ROAD RACE
AMA TEAMUNE 750cc
SUPERSPORT SERIES
drops to 11 th in the series
with 33 points.
The first of two starts was aborted
quickly when Rad Greaves and Roger
Bell crashed on the first lap in the International Horseshoe, bringing out a red
flag and prompting a restart.
When the flag dropped the second
time, Pridmore grabbed the lead, a spot
he would never relinquish. He would
steadily ·draw away from his pursuers,
leading by almost a full second after
two laps, two seconds after four laps,
11.7 seConds after eight laps and 18.320
after the full race distance of 15 laps.
Those giving chase from second
place varied, with Lady Luck deciding
not to look favorably on those who
held the posiqon. Alexander held sec- ,
ond on the first lap, giving way to
Miller a lap later. Then, on the fourth
lap, Miller crashed in tum six, handing
the position back to Alexander. Two
laps later, though, Alexander followed
Miller's lead and crashed in almost the
identical spot, giving Polen second
. place.
But Polen wasn't alone as he was
being hounded from behind by
Bostrom and the little 600. On the sevBy Paul Carruthers
Photos by Henny Ray Abrams
DAYfONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 7
. hose who aim to win championships often fear what coming
to Daytona will do to those
aspirations. Jason Pridmore is
no exception. Despite being
Daytona wary in the weeks and
days leading up to the Teamline 750cc
Supersport race at the famed Speedway, Pridmore was able to escape with
his championship lead not only intact,
but widened.
Pridmore and his HyperCycle Suzuki GSXR750 were perfect on a cool,
sunny day at Daytona International
Speedway, running away to a surprisingly easy 18.320-second victory to
keep his perfect two-win 1997 streak
intaCt.
"1 just wanted to get. through this
weekend," a relieved Pridmore said,
post-victory. "I'm feeling really confident for the rest of the year with this
motorcycle. I've had two poles and two
wins - I'd like to win all of'em."
To do so, Pridmore may have to deal
with former World and AMA Superbike Champion Doug Polen. Despite
completing only seven laps on his
Supersport-spec machine prior to the
race, Polen was able wind up second the only man to be able to hold the
position without incident. Polen's effort
brought a smile to those in the Pirelli
garage as his second-place ride gave
the Italian company its first-ever topthree finish in AMA Supersport competition.
Third place went to Zero Gravity's
Ben Bostrom, the youngster showing
once ag
