Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMAIMBNA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ';':'-':';! ""."'.', •.•• ,'. "" ... '-,' -. (Right) Eric Bostrom (17) led the opening lap of the 600cc Supersport filll!l over Doug Chandler (10) and the rest. Bostrom crashed out of the lead while battling with Nicky H.ayden late in the race. (Below) Hayden went on to win his flrst-ever 600cc Supersport final. The 16-year-old beat some of the best In the business In doing so. 1 Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Sonoma, Califomia, May 3 Round 6 - Braselton, Georgia, May 31 AMAIProHonda Oils 600cc Supersport Series Round 4: Willow Springs International Raceway Hayden arrives By Paul Carruthers Photos by Henny Ray Abrams ROSAMOND, CA, APR. 26 f there was already a line forming to get 16-year-old Nicky Hayden's name signed at the bottom of a contract for the 1999 racing season, it just got a little bit longer. The HyperCycle Suzuki rider may have won his firstever AMA National event in last week's 750cc Supersport final at Laguna Seca Raceway - but today he really arrived. The youngster from Kentucky went out and beat the very best road racers the United States has to offer, winning the 600cc Supersport final at Willow Springs International Raceway. Proving that his pOle-position-winning time wasn't a fluke, Hayden went out from the get-go and showed every- . one what he's capable of. Hayden and his' Suzuki and Eric Bostrom and his Honda were able to break free from the pursuing pack and looked set to battle to the bitter end. Bostrom, though, excused himself on the 12th of 15 laps with a crash ~ turn four, leaving Hayden to run alone to the checkered flag. Behind him, however, the action remained hot to the very end. Tha trace went to the final lap, witll the Hondas of Ben Bostrom and Miguel DuHamel trying to hold off the charge of Yoshimura Suzuki's Steve Crevier. DuHamel was able to force his way past Crevier into turn one, and he held the spot to the finish to earn second place. Crevier put the GSX-R600 on the rostrum for the first time this season in third place, with Ben Bostrom a very close fourth - yet again. Then came HyperCycle Suzuki's Jason Pridmore, well clear of championship points leader Doug Chandler on the Muzzy Kawasaki ZX-6R and Richard Alexander Jr. Chandler's teammate Tommy Hayden, Nicky's older brother, had his best race of the year to finish eighth after drafting past Erion Racing's Kurtis I Roberts on the run to the flag. Yoshimura Suzuki's Larry Pegram rounded out the top 10 finishers. The quiet and unassuming Hayden ranked this victory higher than his first 750cc Supersport win from a week earlier at Laguna Seca, and more than his second 750cc win a day earlier at Willow. "Yeah, for sure this one means more than the 750 race," Hayden said. "I knew 1 could win, but 1 knew it was going to be really tough." With four of 14 races in the books, Chandler continues to lead the point. standings with 136 points. Hayden and DuHamel, meanwhile, are locked together with 118 points, 10 clear of Crevier. Ben Bostrom is fifth in the series standings with 102 points. Points leader Chandler got the best jump from the front row' at the start of the 600cc Supersport final, but it was Eric Bostrom who led by the time the pack got to the top qj the hill and turn four. The younger Bostrom led the first lap, followed by Chandler, Ben Bostrom, Crevier, DuHamel- and Hayden. . "The first three or four corners, I was going backward," Hayden said. "I was bumming and thought I was fixin' to blow this. Then I got going and picked those guys off and.got a bit of a gap." Those guys fell rather quickly to the Hayden attack. By the end of the third lap he was fourth, a lap later he was third, and then he led. When they crossed the stripe at the end of five laps, Hayden led the Brolliers Bostrom (Eric, then Ben), DuHamel, Crevier, Pridmore and Steve Rapp. Then there was a small gap back to Chandler and Alexander. Willi Hayden and Eric Bostrom clear of the others by the eighth of 15 laps, it was apparent that one of the tw.o youngsters would win. It became even more clear that it would be Hayden when Bostrom crashed on the 12th lap. "I guess Eric (Bos trom) came with me," Hayden explained. "1 couldn't shake him and he went by into one. I just followed him for a few laps and that's when he went down." Naturally disappointed, Eric Bostrom thought that this might have been the one - his first 600cc Supersport victory. "Nothing hurts but my pride," Bostrom said. "It was bizarre. I had a good strategy and Nicky (Hayden) was riding really welL I was saving my tire and using the draft. I guess I hit a ripple up there. If I was off line, it wasn't more than a few inches." Meanwhile, Ben Bostrom had to wa tch his brother slide off the track. "I saw him jump right up, so I knew he wasn't hurt. Then I just hammered it again." A few moments after Bostrom went down, Rapp followed suit. The Northern Californian 'was able to remount, sans a front-brake lever, to finish 14th. From that point on, this one belonged to Hayden. All he had to worry about were his tires. "I was definitely worried about my tire and how long it was going to last," Hayden said. "I was definitely pushing pretty hard." With Eric Bostrom out, the race for second would go to the wire between DuHamel, Crevier and Ben Bostrom. The gritty DuHamel was there when it counted. "I was really surprised as far as tir.e wear goes," DuHamel said. "The Dike was really good, maybe.a little fat on top because it didn't have the top spero. that the other guys had. It handled really well, but Ym a little disappointed that I didn't take off with Eric and Nicky out there. They were just running a skosh faster, but that was because they were running together and not stuffing each other, I think. They did a good job. Nicky did a great job. I'm happy. TIris is my first race at Willow and I'm happy to see that the tires held up good. I . didn't wear myself out too much in that race - it was easier than Laguna Seca. So I'm feeling pretty fresh for superbike.r' Crevier, too, was pleased, though he'd have liked a little more speed from his Suzuki. "I've been kind of concerned because I haven't been able to get the GS'X-R to accelerate quite fast enough for my needs," Crevier said. "I was really slowing down a lot through turns eight and nine. I was playing dirty pool a bit, riding down the middle of the track and using as much track as possible without really weaving. Miguel (DuHamel) artd Ben are really strong on- the brakes and that's the way it goes. I t1link I got kind of lucky because traffic was actually.ill my favor today - and I've had a lot of problems with traffic. It came to favor me today." DuHamel's final pass came on the entrance to turn one - and it stuck "I felt pretty good behind him (Crevier)," DuHamel said. "I was just cruis.illg and then I thought I'd better wake up and figure out how I was going to pass him because it's really hard to pass here. The last resort was going into nine and J thought I could stuff him, but it'd be pretty dangerous. One was one of my strong points, so after about fom laps from the end I started thinking about it and needed to set him up for corner one. I just stayed back there and went .by Steve going into one. I got a good dri'Ve and a good draft." fX Willow Springs International RaCewl!Y" • Rosamond, California 11 Results: April 26, 1998 (Round 4 of 14) ). 600cc SUPERSPORT FINAL' 1. Nicky Aoyden (5uz); 2. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 3. Steve Crevier (Suz); 4. Ben Bostrom ,(Hon); 5. Jason Pridmore ($uz); 6. E>o.ug Chandler (K~w); 7. Rich Alexander (5u7o); 8. To..mmy Hayden (Kaw); 9. Kurtis Roberts (Hon); 10. L.1rry Pegram (Soz}; 11. Karl Lowry Jr. (Sux); 12 'Mike Ciccotto (5uz); 13. Bobby Keith (Hon); 14. St~ve ~p. (5uz); 15. Kenneth Chase (5U2); 16. David tampbell (Hon); 17. Bryan Kovaridc (5uz); 18. Jeremy IToye (Sw:;;

• Cover