Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

he still crossed the line with better than a lo-second cushion. "With two laps to go the motor. started making not a good sound:' Harrington said after winning his third race in a row. "I prayed it would. make it to the finish. Right after 1 crossed the line, I shut it off, and 1haven't heard it since. It spun a bearing, I think." Again Gibbs took second, this time racing against the Yamaha TZ250 of Chris Taylor much of the race, conceding second at one point near·mid-race. Taylor could draft Gibbs, but couldn't get by, then suffered machine problems with a few laps to go which, combined with heavy traffic, allowed Gibbs to pull away. "1 think the silencer came loose and I lost some power," Taylor said. "I got caught up in some lapped traffic and didn't get through them too well. " Fourth place was a three-rider fight for much of the race, David Estok taking it at the line from Chris Heine. Mike Murphy, who was fourth with two laps to go, ended up sixth on the Mid American Roadracing Honda. Harrington's next race would be the Amateur Solo GTO, immediately following the Expert Solo GTU, and he needed the time to race prep his Honda CBR600 Supersport machine. He got something of a break when a red flag halted the Expert race for about 20 minutes, allowing him to bring a fresh, though underpowered, machine to the line. "We put slicks on different wheels for the Supersport bike and they scrubbed in pretty good," Harrington said. But Harrington did admit he was a bit awed by the machine Gibbs brought to the line: "I saw Scott Russell actually polishing the windscreen (of his championship-winning Kawasaki) and push-starting it." But if Harrington was intimidated, he didn't show it, streaking into tum one in second place and taking the point coming out of the International Horseshoe. His . lead was over two seconds at the end of the first of 14 laps, and up to seven a lap later. Again, the race was his and his alone and at the end the margin of victory would be exactly 35 seconds. His average lap time was 2.5 seconds faster than that of the second place rider, Chris Taylor. Taylor put his TZ250 into second on the second lap and pulled away to beat third-placed Suzuki GSXR750 mounted David Estok to the line by about 10 seconds. Estok, in turn, had about eight seconds on Gibbs, with Anthony Fania Jr. fifth on a Kawasaki ZX7R750. "1 was staying as tight to the bike as I could," Harrington said .after setting the record for most wins in a day. "1 was trying to make up whatever time I could to make up for the power disadvantage." His success continued in the Amateur Lightweight Supertwins contest, the first race run on an overcast Saturday afternoon. Starting in the second wave, behind the Expert Lightweight Supertwins, Harrington separated himself from his peers and went after the professionals. He was up to seventh by the end of the first of . seven laps, gaining two spots on the next go-around. By the end of the third lap he was up to third overall behind teammate Dr. Bob Meister and Robert Torset, leaving the amateurs well behind. But a' remote reservoir on his rear shock came . loose, hindering his pursuit of Torset and guarant~ing that third overall was as far as he'd get. Still, he easily won his class, tying Colin Edwards' record of a year ago. "1 wasn't sure whether I should pit or not," he said a~ter realizing his mechanical gremlins. "I've got three more races. I hope I can set a record." He had to wait a little over an hour, but in his very next race, the record was his. "Based on the other races, 1 thought this one might not be that tough," Harrington said after capturing the Floridian Donald Jacks (59) won the Expert Unlimited GP class, topping Christian G~er (hidden) and Robert Meister (1). Amateur Middleweight GP win. "But it was." After getting away third, Harrington crossed the finish line in second place after the first lap, Chris Taylor in the lead aboard his TZ250, Harrington's Honda CBR600 unable to match the two-stroke's top speed on the banking. Harrington took the lead on the second lap, Taylor hanging tough for a few more laps until he was able to lose Taylor in traffic. By the fourth lap he began to increase his advantage, gaining more on the fifth, the edge up to over 4.5 seconds when the white flag waved. At the end, the margin was 8.179 seconds. "Taylor was really strong on his Yamaha," Harrington said after his sixth win. "He caught up to me pretty quick aI\d hung right on. When he was leading and we were on the banking, he had power on me. I could stay in his draft, but I couldn't pass him. 1 guess I got away from him when we got into traffic in the infield. This is the best race - for the first three laps - that I've had all weekend." Taylor would come back later in the day and win the Amateur Lightweight GP, easily besting Mike Glover ahd Charles Satcher. All were Yamaha TZmounted. Gibbs and David Estok hooked up in the Amateur Heavyweight Superbike race, the pair swapping the lead the first two laps before Gibbs used his power advantage to puU away on the banking.. By the third lap he had close to a threesecond edge, which wouldn't increase dramatically, but still ~ave him a 4.816 second cushion at the end of the seven-lap race. Second went to Estok on the Jim Walker Honda-Yamaha-Suzuki GSXR750 with Anthony Fania Jr. third on a Kawasaki ZX7R 'backed by Action Machines & Garden State Eq. Fania Jr; . started the final lap in fifth, but moved up to fourth when Chris Heine crashed. He moved up to third making better use of traffic than Honda CBR600-mounted Mike Murphy, who finished fourth. In the Amateur Heavyweight. Supersport, Gibbs used the displacement advantage of his Kawasaki 750 to take an early lead, a lead which evaporated by the third lap when Todd Harrington closed up on him. Harrington stayed close, never getting by, but never far behind, until the sixth lap when he was fouled by a backmarker on a waving yellow in the International Horseshoe on the final lap. The advantage was enough to let Gi~bs slip away and win his second race by 3.159 seconds. "We finally got the best of Todd," Gibbs said.' "Now he knows how it feels to be out-horsepowered. It's great to win two championships. We've got one more race. It'll be another battle with Todd and David Estok." And that it was. Tripp Nobles (4) won the Unlimited Supersport race when Rick Kirk (21) was disqualified for using an ignition rotor from a Honda CBR600 on his CBR900. . The three riders, Gibbs, Estok, and Harrington, each took turns leading the first lap, a taste of what the race would be. Again on the second lap, the leaders changed with Gibbs leading out of the chicane and Harrington leading into turn one, surviving an attack in the second horseshoe from Estok. "Estok came right in and jammed me in the horseshoe on the second lap. Then he gave me the finger," Harrington said. Harrington held ·the lead a while longer, Gibbs, though, would not be denied, taking the lead on the banking on the fourth lap, Harrington back in front, then Estok moving past Gibbs and .into third. But on the fifth lap, the race was effectively deCided, Harrington losing the front end in the dogleg and tumbling into the infield. "1 got tired and made a mistake. I went into the kink too fast. I would rather have had that race first. It was pretty hairy. We all had advantagesover each other on different parts of the track. Gibbs had a little power, I was better in the infield, and Estok was better on the brakes. " The race was among three riders, Gibbs leading at the end of the fifth and sixth lap, Estok making his way back to the front after going off on the grass to avoid Harrington, Mid American Roadracing's Mike Murphy chasing Gibbs, but getting caught by Estok. Estok took the lead on the final lap, Gibbs taking it back and holding the win to the line, Murphy about a second back in third. "That was the most intense race I've been in since I was racing motocross. There was a lot of banging going on," Gibbs said. "Estok is a very aggressive rider when it comes to braking. I started taking it easy after Estok ran off the track. Then, I looked back and saw a bike catching me and then I saw Estok was back on and rolling, too. I had to wick it back up. Three championships isn't too bad, but it's not what I wanted." Of his two wins, Meister's victory in the Expert Heavyweight Supertwins was the easier once GiaCaMoto's Jimmy Adamo dropped out. Up to that point, Meister was struggling to keep pace, but a few seconds behind with the race half run. "He was hauling, and pushing me right along, as well," Meister said. But an ignition problem sidelined the Ducati 888 rider and the win, by a healthy margin over H-D-mounted Nigel Gale, Was Meister's. Gale got the best of an intense threerider fight with Pete Johnson getting third on a Moto-Guzzi 920 and Kiyo Watanabe fourth on a Honda Hawk 750. Back out on his Honda Hawk 750 for the Expert Lightweight Supertwins race, Meister was untouchable, building up an early lead and winning: from the front. By the second of seven laps he had close to 10 seconds stretching it even more before backing off to win by ov~r 14. Robert Torset was alone in second with James McNulty an unchallenged third. "1 just tried to run a smooth race the whole time," Meister said. Gold Hill Racing's Christian Gardner wanted to get some time on his endurance bike before Sunday's three-hour race, so he entered the Expert Solo GTO, starting from the 10th lap. By the end of the first lap he was in third place behind Jamie Bowman and Dr. Bob Meister, Meister also gaining practice time on his endl.lrance bike. Gardner took the lead on the second lap on the banl

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