second of Northwest's trio of riders,
Bob Sandy, held down fifth, ahead of
Keystone Racing's John Condron.
Team America was going with only
two stops, with Barnes the ironman,
riding the first and third hours and
back out just past the two-hour mark.
It was the first time this year that Yoder
had ridden the Honda CBR900 and he
came away impressed and thankful to
team owner Frank Slaughter.
"He wanted a shot to ride so I gave
it to him," Slaughter said
"The hour was over before I knew
it," Yoder said. "I just kind of tooled
around. I knew we were at least in
third. I just held my ground. In seven
races the bike's never been on the
ground, I didn't want to be' the first
.
to drop it."
Yoder was able to knock two seconds
a lap off his lap times during his hour,
circulating in the 2:30s at the start of
his shift and doing 2:28s when it ended.
About 15 minutes into the third hour
the complexion of the race changed
dramatically. First, Lynch pitted in the
lead and got off the bike while team
owner Jeff Stern changed front brake
pads. They dropped to ninth in class,
but would finish seventh.
Just a few laps later, Gardner rolled
to a stop on the front straightaway at
the end of the pit lane. Fortunately,
that's where the team was pitted and
the crew rushed out to push it back
in. The tank was re-fueled, a rear tire
was changed, and team manager John
Hopperstad fixed a sticking rear brake
sending Clarke back out to finish up.
Team America. was in the lead, Gold
Hill back out in second with Keystone
Team America rode their Honda CBR900 to victory at Road America, completing 72 laps and 288 miles in the three hours.
It was high drama in the wild Midwest.
The stage was set at Road America in Elkhart Lake,
Wisconsin -: Round 7 of the '92 AMA Superbike
Series. The curtain went up on an event filled with the
nation's headline road racers, but three riders quickly
established themselves as the stars of the show.
Lap after lap this trio engaged in an electrifying
high-speed ballet, trading places in the spotlight in
virtually. every tum. But in the final act, it was
Team Vance & Hines Yamaha's Jamie James, his
FZR750R OW01 and a stellar supporting cast which
stepped forward with a triumphant performance
worthy of standing ovations and rave reviews from
the audience of 35,000. Take a bow, Jamie.
~
27
