Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

S unoco F ormula ~SA Series,Round4: New H ampshire Inte na Speedway rnatio l od By Greg Newman Photos by John Flory LOUDON, NH,AUG. 9 ric Wood knows Loudon. As one of the lead instructors at the Pengui n Ra ci n g School, Wo o d has loa ds of laps around New Ha m pshire International Speedway. The re igning ASB Sport Bike Champion p ut his local knowledge to good use in Sunoco Formula USA action, winning bo th featu re races aboa rd the Zlock Kawasaki ZX9R. Wood's success moved the veteran into solid contention for the Formula USA title. In su p por t-class a ction, aboard his Tea m Green /Du nlop /Maxima ZX-6R, Wood ran awa y with the Pro -Tek race for 103 - h p m a ch in es , then ne tted a stro ng seco nd in the 126-hp / EBC Brakes Na tio nal e ve n t o n th e sa m e 600cc Kawasak i. With tw o races left in th e series (a t Pocon o on Aug ust 30), Woo d is now a very close second to Tray Batey's Emgo Valvo line Su zu ki GSXR840 in the overa ll s ta nd ings . Bat ey to ok th e pol e in N ew Hampshir e and o ffere d Wood a seriou s cha llenge on his way to a pair of Formu la USA second-place finishes. Also still in the ru nning for the 1998 series cro w n are Dutchm an Yamaha' s Mic hael Barnes an d Batey' S teammat e Grant Lopez. Giving his Dave Schlosserbuilt R-l its Formu la USA deb u t, Barnes wen t S-3 at Loudon, and he ho lds third in the stan din g s. Barnes missed t he opening round at Willow Springs before rep laci ng lon g ti me tea m lea der Fritz Klin g on the Michelin-shod Dutchman "Yamarnissile." The poi nts leader going in to Lou don, Form ula USA -class r oo kie Lope z seemed so mew ha t cautious a ll w eek end . After a slow start, Lopez charged in the ope ner, even tua lly p lacin g fifth. In the second encoun ter, Lop ez foug ht for fourt h late in the race with Steve Grig g's Fast By Ferracci Ducati 995. Grigg d ived under Lopez going into th e tig ht turn th ree and then tucked the front end , taking bo th riders down, though both were fortunately unhurt. Fro m there, accounts varied regardin g th e b eh a v ior o f Grig g , th e turn w orkers and particu larly Lop ez. Some yelling, tire kickin g and ges tu ring took place before a fema le turn worker tried to ge t the two riders to leave the impact rider. Lopez struck the ma rshal, pe rhaps uninten tion ally, while leaving the scene. Form u la USA officia ls ha ve pl aced Lopez on probation and were waiting to view videotape of the incid en t shot by Motowo rld' s Denni s Torres . T r a ck insid ers sugges ted that a large fine wa s Eric Wood (4) was perfect in Formula USA action at New Hampsh ire Inter-nationa l Speed way. Wood won both legs, topping Tray Batey (3) and Michael Barnes (2). in the wo rks . H o w e v er , Lopez was admitte d to the hospital Su nday n ight after he beca me d isoriented, com plained of a headache and called his crew lead er by the wrong name. Late news ind ica tes Lopez suffered a concussion; and he will need a medical release before he can compete again. In qualifying, Batey and Wood battled for pole. After complaining that he missed his old GSX-RI100 mo nster bike a nd would have his ' 97 mach in e back for Pocono, Batey surprised Wood to take provisional pole by thr ee-ten ths of a second after the first session. Batey ran a best lap of 1:15.087, followed by Wood a t 1:15 .388 a nd t hen Barnes wi th a 1:15.655. Th e to p local (or non-ser ies regu lar w hen you considered Wood ) was New Eng land Per form an ce Suzuki GSXR750 rid er Cha r les Ch oina rd . In his second race wit h the BAM Motorspo rts (formerly Labelle) Team, Dave Estok was fifth quickest, follow ed by Lopez and the secon d BAM ZX-9R, ridd en by Fritz Kling. . Ba y Are a Mo torspor ts team lea de r David Sa dows ki w as not on hand at Lo u don . The reig ning Form ula USA champ has been ou t all year with a tendon injury and is consid ering retirement. Wood improved in ses sion two, but the wa rmer and more humid cond itions didn't allow him to rem ove Batey from the pol e. Batey, the 1996 Formula USA C hamp ion, e arned th e $50 0 A lph a Spri nkler-provided p ole awa rd , w ith Wood, Bar nes and th e impre s s ive Choi nard roundi ng out the first row for race one . Moving u p in seco nd qualifyin g, Lopez led the second li ne from Estok, Grigg and the fairly stock Baer's Cycle Yamah a Rl of Joh n Schee hse r. Co nd iti on s on race d ay were even warmer, and the top runners were concern ed about tire wea r for the tw o 15lap features. The first race started with Ba tey a nd Wood quickl y se pa ra t ing from a p ack head ed by Ch oinard and Barn es. But the red flag came ou t at the start of lap three, wi th sixth-row starter Kyle Zazzi havi ng crashed his GSXR on the uphill exit of tu m three . With the field regrid d ed fro m resu lts after two laps, Wood got a clear ju mp on the grid from the start of the remaining 13 la p s. Bate y s hoo k off Ba rnes a n d s tay ed close for a few tours but never pres ented a se r io us cha llenge to th e s cre am ing yello w Z lo ck Kawa s a ki. Whil e Wood nev er got mu ch more than 1.5 seco nds clear, he always see med in control, a fact later confi rmed on the rostrum by Batey. . As Barnes se ttled into a so litary third, West Coa st ve te ra n Mike Su lliva n on Zlock's old er-style Kawasaki ZX-7R/ 840 foug ht to han g on to fou rth. Even tua lly, Ch oina rd w o r ke d h is way through . hea vy traffic to pass Sullivan and clea r off for fourth - a spot he kep t to the flag . . Mea nw h ile, Su ll iv an was no w defendi ng fif th, leadi ng G rigg, Estok, Kling and Lopez. 'Mid race, Lopez was on the move, pushing up to cha llenge Sulli van. Along the way, he ou tbraked Grigg into tum one, brush ing the No rth Carolina Duca ti rid er and causing him to take to the NASCAR turn-one ru noff. Gr igg lost little time befo re rejoining. By h alfwa y , Lopez w a s fi ft h a n d chasing Choina rd , and w hile the Suzu ki rider cou ld lap faster than the local, he w a s too far b ack to ge t fo u r th . With th ree laps to go, Grigg passed Sull iva n for sixth, setting the finishi ng order for th e front-runners . Sulliv a n h eld off a fru strated Kling and Estok in the run to the finis h. With two lap s to go, mid pa ck man Bryan Bernisderfer cras hed coming on to the fro nt s traight, missing the wall but leaving his Rl in the mid dle of the track. This ca used the leaders so me a nxious moments, bu t everyone mad e it th rough the mess, some more carefully than others. The second Formula USA race sta rted after 5 p.m., and this time the Michelin-equipped Batey go t the jum p on the Dunlop-mounted Wood. Behi nd , Barnes was already in third , w hile Su lliva n held fourth, with Choina rd, Lopez an d Grigg righ t o n h is ta il. A t th e fro nt, Wood stayed glued to Batey's tail while Barnes m o ved closer, th e Su zuk i / Kawasaki /Yama ha trio right togeth er at the end of two tours. Alt ho ug h Batey go t a fe w bi k e lengths clear on lap thr ee, Wood immedi ately a p p lied p ressure an d grabbed the lead w ith a solid mo ve on the brakes int o tu rn three on lap.fou r. Wood then ed ged clear, Batey easi g his pace late in the race as Barn es settled into third . Behi nd the leaders, Choina rd mo ved into fourth on lap three, d efend ing the spo t for most of the race from Sullivan, Lopez and Grigg. Then , on la p 11 of 15, Ch oina rd crashed go ing in to the d ownhill tu rn nine, ou t on the ou tfield / hill section of the tra ck. An ambulance crew took quite some time to rem ove the basica lly uninjured loca l from some large bushes at the ed ge of the sloping runoff. As ev eryo ne w o nd ered a bout th e whereabou ts of Choinard, Gri gg ta ngled wi th Lopez w ith just two lap s to go. Still limping fro m surgery to remove a rod from his leg, Grigg tried to apologize to Lopez, and Lop ez reportedly thou ght he was shaking off the Du cati rider w hen he struck the turn wo rker. All this action didn't aff ect th e top t hr ee, bu t Sull ivan moved up to ne t fou rth a t the finish. Klin g had his best finish with BAM in fifth, and Scheehser was an impress ive sixth. Ducati-mounted rooki e Pro Eric Gu lbranse n brought his Team Promotion Rider's Club Du cati 996 home in seventh, and the top 10 was co m pleted by a fad ing Est ok, su p portclass GSX-R750-mo u nted Joshua Hayes an d Willow Sp r in gs ac e Vi nc ent Haskovec 01\ the third BAM Kawasaki. In ea r li e r s u p p o r t-clas s n ati on al actio n.jWood led -from th e start of the EBC/ 126-hp 13-lap final , but Choina rd put his New Eng land Perform ance GSXR750 ahead on lap th ree . From there, pol e sitter Wood applied as m uch pr essure as possible, but the 150cc ad vantage of the Suzuki helped the physically big- ge r Choi na rd stay ahead. Wood eased his pace nea r the end, thinking abo u t his series poin ts lead, a nd he was four seconds back for second at the finish. Third for the whole race a fter starting fi ft h was Valvo line Emg o Su zuki ' s Ha ye s, while poin ts con ten der G rigg put the rare FBF Ducati 748 in fourth, ge tti ng the best of a spirited battl e with H as kov ec . Six th , seven th a nd eig h th w en t to th e GSXR750s of local s Rick Do u ch e tt e , Se th H ann a n d Rol and Willi ams, w hil e the next-best 600 af ter · Wood was the Honda of nin th-pla ce finisher Chris Rockw ell. Wood 's wors t p art of th e w eekend took place at the end of Satu rday, when mandatory Dynojet dyne-test ing after the seco nd Pro -Tek / l 03-hp qualifying sessio n reveal ed his ZX-6R to be tw o horsepower too 's trong. His second -session tim e was th rown ou t, and his firstsession tim e, still goo d enough for pole, was penalized . Even tho ug h he s tarted the ra ce from th e secon d row, Woo d knew he 'had a solid seco nd in lap times in hand over the rest of the field . Mark Ju nge sta rte d fro m pol e wit h the Vesrah en try, followed by the simila r GSX R600s of Hayes an d Brent Campbell, wit h local Eoin Smi th rounding out the front row wit h his Street & .Co m peti tion -sponsored Hon da CBR600 F3. Hayes got the jump at th e start, soon joined by Wood, Smith and Junge in a breakaway. On lap three, Junge suffered an eas y lo w side in slow tu rn I -B, q uic kly re moun ting only to discover he had brake probl em s en teri ng turn three. Try ing to cu t thr ou gh a na rrow access route in the concrete walls, Ju nge cartwheeled his GSXR over the marshal's area . Bike and rid er wo un d u p on the exit of turn 10, on the othe r half of the ova l. Needless to say, thi s bro ug h t out the red flag, and Jun ge was lucky not to be ser ious ly in jured . At the restart , Wood took control and disa p p eared fo r the w in, en joy ing his first victory of the "600 class" season on his Loud on-base d ZX-6R, in a series he hasn't contested this season. Hayes was a solid second , building a points lead over th e ou t-of-ac tio n Ju nge. Challenging Hayes in the ea rly going, Smi th eventually settled into second, happy to tum the fastest laps of his Loud on career. C a mp bell was a so li d fo u r t h throughou t, while fif th finish er N ino A leg ria and fell ow Kaw asaki p ilo t Haskovec worked their wa y up to ea rn fo u r th a n d fift h re spectively . In hi s first rid e since br eakin g his back a t the June AS B ro u nd -a t Butto nwillo w , Mic hael Fitzpatr ick was ninth ou t of 29 n finishers. New Hamps hire International Speedway . . Loudon, New Hampshire Resu lts: August 9, 1998 (Round 4 of 5) F·US A RACE 1, I. Eric Wood (Kaw ); 2. Tra y Baley ISuz); 3. Mich ael Barnes (Ya m ); 4. C ha rles Choina rd (Suz); 5. Gra nt Lope z (Su z); 6. Steve G rigg (Due): 7. Mike Su lliva n (Ka w); 8. Fritz Kling (Kaw): 9. Dave Estok (Kaw); 10. John Scheeh ser (Yam) . F-USA RA CE :z, I. Eric Wood (Kawl : 2. Tray Batey (Scz): 3. Michael Barnes (Yam); 4. Mike Sullivan (K.1W); 5. Frit z Kling (Kaw) : 6. John Schee hser (Yam ); 7. Eric Gu lb ra ns e n (Du e): 8. Dav e Es tok (Kaw): 9. Josh u a Hay es (Suz) ; 10. Vincent Ha skc vec (Ka w) . F·USA C 'S H IP POINT STANDINGS (Aflcr 4 o f 5 round s): 1. Tra y Batey (276); 2. Eric Wood (264/2 win s); 3. Michael Ba rn es (258/2); 4. Gra nt Lope z (250 /2); 5. Fritz Kling (175); 6. Stew Grigg ( 58); 7. Mike Sullivan ( 53); 8. Joshua H ay e 0 29}; 9. Vincent Ha skovec (120), s 103 HP: 1. Eric Wood (Kaw ); 2. Joshua Hay es (Suz ); 3. Eoin Smi th (Ho n): 4. Brent Ca mpbell (Suz): 5. Nino Al e gri a (Ka w ): 6. Vincent Ha sko vec (Ka w) : 7. Jot.' Co nfor th {Hon ): 8 . Rick Doucbct te (Su z); 9. Michael Fitzpatrick (Ka w ); 10. Peter Douvris (Suz) . 126 HP: 1. Cha r les C hoi na rd (5uz) ; 2. Eric Wood (Kaw): 3. Jos hua Ha yes (Suz); 4. Steve G rigg (Duc); 5. Vince nt Haskovec (Kaw): 6. Rick Dou chet te (Suz) ; 7. Seth Hahn (5uz) ; 8. Roland Will ia ms (5uz) ; 9. Chr is Rock we ll (Hon ); 10. Michat>l Calderon

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