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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127742
ROAD RACE·. . '.' ::. .. AlA SuperbIke NIItIonaI·Ch8mpionshlp. SerIes By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams FAIRMONT CITY, n.., AUG. 13 hanks to triple-d.igit heat and high humidity, some of the toughest competition that Miguel DuHamel ended up facing at Gateway International Raceway was Miguel DuHameL '1 was having arguments with myself out there," the French Canadian said after putting the finishing touches on his fifth straight AMA Superbike victory. '1 kept telling myself, stay concentrated." Concentration was a little difficult to keep as the unwavering heat that has plagued the Midwest throughout the summer was in full tilt when the AMA Superbike Series arrived in the middle of August. DuHamel, though, was not only able to beat the heat, he was also able to beat his superbike ~ rivals after 22 grueling laps (shortened from a scheduled 29 laps due to the heat) in appalling conditions. But it was close. In what turned out to be a thrilling National, Smokin' Joe's Honda's ;:l DuHamel ended up winning by just over a second, topping Vance & Hines Yamaha's Tom Kipp and Muzzy Kawasaki's Pascal Picotte after a racelong fight that featured a little bit of T sg .... ~ < 6 Round 8: Gateway International Raceway everything. Only Picotte and DuHamel took turns at the front, but the hard-riding Kipp was impressive, fighting through from fifth place to get second with a pass on Picotte only two laps from the finish. By then, DuHamel had his sights set on the finish line and his fifth straight win, putting him only one victory behind the record for consecutive superbike wins, currently held by three-time World Champion Wayne Rainey, who won six in a row in 1983. Fourth place and the fastest lap of the race went to championship leader Mike Hale and his Smokin' Joe's Honda RC45. The young Texan never really got comfortable with the fechnical and rough Gateway International Raceway layout, and by day's end his lead in the championship had for all practical purposes evaporated. With two races remaining on the schedule, Hale only leads his teammate DuHamel by a single point, 227-226. Yoshimura Suzuki's Fred Merkel, sixth today, is third with 202 points, just four clear of Kipp's 198. Fast By Ferracci Ducati's Mike Smith ended the day with a fifth-place finish on the all-red 916, riding alone for the majority of the race after losing touch with the lead foursome. Smith ended up some 14 seconds behind Hale but roughly 24 seconds ahead of Merkel. Harley-Davidson's Doug Chandler had his finest outing on the black-andorange VRl000, finishing a season-best seventh. The former Grand Prix rider bested Valvoline Suzuki's Tray Batey at the finish line, the 35-year-old Batey turning in a splendid ride in what was his first AMA outing on a superbike. Pole-sitter Steve Crevier (see sidebar) ended up a disappointed ninth on the Muzzy Kawasaki with Yoshimura Suzuki's Thomas Stevens rounding out the top 10. The crowd - estimated at 8,500 by the AMA - battled the scorching heat as the race got started in the afternoon sun with Picotte getting a flyer from the front row. Fast By Ferracci's Freddie Spencer was already in trouble by this point, having stalled on the line. He was pushed off in dead last and would circulate for eight laps before pulling in. "We put a new clutch in and I knew it would be sensitive," Spencer said later. "It just engaged, there was nothing to grab. After that, I just didn't think the tire would've lasted. I saw where I was I just didn't have a good feeling about it." Spencer had bruised his right knee on a curb during qualifying. Meanwhile, at th.e front, things were heating up with Picotte leading Smith, DuHamel, Kipp, Team Mirage's Dale Quarterley, and Hale with a gap to Crevier, Merkel, Chandler and Batey as the group put two laps in the books. Picotte continued to lead, with DuHamel getting by Smith on the fifth lap to begin his challenge for the lead. Hale, meanwhile, had moved past Quarterley before also passing Kipp; by the ninth lap, Hale was third with a gap back to Smith and Kipp. At this point it appeared that it would be a three-man race to the finish. But Kipp wasn't out of it, he was simply trying to adjust to riding without his right knee puck. Shortly thereafter, DuHamel took the lead for the first time - on lap nine. "It was really hot, then even a little hotter than that," DuHamel said later. '1 was getting all the heat from Pascal's bike. My bike was running 100, 99 degrees. I took the lead and thought it would be better and cool down. I put a pass on him, but he passed me back." Picotte's retaliation pass carne on the 13th lap, and it would stick until the 18th lap. At that point, DuHamel came by on the exit of turn four. "The heat was unbearable," DuHamel said. '1 couldn't see my board very well, I kept seeing Hale's board in front of it. I clipped a curbing hard through the kink. I looked down and it was 'Thank God the footpeg is still there: At the end I didn't want to go too