Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
Brakes, Handling or Power?
It’s been a question in motorcycle road racing since the beginning of the sport. If you had the choice and could only pick one, would you rather have a machine with superior power, braking or handling? In road racing, much of that answer comes down to the track. For example, if you were racing on the wide-open high banks of Daytona, that might lead you to pick the road racing machine with the most power. Like Pittsburgh International Race Complex, a track with many flowing turns might favor a bike with excellent handling. Or a track with many monster braking zones, such as The Ridge Motorsports Park in Washington State, may tip the scales to a race bike with the best brakes. But on one special racing weekend, all the elements came together at a track that requires almost equal parts of power, handling and braking, to provide perhaps the best answer to the question of brakes, handling of power that we’ve ever had.
It was round seven of the 1992 AMA Superbike Championship in June. The track was the four-mile-long Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The players at the end of the race were a trio of champions: Jamie James, Scott Russell and Freddie Spencer.
Road America is almost a perfect laboratory to compare braking versus handling versus power. The track requires almost equal elements. The two ultra-long straights test a racing machine’s acceleration and top speed like no other true road course in America. The massive braking zones coming off those long straights (turns one and five, as well as Canada Corner) can absolutely toast a set of brake pads in the span of 10 laps or less. And the more flowing corners such as turns six, seven, The Carousel, and even the all-important final turn 14 favor a planted and stable motorcycle at full lean angle.
It all came together beautifully on that warm late-June day at Road America in 1992, and the result was one of the all-time epic races in series history, which witnessed James, Russell and Spencer, as well as Russell’s Kawasaki teammate Thomas Stevens, battle for the lead most of the way. Unfortunately, Steven’s bike suffered a chunked rear tire with two laps to go, or it almost certainly would’ve been a four-way battle royale.
But back to braking vs. speed vs. handling.
In the superior braking corner was Jamie James and his Jim Leonard-tuned Vance & Hines Yamaha FZR750RR, better known as the OW01. James was one of the hardest braking riders in AMA Superbike that weekend, and he also had the added advantage of his Yamaha running AP Lockheed carbon fiber disc brakes with tremendous stopping power and resistance to fading.
Scott Russell’s Muzzy Kawasaki ZX-7R was the speed monster of the Superbikes that weekend. That was typical of Rob Muzzy-built motorcycles. If Muzzy knew anything, it 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 seconds en route to winning the pole.
After Russell’s qualifying performance, 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 forgiving 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 explained. “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 qualifying, 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 going 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 carbon 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 better they got, and that was especially 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 banzai Scott a few times on the brakes to hopefully get him off his pace.”
So, the race went, with the leading four running together lap after lap, Russell and James spending the most time at the point.
There was some added history 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 spectacular jumble of dust and flying motorcycle parts. When asked if James had flashbacks to the ’89 race every time he and Scott went into turn five. “Not really,” he laughed. “We don’t get paid to have flashbacks; we get paid to get it done.”
At one point, Spencer, whose Honda was down on power, ever so slightly lost touch with Russell and James. He later said he had no hope of reeling them back in until a lifeline came along—Stevens came roaring up on his rocketship Kawasaki, and Spencer stuck on his rear wheel to get a tow back to the front.
Either Stevens had ridden so hard to make it to the front after a bad start, or he got a bad tire; whatever the case, his Dunlop rear began throwing big chunks of rubber in the closing laps, dropping him from contention.
Neither of the leading trio could find an advantage, and then James got a little help from a friend. Just before the white flag, the trio came upon Texan Craig Gleason. Gleason and James had long been friends, and Gleason eased up and ran a little wide going into a turn, allowing James past, and then suddenly flicked his bike hard to the apex, cutting off Russell and Spencer.
“I owe a lot of that win to Craig for being nice enough to let me by,” James grinned. “I’m sure Scott and Freddie weren’t too happy.”
But there was a full lap to go, and Russell and Spencer both put their heads down to chase down James. The problem was, by now, Russell’s Dunlops were getting a bit greasy, while Spencer’s Michelins were still sticking like glue. Russell saw this after Spencer pulled even a few times, and the Kawasaki ace was forced to protect the inside line through every corner, which may have slowed their charge to catch James.
“It was frustrating,” Spencer said afterward. “I would pull alongside these guys in the corners and at the exits, but as soon as they would straighten up, they’d be gone.”
That and the fact that James rode his heart out on the final lap to try to consolidate his lead. He was diving deeper in the turns and getting on the gas earlier than he had all race. Gambling that he could get by with taking chances, at least for one lap.
Still coming into the final corner, Russell and Spencer had closed in, just not quite enough. The margin of victory for James was a half second over Russell and Spencer as the three crossed the line.
Vance & Hines Yamaha Crew Chief Steve Johnson said it best: “That was one of the best Superbike races of all time. You’d have to go back to some of those classic duels between Schwantz and Rainey or Lawson and Spencer to find a better race. And this had three riders.”
James looks back with fondness on that race.
“It was definitely one of my best races,” James said. “I always loved that track anyway; it was a real road course, and then you always had a huge crowd show up, so everybody was on their game. And in the end, I think both Scott and Freddie were happy for me that I won. We were competitors on the track but friends after the races. And I owe a lot to Freddie for teaming with me to help me stay with Scott and for my buddy Craig Gleason for clearing the way for me.”
Oh, and chalk one up for those of you who picked braking power! CN
Click here to read the Archives Column in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
Click here for all the latest Road Racing news.
Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues
