Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROADRACE AMA/CCS EBC Brakes Endurance Challenge: Round 5 ~ "' Fastline's Tommy Lynch (25) leads Dutchman Racing (1) and Keystone Racing (16). The GTU race arne down to Moto Liberty/Nankai (20) vs. Team Toomer (2). Fastline marches on with Brainerd win By Henny Ray Abrams BRAINERD, MN, JUN 13 astline MCM/Racing led the first lap of the three-hour EBC Endurance Challenge at Brainerd International Raceway and, though a few teams took a shot at them, led the last lap, and most of the laps in between, to give them their third victory of the season. "At the beginning of the year 1 thoug,ht we had something that would work," team owner Jeff Stern said in the winner's circle. "And it'·s sure gelled. We couldn't do it without Tommy Lynch and Jeff Heino," After the team completed 99 laps around the three-mile circuit, at an average speed of 97.967 mph, the Suzuki GSXRllOO-mounted Heino' crossed the finish line 26.197 seconds in front of Team America's Michael Barnes, who teamed with Woody Deatherage to put their near-stock Honda CBR900 in second. Third went to Keystone Racing, Fabian Cortez teaming with Nigel Gale, riding in place of the injured John Condron, on the team's Suzuki GSXRlloo with fourth going to the Team YamaJ:ta Endurance of Jacksonville pairing of Andy Fenwick and Dean Mizdal aboard a Yamaha FZRlOOO, .with Mike Myers and Jim F Sabin piloting the Honda CBR900 of N21 Racing into. fifth. With the win, Fastline/MCM increases their lead in the championship to II over Team America, 92-81, with Dutchman Racing third at 67 and Keystone Racing fourth with 44. Dutchman had a disappointing day, finishing sixth after leading early and running second most of the race. A . carburetor slide on the team's Suzuki GSXRlloocrackedjust past the team's first gas stop when Scott Zampach replaced Andrew Stroud, gradually . slowing the bike, before it finally shut down the number one carb entirely during Stroud's final shift. The New Zealander pitted with less than 15 minutes to go and the team, unaware of a problem at the tiJ;Ile, replaced the battery. "We changed it, but I knew it wouldn't help," team owner Dave Schlosser said. . Gold Hill Racing's day was even worse. Christian Gardner had the team's Yamaha FZRlOOO comfortably in first when he was forced to quit the race with a broken radiator at the 45minute mark dropping them to sixth in the championship, "The radiator was pushing against the exhaust on the fast straightaway. The bike was running hot, around 100 degrees (centigrade). I was circulating real comfortably, Then I slowed down and Dutchman caught me. One lap before I was due in I noticed the temperature back down to 70 degrees. I knew the water had gone out," Gardner said, adding that he thought because the radiator has no lower bracket, the air pressure pushing on it on the fornt straightaway caused it to bend backwards and foul on the exhaust. The GTU class was a 'much more exciting race into the third hour, Moto Liberty/Nankai battling Team Toomer for class honors until a clutch rod on Toomer's Yamaha FZR600 snapped while· they were in the lead with just over half an hour to go. Moto Liberty/Nankai's Doug Carmichael, who'd taken over for teammate Danny Walker at the two-hour, H-minute mark,. cruised to the win, tops in class and eighth overall, aboard the team's Honda CBR600. Walker attributed much of the team's success 10 their Bridgestone tires. "This is the first race we've run full Bridgestone slicks front and rear," Walker said. "We finally got a wide wheel for the rear and it works great. It definitely doesn't stick like a 250 tire, but it's there at the end. The tire wear was awesome." . The newest team in the GTU class, American Flyers, made their

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