Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

zo tta ma de his way in to third as Spies ran into trouble on his u nd erpower ed reser ve bike a nd ended his d ay wi th a crash in turn 10 try ing to overcome the han d icap. The top thr ee sp rea d ou t ov er . the course of the d renched race and all he ld o n to finish in the hars h cond itio ns, DiSal vo had a lreadv wrapped u p . the WERA 125cc GP Champio nship the dav be for e a nd wou ld soon be on a n airp lane to South America to contest the last tw o round s of the World Grand Prix Series, and did not want to risk a crash , The rider on the move was newcomer Jason Pete rs, who had missed the first leg of the championsh ip bec au se of a mecha n ica l problem and had to s tart from the last positi on on the hu ge grid of rid ers, Peters made his way up from th e 23rd ro w of th e s ta rti ng grid into sixt h p lace at the finish in on e of his first rid es in the rain in his first season of racing, The WERA G ra n d Natio na l Fina ls are th e last races of th e year in wh ich Natio nal Champions are crowned in all classes, No rmal ly . the Pro -Am classes tha t are ru n a t the Nationa l Cha llenge (Above) Micha el Hi m melsbach went 2-1 to w in the GPRAIWERA 125cc GP class. (Left) J ohn Jacobi heated u p the wet track en route t o the Michelin 75Dcc SuperStock class wi n. wee kends wi ll ha ve severa l cham pionships deci ded befor e the final round. This season, because of the ex trernelv competitive na tu re of the series, most Na tional Cha mpions wo uld be crowned at the last eve nt on the sched ule . Vesr a h I Ma rs ha ll Dist r ibu tingbacked Mark Junge and Arclig ht Suzuki rid er Joe Prussia no came into the last race w ith only three poi nts se pa rating them in th e Open SuperSt ock a tiona l Cha mpions hip. In order for Junge a nd his Michelin-sh od Kawasaki ZX-9R to win the title, he wou ld need to ha ve a t lea st on e p erson be twee n Pru ss ia no and him s e lf. Jun g e g ra b be d th e hol es h ot at th e star t a n d w anted to bre ak awa y from th e p ack, but Ti m Berni sd e r fe r, on a Yam a ha YZF R- l , qu ickly attached himself to the tail section of Jun ge ' s b ig - b o r e Kawa s ak i. Ju n ge and Bemi sd erfer swa p ped th e lead bra kin g for turn one or draftin g on the back s tra ig h t la p a fter lap . At th e halfway flags, the di cin g duo appear ed fro m ben eath the Mich elin bridge side by si de a n d he ld th eir pos iti on s thr ou gh tu rns 11 an d 12, dow n t h e fro nt straig h taway an d into turn one . Bernisd er fer took over the lead br ak ing for turn tw~ only to have Junge re-p ass on the back straight. On the run to the white flag , Bemisderfer got the point and defended the position to the checke rs . Ju nge ch ecked ov er his s houlder after crossing the start lfinish line to see sly ve te ran Prussia no stalking just a hu ndred yards behi nd the leaders in case he nee ded to make a move to salvage his champions hip. As it turns ou t, Pru ssiano ea rned the O pen SuperStock Cha m pionship by one slim point. The Michelin 750cc SuperSt ock class was won by AMA Na tiona l regular Joh n Jacobi , in very we t cond itions . The AMA Series d oes not allo w the use of full rain s licks in th eir se ries , o nly one D.O .T. tread pattern pe r manufacturer. Jacobi had not been on actual rain tires in over two yea rs and was surprised by how mu ch g ri p wa s availab le fro m th e newest Mich elin rains. H e went on to win the race by ove r 11 seco nds from Tim Bemisd erfer a nd Arclig h t Suz u ki teamma tes Lee Ac ree and Pruss ia no . Acree came into the Road Atlan ta rou nd o ne p oi nt b ehind Pru ssi a no a nd left wi t h th e Mic heli n 750 Su perStock Cha m pio ns hip by th e same one -poin t mar gin . Ja cobi a lso won th e Fo rmu la One ra ce ove r the th ird A rclig ht Suzuki team me mber, Tray Batey . Jacobi used t he exact same setup as t he 750cc Su perStock race to bea t Batey by over 14 second s in wha t both riders agree were th e wors t cond itions e it he r had ever race d in. Jacobi han d ed Bat ey his only d efeat of the season, bu t Batey had long since wra p ped up th e Form u la One titl e. The Pirelli 600cc SuperStock race was another cham pionshi p that was decided befor e the fina l round, with the hon or go ing to Jun ge. He did not need to run the last race but did a nyway to s ho w w hy he is th e 1999 Cha m pion. Junge used his Michelin -equipped Kawasaki ZX-6 R to d ominat e th e fie ld in t he s to rmy cond it io ns, ta king the win by over 21 second s from Canadian Joseph Temperate. . Th e new est mem ber of th e Tea m Valvo lin e lEMGO Su zuki sq ua d , Be n Spies, won the fina l round of the For mula Two Series on a Micheli n-shod Suzuki GSX-R 600. Spies nor mall y campaigns a Yama ha TZ-250 GP bi ke but was contacted by Team Val voline to contest the Suzuki Cup races. In only his third time on the bike, Spies showed grea t maturity to close ou t his season with his first Na tiona l Championship. The Heavyweight Twins Exper t Cha mpionship was captured by Brian Ho nevcutt, and the Novice title we nt to Greg CalIa'ha n. The final race of the season was won by Phillippe Kostezer for the experts and Dr. Ada m Mashike for the novices, both o n Miche lin-shod Suzuki TL-l000Rs. Mashike's wi n was no t only his first ational victory, bu t his firs t win ever in his 10-yea r on -and off racing career. Andy Caldwell dom ina ted the wet Novice classes at the Gra nd Na tio nal Fina ls, win ning th ree races, th e 600cc and 750cc Produ ction and 600cc Su perbike classes. Ada m Coco came thro ug h from the seco nd wave to w in the 750cc Superbike ra ce, bu t the class cha m pionshi p wen t to fou r-time race w in ner Rick Fairbai rn. Tim Brewer came away fro m th e seaso n w it h two cha m p iuns hips to his cred it. Brew er wo n bot h 600cc and 750cc Prod uction classes after a yea rlong cross coun try bat tle at tracks arou nd the Ll.S; and his teammate Brian H av e s was s econd in b o th cl a ss es. Hayes himself ea rned the 600cc Supe reN bike Cha mpionship . Roa d Atl ant a B rasel to n, Georgia Results: October 10, 1999 G r R ArwE R A 125 c r LE G 1: 1. Ia so n D i SaI\'(l {Honl : 2. Michael S. Himm elsbach C Hon); 3. Ben Sp ies (lion); 4. Vicky Jackson- Bell IHon); 5. Nobi lso (Apr); 6. Hawk Mazzotta (Hen): 7. John Bellinger C Hon); 8. John H jelm (H en): "'. Chris Pyle... (Hou) : 10. Tyl er W,l dsw~ lrt h ( H u n). C r RA / \ \o'E RA 125 CP L EG 2: 1. Mi ch ael S. Himmelsbach (Hun); 2. [ason DiSalvo {Ho n): 3. Hawk Mazzotta (Honl: 4. No bi lso (Apr); 5. Vick y [eckso n-Bcll (Hon): 6. Iason Peters (Ho n): 7. Mark To-,o (Hun); 8. John H jelm ( H u n) ; q . Co rey Ru~k O-hm ); 10. john Bellin ger (Ho n) .' OrEN SlSTK: 1. Tim Bemtsd er fer (Ya m); 2. Mark Junge (Ka w); 3. Joe Pru ......ia no (Suz) : 4, Billy Eisenachcr (Yam) ; 5. Scott Brown (Yam) . 'a I'" MICH ELIN 750 S/5TK: 1. john Iacobi (5u7.); 2. Tim Bcmi sd crfer (Suz); 3, Lt... Acre... (Suz) : 4. Joe Pru ss iano .. • Bowman (5U7.). PIR ELLI &00 SISTI(: 1. M.nk Jungl' (Kaw); 2. joseph Tcm pera to (Suz); 3. Ken Snyder (SU7.) 4, Shan non 8.111 ; b. (Suz); 5, Bvro n Barbour tSuz) . Fl : 1. Joh n ja cobi (Suz) : 2. Tray Bel ley (Suz): 3. Billy .. Et h ri d ge ( Ka w): 4 . J" J.Tl ie Lane (S lIl.): 5 . j.1 SU I1 Trow bridge (SU I.) , F2.: Ben Sp ie (Suz ): 2, JOS('ph Temperate (Suz): 3. s -..I Mike M ashewske (Kaw ). . ... H tW TWNS EX: 1. Philhp pc Kostczer (Suz ); 2. Slew Bax ter (Suz ): 3. Barry Ch.,t h.101 (Suz). H!W TWN S NOV: 1. Ada m M.'s hikl' (5uz); 2. Bria n . Tem ple (Dud; 3. Edw.uJ Il l'SS(.-\ (D uc);"4. Jim Fur bur (H on ): 5. H .1I Ke gan (Ya m) . e 600 PROD: 1. And y Ca ld we ll ISuz ): 2. Ernest Miele m t Ka w ): 3, Steve Sm it h (Su z): 4, Larry Ray Du la ney m (SU7. ; 5 . Juhn ) ;I III Q iii Q 750 I' RQ: 1. Andy Cald wel l (5u z); 2. Tim Brewer (Hun); 3, [a me Sclbv (Hon); 4. Adorn Coco (Hon]: 5, s Brian Hayes (5u z). . 600 5 /BK: 1. Andv Ca ldwell (Suz ): 2, ja son Smith IKaw) , 3. Adam Cuco (He n): 4. lam es Sclbv (Hen): 5. Scott Morrison (K., W). m (Honj: 5. j am e Selb v (H en) . s • 750 S/BK: 1. Ada m Coco ( Ho n): 2, Mic h.H.·! N asa kai ris (Suz): 3. Scott Mo rri son (K.HV); 4. Riek Fa irb airn (5uz); 5, K..-vin Napier (5u 7.). . ~ .c o 13 o 13

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