Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD R ACE W G DNATIONAL FINAL ERA RAN Road Atlanta Nie lsen Rac ing (left) was able to come from a twolap defic it to Team Suzuki Endurance (below), which suffered electrica l problems. and wi n the final round 01 the WER ~ National End urance series . "About 15 minu tes into it , the bike co m p lete ly died co rneri ng under the bridge: Batey said . " I cam e into the pits unexpectedly and the bike refired and they waved me back out. The bike continued to cu t off and on, but it never completely died . I just tried to keep it under control. because when the bike kicks back, yo u d on ' t w an t it to be throu gh midcorner." Batey mana ged to keep the bike out there, but the time they lost in the pits a nd Batey' s in consistent lap times allowed Nielsen Racing the oppo rtu ni ty to mak e up the time need ed to take the lead . Saylor was ins trume ntal in taking the lead , and his vast experience i n endurance ra cing co n tr ib u ted to the team winning the race. . " I was n' t real happy with th e rear suspension, and we had some tire problems," Saylor said. "We put on a different Pirelli and did so me changes to the rear s hock an d this helped, and Mark and 1 were really ab le to go." Junge s ta r ted the race fo r N ie lsen Racing a nd led th e field to turn one before he was swall owed up by Lopez. Ju nge couldn't match th e p ace of th e TSE , but he pulled away fro m th ird place until the Semoff Brothers challenged them on its lOOOcc Yamaha . "I was rid ing comforta bly and caug ht Junge on the draft," rider Glenn Sza rek said . "Th en Atwell low-sid ed the bike and we weren't able to continue ." Thi s took out the last cha llenger to run wi th ielse n Racing until its battle wi th the ailing TSE bike late in the race. "We already won ou r class in Texas," r-, Junge said . "I wan ted to get some lime 0\ selling up the 750 for the Cup races. The 0\ ...... last thin g I expected was to be on top of the box. The combination of the N ielsen 0' Suzuki and Pirelli tires worked perfectly N ay, and I could n't pier." .... todAs Nielsen Racingbe hapon its way to Q) was ..0 vic tory, Ar clight looked to have thi rd o place in the bag. Chris Hu gh es rode the u team's bike into the pits, pointing at the tank and shaking his head . Team owner Chuck Warren pulled off the tank but th ey couldn't figure o u t th e problem ..... o 8 and the da y was over for the team. "It turned out to be a loss of compression in the number-three cylinder," Warren said , "but that's racing ." Team Yamaha o f Te xa s in herited third place after Arcligh t went out, but TYT ra n with the leaders the entir e race and earned third. "We d ctuned the motor from Texas: rid er Kelly Mood y sai d . "Th e changes th e guys mad e h e lped be cause we d idn't have one sing le problem and the bike ran awesome ." Tea m Ten 40 had mechanical problems all season and were lookin g to finish the season on a positive note, which they did by claiming fourth place. "To finish the season first in class and fou rth overall is grea t:' Brian Cincerra said . "Not to wis h anythi ng ba d on Arclig ht, b ut th ey experi enced what we' ve lived all season, and it feels great to ha ve the bike finish so well." '" Road Atlanta Braselton?Georgia Results: October 9, 1997 (Round 10 01 10) O /A : 1. Ni .. l!wn Ra ci ng Suz u l.i (Suz); 2. T.... m Suz u l.i End ura nce (S ud; 3. Ya m aha Team Ra ci n g (Yam) ; 4. Team Trn 40 Racing (Hon); 5. Ca nton Racin g Endura n ce (S uz); 6 . Fi re-sto r m Raci ng (Su z) ; 7. Tepcwoeks Racing (Suz): 8. B&:S Racing lSuz): 9. Team Sh.1rk f;kinz Racing (Y.am); 10. Cydc SfIl· od R.1cing (Suz); 'c. 11. Long born Mot u....,....rt s (Ya m) ; 12. ThunlJl'J' Racing (5'17); 13. -rnA Racin g (S uz ); 14. Raoiwl'1I Itlcing (5u7.); IS. Ardigh( Suzuki (Suz); 16. 1-8OO-CROTCH ROCKET (Suz); 17. Actio n Suzuki (Suz) ; 18. Tee m 58 (Hon ); 19. Canl Am R.1cin g (Ho n); 20. On Da Cess Racing (Su.z). fINAL WERA NATIONAL ENDURANCE SERIES CSHIP rolNT STANDINCS WlfOr 10 of 10 ro un ds): 1. Team Suzuki Endur.11K"l" 0035.(5): 2. Ardight Suzuki (883 .73): 3 . Nielsen Rilcin ~ Su zu ki (880 .25): 4 . 44.6); 5. TKO Racinjl; (739 .48): 6. Taf'oworl." Racing <7 Tea m Ten 40 R,.1cing (645 4): 7. Ta pewo rks Racing II (642. 14); 8. T..em SM rk~k i nz Racin g (628 .9); 9. eyn", Sp-N ItKing (616.15); 10. R.ll'I WI'D IUcin g (5745). WRA National Sprint Series E Final Round: Road A tlanta )lm~l) IlllC' By Aaron Mintz Photos by George Roberts BRASELTON,GA,OCT.II·12 t was a mixed bag of results in the WE RA Natio nal C ha lle nge Se ries during the Grand ational Finals at Road Atlanta. Darryl Saylor teamed up I with N ielse n Racing's en d u rance team this year and proved that retired veteran s ca n still ru n with the young guns. Say lor star ted his sprint efforts when teammate Mark Ju nge gave him a bike to race at the Suzuki Cu p Final. Saylo r exploited the use of the ielsen Suzuki a nd pu t th e bike on top of the box in only his t hi rd race a tte mpt. "The Nie lsen Suzuki is fast a nd my past e nd u ra nce experience has paid off," Saylor said . "My timing is back and I'm up to speed and I look forwa rd to racing the entire 1998 season." There was, however, a d ark clo ud ove r the da y' s racin g after Iowa's Gordon Lunde, 28, died from in juri es sustai n ed in a c r a s h dur ing the 600« Superstock race. Lunde's father wa s the found er of the Wegman Benefit , which aid s severely injured race rs. Lunde will be deeply missed by the racin g commu nity. Emgo Valv oline Suzuki rid er Gra nt Lo p ez fini she d second in th e 600« Su pers toc k race but won the Michelin 750cc Superstock class. Emgo Valvoline Suzuki rider Josh Hayes was just getting warmed up when h e s nea ked under teammate Gra nt Lopez for the victory in th e 1100« Superstock ra ce . Mic hael Himmelsbach kept his wi nning streak alive a nd w on the 125« GP ra ce to clin ch the titl e. Tra y Batey top ped the Formula On e class. The 600cc Su perstock race got started wi th Triple R Racing's Mark Reed taking the lead . Reed led until he had a me chanical breakdown on lap two wh ich ended his day. " I ca me ou t of (tu rn) se ve n, shif ted up, a n d b oom !" Re ed sa id . " I came under th e brid ge a nd co u ld n' t s h ift becau se the shifter was just dangling." Ano ther Kawasa ki rider, Brian Lantz , took over the lead, but his motor quickly expi red and he fell ou t of the race. Saylor d idn't get the bes t start but it d idn't ma tter, as ride rs dro pped out righ t and left. Teammat es Junge and Saylor went back and forth, but Sa ylor be tte red Junge at the checkered. "I lost the rear and the stee ring went completely to lock: Jun ge said. '1 got it back but I lost too much ground on Saylor and couldn't make up the time after my mistake." Hayes took fourth place. "They had too mu ch on me tod ay," Hayes said . " We were a little off on setup and I couldn't match their pace and make the pass." Joe Tem perate foug ht back fro m a poo r s tart to finish fifth . Gra nt Lopez was mot ivat ed for the Michelin 750cc Superstock class and had his bike dialed in. . Tim Bemisderfcr was in th e zo ne , passing Jay Johnson Racing's Billy Eisenacher, Nielsen Racing' s Jun ge and Greg Myer to take second p lace. "I re all y fe lt co m fo r ta b le on th e bike," Bemisderfer said. "I was comfortable and I felt at hom e with the pace. • just wish I had a few more laps. " Jay Johnson Racing' s Eisenacher took third af ter he also got by Jun ge lat e in the race. "We had a few problems earli er with the rear tire keeping air," Eisen acher said. "Jay Johnso n fixed the bike and I was able to run down Ju nge." Ju nge led the race a t the begi nning but spira led backward. " I ha ve bee n ha ving pro blems with the rear ," Junge said . "We cha nged the spring an d the tire, but neither seemed to remedy the problem." Junge se tt led for fourth, wi th Greg Myer in fifth. Emgo Valvoline rider Hayes reall y ha d his 1100« Suzuki dialed in an d it was appa rent in the wa y he went after his teammate Gra nt Lopez. Lope z and Ha ye s w ent a t it to oth and nail th e w hole way.

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