Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. AMA Teamline 750cc Supersport Series Round 2:Pomona Fairplex the tra ck is so rough that it makes it that much hard er to pass people." The Mit che ll ' s Mo des to H arl eyDavid son rider headed the 23-rider field as it lumbered off the starti ng line and in to turn one wi th the Bartels H -D backed Bostrom brothers Eric and Ben, Hal's H -D rider Brian Gibb s a n d defending series champion Scott Zampach bunched up and fighting for position. Eric Bostrom then crashed. The youngster remounted but was well off the pace, leaving four riders fighting for supremacy u p front while Spectro l Moroney's H-D rid er Na te Wait broke free of the second pack of riders and set out on a charge toward the front. Bostrom continued to threaten Wait as the race progressed through the early laps, ru nning up alongside him in th e comers and poking around for an opening, all the while being forced to kee p Suzukis all around By Paul Carruthers Photo by Kinney Jones POMONA, CA, APR. 20 he re was perhaps some hope that the Kawasakis would be closer to the seem ingly alreadydominant Su zuki GSXR750 when the series moved from the wide-open spaces of Dayto na Internationa l Spee dway to t he-n ot-so- frie n d ly confines of the Pomo na Fairp lex. Those hopes were dashed quickly, however, wit h Suz uki taking the top seven spo ts in round two of the Teamline-sponsored ·series. Now the other Suzuki rid ers simply have to figure out how to beat Yoshimura Suzuki's Pascal Picotte. Picotte wa s in a clas s by himself at Pomona, winning by 4.679 seconds onl y because that' s what he figured was a safe margin. lf Picotte was to be prodded, the push was expected to come from his teammate Aaron Yates, the winner of the op ening round at Day tona. Yate s, though, was injured after having broken his right collarbone during a testing crash at Willow Springs the week prior to Pomona . No one else could come close. . The man who came the closest was Team Suzuki Sports Ma rk Miller, in his best performance to date. The Californian raced with self-sponsored , EBSCO Ind ust ries cast-o ff James Rand olph for five of the 18 laps before clearing off to an u nco ntested second place. Mille r' s previous bes t was a fifth a t Firebir d International Raceway last yea r. Ra ndol ph' s race s howed tha t h e' s well on his way to finding the form that mad e him a top finisher in past years, ridi ng a fa irly s tock Suzuki tha t h e keeps and maintains in his ow n garag e after losing his EBSCO ride after Daytona. Fourth pla ce went to EBSCO's Mark McDaniel, the No rthern California rider circula ting alone at the finish after sha king off teammate Mich ael Barn es, who ended up losing one more spot to the ' charging Yates in the final comer. Yates' effort was impressive consid eri ng his injury and his fifth-pla ce finish kept his championship hopes alive. Picotte now leads Yates by six points after two rounds, 68-6 2, with Miller holding down third by three points over McDanie l. Barnes is another poi nt behind with 53, just two clear of Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler, who finished 10th at Pomona. The top Kawasaki finisher was Kinko's -backed Jason Prid more, w ho rode his ZX7 to eighth. Picotte wasted little time in m oving to th e front of th e pack from his pole position on the front row . The Fren ch Can adian led going into tum one and he led in every tum after that. "I thou ght I' d ha ve a five-seco nd lead at the end," Picotte said after winning by 4.6 seconds. "I was consistently half a second faster and I w asn 't going over my he ad . I don 't th ink the pace was very fast. It was a lot easier without Aaron (Yates)." With the race for first effectively over by the first comer, focus switched to the battle for second - a race th at starte d with -Mi ll er lead ing Rand olph, McDaniel , Leslie, Barnes, Pridmore and T (Above) The 750Cc Supersport pack never got any closer than this to Pascal Picotte (21). (Right) Matt Wait (95) had his hands full with Ben Bostrom (11), but eventually grabbed the win , his second straight on the season. his teammate Thomas Stevens . It didn't take long, however, before the sevenrider battle turned in to a two-rider affair, with Miller and Randolph swapping the spot on occasion. By the sixth lap Miller had second sewn up after putting some distance on Randolph and he was ab le to easily hold the spot to the finish . "It's ~ bette r kin~ of season, " the 24year-old said. "It's my first year on Dunlops, my first year on these bikes and tires. Last year I used Avons an d a selftu ned bike, and us ing Avo ns allowed me to ge t to all th e rac es. Bill Syf an (Team Suzuki Sp ort coordi na tor) saw so me potential in me and gave me the chance to do Team Suz uki Sport. I was jus t tr yin g to p ut in clean laps. H e' s (Rando lph) a stro ng finisher and a good frien d and I knew he'd be there. I was hap py to see that he was not." Third place pleased Rand olph after an up-and-down season in 1995. "This is my best resu lt in aw hile," the Californ ian said . "I rode for EBSCO at Daytona, but the y decided to cut back to two riders. I'm really fortunate that Bill Syfan ga ve me a bike - well, really a lot of parts. I tested the bike a few days and d id a club race . I've worked non stop since Daytona. Cary Andrews di d the m oto r, but it's really pretty stock. Ifm more familiar with this bike, more confident. Ifm like my oid self." Yates m anaged to stuff his Suzuki under Barnes in the final comer, forcing the Floridian to run wide. "I'm real happy," Yates said. "I didnit expect to d o that well ." Cha nd ler had p robl ems with his front fork all wee kend, and it didn 't get any better by race time. He finished an even tu al 10th. Zero Gra v it y' s Ben Bostrom ended up 11th, the top finish in g 600cc rid er. Kin ko ' s Kaw asaki ' s Stevens wound up 21st after crashing whil e running seventh. (~ Pomona Falrp lex Pomona, Californ ia Results: April 20, 1996 750 ('(' SUP ERSPORT FIN A L: 1. Pascal Picotte (Suz); 2. Mark Miller (Suz); 3. James Rand olph (Suz) ; 4. Mark McDaniel (Suz); 5. Aaron Yates (Suz); 6. Michael Barnes (Su z); 7. Jim leslie (Suz ); 8. Jason Pri d more (Kaw): 9. Mark Black (5uz) ; 10. Doug Chandler (!

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