Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

A lap later and Russell led by over a second, the next lap that had grown to over two seconds - and for all practical purposes the race for the lead was over. But the action behind Russell was heating up. James, Schwarzbach, Spencer, Kipp and Stevens were together in a tightly-knit group of screaming superbikes. James seemed secure, and he started to stretch the advantage over the others on the 13th lap. Spencer, though, had other thoughts and he soon closed on James after diving under Schwaabach on the exit of turn three. Spencer would continue to hound James until the 22nd lap; at that point he and the Michelinmounted Honda RC30 would start to fade, and he would eventually finish fourth. The man on the move at this point was Picotte. The French Canadian disposed of Quarterley, Stevens, Kipp, Spencer and Schwarzbach before making an all-out assault on James late in the race. His efforts, though, would come up short at the finish and he would have to settle for third place. "1 got a bad start," Picotte said. MFrom the second row it is more trouble to be good in the first comer. After that the bike was good and the tires were fantastic. I chose a harder front tire for the second race and maybe that's why I was faster. I did good lap times. I saw that I was faster than Freddie and Jamie, but I knew I couldn't catch Scott. Jamie had a little bit better exit out of the final comer because I had to use second gear instead of first. 1 tried him one on the brakes, but he is very good on the brakes." Behind Spencer, Kipp and Stevens took their battle to the end after shaking off Schwarzbach; at the line, though, it was the defending Superbike National Champion Stevens finishing fifth, despite racing with a sore shoulder he'd injured with a crash earlier in the week while practicing at the facility. At one point during the heat of their three-way battle, Kipp and Schwarzbach had come together in tum three with the Vance & Hines Yamaha rider nearly running into the hay bales on the exit of the comer. "A decen t sta rt made all the difference," Kipp said later. "1 went faster than I did in qualifying. I put a harder front tire on (during the break) and boy, did it work. I also added some compression to the front and rebound to the rear and it made a big difference. Thomas was riding smart; he out-smoked me at the end. The thing with Larry was a little hairy. I was committed to my line and it was, 'Sorry, Larry, I've got to use my line,' There was nothing he could do," Schwarzbach was upset at himself for fading physically at the end of the rilce: "1 faded like blue jeans," the Texan said. "It's my physical condition, I hate to admit. I thought I was 100 percent, but I guess I'm not. Tom and I hit, but that's fine. I probably would have done the same thing if I were him. I can't criticize him." All things considered, Stevens was happy to fmish fifth: "On Wednesday, when I fell, as sore as I was, I'm damn happy we salvaged what we did this week," he said. "On Wednesday, I didn't think I'd be able to ride. Thanks to a local therapist we were able to compete. On thaf last lap I threw out the anchor. I covered my lines so he (Kipp) couldn't stuff it under me." Behind Schwarzbach, it was Pascal Picotte moved through the pack to finish third, just behind Jamie James. Freddie Spencer (19) battles with Thomas Stevens (I); they finished fourth and fifth. James on Role for tOO-Miler W hen he gets things set up correctly, nobody leans their superbike over any further than Vance &: Hines Yamaha's Jamie James. At New Hampshire International Speedway, James got it right and the result was scrape marks halfway up the side of his Yamaha FZR750R's fairing. And pole position, to boot. James and his Jim leonard-tuned Yamaha circulated the physically demanding l.6-mile race track under the one-lap record set last year by Scott RUS6eII, clicking off a one-minute, 14.2OO-second lap for an average speed of 77.628 mph to earn the pole position. MWe've been working and WOrking,M James said. And we've put a lot of ~ t into it It's been suspension mostly. The motor s got good mid-range power and it's just been getting better and better." James was a strong proponent of the two-race system for completing the 100 miles -1be promoters had promised: "1 don't know of any other way to do it," he said. "It would be jeopardizing people's lives doing an those laps here. You would be past the point of fatigue and we don't want to get anybody hurt." Second quickest was last year's winner here at New Hampshire International Speedway, Scott RUS6el1 on the Muzzy Kawa!lilki at 1:14.421. '1 feel good about the saperbike,M Russell said. "We've gone back to what we had. We tried going 180 degrees in the other direction and we wasted two days - although we lEBmed a lot. It was a waste as far as getting setup for this race. If I have to reach down deep and go faster I carl Jamie Games) and those guys have been up to speed all week. I'm planning on waiting around in the first race and racing in the second one. The first race is like a OOo-lap practice session." Freddie Spencer put his Two Brothers Racing Honda RC30 on the front row with a lap of 1:14.506. The three-time World Champion was in favor of the two shorter races. NIt's better than riding 63 laps," he said. "We probably should have picked up on that before we got here. It'll be tough mentally to run a race, stop and run another race. You've got to get up, stop and get up for' another race in 30 minutes. It's difficult to keep up that level of intensity. As far as the bike goes, we've worked more on suspension here than at any other race. It'll be more of a physical problem than a tire problem. This is the toughest race track (physically) we race on." Pascal Picotte was doing his job of keeping the Fast By Ferracci Ducati near the front even in the absence of Doug Polen, posting the fourth fastest time with a clocking of 1:14.621 to complete the front row. Camel Honda's Mike 5mith led the second row with his 1:15.003, despite a crash on SlIturday morning. Vance k Hines Yamaha's Larry Schwarzbach (1:15.590) was next, followed by Camel Honda's Tom Kipp (1:15.823). Muzzy Kawasaki's Thomas Stevens (1:15.869) fiDed the secOnd row. In all, 34 riders epalified. M Quarterley, Taylor and Crevier rounding out the top 10 finishers. Quarterley had made a gearing change to his Kawasaki between races: "Simple," he said. "1 just couldn't get it off tum 12 and couldn't get it up the hill. I ran a lower gear in the second leg because in the first it was lighting the tire; but in the second leg it would just tug up the hill. I can only blame myself," A notable non-finisher in the second race was Yoshimura Suzuki's Britt Turkington. The Texan crashed on the 51st lap in turn 12 and broke his collarbone. "1 lost the back and didn't have the strength to get it back," the hard-luck Turkington said. Russell's win came after a hard week of experimentation with race setup on his Kawasaki. "When Rob (Muzzy) got here we talked about it and went back to what we were using. We'd tried different carbs, different exhaust...and a lot it was too radical for this race track. We went back to the normal carbs and Rob's pipe and it all came down. "1 like the two-leg format (ala World Superbike), but this was a different deal because the first race didn't count - but I ended up making more money this way!" CN 17. Dave Sadowski (1:7.321); 18. Andrew Stroud (1,17.755); 19. Ben,,;t Pilon (1:17.819); 20. linnley Gal'ke (US.68I); 21. loUIS SaCCOCCIO (1,IS.682); 22. FfiC Moe (1:IS.731); 23. Pablo Real (1:IS.S7S); 24. joe Brett Williams (1:18.894); 25. Marc Smith (1:19.138); 26. Dean Mizdal (1:19.254); 27. CraiS Gleason (1:19.375); 2S. Rick Shaw (1:19.762); 29. Bob Sandy (1:19.944); 30. James Lussier (1:20.134); 31. lawrence Hanlon (1,20.944); 32. Angelo Nicholes (1,21.054); 33. Andy Fenwick (1,21.579); 34. Andrew Deatherage (1:22.063); 35. France9CO Fabiano (1:36.687). SUPERBIKE FINA~ I. Scott Russell (Kaw); 2. jamie james (Yam); 3. Puca! Picotte (Due); 4. Freddie Spencer (Han); 5. Thomas Stevens (!

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