Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Sunoco Formula USA Series, Round 5: Pocono International Raceway (Above) Michael Barnes finished third in both legs of the Formula USA Series at Poco no, but came away from the eve nt with the class championship - his first profes sional s eries title. . (Left) Tom Kipp (16) leads his teammate J orda n Szoke in Formula USA action at Poco no International Racewa y. Kipp won both races, beating Szo ke both times . By Jeremy Flem ing Photos by Br ian Nelson LONG POND, PA, AUG. 30 ur racers arrived at Pocono Internation al Racew ay for the final rou nds of th e 1998 Sunoco Form ul a USA Cha mp ionship wi th a sho t at the series crown . After two d ose races and a pair of third-pla ce finish es behind the victorious Fast By Ferracci Ducatis ridden by Tom Kipp and Canadian Jordan Szoke, Barnes earned the Form ula USA crown - his first championship as a professiona l. Jo ining the series a t ro und two at Pikes Pea k after te a m own er Dav e Sch losser opted to sp lit fro m longtime team leader Fritz Kling, Barnes wasn' t expected to cha llenge for the title . However , consistent results, including a pair of victories at Portland, pu t "Barney" in title co nt ention . Twice beating seri es rivals Tray Batey, Eric Woo d and Grant Lopez at Pocono put Barnes out front in the points chase. In the winner's circle following race tw o, an emotional Barnes admitted: " It really hasn' t sunk in. We've been trying so hard to win this thing. Maybe tonight I'll know what it's like ." . The 29-year-old Floridian, so long on the ed ge of a ca re e r b re a kt h ro u g h , focused his efforts on heaping thanks on team owner Sc hlosser a nd all of the Dutchman crew. In addition to Barnes ta king th e title, Du tchman also wo n the Tea m Owners Champio nship. Fast By Ferracci Du cati 996-mo unted AMA re gul ar Ki pp mad e a p erfect Poco no debut, the popular veteran earnin g both Fo rmu la USA wins . In each ins tance Kipp was chased across th e line b y hi s n e w FBF p art n er, Can adi an Superbike Cha m pions hip po ints leader Szo ke . The teenage sensation q ualifi ed seco nd on the gri d , just th ree-t enths of second beh in d h is pol e-sittin g teamma te. In both races, Barnes go t the best of a battle for th ird wit h th e Kaw asaki ZX9~ of newly crowned Ca nadian Open Sport Bike cha mp Michael Taylor. After R 64 giving his team 's Rl Ya maha a s tro ng d ebu t at the previou s round in Loudon, Barn es opted to run the proven YZF1 000 at Pocon o. The Pocon o event wa s a big success in term s of a ttenda nce , with Formula USA owne r Do u g G ond a listin g th e total crowd at "just under 40,000." Pad d ock construction involving the demolition of some old stru ctures to mak e way for n ew N ASC AR ga rages g ave th e infield a Beirut look , b u t overa ll th e LRRS co-sa nctioned even t wa s pop ul ar wi th bot h fan s and racers. First qua lifying on Sa tu rday morning for the Formula USA racers took p lace in hot, su n n y an d humid co nd itio ns, which was typ ic al o f th e w eek end ' s weather . Tu rning lots of laps whil e ge tting use to the track and his twi n, Szoke took the provisional pole at 1:38.94, followed by Kipp at 1:39.4. Third quickest was Ta yl or a t 1:39.4 o n hi s just-rebuilt Leitner an d Bush / Dunlop / Elf ZX-9R, his cre w repairing the top end of the en gi ne w it h parts flown in fr om Mu z z y ' s o n Fr ida y . Barnes wa s fourth, followed by p oi nts leader Batey on the first of th e Valvo line Emgo Suzuki entries. Kipp picked u p th e pac e in sessio n two aboard the D KN Y Men / Agip / Michelin /Pro G rip /Ke r ker-b a cked Ducati, setting a best lap of 1:38.659 we ll u nd er the old lap record. Unhappy with the configuration of the first tum, Batey still m oved h is GSXR840 u p to second with a 1:40.1 effort, followed by th e Zlock ZX-9R entry of Lou d on d ou ble winner Wood, Szoke, Barnes, a nd Da ve Es to k o n the firs t of th e BAM Kawasakis, Taylo r's b ik e suffered a d ama ged radiator and he was forced to sit ou t second qua li fyi n g . Al s o un h app y w a s Kling, who traded bikes with Esto k for . th e weeken d . Followi ng frus tra ti ng practice and qualifyin g, Kling o pted to skip the race and head hom e to Michiga n. Ki p pssecond -se s aion effo rt wa s enoug h to ea rn po le. Szoke and Taylo r- a were next up with their firs t-sessio n times. The fron t row was com plete d b y 1996 Formu la USA cha mp Batey, who was ex p ecte d to retire fo llowin g the Poco no race. Ra ce o ne o p e ned wi th th e tw o Ferracci en tries runnin g si de by side in to th e infield , with Szo ke ge tting th e lead as Kipp hoo ked on to his tail. Barnes was q uickl y u p to third, chased by Taylor, Bat ey and Wood . Th e firs t of th e title protago nists to get in tro ub le was Batey. The ve te ra n road racer ran off the track in turn four w h ile in close co m pa ny with Barn es, re tu rni ng to the pav em ent behind Grigg in 10th place. Taylor go t ah ead of Barnes on the sou th infield , but the Yarnamonster rider took th ird back with a brave m ove on the brak es headi ng in to tu rn one at the start of lap four. By la p four, Kip p a nd Szo ke were clea r of the pack, running in formation, w hile Barnes had a small gap ove r Taylor and Wood in the race for third - and also for th e title. On lap five, Batey ra n w ide in tu rn s ix , coming o ff th e NA SCAR oval section, and he lost fur ther tim e getting back on track. Al s o g e tti n g in to o d e ep on the brakes was Szoke, who ran straig ht at th e old Chicane and returned in sixth chasi ng Wood. Th is ga ve Kipp a safe lead, with Barnes second from a charging Taylor. The man on the move, however, was Szo ke, who pushed the Ducati through to take second back from Barnes on lap nine of 13. Szoke actually closed on a cru isin g Kipp on the final lap, the twoten ths-o f-a-second m argin of vi ctory making the race look closer than it wa s. T hi s se t t he ro s trum orde r , with Barnes chaser Tay lor fo r fourth, well ahead of Wood. Making up for a slow sta rt, Grant Lo pez n et ted sixth from Es tok , w ho s u rvived a h igh-speed mot ocro ss incident in th e no rth infield . Grigg, Haskovec and Su llivan completed the top 10. A t the start of race two, Kipp moved sligh tly and then sto pped, givi ng Szoke the jump. It was "Jord an of th e Jungle" gra bbing the lead from Kipp, Taylor and Barn es. On lap tw o there was a big crash on the exit of the first turn, wi th Keith Marquez a nd hi s GSX R750 tumbling through the gras.s. Using the im press ive top speed of his Ya m ah a o n th e lon g b a ck s traig h t , Barn es b riefly go t by Szoke, allow ing Kipp to p ull away. By midrace, however , Szoke had caught back up to Kipp, and for the rest of the even t he tried his best to find a wa y p ast h is unru ffled teamma te. At the sa me time, a good dice develo ped for thi rd, w it h Taylor d oin g his b es t ~ith h is d ow n -on -to p-s peed Kawasaki to stay ahead of Barnes. Taylor mad e severa l passes in th e infield , especially a daring move on the brak es in turn tw o o n lap n in e, bu toBarn es a lways go t the sp o t rig h t back on the banking. O n the last lap, Szoke tried his hardes t on th e tig h t, sou th infield portion, but ca me up sh o rt. Kipp w on by just ni ne- hundred ths of a seco nd in an exciting fin ish. Barn es fin ish ed third, just dear of Taylor, while Lopez wa s' a lonely fifth after getting the best of an earli er d ice wi th his teamm a te Bate y . Wood, Estok, Grigg and Ha yes com pleted the list of fron t-runners. In the 126 Horsep ower race, Vincent H ask o vec q u ickly took the lead fro m Ta ylor, only to see a red flag stop the action. Hayes led from Wood and Taylor on the se cond start, but Haskovec was again the man on the move. Second on lap two, he powered by Hayes on the third tou r and began to pull clear, taking the victory over Taylor and Hayes. The Pro Tek 103 Horsepower category was all about Valvoline Erngo Suzuki-mounted Joshua Ha ye s. Ha yes was the points leader coming to Loudon, and rival Mark Junge was out of acti on following his big fa ll a t Lou do n . With the pressure off, Michelin m an Hayes was still fastest in both qualifying sessions , s ta rted fro m pole a nd le d the w ho le ra ce en rou te to clinchi ng the champions hip . ()\ Pocono Internat ional Raceway Long Pond , Pennsylvania Results: August 30, 1998 F-USA RACE 1: Tom Kipp (Due); 2. Jord an Szoke (Due) ; 3. Michael Bar nes (Yam ); 4. Michael Ta ylo r (Kaw); 5. Eric Woo d (Kaw ): 6. Grant Lope z (Suz) : 7. Da ve Es tok ( Ka w ): 8. Ste ve G r ig g (Due) : 9. Mik e Sullivan (Kaw): 10. Vincent Hasko vec (Ka w) . F-USA RACE z: 1. Tom Kipp (Du d; 2. Jordan Szoke (Due) : 3. Mich ael Ba r nes (Yam ); 4. Mich ael Taylor (Ka w ): 5. Grant Lopez (5uz); 6. Tray Batey (Suz); 7. Eric Wood IKaw): 8. Dave Estok (5uz); 9. Steve Grigg (Dud; 10. Joshua Hayes (Suz). 126 HP : 1. Vincen t Hask ov ec (Kaw) ; 2. Michae l Ta ylor (Ka w ); 3. Jos hua Hayes (Suz): 4. Er ic Wood (Ka wl ; 5. Tim Bemi sd erfer (Su z). 103 HP: 1. Josh ua Hayes (Suz); 2. Kenneth Snyder (5u z); 3. Des Co nbo y ( Hen) : 4. Mich ael Fitzp atr ick IKaw);5. Brent Campbell (5uz).

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