Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.. -------------------------------------- --------- ----------- ------- --- - - ~ -~--- ROAD: RACE Round 1:Daytona In a n tern tio alSpeedway A T MA eamline750cc SupersportSeries (left) Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Aaro n Yates (9) and Pasca l Picotte (parti ally hidden) left everyone behind In 750cc Supe rsport raci ng. Yates took the win with Pico tte close behind . (Below) MuZzy Kawasaki's Doug Chand ler (110) rod e to th ird, wh ile Suzuki-mo unted Mark McDaniel (1.0) fin is hed fifth. Yosh By Paul Carru thers Photos by Henny Ray Abra ms DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 8 Yoshimu ra Suzuki was going to win the first 750cc Supersport race of th e yea r. Tha t much was a given. The real question was which one of the two would win : Pascal Picotte or Aaron Yates? And it was a question that went un answered until the very end of the IS-lap, 51.4-mile race . Crossing th e fi nish line fi rst was Yates - just 0.050 of a second ahead of Picotte, the youngster getting the nod over his more-experienced teammate on yet anot her draft race to the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway. And those two we re nev er challenged, th e superiority of th e 1996 Su zuki GSXR750 (m ost notably th ose built by Yoshimura) was clearly eviden t on the high-speed, 3.56-mile combination road course/ superspeedway. Third place went to the first of very few no n-Suzukis in the field , a Mu zzy Kawasaki ridden admirably by 1990 winner Doug Chandler. The Californian wa s never a factor in th e race for the lead as the "Yosh boys" ran away and hid, leading the rest across the line by well over 20 seconds. Chandler held off the EBSCO Suzukis of Mich ael Barnes and Mark McDaniel, the trio running . together for the d u rati on a nd finally shaking off th e advances of sixth-place finisher Mark Miller, the Californian ridi ng a Tea m Suzuki Sp ort-b acked GSXR750. The Chand ler / Barnes /McDaniel trio encountered oil on the front straight on the fifth lap, w ith Barn es and Chandler slowi ng d ram atically while McDaniel staye d on race pace. Barnes was certain a red flag wo uld be shown, bu t it never came and he and Chandler had to chase d ow n McDa nie l to se t u p their th reeway race to the flag. Seventh place we nt to the retu rn ing Jason Pri dmo re, riding th e firs t of two Kinko' s Kawasakis in his comeback race after bad ly breaking his leg over a year ago . Pridmore' s effort was impressive. He came from well back, emerging from .a ho rde of ride rs contestin g 10th place to move p ast h is team m a te Thomas Stevens and the Hooters-backed Suzuki of Jim Leslie to claim seventh. Leslie an d Stev ens fi nishe d eighth a nd ninth, . respectively. The man who got the most ou t of the titanic ba tt le for 10th was Canadian Frank Wilson, the Tea m Suzuki Sport rider emerging from the tightly knit group sparring behind him. The race began in cold but clear conditions, with Yates sho oting off the start line to lead the field as they entered the International Horseshoe for th e first time? Miller, Picotte, Barn es, McDaniel, Stevens, Ch and ler and Pridmor e gav!; chase . Yat es opened a gap when the pack hit the west bank ing for the first time, but it didn't take long for Picotte to join his teammate at the fron t - the pair easily pulling away from the group of pur suers fighting over third place. Ya tes an d Picott e wo uld swap th e A top spot several times with a fairly even d istrib ution of laps led . Th ough both were in a class of their own, both were doi ng it much differently - Picotte going in slower and squaring the comers off, while Yates w as going in d eep and using mo re conventional a rcing lines th r ou gh the horseshoes . Both s ty le s were work ing, and so were the tw o Yoshimura Suzukis, though both admitted th at Picot te m ay ha ve had a little more on top. It would come down to traffic, drafting and who was whe re on the ru n to the flag. "That last lap I got held up by someone goi ng in to the chican e, and h e (Picotte) got by me," Yates said. "He got out far e nough to w here I got in h is d raft, and it really sucked me up and gave me enough spee d that I was able to sling right aro un d him." By this point in the race, the battle for third had been whittled down to three: Barnes, McDaniel and Ch a nd ler with Barn es d oing m ost of the leading. The trio had survived a scare on the fifth lap whe n they enco untered oil. Barn es got their first. "I go t sideways, and Doug (Chand ler) and I both d ecid ed it should be re d-flagged," Barnes exp lai ned later. "Mark (McDaniel) kept on going and we just had to run him back down. I think I had a little horsepower on Doug, but the race really shoul d've bee n red-flagged." At the finish it was Chandler beating the two teammates after a hard last-lap ru n throu gh the chicane. The Californian opened a gap and was able to hold off the two drafters on the final race to the flag. " I was kind a ju st w ait ing fo r a chance," Chandl er said. "I think when McDaniel came up thr ough there (in the east horseshoe) on the last lap I th ink Barnes figured he'd wait for th e front straightaway, but 1 don't think he knew 1 was still there or not. He backed off going into th e ch icane, and 1 figured that w as my chance to try .an d get in there and make a break on them. I knew the Kawasaki was ru nning good on top end, although 1 couldn't quit e stay with them coming off the corners . All I cou ld d o was pu t it th rough th e chicane as best as I could and make a ru n to the flag, and 1 beat 'em to the finish. It was pretty wild out there when you'd come up on four or five guys ." Picotte knew it would be between h imself and hi s tea mmat e: " I wasn' t sure of a wi n, because Aaron had done some good lap tim es in the morn ing," Picotte said. "Bu t I knew I had a good sho t and would be first or second. One lap the traffic was really bad for me, bu t the GSXR750 is definitely th e best 750 Sup ersp ort bike out there." In winni ng his first-ever 750cc Sup ersport final, Yates became the 17th rider in th e nine-year hi story of th e class to taste victory, and th e eighth to wi n at . Daytona (forme r class champion Britt Tu rkington remain s the only two-time D aytona wi nner) . The Georgia n als o becam e the first 750cc Sup ersp ort rider to be pa id for wi n ni ng as D ay to n a offere d a pur se for th e first time in the hist ory of th e class ; Yates took home $1500 from the $7500 purse. l~ Daytona Int ernati onal Speedway Daytona Beach, Flo rida Results: Marc h 8, 1996 (Round 1 of 10) 7 50« S UPERSPO RT QUALIFYING: I. Pasca l Pic otte (1:54. 616 /1 11.8.17 mp h ); 2. Aa ron Ya te s (1:55.066); 3. Mark Mille r (1:56.309); 4. Mich ael Barnes . (1 :1:56.327); 5 . Mar k McDanie l (1:57.01 3) ; 6 . Dou g Chandle r (1:57.026); 7. Christian Zwedom (157.497); 8. Th o m as Stevens (1 ,57~619); 9. Jason Pridmore (158.241); 10. Frank Wilso n (1:58.449); 11. Jim Leslie (1:58.467); 12 Do ug To land (1:58.617); 13. Iam es Ra ndo lph (15 8.659); 14. Don Can et (10 59.231); 15. Micha el Luke (159.674); 16. Yves Bri gu e t (2:00.184 ); 17. Rich ard Alexa nder Jr . (2:00.463); 18. Steve Pa tte rson (2:00.505); 19. An thony Lupc (2:01.095); 20. Daniel Bailey (2:01.154); 21. La nce Ho lst (2:01.157); 22. Jeff Heino (2:01.191); 23. David Roy (2:01.191); 24. Da le Kieffer (2:01.195); 25. Ke n Mel ville (2:01.737); 26. Ow en Weich el (2:0 1.825); 27 . Jam es Bronson (2:01.954); 28. Mark Junge (2:01.960); 29. Pet er Huppe rich (2,02.000); 30. Eric Wood (2:02.059); 31. Mark Black (2:02. 191); 32. John Wei ss (2:02.39 4 ); 33 . Ra d Greaves (2:02.704); 34. Th om as Mon tan o (2:02.738); 35. ' Brett Metzger (2:02.816); 36. Seth Hahn (2:02.849); 37. Joshua Hayes (2:02.884); 38. John Bles sed (2:03.017); 39. Jimmy She lton (2:03.130); 40. Matt Wa it (2:03.423); 41. Dax Snow ( z,03 ~562); 42. Th orwald 5aeby (2,03.820); 43. Boyd H ed strom (2:03.958); 44. Tim oth y Alan Blasquez (2:04.110); 45. Christop he r Rankin (2:04.110): 46. Kent Ku nl tsugu (2:04.362); 47. Brian Beve rag e (2:04.545); 48. Barry Henson (2:04.641); 49. Marco Ma rtinez (2:04.730); SO Noel Brown (2:04.751); 51. Ben We lch (2:04.769); 52. . Rick N aru p (2:05.002); 53. N igel Robinson (2:05.110); 54. Jeffrey Curtis (200 5.240); 55. Peter Marsh (2,05.283); 56. Patrick Weekl y (2,05.517); 57. Ge ne Buonom o (2:05.553); 58. Aki ra u 5higeno (2:05.716); 59. Sean Go ff (2:05.879); 60 . Mich al St e ven son (2:06 .074); 6 1. Lou is Cobe llo (2:06.549); 62. John Jacobi (2:06.879); 63. Billy Etheridge (2 ,07 . 135); 6 4 . Kurt M ill e r (2 :0 8 .012); 65 . Eri k Schn ack enb e rg (2':08. 110 ); 66. Ja m ie Worthington (2:08.115); 67. Jim Brew er (2:08.212); 68. Go rd on Lu nd e Jr. (2:09.228); 69. James Well s (2,09.333); 70. Jon 5chroht (2:09.453); 71 . Kik o Serma (2:11.663); 72. Enz o Ferrara (2:12.378) ; 73. Coz Arrea za (2:13.745); 74. Kev in Hunt (2:19.841). • 7S0cc SUPERSPORT FINAL: 1. Aaron YaK'S (5u z); 2. Pasca l Picotte (5uz); 3. Dou g Ch a nd ler (Kaw); 4, Michael Barn es (5uz ); 5. Mark McD ani e l (5uz); 6. Mark Miller (5u z); 7. Jason Prid mo re (Kaw) ; 8. Jim Leslie (Suz ); 9. Th omas Stev ens (Ka w); 10, Frank Wils on (Suz ); 11. Dou g T oland (5uz ); 12. La n ce Ho ls t (5u z ); 13 . Rich ard Alex an d er Jr. (5uz ); 14. Mich ael Luke (5uz ); 15. Do n Ca ne t (Kaw); 16. Yves Brtguet (Hon); 17. Ste ve Patterson (5uz ); 18. Jeff Hein o (5uz ); 19. Ma rk Black (5 u z ); 20. Christi an Zw edom (H on ); 21. Pet er Hupperich (Suz); 22 . Daniel Bai ley (5uz ); 23. Joh n Bles sed (5uz); 24 . Joshua H ayes (5 uz); 25 , An thony Lu po (5u z); 26 . Mark Jung e (5uz) ; 27 . Rad G rea ves (5u z ); 28. David Roy (Suz); 29. Dale Kieffer (5uz ); 30, John Weiss (5uz ); 31. Seth Hahn (Su z); 32. Tim othy Alan Bla squez (5 uz); 33. Th orv a ld Sa eb y (H a n ); 34. Brian Bev erage (Suz); 35. Da x Snow (Suz); 36 . Christ opher Ran kin (Kaw ); 37 . Jim m y Shelton . (Su z ); 38 . Marco Martinez (Kaw); 39. Peter Marsh (Su z ); 40. Kevin H unt (5uz); 41, Noe l Brown (5uz ); 42. Barry H en son (Kaw ); 43 . Ak iha ru Sh ige no (H an); 44 . Erik Schnack enberg (H on ); 45. Loui s Cabello (Suz );.46 .John Jacob i (5uz); 47. Billy Ethrid g e {Ka w ]: 48 . Pa tr ick We ekley (Yam ); 49. John Schroh t (Han); SO Brian Lehfeldt (5uz ); 51. Co rd on . Lu nde Jr . (Kaw); 52. Jim Brewer (Yam); 53. Jam es Wells (5 u z );.54. Enz o Fe rr ara (Han); 55, Jam ie Wo rth in gton (Hon); 56. Jeffre y Cu rtis (Kaw): 57 . Kiko Sern a (Suz); 58. N igel Robinson (Ho n); 59. Kurt Mill er (Kaw); 60. Rick Na ru p (5 uz ); 61. Brett M et z g er (Suz); 62. Eric Woo d {Kaw]: 63. Th om as Montano (Han); 64. Boyd Hed strom (Suz) ; 65. Ben Welch (Yam); 66. Coz Arreaza (Kaw ). Ti me : 28 m in ., 46.263 sec. Distance 15 laps, 51.40 mil es. Average S peed: 111.362 m ph . M argin of Vict ory: 0.050 sec . 750cc SUPERS PORT C' SH IP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 10 roun ds): 1. Aa ron Yates (35 / 1 win); 2. Pa scal Picotte (32 ); 3. Dou g Ch an dler (30); 4. Michael Barnes (28); 5~ Ma rk McDani el (26); 6. Ma rk Miller (26); 7. Jason Pridmor e (24 ); 8 . Jim Lesli e (23 ); 9. Th omas Stevens (22); 10. Frank Wil son (21 ); 11. Dou g Toland (20); 12. Lan ce H olst (19); 13. Richard Alexan de r Jr. (18); 14. Micha el Luke (17 ); 15. Don C a ne t (16); 16. Yves Briguet (15); 17. Steve Patterson (14); 18. Jeff Heino (13); 19. Ma rk Bla ck (12);2 0. Ch ristia n Zw edorn (11); 21. Peter Hupperich (10); 22. Daniel Bai ley (9 ); 23. John Blessed (8); 24. Josh ua H ayes (7); 25. Anthony Lu po (6); 26. Mar k Lun ge (5); 27. Rad Greav es (4); 28. David Roy (3); 29. Dale Kieffer (2); 30. John Weiss (1). Upcoming rounds: Round 2 - Pomona, CA, April 21 Round 3 - Monterey, CA, April 28

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