Rider Files

Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Thomas Stevens (left) and Fred Merkel look on as they ready for Superbike practice at Laguna Seca at an AMA Superbike race in 1995. That year was a tough season for Yoshimura Suzuki. Stevens and Merkel, both former AMA Superbike champs, managed only a single podium apiece during the entire ’95 campaign. (Alan Sessarego photo)

Another excellent photo in the Alan Sessarego series (website). Having built an AMA Superbike dynasty over the years, it’s hard to imagine that Yoshimura Suzuki didn’t always field a successful Superbike effort.

Such was the case in 1995. In spite of having former champs Fred Merkel and Thomas Stevens on the squad, they struggled to find the podium. In fact, during the entire season the team, which consisted of Merkel, Stevens and a young Donald Jacks, only found the Superbike podium twice.

Stevens started the season off on a positive note, taking a third in the Daytona 200. After that it got a lot tougher for the ’91 AMA Superbike Champion. He struggled to finish inside the top 10 and ended up the season ranked 10^th in the 1995 final standings.

Merkel, a three-time AMA and twice World Superbike Champion, did a little better. He too only scored a single podium in ’95 (at Mid-Ohio), but generally finished fifth or sixth fairly consistently and managed fourth in the final standings, even after crashing out of the final round of the season in Phoenix, an accident that ended his pro career.

Yoshimura Suzuki picked up Aussie Mat Mladin the next year and the rest, as they say, is history.

In April of 1985 Greg Sickmeier and Terry Hampton set off on a cross-country trip from Indianapolis to Rosamond, California and Willow Springs Raceway. Both Sickmeier and Hampton were racers, but on this trip Sickmeier was helping support Hampton in his efforts in the ’85 AMA Superbike Championship. Fortunately for us, Greg brought his camera along and captured the “talent” in and around the Hampton pits, which it appears he shared with Dale Quarterley. Greg caught both babes and bikes (mostly babes) with his CanonA1 during the race weekend. It was notable for Kevin Schwantz winning his first AMA Superbike race, setting him on his path to eventually becoming World Champion. This series is another in the Sickmeier Collection, of which we’ll be featuring for months to come. Thanks to Greg for documenting a great race weekend.

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