Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Round 6: Road Atlanta Eric Bostrom beat his teammate Tripp Nobles to win the Formula Xtreme final. The two Erion Honda racers battle like this at each and every race. .Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia .Results: May 30, 1998 (Round 6 of 13) TEAMUNE 750cc SUPERS PORT FINAL: 1. Steve Rapp (5uz); 2. Mario DuHamel (Suz); 3. PauJ Harrell (Sux); 4. Mark Junge (Suz); 5. James Randolph (Suu; 6. Takahito Marl (Hon); 7. Jamie Bowman (5uz); 8. Steve Teschke (Suz); 9. Richard Pacella (Suz); 10. John Jacobi (Suz); 11. Jimmy Moore (Kaw); 12. Chris Carr (Kaw); 13. Jimmy Shelton (SU2); 14. Ron Ewerth (Suz); 15. Sean Kowalski (Hon); 16. Robbie Dowie (Suz); 17. Jason Pridmore (Sux); 18. Stephen Law (Hon); 19. Keith Wilson (Suz); 20. Stephen Hinson (Suz); 21. Eric Gray (Hon); 22. Wade Buffington (Suz); 23. Lynn Miller (Suz); 24-. Mark Cemicky (Kaw); 25. Tyran Shane (SU2); 26. Rich Alexander (5uz); 27. John Haner (5uz); 28. Dan Bailey (5uz); 29. Nicky Hayden (Sux); 30. Charles Chouinard (Suz); 31. Andrew Kantor (Suz); 32. Brian Gibbs (Suz); 33. Dale Kieffer (Suz); 34. Per Hogdahl (Suz); 35. James Doerfler (Hon); 36. Mike Klein (Han); 37. Scott Martin (SOl); 38. David Yaakov (Suz); 39. Josh Hayes (Suz); 40, Owen Weichel (Suz); 41. Ricardo Bordin (Suz); 42, Stephen Tuel (Suz); 43, Dave Estok (Suz). Time: 24 min., 32.530 sec. Distance: 15 laps, 37,8 miles. Average speed: 93.146 mph. Margin of victory: 1,950 sec. TEAMLINE 750" SUPERSPORT SERJES POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 13 rounds): 1. Steve Rapp (176/1 win); 2, James Randolph (164); 3, Richard Alexander (151); 4, Jason Pridmore (46/2); 5, Mario DuHamel (45); 6, Paul Harrell (120); 7, Dale Kieffer (]IS); 8. Jimmy Moore (111); 9. Nicky Hayden (10212); 10, Jamie Bowq\iln (95); 11. John Jacobi (94); 12, Mike SuJlivan (86); 13. Steve Teschke (80); 14. Jake Zemke (60); 15. Ricardo Bordin (54); 16. (TIE) Cory Call/Erik Schnackenberg (52); 18, Christopher Rankin (50); 19. Chris Carr (43); 20, Charles Chouinard (42). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 13 Round 8 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 20 En Fuels &Lubricants 250cc Grand Prix series Round 6: Road Atlanta Sandstorm By Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, MAY 31 quirk in the schedule meant this race, normally the last of the day, was sandwiched between the 600s and the Superbikes. That meant that everyone had a chance to see what the class had become and they had to come away impressed. An angry horde of eight bikes at the start, the pack stuck mostly together right to the very exciting final lap. There were some desperate moves by desperate people, but Performance Machine's Roland Sands managed to stay above the fray to notch his third win of the year. A "It feels really great to come here and win today - especially because the competition was so tough," Yamaha-mounted Sands said. "All these guys are riding great and everyone was pushing really hard out there today and doing everything they could do to win. It feels good to win against these guys because they're all riding great. Toughest race of the year 0 far." What allowed Sands to take what was, in the end, a somewhat comfortable win - 1.180 seconds over Moto Uberty's :rakahito Mori - was a desperate move in the final series of corners by World Sports Imports' Chuck Sorensen. Coming down into the hard-braking turn 10, Sorensen tried passing Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts on the inside, but knew he was in much too hot. So instead of trying to make the 90-degree left, he tayed up and rode through the mud, gravel and grass, then rejoined the track well up the straightaway, just as the pack which he'd run through was about to start the run to the line. Mori and Roberts had to take evasive action and that left Sands a small cushion for the win. Mori took second, Roberts third, Terranova Painting's Geep Terranova was fourth, with Sorensen fifth. Sorensen said that once he realized he wasn't going to make it, he gathered it back up and went straight. He said he could see where the other riders were, but they disagreed on whether he should ha ve come back on the track at that pOint. '1t wasn't so much his racing - it was so dangerous and so stupid that I saw no point in it," Roberts said. "He wasn't going to get third, he wasn't going to get on the podium, he wasn't going to beat anyone that was running up front, so there was no reason to come out of the grass, 1 thought. I had to slam on my front brake, swing the thing to the left, and I had Mori, and it was just stu pid. There was no reason for it. It's not like it's a slow corner, either. It's fast. That was the biggest problem I had with it." The battle had been intense the whole race and Sands felt that Soren en was riding over the edge. "He was making passes that he couldn't make stick no matter what," Sands said. "Anybody can make a pass like that. Just going on, brake after that person, brake as hard as you can, and shoot for the inside. And when you do that, you end up way wide and the guy you passed is going to pass you back. Go ahead and try it once and if you can't make it stick, don't try it again. But he was doing it on everybody everywhere out there. He stole the Mori frQm Mori." In the end it didn't affect Sands, who stretched his comfortable championship lead to 26 points. In winning the 15-lap, 37.8-mile race in 22 minutes, 35.010 seconds, at an average speed of 101.244 mph, Sands padded his cushion over MorL With six of 13 races completed, Sands has 201, Mori 175 and Roberts 163. "No, I'm not feeling secure," Sands said. "Anything could happen at any time. I could fall down at the next race. Hopefully that's not going to happen. I figure the best way to win the championship is to try and win every race. And, you know, I really can't think about trying to be conservative until the last couple of races. What I'm trying to do is build up a lead so I can make a m.istake and still win this thing, and hopefully by winning I'll do that. It' 5 going to be tough against these guys. I don't think I can win them all, but I'll sure try. Hopefully, I'd rather be on the podium with these two guys than anybody else, except for my teammates." From the very beginning this was a free-for-all, eight riders running nose to tail on the straights and three and four wide into the corners. Sands led across the stripe the first lap, and then Mori took over, his Honda RS250 dearly the fastest of the zippy two-strokes. Mori led across the line for the next four laps and he was also able to keep the point position during the lap. Until lap six. Al Salaverria, whose season was rescued with a cash infusion by KMS Hair Care Products, of Redding, California, had his Aprilia working well. He ran Mori down on the run from the bridge to the stripe and went by him for the lead, a lead he would hold for two laps before Sands took the front for a lap. Then it was Mori at the front again. "I just ran intO' backmarkers," Salaverria said. '1t just screwed me up. Backmarkers weren't in my favor. I was getting up behind them." With the pack as tight as it was, it was clear that only a mistake by one of the leaders would separate them. It came on the 13th lap. Going into turn 10, Salaverria hit Sorensen, who was trying to avoid Mori. "I stood it up to miss Mori exiting the chicane," Sorensen said. "I thought something was wrong with his bike. I hit him, ran into the back of him. Al (Salaverria) had nowhere to go." Salaverria hit Sorensen's exhaust pipe with his knee, which is still recovering from surgery. "All's I know is, some people parked it in the corner and I hit Chuck (Sorensen)," Salaverria said. "I screwed up my knee big-time. I just had the pins removed," Salaverria added that Mori's apex corner speed had come down consistently during the race, That sent Salaverria off the track on the left and allowed the others to get by and get away. With two laps to go, it was San~s in the lead and on the gas, the others,having to slow a bit after the mishap. "I put my head down - I mean eriously, I thought they were going to be right there," Sands said. "I thought they were going to be right there for the last lap and I looked back on the last lap and (I was) lucky enough to have a bit of a gap. I just kept my head down and the last couple laps I was probably riding hardest." Then came the last-lap fireworks, with Sands free and clear and Sorensen and Roberts trying to outbrake each other. "It happened down the hill in the braking," Roberts said. "He came on the outside of me and I outbraked him and we both came on the same line and Chuck got off his brakes and passed me and Mori through the gravel trap, came up the grass up by the top of the hi).l by the bridge, right in front of me. I had just got beside Mori and I had got the line and I had to lock the front up. It was just scary. There was no way around it." Geep Terranova, who'd been right in the thick of it, finished a dose fourth after holding off Sorensen, who was trying him on the inside at the line. Performance Machine's Mark Foster, who was an e3!ly member of the lead pack, was a lone sixth; then came Salaverria, followed. by Bobby Keith. Team Triad's Lee Acree was ninth on a Honda, with the Fabweld Honda of Greg Esser 10th, the two scrapping to the end. (,,, Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia Results: May 31,1998 (Round 6 of 14) 250cc GRAND PRIX FINAL: 1. Roland Sands (Yam); 2. Takahito Morl (Hon); 3, Kurtis Roberts (H'on); 4. Geep Terranova (Yam); 5. Charles Sorensen (Yam); 6, Mark Foster (Yam); 7. AI Salaverria (Apr); 8, Bobby Keith (Han); 9, Lee Acree (Han); 10, Greg Esser (Hon); 11. Randy Renfrow (Han); 12, William Himmelsbach (Yarn); 13. Jeffrey Vos (Hon); 14. Colin Gilbert (Yam); 15. Leon Cortes (H.on); 16, Perry Melneciuc (Hon); 17. John France (Hon); 18, Eric Stephens (Hon); 19. Edwarc:i Sorbo (Yam); 20, James Bonner (Yam); 21. Mark Sweeney (Yam); 22. Hans Battle (Yam); 23. Ryan L..'lllders (Yam); 24, Murphy Anderson (Yam); 25. Tom Christian (Hon); 26, Duncan Fnrash (Yam); 27, Michael Myers (Yam); 28. Keith Floyd (Yam); 29, Kevin McCrea (Yam); 30. David 8ettridgc (Yam). Time: 22 min" 35,010 sec. Distance: 15 laps, 37,8 miles Average spee4: 101.224 mph Margin of victory: 1.180 sec, ELF FUELS II< LUBRICANTS 250 GRAND PRIX C'SHIP POINT STANDLNGS (After 6 of 13 rounds): 1. ~ Roland Sa.nds (201/3 wins); 2. Tak.'l.hito Moti (175/1); 3, Kurtis Roberts (163); 4, Chuck Sorensen (]61/2); 5. Gerald Terranovtl (128); 6. Randy Renfrow (12.3); 7, Bobby Keith (115); 8. AI Salaverria (03); 9. Rodney Fee (99); 10. Mark Foster (98); 11. Greg Esser (96); U. Jeffrey Ves (91); 13, John France (89); 14. Michael Montoya (72); 15. Perry Melneciuc (71); 16. Edward Sorbo (69); 17. Leon Cortes (55); 18. Joseph Cubbag. (48); 19. Gary Georges (47); 20. Harold Parker (41). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 14 Round 8 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 21 AMAIPirelii Formula Xtreme series Round 5: Road Atlanta The usual suspects By Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA, MAY 30 E ric and Tripp, Tripp and Eric. New track, same results. Erion Racing kept its perfect winning record intact at Road Atlanta, with Eric Bostrom taking his fourth win in five tries, teammate Tripp Nobles hounding him for 10 laps before getting caught out by a backmarker and allow-

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