Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ R RACE WERA Pro Series: Final round DAD speed until the actual race, qualified sixth, and was on the inside of the third row. Lee Shierts qualified seventh, Stephen Mathews cautiously rode into eighth on the grid (his Ducati 888 had already been sold to an enthusiastic collector, on the condition that the bike be delivered in flawless condition or the deal would be void). "I didn't have much time on the Formula USA bike," said Jacks. "I was concentrating more on the (Suzuki <;:up) bikes." The lack of time showed, as Jacks qualified ninth. "1 was going for a win in the (qualifying heat race) when the crankshaft broke with two laps remaining - but I still finished," said Yoshimura's Sadowski, who was soon pulling his 883cc Cosworth-kitted Su'zuki GSXR750 motor out of the chassis and preparing for a total rebuild, happy that he had hung on to 10th on the grid to share the fourth row with Jacks. John Ashmead, Gardner, and Titian Bue rounded out the fifth row. m Michigan's Fritz Kling (31) beat Dave Sadowski (25) in a thrilling finish to the WERA Pro Series at Road Atlanta. Donald Jacks (59) wrapped up the F-USA Championship with his third place finish. Kling, Oliver win at Road Atlanta, Jacks takes title By Brent Plummer Photos by George Roberts and Plummer BRASELTON, GA, NOV. 1 , old Hill Racing gave Fritz Kling their outrageously fast Yamaha FZRI000-powered, aWOl-framed hybrid .to compete in the final round of WERA Formula USA competition at Road Atlanta, and for the second time this year Kling was again the spoiler thro~n into the series. Kling took the overall win out of the hands of Yoshimura Suzuki's Dave Sadowski, who had won the first of the two-leg event, with a deft last-lap pass for victory and the $5000 winner's share of the $17,650 F-USA purse. Since Kling had taken second behind Sadowsk~ in the first leg, and won the tiebreaking second, he was awarded the overall win. Thus, Kling's record on the Gold Hill machine remains flawless - two victories in two attempts, with the first G 6 win occurring at the fifth round of the series at Indianapolis Raceway Park. "In the first leg I just wanted to go out and finish," said ~onald Jacks, who ended up a conservative sixth in that race. "But in the second I figured I'd go for the cash and try and finish on the podium to prove that I didn't get the title by finishing mid-pack." Jacks did indeed turn up the wick in the second leg, finishing third and taking third overall. More importantly, Jacks earned the 1992 Formula USA title by virtue of his 122 accumulated points, 22 points clear of his Valvoline Suzuki teammate Michael Martin, who ended the year with 100 points. Entering this final Found, Martin was the only person mathematically able to catch Jacks. Martin, trailing by 18 points entering the final round, would have to win the overall to get the title - and only if Jacks didn't score a single championship point in this final round. This was not to be. Martin's Keith Perry-tuned methanol burning "Monster" had blown its motor in a practice session immediately before the first F-USA leg, leaving him to compete on one of the team's bulletproof, yet relatively slow, endurancespec bikes. Martin rode the wheels off the machine, and captured fifth overall. Christian Gardner was fourth on the weekend on a Gold Hill Yamaha OW01and was the highest placing 750cc superbike rider present. WERA decided to do away with timed qualifying for F-USA in favor of a qualifying heat race. And the surprise of the weekend was the person who earned pole position'by winning Friday's six-lap qualifier - Kawasaki Canada's Steve Crevier. After Crevier's controversial disqualification at the sixth round of the series at the Pocono Cycle Jam (Crevier won the first leg there, but was stripped of the victory when he broke WERA rules and overshot turn one on the cooldown lap), many had thought he would never return. But return he did, and after beating Kling to the line in the qualifier, he became a heavy favorite to win the main event. However, fate would again stop the Canadian Superbike champion as Crevier was forced to retire early in the second leg when one of his handlebars broke off. After finishing a close third in the first leg, and 26th in the second, Crevier ended up 13th overall. The last position on the front row next to Crevier and Kling went to Chuck Graves. The race would not go so well for Graves. "I don't know what happened," said Graves after he coasted to a halt in turn one with barely two laps of the first leg completed. "The bike just broke." Graves finished last in that leg, took eighth in the next, and ended up 21st overall. Qualifying fourth overall and heading up the second row in WERA's three-two grid formation was defending F-USA champion Rich Oliver and his self-tuned Yamaha TZ250. On the outside of row two was another Yamaha mounted rider, this one the FZR1000 of Miami, Florida's Mark Chin. Martin, who usually doesn't get up to Formula USA At the start of the first leg, Graves shot from the outside of row one straigfit into the lead, with a determined Martin following. Kling was third, anxious to get into the lend, and quickly took second from Martin. Behind them, a jumbled group of riders came charging through the confusion of the first turn - Mathews, Gardner, and Crevier among them. With the aid of Mike Fargnoli and Kevin Hine, Sadowski's Suzuki GSXR was fully prepared F-USA, but he remembered well the last round where he fried a clutch off the starting line. He slowly eased off grid, ending up in the fray for fourth.. As the riders entered the first tum to begin the second lap, Graves rolled to a halt, dismounted, and began fidgeting with the bike; he soon started his walk back to the pits. Kling took over the lead, with Sadowski and Crevier trailing. Martin was a lonely fourth, a position he would hold to the finish. Sadowski wasted little time getting into the lead, and Kling and Crevier were the only ones who could match'his pace. The order of those front three shifted little until the last lap. Sadowski was leading with Kling preparing to make his move - ditto for Crevier.. "1 messed up tum seven on the last lap," said Kling, "Sadowski was in front of me, and Crevier passed me too (in turn seven). 1 regrouped and outbroke Crevier under the Nissan bridge, but couldn't catch Sadowski - he was too far gone." And so the first leg ended, Sadowski victorious, Kling and Crevier second and third, respectively. Martin had hung on to fourth with Gardner fifth. Jacks had started slowly - somewhere around the bottom of the top 10 - but ended up sixth, followed by Oliver and his little Yamaha TZ250. Shierts, Dutchman's Scott Zampach, who was fighting handling difficulties all weekend, and Mathews rounded out the top 10. Inherently weak dry clutch and all, Sadowski jumped out of the pole position (the grid for the second :leg is determined by the finishing order of the first) to lead the first lap with Kling and Crevier following. Martin again had a good start, putting himself in fourth with Jacks and Gardner in tow. Zainpach's race ended after only a lap with mechanical difficulties, and Sadowski also started to slow. On the second lap he dropped to third, and on the next go-around, he was back to fourth behind Crevier, Kling and Jacks. On the fourth lap, it was Crevier's turn to slow; his right handlebar had cracked, forcing him to retire. Jacks inherited second, but soon let it go to

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