Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMAIMBNA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP "I feel better about my riding and how hard I can ride," Sands said after the win. "And I feel I can ride a lot harder than I am riding right now. I always feel that there's something el e out there. And if 1 ride just below that level when I'm racing, I know I can fini h the race and I can finish well." He won the 15-lap, 37.5-mile race in 20 minutes, 45.680 seconds at an average speed of 108.375 mph. By doing so, he stretched his championship points lead to 19 after four of 13 races. Sands holds 138, with Moto Uberty's Takahito Mori, eaten up in a last-lap flurry to end up fifth today, second at 119. Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts, one of the riders who dropped Mori on the last lap and finished fourth, is third with 105. Sorensen is a hopeful fourth at 98. "Last weekend was a bit of a heartbreaker, throwing away my points and falling like that," he said. "But you ha ve to pick it right back up because the hope's not over. It can't be. We're still early in the season." The battle for the lead went the duration, as did the battles for third and fifth. But those two pairs of fighters came together on the final lap, four riders hurtling into turns eight and nine with the last spot on the podium at stake. It would go to Geep Terranova, the Terranova Painting-backed rider using the opening that Roberts left under him in turn nine to speed to third, his best finish of the year. "1 thought I was in sixth place or something and I saw (Michael) Montoya and (Takahito) Mori up there, and we just kept our head down and the next thing I know I'm pulling off the track and they're telling me I'm third," Terranova said. Roberts said that he left the middle to the inside of the track open because he didn't know that Terranova was still there. "If I knew he was still there, I would have shut it down on him" Roberts said. ' StUI, he took fourth ahead of Mori and PJl Racing's Michael Montoya after those two had spent the whole race dicing for third, only to get dropped. Erion'Racing's Randy Renfrow, racing with a cracked right ankle as a result of being hit by Sorensen at Laguna Seea last week, was seventh. Salaverria Racing's Al Saiaverria recovered from an early problem, which forced him to start from the pit lane at the back of the 28-rider field, to finish eighth. Barnett Racing's Bobby Keith was alone in ninth, a was Ramson Street Racing' Jeffrey Vos in 10th. Sands, Sorensen, Mori, and Performance Machines' Mark Foster led the field through the first lap, Foster crashing in turn four on the second lap with Sands repassing Sorensen, who'd taken the lead early in the lap. It wasn't long before the field began to slowly spread out, Sand and Sorensen clearly the front-runners, Mori and Montoya side by side, and Renfrow in front of Terranova and Roberts. First to the leaders. Sands led across the stripe for the first eight laps, though Sorensen had his strengths and would take the front spot most laps. "There was a certain point early on where there were some areas that I felt 1 was stronger than Roland and maybe I could, lap by lap, make my points," Sorens n said. "Roland's bike runs really good. Everything that I'd make up in thdse places, he'd make up in other areas. I thought that maybe if I held him off in one - two was my strong area - I 18. Melneciue (Hon); 17. Edward Sorbo (Yam); Colin Jensen (Apr); 19. Roy de Croot (Hon); 20. Michael Tamayo (Hon); 21. Leon Cortes (Hon); 22. Duncaa Griffiths (Yam); 23. Ph.ilip Snowden (Hon); 24 Larry Roberts (Hon); 25. WOliam Dale Whelan (Yam); 26. TOtn Christian (Hon); 27. Richard Snowden (Hon); 2 . Rodney Fee (Han). Time: 20 min., 45.680 sec. Distance: 15 laps, 375 miles. Avenge speed: 108.375 mph. Mugin of victory: 0.590 SK. ELF FUELS/LUBRICANTS GRA 0 PRIX eSHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 4 of 13 rounds): 1 Rolone! Sands (138/2 w;ns); 2. T.kahHo Mon (119/1); 3. Kurli5 Roberts (lOS); 4. Charles Sorensen (98/1); 5. Randv Renfrow (7 ); 6. rrIE) Rodney Fee/Geep Terr.mova (7si; 8. Bobby Keith (71); 9. Jeffrey Vos (68); 10. John Fr~ (61); 11. Greg Esser (58); 12. Mark Foster (56); 13. Michael Montoya (SO); 14. Joseph Cubbage (48); 15. (TIE) c.;ary Georgesl Al Salaverria (47); 17 PetTy Melneauc (46); 18. Edward Sorbo (44); 19. Leon Co_ (32); 20. Chris Ulrich (31). Roland Sands celebrates his second straight AMA 250cc Grand Prix win with Miss Budweiser, Sands now leads the championship point standings by 19 points over Takahito Mori, who finished fifth at Willow Springs. Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 . Sonoma, California, May 3 Round 6 • Braselton, Georgia, May 31 Pirelli Formula Xlreme Championship series Round 3: Willow Springs Inl'l Raceway Eric's ·back thought maybe I could make time there. But every time 1 did, he'd come right back." On laps nine and 10 Sorensen was the leader, though only marginally, with Sands by into turn one. From then on Sands was first across the stripe, though Sorensen would take the lead, right up to the final few laps. For the final two times around, Sorensen wasn't able to make his way by ill turn two. Sands said he held him off by "braking harder, going way wide - way wide. It wasn't the greatest line in the world. I think three laps from the end he pinched me off so hard in there. r thought maybe I'd just let off the brakes and maybe he'd just back off, but he didn't back off. He just shut the door on me. I just held my breath and turned in as hard as I could. I swear there must have been like (very little space) between his rear wheel and my front wheel and I didn't want that to happen again." It would go down to the final lap and both had their stra teg;es. "The last lap I kind of thought I was looking good in tha t situa tion, sitting second," Sorensen said. "I was going to sit there and make sure that my front tire wa right on his rear so that 1 could get the draft and, just, powerwise, one lap early on, like five laps in the race, I did pass him there, I was able to come by. So I kept that in the back of my mind. I thought that's what I'll use for the last lap. And it just didn't work out this time." They did hit traffic early in the lap, but Sorensen didn't see that making a difference. ~I'd say he slowed us equally. I don't know if going berserk around the both of them would have been the right setup becau e I think Roland could have gotten me back under power. I felt that was my best decision there," he said. Sands attributed his newfound success to changing the way he thinks about racing. "It's not important to lead the whole race at all," he said. "Y don't need to go out there and try to run away and win. With the guys I'm riding with, I don't think that's a feasible thing to think about." As these two pulled away, the fight . behmd them heated up. For most of the race it was two, two, and one, Mori and Montoya being the fir t two. Like the leaders, they were never far apart and both had their strengths. They'd go back and forth, Mori often passing into turn one, not knowing of the imminent danger from behind. With the lap winding down, it didn't look like they'd be caught, but Roberts and Terranova, who'd been battling on their own for most of the race, found their momentum carrying them unexpectedly forward. "I never thought we were going to catch them," Terranova admitted. "I was just concerned with Kurtis (Roberts) and trying to see where he was weaker than me. I knew I could get him down the straightaway so I was really thinking he would lead me off of nine and I could get him off the draft. Then I saw the opportunity with Mori and I got both of them and my bike was really fast. It was more the bike than rider. "Kurtis was a little more aggressive than me and he was a little stronger than me in three and one on the brakes which pretty much everybody's bee~ stronger than me in those areas. But I'm really strong in two and I'm strong in turn eight, and I think tho e are the two areas that helped me get to Mori and Montoya. We just kept working our way through and that's just about it. That was a tough battle with Kurtis. That's what got us to where we were at." Robert said he pa sed Montoya in turn three when he made a mi take. He stalked Mori, passing him in turn nine. after Mori went wide. "1 knocked it down, but I left the door open for Geep (Terranova)," Roberts said. "Geep came to tlle inside and got a good drive and he yanked me to the line." . Renfrow followed in due time, easily 111 front of Salaverria. Bobby Keith motored home nin th, with Jeffrey Vos all alone in I Oth. L~ Willow Springs International Raceway Rosamond, California Results: April 26, 1998 (Round 4 of 13) ELF FUELSILl11lRICANTS GRAND PRIX FINAL: 1. Roland Sands (Yam); 2. Chuck Sorensen (Yam); 3. Geep !erranova (Yam); 4. Kurtis Roberts (Hon); 5. Takahlto Mari (Hon); 6. Michael Montoya (Yam); 7. Ro?dy Renfrow (Hon); 8. AI Sa.laverna (Apr); 9. Bobby Keath (Hon); 10. Jeffrey Vos (Hon); 11. Greg Esser (Hon); 12. ~ary.Ceorges (Yam); 13. John France (Hon); 14. Chris Ulrich (Yam); fS. Rolph Staropol; (Hon); 16. Perry By Mark Hoyer Photo by Henny Ray Abrams ROSAMOND, CA, APR. 25 ·fter a cooked clutch dropped Erion Racing's Eric Bostrom out of the lead and the race in Laguna Seca's Pirelli Formula Xtreme final one week ago, he said, "I guess I just gotta win the rest of them." He's off to a good start. Though Bostrom didn't exactly leap off the tart line for the 15-lap, 37.5-mile race, he was fourth at the end of the first lap and took over the lead at the end of the fifth, going on to win with relative ease. The official margin of victory was 3.180 seconds, though that's deceptive because it was double that at the end of the 14th lap. "I was real hesitant after Laguna after kind of maybe slipping it (the clutch) too much, so I just kind of tried to let the thing out and it ju t fell right on ItS face, and then I kind of had to clutch it." Bostrom said of his start. It was okay, he had a plan, and aside from the botched start, it worked perfectly. "There was a bit of a strategy before the race," Bostrom said. "I wanted to cool it through (turns) eight, nine and ~o for the tire, and then just make up time ill one, three, four, five - just try to put some time on everyone there. It was actually a pretty good plan. It seemed to work pretty good, except that we got off .to such a poor start and I had orne trouble getting around these guys, because they're all a good pack of riders. Everyone is really experienced and really fa t, but that big Honda, we could just kind of power by them on the straightaway. I kind of almost felt bad about it." Evidently not bad enough to Jet Team Valvoline Emgo Suzuki' Tray Batey catch up. . It took some work for Batey to make ·It through to second at the checkered £lag, as he spent time early in the race tussling with Attack Performance's Curtis Adams and Graves Motorsports' Mark Miller and Chuck Graves. But Batey managed to get away, though Adams and Miller gave him a little help. Adams first ran into trouble with his electronic shifter, which killed his motor and dropped him to seventh. Then, trymg to make up some of the time he lost, he crashed in turn five. A

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