Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"I definitely thought I'd get him again, but traffic, every inch of traffic the whole race put me down again," Crevier said. '1 guess I just have to be a little more aggressive or something. It's not my best showing. I want to get them Hondas. Starts like that, I'm not going to get them." Another rider having to fight his way through the pack was Kinko's Kawasaki's Thomas Wilson. His start wasn't that bad, but setup changes they'd made to the ZX-6 before the race didn't work early and he had to struggle. "The stuff we did didn't work at all the first part of the race," Wilson said.. "Once the suspension was warm and we lost some fuel, the bike started working better." The place to pass was the fast entry to the downhill right, turn ten. That's where he got by his teammate James Randolph, Hikaru Miyagi, and where he would earn his final two spots. It was just past the halfway mark that he moved past Erion Racing's Michael Barnes and into fifth, setting out for Bowman soon after. He'd catch him with three laps to get and settle into fifth, though he was turning his best laps of the day and reeling in the leaders. "The last half dozen laps I clicked off really good times," Wilson said. "They got me at some 33.5s, which was half a second better than I'd qualified. I wouldn't have cared if we had another six laps." Bowman stayed sixth, Barnes all alone in seventh, with Weichel and Miyagi following at a distance. ('N Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California Results: July 22, 1995 HPt 600cc SUPERS PORT: 1. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 2. Mike Hale (Han); 3. Pascal Picotte (Kaw); 4. Steve Crevier (Kaw): 5. Thomas Wilson (Kaw); 6. Jamie Bowman (Hon); 7. Michael Barnes (Hon); 8. Owen Weichel (Ron); 9. Hikaru Miyagi (Hon); 10. Mike Sullivan (Hon); 11. Larry Pegram (Hon); 12. Brian Parriott (Hon); 13. Dale Kieffer (Hon); 14,. Andrew Milton (Hon); 15. Ben Bostrom (Hon); 16, Jason Fraser (Kaw); 17. Rad Greaves (Hon); 18. Marcus Hubbard (Hon); 19. Akiharu Shigeno (Hon); 20. Erik Schnackenberg (Hon); 21. Lee Brown (Hon); 22. John Stanley (Yam); 23, Russell Stopper (Hon); 24. Jimmy Moore (Hon); 25. Kevin Carlin (Han); 26. Rich Thorwaldson (Han); 27. Mark Cernicky (Han); 28. James Randolph (Kaw). Time: 34 min., 23.055 sec. Distance: 22 laps, 48.4 miles. Avuage • .,..¢ 84.995 mph. Mugin of victory: 2.732 sees. HP4 600« SUPERSPORT C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 11 round,s): 1. Miguel DuHamel (272/6 wins); 2. M;J'e Hale (228/2); 3. Jamie Bowman (194); 4. Hikaru Miyagi (186); 5. Michael Barn.. (1SS); 6. Thomas Wilson (183); 7. Steve Crevier (170); 8. Pascal Picotte (145); 9. Larry Pegram (145); 10. Owen Weichel (127); 11. Gerald Rol!unan Jr. (121); 12. Dale Kieffer (117); 13. Brian Parriott (106); 14. ITIEl Britt Turkington/J. Andrew Milton (93); 16. Russell Katzenberger (73); 17. Rad Greaves (68); 18. Ja.mes Randolph.(62J; 19. Ride IGrlc (53); 20. Don Munroe (46). Upcoming rounds: Round 9 - East 51. Louis, Illinois, August 13 Round 10 - Sonoma, Califomia, August 27 AlIA Progressive Insurance SUperTwin series: RoundS The slMeep By Mark. Hoyer Photos by Kinney Jones MONTEREY, CA,)ULY23 eigning SuperTwins champion Shawn Higbee led an orange and white victory parade in a four-rider Bartels' sweep of the top spots at the series' second stop this season at Laguna Seca Raceway. More importantly for Higbee, the three riders who led him in the points race were all unable to finish, allowing the Californian to make up valuable championship points and R would cross the start/ finish line in first and even pulled a slight margin over second-place Higbee. Then disaster struck for the multitime SuperTwins champion. Zampach faded dramatically at the end of the seventh lap, his engine suffering a broken crankpin. "I think the bike started leaking oil on the back tire because there were two laps where 1 had a couple of really big slides:' said a disappointed Zampach, who saw his lead in the championshippoints shrink to 16. "It's too bad, because I'd caught Shawn and we were really racing, but I just had to pull off. There are no guarantees in racirig." This left Higbee with a fairly comfortable' margin over the now secondplaced Nobles, and that margin would grow, as Nobles' bike too lost power. (Above) A swarm of Harleys exit tum two at the start of the Harley-Davidson SuperTwins flnal. (flight) Defending National C"amplon Shawn Higbee took the win. move into third in the standings, only four points behind second-placed Matt Wait. Team HMC's Billy Graef,had the fastest hand and led the pack over the crest for turn one, followed by Scott Zampach and Bartels' rider Eric Bostrom. Both pole-sitter Tripp Nobles and Higbee got off to slow starts with Nobles running in fourth and Higbee around fifth. Though Nobles didn't get the start he wanted, it didn't worry the former world superbike rider too much. "I was pinched over by Billy (Graef) on the start and it just killed my momentum going up the hill," said Nobles. "But the bikes are so equal in traffic, 1 decided just to sit back and let the pack sort out before I made any move." Graef wasn't waiting and was hot on the throttle. "I got. up front early and was re'llly excited. 1 even ran off in tum five and was doing a little dirt tracking," said Graef. The Wisconsin rider still had the lead when the pack crossed the line for the first time but faded on the second lap when Higbee made his bid and passed Graef and and the younger Bostrom to take the lead. fIe quickly opened a margin on the pack, but points leader Zampach was making a charge, and as it has been in years past, things would develop into a battle between Higbee and Zampach, the riders trading the lead several times. The hard-charging Zampach had closed on leader Higbee, with third through sixth running as a tight pack led by Eric Bostrom. Mitchell's Modesto Harley-Davidson rider Matt Wait was in sixth at the start of the third lap, but according to Graef, running just in front of Wait, when the pack entered the Corkscrew the Mitchell's rider tried to make a pas~ . and disaster struck. "Matt was definitely going for a pass at the wrong time," Graef said. "He passed me on the inside and it looked like he might have clipped the curb or used too much front brake." Wait went down and as he slid to the edge of the track, his bike clipped Eric Bostrom's rear wheel, sending him to the ground as well. The Bartels' rider was not seriously injured. "I don't know what happened," Wait said. '1 was under brakes, going in there like always and the front end just slipped away. I'd just passed Graef and the bike just tucked under." "I'd set up wide for the tum, and just as I was going doWnhill his (Wait's) bike clipped me," said Bostrom. "I could hear it sliding." Caught in the carnage was Hal's HD's Andy Fenwick. "I think there was some oil at the top of the Corkscrew," Fenwick said. '1 lost the front, then saved it, but 1 was heading for the wall and tried to make the turn, but I couldn't and went down. There isn't a lot of runoff up there." Fenwick's machine went sliding right at Bostrom, who was already on his feet. "Andy's bike came sliding right toward me and 1 had to jump over it," said Bostrom. At the start of the next lap, the topfive order read: Higbee, Zampach, Nobles, Graef and Ben Bostrom. The remaining Bostrom didn't last long in fifth, however, as he waved Matthew Guidera, Brian Gibbs and Mario DuHamel by between turns one and two on the next lap, his bike having lost power. . "I had a little engine trouble - maybe from the start, because I noticed I was getting pulled a little bit up the hill and I thought 'Wait a minute, my bike's faster than this:" a frustrated Bostrom said. "I might have mushroomed a valve at the start or something." The battle fot the lead had developed into the traditional Laguna Seca Higbee/Zampach tussle. The "Z-Man" had closed on the leader and shot by the Bartels' rider on the inside of tum 10. The front-runners would crest the hill nearly side by side, with Nobles trailing a short distance behind them. For the next couple of laps, Zampach "These bikes are real tempermental:' said the veteran racer. "I could have used one more tooth. I lost a good bit of power from winding it too tight at the start and a couple times in the race." Nobles said that the gearing he and his brother/mechanic Cliff had selected was perfect during qualifying, but that when corner speeds picked up in the race it led to overrev and damaged the powerplant. That allowed Graef to close in a late-race charge, but he wasn't a factor for Nobles at the finish. Higbee pulled away to a 9.676-second margin of victory, with Nobles second and Graef third. Ben Bostrom had dropped as low as eighth. but managed to charge back to finish fourth in front of Mario DuHameL ('N Mont....y, California Laguna seca R _ y Results: July 23, 1995 QUALIFYING, 1. Tripp Nobles (1041.304); 2. Shawn Higbee (HI.44g); 3. Billy Grael (1:41.498); 4. Scott Zampach (1:41.821); 5. Owen Weichel (1:42.586); 6. Matt Wait (1042.775); 7. Matthew Guidera (1:42.994>; 8. Eric Bostrom (1043.008); 9. Mario DuHamel (1,43.237); 10. Ben Bostrom (1:43.345); 11. Andy Fenwiclc (1:43.357); 12. Brian Gibbs (H4.9.19); 13. Jim Rosa (1:45.270); 14. Adam Fausselt 0:45.332); 15. Eric Disch (1:45.431); 16. Alan Eadie (1:46.261); 17. Dean Mizdal (1:46.313); 18'. Stephen Rodden 0,46.672); 19. Jim Whitalcer (L48.205); ZOo Devin Battley 0:49.1(13); 21. Mike Wassemiller (1:50.546). SUPER1WINS, I. Shawn Higbee; 2. Tripp Nobles; 3. Billy Graef; 4. Ben Bostrom; 5. Mario DuHa.mel; 6. Brian Gibbs; 7. Matthew Guidera; 8. Dean Mizdal; 9. fun Rosa; 10. Alan Eadie; 11. Adam Faussett; 12. Stephen Rodden; 13. Eric Disch; 14. Mike Wassemiller; 15. Devin Battley; 16. Owen Weichel; 17. Scott Zampach; 18. Jim Whitaker; 19. Eric Bostrom; 20. Matt Wait; 21. Andy Fenwick. SUPERTWINS C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 10 round.), I. Scott Zampach (217/3 wins); 2. Matt Wait (205/1); 3. Shawn Higbee (201/3 wins); 4. Eric Bostrom (198); 5. Billy Graef (175); 6. (TIE) Andy Fenwick/Matthew Guidera (173); 8. Owen Weichel (156); 9. Mario DuHamel (53); 10. Ben Bostrom (138); 11. Brian Gibbs (130); 12. Dean Mizdlll (U6); 13. Dave Estok (115); 14. Alan Eadie (108); IS. Jim Whitalcer (%); 16. Devin Battley (SO); 17. Aaron Yates (78); 18. Ron McGill (74); 19. Jerry Casciero (66); 20. Tripp Nobles (58). Upcoming Rounds: Round 9 - East 51. Louis, IL, August 13 Round 10 - Sonoma, CA, August 27

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