Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·ROAD RACE·. .. AMA 'Superbik' NatIonal ChampionShip Road Race SerieS . Final Round: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Left) Matt Mladln (66) turned In an Inspired ride to take over second when DuHamel faltered late In the race. (Above) Thomas Wilson hed a tough day, but stili finished fifth on the factory Harley-Davidson VR1000. (Pegram) but I couldn't tell what the problem was. Everything looked fine, I think maybe he just psyched himself out or something. "When I got behind Miguel, I could see a little bit of tire missing so I knew he had a problem and I got him on the last lap. I just put my head down the whole race and did the best I could do. It's what I've been doing all year and I'mhappy to get back up here (on the podium) again." Pegram's problems mirrored DuHamel's. First it was a tire, then a sour . engine. He could only muster a sixthplace finish as both Wilson and Yates were able to get by. His mood was soured even further when he learned about DuHamel's criatal remarks. "That just shows his ignorance," Pegram said. "He's stupid if he thinks I'm going to get out of his way. I'm trying to win a race. He woul.dn't have been able to even stay close if my bike was running right. I knew something was wrong early when Doug (Chandler) passed me down the front straight. This bike doesn't get passed on'a straight" away. Three laps from the end the bike got really bad. I'd already chunked a tire, but I just kept going." Yates' race had been steady, if not dramatic. "I was fourth off the start and just trying to be easy on it," the Georgian said. '1 was just hanging with the guys, but I got a little tensed up. Matt (MIadin) came by me and I told myself to. stop thinking and just go. I caught up a little bit but he was getting through traffic in the best spots. I ended up getting Pegram on the last lap. Five laps from the end it was hopping pretty bad and it felt real spongy. Another lap and I probably would have been on DuHamel." Then came Wilson, still in considerable pain from the spilled-gas episode. "I was in so much pain I almost didn't race," Wilson said. "I never thought it was a big deal when it happened to other people - but it's a big deal. The bike went sideways off the start because of the water we'd poured' in my leathers. I just wasn't into it. I had no concentration, but I passed so.me people and just kept plugging away. I didn't go near the pace I wanted to, but I just wasn't there." His finish was impressive considering his pain, and his was the lone factory Harley to finish as teammate Chris Carr suffered with an oil leak caused by a blown seal. Crevier followed Pegram across the finish line, his race ruined by a bad start and a poor tire choice, '1 got a bad start and four laps from the end I blistered the rear tire," said the Canadian, who was the only rider to choose the harder-compound Dunlop 241. "I was pretty anxious and just fed too much throttle too soon and it wheelied up. I just really have a hard time with the AMA's starting procedure. I chose the harder tire because I've never been happy with a medium (compound) one." Polen managed to finish eighth on his Suzuki, his first AMA finish of the year in what was only his second start of the season.. He too had botched the start. "I was passed by 10 or 12 people, I imagine," the two-time World Champion said. "I was 14th or 15th and it was a Jot of work after that. The bike was good at the end, but not so good at the start with a fuI] tank of fuel. I never really went fast enough to seriously move up, but I about got Steve (Crevier) at the end. I chose a hard rear tire because I thought a lot of guys would start going backward at the end./I Ki pp crossed the finish line in ninth, a victim of a bad tire. • "I started to have tire problems from the fifth lap on," Picotte said. "And it didn't get any pretti~r from there. It blistered early and it was vibrating. It was spinning a lot in the lefts and it didn't take too long to wreck itself. In hindsight, I should have strung more laps together in practice. It would have been nice to walk out of here with a good finish since it's the last race with Yamaha and Vance & Hiries. But I love this track and I had some fun." Picotte's race was ruined early on when he ran straight in the hairpin. "I just got in too hot," he said. "But my'tire was still good at the end." 1:N Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Veg8s, Nevada Results: OCtober 6,1996 (Round 10 of 10) SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING: 1. Doug Chandler (1:37.529); 2. l.auy Pegram (1:37.667); 3. Migoel DuHamel (1:38.541); 4. Thomas WHson (1:38.925); 5. Tom Kipp (1:39.098); 6. Aaron Yates (1:39.136); 7. Doug Polen (U9.265); 8. Chris Carr (1:39.478); 9. Matt Mladin (1:39.507); 10. Steve Crevier (1:39.521); 11. Shawn HigbEe (U9.574); 12. Pascal Picotte (1:39.840); 13. Mike Smith (1:40.153); 14. Jamie James (1:41.013); 15. Michael Taylor (1:41.082~ 16. Tripp Nobles (1:41.986); 17. Michael Barnes (1:42.176); 18. Rad Greaves (1:42.744); 19. Mark Miller (1:43.082); 20. Calvin Rayborn 111 (1:43.255); 21. AI Salaverria (1:43.396); 22. Mike Sullivan (1:43.469); 23. Dale Kieffer (1:43.787); 24. Ricky Orlando (1:44.132); 25. Eric Moe(1:44.374); 26. James Randolph (1:44.886); 27. David Estok (1:45.106); 28. Mark Schellinger (1:45.517); 29. John Hilton Jr. (1:45.63n 30. David Kieffer (1:45.907); 31. Dax Snow (1:46.036); 32. Mark Black (1:46.372); 33. Arthur Chandler makes his point in qualifyingl--I f the season-finale weekend could be broken into two parts - qualifying and race - then part one, and the momentum that came with it, definitely went to Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler. The Californian went out and earned pole position, taking the single championship point that went with the honor while also taking the mathematics out of the equation for the National Championship. With only a single point separating himself from series points leader Miguel DuHamel, the stage was set for a final showdown at the brand-spankmg-new Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was suddenly simple: Whoever finished in front of the other would be crowned as champion. "That was on a race tire:' Chandler said after clicking off a 1:37.529 on the very last lap of the session. "I used a qualifier yesterday, so today I didn't even want to screw with 'em. I should be able to do those times in the race." Not surprisingly, the insouciant Chandler was thinking less of the championship point . than others were. "You know, I wasn't even too concerned about it," he said. '1 thought it would be nice to have, but it wasn't worth doing anything stupid for. We had a good setup and I could click those laps consistently - just boom, boom, boom. It was going good at the end so I thought, 'Why not?' We put a fresh tire on right there at the end and that did it for us. I had a fairly clean lap and it went all right. I think we're set for tomorrow. At this point, why would you want to mess with it? Right now it's really easy to do those times. J can do 39s all clay long and 38s fairly comfortably." Early runs around the new 2.48-mile layout had the riders suffering from a lack. of grip, especially if they happened to run off-line. The problem wasn't with the track's surface, but with the sand and dirt that blow onto the tarmac from the surrounding desert and construction zones. Because of an abundance of rear-wheel spin and the heat of the desert, tire wear would also likely be a factor. Still, with Las Vegas Motor Speedway only in its infant stage of development, such things were to be expected and nearly all of the racers were complimentary in regard to the layout of the new circuit. "I don't think the track changed much from yesterday," Chandler said. "If anything. there are a couple of spots where we have some oil coming up because of all the heat and stuff. I don't think the track is any better, I just think everyone has finally gotten comfortable and used to it. I'm carrying so much more speed down the front straight than I was this morning and yesterday, and my shifting points are a lot earlier. That's just a case of me finally getting with it:' Although DuHamel was far from out of the hunt in this season of suspense, it was easy to hear the disappointment in his voice after qualifying. But, hey, he was still leading the champi. onship and his 1;38.541 had him third on the front row''1 wish 1 could have qualified better, but now I'U just have to focus on the rare," DuHamel said. "The one good thing is that everyone seems to be very excited about the series title coming down to the last race. I'm confident that my team will put the best bike on the track Sunday." Second quickest was the Fast By Ferraci Ducati of Larry Pegram at 1:37.667. '1 did two or three laps about the same right there at the end," Pegram said. "The tires are good, the bike's good... like always, we did those times on race tires. 1 was pretty surprised to see Chandler go that fast. He said he did it on a race tire, but I don't believe him. We're running the hardest tire we've run all year except for Daytona.. The MicheIins seem to work really well on a newly paved track because they don't like to slide." Filling the front row was Thomas Wilson and the factory Harley-Davidson VRl000, a combination that no longer surprises anyone with strong qualifying and race results. Wilson may have even gone quicker, if not for a crash in tile final session. "1 was going past somebody (Mike Walsh) and he fell and took me out," Wilson explained. "I ran OVer his leg. but luckily it was in a slow comer and nobody was hurt. I was doing a tire test and I went 38s and 39s, which was faster than yesterday. I did 181aps and didn't COUle in. Unfortunately,.J never got back out. It felt good. I didn't plan on testing the tire quite that long but everything felt so good. I was going to do a couple of laps shy of a full race distance. We found some things wrong with the rear tire that we didn't like. [t didn't look like a wise decision, and we're not sure what we're going to do at this point." Vance & Hines Yamaha's Tom Kipp, Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates, Team Polen Suzuki's Doug Polen and Harley's Chris Carr filled the second row of the grid.

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