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/452615
VOL. 52 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 27, 2015 P113 the moment I let off the brakes. It increases corning speed and helps reduce tire wear." AMA Pro Racing had discontinued the weight- limit advantage Twins enjoyed over multi-cylinder Superbikes shortly before Loudon. The Ferracci team flew a t-shirt like a flag over its pit area. The t-shirt featured a photo of Corser on the bike and read, "Weight Limit? We don't Need No Steenkin' Weight Limit!" Corser shrugged off the effects of the addi- tional weight of the Ducati 955 and started the weekend by breaking the old track record held by James en route to winning the pole. Corser's time of 1:14.109 (77.723 mph) was over a half a second faster than second-place qualifier Fred Merkel on the Muzzy Kawasaki. The qualifying sessions were held in record temperatures for the area. The near 100-degree heat caused many riders to fatigue. On Sunday oppressive heat gave way to ideal rac- ing conditions, with temperatures in the mid-80s and a crystal clear day. An estimated crowd of 35,000 partially filled the grandstands and infield. The fast starting factory Yamahas of James and Colin Edwards led the 39 machines off the line. Corser struggled with a slow start and ran fifth in the early going. On lap 11 of the 40-lap race Cors- er put his head down, dipped into the high 1:14s, took over the lead and predictably pulled away. Merkel, who was hampered by the stomach flu all weekend, decided to give chase. By lap 17 Merkel got by James and started whittling away at Corser's four-second lead. Tiger Sohwa and Thomas Stevens ran fourth and fifth right behind James and Merkel. Edwards was fading with brake problems. Up front Corser was beginning to hit heavy lapped traffic. Merkel took full advantage and pulled his Kawasaki into the draft of the lead Ducati. The two riders ran nose to tail for most of the middle of the race. With seven laps to go the two leaders again got into a group of back markers. Merkel saw his chance and took over the lead much to the delight of the crowd. Merkel, who was once a villain here as arch-rival of Dale Quarterley, now seemed to be the crowd favorite. Merkel's lead was short- lived. Corser took it back on the very next lap and proceeded to pull away to a four-second victory. He devised a strategy that worked. "I decided to conserve my tires during mid- race," Corser said. "At the end, my tires still had plenty left. It looked like Fred's had gone away at the very end." His unexpected Loudon win, put Corser firmly in control of the '94 championship. At that point he led the series over James by 43 points. As it turned out Corser's Loudon win would prove pivotal. He hit a spate of bad luck in the second half of the year and needed to finish ahead of James in the season finale at Road Atlanta in order to win the title. Corser found Road Atlanta a difficult track to learn, while it was almost a home race for James, who'd cut his teeth racing on the technical circuit. James had the title in his grasp, running as high as second to a returning from WSBK Scott Russell, but Corser caught the break he needed when a broken EXUP valve on James' Yamaha slowed him. Corser made a hard push to get by David Sadowski on the final lap to put a rider between him and James. That pass did the trick—Corser scored fourth, earning the champi- onship by a single point over James in one of the closest battles in series history. Corser of course went on to become one of the most decorated riders in the history of World Superbike, winning three world titles and just retired at the end of 2011. His one season foray into AMA Superbike was a small, but important step that gave the likeable Australian the confi- dence he needed to win at the next level. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives