Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROADRACE .. AMA HP4 6OOccSuper$pbrt 5e!ies. Round 9: Gateway International Raceway DuHamel said. "With five to six laps to go, I made a move and just tried to hang on. I decided to go for the gusto. I had to pass and' put some distance on him. I wanted just a little gap, just to feel comfortable." (N Gateway International Raceway Fairmont City, illinois Results: Auguat 13, 1995 Steve Crevier (4) leads Miguel DuHamel (117) and Tom Wilson (2) with the Gateway Arch In the background. . By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams FAIRMONT CITY, IL, AUG. 13 OU can't help but get the feeling . that you could throw Miguel I?uHamel into a war zone armed with nothing but his Smokin' Joe's Rac-, ing Honda CBR600 F-3, and he would come out unscathed and smiling. Such was the case at the battle-tom Gateway International Raceway. DuHamel fought triple-digit heat, a host of angry rivals and a rough-and-tumble race track to win his sixth consecuetive 600cc Supersport race and his seventh of the nine-race-old series. The others know they're in trouble w.hen they line up with the man who is the undisputed King of 600cc Supersport racing - the AMA's all-time win leader in the production-based class. "1 knew 1 couldn't run away from Miguel,". said second-place finisher Steve Crevier. "1 knew he'd have something. He was saving himself for the Superbike race and then he just aecided to come past. He doesn't just go by, he flies by. He didn't care about leading the Y race - he knew he could pass anywhere:' If his rivals sound beaten before they start, they have every right to be. DuHamel is in a masterful mood and the 600cc class is his domain. Crevier was the man who came closest to topping the French Canadian, and he was only a scant 0.470 second behind after 18 laps in unbearable conditions. But second place was really all the Muzzy Kawasaki rider could hope for and he knew it. "They (the Honda team) really have things dialed in over there," Crevier said. Third place went to Kinko's Kawasaki, the Ohioan continuing to impress with his third rostrum finish of the year. Crevier's Muzzy Kawasaki teammate Pascal Picotte rode hard to finish fourth, clear of early leader Jamie Bowman on the Moto Liberty Honda. Erion Racing's Michael Barnes, Smokin' Joe's Mike Hale, Hy.d-Mech Saws' Owen Weichel, Erion's Larry Pegram and Racer's Edge's Dale Kieffer rounded out the top 10 finishers. DuHamel's red-hot run of late has put him in position to easily capture his third AMA 600cc Supersport National Championship. DuHamel now leads Hale by 55 points with 70 points still up , for grabs in the final two rounds, 307252. Bowman is third in the standings with 220 points, just seven clear of Wilson and 10 ahead of Barnes. The race began with Weichel shooting to the front as the pack headed into the tight and slippery turn one; with Bowman and DuHamel leading a freight train of wanna-be leaders. At the end of the first lap, it was Bowman with the lead as he shot past the Canadian's Kawasaki on the front straightaway. Bowman had his head down, and the Floridian quickly opened up a gap to Weichel, who was holding off DuHamel, Creiver, Picotte, Wilson and Barnes. Hale got a bad start and was barely in the top 10. On the third lap, DuHamel moved by Weichel, who started a slip that would see him eventually finish eighth. Crevier was the next one to move past Weichel and two laps later the Kawasaki rider also moved past DuHamel. But they weren't catching Bowman who stilI seemed to be hell-bent on running away. "1 just didn't get as good of a start as 1 wanted," DuHamel said later. '1£ 1had, 1 would have tried to pull away. 1 just stayed back there and I thought Bowman would use up his tires, based on his lean angles." By the seventh lap, the complexity of the race began to change with Crevier moving in to challenge Bowman. Wilson, too, was on the charge as he moved by Picotte to take over fourth. Hale, meanwhile, was up to seventh, the final man to move around Weichel. Crevier took the lead from Bowman on the 10th lap, with a daring pass in turn four. DuHamel wasn't about to let Crevier get a break, and he also moved around Bowman. At the completion of the 10th lap, Bowman had seemingly found reverse, slipping from first to fourth in a matter of 2.2 miles. He wouldn't stop there as Picotte also passed him, the Floridian eventually settling into a fifth-place finish, well behind the lead quartet. Crevier continued to lead, all the while knOWing that DuHamel would eventually come by. That came on the 15th lap, in turn five. Crevier gamely held on, but he didn't have enough to return the favor. "1 was pushing kind of hard through that fast left-hander," Crevier said. "1 was skating the front end into the righthander. I lost the front one time in fourth gear. I was right out of shape. I saved it, smoke was coming off my knee and the tires. From that point on, I just tried to nurse it." Wilson, meanwhile, was also in the hunt until the very end, as was Picotte. "1 had a couple of spots where 1 prob- . ably could have stuck it in," Wilson said later. "But it's so bumpy you don't want to take any chances.'" . "When Crevier came by I thought, 'OK, maybe he'll help. catch me up: " 600cc SUPERSPORT: 1. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 2. Steve Crevier (Kaw); 3. Tom Wilson (Kaw); 4. Pascal Picotte (Kaw); S. Jamie Bowman (Hon); 6. Michael Barnes (Hon); 7. Mike Hale (Ron); 8. Owen Weichel (](aw); 9. !.arTy Pegram (Hon); 10. Dale Kieffer CHon); 11. Rad Greaves (Hon); 12. Hilcaru Miyagi (Hon); 13. Brian Parrjott (Han); 14. Charles Chouinard (Han); 15. Ben Bostrum (Han); 16. Brett Metzger (Han); 17. Andrew Milton CHon); 18. Michael Cage (]

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