Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 5: Laguna Seca Raceway AMA/MBNA SUPERBIKE SERIES Joe Cubbage (34) led most of the 250cc Grand Prix race, but crashed near the end to give Geep Terranova (47) his first win in the class. AMAlMazda Trucks 250cc Grand Prix Round 5: Laguna Seca Raceway All- weather Geep By Henny Ray Abrams MONTEREY, CA, MAY 2 here was nothing predictable. about the Mazda Trucks 250cc Grand Prix race at Laguna Seca Raceway - pot the weather, not the track surface, and certainly not the outcome. And when it was allover, on a cold, wet and dark afternoon in Monterey, the class had a new first-time winner, though it may also have been his swan song. Riding with rain tires on a steadily drying track, San Jose's Geep Terranova rode a smart, steady race, letting the race unfold aroun.d him and taking advantage of his opportunities to earn his first AMA 250cc GP win. "I just watched the race and let it come to me and it ended up working good," Terranova said in his trademark high-pitched voice. '1 had a really good, T ~ ~ 20 strong motor. I just let the race come to me." The Terranova Painting Yamaha rider was involved in a nearly racelong breakaway speed duel with Team Race Against Cancer 4 Kids' J9t' Cubbage and Broward Motorsports' Quenni King. Three laps from the end, Cubbage, who lives in Monterey, crashed in the Corkscrew while trying to pass a backmarker, sliding on what he felt was dirt on the track, and he was ou t of the race. According to eyewitnesses, Cubbage laced into the corner workers for the dirt on the track, but it didn't matter. The race was then Terranova's and he'd earned it. "There's nothing better than winning, that's for sure," Terranova said. "It's a different feeling." Tire choice was critical today and Terranova went with full wets. The earlier 600cc Supersport race had been run in a steady rain that slicked the track for the 25Os, though the rain had stopped. Still, the track was wet and puddled and some said they never did find a completely dry line arourid the 2.238-mile circuit. "Today was different for me because we really didn't know what to expect at the start," Terranova said. "We'd been riding in dry all weekend, and then go to race in the rain. I pretty much talked to all the riders before about how they felt and it was pretty much a guessing game. [ put the rains on, and felt confident with them. The race turned out really good." That was something of an understatement. Yet in nearly his next breath Terranova said that he was going to abandon the class in pursuit of a different goal. • ''Unfortunately, this will probably be my last ride of the year because it's time for me to do some other things," he said. '1 want to get onto a 600 down the road, and I'm buying a house. It's hard for me to do at this point, but maybe some mistaken fortune will come around or something. I didn't plan to go out this way, so hopefully we'll get some more coming soon." Terranova's margin of victory was 3.380 sec.onds and it would be over Quenni King. Like Terranova, King had gotten away from the 36-rider pack and had . hooked up with Cubbage, who'd threatened to make the race a runaway on the first lap. Once he was reeled in, they weren't letting go, and the trio swapped places continually. Cubbage led the most laps - eight, including the first two - with King leading four, and Terranova five, including the last three. Over the last two laps, once Cubbage was out, it was clear that Terranova was pulling away, and King settled for second, his first podium and best finish ever. '1 felt pretty good at the beginning and was just hanging out with Cubbage and Geep," King explained. "1 didn't want to make an early move on the track because it was still wet. I just hung around in third to wait for the middle of the race and try to pass them and pull away, but it didn't happen. I was jus~ hanging out with them. Cubbage was all over us and Geep was running pretty good. I was going to finish third. I was hoping for a podium finish and that's what I got." He was handed second when Cubbage crashed in front of him in the Corkscrew. Like Terranova, King was mounted on Dunlop rain tires - front and rear. • The rider who finished third took a gamble on his tires, fitting slicks. That would work for the second haIl of the race and that's when Roland Sands made his move. It was the first race since Daytona for the Performance Machines' Yamaha rider, and, even with a still healing wrist on a dodgy track, Satlds was able to show that he was back. "It was good," Sands began "It's. good to be back here. We had a couple of problems. I still can't figure out why. But we put a new bike together, a brand-new chassis, brand new forks and pretty much a new motor combination, and we were struggling with it all weekend. It made things tough for us - and, of course, riding with a broken wrist. It was interesting, to say the least. I'm real happy to get out of here with a thirdplace finish. To get on the podium, I'm more than happy. Wish we could have done a little better, but, hey, that's the way it is." Sands said he gambled on slicks because he "figured it might dry out a bit so we could come back at the end. J was pretty freaked out there at the beginning and just let people pass me. I kind of waited until the track dried out and then I started making my move to see how many people I could catch. But these guys, they put their heads down at the beginning and I wasn't able to catch them." It took some time for the defending class champion to get going. He completed the first lap in 12th before steadily inching his way forward. By the 10th lap he was up to fourth and, when Cubbage went down, Sands was on the box. He'd been in with a number of riders, including a pack of eight that fought over fifth early on. That pack would break up late in the race, with ick Ienatsch emerging at the front, running down Tech Star Industries' AI Salaverria and taking fourth on the Tom Colins Racing Aprilia. Salaverria owned fourth much of the race, well in front of fifth, but equally behind the leaders. It was only after the micfpoint that he was caught up and passed. Like Sands, class leader Chuck Sorensen took some time to get going, though it wasn't because of tires. Sorensen went with full rains, but he didn't attack early on. "I just took it kind of easy the first few laps," the World Sports Import rider said, "because I didn't have any wet practice. My points lead was in the back of my mind. I wanted to keep that. The team said, 'Bring it home.' I was being cautious in the first part of the race and allowed those guys to get away. I wicked it up a little bit to get to respectable." Respecta ble enough to keep his points lead at 33, 165-132, over Quenni King after five of 12 races. Terranova sits in third with 136. t:II Laguna Seea Raceway Monterey, California Results: May 2, 1999 (Round 5 of 12) MAZDA TRUCKS 250« GRAND PRIX: 1. Geep Terranova (Yam); 2. Quenni King (Yam); 3. Roland Sands (Yam); 4. Nick lenatsch (Yam); 5. AI Salaverria (Apr); 6. Chuck Sorensen (Yam); 7. Perry Melneciuc (Hon); 8. Duncan GriHiths (Yam); 9. Derek J,T. King (Hon); 10. Daniel Reeser (Yam); 11. John France (Hon); 12. Greg Esser (Hon); 13. Gary Georges (Yam); 14. Keller King (Yam); 15. Glen jeffrey (Hon); 16. Edward Marchini (Hon); 17. Rolando Quintero (Hon); 18. Roy De Groot (Hon); 19. Chris Ulrich (Yam); 20. Broce Und (Yam); 21. Patrkk Dowd (Yam); 22. Kory Gill (Yam); 23. Derek King (Hon); 24. Ralph StMopoli (Hon); 25. Larry Roberts (Yam); 26. Mark Sweeney (Yam); 27. Adam Neal (Yam); 28. Richard Denman (Hon); 29. Eugene Mosier (Yam); 30, Joe Cubb

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