Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127865
ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP CUP SERIES By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEAO! FL, NOV. I , n li ke in yea rs pas t, when a fresh ne w face wo uld emerge from the field to dominate the fall Championship Cup Series races at Daytona Interna tion al Speed way, no sing le rider made his mark this yea r. Instead , there were 0 numbe r o f riders w ho won a few races, a few old faces learning to win aga in, and a whole lot more who struggled throu gh three day s of racing - one of which was plagued by const ant rain which went from a dri zzle to a downpour. That day, Friday, wa s a wa sh in cras hes and red flags, and on e death. Chad Matt eson, a 24-year-old Floridian, was killed when he crashed in the morning practice (see In the Wind). The prizes were Nation al Cham pionships in 30 classes and, in the Expert ranks, the two riders who wo n more than one race had some thi ng in common: They were bot h trying to revive flagging careers. Ronda's Jamie Bow man, w ho's had a few fallow years after ridin g for Moto Liberty, rode his Cycles of Palm Beach Suzuki GSXR750 to comma nding wins in two of Saturday's five-lap races. His first was in the Unlimited Sportbike, wh er e he moved into the lead o n the first lap and sped away . He won the five-lop, 17.M-mile race in 10 m inu tes, 1.023 seconds, aver aging 106.618 mph . The margin of victory was 12.365 seconds on a pack of three riders U r-, g:: ,...... who swapped spo ts right down to th e line. Shane Prieto used a slings hot move to put h is Cu st om Gl ass Co. Suz u ki GSXR750 in to sec ond, pass in g Kevin lI u nt and Ohlstein Motorsports' Seth Hah n in the drive to the stripe. " I w as havin g a bu nch of fun out there," Bowman said . Two races later, Bowman dominated the Expert Heavyweigh t Spo rtbike, again on the Suzuki 750. Starti ng from the 5CV cnt h row, Bowman was second out of the chicane on the opening lap, and into the lead after going up th e inside of Seth Hahn early on the second lap. From there he sailed to victory, with Hahn get ting cau ght up in a five-rider fight for second, • which he'd lose. The runner-up spot went to Bell's Su zuki's john ja cob i - like the rest of the top 15 rid ers, Suzu ki 750m ounted . He sn at ched the sp o t from Cycles of Palm Beach' s Mike Luke by half a wheel, with Bell's Suzuki's Roger Ben fourth and Hahn fifth. Bowma n completed lha l five-lap race in nine min utes , 59.298 second s, averaging 106.925 mph, an d win nin g by 4$39 seconds. One of the other Experts to win more than one race was Cal Rayborn. His first victory wa s tilt! must dominant w in by any rider all weekend. Usi ng a Du cat i Supermon o against a gaggle of mos tly 12Sec two-strokes in the Grand Prix Singles class, Rayborn lapped six seco nd s per lap better than anyone else to win by more than 30 seconds. Second place went to Vick y jackson-Bell , with Silverma n Museum Racing's Masahiro lizuka third. Rayborn'S second win wa s less decisive but never in much doubt. Riding a Ducati 955, Rayborn bested the Expert Supe r Twins class after taking the lead from Pablo Real on the third of five laps. Real, whose Ducati 888 seemed to have a . s trong motor, stuck wi th Rayborn for a lap before losin g touch. The win was by 4.052 seconds, with Real in second . It was a lo ng tim e before Pe nnsylva nian jeff Jennings came home third, just in front of Douglas Gross. "This motorcycle runs pretty good ," Raybo rn said of the ID-K Racing Du cat! s tree t bike, which s till ha s a working ho rn . "It's basically a 955, and it runs pretty good for just pulling it out of the garage and pulling the cobwebs off of it." Ray born co mple ted his race in nine minutes, 56.760 seconds, at an average speed of 107.380 mp h. The rider wh o came clo sest to w inning more than two races was Chicago Per formance' s Greg Kahle. In Frid ay 's pouring rain , Ka hle rode his Kawasa ki ZX-6 to an ea sy wi n in the 30- minute Exp ert GT 2, ea sily bes ting Se m in ole Po w er spor ts David McP herson, with Devon Honda /Triumph's Kenneth Snyder third. "Nice weather for ducks," Kah le said after the waterlogged race w in, which took him 29 m inutes, ';5 .263 seconds, running a t a n a ve rage speed of 93.324 mph. He bea t McPherson by 9.751 secunds. O n an interm ittently sunny'Sunday, Kahle began by finishing a shadow second to Clint Brot z in the Expert Mid- dleweight Grand Prix . The margin at the end of the five-lap, 17.80-mile race was .080 of a second, but it was only later in the race tha t he began to be a factor . Mike Luke led from the start, trying to pull away bu t ge tting reeled in by Clint Brotz on the third lap, wit h Kahle joining as the lap ended . Kahle took the lead on the next lap, Luk e in fron t before they hit the banking, with both Kahle and Brotz d riving by on the way to the chicane, and Brotz in front across the line. Exi ting th e chicane th e final tim e, Brotz was in front , Kahi e second and jeff Curtis third. Kahle tried to d raft by at the finish, but came up just short. His next chance wa s- in the Expert Middleweight Sportbike, where he won han dily. Though he never reall y pulled away, he was well enough in control to win by 2.7';5 seconds. "I don't know if it gets an y easier, but I'm ge tting m ore confi de n t with th e track," Ka hle said . "I' ve had bad luck here in the past, but it's getting better for me." Kahle completed the five-lap race in 10 min ut es, 10.824 seconds , at an ave rage speed of 104.907 mph. Se cond a ll th e way was Cycles o f Palm Beach's Mi ke Luke, with Pete's Cycles' David Rose a constant presence in third. Dutchman Ra cin g had a p air of Expert win ners . Fr it z Kling took the Unli m ite d Su per bi ke class w in o ver Grigg Electric's Steve Grigg and Lee's Perfo rm ance Center's Lee Shierts. Kling