Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES (Above) Pascal Picotte (21) was able to move around Miguel DuHamel (1) to take the victory in the 600cc Supersport race at Phoenix International Raceway. Aaron Yates (2) finished second with DuHamel third. (Left) The trio celebrate. It was Picotte's first-ever win in the class. AMA Pro Honda Oils 600cc Su ers ort Series' By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams ~ 0\ 0\ ,..., ...D C'l >, ~ 2 ~ "" ~ 8 PHOENIX, AZ, FEB. 16 few simple facts came to the surface in the opening round of the AMA Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Series at Phoenix International Raceway: 1) The Suzuki GSXR600 is good, but not unbeatable; 2) No matter what you throw at him, Miguel DuHamel will always be on the podium after a 600cc Supersport race; 3) There are some young faces who have proven quickly that they aren't afraid to mix it up with the established stars; 4) If you don't like close racing, look elsewhere. Let's explain: 1) Yes, the highly touted 1997 Suzuki GSXR600 won the opening race of the series, in the capable hands of first-time class Winner Pascal Picotte. In fact, the one ridden by his teamma te Aaron Yates finished second. But it wasn't third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. And the Suzukis didn't run ~way and hide as many had feaJ:ed they would do, in copycat fashion of how the sibling GSXR750 conquered last year's 750cc Supersport Series. 2) Most of the leading was done by the gritty and determined DuHamel. He was there at the start, there in the middle and there a t the end, proving once again that he is the dominant racer in the 600cc series. At the finish line he was third, just a hair behind the pair of GSXRs, and knowledgeable of the fact ·that he and his Smokin' Joe's Honda are up to the task once again. 3) Kinko's Kawasaki's young Jamie Hacking put his ZX6 on the pole for his first-ever AMA ational, he led the race, he turned some of the quickest laps, and he finished seventh. And he learned some things that will make him hard to beat in coming races - namely that you have to know how to use your tires if you're going to beat the likes of Picotte, Yates, DuHamel and Co. Muzzy Kawasaki's young Tommy Hayden also showed that he's got what it takes to ride with the best. Hayden was in the lead group, fourth actually, when he crashed with two laps to go. These two are good. And they make virtual rookie Ben Bostrom, who ended up fourth, look like a veteran. 4) Twelve riders were in the lead group for most of the race - count'em, 12. And they were separated at times by as little as 2.5 seconds - from first to 12th. When all was said and done, it was Picotte who crossed the line first in the opening round of the series, just .260 of a second ahead of Yates. DuHamel was just as close in third, his last hairpin, onthe-brakes act of bravado in an effort to catch Picotte gone awry, allowing Yates to sneak past. "It feels really great, there's no doubt about that," Picotte said of his first win in the class. "Especially beating Miguel, because he's been dominating the class for the past few years. We showed them tbat the new Suzuki is really good. We've been working really hard and we've done a lot of laps, and it shows that we were really ready for the first race. 1 really didn't think we could pass that much here. I think I had a little advantage on the bowl, and that might have been my weight advantage over Aaron (Yates). Me and Miguel were pretty equal speedwise, and Aaron was a little down. The bike is wonderful and I want to thank my guys for never giving up. J really appreciate everybody who gave me a hand this weekend." Fourth place went to Zero Gravity's Bostrom, the youngster starting conservatively on his Honda CBR600 and running as far back as 11 th in the lead group before eventually moving through to challenge the leMers. Fifth place went to another Honda, this one in the hands of Smokin' Joe's Steve Crevier. Erion Racing's Andrew Stroud put his CBR600 in sixth place, actually doing a reversal of Bostrom in that he was at the front in the early laps but faded in the latter portion of the 25-lap affair. Then carne Hacking and the Kinko's Kawasaki, proving not only tha the's ready to contend but that the Kawasaki is just as capable. HyperCycle Suzuki's Jason Pridmore was the next-highest-placing Suzuki rider, the Californian steady throughout after winning the 750cc Supersport final the day before. Behind Pridmore was 600cc upstart, 250cc veteran Rich Oliver, in his first outing in the class on his Team Oliver Yamaha YZF600. Oliver showed that he's perfectly cal?able of competing with the best of the 600cc class, but Yamaha may have some work ahead of it to get the heavier YZF to the front. Yamaha's Tom Kipp ran most of the race just in front of Oliver, only to crash on the 19th lap. He remounted to finish 15th. HyperCycle Suzuki's Mark Miller rounded out the top 10 finishers on his GSXR600, finishing just ahead of class veteran Mike Smith on the second Kinko's bike. Picotte holds down the championship points lead with 35 points, three clear of Yates and four clear of DuHamel, who picked up an additional point for leading the most laps. The race began with a DuHamel holeshot, with a horde of 600s tucked in behind as they exited turn two and headed through the esses of turns three and four. Honda-mounted Matt Wait eliminated his chances of a top finish when he crashed in the turn-nine hairpin, remounting to eventually crash again late in the race. As the pack crossed the start/finish line for the first time the order read: DuHamel, Stroud, Hacking, Picotte, Smith, Yates, Crevier, Hayden, Pridmore, Kipp, Bostrom, Todd Harrington and Oliver. A who's who of 600cc Supersport racing. None of the top 12 could break clear, and it was apparent early that this one would go the distance. A mistake here and a mistake there, and it was very likely that anyone of them could lead one lap and run 10th the next. Naturally, the order changed often, but it was DuHamel who led the most laps with 13 to Picotte's six, Hacking's five and Yates' one. But Picotte led the one that mattered most - the final one. By this time, Hacking had burned up his front tire and Hayden had crashed, but not before each of them had made a lasting impression. "J cooked a tire and I guess that's my lack of experience," the likable Hacking said. "I learned a lot and I think next time I have to get out front earlier and not be all tensed up in the pack." So what was it like running with a pack of the 12 best? "That was the ultimate - that was it," Hacking said. ''I'm happy with what J did out there." Picotte took over at. the front on the 21st of 25 laps and he had his head down in traffic. On the final lap he had a slight gap, an advantage that DuHamel tried to close in one fell swoop on the brakes in nine. The French Canadian hopped and skipped his way into the hairpin, but was going too fast to hold his line and Yates was able to sneak through to grab second place. "The race went really well, actually," DuHamel explained. '1 got a good start. I knew everybody was going to be right there and I was just riding a nice comfortable pace. I knew somebody was behind II\I!, but I wasn't sure because it could have been any of six or seven guys. It was a good race. Wha t I really liked about it is that it is a really tough track to pass on and luckily I was riding with guys with heads on their shoulders and experience. Everyone was clean, there was no sour grapes about any bumping or whatever. I really enjoyed it and all the way until the last corner I think it could have been any of us. It was real close. I think it will be that 'kind of racing all year. '1 tried to pass Pascal because I was making up quite a bit of time going in there (turn nine)," DuHamel added of . his last-lap pass attempt. "I thought [ could pass bini on the brakes, but my

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