Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Championship Cup Series Final Round: Daytona International Speedway (Left) Mike Clccotto (123) was the most successful of the Amateurs at Daytona during the CCS races. Here he leads Amateur Middleweight Superbike as his rival Mark Zsremskas crashes behind him. (Below) Eric Wood headed the list of Pros taking part In the CCS races, taking three wins and a third-place finish. Ciccotto, Wood and Hough shine By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEACH, FL, OCT 18-19 E very so often a rider appears out of virtually nowhere and gives a standout performance in the Clampionship Cup Series finale at Daytona. This year's breakthrough racer was Mike Ciccotto, a name not unfamiliar after his three wins in the previous week's WERA Grand National Final at Road Atlanta, but one whose profile was raised considerably after his success here. The 24-year-old former motocrosser ended his first year as a road racer by taking the Amateur Middleweight GP class on his Luke's Honda/KWS/Trackside Racers Supply Honda CBR600 on an overcast Thursday. He won the fivelap, 17.80-mile race by 3.680 seconds, besting Sanderson's Cycles' simHarly mounted Mark Zaremskas, with whom he'd tangle later in the weekend. Next came Friday's 30-minute Amateur Solo GTU, a 14-lap race run in an intermittent light drizzle on a dark afternoon. Ciccotto beat Zaremskas again, this time by 2.217 seconds, though Zaremskas was down by about seven second at the halfway mark. He cll;lSed the gap, a did the fast-finishing third place finisher Ken Woe tman. Two races la ter, Ciccotto took the Amateur Solo GTO, a race where he used his 600 to beat Full Spectrum's Suzuki GSXR750-mounted James White in a 30-minute race that was ended by a red flag after about 21 minutes. His final victory came on a bright and blustery Saturday afternoon with Ciccotto saved from a DNF by a red flag on the first lap. That gave him time to. come in and change a dying battery. Freshly juiced, he went out and won the Amateur Middleweight Superbike convincingly, taking the lead on the fourth of five laps, then taking off to win by 8.415 seconds over Red1ine Performance Motorsports' David Lillard. Marietta Motorsports' Keith Wilson was third and Zaremskas threw away a certain second when he crashed trailing Occotto through the West End Horseshoe on the final lap. Ciccotto switched bikes, borrowing one for his final shot at five wins, but could only manage a fourth in the Amateur Middleweight Superbike race which Keith Wilson won by only a handful of bikelengths, 0.175 seconds officially. Carlo's Automotive's Glen Goldman was second. The most prolific of the professionals was MassadlUsetts racer Eric Wood, the Penguin Racing Smool instructor taking three wins and a close third. The FILA Racing rider's wins came in a rush, all clustered together Saturday afternoon, the first coming in the sevenlap, 24.92-mile Expert Middleweight Supersport class. Wood shot his Kawasaki ZX-6 into the early lead, opened up a two-second lead at the halfway point and held enough of a gap to prevent MLD Surfboards' William Luke to use his draft on the final lap. At the end the margin was of victory was 2.541 seconds with Sun State Fun Sports of Mt. Dora's Pat Mooney third. All three rode Kawasakis. Stepping up to a Kawasaki ZX7RR, Wood outran the pressure from CC Cycle's Eric Moe for the Expert Heavyweight Superbike title. With Moe on his tail, Wood weaved up and down the East Banking to keep Moe from hooking up and beat him to the stripe by 0.201 seconds at the end of the seven-lap affair. Broward Motorsports' Quenni King passed fellow Floridian Hector Cordero on the final lap to take third. The final win was the most thrilling with Wood, Luke and Mooney back on 600's for the Expert Middleweight Superb ike. All three led atone pOint and it was anybody's race right to the flag, with Wood going low on tile banking at the line to win by half a wheel, measured as 0.005 on the clock. Luke and Mooney shadowed him. Luke's lone win carne at Greg Esse,'s expense in the 30-minu te Expert Solo GTU. It was a contra t in power - Esser racing his Fabweld Yamaha TZ-250 again t Luke's Kawasaki 600. The pair were side by side on the West Banking, then Luke took the lead and nipped Esser in the end by 0.168 sees. 10 the Unlimited GP, Eric Wood ran his 750 against a pair of 1100s and came away with a third. Boulder Yamaha's Donnie Hough won that one, the second of two narrow wins, this one over Dutchman Racing's Fritz Kling by 0.020 seconds. Hough had won his first race, th.e 3Dminute Expert Solo GTO, Friday, despite blowing a head gasket midway through the final lap. He had just enough power to defeat Grigg Electric's Steve Grigg by 0.020 seconds, the same margin he would win his second race by. Hough stopped in the 1oternational Horseshoe on the cool-down lap and pushed his Yamalla FZR1000 back to the paddock. Chicago Performance Racing's Ken Krebs was third. Grigg also won the Expert Unlimited Superbike class in a dogfight over Floridian Shane Prieto. And he switmed to a Ducati 955 in the Expert Heavyweight Supertwins race, only to get passed on the run to the flag by floridian Pablo Real. Grigg caught a lucky break in traffic entering the chicane, putting a couple of lappers between himself and Real, but Real caughf back up off of NASCAR Turn Four and drafted to the win by 0.200 seconds. Practice began Tuesday, more Wednesday, with racing starting Thursday. A stalled weather front kept the track damp most of the time, with the first races being run late Thursday afternoon on a dry track. That's when Ciccotto would notch his first win over Zaremskas in the Amateur Middleweight GP, completing five laps in 10 minutes 22.330 seconds at an average speed of 102.968 mph. zaremskas was 3.680 seconds back, then Quick Time Cycles & Sales Bud Lawter. Early in the 30-minute Amateur Solo GTU, Ciccotto was in the lead, the clouds were dark, and there was a light, misting rain. On tile fourth lap the sun peeked through, the clouds cleared out and so did Ciccotto and Zaremskas. The pair split, Occotto more forcefully and by the end of the lap he'd built a tlrree-second lead that he stretched until it was at a high of better than eight on the eighth lap. Not long after, they hit heavy traffic and Zaremskas closed the gap with Ken Woestman closing fast from behind. But the order wouldn't mange and Ciccotto had his second win. ''I'm just hoping these guys can follow me around a little bi t and learn some lines so we can have some good dose racing," Ciccotto said. "That's what I'm looking forward to. I'd like to be riding expert plates this weekend, but I'll have to wait until next year." Keith Wilson and Scottt Ackerman were next across the line. The next number one-plate would be earned little more than an hour later. The Solo Amateur GTO was scheduled for 30 minutes, but was red-flagged before the entire field had completed the ninth lap, though the leaders were on the 10th. Ciccotto had taken the lead on the opening lap and was there at the end of the eighth when it was red-flagged. Suzuki GSXR75D-mounted James White and Eric Bingaman were second and third at the time with Keith Wilson fourtll. There had been one moment on the ~hird lap that Ciccotto regretted. Other than that, it was a model race. "I thought it would be harder than the 600 race because the 750s pull hard," Occotto said before apologizing to Bud Lawter, the rider who he felt he ran off the track at the West End Horseshoe. "I ran a little wide going into the second horseshoe. He got a little bit outside, locked up the front end and went off the race track. 1 feel it was somewhat my fault. UI've got two more races, one on the same bike and one on a totally different bike. Hopefully we can win those too," Occotto added. His wishes came half true. A red flag stopped Ciccotto's run at the Amateur Middleweight Superbike, but it was a blessing. As he pulled down pit lane he pointed down toward his battery which was failing. Crew chief Kevin Hunt ran for a new battery and it was installed in time to make the restart. "We thought we had a good b'!.ttery in it, but obviously we didn't," Hunt said. "We got another one in time just to make the restart and luckily the red flag gave us the ability to get the tires warm on the warmup lap before the race." Zaremskas and Ciccotto hooked up early with Zaremskas keeping the lead for the first three laps before Ciccotto went up tile inside in turn one on the fourth lap. Zaremskas would follow for a lap and a half before sliding off the track in the second horseshoe, handing Ciccotto his easiest win. Ciccotto completed the five-lap race in 10 ininutes, 18.282 seconds at an aver- \0 0\ 0\ ...... 0' C') l-< Q) .g .... o C.J 13

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