Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Martin, Taylor and Kling ran in a tight pack that began separating from another close race between Graves, Roberti and Pittman, who were contesting fourth place. Kling finally edged past Taylor on lap seven, but on the next lap'Martin crashed hard in turn four, forci ng Kling to go hard on the brakes to avoid going down with Martin. As a result, Taylor got by Kling and into first place. Taylor wasn't in front for long, however, as on the next lap Kling passed him right back under braking into turn one' to take the lead he would never relinquish. Taylor stayed in the race, shadowing Kling to the end but was ultima tely forced to settle for second place. Scant seconds behind the leaders, the battle for third place raged between Pittman, Graves and Roberti in a tight pack with Pinkstaff edging up through the field. Pittman got by Graves on lap six, and held on for third; Graves clung to fourth despite constant pressure from Roberti, who would finally yield to the serious pressure of Pinkstaff and his ZloCk Racing ZX7 on the 10th lap. Pinkstaff held on two more laps for fifth place. . A little further back, another dogfight was taking place between no fewer than seven riders, and their positions would not be settled until the very last laps. In the end, Lanny Allen prevailed for seventh place in front of Frank Wilson, Tray Batey (riding a machine provided by the . Suzuki Racing School), Darryl Saylor, Steve Pat~erson, Tracy McIntyre and Gordon Miller. The "turbo twins," Tracy a,nd Michael McIntyre, running turbocharged CBR900s of their own design, had no problem with getting enough horsepower. But while injudicious throttle application was good for 100-plusmph wheelies, smooth power delivery and traction problems remain to be sorted out as evidenced by Tracy's 12thplace finish. The fine showing of local Northwest racers, taking three of the top-six positions, is partly explained by the nature of Portland International Raceway. Tray Batey of Valvoline Suzuki explained: "PIR seems like a simple track that you can learn very fast, but you kind of run into a wall where it's hard to improve anymore. There are really subtle points that you have to master. For example, the track rises at the end of the long front straight, and just when you have to brake, the front end has gotten light. And coming off the back straight there are some little waves in the track that will really mess you up if you don't have exactly the right line. I do most of my passing under braking, so a seemingly simple track becomes very complex." . Yet another subtlety of PIR is shifting winds. "You need to check the flags outside of tum nine on every lap to see which way the wind is blowing, since they (the winds) can vary from a straight-on headwind to a full tail wind down the long front straight," said Pinkstaff. "Since you're usually pretty busy about that time; you don't always notice the flags, which can result in pretty big speed differences at the end of the straight, with resulting effects on braking and turning points." The absence of Rich Oliver, who won the first two rounds of F-USA at Willow Springs on a TZ250, left Northwest racer Bruce Lind on the only 250cc GP bike in the field. Unfortunately, Lind's TZ250 suffered from a mechanical failure on the eighth lap and he was unable to finish. (Above) Michael Martin (96) leads Chris Taylor (28); Martin crashed out of the first race and finished fourth In the second. (Left) Kevin Murray won the Moto Liberty 125cc GP final, besting Chris Rogers. RACE TWO The second Formula USA race of the day saw a stark reversal of starting-grid positions between F-USA points leader Martin and first-race winner Kling. After ~ last-place start in the first race, Kling would happily have the pole by virtue of his win. Martin; on the other hand, because of his earlier crash, would be starting the second race at the back of the grid. Fastest qualifier Taylor had another front-row start after his earlier second-place finish. As the race got underway, a crash on the first lap brought out the red flag and the riders would regrid to start once again. On the restart, Graves led the pack off the line with Taylor in tow, but by lap two Taylor had moved to the lead past Graves. The Honda rider never looked back. Taylor had pulled a gap on second place by lap four, and he steadily increased his lead to win the race going away, and move within' exactly one point of series leader Martin. Kling was the hapless victim of two bad breaks. The first was the red flag after little more than one lap, in which he had already moved to the front. The second occurred on the requisite restart, when inconsistent starting procedures caused Kling to destroy his clutch on the starting line and put him out of the race. With Kling out of the picture, and Martin soldiering on after suffering a badly damaged knee in his first-race high-side, Taylor simply pulled away from the field. Behind Taylor, there was still great racing going on. Graves headed a pack consisting of Roberti, Pittman and Martin. LaBelle Honda-mounted Portland local Roberti had plenty of opportunity to sort out his bike. after the experience of the first race, and, with the assistance of Dave Sadowski and Mike Velasco, got the machine dialed in to better suit his needs. By the sixth lap, it showed, as he had moved up to displace Graves for second and would maintain the position to the finish. Graves would continue to fade as crowd-favorite Pittman was next to go by. The leading trio began to spread out with Taylor out to a large margin in front of teammate Roberti, and Roberti likewise over Pittman in third. Meanwhile, a gritty Martin was protecting his series lead, finally edging his Valvoline Suzuki GSXRllOO into fourth place on lap nine to finish the race with an all-important 13 points. Pinkstaff had started the race right behind Kling on the starting grid and was forced to brake hard to keep from rear-ending the Yamaha rider after the bike's clutch failed. Though hindered by the poor start, he managed to work through to finish just behind Graves for . a creditable seventh place. A race within a race brought on by the big bucks involved in the EBC Brakes Triple Crown added further intensity to the Portland leg of the Formula USA series, which was also the final and deciding round of the threerace series. Team Valvoline Suzuki racers Martin and Graves won the series, but second place was up for grabs between Team David and Goliath (represented at this race by Roberti and Pittman), and Dutchman Racing, whose hopes rested on Kling and Pinkstaff. Kling's non-finish decided it, but good paydays were provided for all three top teams. ~ Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon Results: August 27,1995 RACE ONE,!. Fritz Kling (Yam); 2. Chris Taylor (Hon); 3. Joe Pittman (Kaw); 4. Charles Craves (Suz); 5. Keith Pinkstaff (!(aw); 6. Shawn Roberti (Hon); 7. Lanny Allen (5uz); 8. Frank Wilson (5uz); 9. Tray Batey (Suz); 10. Darryl Saylor (Suz); 11. Steve Patterson (Suz); 12Tracy Mclntyre (Hon); 13. Gordon Miller (Hon); 14. Greg Abbott (Hon); 15. Joe Brett Williams (Hon); 16. Michael McBrady (Suz); 17. Trev Beckman (Hon); 18. Michael MclntyTe (Hon); 19. K. Scott Wolfe (Hon); 20. Chris Miller (5uz); 21. Richard Vu (Suz); 22. Peter Small (Hon); 23. Steve Dah1strom (Yam); 24. Bruce Jon Lind (Yam); 25. Michael Martin (Suz); 26. Mark Junge (Suz); 27. John Hilton Jr. (Hon). RACE TWO: 1. Chris Taylor (Hon); 2. Shawn Roberti (Hon); 3. Joe Pittman (!(aw); 4. Michael Martin (5uz); 5. Frank Wilson (Suz); 6. Charles Graves (Suz); 7. Keith Pinkstaff (Kaw); 8. Tray Batey (Suz); 9. Darryl Sayulor(Suz); 10. Lanny Allen (Suz); 11. Tracy MclntyTe (Hon); 12. Joe Brett Williams (Hon); 13. Mark Junge (Suz); 14. Gordon Miller (Hon); 15. Greg Abbott (Hon); 16. Michael McBrady (Suz); 17. Trev Beclanan (Hon); 18. K. Scott Wolfe (Hon); 19. Peter Small (Hon); 20. Richard Vu (Suz); 21. Chris Miller (Suz). FORMULA USA NAT'L CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (A.ftu 4 of 5 rounds): 1. Michael Martin (l05); 2. Chris Taylor (04); 3. Rich Oliver (92); 4. Charles Graves (90); 5. Fritz Kling (83); 6. David Sadowski (64); 7. Chuck Sorensen (52); B. Darryl J. Saylor (42); 9. Lanny Allen (37); 10. (TIE) Frank WilsonlJoe Pittman (30); 12. Shawn Roberti (27); 13. Glenn SZarek (23); 14. Tracy MclntyTe (22); IS. Keith Pinkstaff (20); 16. Takahito Mori (19); 17. Curtis Adams C1B); 18. sm.e Patterson (16); 19. mEl Jefl Stem/Tray Batey(15). e ~ 1.1') '" '" .... ,."....... . ,. J .... !;1 .., ..0 C ~ Q) ~ ~ r'i< '" J 13

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