Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

co u ld' v e m ade it even bet t er so I could ge t a ro u n d t h e turn b etter. I 'm just happy that I d i dn' t cr ash a nd I fi nish ed and I actua lly h ad fu n ." Oliver w as n ext ac ross t h e l ine, t h e Yamaha rid er h av i n g been w ith Bostrom an d M l adin unti l th e m i d p o int, when h e st ar ted to l o se touch . . " I was gett i n g a l o t o f h el p from Eric Bo strom o n th e draf t," Oliv er sai d . " He had a co u p le of m iles -an hour o n m e. I w as pretty good co ming off o f t h e l ast t u rn a nd I cou l d get r i ght i n h i s dra ft a n d he'd k ind of t o w m e a long d o w n the front st raigh taway. A nd even tually things got a little h ectic h ere o r ther e. I f orget w h at h ap p en ed , but I l o st a few fee t, th en anoth er few feet - t hen pretty soon I l os t the draft. T he n I w as kind of a si t t i n g d u ck for a w h ile . I g u e ss T homas w as able to kin d o f ca tch u p to me. And M at Mladin w as g oing th rou gh no m atter what. So th er e w as n o thi n g I could r eally d o w i t h him. " Seven th w ent to M u z zy K aw asaki' s Doug C h an d ler, w ho got Ya tes o n th e la st la p . C ha n d le r was n ev er co mfor ta ble, un abl e t o m o v e l eft t o rig h t because of his ling ering i nj uries, an d no t able to hang off th e righ t si de. Y ates' probl em was t r ac t i o n . After waiti ng a f e w la ps t o ge t go i ng , h e fo u n d that th e r ear o f th e b ik e w ouldn' t h o o k up. " Coming o ut of three an d o u t o f fiv e and all th em turns, it'd just sta rt g ett i n g all ou t o f sh ap e and bu ck i n g b ack and f o r t h , a n d i t wa sn't d oing it ea r lier ," Yates sai d . " I felt like i t was both the tir e a n d th e suspen sion . I f elt like t he t ire wa s i n it i a ti n g it a nd the suspe ns io n aggr ava ti ng it. It was just weird. Every o n ce in a while, we h av e that exact same th i ng an d w e ca n' t fi g u r e o ut w hat th e h ell it is. But i t's o d d, because sometimes w h en you p u t a good tire on, i t'll b e p erf ect. It won' t do a ny t hi ng like that." Ya tes ' Y o sh imu r a Suzu k i tea m mate C rev ier w as at a p o w er d i sad v antage o n th e twi n -cy lind er Su zuki, w h ic h h e rod e to nin th, not i n d anger o f b ein g caugh t by Szoke, wh o fi n i shed 10t h o n t h e Fer r acci D u cati af t er b r eak ing aw ay from La r ry Peg r a m an d T ommy H ay d en . D i Braine rd Int ern at io nal Raceway Brain erd, Min nesota Resu lts: Au gust 2, 1998 (Ro un d 11) Q UA lIFYt NC : I. M.lt MI.ld in 0 :37.263); 2. Iamie Hackin g (1:37.537); 3. jason Pridmo re 0:37.612); 4. Ben Bostrom 0 :37.964); 5. Mik e Sm ith 0 :37.880); 6. Do ug Cha nd ler (1:37.955); 7. Eric Bos trom 0:37.992); 8. Aa ro n Y.1ok 'S 0:38.150); 9. Thoma s Steve ns 0 :38.3(4); 10. Tom Kipp 0:38.317); 11. Rich Oli ver 0 :38.430; 12. Tommy Ha yden 0 :39.019); 13. Iamie Jam es 0:39.722); 14. Lu1)' Pegram (1:39 .H81) ; 15. Steve Cre vi er 0 :39.89 1); 16. The crew of the former HyperCycie Suzuki team . which remains intact despite the fact that Suzuki has terminated it s relationship with Hype-Cycle (see " In The Wi nd " ). had to build four machines . the week before Brainerd after the team's frames we re found to be illeg al at the Mid-Ohlo race. Four frames. one each for the · GSXR600s and GSXR750s ridden by Jason Pridmore and Nicky Hayden. had to be replaced . Suzuki knew the 750 frames were illegal 'and didn 't Want to take a chance on the 600s. The frames we re ordered on M on day morning and shipped overnight to Iow a City Mot orsport s 18.449); 39. Eric Seward (1:50.467). MBNA SU PER BIKE: 1. Eric Bostro m (H e n): 2. Mat Mladin (s uz); 3. Ben Bostrom IH on): 4. Jason Pridmore (Duc); 5. Thomas Stevens (Du d ; 6. Rich Oliver (Yam ); i . Do ug Cha ndl er (Kaw) : 8. AMon Yat es (Su z ): 9. Steve Crevier (Suz); 10. Jordan Szoke (Duc); 11. Larry Pegram (Suz); 12. Tommy Ha yd en (Ka w) : 13. Tom Kipp (Due): 14. Chr isto p her Rankin (H ~D); 15. Rad Greaves (Su z): 16. Jamie H a ck in g (Yam ); 17. An drew Dea the rage (Kaw): 18. Mari o Dul-lamel (Suz); 19. John Jacob i (5 uz) ; 20. Scott Rlllehle (Suz): 21. Mik e Wa lsh (Ya m); 22. Roger H en drick s (S uz ); 23 . Gre g White (Su z) ; .2 4. Mike Krynock ( K.1W ); 25. Eric Seward (Ya m); 26. Jdf je nnings (Due); 27. Pascal Picotte (H-D ); 28. Jamie james (H ~D) ; 29. Jimm y Moore (Su z ): 30. Mike Smit h (H -D). T ime : 34 min.• 39.790 Sl.'C. Distance: 21 1.1ps. 63 mile, Av era ge speed : t()lJ.050 m ph Ma rgi n of victo ry: 0.358 sec. MBNA SUPERBIK E C'SH lI' POINT ST AN DI NG S (Afte r 11 of 14 ro unds) : 1. Doug Cha ndler (298); 2. Ben Bostrom (296); 3. Mat Mladin (2bO); 4. Jam ie Ha ck ing (251); 5. Anthony Gobert (249/ 3 wins); 6. Richard Oli ver 16/ (238); 7. Miguel Dul-lamel (2.. 3); SoTom Kipp (230); 9. Aa ron Ya tes (226/ 2); 10. Ste ve Cre vier (208); 11. Tommy Ha yden (201); 12.. Rad Greaves 0 (3); 13. Larry Pegram (15 1); 14. Thomas Stevens (145 ); 15. Th omas Wilson (127 ); 16. Pascal Picotte (122); 17. Ch ri..topher Rankin (113); 18. (TIE) Mik e H a le yMa rio DuHaml'1 (112); 20. Jamie Ia mes 0(6). Upcom ing Rounds: Round 12 - Jo liet, Illinois, Augus t 9 Round 13 - Founta in, Colorado, September 6 ture and will take six weeks to heal naturally. "I just broke the cornero it. You do n't do anything for it. except maybe put a soft off cast 'o n it. " With Jason Pridmore aboard An thony Gobert' s Vance & Hines Ducatis at Brainerd, Thomas Stevens was back on his s li g ht l y l esse r equipment after crashing Gobert's bike· dur ing the .Superbike race at M id-Ohio, - After Mid-Ohio. we felt like Thomas would be more comfortable on his Own bikes, - team owner Terry Vance said. " They're so close . If you've seen them on the front straiglit. it 's like they're tied together wit h a rope. It was asking Thomas to change a lot. - Stevens had no comment on the decision . Eric Bost ro m had plenty t o sm ile ab ou t after win n ing th e first AM A Supe rb ike Nat ional of his young ca reer. Bo st ro m was aboa rd t he injured Mi guel DuHa me l' s AI Lud ington-tu ned Ho nd a RC45. of it. " I'm sure the sponso rs wo uld be th rill~d to death to have cameras tra ine d on thei r bike s for a min ute o r a m inut e and a half. '' Barrick said. He said it wo uld also be discuss ed by the board arid with promoters. but that they .would have to work out the time constraints on the program. "W e do n 't have the freedom of World Superbike. - Barrick said. addressing the proble ms of having six classes run in one weekend . Saturday qualifying could be eliminated and rep lace d wi th a practice session. leavin g Friday for qualifying. If a rider blew an engine. or crashed. he could be left at .the back of the field, As for pit-lane speeds. Barrick is in favor of it being controlled. He said that one rider was clocked at 106 mph at M id-Ohio. but that once a radar gun was pointed at the riders . the speeds slowed to betw een 40 and 60 mph: Such a move would have to be implemented across the board . for all The AMA road race advisory board held a meeting at Brainerd to . class es . and would req uire extra -offi cials to mon it or and adrninisdiscuss a number of issues. rilost importantly qualifying 'p r e ter any ~ne st cedures . " Tbe main points that I thought we re import ant was tightening up on the qualifying. how close the slowest riders had Aft er the formal advisory board meeti ng. a group of fo ur riders : to be to qualify for the Superbike field," said Yamaha's Rich OlivYoshimura Suzuki 's M af Mhid in . Mu zzy Kaw asakts Doug er. who .took part in the meeting. aiong with representatives of Chandler. Fast By Ferracci' s Tom Kipp and Yamaha's Rich most of th e sup erbike teams . as we ll as a handf ul o f ride rs. O liver : met with AMA ro ad race manager Ron Barrick to dis"There were discussions about bringing that down to a level that cuss safety. prop osals for . New Hampshire International Speedwould eliminate only the five or six slowest guys on the field.just way . " My op inion of Loudon is very. very low , " Ol iver said -, in order to help change the closing speeds. And then we talked - And I feel that. in this day and age. with the technology that's about - what I was very adamant about - was the pit-lane speed running that race track . if s basically like having a Formula One car at a Ma libu Grand Prix trac k. lt 's ridiculous . Yeah . ifII go limit. M y poin t of view wa s that we have to be more proactive and prevent an accident rather than waiti ng for som e tr agedy to .cause around the track. but ifs so small and if s so tight and there are so many barriers to hit that inevitab ly somebody is go ing to get us to pass so me rule that obviou sly is necessary w hen you're hurt . as they did this year . Especially when you're talking about clocking people going through the pits at 102 mph at Mid-Ohio. impact zones that are totally unprot ected. lt 's inexcusable . lt 's a And after racing World Superbike. it was great to have that struc ture and say. 'Okay.jt's 85 kph (52 .7mph). that' s your deal: if you tragedy. And anybody that wants to go back there shouldthink go past . it. you 'refined. If you w heelie. you're fined. Should we about what it feels to be Thomas W ilson or Mi guel DuHamel lay· have warnings and all this? I said. 'Hey, just fine people and after .ing in the hospital bed wi th a rod up your leg . lts easy to sit a while yo u ain't go ing to be fining people anymore. because here and say. ·W ell. if they did this or that , let's go back : But I they're going to learn.' A pit-lane speed limit. a pit-lane chicane can really feel for those guys laying there. I know what it feels co ming into the 'pns to really slow the bikes down physically like and I don't want to go back there. So we basically came up with five or six different areas, and if s a huge change to the radar. W e· talked abo ut possibly Incorporatin g Superp o ie. I' m absolutely for it. I think it' s a really good concept and rt's exciting. trac k. And my opinion is. if ,they change it. great; if they don't . eve n bette r: Then we don't have to go there at all. We can go I like that overall. as taking the top fastest guys. And I didn't make the Superpole at the World C hampionship. so I"m not talking from somewhere else. A s far as the tradition of that track - yeah. experience of act ually doing. But I"m talking about the concept there was a lot of tradition. but there used to be a track: My and how bad I wanted to make it in there. which I thought was opinion of loudon is just that. when I used to race my little bike really kind 'of a neat incentive. ·It takes the pressure off of qualifythere, instead of w inning by 20 seconds . l'd win by to . because ing in a sense. beca use there is no qualifying on Saturdey , there's I would just keep as conservative as I could . The problem is in just practice . and there' s Superpole for the top guys.- AM A road the class. if you start ge tt ing co nserv ative , you're going to end race manager Ron Barrick 'said the AMA had looked at various up being 2 1st. and you can't. " Barrick said he wou ld discuss the qualifying percentages from Loudon - 108 percent. 110 percent. . Loudo n sit uation with AMA direc tor of competi tion M errill Vanand 112 percent of the fastest time - and said they would look at dershce and the board and had already deci ded 't hat he and the combined qualifying of all the tracks to see wher e the limit so meone else would fly to Lo udon to meet wi th th e track ownshouid be.. The problem is mostly with Supersport riders . whose ers about proposed chanqes ., . motorcycles are slower,·somei imes much slower. than the Super.bikes. Many of the supersport .riders use the qualifying sessions Harley-Davidson's Pascal Picotte suffered his third DNF in a as practi ce w ith noInten tio n of rac ing . It w as an ite m that w ould ' row, this time for a throttle -position sensor. "I've had it happen have to be discussed by not only the racing board but also with seven ti mes so far. this year," Pico tte .said . " Three ti mes here. ' two clutches here. I had a really tough weekend. l'm getting sick promoters ." Barrick pointed out.that the slowes t guys were ofte n of it. .We know how to fix It. W e need more manpower: - Picott e local Supersport riders. just trying to get into the field . and there explained thaI the whoie team comes to the races 'and there's no may be some spectator appeal. Also. because the A MA pays purses deep into the field. a rider can make money by qualifying one at the race shop to do any development. " It' 5 getti ng ridicufor the race: even if he finishes 30th. "The other thing I s, if we lous.- he said. " In thefirst qualifying session I was 11 mph down continually chop off those guys. are they going to quit and go . on Eric Bostrom. It's really tough. 11 mph. How are yo u going to somewhere else?- Barrick said-The Superpole concept was not catch up? We 're not in thai bad a posi tion. W e just can't keep it together.. . on the agenda. but Barrick said the riders unanimously approved

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