Triple Play

Triple Play

YANKEE TRIUMPHS IN FRANCE

DON CANET

PRIDE SWEPT OVER ME AS I brought my Speed Triple to a halt, taking up position on the outside of the front row. I've notched a fare share of front-row starts in my time, yet never have I competed so far from home, nor had I ever felt quite so American.

Such is the flavor of international competition. Among the 33-bike fieldcomposed entirely of theoretically evenly matched Triumphs-were French, British, German, Dutch, Swiss and American riders. This was the inaugural International Triumph Speed Triple Cup and I had traveled to the Paul Ricard grand prix circuit in the south of France to participate. Cycle World had come to get a first-hand sneak peak at what Speed Triple racing may bring to the States in `96 when Triumph America launches a series of its own.

Staged as a side attraction to the Bol D'Or 24-hour endurance event, the Speed Triple race was only nine laps in length, taking all of about 15 minutes to complete. Eight other Americans were in the field with support from Triumph America. Fast guys Scott Zampach and Shawn Higbee, a pair of spec-class aces drafted from the AMA Harley-Davidson TwinSports series, made the trip, as did Fritz Kling, a former factory HarleyDavidson VR-1000 pilot.

Triumph France provided bikes for the American riders, and a group of French dealers handled preparation. This involved removing street fixtures, then installing Pro-Flex racing shocks, Triumph 3-2-1 racing exhausts, adjustable steering dampers and front numberplates. Some of the more enthu siastic shops even provided trackside tuners. For those of us left to our own devices at the track, Triumph France Service Manager Jean Louis Picot and Gary McDonnell of Technical Training in England handled the task of final race prep. They installed firmer fork springs, made gearing changes and swapped the stock rubber for fresh race-compound tires.

Qualifying saw us Yanks on a steep learning curve. We were given only two 20-minute sessions in which to familiarize ourselves with the bikes and the circuit. The Brits and Germans raced Speed Triples all season in their home countries, and the French had the home-track advantage on their side.

My Speed Triple in race trim had Rock-of-Gibraltar chassis stability and improved cornering clearance over stock. Confidence in the machine came quickly, but the first practice session ended with Kling listed 10th quickest, while I sat 15th with Higbee and Zampach only a tick behind. We were getting our butts kicked, and the Europeans were loving it.

A fresh set of Dunlop D364s was mounted, and minor adjustments made to gearing and suspension prior to the final qualifying session. I clung to Kling like a tick on a terrier, the two of us pushing one another to go faster. Late in the session, Paul Brown, a Speed Triple regular from the U.K., drafted past like we were toolin' in the slow lane. Catching a tow off Brown dropped my times to fourth quickest. Elsewhere on the circuit, quick-learn ing Zampach cut fast time overall. Kling remains 10th quickest, with Higbee, troubled by poorly balanced wheels, qualifying 11th.

So that's how I came to sit on the front of an international grid. Lined up to my right are Brits Ray Stringer and Brown, with Zampach on pole. Anticipating a quick light, I nearly jump the start, stabbing the front brake to check my rollout. At that instant, the light goes from red to green-great, I've blown the launch.

I slip deeper into the pack on the approach to Turn 1-a nasty off-camber first-gear job. From my seat it looks like five lanes of rush-hour traffic turn ing up a driveway. I play it safe; Higbee, however, sees something I've missed, an opening up the inside. Easing off the brakes, he slips past our gridlocked gaggle and latches onto the leaders. While he and Zampach are busy sluggin' it out with three Brits and a German for the lead, I pick my way forward from 15th. The first few positions come easy, but as I move through the field, each rider is swifter and more crafty than the last. I end up in a stalemate tussle with Frank Heidger, the German Speed Triple champion. We continue fighting over seventh as the laps wind down.

With Heidger’s tailsection filling my faceshield, I’m shocked at the realization we’ve caught the lead pack. And what a pack it is. Grouped in clusters running two and three abreast, the herd banks into the double-apex Beausset Turn. A German gets pushed wide and is pitched off as the rear steps out midcorner. More carnage follows an instant later as two bikes come together at full-lean, going down in unison. It’s not over yet. With five comers to the finish, I’m still working on getting past Heidger, who’s all over English rider Alan Batson. At the front, Paul Brown is doing all he can to keep Zampach behind-perhaps too much, as he runs wide on the last turn, allowing the American through for the win. I cross the stripe a mere 1.4 seconds later in fifth, with Kling coming home ninth. Unfortunately, Higbee was the rider who had his bike knocked out from under him in that last-lap scuffle.

Still, three Yanks in the top 10, not bad for a bunch of newcomers, with 25,000 French francs ($5500) going to Zampach for his winning effort. Standing on top of the podium, he is filled with pride and emotion as our national anthem is played for all to hear.

I know how he feels. □