Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMAl&fBNA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP the brakes on and pull the bike in. It's been really good. It was one of those races that was very slow at the beginning, but then it got fas t once everyone got sorted out." Although he'd shaken DuHamel, one look over his shoulder and Mladin knew that the race would go the distance. "Obviously, with Miguel being a little fella on a fairly fast motorbike, all the straights, unless you get a bit of a break on him, he's going to come past you," Mladin said. "The bikes seem so even now, speedwise. The first few laps, I got past and I tried to put my head down, but I just didn't have the heat in the tires and I wasn't confident with doing what I'd done in the warmup. He got back past me and then, when I felt comfortable with the tires, I passed him and put my head down. We sort of went from. doing 13s to a 12.1 the next lap. As soon as I did that, he never came back past. I thought I must have dropped him off a bit. A couple of laps later, I had a look over my shoulder and there was Doug. Then I knew my head would be down 4: Road America (Right) Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates rode hard and finished third, his best effort of the season. (Below) Dirt track battle: Larry Pegram (72) and Ben Bostrom (11) battled over eighth place. The spot ultimately went to Bostrom. for the rest of the race - once he's there, he's going to hang on. That's how it went. We basically dropped down in the lIs and stayed there until the last lap." Behind the front four came Crevier, who had gotten the better of Picotte right at the end. '1 got a good start, but I had a small oil leak," Crevier said. "It was small, bu t I was concerned about it. I had a slipping left boot and I couldn't keep up with those guys. They were really riding good. I could see tha t Pascal (Picotte) was chunking a bit, but it was hard for me to get off the corners, and that's everything here. I got him a t the very end of the race and I knew he couldn't draft past me." Picotte said he had fun, despite the problem with his rear tire: "I got a really bad start - 10th or something. I started gaining on the lead group, but I couldn't go faster. It started vibrating and I thought it would chunk. I couldn't get a drive; it was just spinning, spinning and spinning. I thought the engine was putting oil on the rear tire. It was a pret- DuHamel weathers the storm S 8 teady rain on Friday night and Saturday morning led many to believe that Smokin' Joe's Honda's Miguel DuHamel's provisional pole time from Friday would stand the test of lime come Saturday afternoon. And it did, though a dry race track for the final session had DuHamel worried. "I started sweating pretty good when I saw the conditions improving," DuHamel said. 'Tve won the provisional pole so many limes on Friday, only to have someone beat my time on Saturday: I was sort of preparing myself for a letdown. I had a big sigh of relief when I pulled in and found eut my time held." . It was worry for nothing, as DuHamel's lap·record-setting time of 2:11.630 (109.398 mph) was plenty good enough to give him his fifth career AMA Superbike pole - and his first at Road America. Admittedly, DuHamel's quickest laps were set using Dunlop qualifying tires, while the majority of his rivals claimed they'd done their hot laps using race tires. DuHamel, though, had lapped in the low 2:12-range using race tires. 'We're okay to go now," DuHamel said on Saturday morning, a wet Road America strung out behind him. "But we still have some other things to test. Obviously, with those lap times, it's not that bad. I did a 12.1 or a 12.2 with race lires, so ['m leeling fairly confident with the race tires. We haven't tried all the tires yet, and I:here's one that should work betler. We have two options. Last year, we didn't go out in the wet and it hurt us, so I just wanted to go out and get acclimated to the conditions. 1 was riding really cautiously in the wet. If it stays like this, there's a good chance J'1I keep the pole." Fast By Ferracci's Mat Mladin put his Ducati second on the front row, lapping at 2:12.115 0ll Friday belore sitting out the rainy Saturday-morning practice. He came back out on Saturday afternoon, but went lower. On Sunday morning, however, Mlad.iJ:\ threw down the gauntlet- lapping at 2:11.832. "What's the point?" Mladin said, when asked why he sat out Saturday's wet session. "Tomorrow is supposed to be okay. There's no point in going out in two wet sessions. Ferracd has a setup. I don't think the lap time means much; he (DuHamel) didn't do a string of 'em. Doug (Chandler) is a more realistic look at what the competition is capable 01. J had a new tire on for the last two laps, something new from Michelin. The first flyer, I did a 12.6 and ( caught Tom Kipp right here (on the front straight), so I've got some speed going. Then my knee scraper flew off. I stuck in it on the left-handers, but it'd stick and I'd run wide. The bike is good, and it should be good for tomorrow. I never have any worries. What I've got is what I've got. It doesn't worry me if it rains, because 1 know what we've got as far as tires and stuff. It's better if it's dry, because it's a pain in the ass if it rarns.# A few of the top riders were able to improve on their Friday times, and one of them was Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler. The defending Superbike National Cha)l\pion lapped at 2:12.388 to qualify third. Chandler was in the majority, and used the wet session on Saturday to get things sorted out- just in case. '1 went out because it's our first time in the rain since last year here," Chandler said. "I was happy to get out there and get a feel lor it. I'll go out again in the next session, regardless. I've got tires and I'm set. No problem. I tried a qualifier (lire) but I didn't like it. The rain wouldn't be a problem, but if it's in between, then there's a big problem. r think r can do high 11s on a race tire if the conditions aren't too bad. We've run everything, so we know what they feel like." Filling the front row was Yamaha's Tom Kipp, another making a jump forward on Saturday afternoon. Kipp locked in at 2:12.681 Row two was led by a pair of Yoshimura Suzukis, with Aaron Yates edging teammate Pascal PicoUI' with a quicker lime on Saturday. PicoUe, though, was the fastest in the wet session, giving him confidence should the skies open up on Sunday. "I was the fastest all the lime," Picotte said. '''Two seconds faster - all the time. The rain didn't hurt me at all. Yesterday (friday), I did pretty gOOd. I didn't try any qualifying tires. I know we can improve. I've Changed the gearbox, because yesterday I only used fifth gear. Today I was using six, even in the rain. We've got a pr.etty good setup - rain or shine." Filling the second row was Vance & Hines Ducati's Thomas Stevens and Smokin' joe's Honda's Steve Crevier, with Stevens the last rider to circulate in the 2:12 range. "They've got it running right," Stevens said of his new Ducati. "But they still haven't had any development time to make it faster. But it's not bad, and I'm not going to be making any excuses. The bike's good, but there's still plenty to learn. r do think we have a pretty good race setup."

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