Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1995 10 04

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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·ROAD RACE . AMA National Ch.ampionship Road Race series Final round: Firebird International Raceway (Left) Team Erion Racing (1) leads Cycle Motion Racing (46) In the SuperTeams final. Cycle Motion took the win and the title. (Below) A horde of Harley's attack Flreblrd. The race was won by Ben Bostrum (11) over Shewn Higbee (1). Mark McDaniel, Yates and Wilson in tow as the pack completed the first lap of the 22-1ap race. On the third lap, Merkel crashed hard, losing control in a fast right-hander, clipping the wall and running the length of the wall before finally getting tossed to the ground. The red flag carne out and the race was put in a holding pattern that lasted well over 45 minutes. Kipp rode back to check on his fallen rival before pitting with the rest of the class to await the restart. When the race was restarted, the drag race to the first turn was nearly identical to the previous one. Wilson led Kipp with McDaniel, Yates, Randolph and Lupo in tow. Bostrum led a second group that featured David Roy and Miyagi. Wilson continued to lead, pulling away from Kipp, who suddenly had his hands full with a charging Yates. The first of the top runners to go was Randolph, who was recently let go by Kinko's Kawasaki and was back on a Suzuki for this race. The Northern Californian crashed in turn 12 while battling with McDanieL The next to go was McDaniel, though he remounted, pitted and eventually pulled out for good. On the 11th lap, Wilson crashed out of the lead: "It was in the left-hander where everyone had crashed and there was oil dry down over there," Wilson explained. "I was pushing, but I felt I could go faster. It really caught me off guard. It just folded under; it's just one of those things." Wilson's demise left Yates with the lead, though Kipp shadowed his every move. On the 15th lap, Yates was slowed when he ran into the back of Brian Catterson, who was being lapped. That allowed Kipp to squeeze through and from there he galloped away to victory, topping Yates by 1.516 seconds at the finish. "Four or five laps from the end it felt like it was running out of gas:' Yates said. "I was going to come in, but it worked and I just kept going. I tried catching him, but it was way too late. I hit the lapped guy pretty good; he just cut down in front of me." Kipp was pleased to have earned the title, but disappointed that Merkel, his friend and rival, was in hospital. "The track was brutal," Kipp said. "I almostllitched it a few times. I feel real fortunate. I still didn't have it locked up even with Fred out; Tom Wilson could have still won it if I crashed out. I didn't want to give up; I wanted to win this title in style." Jim Leslie seemed well on his way to finishing third, but he too crashed out on the last lap. Bostrum, meanwhile, managed to run up the inside of Lupo in the final corner to take the final rostrum spot. ' "I w asn' t sure if I'd finished third," Bostrum admitted. "I thought top five, but then I saw Rick (Hutchins) was holding up three fingers. I don't think I've ever been so happy. Everyone jumped on the bike to fix it after the crash. Everything just worked. The last comer was just a long dirt track corner and I slid it right past him (Lupo). I've got big goals but everything has to fall into place. Another (Mike) Hale, that's what I'm hoping for." a Flrebird International Raceway Chandler, Arizona Results: September 23, 1995 750cc SUPERSPORT FINAL: 1. Tom Kipp (Vam); 2. A.uon Yates (Suz); 3. Ben Bostrum (Han); 4. Anthony Lupo (Yam); 5. Mark Miller (Kaw); 6. Jim Lestie (Suz); 7. Rad Greaves (Hon); B. Hikaru Miyagi (Han); 9. Tripp Noble. (Kaw); 10. Oav;d Roy (Kaw); 11. Stu Morrison (Han); 12. Marcus Hubbard (Hon); 13. Mnrk Black (Suz); U. Tommy Lynch (Suz); 15. Clint McBai.n (Hon); 16. Jim Lester (Y

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