Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4:B rainerd InternationalRaceway .RO\D .RACE North.AmericanS portBike Series of the ri ders to co ntest Zam pach's bid, leading for a short time, bu t falli ng victim to th e chargin g Zampach 's advance by the second lap . Beh ind McGrath, James Hanr ahan an d Shawn Co nrad battl ed for th e final sp ot on the podium after Michael Fitzpa trick fe ll o ff th e battlin g pa ir ' s pace. Hanrah an was able to break free of Conrad after abou t nin e laps, but by that tim e McGrath had stre tche d ou t a solid mar gin and held second p lace without threat from third-p lace finish er Hanrahan. Zampach's win consolida ted his lead in the poi nts standings over McGrath in seco n d . The b ig change was th a t McC rath's second-place points cou pled w it h Mich ael Fitzpatrick's low 16 thp lace fini sh pu t McGrath into th ird in th e p oints, replacing Fitzpatrick, w ho dropped to fou rth . McGrath made a de termined effort in th is race, catch ing the draft o f Rick Kirk, Zam pach and Ha nrahan going in to tum one . Kirk ba cked off the th rottl e as they went in to the tum and McGrat h, going arou nd the ou tside, nearly collided wi th him . Hanrah an was rig ht behind them: "I ha d to ge t off the gas and McGrath go t a lead on me. The bikes are so eve nly matched you ju st ca n ' t catch back Internation GP Series by Ide itsuand HRC al m R ound4: Brainerd International Raceway IIZ A liGEN! UK By John Flory BRAINERD, MN, MAY 19 asa h iro Iizuka had an easy race as Vicky Jackson -Bell, the only r id e r like ly to press ure hi m he re, con tinued to h ave engine p roblems wit h her VJB Racing RSl25. And it was fortu na te for h im th a t he did not face stronger op posi tion beca use he was extremely tired. He had raced the 250cc GP race at the AMA National at Homestead on Saturday and then flew to Minnesota to race he re on Sun day. Jackson-Bell has been struggling all season wi th a difficult-to-trace intermittent m isfire. This p roblem reached the p oin t at Brain erd th at th e bike wou ld b a r el y ru n u nless th e a irb ox w a s removed. O n the theory th at th e p roblem seemed to d isappear near the end of a session when the motor was hot, her team tried warmi ng u p the bike th oroughly before sending her out. Lea ner jetting d id not seem to help, so in desperation they tried going riche r an d the misfire cleared up at least temporarily. She wou ld race wi tho ut the airbox . Despite all the confid ence- and concentra tio n-robbing confusion, JacksonBell pushed Iizuka for at least the firs t few laps . Iizuka go t h is America n H on d a RS125 off the line in the lead , only to h ave Jackson-Bell dive in side h im coming out of tu m six and pass him going into turn seven. But Iizuka qu ickly regained th e lead and began to pull away, accumu lating a 25-second lead by th e e nd of th e race. Jackson-Bell was likewise well clear of Tommy Hickm an in th ird, who was severa l seconds ahead of Fra nk Pate in fou rth. In the closin g laps Aa ron Stein d ropped a fading Jeffrey Young, who h ad been in th ird for the first few laps, back to fifth. Iizuka, Jackson-Bell, and Pate are the only ride rs who have run all the events so fa r, and th e race consolid ated their h old on firs t, secon d and th ird in th e sta n d in gs , re specti vel y, but none o f M (Above) Hondamounted M ahiro as IIzuka continued his winning ways in the 125cc Grand Prix class with his third win of the season. (Right) Despite mechan ical grem lins that have haunted her this season, Vicky Jackson-Bell finis hed a distant second and retains second In the champ ions hip behind leader IIzuka. th em ca n afford to falt er in the five remaining rounds. Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota Resu lts: May 19, 1996 (Round 4 of 9) IN TERNA TIONAL GP BY ID EMIT S U AND HR C: 1. Masah iro lizu ka (He n); 2. Vicky Iackson-Bell (He n ): 3. Tommy Hickm an (Hon); 4. Frank Pate (Hon ); 5. Aaro n Stein (Hon); 6. Ieffrey Young (Han); 7. Stephen Rezme r (Han); 8. Jason Lan igan (Hon); 9. Todd No rdby (Hon) . T ime: 13 min .• 37.000 sec . D istance: 7 1 ps, 21 miles a Ave rage Sp eed: 92.534 mph . Margin of Victory: 25.730 sec. INT ERNA Tl O NA L G P BY ID EMI TSU AND H RC CHAMPIO N SHIP SE RIES P O I N T STAN D I NG S (Afte r 4 of 9 rounds): 1. Masahiro Iizuk a (127/ 2 wins ); 2. Vicky Jackso n-Bell (lOBI; 3. Frank Pate (95); 4. Stephen Rezmer (72); 5. Tod d No rd by (62); 6. Jeffrey You ng (59); 7. (TIE) Ch ris Ulric h /Davi d Jo rd an (49 ); 9 . Roland Sa nd s (48) ; 10 . Clayton Kwitows ki (47) ; 11. La nce Yeage r (-1-1); 12. Nobi Iso (41); 13. Mark Brown (39); 14. (TIE) Marcello Del Giudice / Kevin Mu rray (35/1); 16. (TIE) Bobby Ketth / wesley Tot su bo /Tommy Hickm an (30); 19. (TIE) Todd Bowman /Frank Shockley (28). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Elkhart Lake. Wisconsin. August 4 Round 6 - Portland. Oregon. August 11 Mobil 1Triumph Speed Triple Challenge Series Round 4: Brainerd Inte tional Raceway rna ZAMP H AC TRIPLES By John Flory BRAINERD, MN, MAY 19 MC Hansen Racing's Scott Zam pach put his substant ia l amo u nt of spec-class racing experie nce to good lise in taking his thi rd victory of the season in the Triumph Speed Triple Ch allenge Series. Zampach faced only ear ly cha lle nges in a 12-lap race in which he wou ld eventually ru n away to w in by a roughl y five-second ma rgin . Second-placed David McGrath was one H up." McGr ath led for a wh ile bu t Zampach took the lead on the Hansen Racing Triumph on the second lap, w it h McGrath, Hanrahan, Co nrad, Fitzpatrick, and Steve Johnson close behind . Zampach began to pull away on th e thi rd lap , and steadily increased his lead to five seconds at the end. McGrath soon established himself in second, w hile Conrad, Hanrah an , and Fitzpa trick fo ug h t ove r th ird a n d Wi llia m Wh ite , Kirk, John Scheehser, and Johnson di sputed sixth. Fitzpatrick lost contact with H anrahan and Conrad on la p n in e, an d H anrah an grabbed thi rd from Co nra d . By then it wa s too late for H an rahan to ca tch McG ra th , altho ugh he tried. "The battle with Conr ad b ro ke m y concen tra ti on o n McGrath," said Hanrah an. "We've been working to get a lot of th e wheel cha tter ou t of it," Za m pach said, "a nd w e made some p rogress on th a t this w ee kend . Plus th e yea rs of

• Cover