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/128075
Road Race New Ham ire In ationalSpeedway psh tern AMA GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP LOUDON, NH, SEP 25-26 h e third a n n ua l AMA G ra n d Champion ship Road Ra ce, held on a b rilliantly su nny an d w arm fall wee ken d at New Hampshir e Inte rna tional Speedwa y, w as a decidedly mixed bag . En tries are d own, the race no longer h a s a titl e s p o nsor, an d it rema in s a mostly regional ev en t with limited entries from outs ide the region . On the upside, the racing - 60 classes in 25 races run in co nju nc tion w it h a round of the Loudon Road Race Series was run well and sa fely, and the Horizon Award, which the AMA created to recogn ize up-and-comin g rid ers, w ent not to a vetera n professional, as it had the first two years, but to a self-assured 15-year -old w it h spi ky bleache d ha ir, glasses, and a very bri ght fu ture. Jason DiSalvo, of Stafford, New York, took the awa rd by winning one race on his Alien Racing Honda RSI25, the same mach in e w h ich will be sig n ific a n tly upgr ad ed with works kit parts wh en he co n tes ts the fi na l tw o ro und s o f th e 125cc World Cha mpi onship in Braz il and Argenti na as a wil d card rid er for Team Po lin i, a nd one on h is Yamaha TZ250. The first of his w ins ca me in Satu rd ay ' s Exp ert Sin gles race, a runa w ay victory wh ere he best ed Penguin Road Raci ng School's Jerry Wood , a nd his Du cat i Su perMo no 570, by 21.18 seconds at the end of the eigh t-lap, 13.04mile race. Chris Pyles finished third on ano ther RSl 25. "I jus t rod e hard fo r the ra ce a n d f (Above) \ Charles Chou inard (2) leads Jo hn Scheesher (12), Scott Greenwood (146) and Des Conboy (82)en roU1e to winning the Expert Unlimited Grand Prix during the AMAGrand Championsh ip Road Race at Loudon. (Lefl) AMA Horizon Award winner Jason DiSalvo won two races at New '" '" '" cD ~ ..: '" .c o U o 12 Hampshire International Speedway to lake the AMA's top Amateur road race award. wo n by 22 second s," DiSal vo sa id . "I think my best time was a 16.4." There is no AMA 125cc track record at N HIS, bu t the 250cc record is 1:14.867, held by Jimmy Filice. The second win was more of a stru ggle. In Sund ay's first race, and the first of the AMA Premi er classes, the Expe rt Mid d leweight Gra nd Prix, DiSalvo and h is Yam a ha TZ250 w e re match ed aga inst a field of 6OOs, TZ Yam ahas, and the odd Ducati. Team ProMotio n's John Scheehser, a Lou don regular, got th e jump, but cras hed in the tu m-six bowl on lap one, han d ing the lea d to Rola nd Williams, wi th DiSalvo tagging along as the pair split from the field . On the sixth of 12 laps, DiSa lvo passed the Suzuki GSXR600-mounted Williams in turn one and appeared to be ready to split. After initially dropping back, Williams held his ground and finished 3.44 seconds back. .Third went to Scott Greenwood on a Ho nda CBR600. ';1 was turning low 14s and kicked it back, " DiSalvo said . "The race (like a ll of the Premier classes was 12 laps, 19.56 miles) was rea lly long." His next one will be longer. DiSalvo will be taking a w ild card as a teammat e to Team Po lin i's Simone Sanna a nd Reinh ard Stol z. The trip to South America will be his first, but he's already had a taste of internat ional compe titio n. Th is su m me r DiSal vo raced three tim es in Europe, his best finis h a seve nth in a British Cha mpions hip race at Oulton Park. DiSa lvo al so led th e Expe r t Light- weight Grand Prix class on his Yam aha TZ250 befor e runnin g into a mechanical problem. Tha t race wa s wo n by Rich Neenan over Jeffrey Wood . DiSa lvo wa s p rese nted his Hori zon Awa rd t ro ph y b y Pa rkw a y Cy cl es ' Cha rles Chouinard , the rider who won the award last year, and was therefor e inelig ib le to win it again. Cho ui na rd made it clear that he wa sn 't a t Loud on to steal an yone else's glory, bu t was contesti ng the LRRS races w here he's in the cha mpio nship hunt in three classes . His resul ts this weekend didn' t hurt, though he had a roug h start . Cho ui na rd caused a red flag on the 21s t lap of the Expert Heavyweigh t End urance when he cras hed while chasing leader Des Conboy . The Suzuki GSX-R750-mounted rider was third on the previous lap - Steve Moria rty was second - but Chouinard was disqualified for causing the red flag. It was the first of Conboy's two wins. Chouinard picked u p the p a ce in Sunday' s Expert Heavyweigh t Superbike race, a Prem ier class. Quick ly into the lead aboard his Suzuki GSX-R750, he a nd Rola nd Will iams, on h is GSXR600, took off from the 17-ri der fie ld, th e n Cho u ina rd s plit fro m Williams, adding a second a lap to his lead a nd winni ng by over 14 seco nds. Will iams was second and Timo th y Bemi sd er fer was third on a GSX-RlOOO. It took u ntil the third lap of the Premier Exp er t Hea vywei ght Supe rs por t class for Cho ui na rd to slot his wa y to the fron t, tho ugh Williams was again on h im a nd n o t g ivi ng up . Th e p a ir