Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~. ROAD RACE WERAMetzelerGrandNationalFinaIs ~ "- 00 r-1 ~ Q.) ..0 S Q.) ;> o Z Kurt Hall (60) had the best day of any rider in Suzuki Cup history as he won all three of the contingency paying races. Kurt Hall is interviewed by Richard Chambers during a break between his wins; Hall used daring passes in the final corners to win two of the three races. Hall, Gibbs star at Roa Atlanta By Brent Plummer Photos by George Roberts and Plummer 8 BRASELTON, GA, OCT. 29-NOV. 1 Wo racers emerged clearly superior from the 1992 invitation-only WERA Metzeler Grand National Finals - Expert class'racer Kurt Hall and Novice Brian Gibbs - and both T can now claim to be the best. of the best in WERA sprint racing. Veteran Hall made his mark in the hotly contest Suzuki Cup Finals, winning all three of the races (600cc, 750cc, and llOOcc). In doing so, Hall topped such notable riders' as Britt . Turkington, Donald Jacks, Michael Martin, David Sadowski, Chuck Graves, 1992 llOOcc and 750cc Superstock Champion Tom Wilson, Bruce Baldus and Don Canet, among many others. There is little wonder that such stiff competition comes out for the Suzuki Cup Finals - each race pays $5000 to the winnner. For his threerace effort, Hall pocketed $15,000 in Suzuki contingency money. While Hall was dominating the Expert ranks, Gibbs was doing the same in the Novice categories. Gibbs was unstoppable, taking home three National titles in B Production, B Superbike and C Superbike. In fact, it seemed that the only thing that could stop Gibbs was first gear in his exScott Russell Kawasaki ZX7R supersport bike. The extra-tall initial gear caused Gibbs to stall the bike at the start of A Production Novice; he entered the race dead last, yet still finished third. The tall first gear also contributed to Gibbs frying a new clutch at the start of the Formula 1 Novice race. Kevin Rentzell, healing well from a 1991 accident that put him out of action with a severely broken leg, returned to WERA racing with a vengeance. With his trademark aggressive style in full swing, Rentzell won two GNF titles with victories in C Superbike Expert and C Superstock Expert. Tom Wilson, the 1992 WERA Pro Series llOOcc and 750cc Superstock Champion, was also a multi-time winner, claiming victories in B Superbike Expert and the non-Pro Series A Superstock Expert. Chris Taylor piloted a Yamaha TZ250 to victory in both Formula One and Formula Two Novice, beating out Metzeler Future Stars and A Production Champion Barry Rompella in the former, and Aaron Yates in the latter. Taylor performed so well that WERA officials promoted him to the Expert class on Sunday. In the Novice ranks, Yates was the most formidable challenger to Gibbs; he pressur~d, yet never bested Gibbs in numerous races. Yates, though, did end up with the D Superbike Novice National title, and he also won Sunday's Metzeler Future Stars event" topping Gibbs, C Production Novice National champion Patrick Ludwig, and Taylor, among others. WERA Grand National racing began on Thursday with the combined Vintage Two and Four race. Piloting a Suzuki T-500 two-stroke to victory was Brad Morrison, who also rode a liquid-cooled three-cylinder Suzuki two-stroke to victory in Vintage Five, making Morrison the last in the elite club of multi-title winners at this year's GNF. ( Gibbs' first race of the weekend was next, the Metzeler C Production Novice race. Gibbs, who was lacking many points in the class, had to start from the second wave, 15 seconds after the first wave was released. "I had my sights on the leaders," said a· disappointed Gibbs after the race. "When I felt someone crawling on my rear. Then (the trailing rider) hit my exhaust pipe, and sent me off into the gravel." . Cibbs kept the bike upright, reentered the race, and finished ninth. It would not be until the fifth race of the day, Metzeler B Production Novice, that Gibbs earned his first victory. For that race, Gibbs bolted a stock pipe onto his Kawasaki ZX-7R racer, and started on the third row of the second wave. By the third lap, Gibbs had leaders Barry Rompella ami Patrick Ludwig in sight, and he passed them both by the halfway point. Lanny Allen was fourth with Darryl Wills fifth. . Rompella got his revenge in A Production Novice as he bested Ludwig and Gibbs, who had stalled on the starting line. They finished in that order, respectively. Wills and Allen rounded out the top five. Between those Novice Production races, Eric Falt used his Rotax 600cc single to hold off the charging Hayden brothers, Tommy and Nicky, for victory in Clubman Expert. Winfred Hopp and Jason Sanders rounded out the top five. Robert Brown, meanwhile, beat J.3.aymond Carter and Donald Fine for victory in Clubman Novice. Mark Sweeney won the final Metzeler-sponsored race, D Production, over Paul Palombo and Patrick Mullen; and Wilson took his first victory in a shocking final race of the day, B Superbike Expert, topping Greg Abbott and Dean Hayes. Wilson had been dicing with Rentzell for the entire race, but when the two rounded the final turn for the last time, Rentzell pitched his Honda CBR600 away, got up, and ran across the finish line in time to' take third overall. Unfortunately for Rentzell, WERA rules mandate that both the bike and rider must cross the finish line to be counted, and Rentzell had to settle for last place. Most of the racing time on Friday was eaten up by the four-hour EBC Endurance race, but there was time enough for a few National Championship races. First up was the non-Pro Series C Superstock Expert, won by Rentzell over Mike Himmelsbach and Tray Batey. Yamaha FZR1000-mounted Craig Gaver won the red-flag haIted Formula One Expert race over Greg Abbott, Wilson, David McGrath, and Larry Locklear. Then Chris Taylor

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