Tommy Lynch talks with Yoshimura Suzuki’s Don Sakakura during a break in the action at the 1988 WERA Grand National Finals. Schmoozing with Don must have done some good because a little over a year later Lynch was a factory Suzuki rider. Of course it didn’t hurt that Lynch – an amateur flat track champion as a youth who hailed from Bakersfield, Calif. – was perhaps the breakout pro rookie of 1989 scoring a slew of top finishes, including a victory at Talladega, in what was then called the AMA Yokohama 750 Supersport Series. Lynch raced several years for Yoshimura Suzuki, moving up to the Superbike class with the team in 1991.

Tommy Lynch talks with Yoshimura Suzuki’s Don Sakakura during a break in the action at the 1988 WERA Grand National Finals. (Larry Lawrence photo)