Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1479419
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 P111 was how to coax extra ponies from an inline four motorcycle engine. And Russell's mechanic Merlyn Plumlee finely tuned the Muzzy Kawasaki to perfection. Russell's Kawasaki was quite a bit faster than the other bikes on the track that weekend, so much so that he smashed the motorcycle lap record that weekend by almost two sec- onds en route to winning the pole. After Russell's qualifying perfor- mance, every other team began chasing a better setup. Freddie Spencer's Mike Velasco- tuned Two Brothers Honda RC30 handled superbly. The team nailed the suspension setup perfectly. Spencer's mid-corner speed was easily the best of the Superbikes that weekend, and he could string together Road America's sweeping turns with flawless ease. He was helped in that department by being the only rider among the leaders to run Michelin tires. While less forgiv- ing than the Dunlops, the others ran Michelins which were just a tad stickier, allowing Spencer to have a slight advantage mid-corner and accelerating out. While Russell's Kawasaki had the power advantage, it proved to be too much at times. "When I'd throttle up, especially in The Carousel, the bike would push the front end," Russell ex- plained. "I just couldn't get the bike to plant, and the lap I set the track record, I just let it all hang out. If we could have kept the front end from pushing, I probably could have gone a half-a-second or maybe even a second a lap faster." While Russell dominated quali- fying, he couldn't get away during the race, thanks to James and Spencer working together. "We knew if Scott put his head down and got a clean racetrack, he'd be gone," James recalls. "He was tough to beat. You weren't go- ing to outride him, and he had good equipment. In those days, it was pretty cutthroat with guys chopping off your line, brake checking you, whatever it took to win. But Freddie and I knew we had to work together if we were going to stay with Scott. So, we did. I pulled him along for a while, and at times he pulled me along. And Thomas came up and was right there, and he was riding smart, too. That's what it took that day to run with Scott." The braking power of his car- bon fiber units also gave James something that perhaps rattled Russell a bit. "I liked those carbon fiber brakes because they never faded; the harder you rode them, the bet- ter they got, and that was espe- cially important at Road America," James remembers. "Plus, they were good because you could pull in the [brake] lever to one spot, and as they heated up, the braking just got stronger. So, I tried to ban- zai Scott a few times on the brakes to hopefully get him off his pace." So, the race went, with the lead- ing four running together lap after lap, Russell and James spending the most time at the point. There was some added his- tory at this track for Russell and James. Three years earlier, James got into the back of Russell going into turn five as they battled for the lead in the Superbike race, and the two went down in a spectacu- lar jumble of dust and flying motor- cycle parts. When asked if James had flashbacks to the '89 race every time he and Scott went into turn five. "Not really," he laughed. Rivals on the track but friends off, Scott Russell (left), James (center), and Freddie Spencer (right) talk about what was one of the best AMA Superbike races of all time. PHOTO: HENNY RAY ABRAMS