Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Eric Wood (5) dices with Scott Greenwood (22) In the Middleweight Superbike class during round 10 of the Loudon Road Racing Series at New Hampshire International Speedway. Wood took the win. Loudon Road Race Series, Round 10 Alexander the lireatest By John Flory LOUDON, NH, SEPT. 14-15 leven of 18 Loudon Road Race Series class championships were settled this weekend, the penultimate in the 1996 Loudon Road Race Series, and there were few surprises among these 11. Richard Alexander J r. claimed three titles for a total of fOUf so far, having already wrapped up the Solo GTO championship two events ago. Jim Lester and Brett Guyer grabbed two each. Sean Sweeney, Freddy Maruca and brothers Eric and Jeff Wood snapped up one apiece. As might be expected, the weekend's most interestiIlg races came in the six classes where championships are still up for grabs: Unlimited GP, Heavyweight Superbike, Middleweight Superbike, Lightweight Supertwins, Unlimited Singles and Sportsman. The title chases are particularly tig!)t in Lightweight Supertwins and Sportsman where just a single point separates the front-runners. Typically decisive wins by CycleWorks' Alexander in Unlimited and Heavyweight Supersport and Unlimited Superb ike earned championships for him in these three classes. In .both Supersport races, he fended off a determined Charles Miller, who led Unlimited Supersport initially before getting tangled in heavy lapped traffic and losing his lead. Miller and his Bill Rapp GSXR750 also shadowed Alexander for the first few laps of Heavyweight Supersport, but Alexander-pulled away for the win. Alexander had clear sailing in Unlimited Superbike as Charles Small Jr., second in the points, missed the race. After a crash-free season to date, Small fell hard in practice both Saturday and Sunday, injuring himself too badly to race Sunday. Alexander's CycleWorks teammate Eric Wood's quest for four championships is still in progress. Wood wrapped up the Middleweight Supersport cl1ampionship and kept his perfect record in this class intact - he has won every race so far this season - with a clear win over Windmill Cycles: Scott Greenwood. In Middleweight Superbike, Greenwood led the first half of the race and then strenuously resisted several pass attempts by Wood before Wood finally got by and won. This win puts Wood nine points ahead of the steadily improving Greenwood in the class. Greenwood attributes his progress to figuring out how to set up his CBR600F3 better, learning more about suspension and getting used to the characteristics of Pirelli tires, which he says are totally different from the , Dunlops he used previou Iy. Another win in Unlimited GP this weekend nearly clinched that championship for Wood. Miller once again ch,arged into the lead and held the point for the first three laps before his tires started going away, his brakes began to fade and Wood and Alexander got by. Alexander was having clutch problems. He had borrowed a Supersport-trim GSXR750 with aftermarket wheels and slicks from sponsor Freddie Maruca of E CycleWorks and discovered as he rolled up to the starting grid that the clutch was gone. He had to jam it into gear at every shift and thus was in no position to dispute the lead with Wood. The win puts Wood ahead of Alexander by 15 points and sets up an interesting scenario; If Alexander wins the last race and Wood scores no points, the teammates will be tied in points, wins and second-place finishes - and neither has placed lower than second in this class aJl season. . Wood also won Heavyweight Superbike despite having Sean Sweeney looking over his shoulder most of th way. Sweeney took over the points lead from SmaIl, whose injuries kept him out of this race as well, but Wood is only four points back. The situation is complicated by the fact that the final round will be at the NASB race in October, and NASH regulars entering these races for track time may finish between them and affect the points awarded. The other two Middleweight mampionships, Middleweight GP and Solo GTU, went to JS Racing's Jim Lester this weekend: In Middleweight GP, Greenwood led Lester off the start until TZ250-mounted pilot Freddy Maruca came up and passed both of the CBR600F3 pilots. But Maruca crashed in turn nine, and Lester beat Greenwood with a last-lap pass in turn 11. "I knew he was behind me," Greenwood said. "I didn't make the block because I thought I had good corner speed th,ere. He stuffed me and won the drag race to the finish." Lester h'ad a rough time in GTU, crashing out of third spot in turn one just past the halfway point as a rain shower dampened the track. Fortunately, the race was red-flagged and he was able to restart, place third and earn enough points to clinm the title. Brett Guyer, 1995 mampion in both Lightweight Supersport and Superbike, again won the races in both of these classes to clinm both class titles again in 1996. Neither Michael Vaughan in Supersport nor Patrick Lenahan in Superbike, both of whom were second in the points standings, was able to stay with Guyer on the track and both had to settle for second. A series of mechanical problems at the beginning of the season made for a shaky start, but Guyer asserted himself at the end to defend his 1995 titles in both classes as none of his competitors could put together a consistent effort. But Guyer and his Yamal1a FZR400 - even in Superbike trim - were no match for Freddy Maruca and his TZ250 in Lightweight GP, and Maruca clinmed his second title in this 'class with a win this weekend, Guyer finishing second both on track and in the points. A tight Sportsman race turned the standings around and added a third contender for the title. Points leader Jeff Wood got the jump at the start and led initially, but his stock Penguin School EX500 was quickly overwhelmed. Nathan Sanel on his trick Yamaha SRX600 swept by on the first lap, and John Kabacinski on his modified Kawasaki EX500 got by at the start of the second. Jeffrey Haynes, Mark Smith . and Allen Hepler had lined up behind . Wood by lap five and demoted him to sixth at the end. Meanwhile, a terrific battle for the win developed between Sanel and Kabacinski, who passed Sanel in turn three on lap two, again in turn 10 on the same lap, and yet again in turn one at the start of lap three. "I decided to follow him for a lap to see what he looked like," Sanel said. "As I get older (Sanel is all of 27), I get wiser." Sane] powered back into the lead on the front straight at the start of lap four and controlled the race the rest of the way. "I just braked deeper into turns one and three to keep him away from me," Sanel said. "My bike's got all the motor in the world on his. All I needed was to be next to him in turn 12 and my bike would walk away from his. I'd say he rode a better race than me but I just used my engine more." Sanel is well down in the points standings in this class, but Smith's fourth-place finish moved him ahead of Wood by one point in the standings, with Kabacinski ju~t four points further back. Sanel also won Unlimited Singles, where he does have a long shot at the championship. Jerry Wood, beat up from a crash the previous day when Small collided with him, gamely led the first three laps with Sane! sitting right on the tail of his Ducati Supermono. Sane] slipped by on lap four and, wary of Wood's race craft, quickly pulled dear to lead the rest of the race. "It's not a fair win," Sanel said. "Poor Jerry can hardly walk - but I'll take it! I did a 1:23.7 - my fastest lap ever here!" The win leaves Sanel just eight points behind Wood, but Sanel's chances for the title seem slim at best given that Wood won every previous Unlimited Singles race he entered. New Hampshire International Speedway Loudon, New Hampshire Results: September 14-15,1996 (Round 10 of 11) U/L 55 EX: 1. Richard Alexander Jr. (Suz); 2. Charles Miller (Suz); 3. Eric Gulbransen (Suz); 4. Seth Hahn (Suz); 5. Richard Doucette (Suz). UIL SS JR 1. Michel Scott (Hon). H/W 55 EX: 1. Richard Alexander Jr. (5uz); 2. Ch.,rles Miller (5U2); 3. Brett Metzger (Suz); 4. Seth Hahn (Suz); 5. Brian Kent (Suz). H/W 55 JR: 1. John Salemi (Knw); 2. Michael Martire (Kaw); 3. Cerald Provencher (Hon); 4. Christopher Mackin (Hon); 5. Ken Tessier (Hon). HIW SS AM; L James Mclaughlin (Yam); 2. David Bloom (Duc); 3. Carlos Costa (Kaw); 4. Keith Culver (Suz); 5. Julio Zoeiro (Hon). M/W 55 EX: 1. Eric Wood (Kaw); 2. Scott Greenwood (Hon); 3. Peter TIIich (Hon); 4. Stephen Duval (Hon); 5. Ken Wellington (Hon). M/W 55 JR: 1. Tim Watkins (Hon); 2. Gerald Provencher (Hon); 3. Dominic Castlevetro (Hon); 4. Ken Tessier {Hon); 5. Christopher Mackin (Han). MIW 5S AM: 1. Jason Routhier (Han); 2. John DalzeU (Hon); 3. Walter Taylor (Yam); 4. Peter Douvris (Han); 5. Wayne ComweU (Hon). L/W 5S EX: 1. Brett Guyer (Yam); 2. Michael Vaughan (Yam); 3. Kenneth Hunter (Yam); 4. Jim Fassino (Yam); 5. Andy Barrett (Yam). UW 5S JR: 1. Colin Baldwin (Yam); 2. John Lear (Kaw); 3. William Huntley (Yam); 4. Brian Gregory (Hon); 5. Jason Bender (Yam). UW SS AM: 1. Motthcw PallUnbo (Yam); 2. Rondy Woodman (Kaw); 3. Sandy Poirer (Kaw); 4. Anthony Livelli (Yam); S. Robert Mathias (Yam). HIW PROD AM: 1. Keith Culver (Suz); 2. David Dalzell (Kaw). MIW PROD AM: 1. Walter Taylor (Yam); 2. John Dalzell (Hon); 3. John Anzaldi (Hon); 4. James Macarelli (Kaw);: 5. Wayne ComwelJ (Han). LIW PROD AM: 1. Charles Baldwin (Kaw); 2. Matthew Chafee (Kaw); 3. George Grenier (Kaw); 4. Charles Berube (Hon). UIL S/BK EX: 1. Richard Alexander Jr. (Suz); 2. Richard Doucette (Suz); 3. Stephen Cooke (Due); 4. Rick Maron (Kaw); 5. Thomas McGinley (Kaw). UIL SfBK JR 1. Enzo Assainle (Hon~ 2. Tim George (5uz); 3. Michael Martire (Kaw); 4. Walter Gasiorek (Kaw); 5. Scott Shank (Hon). H/W S/BK EX: 1. Eric Wood (Kaw); 2. Sean Sweeney (Due); 3. Brian Kjmt (Suz). H/W S/BK JR: 1. Tim George (5uz); 2. Enloo Assninte (Hon). HIW SIBK AM: 1. Ronnld Walkey (Yam); 2. Steve Pushkar (Hon); 3. Jason Medina (Hon); 4. Robert Cook (Hon); 5. Ray CaUioni (Kaw). M/W S/BK EX: 1. Eric Wood (Kaw); 2. Scott Greenwood (Hon); 3. Jim Lester (Hon); 4. Richard Lallier (Yam); 5. Des Conboy (Hon). M/W S/BK JR: 1. John Salemi (Kaw); 2. Enzo Assainte (Hon); 3. Dominic CastJevetro (Hon); 4. Tom Bibeau (Hon); 5. Tim Watkins (Hon). MIW SIBK AM: 1. James McLaughJin (Yam); 2. David Dalzell (Kaw); 3. Jason Routhier (Hon); 4. John Dalzell (Hon); 5. Steve Pushka.r (Hon). UW SIBK EX: 1. Brett Guyer (Yam); 2. Pntrick Lenahan (Yam); 3. Philip DiGregorio (Yam); 4. Brian Nowokunski (Yam); S. Martin Limpert (Yam). UW SfBK JR; 1. Erik Madsen (Han); 2. Stephen Velotti (Yam); 3. Eric Gonyea (Yam); 4. Colin Baldwin (Yam); S. Chris Arbor (Kaw). UW S/BK AM: 1. Matthew Palumbo (Yam); 2. Darren Vokes (Yam); 3. Richard Libby (Hon); 4. Robert Mathins (Yam); 5. William House (Yam). UIL GP EX: 1. Eric Wood (Kaw); 2. Richard Alexander Jr. (5uz); 3. Charles Miller (Suz); 4. Charles Small Jr. (Kaw); S. Richard. LaUjer (Yam). U/L GP JR: 1. Enzo Assainte (Hon); 2. M.ichael Clark (Hon); 3. Walter Casiorek (Kaw); 4. Tim George (Suz); 5. Cesar Lo..1iza (Hon). M/W GP EX: 1. Jim Lester (Hon); 2. Scott Greenwood (Hon); 3. Richard Lallier (Yam); 4. Peter DJich (Hon); 5. Craig Babcock (Hon). MIW GP JR; 1. Michael Clark (Hon); 2. Fred Stucky (Due); 3. Tim Watkins (Hon); 4. Dominic Castlevetro (Hon); 5. Edouard Sandoz (Hon). MIW GP AM: 1. Jason Routhier (Hon); 2. PauJ Penaskovic (Hon); 3. Peter Douvris (Hon); 4. Scott Peters (5uz); 5. Ray Callioni (Kaw). ... .g ..... o (J) U 45

• Cover