostrom; 3. Brian Gibbs; 4. BillyGraef; 5. Andy Fenwick; 6. Owen We ic h el ; 7 . Dave Es tok; 8. Ron McG ill ; 9. Yvon DuHamel; 10. Dean Mizdal; 11. Jim Whitaker; 12. Gary Sta s; 13. Matth ew Guidera; 14. Alan Ead ie; 15. Devin Battley; 16. Bruce Lyska wa ; 17. Geo ff Clarki 18. Mario DuHamel; 19. Duane Guimond; 20. Ma tt Wait ; 21. Jim Leslie; 22 Aaron Yates. Time: 22 min. , 22.701 sec. Di5Wtc~ 16131'9 ,25.6 miles. A vera ge Speed: 68.740 mph. Mugin of Victory: 0.359 sec. SUPERTWINS C Sffi P POINT STAND INGS !Aft.. 6 of 10 round .~ 1. Scott Zampach (lSO/3 wins); 2. Ma tt Wail (159); 3. Eric Bostrom (156); 4. Andy Fenwick (139); 5. Shawn Higbee (134 /2 wins); 6. Matthew Guidera (128); 7. Owen Weic hel (118); 8. David Estok (116); 9. Billy G ra ef (ll7J; 10. Ma rio DuHamel (IDS); 11. Ben Bostrom (100); 12. Brian Gi bbs (88); 13. Dean Mizdat (84); 14. Ron McGill (75); 15. Alan Eadie (73) . Upcoming rounds: Round 6 - Brainerd, MN, July 16 Round 7 - 51. Louis, IL, August 12 By Paul Carruthers Photo by Geo rge Roberts LOUOON, NH, JUNE 17 e proponents of the AMA 125cc Grand Prix Series may wan t to keep any re ference of the fifth roun d of the se r ies away from those who would like to see the seri es disappear from the sched ule at AMA Nationals in 1996. ' A rather dull parade was easil y won by Moto Liberty's Masahiro Iizuka, who was in a class by himself in winning by some 1 7 seco n d s . Randy Renfrow Mot or sports ' Randy Renfrow was an equally lo nely second, as w a s Frank E USa: GRAND PRIX' 1. Masahiro lizuka (Hon); 2. Randy Renfrow IHon), 3. Billy G ra ef (H on); 4. Chris Rogers (Yam); S. Rodney Fee (Ho n) ; 6. Kevin Murray (Hon); 7. Roland Sands (Hon); 8. David Pare (Hen); 9. Mike Mondo (Hon) ; 10. Mar k Dan Innuzelli (Hen); 11. Na ncy Delgardc (Hon ); 12. Andre Cas tanos (llon); 13. Warren Dunawa y (Ho n); 14. Todd Bowman (Hon) . Tune: 21 min.,13.739 sec. Di stance: 16 laps, 25.6 miles . Average Speed: 72.354 mph. Margin of Victo ry: 17.581 sec. USee GRAND PRIX C' SH IP POINT STANDINGS (A ft er 5 of 9 round s): 1. Rodney Fee (lS I /1 win); 2. Randy Renfrow (27); 3. Billy Graef ( 20); 4. Takahito • Mo ri (102/2wins); 5. And re Cas ta nos (l 00); 6. Mike Mondo (99); 7. Todd Bowman (98); 8. (TIE) Ma sahiro lizuka /David Pare (95/2 wins); 10. Kevin Murray (93); 11. Chris Rogers (90); 12. Rola nd Sands (61); 13. m E) Nancy Delgard o / Warren Dunaway (60); 15. (TIE) Crai g Avery l)oji Tokumoto (SO ). Upcoming rounds: Round 6 - Brainerd, MN, July 16 Round7 - 51. Louis, IL, August12 13

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