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RACE WATCH

Superbike showdown

Racing doesn't get much tougher than this: Out of six rounds in the AMA Superbike championship, there were five different winners. And of those five winners, four manufacturers were represented.

In the points chase, though, it all boiled down to a dice between Yoshimura Suzuki riders Jamie James and Scott Russell, with James eventually taking the title, 70 points to 65. Most interesting of all, though, was Doug Chandler’s season on the Rob Muzzy Kawasaki ZX-7. Chandler didn’t score a single point

until the last two races of the year. And he won those, wrapping up fourth place in the series behind Yamaha privateer Rich Arnaiz.

Victory on the German front

The Europeans must have had revenge on their minds. The U.S. Motocross des Nations team, which was going for its ninth-straight victory, was made up of riders the Euros had never even heard of. Sure, there was veteran Jeff Ward anchoring the team on a 500 Kawasaki, but he was joined by rookies Jeff Stanton and Mike Kiedrowski. Kiedrowski, in particular, was unknown in Europe. Rick Johnson had scratched himself from the team due to injury, so Kiedrowski (currently second in the U.S. 125cc point standings) was penciled in at the last moment.

But when the smoke cleared over the Gaildorf, West Germany, course, America was again victorious. Stanton had won both 250 motos, Kiedrowski was the top 125 rider, with a 1-2 score, and Ward took a first and an eighth, crashing

in the second moto. If the U.S. can win again next year, the team will tie the record set by Belgium in Trophée des Nations competition.

It's never over ’til it’s over

Unlike the Superbike championship, Pro-Twins racing had only two riders in the hunt for the title. Randy Renfrow on the Common wealth Honda and Dale Quarterley on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati had won three rounds apiece when they lined up for the final event in To peka. Kansas. In the course of that race, the two riders diced like the entire season was on the line-it was, of course-and on the last lap, Quarterley made an all-out effort to pass Renfrow for the lead, only to crash. Poof, the season was gone for Quarterley, and Renfrow chalked up a Pro-Twins championship to sit on the shelf next to his past Formula One and 250 GP titles.

One man's perfect season

frenchman Alex Vieira has won the F1M world endurance-racing championship. Vieira, 33. Honda France’s lead rider, headed the teams that won all four endurance rounds— the 24 Hours of LeMans, the Suzuka 8 Hours, the Spa 24 Hours and the Bol d'Or 24 Hours.

Vieira’s teammates throughout the year included Frenchmen JeanMichel Mattioli and Dominique Sarron, Englishman Roger Burnett and Belgian Stephane Mertens.

Vieira’s steady, speedy riding certainly paid off. but he was helped mightily by the team's Honda Racing Corporation-kitted RVF750, an RC30-based, 330-pound missile that was clocked on the long Mistral straight of the Paul Ricard circuit during the Bol d’Or race at 186 miles per hour. E)