Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE Round 11: Brainerd International Raceway AMAIMBNAS UPERBIKE SER IES Aaron Yates won his first 600cc Supersport race of the year at Brainerd. using any method he co uld thin k of to get bette r top speed out of his Suzuki GSXR600. AMAJPro Honda O 600Cc Supersport S ils eries Round 11: Brainerd International R ceway a Afirst for Yates By Henny Ray Abrams Photos by To m Riles BRAINERD, MN, AUG. 2 he firs t th ing you need to know abo ut th e Pro Hond a Oi ls 600 cc Supersport race at Brainerd Internation al Racew ay is that , at the finish, the top six rider s wer e cove red by 1.064 seco nds . The second thing you need to know is that it was Yoshimura Suzuki's Aa ro n Ya tes wh o took his fir st 600cc win of the year, after a thrilling las t lap in w hich he ran off the track and roosted the second -place finisher . . Th a t would be Erion Racin g' s Er ic Bostrom, wh o was also in a position to challeng e for the w in be fore lo ck in g both wheels up in a lurid slide on the last lap . That gave Yates about what he needed to wi n, but on ly by 0.545 seconds . T he ne xt fo ur crossed th e line in rapid succession - Yosh im ura Su zu ki' s Steve Crev ier in a photo finish for third over Tea m Su zuki Sport' s Jason Pridmore, who was convinced he was third . Then came Team Suz uki Sport's Nicky Hayd en, wh o'd led five laps in the middle of the race befor e making a few mistakes at the end . And sixth was Ameri can Honda 's Ben Bostrom, wh o cou ldn' t mount an effective charge on the lead ers . A few seconds late r Muzzv Kawasaki's achi ng Dou g Chand ler c~ossed the line. Cha nd ler had led the first th ree laps before his bike developed an eng ine problem w hich prohibited him from d riving cleanly out of the corners . His teammate To m m y Ha yden was next across , having slowed down to let Chand ler by; then cam e Na te Wait on a leased Mu z zy Ka wa saki, wi th 1-800CYC LEGE AR's Steve Rapp filli ng out the top 10. Ya tes completed th e B-lap, 39-mile race in record time. His time of 22 minutes, 34.500 seconds wa s abou t 22 seconds under the previous record held by T Migu el DuHamel. His average, 103.655 m p h , wa s w ell abo v e DuH am el' s 101.978 mph. "I really wasn' t expecting to d o so well ," Yates sa id after his third career 600cc Supers p ort Win . " Fir s t, Do ug (Cha nd ler) got out there a good ways and then icky (Hayd en) ru n him down and brough t us with him in his dra ft, and I got to ru nni ng with Nicky and he pu lled me down the straig htaway, and I got by him an d jus t tried to run my own pace. Once I go t to the front of the guys, I cou ld kind of run through the turns in the infield like I like to go. I was not icing I was ge tting a little gap there coming in to th e la st turn a nd th e g uys , we ren 't shooting by me on the straig hta,w ay. I thoug ht, 'You know, if I can do this for fou r mor e laps, I might have the w i n.' " Be cau s e h e mi ss ed th e Ca li fo rni a races ea rly in the seaso n du e to a broken wrist, Yates isn' t a factor in the cham pion sh ip . Crevier is th e lead er with 318 points, tho ug h he wasn't happy to have to race fellow Suz uki rider Jason Prid . mor e for third . Still, it left him with an 18-poin t lead over Chand ler, now back in second with 300 poin ts. Ben Bostrom clo sed up in th ird with 292, a nd Eric Bostrom ha s 278. Yates was on the pole with a new lap record , bu t it wa s Chandler wh o go t the jump. He took teammate Tommy Hayd en with him, then Todd Harrin gton, Pridmore and Crevier - the orde r shu ffling from corner to corner all the way through the end of the lap. Chand ler was first across the stripe from To mmy and then Nic ky Hayd en , Harringto n and Crevier, with Yates , Eric Bostrom a n d Rapp in fro nt o f Be n Bostrom. Chand ler loo ke d like he migh t be pu lling a disappea ring act as the or de r shuffled behind him . He kept it up for anothe r lap and then started to lose the gap as his bike began to slow . He wo uld grad ually fall back to seventh at the end. "I tried to go, they caug ht me; I was conten t wit h that," Cha ndl er said. "1 figured, 'Well, I' m just going to save w hat I've got to the end.?' Nicky Hayden went by Cha nd ler in th e ultra -fa st ri ght-hand kink in th e front straight - tu rn tw o. Another corne r and Crevier wa s past, with Yates by also and Eric Bostrom up his pipe. . Ha yden and Yates s tarted a battle of thei r ow n, with Yates going insi de Hayd en fo r the lead in turn one on the s ix th lap, th en H a y d e n p owering on the ou tside to keep the lead - Crevier t he n takin g th e po int , Hayden wrestling it back. Abo u t th e n , Bos t ro m joined in, moving into second and then back to third wh en they crossed the line for the sixth time. "I started ou t, I think I was third , th en I go t a ro u nd m y bro ther a n d got aro und Dou g and my bi k e was w orkin g good a nd see med to be ru n ning," Nicky Hayd en sa id. "Then I go t ou t fro nt and I co u ld ge t a li ttle bit of a gap in the infield. I was ge tting my plu s from go ing into the last corne r. Then I w ould come by, one time I had plus fou r, plus two . Every time they would jus t kin d of se t me ba ck up, pa ss me together . A cou ple of laps to go , they all d rafted bv me." That ca rne o n th e n inth la p, wi th Ya tes movi ng Nicky Hayd en to second, in fron t of Eric Bostr om. Crevi er, meanwhile, was fou rth, in front of Prid mo re and Ben Bostr om . It was the move Yates need ed to establish himself. "When vo u foll ow so mebodv, and yo u have to ride really har d in the turns to kind of keep up wi th them , they kind of ge t in the w ay and a ll," Yates said . "O nce I broke free a nd go t me a clea r track, I could run my own pac e and it help ed a lot. But if I was stu ck behind th em guys mu ch lo n g er , 1 pro ba b ly wou ldn 't have been able to d o it." The clear track was in fro nt; beh ind th ere w as no ns to p action , with Eri c Bostrom going by Hayd en on the front s tra ig h t on the 10th lap . He'd been in second earlier bu t ra n w ide in turn 10 when he caught a false neu tral on the seventh lap and dropped to fifth. This time he wo uld remain a part of th e mix, though bo th Pr id m o re and Crevier we nt by on the 11th lap as the y br aked for turn three. Havden was also past a few tu rn s later, so 'that wi th two laps to go, it was Yates marginall y in front of Pridmore, Crev ier, Hayden, and Eric and Ben Bostrom. Ben w asn 't h aving mu ch of a day and knew he wouldn't be a th reat a t the end. " I could n ' t d o an ything ," Ben Bostrom said. " It wa s so damn fru strating . Th ey seemed to be pullin g ea ch othe r along ju st fast enough that I wa s stuck. I'd get back on them in the infie ld and they'd kind of all work together on th e s tra ig h ta w a y and I ju st co uldn't ma ke any draft passes . An d then, 'Yeah th is is okay, I'll jus t ha ng on to him .' Th en, on the las t la p , I' m go ing to d o . so me serious braking becau se I was real fas t on bra king going into three. And I kind of go t screw ed. Hayd en was just riding so me kind of missil e. H e'd just s hoo t ba ck by me a fter th e w hite flag there and I knew 1 was in trouble then becau se I was going to have follow him. I gu ess that'd be two lap s from the end , because he was a bit slow through the corners. And I wa s like, 'You' re letting these gu ys ge t a w a y from you an d I need this so bad .' It was the only way -I cou ld beat Stevie (Crev ier). So coming out on the last lap , it was jus t to maintain his draft. Anyway, I tried to set him up and I just came too hard an d too fast and then he went past, drove past me in three a nd t hen I was real fas t in the in field to tr y to ge t up on these .gu ys, hop in g so mebody makes a m is take th ey 're try in g to pu s h each o ther, because that' s wha t a few of the guys d id : Th ey tri ed to ma ke so me infield p a sses. But as y ou kn o w , th e in field here, you can' t pass. You just got to be smooth. From three to 10, you go jus t 12-3-4-5 - that's how you' re going to finish unl ess somebody make s a mista ke." That is how it wo uld happen on the last la p , but no t without so me exci tement. Yates led the fina l lap from Crevier, Hayden, Pridmore and Eric Bostrom. Th ey s ca tte re d lik e bu ckshot g oin g down the front straight - Bostrom inside Cr evier going into one, Yates still leading, the res t just traili ng. Eric Bostrom made a stro ng move to take the lead in turn two and rode hard in to turn fou r - too hard, it would turn ou t - and Yates zipped past. 'T u rn four, he ru n it in reall y deep and had it sliding in and he went wid e and I tucked it under and I got the rear step ped way out," Yates sa id . " It was just lots of fun." Not for Bostrom . " 1 wa s too late on th e brakes and I passed Aaro n in two and I was thinking, 'You kn ow , I think we are going to win th is th ing: " Eric Bostrom sa id . "And th en I went in to four and I wanted to make sure that nobody was going to run under me becau se I didn't ge t a g rea t drive off of thr ee because I had such a low en try . I just got in too d eep. Both tires we re locked up and I just cou ldn 't h old th e li n e . I was su re Aa r on was go ing to com e ba ck and hopefu lly not anybody else ." Hayden th ought about takin g hi s best shot, bu t his own miscue preven ted it. "Going into four, I moved in to third . , I outbroke Jason an d Crevier" but on ce I got in there, Eric had go t in too hot and I wasn' t able to carry eno ug h speed: ' he said . "I kind of had to s tand it up so I di dn ' t run in to them. I think if I could ha ve go t in to th ird th en , th e last lap would have certa in ly bee n in teres ting, but I screw ed myself righ t there." T hat's how it wa s. But Yates w as about to ha ve some exci tement of his own. The Georgian ran wide in tu rn six, runn ing off th e tra ck a n d pelting Bostrom with pebbles. "1 was just tr ying to ru n into that tu rn rea lly good a nd then I go t in the midd le of the turn and I didn't feel comforta ble to really turn the bike because the tires were getting prett y greas y and I started going," Yates exp lained . "I was like, 'Da m n, I' m go ing wide .' And I we n t off the edge of the curb ther e and I th ou gh t for su re they were goi ng to come smoking by me. But I guess when th ey run it in tu rn four, he (Bost ro m) mi gh t h a ve h e ld up the g uys w ho cou ldn' t get back in line back there." "1 t ried to ge t b ack in li n e when Aaron got a big slide au t of there: ' Eric Bostrom said. "He went off in the di rt. I had a cha nce p ro bably to po te nt ia lly pass him , bu t he left it wide ope n off in the dirt and just sp rayed me rea l hard . I felt like I was out in Lima, O hio ." From there Yates ha d to ho ld on , and he d id , protec ting hi s line in the final turns to no tch the victory . The d ifference be tw ee n th ir d a nd fourth was .002 seconds, with Cr evier

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