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Greg Tysor's DTX Honda 147) proved effective against the supennotards of Matthew Pursley 1808) and Mike Smith (tucked in behind). whooping it up in Mini-motard. The two-stroke B5cc machine of Logan Myers took a lonely win ahead of a good battle between the Honda XRI00 four-strokes of Billy Eisenacher and Russell. And then there was Tysor. The road racer turned dirt tracker cut the course every which way to keep his sputtering XR in touch with his riding pals. Brand Leask took a flag-to-flag win over Brian Gibbs in the 21-inchfront-wheel-mandated Sportsman class. The Novice division - open to any rider who had never raced in a SuperTT - was chock full of talent, drawing some 35 entries. The field was divided into a pair of heats with the top 12 finishers from each transferring to the main. Tysor's victory in the main may be stretching the term "Novice;" however, with the likes of Matthew Pursley and Jason Baldwin giving chase, he certainly wasn't cherry pickin'. The start of the 15-lap Open feature was delayed until after the Suzuki Cup GSX-RI000 heat had been run on the big road course. This allowed Mike Smith - who was pulling double duty on the weekend - time to swap his Gixxer for a Cannondale S440 supermotard, and hightail it over for the start of the Maxxis SuperTT Challenge. Russell nailed the start from pole and never looked back, building a three-second advantage over his H&H KTM teammate for the weekend, Howe. Schwantz was another two seconds back, having been caught from behind by Tysor on the opening laps. Smith's charge from a sixth-row start (he missed the earlier heat) suffered with a fall and later a Stil II , taking the Moto Britalia Cannondale rider out of contention. A good scrap developed between YZ426F-mounted Pursley, the Cannondale of Baldwin, and David Sadowski, riding a CRF450R borrowed from Russell. By the seventh lap, the leaders were into traffic and Howe cut slightly into Russell's advantage. Then, suddenly, Russell had restretched his lead and Howe had Schwantz nipping at his rear wheel. The shift lever on Howe's bike had fallen off and his four-speed machine was stuck in third gear. A true testament to the 525's low-end grunt, Howe kept a hard-pressing Schwantz at bay. The final lap saw Schwantz stall in the same dirt hairpin he had stalled in earlier, once again caught out by an overly sensitive aftermarket rear caliper. Russell marched home well clear of Howe, who had a 10-second cushion over Tysor in third. Time lost was just far enough behind to react and ride around the outside of Schwantz and Howe, both dead in the water. Howe busted free just in time to run elbow-to-elbow with Russell through the next two corners back on the pavement. Over the next few laps, Russell put some distance between himself and Howe. Schwantz had also caught back up to Howe and was applying some serious pressure through the last couple paved corners before the dirt section, leaving no doubt as to who had "Road Race Champion of the World" on his resume. Howe seemed to get a better drive out of the dirt hairpin, giving himself a bit of breathing room for the first few paved corners that followed. Schwantz's move came up the inside entering a paved lBO-degree right, the two running side by side as they closed on another slower rider. There would only be room enough for one rider as the backmarker turned in, resulting in heavy contact between Howe and Schwantz with both hitting the ground. Howe had the good fortune to keep his bike running and got right under way to finish the race in second, well behind Russell for another KTM sweep. Schwantz decided to wait for RusselJ to come around so they could put on a spectacular display of slides and wheelies over the closing laps. While most riders had their personal sponsors to thank, one gets the feeling that Russell simply thanks his lucky stars that he's back in the saddle again. CN relighting the DR-Z relegated Schwantz to eighth at the stripe. A single 15-lap Open-class exhibition race was run for giggles and grins the following afternoon. Although no awards or prize money were at stake on this day, the competitive spirit still ran high. The bikes of Russell and Howe sported fresh Maxxis radials, and over at the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School workshop located in the Road Atlanta garages the number-34 machine wore a freshly grooved rear Michelin slick and front rain. Mick Roberts, a former GP wrench now employed as the school's mechanic, installed a stiffer return spring on the rear-brake pedal and cut slots in the pads to reduce their bite. As GSX-R600 Cup final podium interviews wrapped up across the way, two-dozen supermotard bikes took to the track for a five-minute warmup. Riders then lined up firstcome-first-serve on the start grid with 01' number 34 staking claim on the inside of the front row. Russell passed on a vacant second-row slot, deciding it would be more fun whipping the field from the sixth row. And whip it he did, pitching it sideways and painting black streaks into nearly every paved corner. Running eighth, some 10 seconds behind the leaders, on the opening lap, Russell began moving up through the pack. Schwantz and Howe were at it again with nothing between them at the front. Howe finally got by the Texan on lap eight as they were now well into the backmarkers. Russell had also closed to just a few bikelengths behind Schwantz. The next time the lead trio came upon a slower rider was entering that troublesome dirt hairpin. The inside berm was the preferred line, or it was until a backmarker bobbled and fell in it, causing a logjam in the corner's apex. Russell Roed Allentll Braselton, 6eorgie Results: Octaber 26-27, 2002 OPEN RACE 1: 1. Scott Russell (KTM): 2. A.ron Howe (KTM); 3. Greg Tysor (Hon); 4. Matthew Pursley (Yam): 5. David Sadowski (Hon). OPEN RACE 2: 1. Scott Russell (KTM): 2. A.ron Howe (KTM); 3. Lee Bevins (Hon); 4. D~yld Sadowski (Hon); 5. Kelly PllIyne (Suz). SPTSMN: 1. Brllnd Leask (Hon): 2. Brian Gibbs (Yam); 3. Aubrey Storey (Hon); 4. Harry Norman (Yam); 5. David Dantzler (Yam). NOV: 1. Greg Tysor (Hon); 2. Matthew Pursley (Yam); 3. Jason Baldwin (Can) 4. Nick Daniels (Hon); 5. Kent Soignier (Yam). MINI: 1. Logan Myers (Hon): 2. Billy Eisenacher (Hon); 3. Scott. Russell (Hon); 4 Chris Jentzen (Hon); 5. Jason Pope (Hon). First-tum action in the Maxxls Open Exhibition at Road Atlanta featured Russell 14) coming through from the rear of the pack on his way to victory. cue I e n • _ S • NOVEMBER 13. 2002 69