Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMA/lfBNA SUPERB/ICE NAnONAL CHAMPIONSHIP point. His inexperience showed as he. used up his tire early on, but he still managed to finish seventh - turning heads the entire way. Yoshimura Suzuki's Steve Crevier finished eighth on the TLl ODOR, just ahead of Rich Oliver's Yamaha. Tenth place went to Willow Springs local Curtis Adams and his Attack Performance Yamaha, despite racing with a possibly broken hand. Privateer Adams managed to best a host of factory. stars, including Yamaha's Jamie Hacking (11th), Fast By Ferracci's Tom Kipp (12th), Muzzy Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden (l4th) and Fast By Ferracci's Mike Hale (l6th). Unlike last week at Laguna Seca, Gobert managed to show up in time to take part in both the sighting and warmup laps prior to the National, and he used his warm tires to pass DuHamel between turns one and two to lead the race. (Above) Steve Crevier (14) ended up eighth on the Suzuki V-twin, topping Rich Oliver (97) and the factory Yamaha. (Right) DuHamel salutes the crowd after winning his second straight AMA Superblke National. At the end of the first lap the order read: Gobert, DuHamel, Bostrom, Mladin, Picotte, Oliver and Rapp. Chandler was already 12th. A lap later, Tilley Harley-Davidson's Jamie James was out of the race, the former Superbike Champion crashing on the exit of turn five. On the fourth lap, Mladin moved into third place, with Chandler up to 10th. A lap later, a charging Mladin was second, ahead of... Rapp! The first-timer had clicked off his best lap of the race on the third lap (a 1:21.546) and was suddenly a factor. Mladin's march forward eventually 'got him to the lead on the sixth lap when he made his move on Gobert in the high-speed turns eight and nine. And Rapp came with him, somewhat inspiring his teammate Gobert. "One lap Mat (Mladin) went flying up the inside and that other guy (Steve) Rapp went around the outside," Gobert said. "I lost two positions like that. My fitness still needs to be a bit better, so I rode a little bit reserved to conserve energy. Once those guys went past me, I thought, Tm not going to let this Rapp guy beat me the first time on the bike.''' Though he would hang around for a while, Rapp would eventually fade back with a worn rear tire. But he'd made his mark. "I thought I could run with them after qualifying," Rapp said. "But I'd never raced on race tires or with a full fuel load. There were a lot of variables, 'Carr is hopeful that his Kawasaki' ZX-6R will be ready for him' to' ~ake his , 60qcc Supe(sport debut at Sears Point next weekThe AMA SlJperbike National Championship retur~ed' to Willow end. Springs International 'Ra~eway after a 'seven-year hiatus. ,he last Superbike National was run here in 1~O, with Randy' Ranf1:ow The ";;inner of the firsttaking lhe, win .on h\s Cqmmonwealth Honda RC30. The qOOec ever, National at Willow .Supersport race was won by Dave Sadowski" ilvith Doug Springs was on hand as Chandler. winning the 750cc Supersport class. Racing journalist one of the Grand MarNick lenatsch won the 250co. Grand Prix class over that year's. shals for this year's National Champion,. Doug Srauneck. event. On April 4, rg54, .Brie.fl •••• With the extremely high speeds 'and lean ~ngles that racers atiai" . at Willow Springs, both Dunlop and Micl;lelin came to the race armed with Willow Springs-spec tires. The dual-eompound ·tires, softer than those used at Daytona, but not by much..held .up fairly well., and expected tire problems didn't really l1\aterializ.e in the' Natoonal. Both companies based their new tires on preseason' testing done at the race track_ The, first three finishers in the Superbike National - Miguel DuHamel, Anthony Gobert and Mat Mladin - used the dual-compound Du~lops that ~ere mad., sp,;,ifically for this race. Fourth-place finisher Ben Bostrom used a sin. gle-compound Dunlop, with fifth-plac~ Doug Chandler 'also using the dual-compound Dunlop uS,ed by' the t"p three. According to Dunlop's Jim Allen, the Willow-spec tire is.a·direct offshoot of th'e one used last year at Pikes peak and Las Vegas Motor Speed'way. Allen said that Dunlop was pleased with' the performance of the new tire and that it' would be tried at both Pikes Peak and Las Vegas when, the series visits those two 'race tracks. -According to tire technicians, WiI!~w Springs ranks am·ong·the t~p three tracks in the world'where tire wea, is highest lhe other two: Daytona International Spl'edway and Austr~lia's Phillip Island_ ca'" Chris was back for more on' the Muzz.y Raptor In the For, mula Xtrem"· class, though .he never made it to the race: During Friday's practice, Carr crashed the bike in the l1igh-speed turn eight at roughly 140 mph. Remarkably, Carr did nothing but bruise a knuc~le on his right pinkie finger. -It wa," the second lap and' I was going about seven-tenths," Carr explained.' -I got off line and hit the car bumps. Before I knew ·it. I was a tumbleweed. They'd like to fix the bike for me, but they don't have the stuff to do it.- Bill Eggers rode a BSA to victory one year after the track was buill. Eggars was on band for b.oth cl;lys of action atthis year's National. Also in attendance was four· time World Champion Eddie . laWson (righiJ, who has had long relationship with Willow Springs. Lawson drove one 9 f . th(ee pace cars prior to t~e Superbike National. . . a . Sudden hpt prospect St.eve Rapp was filling in for the injured' . Thomas Stevens on the Vance & Hioos Ducati at Wil)ow $prings. Stevens isn't expected to return from his broken collarbone until the Road Atlanta rpunds, and Rapp may be on the bike again ooxt weekend at his home track of Sears Point. Rapp only further helped himself in qualifying when he put the Ducati sixth on the grid in what was his first"ever Superbike outing. For those who are. keeping track, Rapp was the second-quickest'Ducati - Six spots, 'ahead of Fast 'By Ferracci's Tom Kipp and '11 better than Mile Hale. "He (Rapp) hasn't done anything stupid arid. he:s making progress," Vance & Hines crew chief Jim Leonard said of Rapp. Rapp, who is a former AFM Champion,a.t Sears Point. ended up finishing seventh in ·the National. He also ended up seconil in the 750cc Superspon class and 14th in 600ci Supersport on hiS: San Gabriel tiAountain Spring Water-Qacked Suz.ukis. His 60Ccc Supersport finish was interrupted by a crash· in turn four and he managed to finish the race without a front-brake lever. Anthony Gobert showed up at Will9w Springs with yet another hair color. This one's officral name: Corvette Red. The hue. but 1 felt comfortable up there. I tried not to cook the tires, but I guess I did." At the halfway mark, Gobert was back in front, leading Mladin, DuHamel, Rapp, Bostrom, Picotte, Oliver - and Chandler. Chandler wasn't losing any ground on the leaders and in fact was picking away a few tenths here and there. He trailed Gobert by 3.7 seconds. On the 15th lap, DuHamel was in front and he was able to put a gap between himself and the others as they encountered heavy traffic for the first time. But the gap didn't last long as the rest quickly moved back to his tailsection. "You feel like Superman when you go into turn eight behind somebody,~ DuHamel said later. "But when you're leading it's another story." though, seem~p more pink 'than red.'Gobert was also clad'in new ,soqks fpr the weekend, complete yvith the Austr

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