Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127844
ROAD RACE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES and I went to about fourth or fifth by the front straightaway," Polen said. "I was just aggressive. It was a lO-lap race, and there wasn't a lot of time to mess around. With only four laps' practice, I' couldn't measure up anybody. I didn't know what their capabilities we·re. If I wa~ on the front row, I would have been leading and going right on the first lap. The first lap we ran was quite fast." By the completion of the third lap, Pridmore was fourth - but was firmly established as the only one capable of possibly ca tching Polen. Pridmore moved around Lupo and Miller on the third lap, moving into second with a pass on his teammate in Canada Corner - a popular passing spot, especially when it carne to getting around Miller. "The only problem there was me, getting up to speed," Miller admitted. "I got passed there by both Jason and Doug. It's just one of those things. You go up to sixth gear there on the 750, and I really want to get that thing slowed down so I don't botch the comer and get stuck in the gravel- and have eight guys go by me. So I was just being really conservative today. I haven't finished in the last two 750 races, so I just didn't want to cook the corner and do anything stupid. I just used my head. I have no excuse for getting passed there; it was just my conservative riding." Any hopes of Pridmore making this one a race were dashed quickly as Polen continued to march forward. Pridmore knew he couldn't expect a mistake from the former champion. "I don't understand," Pridmore said. "At the first two rounds, I got real good starts, .and at Laguna, I got a real bad start, and here. It seems like we have a lot of play in the clutch. We tried to make an adjustment to it, but it still has . a lot of play. I was like 12th or 13th, or farther, in. turn one. I saw Doug (Polen) going through people pretty quickly, so I knew I had to get through with him. By the time I got through them all, Doug was pretty much gone, so I tried to put my head down and catch up, but then I ran off in turn five. That was. that. Of course, I've got the championship to think about, ·and I really want to win that this year. If Doug was some rookie, , I would have pushed harder and harder and harder and hoped that he'd make a mistake - but when you're following a two-time World Superbike Champion, you have a pretty good idea he's not going to make too many mistakes up front." In the end, Polen was 7.14 seconds clear and happy to be back at the top of the winner's podium. Miller was also able to hold off the charging Lupo, with Rankin doing likewise to DuHamel. All of the top men were forced to take 'an alternate line through Canada Corner on the finallap.as an ambulance attended to Gordon Lunde Jr. All also reported big slides as they were forced to the dirtier portion of the track. "There's no doubt it feels good," Polen said. "I don't feel good when I don't win anyway. Anybody who wants to win has got to have that attitude. You've got to have persistence. You've got to have something to motivate you to keep going, and keep winning and keep trying. That's probably some of it that I haven't won in