Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127993
Road Race Round 5: Laguna Seca Raceway AMA/MBNA SUPERBIKE SERIES By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams MONTEREY, CA, MAY 2 ~ ne lap, 21 laps, seven laps. It mattered not. No matter how many times Vance & Hines Ducati's Anthony Gobert was told to circulate Laguna Seca Raceway, he always did it faster than anyone else. The Australian earned pole position with a single-lap, lap-record-breaking flier during qualifying on Saturday. Then on Sunday he circulated quickly enough for the first 21 laps of the red-flag-interrupted Su~rbike NationaI to open up an eight-second lead over Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin. And then he did it all again when the race wa restarted for a seven-lap sprint to the finish, uItimately beating Mladin to the line again - this time by 2.719 seconds. LittIe did Mike SuIlivan know when he staggered to his feet after crashing in turn six of the Superbike National on the 21st lap that the incident wouId create such emotion. With the race red· flagged just two laps from the O-percent mark, it was up to the AMA to decide if the race wouId be restarted or called complete. After a meeting between riders, crew members and officials from the AMA at the start-finish line bordered on ugly, the AMA decided to restart the race with seven laps to run. The race ran its course for seven more laps without incident, doing little to change the outcome - bu t it also did little to enhance rider relations with the AMA, as several of the top stars were critical of the decision to carryon with the race (see sidebar). Fortunately, Gobert was able to dominate the final seven laps as he had the original 21 and he emerged without peer on a dark and cloudy day on the Monterey Peninsula. In becoming the first tw(¥time AMA Superbike ational winner on the year, Gobert was flawless, sliding the Ducati around the race track with controlled abandon, doing power wheelies between corners in a scene reminiscent of a time when SOOcc Grand Prix machines competed at Laguna Seca. His performance was impeccable and he was rewarded with victory. "The bike has been working really good for me all year," Gobert said. ''I'm able to do what I enjoy doing - which is just riding the motorcycle. I've been having a lot of fun. I think Laguna Seca is the best race track in the world. I'm a little biased because I'm from Australia and I love Phillip Island, but I think Laguna's layout is the best in the world. I wish they still had a SOOcc GP here, because it is the best race track. ['d like to get back th,ere (GP racing) and J'd like to race one here as welL" Mladin ended up a very solid second, further enhancing his lead in the championship. The AustraJian was one of the riders who didn't want the race restarted, and he was a Iso the most vocal about it. He was running a solid second when the race was stopped, and he ultimately finished a solid second when it was restarted and run to its \I.j