Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

" T he fi r s t 10 l aps, th ey w ere j us t b arel y creep ing a w ay from m e," Hayden said . " I don't k now, a little o v e r halfwa y they start ed com ing b ac k t o m e . They p i ck ed it up a little w hen 1 wa s try in g t o ca tch t h e m . I wa s b y (Oliver wit h less th a n six laps t o g o ) and r eelin g in Stevens, and 1 k n ew the l aps w ere wind i n g d own. A n d then I ca ugh t up to h im a nd 1 d on' t r eall y think h e knew 1 was catching that f as t until a few l aps, an d then h e p icked i t u p a little. I u sed a sof te r tir e an d just co u l d n' t get arou n d h im co ming off the co mers." On th e 35 t h lap Bostrom also passed Chan es to come? A MA road race manager Ron Barrick was we ll aware of rid er concern foll owing th e hor- rific injuries suffered at New H am pshire International Speedw ay, and he said the A MA wou ld do all thev could to address it. " We ll, I th ink at least som e of th e commen ts that I read in the Sunday paper th is m orning w ere som ew hat valid," Barrick said . "Yes, the com plexion of the spo rt and the machines are changing - the speeds they're attai ning. th e tires are better. Th ey're able to jum p out of th e turns quicker. They are more powerful every year and that lead s to new developments. The machi nes are getting more jlnd more expensive - not that that shou ld be a considerati on one way or the other. Obviousl y , it's th e rid ers we're con cerned about. With eve rything that' s come up, w e need to rethink how we look at this track if w e' re goi ng to return next year, and I'm not saying that w e wouldn't return for this reason or that reason. Jerry Wood, who run s all the Penguin Racing Schoo ls here and is obviously involved -in a lot of th e Loudon Road Racin g Series stuff here - not only as a racer himself, but he also has two kids who race here. All these people, Rich Alexan der, the li ke, they've never seen anyone hit a wa ll down in turn on e. N or hav e I. I've been coming here since 1982- of course that was the old tra ck configuration, which had its own unique set of problems. There's no track that's problem-free . Fr om a rider 's stan d po in t, every place could use som e adjustm ents. "I fully agree with the riders on any issue that pertains to their w ell-being. W e hav e to try to look at a trac k from their stan d po int. It's jus t unfortunate that someti mes som ethi ng this bad has to happen to severa l rid ers before everyon e starts rethinking how they view th eir goals. Definitely, i t's time to sit down w i th the prom oter an d track owne r and talk abou t what w e can do for next year - whether he w ould consi der purchasin g ai r fence to keep on-si te here. W e're not the only race here. We 're the race tha t' s goi ng to produce the fastest lap ti m es and the high est velocities wi th the m otorcy cles. But the y do run a number of cl ub races e,'cry year. plus all the Penguin Schools. It's a vcry active m otorcycle track. I t w oul d seem that, yes. for our ev en t, we'd like to see some different setu p for next year . But i n general I th in k the track may want to consid er its option s for having stuff that' s on-si te here permanently tha t th ey bring ou t fo r each eve n t, Whether that tu rns ou t to be m ore o f th ose tires th at ar e strung together, whi ch are effective in certain circu mstances. or w hether it's brin gin g in 500 stra w bal es, 1000 straw bales, w hatever. That' s another option. O bvious ly there's some state-of-thear t equ i pmen t like air fen ce. " I t' s kind of a combina tion, I gu ess. We go into a facili ty and w e' v e been dealing wi th pretty much the same setup y ear after y ear in rega rds to pla ci ng th e tire barriers an d whatnot and th e tra ck 's res ponsibili ty to d o th at. O b viou sly, as th e road race m.l n ager . it' s p artl y m y responsibility to tell the tr ack , 'Here's w here I thi nk somethi ng sho uld be d one: work togeth er w ith them to do that. Now that th is happened, clearl y th ere's going to be a lot of d iscussion ." Anthony Gobert, Aaron Yates and Jamie Hacking celebrate their top three finishes In the Superblke National. Oliver, who se corner-en t ra nce speeds wen t d o wn as the r ace w en t o n . Oliver h el d o n to eigh th , wit h Chandler n i n th an d Peg ram 10t h . n New Hamp shire Int ernational Speedway Loudon, New Hamp shire Res u lts: June 2 1, 1998 (Ro und 9 of 14) SU PE R BIKE Q UALI FYING: 1. Mat Ml ad in 0 :12.2(9); 2. Ben Bos tro m 0 :12.280); 3. Aaron Yates (1,12.911); 4, Doug Cha nd k-< (101 2.986); 5. Ja.rue H ackin g 0 :13.511); 6. Tom Kipp 0 :13.718) ; 7. Pa scal Picotte (1013.807); 8. Steve Crevier (1;13.8351 9. Anthony Gobert ; 0 ,13.840); 10. Rich Oliver (1013.973); 11. Tommy Hayden 0 :14.975); 12. Larry Pegra m 0 :15.074); 13. Red Grea ves (1015.074); 14, Tho mas Stevens (U S.I03); 15. [arnie [ames 0 :15.269 ); 16. Mike Hale 0 :15.508 ); 17. T ray Ba te y 0 :16.2(4 ); 18. Gran t Lopez 0 :16.495); 19. Chris Rankin (1 ;16.645) ; 20 . Ja mes Ran d o lp h (1: 16.674); 21. Eric Gulbranse.. 0 :17.040; 22. Dale Kicfft:r (1:17.421); 23. J.lke n Zemke IU7SJ1); 24. Nicky Hayden(U7.903); 25 MArio . Dul-iamcl 0 :18.149); 26. Cha rles Chocina rd 0 :18.718); 27. John Jaco bi 0 :18.8b8); 28. Dea n MizJ al 0 :19.224); 29. Stephen Coo k 0 :19Am; 30. Da vid Feu 0 :19.605); 31. Steve Teschke (1:19.765); 32. Jimm y More U:19.7S5); 33. Brett Guyer 0 :19.841); 34. Keith Marquez 0 :20.657); 35. Sha ne Conyea 0 :21.273); 36. ThOm.1S Fournier 0 :22.062). SU PER BIKE NAT IONAl.: 1. Aaron Yates (5uz) ; 2. Jami e Hacking (Ya m); 3. Antho ny Go bert (Due); 4. Ste ve C re vie r (Su z) ; 5. Th omas St evens (Due) ; 6. Tommy Hayden (Ka w ); 7. Ben Bostrom IHon]: 8. Rich Olive r (Yam); 9. Doug Chandler IKaw ) 10. Larry Pegram (Suz) ; 11. Tray Batey (Suz); 12. Rad G rea ves (Suz); 13. Chris Rankin (H-D); 14. Cha rles Chouinard (5uz); 15. Jim my Moore (Suzj: 16. Mario DuHamel (Suz): 17. Ia m es Rando lph (5uz); 18. Da le Kieffe r (Suz); 19. Dea n MUddl (Suz); 20. Steve Teschke (Suz); 21. Sloth Hahn (Suz); 22. John Ie co b i ($ uz); 23 . Tho ma s Fo urn ie r (D ue); 24 . Stephen Cooke (Due) ; 25. David Fett (Kaw); 26. Pascal Picotte (H -D); 27. Shane Go nyea (Suz ); 28. Tom Kipp (Du e); 29. Mal Mladin lSu zl . Tim~48 min .• 31.100St. C. " Oi sl~ n«: 39 laps , 62.4 miles. Avrr~gr speeds 79.146 mph. Mugin of vidory: 4.200 sec. AMA/M BNA SU PE R B IKE N ATlONAl C' S H IP PO INT STAND ING S (AIl.r 9 of 14 roundsl: I. Doug Chandler (251); 2. Anthon y Go bert (249/3 " ,ns); 3. Ben Bos tro m (240); 4. Mig ue l Du Ha me l (236/4); 5 . M.ll t ML ldin / Jolmit.' Ha cking (2(13); 7. Richard Oliver OSS); 8. Steve Crevier (86); 9. Tom Kipp (83); 10. Aaron Yates (l65); I I. Tommy Ha yden (l 60); 12. Larry Pegram (131); . 13. Rad G rea ves ( 28); 14. Thomas Wilso n Jr (127); 15. Thomas Stevens ( 19); 16. Pasca l Picotte (Un; 17. Mike Hal e (1 12) ; 18 . james Ra ndol p h (90) ; 19 . Mari o DuHamel (85); 20. Jami e Ja mes (82). Upcom ing Rounds: Round 10 - Lexington, Ohio, July 19 Round 11 - Brainerd, Minnesota, Augu st 2 a really go od job with the way the se ries has bee n ru n here recently. St ill. I think at time s the se guys are out of touch wit h the reality of safety issues." visit to the New Hampshir e , track. " They all have part s on the tracks like Loudon, Chand ler wasn't willing to po int' fingers at any tracks where it' s a bit dangerous. really . but thi s place has more one entity . " I think w e' re all to blame; us, the riders . for accep ting of tho se spots. " Gobert said. adding that "t his isn' t anywhere it ; the man ufacturer s: the A MA for making us race here. It's near as dangerou s as Phoenix. I think it' s ridiculou s that we race almos t to ' the po int that we have enou gh t rack s that we can Wi th A merican Honda 's Migu el DuHamel out for the season. B e n there wi th concrete all the w ay around the fin al turn . " Gobert choose. It wasn' t that long ago ' that there we re only eight races Bostrom is left to carry the standard and he said he'd felt it. went on to say that rider s have rarely sto od up for their own safeon the schedu le . " Ch andle r be lieve s that the safe ty issue has " Yeah. I felt a lot o f pressure on Friday night. " he said. " I couldn 't ty. " W e have to take extra caut ion here. N obody likes to race that come to a head because of the higher level of talent and cornpetl sleep . I tried to go to bed early and I ju st lay in bed for a few hours way . I'll be holding back a lot becau se I've got a lot to lose.' The tion. " Before, it was two or three guys. NOw. you 've got 12 guys just think ing. All this crap going through my mind and I didn't like rash of cr ashes caused him to take a mo re cautious approac h; 'p ushing each ot her .• • that. So I didn 't get very much sleep yesterday. So then it worked " es pecially seeing someone I know . M iguel . he 's a friend o f ' mine, and I wat ched him crash and get hurt . I saw Thomas Wi lson out pretty good because last night I slept good , I'm feeling a bit of Vance & Hines Du cati's Tho mas Stevens rebroke his recently laying on the track as we ll and I cou ld tell he was severely broken . pressure . I'm more nervou s today than I have been at any race . I healed 'right collarbon e whe n he crashed during free pract ice on keep getting fast er. Right now we're on po le on the little bike II' s not good to see friends,injured like that. It sort of puts you off Thursday . Stevens said that he hit a dirt -filled puddle in the seam a 'bit for the weekend. " He also said that he had no intention of (600ce>and right there for the big bike . I jus t want to go out there in the speedway at the bottom o f the hill where the new section of racing here next year . hoping 'to get a 500cc GP or W orld Superand do good for the team and I want to w in my hrst superbike the track cros ses the speedway. Stevens said he hit it " off -line. race real bad . I don 't know what else to say. I know that the team bike ride . " lf I was going to be racing here in the future, I'd make a ran where the wate r had settled over a bunch of dirt: it threw me looks at the big pictu re and there 's championship s invo lved and bigger deal of it. " As for how it affects the championship . Gobert right down on the collarbone and I broke it agaiQ. Same one I just I'm not too far out of eithe r one. I'm sure they don 't want me to said that ; " It changes it for the better for us because Miguel' s got done healing up from ;" Stev ens qualified 14th and decided to put it on the ground and I don 't want to put it on the ground. but I been our main oppo sition, reaily. I feel that we'd be in a total dif · race . " I'll tape j t down and I'm going to go out there and have at ferent pos ition , reaily, if we 'hadn' t had the machine problems also want to win. I don 't know . I'm a bit nervous today . If someit. finish. " Stevens ended up a brave hfth 'in the Nat ional. . we 've had. I had a lot of bad luck at the start of the year and then one 's trying to get away fromme. I don 't know how hard to go after them. " my mum said to me on the phone . 'S oon it' s going to be their tum Rain wreaked havoc on S aturday' s s ched ule , wi th M BNA to get the bad luck because you 've had it all the first part of the Superbike qualifying being canceled. along with Teamline 750cc There was more confusion When the AMA canceled the first eight year : Now it' s starting to tum around . I've had some Qood races : Supersport qualifying , and .the two Pro Thunder heat races . The minut es of Fri day's qualifyi ng session . The riders approached the bike's been good. It just ret me down a little bit in qualifying .Superbikes went out at about 4;25 p.m. for a 20 -minute practice AMA road race manager Ron Barrick and voiced their displealast weekend. Generally, it's been a lot more good ·than bad · it's sess ion: thoug h only 11 of 36 ,riders chose to take part because been 70 perce nt good and 30 percent bad. The guys are starting sure. Yoshimura's M ladm was among the more voca l. The AMA the track was partially wet . Some riders went out on rain tires and to, I think : sort of siruggle a littl e bit. they 're starting to feel ,the revers ed their decision, allowi ng the first eight minutes to stand . It some on slicks . Fast by Ferracci' s Tom Kipp was fastest WIth a pressure now that I'm sort of back there: They started relaxing a became a moot point when everyone went faster on a dry track in time of 1;15.043, about three seconds slowe r than M at M ladin's bit thinking ,I was sort of out of it. Now I'm com ing back ' strong the later sessi on. M ladin's view was, had they not cou nted it. it pole time. " It was a lot drier than most peo ple expect ed. " Kipp and I'm starting to pressure them. Miguel obviously was going for meant that DuHamel went out and 'broke his leg for no reaso n. ' He tr ied to put his head dow n thin king , like they norm ally' do . that extra point. thinking that might .be his only chance at it. like 'said. but he agreed with M uzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler who said the track was dirty, and lacked feel. " ' was hoping the track they let the cloc k run if It starts raining. but this time they stopped we all sort of thought. Mat (M ladin) didn't finish last weeken d as it. Wh at we all did, we all went out and put our heads down to try we ll. so, like . hopefully their luck is starting to run out a little btr- wo uld have stm' been :w et . " said Chandler, who : i~itially went out on' rain tires . "1 was . hoping to evaluate it. Get en opinion on it. to do a fast lap. Then it started raining. And what they normallydo and mine's actually starting to get a bit stronqer." ' Even with it being dry it was fairly dirty going into one and the is, they let the clockru n. butthis time they decided to stop it. , carousel. It was real suspect on the brakes. It felt likea low front Race in the dark" qualify in the dark . There' s never any consistenThe rash of hornfic accidents cause d a number of the riders to tire. I couldn't gei in the way I wanted. It felt like I'd tuck the fro nt cy . Eve ryone who went down there (to meet', w ith' Barrick) was co nsi der w hether the Lou don race should remain on the A MA end." ' . . . . schedule. M uzzy Kawasaki' s Do'ug C h a ndler said that it was going .t o cloc k him'. lt'strrelevant now . because eve ryo ne went quicker, but that's not the point. The guy that' s leading the cham- . time the AMA looked into homologating tracks. as is done by the ' N ext to Daytona. the Loudon even t is the most lucrative on the AM for the W orld Champion ship and 'W orld Superbike Champipionship broke his leg and it's pathetic. There's no consistency at AMA schedule . wi th a tot al pur se of $113.000 . Yo shimura all. It' s a case of amate urlsm. really. It made the series look so onsh ip . " It' s not that w e sho uld n't just not race on them . We unprofes sional. seeing it :'" . . Suzuki' s A~ ro n Yates won $10,500 of the $65 .000 Sup erbi ke should gr,;e them . list of whai needs to be done ," said Chandler, purs e, wi th Yamaha' s Jamie Hacking taking S7ooo.for seco nd and who cras hed uninjured in 600 cc Supersport practice. : If it's not done. then we don 't come ' back ." As to why the riders race on Van ce & Hines Ducati's An thony Gobert earning $4500 for third. Vance & Hines Ducati' s Anthony G obert was making his hrst 15

• Cover