Daytona 750 Supersport
DAYTONA 750 SUPERSPORT
WINNER: JAMIE JAMES
Southern star
Two MONTHS BEFORE DAYtona, if you had told Jamie James that he would win the first supersport race of 1989, and that he would come within a couple of laps of winning the week's premier race-the Daytona 200-to boot, he probably would have smiled politely and said, in his amiable Louisiana drawl, that you were out of your mind.
But that `as before he had a suc cessful tryout with the Yoshimura Suzuki team for a 1989 Superbike ride. And that was before he drafted past Vance & Hines' rider David Sadowski on the last lap to win Day tona's 750cc supersport race. And that was before he had worked up a huge lead in the 200 only to have an ignition malfunction cost him the win in the final laps of the race.
For someone who had just barely missed going down in the record book alongside names like Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and Kenny Roberts, James was in excellent spirits after the 200. He had salvaged second place, and was just happy to be in the winner’s circle. “I don’t know what kept the bike going, I was just praying it wouldn’t stop altogether,” he told reporters.
But what got James into the Daytona winner’s circle was more than a stubborn motorcycle and divine intervention. His path started way back in 1979, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“In Baton Rouge, nothing much is popular,” he laughs. “If you want to drink beer and eat crawfish, well, that’s popular, but racing isn't. I did some dirt-tracking and a little motocross; but the reason I started roadracing was because the bank wouldn't finance a dirt-tracker. They would pay for a streetbike, though, no problem. So I bought a streetbike, and I was a road racer.”
RACE WATCH
The loan officer would have had a heart attack if he had seen what James was really doing with the bank's motorcycle. To help pay the bills, James picked up sponsorship where he could: Local businessman Raymond Addison was delighted to support James in exchange for advertising space on the youngster’s leathers, so for years, James raced with “Quicksand and Gravel” written across his back.
In 1988, James made a move towards the big time, racing with Team Suzuki in endurance races, and fitting an occasional supersport race into his schedule. But in the Willow Springs, California, 24-hour race, his career was put on a temporary hold. “I crashed real hard, and that slowed me down some. I cracked a vertebra and tore the cartilage that holds the ribs. I still wear a brace,” says James.
Then came the Yoshimura tryout, and, afterwards, Daytona. For the entire 10 laps of the 750cc supersport race, James, Sadowski and Mike Harth were no more than a few feet from each other, with Sadowski leading the way. But James made his move as the trio streaked towards the finish line on the last lap, and got his first supersport win ever. “I had just been sitting back there every lap. I could have drafted past Sadowski earlier, but I didn't want him to know I could. I needed that win to get going,” says James.
And get going he did. Before ignition problems struck in Daytona’s 200-miler. James had outpaced John Ashmead and Dale Quarterley to develop a solid lead. When he lost that lead late in the race, James was philosophical about it: After all, he had only become the leader when Yosh teammate Doug Polen had dropped out of the race with an oil leak.
When it was all over, James was already looking forward to the rest of the season. “Doug's going back to Japan after this race, so all Yoshimura will have in the U.S. is Scott Russell and me. Doug’s just got a lot of time on Superbikes, and once he’s gone, it'll take a little while before we get up to speed. But I think we'll do it.” Then he added. “Usually I'm the one coming from behind. This year I’m starting off on top.”
With any luck at that, that’s exactly where Jamie James is going to stay for a long, long time.
