Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

his work a bit easier by crashing on the 14th lap. From there Picotte was able to pull clear of those behind him to finish a comfortable fourth. "I wish we could get on the podium," Picotte said. "I thought I was rna tching Ben's (Bostrom) lap times, but I lost touch with him m the first 10 laps while 1 was fighting with Aaron (Yates) and Mike (Smith). 1 was hoping thmgs would stay together and maybe have some luck on my side. It's the best the bike has worked so far. Well, maybe Pikes Peak last year might have been better, but the bike was good and 1 can't complain. It was fun. Mike (Smith) was making a show of it - he was leavillg smoke everywhere on one lap. Aaron was m front of me, but I saw that he didn't have much side grip. 1 figure when you beat him on the brakes, you're doing good. I went by him on the brakes, but I went wide and he came by. The next lap, he went in a little deeper and lost the front." Hacking's charge was the most impressive, as he started to pick riders off near the end of the race, charging by his teammate Oliver, DuHamel, Pegram and Pridmore. "It worked good for me," Hacking said. "We had some miscommunication problems in qualifying. In the race, I kept a good pace - 1:0Is, 1:02 flats. I rode good and I was happy. It did good all week long, bu t every session it would change. 1 got frustrated with it because it'd change so much, but I just left it alone. 1 went mto the race with nothing to lose - so what the heck?" Following Hackmg across the line was Pridmore - sixth for the second straight race. He'd gotten there with a bold pass on Oliver in the bus-stop corner. "I did kinda stuff it in there," Pridmore said. '1 had to.' On the start, 1 hit the wall on the inside 'and twisted my knee and hit my arm. Five laps in, I thought there was no way I could go 42 laps. But I made it. I started passing people, and you have to stuff people here because there's not many safe places to pass." Oliver wasn't impressed, but he chalked it up to racing. "I'm a little frustrated," Oliver said. "1 made forward progress and everything was going pretty well. Then Jason (Pridmore) ran up the inside and stood me up and the whole pack went by. It was a sketchy move because 11e would've T-boned me if I hadn't stood it up. But that's racing. I made a run at Miguel (DuHamel), but I missed out by a wheel length at the line. Overall, we're stronger than last year. I just need to knock it up another level. 1 have a tendency to leave the inside open too much. It's been beat into me, and I won't make that mistake again." DuHamel. is still far from fit, and his Daytona result may be an aberration until he regains his fitness. Still, he scored points and now has three weeks before the next round. He also knows that, race-trackwise, thmgs will be a bit easier on him. "It's hard to ride the superbike with my leg," DuHamel said. "I was suffering a bit with fatigue building up the (Above) Miguel DuHamel (17) tries to hold off Jamie Hacking (92), Steve Crevier (14) and Jason Pridmore (43). All but Crevier got around the Daytona 200 winner as he finished an eventual eighth, (Right) Gobert shows the jubilation of a winner. whole race, 1 was in pain from both my leg and my back and 1 had to really mncentrate to stay focused. So eighth is , pretty good and I'm happy, I'll be seeing the doctors, and Willow will be better - it has more rights than lefts," _ . Phoenix International Raceway Goodyear, Arizona Results: March 21, 1999 (Round 2 of 13) SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING: 1. Mat Mladin (59.994/90.609 mph); 2. Anthony Gobert (1:00.377); 3. Ben Bostrom (1:00.687); 4. Aaron Yates 0:00:890); 5. Steve Rapp (I :01.056); 6, Mike Smith (I :01.056); 7, Doug Chandler (1:00.146); 8. Pascal Picotte (1:01.149); 9. Rich Oliver (1 :01.299); 10. Jason 'Prid~more (l :01.554); 11. Larry Pegram (1:01.623); 12. Miguel DuHamel (1:01.660); 13. Steve Crevier (1:01.675); ]4. Jamie Hacking (l:01.8BO); 15. Mat Wait (1:02.420); 16. Mi,ke Sullivan (1:02.962); 17. Rad Greaves (1:03.341); 18. Tom Kipp 0:04,224); 19, James Randolph 0:04.224J; 20. Jimmy Moore 0:04.318); 21. Grant Lopez 0:04.320); 22. Richard Alexander Jr. 0:04.443); 23. Mike Ciccotto (l :04.575); 24. Jamie Bowman (l:04.657); 25. Chris Rankin (l:04.nl); 26. Jake Zemke 0:04.902); 27. Dean Mizdal 0 :04.978); 28, Steve Grigg 0:04.981); 29. Mario DuHamel 0:04.978); 30. David Duprey 0:OS.293); 31, Robb Martin (1:06.229); 32. Jason Parker 0:06.409); 33. Eric Bostrom 0:06.425); 34. Cory Call (1:06.665); 35. Matt Cusumano (1:06.679); 36. John Jacobi (f:06.695); 37. ,to Yamah.a motorsp.orts racing-di~ision l,eader·Larry Griffis: ther~'s ' It'snot making the same power as it was .at Daytona," Do~ao' no timetable for when the team will acJually take deli\iery and start saicj. Doran qualified tAe:Honda 19th and finished 16th after doing racing the new bike. "I said if 'we didn't have it by the December all thework by,himself. "My mechanic's ncit nere. This is th""only' weekend he 'II miss'. " tire tes.t. we ",ouldn't use it'until after June 1," Griffis said, "We don't have the bike,S yet and we won't race,' them untit we know . what we've got. We know what this bike can dei." "It looked like the ExXon Valdez our there," American Honda's Miguel DuHamel said of what oe thought was an oil spili that Jason ,Pridmore is normally fairly calm'-but there was no calm· caused him io 'crash during the Thursday'promoter"s practice at ing him down after he watched Grant Lopez strike an, un,protect: Phoenix International Haceway. DuHamel was entering turn nine, .edconcrete barrier during' ,the Formula Xireme final. "We're not a near·dead-stop hairpiA leading 0nto the back' straight. wheri he' 'getting any prote.ctiein from the people wh.o .,,'r~ suppdsed tei pro· hit the fluid, sliding into the .outside retaining Vilall. At the time, the' , tect,us,".Pridmore sardo "Our purses suck and they take us to · cor!:'er worker was' not waving t,he oi,l flag, but holding a stationary, yellow. "There were' three bjg old slaps of oil out the,e," DuHamel shit places like this. It's no gooQ, They're going to come,out with the standard excuse 'of, 'Well, n0 one's ever c'rashed there · said. The Daytona. 200 winner was irate, screaming expletives, 'be.fore .and that's why it wasn't. hay·baled.' Now.they've g.ot·a inside his helmet when he came into. the pit's on' the back 'cif his guy who.is getting helicoptered' out of here because there was brother Mario's Hooters ,Rest"urants Suzuki. luckily, DuHamel no hay bales on a wall. I don't,know how many more times· it's didn't do any further damage to his still-tender right ,knee, "I fell going. to be before somebody gets killed or whatever, but it's on my knee puck and back." he said. "I think it absorbed it well. sad, really sad. You can't cace at a place,like tois. It's more ora There was minimal damage. We don't need to damage the bike survival thing. The first two tracks we g'o to eve'Y year, Daytona because of incompetence." DuHamel said the oil had 'come out of and here, it's just survival. and you just try to get through 'em. the, Yamaha' R1 of G

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