he winners in the Suzuki Cup Finals came
from the south, wh ich wasn't entirely a surprise, given that the race was held at Road
Atlanta . Just how far south they came from ,
however, was a surprise.
Georgia veteran Mike Smith started with a win in the
600cc Cup final, then backed it up with seconds in both
the 7S0cc and 1000cc Cup finals. Th is was no sur prise,
give n Smith's e xpe rience at his home track and as a former factory ride r. Nor was the victory of fellow
Georgian Geoff May in the 1000cc Cup final much of a
shock. After all, the Prieto Racing rider was the top privateer in the AMA Chevrolet Superb ike Championship.
The surprise came from the southern hemisphere as
a pair of young Australians vying for spots on the Corona
Extra EBSCO Med ia Suzuki team in 200S ada pted quickly to the 12-turn , 2.2S-mile roa d circuit, taking four podium spots between them. Russell Holland edged Smith by
.096 of a seco nd in the 7S0cc Cup final, with fellow
countryman Bre nt George third. George also fi nished
seco nd to Smith in the 600cc Cup race and third to May
and George in the 1000cc Cup final. For team own er
Landers Sevier, it was an unexpected windfall in his annual effort to rec ruit Australians for the Corona team.
"We started loo king for replacements now," Sevier
said of Australian Ben Attar d, who left the team at the
end of the season . Attard and Adam "Krusty" Fergusson,
who rode for the team last year, both made their U.S
debuts at the GNF the prev ious year. Marty Cr aggill,
anothe r Australian, also rode for the team part of 2004 ,
sitting out most of the year wit h a neck injury.
"We're using this to test them ," Sevier said.
T
60 0cc C U P F I N AL
Jeff Wood and Geoff May were the early leaders in the
600cc Cup race , but they wouldn't be factors in the e nd.
Of the two, Wood held on longe r - almost long
r
