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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127805
ROAD'RACING
. Round 8: New Hampshire International Speedway
~noco Race Fuels Formula .USA Seties
Eric Wood won the
ESC Brakes
Sportbike class,
topping Sadowski
and Scott
Greenwood.
here," Batey said. "But there are so
many slow comers that it's pulling off a
lot of rubber. The tire's getting a bit thin
after 10 laps (the races would be 17
laps). "
Sadowski was also searching for the
right tire. He tried a Dunlop 881 rear in
his heat race, while Metzger used a 219
for comparison. Sadowski would finally
settle on 881s for the races, though they
would not be ideal for his setup until later
in the day when the track warmed up.
The cold track caught Batey out in
the Sunday morning warmup, nearly
costing him the champions~p. He highsided hard in tum four when he spun
the rear tire going up the hill out of turn
three.
"It was the same tire we ran in the
heat race, and I was too aggressive on
it," Batey said. "You're up in the air
looking down and you see the handlebars are doin' this (swinging his arms)
and your legs are all over the place and
you can't do a thing about it and it just
sucks! At least by the time it had finished swattin: me allover the place it
had probably slowed down a lot before 1
hit the ground."
Batey was lucky to escape with a
twisted knee.
"It's pretty strong," he said, "It's got
a metal pin in it so. I guess that's what
saved it." He would find himself being
tentative through tum four in both of
the races.
RACE 1
The race had gone less than a lap
when Sweeney fell entering turn two.
He felt that his tire warmers may not
have been on long enough to warm up
the tires adequately. The race was redflagged because Sweeney was unconsoous, but his main injury turned out to
be a broken collarbone.
Batey seized the lead on the restart
with Kling, Zampach, Munroe and Sadowski in hot pursuit. The race had again
gone less than a lap when there was a
bigger crash. Accounts variep, but it
appears that Kling fell in turn three,
either when hit from behind or by losing
the rear end on his own account.
Munroe hit the Dutchman Yamaha and
went down too, and Zampach clipped
Munroe's bike just enough that he
joined the pileup. Kling was able to
restart, and the only injury was a
wrenched shoulder suffered by Munroe
which would eliminate him from the
rest of the day's races. Comerworkers
cleared the wreckage quickly, so there
was no red flag.
The incident handed Batey a 2.5-second lead over Sadowski, who had a
small lead over Stanton, who was followed by a battle for fourth between
Wood, Kent, and Metzger with a gap
.by far ee'tter than the .'95~ .. '94s, 'and '93s ..wIiich is'
.em,work: .
. ".,.'
..
None of the top .formul•. U~A. bik•• is e~en near ttie class"s 350 pound
_lght·ljlDii. 'The official post·race weights of the. top five at Loudon as mea..
sured Of) the'pfficial scal.es in .tec~ inspecti?" were as follows: .Batey's an!! Stan'
,ton's Team Valyoline !3uzuki GSXR1100s. 392.q·ood 392.~ pounds; Sad!lwski's
Team Labelle Hond;! CBR900flR.3S2. P. and 384.5 jlOu.nds; Eric' W\lOd's:CyeleWorks Ka",asaki ZX:7R. 390.5 and.3g1.0·pounds; and Brian .Kenf~ Haoters.
Suzuki GSXR150.:402.5 pounds: . .
.
The lirst ~ snap of the' season' hit this weekend. Ovemight .temperatures Well.
· beloW freeting apparently contribUted to a rash 01 i:ruhas in botH days' moming.
practice sessions before the sun 'had warmed the track surface. Many. of the
track's tums have pavement patche$.ii1 them due tei cilrs ripping "p the asphalt.·
While the patching compound nprmally 'offers roughly equivalent traction· t~ the
, origin8J. pavemeni. apParently the patcli-ed sections .lose grip faster \han' the origk
nal surface as the te~perat~re d':OPs The dual·traction situallon EMdent!y-CSlight
out many nd~rs.
'.
.
'.
.
. ' '. .
good. No ';ne else, c.,; make.
.
.
,
Since'Sadows!