Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Erion Honda 900 is short on straight-line speed. "I passed Tripp coming into the carousel on the first lap," Miller said. "I've got to really stress one thing: The only thing wrong with my motorcycle is that I can't go straight really fast. I have to get ou t of the throttle. I can't even get into sixth gear - I can't even get into fifth gear. So I'll ride pretty good in the corners - we got the thing handling really good, I come off the corner and we go blazing down the straightaway and everybody passes me. So we're coming to grips. It got way better this weekend. We're going in the right direction. We just need to get some straight-line stability on the gas, full-throttle, fourth, fifth, sixth gears. That's where I lost all my ground." Taylor made it past Miller in the same spot and set out after the leaders. He held third for three laps, got by Nobles by the end of the fifth, but by that time was about 1.5 seconds behind Bostrom. As Nobles continued to drop back, Miller came upon him, and that's when the speed deficit came into play. "Tripp held me up actually qwte a bit," Miller said. "For several laps I was trying to get around him. He'd squirt away on the straightaways and I'd just reel him in the comers." Eventually, Miller made the pass stick and set out after second place Taylor. Californian Miller made it by the Kawasaki-mounted rider, but Bostrom appeared to have control of the race, and Miller would finish second. "I got by Tripp and eventually caught up to Mike and made a nice clean pass on Mike on the inside of the right-hander - I think tum five - and I just put my head down and put in some clean laps and tried to close on Eric, but I'm sure he was watching his pit board as well, so he might have had something there if I could have caught up." Taylor, like Miller, was riding a bike that is new to the race track, and while the Graves Motorsports team has figured out how to get the RI to turn, Taylor's team is still working on the new chassis. "My biggest problem is I wasn't able to keep up the corner speeds," Taylor said. "I noticed, as Mark was saying, he was running really well in the corners. The Yamaha looked like it did have handling on us. Particularly in the bowl and stuff, I was just shaking. The bike was shaking quite a bit. It was a handful to hold onto the thing and it pumped me up quite a bit. I just tried to keep it cool and tried not to overdo it in any corner to make any ground on anybody. I had the fight knocked out of me about halfway through, I guess. We've got to get that thing a little bit smoother so it's a little bit easier to stay at that pace." Things at the front of the field, meanwhile, were pretty calm, with Bostrom turning in consistent laps and holding about a four-second gap over the runner-up spot - no matter who held it. "[ was just trying to take it easy," Bostrom said. "As far as safety, we all know that this track isn't the safest. And these guys were pushing hard and they're doing a great job, but I was comfortable at that pace. Maybe if ['d had to step it up, I wouldn't have been so comfortable." As it was, he didn't have to, and he rode to the win with a 2.630-second margin of victory over Miller, with Taylor third - a season best for both ridees. Nobles was fourth, well ahead of Offbeat Productions' Cory Call, who held fifth place for the better part of the IS-lap race. Curtis Adams (145) prevailed after a racelong battle with Shawn Higbee in the Pro Thunder race. Bostrom's win moves him to second in the championship standings with 111 points, just 12 points behind leader Nobles. Taylor is now third with 106 points, just ahead of Miller's 101. Notably absent from Sears Points was Team Valvoline Emgo Suzuki's Tray Batey, who was third prior to this weekend's race. Batey is now sixth with 88 points, two behind Call. 1:\ -Sears Point Raceway Sonoma, California Results: May 2, 1998 (Round 4 of 12) FORMULA XTREME FINAL: 1. Eric Bostrom (Hon)j f. Mark Miller (Yilm); 3. Michael Taylor (Kaw); 4. Tripp Nobles (Hon); 5. Cory Call (Suz); 6. Mario DuHamel (Suz); 7. Mtke Sullivan (Suz); 8. Curtis Adilm~ (Tri); 9. Denn Mizdal (Suz); 10. Chris Voelker (Hon); 1'1. Myron Bigley (Han); 12. Robert Mesa (Suz); 13. Jack Pfeifer (Suz); 14. William Scott (](aw); 15. David Perez (Duc); 16. Mike Voelker (Hon); 17. Michael Rawlings (Hon); 18. Kevin Holman (Yam); 19. Gregory Whill~ (Suz); 20. Peter Moran (Suz); 21. Zoran Vujasinovic (Suz); 22. James King (Han); 23. Robert H,lyashida (Han); 24. Jim Groshong (Han); 25. Eric Baker (SU7); 26. H. Vincent V..clav (Kaw); 27. Eric Seward (Yam). Time: 26 min.• 11.280 sec. Distance: IS laps. 37.8 miles Average speed: 80.831 mph Margin of victory: 2.630 sec. AMA/PIRElLI FORMULA XTREME SERIES STANDINGS (Round 4 of 12): 1. Tripp Nobles (123/1 .....in); 2. Eric Bostrom (111/3); 3. Michael Taylor (06); 4. Mark Miller (lOU; 5. Cory Cau (90); 6. Tray Beltey (88); 7. Jack P(ci(t.~r (85); 8. Chris Voelker .(82); 9. Mario DuHamel (80); 10. Dean Mi7.dal (75); 11. Mike Sullivan (71); 12. Myron Bigley (54); 13. (TIE) Michael Smith/Mike Voelker (52); 15. David perez (47); 16. Kevin Holman (39); 17. Curtis Adams (36); 18. (fiE) William Scott/Ben Welch (34); 20. Chris Carr (32). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Brasetton, Georgia, May 30 Round 6 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 13 AMA/Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder series Round 5: sears Point Raceway Adams at' home By Mark Hoyer Photo by Henny Ray Abrams SONOMA, CA, MAY 3 range County Triumph's Curtis Adams wasn't at his home track of Willow Springs as he had been the week before, but as the season wears on it is becoming quite clear that any track is Adams' home track in the Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder Series. The only race he hasn't won tlus season was the race he didn't go to: the season opener in Phoenix. After that, it's been all Adams. And while the Triumph Daytona rider stood atop the box at Sears Point, getting there wasn't without its difficulties. Foremost of these was Tilley's H-D Buell's Shawn Higbee, who got the jump at the start. But Adams was right with him, immediately exerting pressure on the Buell rider. Higbee yielded to the pressure in the carousel on the first lap in what would be many passes for the lead - the pair never more than a few lengths apart - on the bumpy and technical 2.52-mile racecourse. In the end, the differences in the bikes determined who could take the advantage where, and each time the other would lead he'd learn the relative strengths and weaknesses of his adversary. "Through the esses my bike went pretty good through there and then on the brakes my bike seemed to work pretty good," Adams said. "Shawn's bike seemed to accelerate a little bit better O right off the corners, and it seemed to plant the tire a little bit better. Headed up the hill, his bike seemed to drive a little better through that right-hander and then on up the hill. So it was just a little different in a couple different spots. And [ think we each tried to change our lines a little bit to compensate for that - and we learned from each other - I could see where he was gaining from me and like say, 'Okay, just let off the brakes: you know, and you'd just try to roll through just a fraction of a bit better." Though Higbee didn't come out on top in the heated race-long battle, ultimately having to settle for second after getting balked on the final go-around by a lapped rider, he said that after last year he was happy to finally be racing with someone. "Last year I ran in the Buell Lightning series (in NASB), so I kind of got used to a lot of runaway victories and got used to running by myself:' Higbee said. "When we started in Phoenix, things went pretty much my way. [t was kind of refreshing in a way to start battling again. It makes the race more interesting. I think I got a little rusty and might need to work on my techniques." Lapped riders played an important role in the race for the lead and led to one of the more exciting moments of what was an exciting race when Adams and Higbee passed a lapped rider on either side with mere inches to spare, Adams even wheeIying his way past. "It's basically just split-second timing when you're out there:' Adams said of trying to get by slower traffic. "If Shawn's leading I know I'm going to work his way by him, and If I'm leading he knows I'm going to work my way by him. If one of us takes a chance, the other one almost has to. It's almost that in a battle like that you have to take that risk. There real!y wasn't a problem, bu t some of the spots were really close. Some of the speed differences between the lappers and us were pretty great. Even though it was really close, we went by pretty quick, and there wasn't a lot of time spent side to side." "We were always encountering traffic, and I just didn't take the chances on the last lap around one back marker, and Curtis got away," Higbee said. "We'll take second - we've still got a few races left to go." The intensity of the battle for first in this case carried the leaders away from third-placed Paul Harrell, also riding for Orange County Triumph. Harrell, the points leader corning into this round, had gotten off to a fourth-place start behind 10-K Racing's Ducati Supermono-mounted Cal Rayborn lll. It didn't take long for Harrell to motor past Ra yborn, but by the third lap he was already some seven seconds behind the leaders, and trouble was in any case on its way for the Triumph rider. "In the beginning of the race I thought I had a pretty good shot at it:' Harrell said, "But then abou t the third or fourth lap [ started having - my bike's fuel-injected, and it started drawing a lot of juice, and on about the fourth lap it started cutting ou.t a little bit. Then gauges went dead. I would be in the middle of the corner and it (the engine) would shut off and come back on, so I just wanted to get it done and get it home. The bike ran grea t. It was just a stupid battery problem." Though third certainly wa n't disastrous for Harrell, is was a poor enough finish that race winner Adams takes over the lead in the championship point standings by one point, 147-146. Higbee is just 10 points behind Adams and looking forward to the next round and a fresh motorcycle. "I came into this round really hoping the Buell would win here:' Higbee said. ''I'm pretty disappointed that we didn't, but the three weekends in a row really beat up our equipment, so I think that having the break before Road Atlanta Don (Tilley) will get the bike back into tune." Harrell, meanwhile, lost the points advantage his consistent finishes this season had gotten him and he is beginning to realize that he may have to take some more risks to get the points he needs to stay ahead. ''I'm getting real nervous," Harrell said. "I know it's going to be tough here pretty quick for me. I haven't even gotten to win yet so I'm going to really put my head down at the next one and see what happens." Rayborn was a lonely fourth at the line after narrowly avoiding a collision with Motorcycle Online's Mark Miller, whose Buell dropped a valve on the first lap. Motorcycle Unlimited's Craig McLean was fifth after coming out on top of an early-race tussle with Big Valley Honda's David White and Chandelle Motorsports' Paul Orlandi, sixth and seventh, respectively. 1:\ Sears Point Raceway Sonoma, California Results: May 2, 1998 (Round 5 of 13) PRO THUNDER FINAL: 1. Curns Adams (Tn); 2. ShH"n Higbee (Bud; 3. Paul Harrell (Td); 4. Cal Rayborn III (Duc); 3. Cmig Mclean (Due); o. Dilvid White (Hon); 7. Paul Orlandi (Duc); 8. Thomas Tucciarone (Due); 9. Michael Gage (Tri); 10. Shawn Reilly (Hon); 11. Kurt Mund (BMW); 12. James Lickwar (Tri); 13. Thomas David Hull (Dud; 14. Justin McReynolds (Buc); 15. Shawn Conrad (Bue); 16. Robert Bro.....n (H-O); 17. Chuck Sun (HU5); 18. John Duhig (Hon); 19. O.. vid Hull (Duc); 20. Robert Gonzales (Due); 21. Patrick Cody (Muz); 22. Mark Miller (Bue). Time: 26 min., 46.020 sec. Distance: 15 laps. 37.8 miles Average speed: 84.731 mph Margin of victory: 1.240 sec. AMNPROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Round S of 13), I. Curtis Adams (J47/4 wins); 2. Paul Harrell (146); 3. Shawn Higbee (137/1>; 4. Thomas Tucciarone (116); 5. Michael Cage (08); 6. Craig Mclean (104); 7. Thomas D,wid Hull (03); 8. James Lickwar (97); 9. Pow] Qrl...,di (%); 10. Mark Miller (95); 11. Kurt Mund (82); 12. Robert Conznles (69); 13. Bill St.]ohn (66); 14. Nick lenatsch (63); 15. David Hull (58); 16. Shawn Conrad (45); 17. Larry Schnur (44); 18. Michael Oube (41); 19. David IGclle, (38); 20. Patrick Cody (35). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Braselton, Georgia, May 31 Round 7 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 14

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