Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127748
Final round: Firebird International Raceway Smo Barnes rounded qut the top 10 finishers on a hot and dry day in the Valley of the Sun. Notable non-finishers included Harley-Davidson's Doug Chandler, the Californian pulling in four laps from the end with mechanical problems; and the other two Fast By Ferracci Ducatis, ridden by Australian newcomer Damon Buckmaster and Japan's Takahiro Sohwa. Buckmaster crashed on the second lap, taking' Sohwa with him. The final championship tally fea, tured DuHamel and his six victories at the top with 293 points, followed by Hale's 268. Kipp moved past Merkel and into third, 254-228, and the alwayssurprising Quarterley ended the season fifth with 210 points. Picotte barely edged Smith, Crevier, Spencer and Stevens - with only five measly. points separating sixth from 10th. The AMA's visit to Firebird International Raceway was a first. At least for a National-caliber race. Teams and riders found a 1.6-rnile circuit that was much better than anticipated. A few problem spots caused concern, mostly immovable walls and a rough transition from the final corner to the drag-strip front straight, but complaints were minimal. Heat was a factor, as expected from the Phoenix area in September, but, as they say, it was a dry heat. .. A sparse but lively crowd witnessed the 29-rider field blast off the line on the drag-strip front straight with Spencer leading the charge into turn one. It was . there that the three-time World Champion had his first scare of the di\Y. "1 just carried too much speed in there," Spencer explained later. "The . . By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams CHANDLER, AZ, SEPT. 24 t was the picture-perfect ending for a team that simply dominated the 1995 season. Smokin' Joe's Honda's Mike Hale crossing the finish line first, winning his second Superbike National of the season; his teammate Miguel DuHamel following, winning his first AMA Superbike National Championship while giving Honda its first title in the class since Bubba Shobert rode a VFR750 to the championship in 1988. Hale was superb in easily winning the final round of the 10-race series at Firebird International Raceway. The young Texan ran away and hid, stomping the rest of the superbike field to win by the largest margin of the season since Daytona - 10.137 seconds. Hale chased down fast starter Mike Smith - who had jumped the start but elected to ignore the AMA's flag mandating a stop-andgo penalty - moved around the Fast By Ferracci rider, and then simply pulled away. Though his victory over Smith was only by a few seconds, it was as if Smith wasn't really there. When the Georgian shook his head at the AMA's "meatball" flag, everyone - including Hale - knew a penalty would come. And it did, dropping Smith from second to 13th, the result of a one-lap penalty. Hale's second win of the season also put a stop to DuHamel's six-race win streak, a mark that had tied him with Wayne Rainey for the most superbike wins in a row. But not even a stunning perfonnance such as Hale's could steal the spotlight away from the new and well-liked champion. On a day in which it was announced that DuHamel had signed a two-year I I.!') ~ ,.....; ~ I-< OJ ..0 o ... u o 6 (Above) Freddie Spencer (19) gets a flier of a start from the second row to lead the Superbike National at Flrebird Inlarnational Raceway. (Right) The race developed between Mike Hale (23) and Mike Smith (68), though Smith would later be docked a lap for . jumping the start. contract to stay in AMA Superbike racing with the Smokin' Joe's team, the French Canadian did more than he had to do to secure his first AMA Superbike title. Despite only needing to finish 23rd, DuHamel rode with the flair and bravado he's shown all season long, battling Vance & Hines Yamaha's Tom Kipp to the very end to finish second. In the process, DuHamel ended a dry spell for his employers - stopping a sixyear streak in which Honda had helplessly watched all of its competition - Suzuki (1989), Kawasaki (1990/1992), Yamaha (1991) and Ducati (1993/1994) - win titles. Kipp's hard-fought, third-place finish vaulted him into third in the final championship point standings - behind DuHamel and Hale. The Ohioan took advantage of Fred Merkel's absence as the former World and AMA Superbike Champion was hospitalized after suffering broken ribs, a punctured lung and a bruised heart in his 750cc Supersport crash on Saturday. Fourth place on the day went to Muzzy Kawasaki's Steve Crevier, the Canadian coming through after a poor start to continue his late-season charge. Crevier was as far back as eighth, but he bided his time and eventually moved around Fast By Ferracci Ducati's Freddie Spencer to finish fourth. Spencer held on for fifth after surviving both. an off-track excursion on the opening lap, and a fallen lapped rider in his. path late in the race. Muzzy Kawasaki's Pascal Picotte, Thomas Stevens - in his final ride as a member of Yoshimura Suzuki - Team Mirage's Dale Quarterley, HarleyDavidson's Chris Carr and San Jose Harley-Davidson-mounted Michael front tucked a~d I had to pick it up and go straight." His teammate Smith had much bigger problems. According to the AMA and most of his competitors, Smith had left his row-two starting position a tad on the early side. The Georgian would lead the pack across the stripe for the first 12 laps, shaking his head as AMA officials tried to coerce him into taking his stop-and-go penalty. The riders had been warned prior to the start that AMA officials would be watching for those with early reflexes. "That ain't right," a disturbed Smith