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Round 6: Road America Vance & Hines Yamaha 's Tom Kipp managed to lead ear ly in the race but faded to an eventua l thlrd. , And rew Deatherage (Kaw ); 21. Tomm y Dy reson (Suz); 22. Dean Mizda l (Yam ); 23. Davi d Roy (Suz ); 24. Jim Dic kenson (Su z); 25. Chris Carr (H-D); 26. Anthon y Lupo (Suz); 27. Mike Smith (Kaw) ; 28. Tho mas Wilson (H-D); 20. John Hilton (Hon ); 21. James Milroy (Kaw). Time: 41 rnin ., 5.694 sec. Dis tance: 16 lap s. 64 miles. Average Speed: 93.442 mph. Margin of Victory: 3.369 sec. AMA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL C '5HIP POINT STANDtNGS (After 6 of 10 ro unds) : 1. Doug Chandler (181 /1 wi n) ; 2. Mig ue l Du Ha mel (164 / 3); 3. Pascal Picotte (158 /1 ); 4. Tom Kipp (154); 5. Ma t Mladin (140); 6. Larry Peg ram (119); 7. Shawn Higbee (118); 8. (TIE) Steve Crev ier / Al Salaverri a (101); 10. Aar on Yates (95); 11. James Randolph (87); 12. Chr is Carr (85 ); 13. Jamie Jame s (84); 14. Mike Smith (80); 15. Thomas wilson (76); 16. (TIE) Dave Estok /Tripp Nobles (74 ); l B.-Mark Miller (71); 19. Alessandro Gr am igni (62); 20. Rad Gre aves (59). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 16 Round 8 - Brainerd, Minnesota, J uly 14 FILE PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS We co uld've softened the suspension some more, but with this track being so smooth and wi th not a lot of bumps, it really didn't seem to affect it." Kipp felt that perhaps he'd been a little hard on the tires early on, and that cost him a shot at finishing second. "We went with the rain setu p, I think I was ju st harder on mine in the beginn in g," Kip p sa id . "A n d it ca ugh t up with me lat e in th e ra ce. The bike w as rea lly working great eve rywhere, excep t after a wh ile my dri ves were really poor becau se I cou ld n't ge t an y tracti on once I was s t r a ig h t up and d own . I was alm os t better tr ying to keep it leaned over an d accelera ting th at w ay. It just didn't wan t to hook up." As for ge tt ing close to Gramigni on that one occasion, Kipp said: "That was like a combination of tw o or three laps. But it really showed up in the on e lap where I m ight have ga ined a second on him or so . I thought at that point that it mi ght be a race. I had eight laps left or so meth ing like that an d I thought if I kept making up time we could have a race to the finish. The very next lap, it just went downhill." Mladin crossed th e line nearly a full minute behind Kipp an d 6.5 seconds ahead of DuHam el , a n d the be s t of those who had chosen the intenned iate rear tire. " The intermed ia te was th e go up he re," Mlad in said, pointing to the first portion of the race trac k. "But Cramigni was in a race of his own. I reckon m y split time from here to there (the start line to turn five) was good, bu t as soon as we got ou t there... I knew Gramigni would be quick today . I was hoping it wou ld d ry out, b ut un fortunatel y it drizzled all the wa y th rou gh . I was stu pid last week and I didn't want to put it on th e gras s again. I bl ew it (at MidOhio, where he cr~shed);Jt _w., s rider error . I was just too anxiou s to w in a race and l-was.very disa ppointed tha t I let m yself do th at . That wasn't in our game p la n . W e 're basically a race b eh in d in t he champi on ship , but strange r things have hap pened ." The championship was also firmly on the mind of Du Ha mel , who felt he ma y h ave let a crucial one get away. He 'd already d one the math on what would happen if he won the next four ra ces, captured the po le each time ou t an d also led the most lap s - with Cha nd ler ge ttin g second each time. "The re are 20 available p oints an d h e ' s 17 a hea d ," DuH am el sa id. " I thought with th e in termedia te re ar I could ke ep up on br ak es u nt il th in gs d ried ou t. We had a pret ty decent rain setu p, we just d idn't use the righ t tires. It got better when it s to pped rai ni ng, but for the first eight to 10 laps it w as pretty bad . I've u sed th is com bin atio n before and told myself I wouldn 't do it again. I think I've finally learn ed. Wh en .it's a wet track, u se rain tires. Oh; well, I~ 'I' ve surv ived to fight ano ther day." Road America Elkhart Lake, Wiscons in Results : Ju ne 9, 1996 (Round 6 of 10) 5UPERBIK E QUALIFYIN G: \. La rry Peg r am (2:12.755/ 108.749 mph); 2. Doug Chandler (2:12.836); 3. Tom Kipp (2:14.086); 4. Migue l DuHamel (2:14.122); 5. Mike Sm ith (2:14 .176 ); 6. Pascal Picotte (2:14.624 ); 7. Aaro n Yates (2:14.915) ; 8. Shawn Higb ee (2:15.048 ); 9. Mat Ml ad in (2:15.4-18); 10. Chris Carr (2:17.147); I\. Th om as YVilson (2:17.781);-12. Al Saleverria (2:18.061); 13. Al ess an d ro G ramigni (2:18. 300); 14. Dave Estok (2:18.809); 15. Tripp No bles (2:19.727); 16. Ma rk Miller (2:20.252); 17. Mark Black (2:2\. 032); 18. James Rando lph (2:21.836); 19. An dr ew Dea therage (2:22.028); 20. David Roy (2:22.050); 21. Eric Moe (2:22.373); 22. Danie l Bailey (2:22.877); 23. An thony Lu po (2:23.500); 24. Micha el Fitzp atrick R:2 3.700); 25. Dax Sn ow (2:24.178); 26. Rad Gre aves (2:24 .906) ; 27 . Mich ael Barnes (2:25 .399) ; 28. John Hilton (2:26.068): 29. James Milro y Jr. (2:26.339); 30. Dale Kieffer (2:26.441 ); 31. Dean Mizdal (2:26 .767); 32. Sean Goff (2:27.862~ 33. Tommy Dyreson (2:27.870); 34. Jim Dickenson (2:29.153 ); 35. Steve Pat terson (2:29.897); 36. Dan Wade (2:30.080); 37. Kelly Lacou nt (2:3\.879) , SUPERB IKE FINAL: 1. Ale ssandro Gramign i (Du e); 2. Doug Chandle r (Kaw ); 3. Tom Kipp (Yam ); 4. Mat Mladin (Suz); 5. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 6. Aa ron Yates (Suz); 7. Larry Pegram (Du e); B. Tripp Nobles (H ~ D); 9. Pascal Picotte (Suz); 10. Shawn Higbee (Due); 11. AI Salaverria (H ~Q);.12. Michael Fitzpatrick (Kaw): 13. Dave Estok (Due); 14. Mar k Black (Suz); 15. Mar k l\111fer (Suz); 16. James Rand olph (Suz ); 17ยท. Ste ve Pa tt erson (Suz.+,:..J.B . O ax Snow (Suz ); 19 . Er ic Moe (Ka w ); 20._ Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates finally , got to the point where his broken collarbone was n'tbot hermqh tm much any more . Th en .According to Kinkos K awasaki teernrnanaq- h e w ent ' o ut and c ras he d hi s m otocro s s erBobert Nutt, it now appears as t hough bike.. reinjuri ng his shoulder s lightly. Yates Jason Pridmore' s spoi alsowon' t be filled , fin ished second in the 750cc Supersport Rumors of Dav e S a dowski taking' over for . race ~n .~~U!day and sixth in the Superbike . .. , the injured Pridmore didn't 'pan -o ut .- "We -NatrMal. .