Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Owen Weichel - in 13th place. And what of the 'M u z zy Kaw a s aki an d Do u g Chandler, or th e Kin ko's Kawasaki of Th omas Stevens . Both w er e no- shows on the gri d . " Th e thi ng was t yin g up in t ha t tim ed practice," Ch andler said . "The re w as no point really." When asked if that meant th e Kawasa ki would be p arked for the rest of the seas on, Chandler said: "It' d be nice if w e could, bu t I d oubt that ." Enough said . Stevens' excuse for missing the 750cc Superspo rt final was a 600cc Supersport pra ct ic e c rash that left h im w it h a sprained rotator cuff in his sho ulde r. Yates' third win of the season has pu t h im on ly two po ints beh ind his teamma te Picotte, 168-166, w ith the series reac hi ng it s h a lfway m ark . Barne s is thir d with 138 p oints, foll owe d b y McDanie l and Miller, wh o are tied with 133 points. With the two top Kawa sakis missin g fro m th e grid, the race got un de r wa y wi th Yates lead ing the pack int o the first com er. By the end of the first lap, Yates had alre ady opened up a gap to his purs u e rs - a gap th at would continue to grow right through to the end . " I go t a rea lly good s ta rt an d go t thro ug h th e fir st two corners go od," Yates said later. "I got about 10-15 bike len gths ahead and after that it was just a matter of trying to keep a goo d pace. I just had to keep it going. I was looking ba ck every lap and counting laps. Then I told myself to sto p looki ng around." The race fo r seco nd pl a ce lasted lon ger. Barn es led Picott e until the 12th o f 16 laps, whe n th e Fre nch Canadian took ove r - for good . "He passed me on the brakes on the back stra igh t," Picotte said of Barnes' opening-lap pass. "Then I got him back on the brakes at the end of the str aight. I was gai ning a lot on the brakes . 1 ha d to - m y bike was reall y slow an d I d on ' t kn ow wh y. I also changed something in th e forks be fore th e race and it d idn't seem to wor k." Barnes had arm problem s late in the race , the by-product of some ligament d amage. "We worked toge ther for a while, but once he (Picotte) got by me my arm was a bit sore . The injury turned out to be in my forearm ; it's a ligamen t that goes from the wrist to the forearm. There's nothi ng 1 can do about it. It just needs time to heal an d now I've got all these races in a row - it wo n' t help the healin g process." Despite McDaniel's late-race charge, Mil ler w as ab le to h o ld on to fourth place. Randolph was a lonely sixth with 1:\ Leslie seventh and Kieffer eigh th . Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio Resu lts : J une 1, 1996 (Round 5 of 10) iS O SUPER SPORT FINAL: 1. Aaron Yates (Suz); cc 2. Pasca l Picott e (Suz); 3. Michael Barnes (Suz); 4. Mark Mi ll e r (Suz); 5. Ma rk Mc Da nie l (S uz); 6. Ja m es Ran dolph (Suz); 7. Jim Leslie (Suz); 8. Da le Kieffer (5 02 ); 9. Da n iel Bailey (502); to. Anthony Lupo (Suz ); 11. Steve Pa tte rson (Su z) ; 12. Frank Wil son (Suz); 13. Owen weichel (Kaw), 14. Richard Alexander Jr. (Suz); 15. Ken Melville (Ho n); 16. Dax Snow (Suz); 17. Brett Metzger (Su z); 18. Mark Jun ge (Su z); 19. Jeff Heino (Su z); 20. Michael Luke (Kaw) : 21. John Jacobi (Suz); 22. Gregory Myer (Hon); 23. Matt Brokaw (Suz ); 24. Daniel Brod y (Ka w ); 2;5. [erni e Wo rthing ton (Hon); 26 . T odd Harringto n (Kaw ); 27. David Lloyd (Hon ); 28. Mark Black (Suz), Ti me: 25 min, 4.655 sec. Distance: 16 laps. 38.4 miles A verage Speed. 91.75 m ph . Ma rg in of V ictory: 5.707 sec. 750« SU PERSP O RT C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (Af ter 5 of 10 ro unds): 1. Pascal Picotte (168 /2 wins ); 2. Aa ron Yates (166 / 3 wins); 3. Micha el Barnes (138); 4. (TIE) Mark McD an ie l /M a rk Mill e r (133); 6. Jame s Ran do lph (101); 7. Jim Leslie (100); 8. Jason Pri d mo re (94); 9. Mark Black (86); 10. Dale Kieffer (85); I I. Dou g Chandler (7'l ~ 12. (TIE ) DO" Sno w ISteve Patterson (67); 14. Th omas Stev ens (60); IS. Richard Alexan der Jr. (57). Upcoming Rounds Round 6 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, J une 9 Round 7 - Loudon, NewHampshire, June 16 (Right) Aaron Yates was unstop pable in the 750cc Supersport final, easily topping his teammate Pascal Picotte. (Left) Matt Wait (95) leads rival Ben Bostrom (11) In the Harley-Davidson SuperTwlns final. The pair were this close for most of the race, with Bostr om moving around Walt in the final two corners to take the win. A P MA rogressive Insura nceSuperTw ins Round 5 :Mid-OhioSports CarCourse Bostrom stops Wait By Henny Ray Abrams LEXINGTON, OH, JUNE2 t ha s becom e a tw o-rider season and th is was a two-ride r race. Mitchell' s Modest o H -D' s Matt Wait and Bartels' H-D's Ben Bostrom, who had each won tw o races coming into Mid -Ohio, were locked together for all 11 laps of the Progressi ve Insurance SuperTwins race w ith Wait in fr ont an d Bostrom hounding him. It wo uld come down to the final set of comers : the Carou sel turn and then the dangerous left to the finish line. Wait led going in, as he had for th e I entire race, but Bostrom was able to find a sligh t open ing. No t a lot, but enough to sneak ahead an d hold him off at the last left to take his third win in a row, th is one on a wet track . "I knew he was there, I just tho ught I ha d him covered," Wait, who was celebrating his 20th birthday today, said . "1 was using all my block lines going to the inside of the corners so he coul d n't get by me. I left him a little too mu ch room in that comer. He stuffe d it u ndern eath me. So then I tried to get him back in the last one . I couldn' t get it done." The official margin of victory after 11 lap s and 26.4 miles w as 0.484 seconds. Bostrom avera ged 71.371 mph in com p leting the race in 22 minutes, 11.638 second s. Bostrom's young er brother Eric finished third after Lancaster H-D' s Rand y Texter cra sh ed ou t of the sp ot on th e eigh th lap . Well behind Eric Bostrom came Matt Wait's Y9u n ge r brother, Nate, with Hal' s H-D 's Bri a n Gibbs fift h and Fren chman Michel Amalric in his wake. The rest of the top 10 was processional, w ith Wid man's H-D's Lance Jones in fro nt of Moroney's H -D' s Jeff He in o, H ik a ru M iyag i a nd Bartel s' H arl ey David son 's Dave Estok. Bos trom m o v e s to the to p of th e point sta ndi ngs w ith his thi rd win, 171 points to 169 for Matt Wait, after five of 11 races. Na te Wait is in third place with 136 points. The first atte mpt at ru nn ing the race end ed w ith a red fla g w hen Ch a rle s Holmes IT cras hed in the final tum at the end of the first lap . Following a 13-minute delay, the race began again a t abou t 6:10 p.m . At th e start, Bostrom hit a paint line and ended up doi ng a wheelie whil e Wait jumped to the poi nt . But Bostrom quickly settled into a strong pace and passed fou r riders between turns seven an d eight to move into secon d by the time the riders hit the start/finish str ip e for the first tim e. By the end of the second lap it was clear tha t the race was going to be a tworider affair, with Wait leading Bostrom 11

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