Gateway AMA Superbike 1995. The Yvon/Miguel Cheating Story at No Additional Charge
by Dean Adams
Saturday, July 27, 2024
When Miguel DuHamel was a little shaver, racing motocross in Canada, he was regarded by fellow competitors as a blatant cheater of the worst kind.
Miguel's father, Yvon, had a glorious racing career and close relationship with Kawasaki and since Miguel rode KX machinery, most of his competition thought that he had factory special machinery or perhaps equipment from the racing team, bits that would give the edge to win as much as he did. And little Miguel won all the time.
One evening, after a particularly painful (for his competitors) display of DuHamel prowess, an assortment of motocrossers walked through the pits with a hat, collecting a dollar here and fifty cents there. When finished they'd collected enough money for the tear-down fee on DuHamel's Kawasaki.
As Yvon was loading the bikes onto their small two wheel trailer and preparing to drive home, he was told to unload Miguel's bike as representatives from the racing club were going to have a look inside the Kawasaki's engine cases. Yvon smiled and said, "Okay, but you guys are paying for the gaskets to put it back together again." Agreed.
The case studs came out easily but the two engine halves refused to split apart. Probably a special racing substance to prevent leaks held the engine together internally, one participant voiced. After repeated tries the cases would not come apart. Someone went to tool box, opened the bottom drawer and returned with a heavy rubber mallet. Now we'll see what's in old man DuHamel's engine. With several hard whacks, large clumps of dirt—old dirt, dirt baked into clay from engine heat—began to fall from the bottom of the cases and underneath the cylinder, shattering like century-old pottery as it hit the cement below.
"Is this how the cases come apart," someone finally asked Yvon. "How the hell should I know" he answered back, "I've never had the cylinder off or the cases apart." Uh-oh.
Constant and near violent beating finally split the cases and the cylinder free. More bad news followed as the engine internals were obviously worn and the cylinder in need of a not a hone but a boring bar. In short, there were no performance mods to the tiny Kawasaki and most riders would require a rebuilt engine before riding the machine. Miguel had been winning on it.
Once the teardown money had been given to Yvon he said quietly and without the DuHamel smile, to the party responsible, "The next time you accuse my boy of cheating it'll be you and I in the street."
The above is racing lore, therefore whether or not it is historically correct is difficult to discern. But, according to DuHamel, the stock engine rule was a DuHamel trait for a long time. "My brother and I were always told to ride the machine to the limit."
DuHamel explains, "Our father told us that if the machine was close to the competition in performance it was up to the rider to make the difference. We would come back and say, 'hey, look how slow my bike is.' He would tell us 'if the bike is so slow, why are you braking so early in the corners?' We were taught that the rider is the most important part on the motorcycle and a good rider was worth ten horsepower."
The boys, Mario and Miguel, were motivated to win from the beginning, "He knew that we had the potential and ... results were expected very early on."
This time capsule perhaps gives a bit of insight into Miguel DuHamel and his racing background. It also gives further understanding of the results of the St. Louis AMA Superbike race on August fourteenth and the Sears Point round on the twenty-fifth. DuHamel won his fifth and sixth AMA nationals in a row, leaving the other participants scratching their heads in near disbelief at his accomplishments this season: winning so decisively on such drastically different racetracks and in such varied conditions. If a hat were passed in the AMA Superbike paddock today, the participants would not be paying for a peek in DuHamel's Honda. No, they'd like a look at what's inside the man. Miguel DuHamel is The Man of AMA Superbike racing in 1995, a savvy, diligent rider with a fire to win inside of him like no other rider in the series. St. Louis was proof enough of that.
Of the many things that St. Louis will be remembered for in the future, the triple digit heat and horrendous track surface will probably be foremost in most Superbike competitors memories. The heat made the recently sweaty Loudon seem like a paradise. On both Friday and Saturday under any awning in the St. Louis paddock the thermometer read over a hundred and five degrees, with humidity so thick it might choke someone exiting an air-conditioned vehicle. Old people moved slowly and all humans wore the least amount of clothing possible while remaining socially acceptable. Keeping cool and hydrated became every Superbike riders objective, hence bottled water flew out off the shelves at the local convenience store so fast the stockboys could hardly keep pace. Practice and qualifying were pure torture with every rider swimming in his leathers by two laps, nearly fricasseing in ten. All normal precautions and modifications were made to the bikes: holes drilled through the windscreens and the tail end of the bike was opened up to allow the heat to vent backwards instead of upward. On at least one occasion gasoline began to boil lightly with just the bike sitting in the sun waiting for tech.
The track, obviously new to the schedule and the first race AMA/Paradama would promote on their own as the new directive became veritable, was not what many would consider an AMA spec track -- on many levels. Gateway International Raceway, obviously an amateur caliber racetrack, has been used for years by WERA and was stretching its facilities at that level. The course itself is a twelve turn, 2.2 mile venue used week in and week out by the Skip Barber driving school, the Corvette and BMW clubs and SCCA when WERA and others are not using it. Situated perhaps twelve minutes from the St. Louis arch, the track has a long list of clients who keep the track in use nearly every day.
But just because it's popular doesn't make it safe or suitable to AMA Superbike racing, and it wasn't. The surface looked so sun-bleached and damaged in places that it may have been twenty years old. Newer sections and the hundreds of patches were rough and thoroughly bumpy, with Chicago street spec potholes menacing the racers. The pavement transitions were so abrupt that practice and qualifying became, not the normal process of searching for a set up and then the fast line, but rather of softening the entire bike up until nothing dragged and then hunting for traction. Jamie James found the track so raw that he wore a kidney belt under his leathers. Steve Crevier nearly didn't make his pole position run because the entire instrument pod in his Kawasaki was shaken loose from the constant jarring. Doug Chandler lost his VR's battery when it was thrown topsy-turvy from the bumps. Mike Hale lost the tail half of his Yoshimura/HRC exhaust twice when it either shook loose or slammed against the pavement in the whoops.
And there was haybale laden Armco nearly everywhere.
The AMA learned a very important lesson at Pomona a season back. Namely, not to underestimate the power of a collection of pissed-off racers. Thus, Ron Barrick, Tom Mueller, Bobby Lemming and others were in St. Louis at least a week early and hard at work. Carl Reynolds, (Paradama board member) had been in St. Louis as a liaison between the track and the board for two months. Thirty-five hundred haybales were brought in and contractors were contacted to rip the Armco wall out in the more dangerous sections in turns four and five, but Barrick and company soon learned that hiring out was too expensive, so they pulled their own shirts off and grabbed some tools. In three days they had torn down the Armco from the more dangerous sections, stacked over three thousand bales and went so far as to rip out the posts that had held the Armco and re-filled the holes. Commendable really, especially in light of the hundred degree heat. Chris Pook, who promotes the Long Beach Grand Prix IndyCar race, owns Gateway and is said to be bulldozing the track in a few months and building a new venue. Yes, please.
Yet, even the divine AMA cannot produce a silk purse when handed a sow's ear. The track was presumably race-able with the AMA modifications but the grounds were unkempt, garbage blowing in from the two story tall garbage mound (imagine a slick radio pitchman's voice "and while at Gateway International Raceway, don't forget to visit MOUNT GARBAGE! ") situated in picturesque fashion just across the hi-way from the track was an added bonus. Just entering the track meant crossing the racing surface, consequently the flaggers had plenty of red flags prepared.
Most riders found the track acceptable in different degrees, Jimmy Filice liked the layout but didn't care for the bales or the Armco, finding it "scary." Doug Chandler compared the track to a cesspool, (which, according to scuttlebutt, it is built upon) and agreed with one writer's perspective that having he and Freddie Spencer ride at Gateway after riding the glorious tracks of Europe was blasphemous. Superbike pilot Tom Kipp made a special request to God during the Sunday noon church service to "... watch out for us as this is not a trustworthy racetrack."
In time, the riders put their helmets on and got down to the business of qualifying and racing. There were plenty of disgruntled participants but none so upset they wouldn't ride; besides the AMA had done more in preparation for this event than any before and without major revisions there wasn't much more they could do.
Suzuki rider, television personality and riding instructor Tray Batey held the standing track record at 1:35.75 but DuHamel broke that (by five seconds) in the first laps of practice. Just as he has been all season long DuHamel was immediately fast out of the the trailer. Behind him there were some surprises, Pascal Picotte on the newly returned-to-form Muzzy Kawasaki and Jamie James, fresh from the injured list from his Elkhart Lake crash, were also fast in the first practice. The Kawasaki, and more so Pascal, are fond of gnarly racetracks where Armco stares you right in the eye and the pavement is never smooth. Pascal qualified on the pole at Pomona, a race track somewhat similar to Gateway. James had sat out two Superbike races (and the WSC round) while his injured wrist healed, not his favorite pastime. He came to Gateway primed to run fast. And did so right up until he lost the front in turn six and hit the pavement hard, damaging his hip and knee. Although he was in good cheer and laughing in the VHR team room an hour after the crash, he would be out for two more rounds.
In other first session news, Freddie Spencer drilled a curb with his knee and limped around for all it was worth the remainder of the weekend. Also, it was clear that several of the factory machines were not working in the bump infested environment. The Yoshimura Suzukis, even with the suspension set on full soft, bounced and po-go-ed around the course with Merkel and company trying their best to get some of the big Yosh power to the ground. With both wheels alternately off the ground, that was not possible.
The expected scenario for the second and final qualifying session, that DuHamel would blitz the field in the middle of the session and retire to the air conditioned transporter, never materialized. Miguel was heroic and in take no prisoners mode, once smashing past a slower rider into turn one with the rear wheel of the RC45 three feet in the air. When the tire touched ground, Miguel was on the gas and the back slid out five feet, speedway style. Close to a Nascar-style spin, DuHamel gathered it back up in a moment and he was gone.
The heat grew stronger and the humidity hung in the air like a sheet from a clothesline. DuHamel was very fast and threatening but he was not riding smoothly (or perhaps not looking as comfortable on the edge as he does normally) by his own admission. As the clock ticked down in the final session he lightly crashed when the big Honda found a false neutral entering turn six. He picked the bike up and made a hasty run to the pits where Ludington and company pounded the clutch perch straight and sent him out. Flustered and now deep in traffic, DuHamel would end up third fastest when the checkered flag came out.
In the final few minuets Pascal Picotte made a run at the pole but in the end it was his diminutive teammate Steve Crevier who sat fastest, with the biggest Cheshire grin in the paddock. Crevier and DuHamel have a long standing and distant rivalry and the 1995 season has been one long session of eating crushed glass for Crevier, watching Miguel mop up. Now it was DuHamel's turn for a gut-full of shards.
He was obviously upset at losing pole to anyone, but especially to Crevier ... "I'm very upset, very frustrated" said DuHamel. "We needed the one point for the championship - we need every point we can get. But, it's more than that. I just want to go into the trailer and pound my helmet into dust." DuHamel's Honda set a new free-rev record for the series as the bike shrieked to a brief but solid fifteen thousand when he crashed.
Tom Kipp on the lone Vance and Hines Yamaha hustled around for most of the session in the top three. With twenty minutes left in the session, Kipp bailed out of Superbike qualifying to sit in a tub of ice in preparation for the Supersport race. "The front row is all we're worried about," said Tom Halverson. Neither Mike Hale nor Ducati rider Mike Smith threatened for the top spot. Hale never looked comfortable with the track until the middle of the Superbike race itself and Smith busied himself with chasing a set up. And wondering just what was inside Freddie Spencer's Ducati to give it at least three more mph than Smith's bike.
Doug Chandler looked impressive in the medium speed infield, leaning the VR1000 Harley-Davidson over further than anyone else and carrying big momentum onto the straight. Where the Suzuki was a real handful, bouncing and shaking it's head everywhere and in sections where others rode various lines trying to miss the bumps, Chandler appeared as if he could take any line he wanted and the VR would not lose its head. Radar guns caught Chandler at 140 mph even (and Freddie Spencer fastest at 144) and he qualified a respectable twelfth, with the factory Suzuki of Thomas Stevens behind him. Harley-Davidson procured a Pi data acquisition system for the VR and had Chandler's A bike outfitted at Gateway. Crewchief and racing team manager Steve Scheibe commented, "We've had a data system on the bikes since the beginning but the Pi system is a little different and we like it. It gives us a little more information."
"The bike is very hard to hang onto," said Fred Merkel as he cooled off in the Suzuki trailer after qualifying tenth. Wearing only a pair of briefs and sweating profusely he continued, "If we soften the suspension up, we lose grip. If we go the other way the bike won't track 'cause the wheels are all over the place. It's affecting our straight-line speed because I have to let off the gas before I hit the big bumps." With the bike on full soft the Suzuki was manageable, but traction was nowhere to be found. Technical manager Don Sakakura commented, "We need to go to a motocross school before we come back here again." Quasi-factory supported rider Tray Batey was the unrivaled ace of qualifying, taking the ex-Chuck Graves Valvoline Suzuki to ninth position, in front of five factory bikes.
Crevier had the starring role in the hours after qualifying, reveling in the way he had went from seventh in the first session to the top of the board in the second on the Larry Kano tuned ZXR. He teased everyone who came within earshot and for the first time in months, smiled at his mechanics. "It's created a lot of dissension in the team," the almost likable Canadian kidded. "Old Pascal is pretty upset with me for stealing pole away from him. I hope he doesn't hold a grudge." Fellow Canadian Picotte would have none of it, "I'm very happy for Steve, he has worked many years to get this first pole. I have had poles and race wins in the past so it is good to see Steve do so well for a change." Crevier almost didn't make his fast lap as the mechanic forgot to replace the gas cap after refueling the machine. Crevier rode around for the last five minutes of the session with his underwear soaked with racing fuel. No wonder he went so fast.
In the interest of the winner of the race being able to thank his sponsor without selling Buicks on the rostrum, the AMA shortened the race, knocking five laps from the running of the Superbike event due to the intense heat. The heat and its effects were a frequent topic of conversation the night before the race. "It's like you're not even racing after ten laps," said Tom Kipp after his second place in Saturday's 750 Supersport race. "You're just holding on to the bars and the laps seem to take forever." One Superbike pilot confessed that he had taken his helmet off and rinsed it out with a hose after the hottest session, as he had vomited from heat sickness in it several laps prior.
"It's a good day," said Miguel DuHamel from the parking lot of the Fairview Motel where he had slept Saturday night before the Superbike race at Gateway. Looking up at the already bright sun, he continued, "It's a good day for revenge."
Heat was the real story of the Superbike race with ambient temps in the 105 degree range and track temps above that, perhaps as high as one hundred and thirty degrees.
With the heat attacking everyone and everything like a blast torch, some thought tires might be a problem even in a shortened race. Dunlop kept a small cache of World Superbike spec race tires in the warehouse and Jim Allen gave both Kawasaki riders (and fast qualifiers) Crevier and Picotte a WSC rear for the race. Undaunted by the hundred degree heat, Mike Hale's crew fitted his RC45 with tire warmers before the start, the only Superbike to do so. Every Dunlop rider in the field went with both front and rear tires in the hardest compound avalble.
At Gateway with such an irregular racing line in sections it was understood by each of the participants in the first two rows that the start would be critical, getting entangled in a fight for fifth in the first few laps might end any hope for a rostrum as the leaders strolled away. Pascal Picotte blatantly jumped the start when the flag dropped. He was away with a bike length lead after the first corner but with DuHamel and never-say-die Mike Smith in pursuit. Pole-sitter Crevier bungled the start and found himself right in that battle for fifth through seventh and he was soon cemented right there with an eventual finish in ninth. Dale Quarterley ran hard and at the front before his Mirage Ducati slowed to one cylinder and he was out of the race for the top five.
Picotte's Kawasaki was running so hot that when DuHamel and later Kipp were behind him even they could feel the heat from his engine and radiator. In fact, all the front- runners saw their engine temerature gauges run hotter than ever before. DuHamel's Honda ran right at one hundred degrees for the entire race.
The heat was unbearable for the riders and DuHamel almost followed Picotte to the rostrum like a dutiful pup. But with six laps to go he saw his technician Al Ludington signal L6 and he put on another charge. DuHamel never let off as he rounded the kink into turn four. The bike wiggled slightly and DuHamel knew crashing there would not be good. But he kept the power on and passed Picotte for the lead. Picotte would pass him back and the two would remain close for several laps but DuHamel looked very strong in the final third of the race and Picotte would not have an answer for him. He drifted back and Kipp nipped him as well, pushing the Muzzy Kawasaki rider to third place at the finish.
Mike Hale charged to third position in the middle part of the race but would fall back to fourth after being passed by Tom Kipp on the VHR Yamaha.
DuHamel would break concentration several times during the race when the heat became too much. "You just gotta stay so mentally focused and on top of it. It's extra hard (here) because the heat in unbearable and the track is so rough that if you got off the racing line, your day could be over in a split second."
Kipp made what looked to be some serious hero moves diving inside of Hale and then Picotte in the later stages of the race. Just where the pavement looked to be its shiniest running into turn one, Kipp would venture seven feet inside the racing line and run the Yamaha right up the inside, passing Mike Hale and Picotte there. Hale had an answer for him once, Kipp would drift very wide on the exit but had some late corner momentum to carry him through. After that Kipp was gone. "That was pretty hairball," said Kipp at the finish, describing his turn one advantures. "With all the pavement changes and the bumps in there it hairy. I found that little piece of track almost by accident in qualifying when I ran around a backmarker. The pavement going in there was very abrasive and had a lot of traction, it was probably only seven or eight inches wide. The problem was the track was slick on each side of the tacky stuff and if I got off line there was very slippery." Kipp's Teknic leathers bore testement to his run, the right kneepad was gone and the leathers were ventilated to his skin in two spots.
DuHamel won the race and five grand in prize money although some thought he would have had his hands full with the Kipper if the race had gone on two more laps. "It would have taken a twenty-nine lap race to catch Miguel. He was on the gas," said Kipp in response.
DuHamel's margin of victory was 1.3 seconds. From the podium he said, "If you ain't Smokin, you ain't got a prayer!" An obvious reference to his sponsor Smokin' Joe's Camel Honda. In the press briefing room all three finishers looked completely drained from racing in such intense heat with Kipp drinking an entire liter of Evian in under ten minutes. "That was agony," said one.
Mike Hale, probably a bit befuddled by traveling to Suzuka and back, being pounded at Loudon and again in Suzuka crashing, never looked comfortable on the track and finished fourth. Hailstorm had little consolation in that he ripped off the fastest lap of the race. Hale now leads DuHamel by one meager point in the AMA Superbike championship points standings, thus the finishes of the final two rounds of the series at Sears Point and Firebird became all the more crucial.
Doug Chandler finished a fine seventh on the VR1000 Harley-Davidson, biting Tray Batey on the last lap. Chandler could take consolation that he finished with three factory machines behind him. "That's the first time it didn't drop off," said Chandler. "Not that anything fell off of it," he laughed "just that the performance used to fall away, lose its edge, after a third of the race. We've solved that now." Team Harley discovered something at Brainerd, just what that something is unknown but both Chandler and Carr's machines stormed off the corners until the checkered flag.
Both Merkel and Stevens had forgettable Superbike races at Gateway with Merkel dicing with Batey for much of the race and Stevens never threatening for anything more than thirteenth.
In the weekend's oddest spectacle, Freddie Spencer (former world champion and all that) muffed the start from the second row and had to be pushed off once the pack had cleared turn one. This is the stuff legends are made of: Spencer ripping through the pack from a dead last start to finish perhaps a hard fought eighth (drenched in sweat and rear Michelin baked to perfection). Therefore all watched with anticipation for the magnificent performance to come.
Ah, no. Actually the press room instantly became an impromptu betting parlor with anyone and everyone wagering on how many laps Spencer would go before pulling in with an untraceable problem. One editor said three laps, one former world champion said ten and another said eight. Eight won. Spencer was out of the race and Nankais and into a rental car before lap ten, telling one reporter that "the rear tire just wasn't going to handle that abuse". In other words Spencer stopped racing because the tire was in danger of being abused. Yes, by all means save the tire, poor thing.
Doug Polen couldn't believe it when Freddie pulled in and asked with a grimace, "Why does he do that? Why doesn't he be a man and stay out and finish?" ENDS
RESULTS: Ps.Ql.No. Rider , Machine Laps Notes
1 3 17 Miguel Duhamel, Repentigny PQ, CAN, HON 750 22
2 4 16 Tom Kipp, Mentor, OH, YAM 750 22
3 2 21 Pascal Picotte, Ste Cecile, PQ, CAN, KAW 750 22
4 6 23 Mike Hale, Carrollton, TX, HON 750 22
5 7 68 Michael A. Smith, Canton, GA, DUC 955 22
6 10 27 Fred Merkel, Stockton, CA, SUZ 750 22
7 12 10 Doug Chandler, Salinas, CA, HD 1000 22
8 9 147 Tray Batey, Galatin, TN, Suzuki 22
9 1 14 Steve Crevier, Pitt Meadows, BC, KAW 750 22
10 13 11 Thomas Stevens, Sanibel Island, FL, SUZ 750 22
11 14 74 Chris Carr, Valley Springs, CA, HD 1000 22
12 16 83 Scott C. Zampach, West Bend, WI, HD 1000 22
13 15 57 Eric R. Moe, Spring Lake, MI, KAW 750 22
14 26 94 Jim Dickenson, Courtland, ON, CAN, SUZ 750 22
15 20 56 Jeff Reeves, Walker, LA, DUC 955 21
16 24 155 Mark Black, Austin, TX, Suzuki 21
17 31 163 Ben Welch, San Diego, CA, YAM 750 21
18 22 100 Todd Harrington, St. Charles, IL, KAW 750 21
19 32 46 Kurt Dillman, Victor, NY, KAW 750 21
20 29 203 Lorne Banks, Billings, MT, KAW 750
21 21 11 32 Dale Quarterley, Westfield, MA, DUC 916 20
22 19 96 Andy Fenwick, Neenah, WI, HD 1000 19
23 5 19 Freddie Spencer, Shreveport, LA, DUC 955 8
24 30 82 Anthony Lupo, San Rafael, CA, YAM 750 8
25 28 131 Seth Hahn, Hampton, NH, SUZ 750 5
Time of Race : 33:37.225
Average Speed : 86.376 mph
Margin of Victory : 1.308 sec.
Fastest Lap : Hale, Lap 4, 1:30.56
Track Length : 2.2000 Miles
Miguel's father, Yvon, had a glorious racing career and close relationship with Kawasaki and since Miguel rode KX machinery, most of his competition thought that he had factory special machinery or perhaps equipment from the racing team, bits that would give the edge to win as much as he did. And little Miguel won all the time.
One evening, after a particularly painful (for his competitors) display of DuHamel prowess, an assortment of motocrossers walked through the pits with a hat, collecting a dollar here and fifty cents there. When finished they'd collected enough money for the tear-down fee on DuHamel's Kawasaki.
As Yvon was loading the bikes onto their small two wheel trailer and preparing to drive home, he was told to unload Miguel's bike as representatives from the racing club were going to have a look inside the Kawasaki's engine cases. Yvon smiled and said, "Okay, but you guys are paying for the gaskets to put it back together again." Agreed.
The case studs came out easily but the two engine halves refused to split apart. Probably a special racing substance to prevent leaks held the engine together internally, one participant voiced. After repeated tries the cases would not come apart. Someone went to tool box, opened the bottom drawer and returned with a heavy rubber mallet. Now we'll see what's in old man DuHamel's engine. With several hard whacks, large clumps of dirt—old dirt, dirt baked into clay from engine heat—began to fall from the bottom of the cases and underneath the cylinder, shattering like century-old pottery as it hit the cement below.
"Is this how the cases come apart," someone finally asked Yvon. "How the hell should I know" he answered back, "I've never had the cylinder off or the cases apart." Uh-oh.
Constant and near violent beating finally split the cases and the cylinder free. More bad news followed as the engine internals were obviously worn and the cylinder in need of a not a hone but a boring bar. In short, there were no performance mods to the tiny Kawasaki and most riders would require a rebuilt engine before riding the machine. Miguel had been winning on it.
Once the teardown money had been given to Yvon he said quietly and without the DuHamel smile, to the party responsible, "The next time you accuse my boy of cheating it'll be you and I in the street."
The above is racing lore, therefore whether or not it is historically correct is difficult to discern. But, according to DuHamel, the stock engine rule was a DuHamel trait for a long time. "My brother and I were always told to ride the machine to the limit."
DuHamel explains, "Our father told us that if the machine was close to the competition in performance it was up to the rider to make the difference. We would come back and say, 'hey, look how slow my bike is.' He would tell us 'if the bike is so slow, why are you braking so early in the corners?' We were taught that the rider is the most important part on the motorcycle and a good rider was worth ten horsepower."
The boys, Mario and Miguel, were motivated to win from the beginning, "He knew that we had the potential and ... results were expected very early on."
This time capsule perhaps gives a bit of insight into Miguel DuHamel and his racing background. It also gives further understanding of the results of the St. Louis AMA Superbike race on August fourteenth and the Sears Point round on the twenty-fifth. DuHamel won his fifth and sixth AMA nationals in a row, leaving the other participants scratching their heads in near disbelief at his accomplishments this season: winning so decisively on such drastically different racetracks and in such varied conditions. If a hat were passed in the AMA Superbike paddock today, the participants would not be paying for a peek in DuHamel's Honda. No, they'd like a look at what's inside the man. Miguel DuHamel is The Man of AMA Superbike racing in 1995, a savvy, diligent rider with a fire to win inside of him like no other rider in the series. St. Louis was proof enough of that.
Of the many things that St. Louis will be remembered for in the future, the triple digit heat and horrendous track surface will probably be foremost in most Superbike competitors memories. The heat made the recently sweaty Loudon seem like a paradise. On both Friday and Saturday under any awning in the St. Louis paddock the thermometer read over a hundred and five degrees, with humidity so thick it might choke someone exiting an air-conditioned vehicle. Old people moved slowly and all humans wore the least amount of clothing possible while remaining socially acceptable. Keeping cool and hydrated became every Superbike riders objective, hence bottled water flew out off the shelves at the local convenience store so fast the stockboys could hardly keep pace. Practice and qualifying were pure torture with every rider swimming in his leathers by two laps, nearly fricasseing in ten. All normal precautions and modifications were made to the bikes: holes drilled through the windscreens and the tail end of the bike was opened up to allow the heat to vent backwards instead of upward. On at least one occasion gasoline began to boil lightly with just the bike sitting in the sun waiting for tech.
The track, obviously new to the schedule and the first race AMA/Paradama would promote on their own as the new directive became veritable, was not what many would consider an AMA spec track -- on many levels. Gateway International Raceway, obviously an amateur caliber racetrack, has been used for years by WERA and was stretching its facilities at that level. The course itself is a twelve turn, 2.2 mile venue used week in and week out by the Skip Barber driving school, the Corvette and BMW clubs and SCCA when WERA and others are not using it. Situated perhaps twelve minutes from the St. Louis arch, the track has a long list of clients who keep the track in use nearly every day.
But just because it's popular doesn't make it safe or suitable to AMA Superbike racing, and it wasn't. The surface looked so sun-bleached and damaged in places that it may have been twenty years old. Newer sections and the hundreds of patches were rough and thoroughly bumpy, with Chicago street spec potholes menacing the racers. The pavement transitions were so abrupt that practice and qualifying became, not the normal process of searching for a set up and then the fast line, but rather of softening the entire bike up until nothing dragged and then hunting for traction. Jamie James found the track so raw that he wore a kidney belt under his leathers. Steve Crevier nearly didn't make his pole position run because the entire instrument pod in his Kawasaki was shaken loose from the constant jarring. Doug Chandler lost his VR's battery when it was thrown topsy-turvy from the bumps. Mike Hale lost the tail half of his Yoshimura/HRC exhaust twice when it either shook loose or slammed against the pavement in the whoops.
And there was haybale laden Armco nearly everywhere.
The AMA learned a very important lesson at Pomona a season back. Namely, not to underestimate the power of a collection of pissed-off racers. Thus, Ron Barrick, Tom Mueller, Bobby Lemming and others were in St. Louis at least a week early and hard at work. Carl Reynolds, (Paradama board member) had been in St. Louis as a liaison between the track and the board for two months. Thirty-five hundred haybales were brought in and contractors were contacted to rip the Armco wall out in the more dangerous sections in turns four and five, but Barrick and company soon learned that hiring out was too expensive, so they pulled their own shirts off and grabbed some tools. In three days they had torn down the Armco from the more dangerous sections, stacked over three thousand bales and went so far as to rip out the posts that had held the Armco and re-filled the holes. Commendable really, especially in light of the hundred degree heat. Chris Pook, who promotes the Long Beach Grand Prix IndyCar race, owns Gateway and is said to be bulldozing the track in a few months and building a new venue. Yes, please.
Yet, even the divine AMA cannot produce a silk purse when handed a sow's ear. The track was presumably race-able with the AMA modifications but the grounds were unkempt, garbage blowing in from the two story tall garbage mound (imagine a slick radio pitchman's voice "and while at Gateway International Raceway, don't forget to visit MOUNT GARBAGE! ") situated in picturesque fashion just across the hi-way from the track was an added bonus. Just entering the track meant crossing the racing surface, consequently the flaggers had plenty of red flags prepared.
Most riders found the track acceptable in different degrees, Jimmy Filice liked the layout but didn't care for the bales or the Armco, finding it "scary." Doug Chandler compared the track to a cesspool, (which, according to scuttlebutt, it is built upon) and agreed with one writer's perspective that having he and Freddie Spencer ride at Gateway after riding the glorious tracks of Europe was blasphemous. Superbike pilot Tom Kipp made a special request to God during the Sunday noon church service to "... watch out for us as this is not a trustworthy racetrack."
In time, the riders put their helmets on and got down to the business of qualifying and racing. There were plenty of disgruntled participants but none so upset they wouldn't ride; besides the AMA had done more in preparation for this event than any before and without major revisions there wasn't much more they could do.
Suzuki rider, television personality and riding instructor Tray Batey held the standing track record at 1:35.75 but DuHamel broke that (by five seconds) in the first laps of practice. Just as he has been all season long DuHamel was immediately fast out of the the trailer. Behind him there were some surprises, Pascal Picotte on the newly returned-to-form Muzzy Kawasaki and Jamie James, fresh from the injured list from his Elkhart Lake crash, were also fast in the first practice. The Kawasaki, and more so Pascal, are fond of gnarly racetracks where Armco stares you right in the eye and the pavement is never smooth. Pascal qualified on the pole at Pomona, a race track somewhat similar to Gateway. James had sat out two Superbike races (and the WSC round) while his injured wrist healed, not his favorite pastime. He came to Gateway primed to run fast. And did so right up until he lost the front in turn six and hit the pavement hard, damaging his hip and knee. Although he was in good cheer and laughing in the VHR team room an hour after the crash, he would be out for two more rounds.
In other first session news, Freddie Spencer drilled a curb with his knee and limped around for all it was worth the remainder of the weekend. Also, it was clear that several of the factory machines were not working in the bump infested environment. The Yoshimura Suzukis, even with the suspension set on full soft, bounced and po-go-ed around the course with Merkel and company trying their best to get some of the big Yosh power to the ground. With both wheels alternately off the ground, that was not possible.
The expected scenario for the second and final qualifying session, that DuHamel would blitz the field in the middle of the session and retire to the air conditioned transporter, never materialized. Miguel was heroic and in take no prisoners mode, once smashing past a slower rider into turn one with the rear wheel of the RC45 three feet in the air. When the tire touched ground, Miguel was on the gas and the back slid out five feet, speedway style. Close to a Nascar-style spin, DuHamel gathered it back up in a moment and he was gone.
The heat grew stronger and the humidity hung in the air like a sheet from a clothesline. DuHamel was very fast and threatening but he was not riding smoothly (or perhaps not looking as comfortable on the edge as he does normally) by his own admission. As the clock ticked down in the final session he lightly crashed when the big Honda found a false neutral entering turn six. He picked the bike up and made a hasty run to the pits where Ludington and company pounded the clutch perch straight and sent him out. Flustered and now deep in traffic, DuHamel would end up third fastest when the checkered flag came out.
In the final few minuets Pascal Picotte made a run at the pole but in the end it was his diminutive teammate Steve Crevier who sat fastest, with the biggest Cheshire grin in the paddock. Crevier and DuHamel have a long standing and distant rivalry and the 1995 season has been one long session of eating crushed glass for Crevier, watching Miguel mop up. Now it was DuHamel's turn for a gut-full of shards.
He was obviously upset at losing pole to anyone, but especially to Crevier ... "I'm very upset, very frustrated" said DuHamel. "We needed the one point for the championship - we need every point we can get. But, it's more than that. I just want to go into the trailer and pound my helmet into dust." DuHamel's Honda set a new free-rev record for the series as the bike shrieked to a brief but solid fifteen thousand when he crashed.
Tom Kipp on the lone Vance and Hines Yamaha hustled around for most of the session in the top three. With twenty minutes left in the session, Kipp bailed out of Superbike qualifying to sit in a tub of ice in preparation for the Supersport race. "The front row is all we're worried about," said Tom Halverson. Neither Mike Hale nor Ducati rider Mike Smith threatened for the top spot. Hale never looked comfortable with the track until the middle of the Superbike race itself and Smith busied himself with chasing a set up. And wondering just what was inside Freddie Spencer's Ducati to give it at least three more mph than Smith's bike.
Doug Chandler looked impressive in the medium speed infield, leaning the VR1000 Harley-Davidson over further than anyone else and carrying big momentum onto the straight. Where the Suzuki was a real handful, bouncing and shaking it's head everywhere and in sections where others rode various lines trying to miss the bumps, Chandler appeared as if he could take any line he wanted and the VR would not lose its head. Radar guns caught Chandler at 140 mph even (and Freddie Spencer fastest at 144) and he qualified a respectable twelfth, with the factory Suzuki of Thomas Stevens behind him. Harley-Davidson procured a Pi data acquisition system for the VR and had Chandler's A bike outfitted at Gateway. Crewchief and racing team manager Steve Scheibe commented, "We've had a data system on the bikes since the beginning but the Pi system is a little different and we like it. It gives us a little more information."
"The bike is very hard to hang onto," said Fred Merkel as he cooled off in the Suzuki trailer after qualifying tenth. Wearing only a pair of briefs and sweating profusely he continued, "If we soften the suspension up, we lose grip. If we go the other way the bike won't track 'cause the wheels are all over the place. It's affecting our straight-line speed because I have to let off the gas before I hit the big bumps." With the bike on full soft the Suzuki was manageable, but traction was nowhere to be found. Technical manager Don Sakakura commented, "We need to go to a motocross school before we come back here again." Quasi-factory supported rider Tray Batey was the unrivaled ace of qualifying, taking the ex-Chuck Graves Valvoline Suzuki to ninth position, in front of five factory bikes.
Crevier had the starring role in the hours after qualifying, reveling in the way he had went from seventh in the first session to the top of the board in the second on the Larry Kano tuned ZXR. He teased everyone who came within earshot and for the first time in months, smiled at his mechanics. "It's created a lot of dissension in the team," the almost likable Canadian kidded. "Old Pascal is pretty upset with me for stealing pole away from him. I hope he doesn't hold a grudge." Fellow Canadian Picotte would have none of it, "I'm very happy for Steve, he has worked many years to get this first pole. I have had poles and race wins in the past so it is good to see Steve do so well for a change." Crevier almost didn't make his fast lap as the mechanic forgot to replace the gas cap after refueling the machine. Crevier rode around for the last five minutes of the session with his underwear soaked with racing fuel. No wonder he went so fast.
In the interest of the winner of the race being able to thank his sponsor without selling Buicks on the rostrum, the AMA shortened the race, knocking five laps from the running of the Superbike event due to the intense heat. The heat and its effects were a frequent topic of conversation the night before the race. "It's like you're not even racing after ten laps," said Tom Kipp after his second place in Saturday's 750 Supersport race. "You're just holding on to the bars and the laps seem to take forever." One Superbike pilot confessed that he had taken his helmet off and rinsed it out with a hose after the hottest session, as he had vomited from heat sickness in it several laps prior.
"It's a good day," said Miguel DuHamel from the parking lot of the Fairview Motel where he had slept Saturday night before the Superbike race at Gateway. Looking up at the already bright sun, he continued, "It's a good day for revenge."
Heat was the real story of the Superbike race with ambient temps in the 105 degree range and track temps above that, perhaps as high as one hundred and thirty degrees.
With the heat attacking everyone and everything like a blast torch, some thought tires might be a problem even in a shortened race. Dunlop kept a small cache of World Superbike spec race tires in the warehouse and Jim Allen gave both Kawasaki riders (and fast qualifiers) Crevier and Picotte a WSC rear for the race. Undaunted by the hundred degree heat, Mike Hale's crew fitted his RC45 with tire warmers before the start, the only Superbike to do so. Every Dunlop rider in the field went with both front and rear tires in the hardest compound avalble.
At Gateway with such an irregular racing line in sections it was understood by each of the participants in the first two rows that the start would be critical, getting entangled in a fight for fifth in the first few laps might end any hope for a rostrum as the leaders strolled away. Pascal Picotte blatantly jumped the start when the flag dropped. He was away with a bike length lead after the first corner but with DuHamel and never-say-die Mike Smith in pursuit. Pole-sitter Crevier bungled the start and found himself right in that battle for fifth through seventh and he was soon cemented right there with an eventual finish in ninth. Dale Quarterley ran hard and at the front before his Mirage Ducati slowed to one cylinder and he was out of the race for the top five.
Picotte's Kawasaki was running so hot that when DuHamel and later Kipp were behind him even they could feel the heat from his engine and radiator. In fact, all the front- runners saw their engine temerature gauges run hotter than ever before. DuHamel's Honda ran right at one hundred degrees for the entire race.
The heat was unbearable for the riders and DuHamel almost followed Picotte to the rostrum like a dutiful pup. But with six laps to go he saw his technician Al Ludington signal L6 and he put on another charge. DuHamel never let off as he rounded the kink into turn four. The bike wiggled slightly and DuHamel knew crashing there would not be good. But he kept the power on and passed Picotte for the lead. Picotte would pass him back and the two would remain close for several laps but DuHamel looked very strong in the final third of the race and Picotte would not have an answer for him. He drifted back and Kipp nipped him as well, pushing the Muzzy Kawasaki rider to third place at the finish.
Mike Hale charged to third position in the middle part of the race but would fall back to fourth after being passed by Tom Kipp on the VHR Yamaha.
DuHamel would break concentration several times during the race when the heat became too much. "You just gotta stay so mentally focused and on top of it. It's extra hard (here) because the heat in unbearable and the track is so rough that if you got off the racing line, your day could be over in a split second."
Kipp made what looked to be some serious hero moves diving inside of Hale and then Picotte in the later stages of the race. Just where the pavement looked to be its shiniest running into turn one, Kipp would venture seven feet inside the racing line and run the Yamaha right up the inside, passing Mike Hale and Picotte there. Hale had an answer for him once, Kipp would drift very wide on the exit but had some late corner momentum to carry him through. After that Kipp was gone. "That was pretty hairball," said Kipp at the finish, describing his turn one advantures. "With all the pavement changes and the bumps in there it hairy. I found that little piece of track almost by accident in qualifying when I ran around a backmarker. The pavement going in there was very abrasive and had a lot of traction, it was probably only seven or eight inches wide. The problem was the track was slick on each side of the tacky stuff and if I got off line there was very slippery." Kipp's Teknic leathers bore testement to his run, the right kneepad was gone and the leathers were ventilated to his skin in two spots.
DuHamel won the race and five grand in prize money although some thought he would have had his hands full with the Kipper if the race had gone on two more laps. "It would have taken a twenty-nine lap race to catch Miguel. He was on the gas," said Kipp in response.
DuHamel's margin of victory was 1.3 seconds. From the podium he said, "If you ain't Smokin, you ain't got a prayer!" An obvious reference to his sponsor Smokin' Joe's Camel Honda. In the press briefing room all three finishers looked completely drained from racing in such intense heat with Kipp drinking an entire liter of Evian in under ten minutes. "That was agony," said one.
Mike Hale, probably a bit befuddled by traveling to Suzuka and back, being pounded at Loudon and again in Suzuka crashing, never looked comfortable on the track and finished fourth. Hailstorm had little consolation in that he ripped off the fastest lap of the race. Hale now leads DuHamel by one meager point in the AMA Superbike championship points standings, thus the finishes of the final two rounds of the series at Sears Point and Firebird became all the more crucial.
Doug Chandler finished a fine seventh on the VR1000 Harley-Davidson, biting Tray Batey on the last lap. Chandler could take consolation that he finished with three factory machines behind him. "That's the first time it didn't drop off," said Chandler. "Not that anything fell off of it," he laughed "just that the performance used to fall away, lose its edge, after a third of the race. We've solved that now." Team Harley discovered something at Brainerd, just what that something is unknown but both Chandler and Carr's machines stormed off the corners until the checkered flag.
Both Merkel and Stevens had forgettable Superbike races at Gateway with Merkel dicing with Batey for much of the race and Stevens never threatening for anything more than thirteenth.
In the weekend's oddest spectacle, Freddie Spencer (former world champion and all that) muffed the start from the second row and had to be pushed off once the pack had cleared turn one. This is the stuff legends are made of: Spencer ripping through the pack from a dead last start to finish perhaps a hard fought eighth (drenched in sweat and rear Michelin baked to perfection). Therefore all watched with anticipation for the magnificent performance to come.
Ah, no. Actually the press room instantly became an impromptu betting parlor with anyone and everyone wagering on how many laps Spencer would go before pulling in with an untraceable problem. One editor said three laps, one former world champion said ten and another said eight. Eight won. Spencer was out of the race and Nankais and into a rental car before lap ten, telling one reporter that "the rear tire just wasn't going to handle that abuse". In other words Spencer stopped racing because the tire was in danger of being abused. Yes, by all means save the tire, poor thing.
Doug Polen couldn't believe it when Freddie pulled in and asked with a grimace, "Why does he do that? Why doesn't he be a man and stay out and finish?" ENDS
RESULTS: Ps.Ql.No. Rider , Machine Laps Notes
1 3 17 Miguel Duhamel, Repentigny PQ, CAN, HON 750 22
2 4 16 Tom Kipp, Mentor, OH, YAM 750 22
3 2 21 Pascal Picotte, Ste Cecile, PQ, CAN, KAW 750 22
4 6 23 Mike Hale, Carrollton, TX, HON 750 22
5 7 68 Michael A. Smith, Canton, GA, DUC 955 22
6 10 27 Fred Merkel, Stockton, CA, SUZ 750 22
7 12 10 Doug Chandler, Salinas, CA, HD 1000 22
8 9 147 Tray Batey, Galatin, TN, Suzuki 22
9 1 14 Steve Crevier, Pitt Meadows, BC, KAW 750 22
10 13 11 Thomas Stevens, Sanibel Island, FL, SUZ 750 22
11 14 74 Chris Carr, Valley Springs, CA, HD 1000 22
12 16 83 Scott C. Zampach, West Bend, WI, HD 1000 22
13 15 57 Eric R. Moe, Spring Lake, MI, KAW 750 22
14 26 94 Jim Dickenson, Courtland, ON, CAN, SUZ 750 22
15 20 56 Jeff Reeves, Walker, LA, DUC 955 21
16 24 155 Mark Black, Austin, TX, Suzuki 21
17 31 163 Ben Welch, San Diego, CA, YAM 750 21
18 22 100 Todd Harrington, St. Charles, IL, KAW 750 21
19 32 46 Kurt Dillman, Victor, NY, KAW 750 21
20 29 203 Lorne Banks, Billings, MT, KAW 750
21 21 11 32 Dale Quarterley, Westfield, MA, DUC 916 20
22 19 96 Andy Fenwick, Neenah, WI, HD 1000 19
23 5 19 Freddie Spencer, Shreveport, LA, DUC 955 8
24 30 82 Anthony Lupo, San Rafael, CA, YAM 750 8
25 28 131 Seth Hahn, Hampton, NH, SUZ 750 5
Time of Race : 33:37.225
Average Speed : 86.376 mph
Margin of Victory : 1.308 sec.
Fastest Lap : Hale, Lap 4, 1:30.56
Track Length : 2.2000 Miles
— ends —
