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AMA Lockhart Phillips USA 750cc Supersport Series Round 5: Laguna Seca Raceway Kipp keeps it simple By Mark Hoyer Photo by Henny Ray Abrams s MONTEREY, CA, MAY 1 o far this year, Tom Kipp has stood up to almost everything the rest of the 750cc Supersport class has had to offer. This time he didn't have to. After racelong battles kept him honest to the last lap at the two preceding rounds of the AMA Lockhart Phillips USA 750cc Supersport Series, this time Kipp took a walk. The Chaparral Suzuki rider trailed early leader Jimmy Moore for three laps and then took the helm, quickly pulling out to a nearly five-second lead tha t he would effectively maintain to the line to take his fourth consecutive win of the season, and his fifth podium finish in as many rounds. His philosophy is simple. "I've just been taking one race at a time," Kipp said. "That's really the only way you can look at it, and just hope for the best and hope that we can win, and if not, finish second when we have to finish second. But not make any big mistakes. [ told my mechanic, 'You don't let me have any malfunctions with the motorcycle, and I won't crash, and we'll have a pretty good chance at the title." Ricci Motorsports' Moore had ridden impressively to lead a National for the first-ever time in his career, backing his GSX-R750 into the lead in turn two off the start and hanging on until the fourth lap. After Kipp went by, Moore didn't have an answer for Kipp's second-a-Iapfaster pace and his focus would turn to those who were behind him. Both 1-800-CYCLE-GEAR's Jake Zemke and Chaparral Suzuki's Rich Alexander ga ve chase for more than half of the 17-lap race, but by the 10th time around, it was clear that Moore was adding to his gap and that, barring disaster, second place was his. H was, but it wasn't without its problems. "The race went pretty good; I got a good start, and it was the first time J'd ever led a National," Moore said. "Going into turn two on the first lap, the left handlebar on my bike rotated on the fork tube, I would guess about an inch, and it kind of wakes you up when that happens. So 1 spent the next 16 laps riding wi th a left handlebar tha t was not only a little out of whack, but with the fear that it was going to keep doing it some more. 1 was really charging the corners and 1 di9n't have any faith in that handlebar, whether or not it was going to hold or keep rotating around the fork tube. So 1 kept overshooting the apex and getting out in the ripples and 1 could feel it - every time 1 missed the apex, the bike would shudder really bad." The real disaster was for Zemke, though he made a decent recovery. Zemke was holding station in front of Alexander as they made their way through lapped traffic. When they came upon lapped rider Jared Kapoor, Zemke dived to the inside in turn three, but he ended up trying for space that Kapoor was ready to occupy as well. "1 went inside him," Zemke said. "1 thought he saw me, but obviously he didn't and he just came right down on top of me. 1 mean, 1 was already on the inside - I had no place to go. 1 hit him and just ran us both off the track. With it being misty and cold today, the grass out there was wet and 1 couldn't slow down and 1had to toss it into the bales." Zemke was able to remount and work his way into an 11 th-place finish. Alexander, meanwhile, was on the podium with a third-place finish in his first race back since breaking his wrist at Willow Springs two weeks ago. liThe race was hard-core, man," Alexander said. "It was probably the hardest race I've ever had. Even in my motocross days, it was probably my hardest race. I didn't know how many laps [ could do going into it at one time, so [ just wanted to go out and get a good start and hopefully get a good, strong finisJ:t. 1 didn't have enough (strength) to be aggressive through the race, I just had to be smooth and pliant with the whole thing." Fourth place went to Yamaha's Tommy Hayden after he spent the first half of the race battling with Hooters Restaurants' Jamie Bowman. It was the usual story for Hayden and his 600, trying to make a pass stick after muscling by on the brakes, then getting outpowered on the exit. He ultimately made it work, though, and set out after Alexander, but the gap was too great for him to overcome. "He was riding pretty good," Hayden said of Bowman. "The only place 1 could get by him was (turn) 11 and he was getting back by a couple times on the straight, so it was pretty tough. Finally 1 made it stick and tried to get away a little bit, you know, because on the 600 [ could carry a little bit more corner speed some places with it being lighter, and it turns a little better so it's a little bit easier to ride some places. 1 was trying to get ahead to catch those guys in front of me. I was kind of barely creeping on them and toward the end, Richie - I'm sure his hand was starting to hurt; he's got a pretty .bad hand - so I was trying to stay there just in case he started slipping, which he did, but it wasn't enough at the end. I got close, but he was riding really good for his hand the way it was." Bowman held on to fifth, with his teammate Mario DuHamel some five seconds behind him in sixth. Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Josh Hayes was seventh, riding his GSX-R600...,f0Ilowed by Parriott Motors/Supersport Engine Development's Brian Parriott on his CBR600F4. Anthony Doran, also on an F4, was ninth, with Full Spectrum Racing's Gabriel Henning 10th. Kipp's continued success has given him a large lead over second-placed Moore, 177-146. Hayden is third with 136, followed by Hayes with 126. Bowman is fifth with 115. When the light went green on a cold and cloudy afternoon at Laguna Seca Raceway, it was Moore who cranked up the drama early as he slid his GSX-R750 into the lead in the second turn to get past Kipp. That's when his handlebar rotated on the fork tube, making him a bit cautious, particularly on the brakes, after that point, and also when Kipp had a little trouble of his own. But it was the only real mistake Kipp made all race, and he was able to get by on the inside of turn six during the fourth lap. After that, Kipp just went, pulling out to a margin that he held between four and five seconds to the finish. "On the first lap, 1 made a bad downshift coming down the hill going into turn two the first time around and it just about put me on my head," Kipp said. "After tha t, we got things straightened out. The cold air had stiffened up my front end a ILttle bit, so the bike was wobbling really bad, but that was really the only problem I really had. Everything else went really smooth. It took me a couple laps to get past Jimmy. He was riding really well and really fast, but the race was really smooth for me. There were some lapped guys late in the race and [ lost a little bit of my gap, but 1 just concentrated on being smart and not making any big mistakes." Moore couldn't match the pace that Kipp had established and Alexander and Zemke were right on his tail. Alexander showed Moore a wheel up the front straight, with Zemke not far behind them, but Moore held the spot and Zemke dropped Alexander to fourth. Moore was able to pull out to a safe margin, but Zemke and Alexander stayed together until Zemke tried to rush by a lapped rider and ended up on the ground. Alexander was right there to witness the shunt. "When Jake got in front of me, he started dropping off really hard within The top three as they finished: Tom Kipp (16) leads Jimmy Moore (86) and Rich Alexander (1) in the 750cc Supersport race. two laps," Alexander said. "I just felt myself keeping the same pace but catching up to him. I got in pretty close to him that lap he went down and, you know, I was just biding my time... 1 saw him go in under that lapper and I was like, 'Oh, man, this isn't going to be good.' I ",:as kind of hoping he wouldn't go down. 1 was hoping he would save it, but I guess he didn't." After that, Alexander rode on alone in third, having trouble getting past lapped riders because of his injured wrist, which slowed him enough to allow Hayden to close the gap. But it wasn't enough for the Yamaha rider to get within striking distance after having spent most of the race battling to get past Bowman, and Hayden finished about four-tenths behind the Suzuki rider. Bowman crossed the line some five seconds behind in fifth, followed by his teammate DuHamel an additional five eN seconds behind. Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California Results: May 1, 1999 (Round 5 of 12) 750« SUPERS PORT FINAL: 1. Tom Kipp (Suz); 2. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 3. Richard Alexander Jr. (Suz); 4. Tommy Hayden (Yam); 5. Jamie Bowman (Suz); 6. Mario DuHamel (Suz); 7. Josh Hayes (Suz); 8. Brian Parriott (Han); 9. Anthony Doran (Suz); 10. Gabriel Henning (Suz); 11. Jake Zemke (Suz); 12. Lee Acree (Suz); 13. Calvin Rayborn rn (502); 14. Joseph Prussiano (Suz); 15. Kenneth Chase (Suz); 16. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 17. Thomas Montano (Yam); 18. Shane Clnrke (502); 19. Erik Schnackenberg (502); 20. Toby Jorgensen. (Suz); 21. David Duprey (502); 22. Owen Weichel (Han); 23. Stuart Stratton (Yam); 24,. Danny Hart Jr. (502); 25. Chad Simons (Suz); 26. Grant Lopez (Suz); 27. John Dugan (Suz); 28. Jess Roeder (Han); 29. Alan Schmidt (Kawasaki); 30. Tim Ogles (Suz); 31. Gary Hatfield (Han); 32. Gerald Walsh (Suz); 33. Bryan Kovarick (Suz); 34. David Wasson (Suz); 35. Doug Pitcock (Suz); 36. Scott Gooch (Suz); 37. Jared Kapoor (Han); 38. Damon Buckmaster (Suz); 39. John Jacobi (Suz); 40. Joseph Gill (Suz); 41. Gregory White (Suz); 42. Frank Aragalci (Suz). Time: 26 min.• 2.821 sec. Distance: 17 laps, 38.046 miles Average speed: 87.641 mph Margin of victory: 4.192 sec. 750cc SUPERSPORT NATIONAL C'SHtP POrNT STANDINGS (After 5 o( 12 rounds): 1. Tom Kipp (177/4); 2. Jimmy Moore (146); 3. Tommy Hayden (136); 4. Josh Hayes (126/1); 5. Jamie Bowman (115); 6. Richard Alexander Jr. (113); 7. Mario DuHamel (110); 8. Jake Zemke (lOS); 9. James Randolph (95); 10. Brilln Parriott (87); 11. Grant Lopez (81); 12. Vincent Haskovec (79); 13. John Jocobi (59); 14. Anthony Doron (54); 15. Gabriel Henning (51); 16. (TIE) Joseph Gill/Erik Schnockenberg (47); 18. Todd Harrington (39); 19. mE) Kenneth Chase/Daniel Fischer/John Haner (36). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Braselton, Georgia, June 5 Round 7 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 12 19

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