Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) Reigning champion Doug Chandler (1) leads Yamaha's Jamie Hacking (92) and Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates (partially hidden) early in the Superbike race. Yates made It up to fourth while Chandler once again struggled with his bike to finish fifth. Hacking was sixth. (Left) Fast by Ferraccl's Tom Klpp was once again the the fastest of the Fast By Ferracci boys. He finished seventh. a second, and Ducati's third straight win at Road America. Then came Bostrom, just a half-second behind after another stellar ride from the young Californian. If you consider the competition, the level of the racing, and his relative lack of experience, the fact that Bostrom has proved in two straight races that he can run with Gobert and DuHamel is impressive indeed. He. also prefers being Mr. Third Place rather than Mr. Fourth Place, though Mr. Second Place can't be too far off in his future. Some six seconds behind Bostrom was Yates, riding the Yoshimura Suzuki hard in the cqrners to make up for its top-speed deficit. It was Yates' best finish since his third-place effort in the season opener in Phoenix back in February. Then came Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler. :rhe defending National Superbike Champion continued his recent run of struggles and Road America marked his third straight race without a podium filllSh. Chandler was using a linked braking system on his Kawasaki for the second straight race, and it was that system that caused him some problems. Chandler said that when the front brake started to fade, the rear brake was too strong and it was causing the bike to step out under braking. Chandler didn't care for that too much and he elected to back down for a secure fifth-place finish. Sixth place went to Yamaha's Jamie Hacking after the South Carolinian lost touch with the lead group. In the end, he was some 17 seconds off the pace, but more than 10 seconds clear of eventh-placed Tom Kipp. Kipp was again the highest-placing member of the Fast By Ferracci team as he rode the bike consistently throughout the race to finish seventh. His teammate Mike Hale ended up 12th. Hacking's Yamaha teammate Rich Oliver finished eighth, miles ahead of Yoshimura Suzuki's Steve Crevier, who in turn had some five seconds on the Harley-Davidson VRI000 of Tom Wilson. Muzzy Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden finished 11 U, as he continues to regain lost confidence. Even though Gobert had put it all on the line in this one, he ended up gaining only two points on DuHamel when all was said and done. DuHamel had earned a championship point for taking pole position, and he earned another for leading the mo tlaps. The French Canadian now leads Chandler by seven points, 236-229. Gobert moves to third in the series standings with 221 points, 15 behind DuHamel and five in front of Bostrom's 216 points. The man who saw his championship hopes dashed was Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin. The Australian was taken out on the first.lap in turn five when Pascal Picotte crashed the HarleyDavidson VRl000 and took Mladin with him. Mladin was able to remount, but he eventually had to call it a day, credited with 27th place and the handful of points that goes with it. Mladin is now fifth in the series standings with 211, though he has a big • cushion over Kipp's 180 points. The race began with high expectations and it didn't disappoint. For some, however, it would be a short day. Three of the factory star were gone before the end of the first lap. The first to go was Vance & Hines Ducati's Thomas Stevens. His race lasted for roughly three upshifts. Then the Ducati started puking water, and he headed for the pits. When the pack arrived in turn five for the first time, two more factory stars were eliminated when Picotte overshot the corner, crashed and took Mladin with him. "Pa cal was out of control going into five and he took me out:' Mladin said matter-of-factly. '1 got going again, but it put a hole in it. He (Pa cal) helped drag me out of the gravel and pushstarted me." Picotte felt bad about the incident. "We had a new clutch just before the final:' Picotte explained, "and it didn't give me much engine braking. I wa behind Steve (Crevier), I pulled out of the draft and I couldn't stop. I tried to pick a spot to go through, but they were all in a line. I crashed and took Mat with me. After that I just wanted to help him." Meanwhile, the pack up front was long gone, with Gobert leading DuHamel, Bostrom, Hacking and Chandler, with just a second covering the five after one lap. DuHamel took the lead for the first time when they charged into turn one. Then Bostrom had a turn with a late-braking maneuver into turn five, and it lasted through to turn 14. That's when Gobert showed his uperiority on the brakes into the la t corner, taking the lead again to lead across the stripe. The war at the front waged on, with Yates joining the fray. At the end of the fifth lap, just .7 of a second separated the top six. On the seventh lap things got a bit touchy up front when Hacking "Charged under DuHamel in turn one, with the two making contact on the exit. DuHamel said la ter tha t this was the second time that the pair had come together. Hacking's strong run wouldn't last much longer, and he eventually dropped back to finish sixth. "We had a good go today," Hacking said. ''We got a handle on the clutch and we're changing the Yamaha every week. This team works hard and they're always asking us, 'What can we do to make it better?' We're stepping it up. I was really relaxed on the start because I knew I could get a good one. We changed the rear shock this morning and it made it really comfortable going into turn one. I peeled it on in there and rolled on through and I bumped him on the elbow. He (DuHamel) was stopping there. He would have killed my speed coming off the comer, so I hit him. I'd kept him off, but it stood it up and ran ~ e 7

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