Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 1: Daytona International Speedway AMA PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER SERIES By Henny Ray Abrams DATIONA BEACH, ft, MAR. 7 ythe end of the second of 11 D laps in .the Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder final, the order of the top three was set. If that doesn't sound very exciting, it's because it wasn't, at least not for the spectators. The riders had a different point of view. G.S. Racing's Cory Call won the race on a Ducati, his first ride in Pro Thunder in his first visit to Daytona International Speedway. He took over the lead after passing Tilley's H-D's Shawn Higbee, who had gotten the holeshot but had his day end with a mechanical failure in turn one on the second lap. Call didn't waste any time, edging away from HMC Racing's Shawn Conrad until he had abouf three seconds at the halfway point, a margin he'd double to 6.190 at the end of the 39.16-mile race. He completed the race in a new race record of 22 minutes, 14.690 seconds at an average speed of 105.625 mph, better than the 103.939-mph average from 1998. "I heard the place was big, but I didn't think it was this big," Call said after the win in his Pro Thunder debut. Having the lead ~th no one in pursuit forced him to ride smart. "I was just trying not to do anything to lose concentration. I just needed to keep my head down. I didn't want to look back and then I didn't hear any-bikes behind me and I started looking back to see how much distance I had on Shawn (Conrad). I just wanted to make sure I stayed up and didn't do anything stupid." He didn't, and now he leads the Pregressive Insurance Pro Thunder point (Above) Shawn Higbee led the start of the Pro Thunder final before his bike blew up on the second lap. Cory Call (62) gives chase. (Below) Winner Cory Call (62) leads second-place finisher Shawn Conrad (40). W .c ~ ca ~ 28 through the chicane real good, but I was definitely missing on the setup. I could get into the turns, but coming out, it would just light up the wheel, but a few times - actually, on the first lap - I almost ended up going over the high side, so I guess second is good." Veteran California racer Thomas Montano was third, about five seconds behind Conrad and close to 26 in front of fourth. Montano, like the others, had only recently taken delivery of his Ducati 748 and felt he didn't have the suspension dialed in properly. . "At the start, I wasn't very good," he said. "I've only just started riding tJ:te bike in practice on Wednesday and I thought this morning that I better get a good start. Well, so I lost a little there, but once I got going, it felt all right. We were a little off on the suspension. It's a long series and we just started out a week and a half ago. We just got the bike, so this is all new. We started out just coming here to sort of see how it goes and I think my sponsors, Monroe Motors, will be very satisfied, so we'll try to do the whole year. This is better than we expected, actually. It's basically a stock bike." The top three got away from the 28rider field quite early. Behind them was a pack of riders, nine strong, contesting fourth. It was led by German Martin Joos on the H-D & Buell of Frederick BMW 1100, who managed to separate himself from the field after a few laps to secure fourth. Taking more time to make his move was Motorcycle Online's Thomas Fournier. Fournier left the pack behind on the sixth lap but was about five seconds behind Joos and not able to make it up. He finished fifth. The race for sixth was the best of the field. It was a four-rider train right to the line, with Project Monza's Bill St. John narrowly defeating Tom Hull, both Ducati-mounted, with Free Ohio Motorsports' James Lickwar eighth on a Tri_ umph and Billy Graef ninth on the Hal's H-D/Buell bike. Dunbar Euro Sports Michael Gage was 10th on a Triumph 885. CIII Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida March 7,1999 (Round 1 of 12) standings. After the first of 12 rounds, Call leads Ducati-mounted Conrad, 37 to 32. Conrad, like Call, rode a Ducati 748, a decision his team owner had made. "Once we heard the Ducati was going to be legal, the team owner, Mitch Hansen, has really been looking forward to riding Ducatis since the team's origi- nation and it was a great opportunity to try a new bike," Conrad said, adding that the bike was new to the team and there were still things to be learned. "I definitely missed on the setup. I couldn't get off the infield turns very well at all and I was just sliding up the banking, but the HMC Ducati made excellent horsepower. I was getting PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER FINA[., I. Cory CaU (Due); 2. Shawn Conrad (Due); 3. Thomas Montano (Due); 4. Martin Joos (BMW); S. Thomas Fournier (Dud; 6. Bill St. John (Duc); 7. Tom Hull (Due); 8. James Lickwar (Tn); 9. Billy Graef (Sue); 10. Michael Gage (Tn); 11. Chad Healy (Bue); 12. Jeffrey Nash (Duel; 13. Christopher Boy (Lav); 14. Paul Vitale (Dud; 15. Richard Inman (BMW); 16. Mark Sweeney (La v); 17. Charles Burnett (Han); 18. Robert Gonzales (Dud; 19. Mark Cummings (Due); 20. Richie Morris (Due); 21. David Kieffer (Bue); 22. Gavin Slabbert (Due); 23. John Long (Dud; 24. Bryan Bemisderfer (Sue); 25. Pat Mooney (Bim); 26. David Estok (Bue); '27. Kiyoshige Watanabe (Han); 28. Shawn Higbee (Bue). Time: 22 min., 14.690 sec. Distance: 11 laps, 39.16 miles Average speed: 105.625 mph Margin of victory: 6.190 sec. PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER CSHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 12 rounds), 1. Cory Call (37); 2. Shawn Conrad (32): 3. Thomas Montano (29); 4. Martin JOO5 (27); 5. Thomas Fournier (26); 6. Bill Sl. John (2S); 7. Tom Hull (24); 8. James Lickwar (23); 9. Billy Graef (22); 10. Michael Cage (21); II. Chad Healy (20); 12. Jeffrey Nash (9); 13. Christopher Boy (18); 14. Paul Vitale (17); 15. Richard Inman (16); 16. Mark Sweeney (15); 17. Charles Burnett (14); lS. Robert Gonzales (13); 19. Mark Cummings (12); 20. Richie Morris (11). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2- Phoenix, Arizona, March 21 Round 3 - Rosamond, California, April 18

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