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/128180
~I Maxxis SuperTT Challenge sUP...!:!irn~rd eli By DON CANET PHOTOS BY BRIAN J. NELSON BRASELTON, GA, OCT. 26·27 f there are doubts surrounding the prospect of Scott Russell mounting a Superbike comeback in 2003, the performance put in by the five-time Daytona 200 winner at the Maxxis SuperTT Challenge offers evidence of the man's readiness and resolve. Forced into early retirement following a near· fatal accident at Daytona two years ago, many - Russell included believed the former AMA and World Superbike Champion's competitive career was finished. Far too restless for the doc's prescribed R&R, Russell has found healing powers in supermotard racing. The jovial Georgian's ear-to-ear grin following every session aboard his Maxxis-shod KTM supermoto speaks volumes; he's savoring every moment of this newfound lease on racing life. I Russell Romps to two SuperTT Challenge Russell wasn't the only rider having a whale of a time at Road Atlanta, as the Maxxis SuperTT Challenge brought supermoto-styJe racing to the southeast with classes in which virtually any off-road, DTX, dirt-track or supermotard Single could run. Sponsor support made for ultra-low entry fees to help stimulate participation. If the level of positive feedback from riders and spectators is any indication, it seems the SuperTT seed has been planted and could grow like kudzu across the south. This particular SuperTT sampler was held during the WERA Grand National Finals on a .7-mile, 10-turn course set up in the infield paddock opposite the WERA pits. Riders were treated to a good mix of paved and dirt corners, while fans got a chance (Top) Scott Russell gets down to business aboard the KTM 660 Factory-replica Supennoto en route to double wins at the Maxxis SuperTT Challenge. (Left) Kevin Schwantz (34) and Aaron Howe (12) ended up banging bars In each and everY Open heat and main. 68 NOVEMBER 13, 2002' cue I .. neVllS . WlnS to witness wheel-spin and wheelies up close and personal. Russell got off to a slow start in the l2-lap Open heat, still getting comfortable with the LC4-based 660 Factory-replica supermoto which KTM USA had air-freighted from its West Coast office earlier in the week. By mid-race, Mr. Daytona found his stride, slipping past the DTX Honda CRF450R of Greg Tysor and setting his sights on the lead duo of Kevin Schwantz and Aaron Howe. Still a Suzuki man to the core, Schwantz's Yoshimura-built DR-Z450 spotted some cc and bhp to Russell's big KTM and the KTM 525 SX of Howe. Fast and fluid, the former 500cc GP World Champion rode the wheels off his Michelin-shod mount, backing into corners and pulling sweet crossedup wheelies on the exits. With Howe hot on his heels, Schwantz caught a group of three slower bikes entering the dirt hairpin, and as he checked up for one of the lappers, he fed in a bit too much rear brake and stalled his motor. Howe was handed the lead, however brief, as Russell nuzzled past on the final lap to snatch the win. Schwantz was still kick-starting his bike as Tysor came by to take third, with the number-34 machine coming home fourth to complete the front row of the grid for the upcoming main. Heats and mains for the three support classes saw some big names