Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.R 250ce Grand Prix Series' Round 4: Homestead Motorsports Complex O ADRACE AMA " A fte r 1 p a ssed th e o th e r guys, 1 cou ld see Rich was gone," the Finn said . "1 wanted to hold my position an d make sure nobody passe d me." Kaas sec ured h is spot han d ily and th ird w as now up for grabs, Ren frow and Lavado go ing at it and cha ng ing p ositi on s ov er th e second ha lf of the race. Foster joined the p air on his wa y back to si xt h, th en left it to Renfrow an d Lavado to decid e. But Renfrow would la t e r s ay t h a t the ra ce was decid ed m os tly th e day before when he crashed in practice, beatin g himself up . "Th at was as fast as 1 could go," Renfrow said. "I had a ha rd time . 1 didn 't have enough dexterity left. When 1 was by m yself 1 w as fine. But w he n 1 was wi th peopl e 1was uncomfortable." It w as ab ou t three -quarters of th e way through the 14th lap that Lavad o was able to ge t by Renfrow for good . That settled the top four. Fifth was d ecided in th e left-ha n d part of the chica ne at the top of the fron t straigh t, wit h San ds dropping Foster to sixth . "1 w as just riding as fas t as I cou ld go, getting as many people as I could." Sands said, afte r getting awa y poorly at th e start. "The engin e bo gged all the w ay to tu rn th ree. It didn't ge t goi ng until tum fou r. 1 p assed 15 people on the first lap and put my head down." Bobby Keith, who'd been in the fight for fifth with Sand s and Foster, sta yed at the back of the grou p to take seventh, w ell in front of Cliff Tolley and Perry Melne ciuc. John Fra nce got the bett er of Greg Esser to fill out the top 10. Ol'iver's travels Kurtis Roberts (81) was expected to give Rich Oliver (1) a run for his money In the 250cc Grand Prix class at Homestead· that lasted for about two laps. (Right) Oliver won easily after Roberts .crashed out of the race. By Henny Ray Abrams ee if this sou n ds familiar: Team Oliver Yamaha's Rich Oliver comple tely dominated the 250cc Grand Prix, winning by better than 10 seconds, the compet iti on effectively left behind on the second lap. Not that he need ed it, but in today's race, held at Homestead Motorsports Com plex on a very warm and partly sunny d ay, he go t a little help from som eone wh o w a s ex pected to make him work for the w in. Running in second place on the second lap, PJ-1 Racin g Oils Plus' Kurtis Rob erts, w ho had run ahead of Oli ver during th eir Saturday h eat rac e, highsided exiting tum three, with man and ma chine sent sp rawling across the track an d in t o th e dirt . Rand y Ren frow M ot orsp orts Rand y Renfrow s ai d it looked lik e so meone " th re w a b ag of cem ent on the track." Th at caused eve ryone a secon d's delay and tha t was all Oliver needed to make a break. Lapping better than a second a lap fas ter than an yone else, Oliver held a seven-second lead on th e th ird lap and he stre tched it to 11.662 at the end. In keep ing his 1996 record perfect w ith four w ins, Oliver com pleted the 17lap, 37.57-mile race in 25 minutes, 50.396 secon ds at an average speed of 87.237 m ph . "That was the most precise and accura te that I'v e ridden in the longest period of time, since Dayton a," Oliver said . "My heart rate couldn' t be ov er 85." Second place was d ecided just before the halfwav mark w he n Per formanc e Ma ch in e ' s' Kris tia n Kaas p a ss ed Deutsche Fin an cial Service's Mark Fos- S ter a few turns from the front straight. Kaas had bogged at the start, the eng ine on hi s Yamaha loading up during the long start-line procedure, dropping him well back when the green ligh t blinked. He was out of the top 10 on the first lap, then inside the next lap and cutting his way to the front , passing riders everywh ere on the brakes. By the time he got in to second, he kne w Oli ver was gone. Racing Time's Luis Lavado was third after a race-long duel with Renfrow that wa s d eci d ed m o stl y b y Ren frow ' s fatigu e. The Virgini a vet eran had highsided in practice on gaturday and w as riding wounded . He w ould ho ld onto fou rth w ith Performance Mach in e s' Roland Sands, another slow starter, fifth. Oliver 's fou r wins, worth 140 points, plus the extra point per race for lead ing the most laps, gives him 144 afte r fou r of 10 races . Renfrow is second at 120, wi th Kaas third at 111. When Roberts go t th e ju m p on the 29-rider field it came as no surprise. The 17-year-old yo u ngest son of Kenny Roberts had been faster on the unofficial clocks in Sa tu rday's p ra ct ice and ra n wi th Oliver in their heat race late on Saturday afternoon. This despite missin g Friday m ornin g' s practice due to bad p lanning. Young Roberts held off Oliver until running wide as the pair headed ou t of the double right on to the middl e s traigh ta way. Th at p u t Oli ver in th e lead, a position he knows well an d is loathe to cede. Today he wouldn' t. On the next lap he was in front when Robe rt s ca me off ex iting turn three, causi ng a momentary delay among his pursuers. He was up and fine , but hi s da y wa s do ne and Oliver's was mad e. "1 ju st high-sid ed," Rob erts said . ':It ju st le t go . We cou ld ' ve ridde n with Rich, I'm su re." "He's going to be tou gh all yea r," Oliver sai d. "1 d on't thi nk I'll be able to run aw ay eve r agai n th is year. Th ere wer e special circu mstances today w ith this track." With Oliver out of the picture there was some serio us racing for the pod ium. Mark Foster w as an early second , bu t the re was a qu art et behind him - Lava do, Keith, Renfrow , Kaa s - whose scrap carried them towards the front. Thou gh Fos ter had bet ter th an 2.5 seconds on Lavad o at the end of the fifth lap, the p ack began to run him d own an d cau ght up on the eighth lap; Kaas, now u p to th ir d , m oved by Fos ter as they began the run up the back stretch. Kaas soon knew tha t he 'd used u p his tires catching up to the leaders an d saw little chan ce of catching Oliver. Homestead Motorsports Complex Homestead, Florida Results: May19, 1996 (Round 4 of 10) 250cc GRAND PRIX: 1. Rich O li ver (Yam) ; 2. Kris tian Kaas (Yam); 3. Luis Lavad o (Yam); 4. Randy Renfrow CHon) 5. Rolan d Sands (Yanl ); 6. Mark Foster ; (Yamt 7. Bobby Keit h (Yam ); 8. Cliff Toll")" (yam ); 9. Perry Melneduc (Hon); 10. John France (Hon); 11. Greg Esse r (Yam): 12. Ja son Paden (Ya m) ; 13. Bra ndon w el ton (Yam); 14. Der ek Kin g (Ya m); 15. Jason Roth (Ya m): 16. Freddy Maruca (Yam); 17. John Burgoyne (Hon); 18. Brad y Welton (Yam); 19. Keith Floyd (Yam); 20. David Pare (Hon ); 21. Hans Battle (Yam); 22. Kevin Brown (Yam); 23. Bowe Herron (Yam); 24. Dave Avery (Yam) ; 25. Jeff Ortl ip (Yam); 26. Leig h ton Chalmers (Yam); 27. Jim Bonner (Yam); 28. Joe Skrocki (yam); 29. Kurtis Roberts (Yam). Time: 25 mtn., 50.3% St."C. Distan ce: 17 laps, 3757 miles. Aver age spe ed: 87.237 mp h. Margin of victory: 11.662 sec. 250« GP CHA MPIO NS HIP POI NT STANOINGS (After 4 of 10 round s): 1. Rich Oliver (144/4 wins); 2. Randy Ren frow (120); 3. Kristian Kaas (111); 4. Mark Fos te r (10 5 ); 5. Bobby Ke ith (93); 6. (TIE) Perry Melned uc /John Fra n ce / N ick Jena tsc h (75 ); 9. Jason Roth (70); 10. Greg E.~ser (65); 11. O iff Tolley (63t 12Rol and San d s (56): 13. Jason Paden (53); 14. Bran don Welton (SO); 15. Ch ris Rogers (47). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 . Lexington, Ohio, J une 2 Round 6 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 9

• Cover