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ROAD RACE
SUNO OR EFUELS
C AC
FORMULA U SERIES
SA
Round 6: Pocono International Raceway
ro u n d s ): 1. Ma sahtro Iizuk.a (19 3/4 wins); 2. Vicky
Jackson-Bell (180); 3. Marcelle IA-l Gu idice (158); 01. Ben
Sole, (142); 5. Rolando Quintero (131); 6. Chre, L:lrich
(129); 7. Jeff Young (82); 8. LaVaughn Muntgonwry (75);
9. Tuold N{,rJ br. (73); 10. Juhn Ulrich (65); 11- (TIF.
)
Rol.lnJ 5.mJ!o/ ut' Siwh o n Jr . (64); 13 . Patj-ir-], Ryd er
(54 ); 14. Mik e lI imml"lo;bach / Paul N~ I '\On (5 1); 16.
H ayd en 8001 (46); 17. lance Yeeger (40); 18. Nobi 1
!oO
(J5); 19. Aaron Strin (34); 20. Jack o-o-u (3 1).
(Right) Eric Wood
(10) led Fritz Kling
Upcoming Rou nds:
(2) in race one after
Round 7 - Loudon, NH, October 5
Kling rejoined the
race lollowlng his
Round 8 - Dayton a Beach, FL. Nove mber 2
earlier colli sion
with Jason Fraser.
Kling finished
fourth in race on e,
Harley-DavidsonT
winSports
R 6: Pocono International Raceway
ound
Graef checks
out
leading Wood
acr oss the line.
By Aaron Mintz
Phot o by Lee Rigozzi
LONG POND, PA, AUG. 31
a nso n Racing' s Billy G ra ef m us t
ha ve been tal ki ng s tra teg y wi th
Da ve Sad owsk i, or s taying at the
sa me hotel, becau se he chec ked out on
th e rest of th e fie ld an d finis h ed a n
impressive 15.34 seconds ahead of second pl ace, Kres tings Cycle Center Racing's Gregg Hutcheson took second by a
fro nt w heel ov er Hal ' s H-D Racin g' s
Todd Evans.
Evans a nd H utcheson were so close
the entire race that you could have put
them bo th in the back of a pickup tru ck.
Both we re eve nly matched in power and
in corn ering speed. The only pl ace that
they could pass one another was d own
the tw o s traightaways. Evans w o uld
uu td ra ft H u tcheso n un th e back side
an d Hu tcheso n would d ra ft by d own
the fron t straight.
"The bik es were both very even,"
Hu tch e son said . .. It ca me d own to
ma ybe 1 was a little faster into turn one,
but it came down to the draft."
H utch eson 'rode righ t behind Evans'
w heel and pulled around at the checkered . After the race, Evans and Hutcheso n came up to each o ther and congratulated each othe r' s riding . " It wa s really
d ose the en tire race," Evans said . "H e
go t the bett er end of it at the finish. It
was a lot of fun go ing back and fort h
with Hutcheson"
Ou t in front, alone, it wa s Graef taking advantage nf his professiona l mo torcross background as he slid the torqu ey
Ha r iey-Da vi dson though th e corners.,
Despite r idi ng witho ut a ny pressu r e
fro m behind, G raef did n' t let up and
tu rn ed consistent la p tim es in the 1:54
brack et.
"Everything worked ou t rea lly we ll
a nd in o ur favor, " G ra ef sa id . "T he
crew d id a terrifi c job prep ping the bike,
and having Scott Zampach in the pits is
a te rrific adva ntage. H is input is very
va lu able . Plus 1 rea lly like technica l
tracks, wh ich suit my style an d motor,:cross backgroun d."
H
(Lell) Eric Wood
(7) leads eventual
winner Dave
Sadowski (behind
Wood) in the EBC
Brakes Spo rtb ike
race. Sadowski
simply dominated
the class. taking
th e w in with 8
seve n-second
margin.
4. Dav e Sad ow ski {98/2}; 5. jaso n Fraser (74); 6. Les
White (6l); 7. Mik e Ct cconc (58) ; 8. Reu ben
Frankenfield (56); 9. David Rose (53 ); to. Rick Kirk (50) ;
11. Shawn H iKM (49); 12. David Yaakov (44); 13. Steve
[ ohnscn ( 42); 14 . Kril. C l u b b (39); 15 . (TI E) G rt"g
H uh:h-.>nfMcirl M..C u rn l ido. (37); 17. David Cool OS);
:
18. M.uc Slw rw u .... (3. ); lQ. m E) And re w Stm lld /Tod d
1 1
Evans (32).
Upcoming Rounds:
Round 6 - Loudon, NH, October 5
Round 7 - Daytona Beach, FL, November 2
Idemitsu American G Prix Series
rand
Round 6: Pocono Interna lRaceway
tiona
Himmelsbach
I gets agift
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2
By Aa ro n Mintz
Photo by Lee Rigozzi
LONG POND, PA, AUG.31
ilverman Muse um Racing's Ma sa hiro lizu ka has on ly been beaten once
th is season in Idernitsu American
Grand Prix ra cing and looked as thou gh
h e w a s w ell on h is w a y to ca rd ing
anot her victory with hi s run at Pocon o
Int erna tion al Raceway. But on the sec -
S
o n d -t o -Iast la p, a fl at t ir e e n ded h is
prog ress toward victory and the Japa nese rider would ult imat ely be credited
with 10th .
With Iizu ka sud den ly ou t of the wa y,
Mike Himmelsb ach inherited th e lea d
and the win, cross ing th e line with five
se cond s in ha nd over second -p laced
Eng lish transplan t Vicky jackso n-Bell. A
rapidl y closing Chris Ulrich filled th e
final podium spot.
At th e s ta rt, it wa s all Iizu ka - h e
stretched a hu ge lead ove r the rest of the
field as he glided his way aro u nd th e
2.5-mBe road course. As Iizuka d isapp eared fro m the field , H immel sb a ch
was worki ng on build ing a comfortable
lead over a trailing pa ck of fou r placeh ungry rid ers. Himmelsbach w as suecessfu l, as he s tre tched ou t a b ig lea d
ov er th e chasi ng pack until the checkered flag on his inh erited first place.
Leading the pack of four rid ers was
Jackson -Bell. Jackson-Bell , who ha s a n
e xt e nsive ba ckground i n m oto cros s,
fended off Dragon Fire Racin g's Rolando Quintero, Kid s: Don' t Smo ke ! Racing's Ulric h and Knew sw eed Ene rgy
Racing's Mar cello Del Giudice. JacksonBell led the qu artel as Ulrich , Quint ero
and Del Giudice wen t back and forth so
mu ch th at they look ed like they we re
square dancing, and any on e of the rid ers could have claimed the spot.
On lap eight, Del Giudice high-s ided
and took the Kneesweed Energy Honda
ou t of the race,
"I w as cooking th rough th e co mer
w hen all of a sud den I slipped the tire
o n a soft spot, and over I wen t," Del
Giudice said . "I d id n't get hurt bu t the
bi ke was ma kin g a fun n y n oi se, so I
decided to call it qui ts."
Wit h Del Giudice ou t and Iiuzka sit-
ting o n the s id e wa tch ing the finish,
Ulrich di ved under Quintero in a ballsy
move to pass for third behind Bell,
" De l Giud ice hi gh-s id ed r ig ht in
front of me: Ulri ch sa id. "I was fortun a te to ge t by . I wa s a littl e fa ste r
th rough the infield and was able to pass
Q u i n tero . I ra n o u t of lime before I
could pass Vicky."
Jackson-Bell ha s p roven her tal en t
through out th e yea r a n d looked a s
thnu gh she was having so me d ifficulty,
cons ide ring her past performances.
" I rode co nserva tively," Jackso n-Bell
co mmen ted abo ut he r rid e. "The bike
wasn ' t performi ng as well as it did o n
Frid a y. I ju s t wa nte d to ke ep th em
beh ind me and that was a task in itself."
Himmelsbach had no problem o nce
he inh erited the lead from lizuka.
"Iizu ka was clearl y faster," H immelsbach said. "I lucked out wh en he flatted
an d I was able to take the victory ho me
for Himmelsbach Racing."
'"
Pocon o Int ernational Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Res ults: August 31, 1997 (Round 6 01 8)
ID EMITS U A MERICAN G RAN D PRIX: 1. Mike
Himmelsbach (Honh 2. Vic ky Jackson-Bell (Hon); 3.
Chris Ul rich (Ho n) ; 4. Rol a ndo Quintero (H e n): 5.
Patric k Ryder tHc n): S. Ben Soli s (Hon ); 7. Ma rk
Corcoran (H on); 8. Jeff Young (Hon); 9. Lan ce Yeager
(Ho n ); 10. Masahirc Iizuu (Ho n ); 11. Todd Nord by
(Hon); 12. Ma rcdlo [kl Gu idice

