Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROAD National Final Road Atlanta RACE WERA Grand power, but I could catch the draft at the dip and made time on the brakes," abIes explained. ':We got tile bike about two weeks ago from Aaron Yates:' said Vic Fasola, Nobles' tuner. "We just haven't had the time to sort it out." This proved to be prophetic as Stanton retook the lead by lap six, dragging Hacking with him. Also getting into the fray was Batey, who moved into third place and looked to be making his move. Stanton and Hacking held the top two spots until lap 10 when the Nobles/Batey duel displaced Hacking from his hold on second. Stanton appeared to have a hold on first place and he didn't relinquish it. "The bike handled great, it really made my job easier:' Stanton said. Not one to be left out, Lopez popped back up into second place just ahead of Hacking, abies and Batey. But it was not to be as Nobles somehow found a By George Roberts BRASELTON, GA, OCT. 13 he WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta provides a unique opportunity for new racers as well as established veterans to showcase their talents on closely matched machines. This year's final was no exception as the new guard - Grant Lopez, Jamie Hacking and Mark Miller _. produced outstanding results in practically every Sunday final in which they entered. Hacking, in his first year on a Valvoline Suzuki, came through big by finishing second in 1l00cc Suzuki Cup final, 1l00cc Superstock and 750cc Superstock while also finishing fourth in the Formula One and 750cc Suzuki Cup finals. His teammate Lopez won the 750cc Superstock, finished second in Formula One and third in both the 750cc Suzuki Cup final and the 1l00cc Superstock final. Mark Miller, who has gridded for some 70 races this year, showed what he was made of by winning Saturday's 750cc Suzuki Cup heat race and then backed it up by winning the final Sunday. All these results are impressive, but the actual measure of their success can be judged on the competition which they faced. Part of the standard that this crop of new talent would be judged against came in the form of Tray Batey and Tvipp Nobles. These two racers have considerable experience to go along with their level of talent, and tha t became evident as Batey took wins in both Formula One and 1l00cc Superstock. Nobles did his part to push the issue by finishing third in the 11OOcc Suzuki Cup final and third in Formula One. Add up all of this experience and tal- T \.Q 0\ 0\ 1'"""1 0'" M l-< (I) .g ..... U o 16 (Above) Jamie Hacking (267) leads Grant Lopez (196), Mark Miller (24) and Tray Batey (33) In the 11 OOcc Suzuki Cup final during the WERA Grand National Final. (Right) David Stanton celebrates his victory In the 750cc Suzuki Cup final at Road Atlanta. ent, mix in picture-perfect weather, an enthusiastic crowd and one of the best .road courses in the country and you've _ got a weekend of racing that can't be, missed. 1100cc FINAL· The Suzuki Cup 1100cc race at the WERA Grand National Finals was full of action and provided fans at Road Atlanta with some of the best racing of the day. A pack of evenly matched bikes and aggressive riding put skills, experience and technique at a premium. Lap one saw obles launch into the lead with Hacking and the pack of bigbore bikes in hot pursuit. "1 got a good start and everyone was dicing on the back straight," Hacking said. Hacking took over at the front on the second lap, with teammate Stanton also slipping by Nobles to take over second place. On lap three, Stanton grabbed the lead Witll Nobles pushing his way back up to second while Hacking held down third in front of Lopez. "I stumbled at the start, but 1 made up my mind that I had to get to the front as quick as possible," Stanton said later. With the big bikes all taking advantage of the draft, it seemed that no one could hold the lead for long and soon it was Nobles in front of the Valvoline bikes of Stanton and Hacking. Holding on to that lead was another story: "We're down a little on horse-

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