“I’ve got a long way to go,” Scott Russell told Roadracingworld.com during a pit stop in Friday’s American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) Team Challenge at Daytona International Speedway.
For Russell, the 1993 FIM Superbike World Champion and three-time AMA Superstock/750cc Supersport Champion, Friday was essentially the first day back in racing since he retired in 2002.
Sure, he rode in a couple of endurance races last year, but those were just for fun. This time Russell is preparing for the AMA Superstock season-opener next weekend at Daytona. And even though this effort is also for fun (and promotional purposes for Jamie James Yamaha Champions Riding School), riding a 180-horsepower Yamaha YZF-R1 racebike around Daytona is serious business.
“Scary, let’s start with that,” Russell laughed after Friday’s race. “That’s kind of shocking to jump on something this fast after sitting that long.
“The bike’s fast. I’m a little rusty. It’s a little scary out there, too, with some of the slower guys who are out here, with the closing speeds. I was just giving everybody a lot of room. It was work, but it got easier as time went on.”
But Russell did have fun Friday. With each of his pit stops during the Team Challenge, his smile grew wider and wider. The condition and layout of the infield road course at Daytona, however, did nothing to enhance Russell enjoyment.
“It’s not good at all, no fun,” said Russell, who earned the nickname “Mr. Daytona” for winning the Daytona 200 five times. “They took all the flow out of this track. They really just ruined it for me. That’s my personal opinion. But it’s the same for everybody. I’m good from the chicane back to here. (laughs) That’s all good.
“That new first horseshoe, I ran that back in October and I hated that then. I don’t know why they would do that. There ain’t no point in even worrying about it. It is what it is. And the other stuff is just stop-and-go. On a big bike like this it’s not a lot of fun because as soon as it starts to stretch its legs you’ve got to get back on the binders, you know?
“It has a lot more bumps than the old track. It’s terrible in the infield, and coming out onto the back straightaway, that whole section there is like a motocross track, man. There’s like a lot of braking bumps from the cars going into corners.”
Russell’s bike, prepared in short order by Jamie James Productions’ owner Jamie James and Crew Chief Doug Crawford, is working well, he reported, thanks to the 24 laps he got during Friday’s race.
“We went from A to Z on this bike with suspension while we were out there,” said Russell, who turned a best time of 1:45.492 while testing in the 63-rider event. “We got a direction. That was great. That was the best thing we could have done was enter than race, because as you know the rest of the practice here is useless, basically, with two or three laps [during morning] practice and five-lap races. We had to have that right there or we wouldn’t have been close.”
And even though Russell’s YZF-R1 is supported by Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. and Graves Motorsports, don’t assume it has all kinds of exotic electronics to sort through.
“We’re still letting off to shift it right now,” laughed Russell. “We ain’t got that (quick-shifter) dialed in yet. We’ve got a lot left in the tank.”
Russell hopes to get more practice during two CCS sprint races Sunday, before official AMA practice starts Wednesday, March 5.
More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:
Motorcycle Legend Scott Russell Back At DIS
Prepping For Next Week’s AMA Superstock and Superbike Races
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Motorcycle legend Scott Russell is back at Daytona International Speedway.
Known as “Mr. Daytona,” Russell, who is tied with Miguel Duhamel with a record five Daytona 200 By Honda victories, is competing in this year’s Daytona 200 Week By Honda events aboard an orange Yamaha R1 for Jamie James.
Russell made his first return to DIS last October competing in the season-ending 8 Hours At Daytona SunTrust MOTO-ST race with the Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki team. Prior to that, he hadn’t raced professionally since the 2001 Daytona 200 By Honda when he suffered significant injuries.
The Conyers, Ga. native is using this weekend’s CCS/ASRA activities to shake down his bike for next week’s AMA events. He is getting used to the 2.90-mile road course, a layout he has never raced before here at DIS.
“It was the first time on the new configuration for me,” Russell said after participating in Friday’s Team Challenge race. “It was interesting. This bike is faster than anything I’ve ever rode here. I’ve got to get my head up to speed after being gone for that long. It was a big deal, kind of scary at first. I’m working into it slowly, trying not to run anybody over or get run over.
“(The Team Challenge) was a great practice session for us. I never intended to race with anybody. I just wanted to get by myself and do my own thing. Changed a lot on the bike and went from A to Z on the suspension. Now we got a little direction and know where we’re going, or at least we hope we know where we’re going.”
Russell says he plans to compete in Thursday’s Superstock 13-lap race and Saturday’s opening round of the AMA Superbike Championship 15-lap race.
“We’re promoting the Jamie James production bikes,” Russell said. “Jamie takes an R1 and puts his little twist on him and sells them to the public. He beefs them up as well as we’re also promoting his riding school. We’ve got a Jamie James Champions School at Barber in April. It’s his school and I’ll be one of the instructors. We’re using this whole thing as a promotional tool and just come and have some fun. It gave me opportunity to get back and it’ll help him promote his thing too.”
Russell dominated the Daytona 200 By Honda, America’s prestigious motorcycle race, in the 1990s winning five times (1992, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998).
Russell’s credentials also include an AMA Superbike Championship in 1992, the World Superbike Championship (1993), three AMA 750cc Supersport titles and the Suzuka Eight Hour endurance race. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005.
After the long layoff, Russell knows he faces a steep challenge racing against AMA competition in next week’s event.
“We’ve had only a month to get ready for this,” Russell said. “I knew a month ago we were going to do this. We’ve not tested once. I’ve been training for a full month solid getting ready. We’ll see where we stack up. I’ve definitely got a lot of work to do before I can run with those guys.”
Team Vallely Wins Team Challenge: The 52-lap Team Challenge kicked off nine-days of motorcycle racing at DIS on Friday. Team Vallely of Flagler Beach swept the top two overall spots with the team of Mark Crozier and Matt McBride taking the victory aboard the No. 3 Suzuki.
Finishing second overall was the No. 33 Vallely Racing entry with Frank Trombina and Kevin Vacumbe.
“The race went really well and really smooth and uneventful,” said Crozier, who rode the first shift on the bike. “Awesome start and started on the second row, going into the first turn we were in second. I sat on the guy for the first lap and passed him coming across the start/finish line. I kept my head down for the first few laps and started gapping. We ended up pulling toward a big lead and I was just out there for a Sunday afternoon ride.
“I knew we were fast. We were fast this morning in practice. We were fast yesterday in practice. I felt we had a really good shot at being the top team. Five or six laps in I radioed back to the crew and asked them how we were doing. They told me I had a five- or six-second lead. I knew if I could put my head down for a few more laps we could gap them even more. We got up to a 12 to 15 second lead and I just started cruising and just set in a pace.”
Tickets for all Daytona 200 Week By Honda events are available at 1-800-PITSHOP or online at www.racetickets.com
Friday’s Results
Team Challenge Overall: 1. Mark Crosier, Matt McBride, Valley Racing; 2. Frank Trombino, Kevin Vacumbe, Valley Racing; 3. Calvin Martinez, Marco Martinez, Jasone Temme, Scott Barwood , Serpent Racing; GTO: 1. Roberto Pletri, Suzuki; 2. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki; 3.Blake Young, Unknown; Amateur GTO: 1. Dennis Espinosa, Suzuki; 2. Gustavo Sanchez, Yamaha; 3. Seth Baumann, Suzuki; Expert GT Lights: 1. Jason Edmonds, Bimota;2. Garrett Rice, Ducati; 3. Kevin Mendez, Bimota; Amateur GT Lights: 1. Joel Spalding, Buell; 2. Jorge Arana, United Motors; 3. Fernando Barbosa; Amateur GTU: 1. Robert Clouter, Kawasaki; 2.Rafael Ferrer, Kawasaki; 3. Larry Karpinsky, Yamaha; Expert GTU: 1. Martin Cardenas, Suzuki; 2. Cory West, Suzuki; 3. Garrett Carter, Suzuki
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.:
“Mr. Daytona” Set for AMA Superstock Return
Cypress CA.-February 29, 2008 – Yamaha Motor Corporation in conjunction with the Jamie James Yamaha Champions Riding School is pleased to announce the return of AMA Superbike, World Superbike and mutli-time Daytona 200 Champion Scott Russell to the AMA Superstock class for the start of the 2008 season in Daytona Beach, Florida on March 6th.
Known to many of his fans as “Mr. Daytona”, Scott’s reason for returning to racing is twofold, first to promote the recently announced Yamaha Jamie James Champions Riding School and second, as the affable Georgian admits, is to have a bit of fun with former Yamaha Champion Jamie James. Scott’s return to top level competition will be aboard the 2008 YZF-R1 prepared by Jamie James Productions. “It’ll be a lot of fun” says Scott, “Just two old racers getting together, just having fun.”
Scott will join Yamaha Factory Racing’s Eric Bostrom and Jason DiSalvo and Graves Yamaha Motorsports riders Ben Bostrom and Josh Herrin to sign autographs on Friday March 7th from 12:00- 1:00pm and 3:00-4:00PM in the Yamaha display at the Speedway.
The Jamie James Yamaha Champions Riding School will hold the first of seven riding schools at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on April 24-25, 2008. Backed by Yamaha Motor Corporation, students will experience the performance and quality of Yamaha by choosing to ride their own Yamaha or a school provided YZF-R1, YZF-R6 or FZ-6 motorcycle. Some of the guest instructors already committed to the 2008 schedule include Tom Kipp, Dave Sadowski, Thomas Stevens and of course Scott Russell.
For more information or to be added to the JJYCRS mailing list email [email protected].