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it was whoomph. I'm like, 'What the
hell?' I can't believe I stayed on. That
thing (DuHamel's RC45) flew. It looked
like Evel Kneivel or something."
Neither Hacking nor Bostrom had
anything left for Pegram at that point
and the Fast By Ferracci rider just rode
off into the distance, trying to think
about-what he was about to accomplish.
"I caught Ben and we caught some
lappers coming out of two," Pegram said
later. "I knew he was going to go to the
inside, so 1 went to the outside of all of
them. We ran into three and it was kinda
hairball for a second, but we came out in
front of him. 1 knew from what these
guys were doing timewise that whenever I had an open track and had a gap
between me, 1 could pick up a second,
second and a half a lap on 'em. So I
knew that 1 had enough to get away
from them if 1 got in front. Once 1 got in
front of Ben, 1 had a little bit of trouble
putting my head down because 1 was a
little bit nervous. 1 didn't want to go too
hard and throw the thing away with two
laps to go, but 1 wanted to go hard
enough to inch away from him. The
thing worked perfect and luckily, when 1
got in front, the thing cooled back down
from pushing all that wind. I guess
everything went according to plan."
He summed it all up best by saying,
"1 feel like a million dollars."
Bostrom ended l:lP second; his best
result ofthe young season.
"1 raced around and Anthony (Gobert)
was going really good and he got a good
run on me up the straight," Bostrom said.
"1 didn't realize how he was going to pick
up the pace, so 1 was like, 'Oh, he wants
to ·go for a run.' 1 just picked up the pace a
bit and tried to run him down. I figured
that the two of us might have a chance of
jumping away, but then he started to
have a bit of bike failure. I took advantage
of that and started leading. 1 knew these
guys were following me, waiting·for me
to tear up my tires - the guy leading
breaks up the air. But they were having
the same trouble as I had and 1 just got
snookered in the end. I had a really fun
time - more fun than I've had in a really
long time. It's kinda like riding in the rain
- it was sweet. Unfortunately, a couple of
laps from the end, Larry had momentum
and snuck by in three. 1 tried to hang the
pace with him, but 1 just couldn't. Over-
Nicky's first
superbike
E
rion Racing's Nicky Hayden (right) made his superbike racing
debut at Willow Springs International Raceway, riding what team
owner Kevin Erion characterized as an RC45 identical to what factory superbike pilots Miguel ·DuHamel and Eric Bostrom are supplied
with.
"Last Monday we tested out here for about half a day and other
than that, Thursday was my first day on it," Hayden said. "I'm pretty
happy. The bike's just a really good bike."
Hayden said he wasn't sure what to expect when he first rode the
bike, but he found it to his liking.
"It's a lot better than I thought it would be," the 17-year-old said. "It
handles better and the power's a lot smoother. It's neat to ride. It's fun
to ride, that's for sure."
When asked how he thought the speed of his superbike compared to
the others in the field, Hayden said, "I ain't seen nothing any faster."
How does he approach riding the bike?
"[t's kind of different from tl,e 600 and 900. I'd say it's kind of in
between those bikes. The power on it is a lot smoother (than on the
900). It's not as peppy, it's just smooth. It don't hit as hard as the 900.
It's really stable like through turns two, eight and nine, the really fast
stuff. It's just really solid and stable.
"For the price, 1 guess it should be," he added with a smile.
As of Saturday's final qualifying session, 12th qualifier Hayden said
he was still trying to get comfortable with the bike and hoping to have a
better handle on it by the race.
all, it was fun and tlle bike ran great - 1
.had a really good day. We'll try and win
the next one."
Hacking had done his best on the
aging Yamaha, finishing third and still
trying to make up ground after his nonfinish at Daytona.
"As soon as I got up to him
(Bostrom), the tire just went right off,"
Hacking said. "Not long after that, Ben's
bike was pretty much everywhere. We
stayed the same and Larry (Pegram)
was charging pretty hard and came back
up underneath me. 1 just hung in tllere.
Then my pluses started going up - two,
three, four. 1 was like, 'Yeah, this is cool.
1 can handle third place: It's my first
superbike podium back since I got hurt
at Brainerd. I'll take any podium 1 can
get, - especially two in a day (Hacking
ended up second in the 600cc Supersport fina!)."
Mladin ended his day in fourth place,
still content to be leading the championship after three races.
"It was good," Mladin said. ''I'm real
happy with the race. 1 just wasn't fast
enough, I guess. When Miguel
(DuHamel) crashed, two of the main
guys in the championship were out of
the race, so 1 didn't do anything stupid
at that point."
A similar incident. took place at Willow Springs on Saturday when
Paul Harrel! was disqualified from the Formula Xtreme race.
Harrell crashed· ironically, in an· incident with Lopez - on the opening lap of the Xtreme race, but he was able to make the restart,
though ·not on his original bike. He restarted and finished· on a
Yamaha F.l6. Hairell was .disqualified but.was not fined.
"When I'm behind--;:::;:;=::;;:;::==========;:1
somebody, I'm not like I
am on my 600, where if I
need to go by somebody I
just throw it in there," he
said. "This thing is kind of
wide.and I'm haVing a
hard time passing people.
Bopefully, I can get that
figured out by the race."
Hayden's· contract
states that he is entitled to
a minimum of three rides
on the bike, his next outing
expected to be at Road
America, then Mid-Ohio.
U these go well, then Erion
said there is a possibility
of additional opportunities.
Come race time, Hayden struggled a bit - especially with the dual-com.pound race tires. He ended
up a respectable 12th,
though he was disappointed with the effort.
"I could go all right on
tl,e single-compound tires," Hayden said after the race. "But I couldn't
get it to work on the race tire. It just felt really greasy. I've got a lot to
learn. It's a big step, but I know what I need to work on. I knew it was
going to be tough, but after riding it the first time (during the test), I
thought it'd be easier than what it was."
Rapp was also ratller content, happy
to have made it through the race
after slip-sliding his way around on the
Suzuki.
"It was slippery from the first lap,"
Rapp said. "I'm just glad 1 do dirt tracking for practice because that's what it
felt like tl:le whole race. It didn't do anything weird out there; it was just a lack
of traction."
Unfortunately for himself and
Harley, Picotte's fine ride ended prematurely with the oil-line problem.
"1 knew it was a gamble (running the
softer tire)," Picotte said. "But it was
working. Rapp was slowing me about a
second a lap and then I was gaining a
bit on Mat (Mladin). I went from 14th to
fifth and almost fourth, so I can't be too
disappointed."
CN
Willow Springs International Raceway
Rosamond, California
Results: April 18, 1999 (Round 3 of 13)
SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING, 1. Anthony Gobert
0:19.206); 2. Ben Bostrom (1:19.425); 3. Steve Rapp
(I,19.49S); 4. Mot M1ad,in (1,19.9,59); 5. Miguel DuHamel
(1:20.067); 6. ,Rich Oliver (1:20.106); 7. Jamie Hacking
(1 :20.174); 8. Doug Chandler (1 :20.432); 9. Steve Crevier
(t :20.452); 10. Eric Bostrom. (1 :20.457); 11. Larry Pegram
(UO.575); 12. Nicky Hayden (1.20.823); 13. Jason
Pridmore (1:21.050); 14. Pascal Picotte (1:2J.101); 15.
Aaron Yates (1 :21.166); 16. Matt Wait (1:21.622); 17. Scott
Russell (1:22.207); 18, Frands Martin (1,23.525); 19, Rad
Greaves (1,23.625); 20. Steve Grigg (1,24.287); 21. Tom
Kipp (U4.568); 22. Jimmy Moore 0,24.584); 23. Jeff
World Champion Kevin Schwantz is providing hi~ with' help
that is immeasurable ... Kevin .has been helping me so much."
Pegram,said·. "It's not just one big thing, it's every ·Iittle thing.
Everyone says, 'Well·, what's he teaching ya?' I told him th~ next,
time some reporter asks me what he's been teaching 'me, I'm
gonna·tell 'em that he tau·ght me how tb peel an orange the ,right
way. He taught me to break the seal on the orange. We:ve just
According to Dunlop's Jim Allen,·all the Dunlop-mounted,rjders been spending a lot'of time together and it's every little thing.
with the exception of Pascal Picotte used the same dual-Com- . He's teachirig me a lot.-about racing and where·to have my head,
pound tire in the Superbike N·ational. ·'We've got ·tWo tires:" Alle~·.. where· to have my thoughts during ·the race· and ··in beivveen .the·
said, -"the 602, which ·is our regular hard tire, and the. dual-com- races. He's helped· me out a lot and a lot of ·this victory .is because
pound.. Grip. is reasonable on the 602, but Kurtis (Roberts) arid of him as well.·'
f\jicky (Hayden) blistered it in 15 I'lps ·in the Formula Xtreme race.
PasCal (Picotte)· is running .it,. but it's· a gamble."
. . B~n Bostrom figured that Pegram .was .full of hot air wheri he·
came .uP bragging on Saturday about how he was going' to win
.
'.
.
. The plug was officially pulled ob Mat. Mladin's 60.0cc Super- Sunday·.s Superbike National. "This guy came up to me last night.
. sport i:amp~i!i;, for 1999 in the weeks leading· up to Willow just rubbing it in, just talking so much smack. about how he was.
going to win from the third row and how he had these tires and·
Sp~ngs: "We feel· that we· are very c.ompetitive in the Superbike
Championship and we want him to concentrate all of his efforts on the setup," Bostrom said., "I s,aid, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' I didn't take
that." Suzuki vice. president Mel Harris said. "·Our 600 has to be any. of it seriously. Then I looked back and saw Larry (during the
;'idden really liard and we·'d rather have him put hiS· efforts in race) and thought. 'Son· of a bitch.''' With. his victory, Pegram·
, superbike. We·ve got some young guys in the 600 class who are became the 4,Oth man in AMA Superbike history to win a National.
doing a good job." . .
.
.
. Harley-Davidson's..scott Russell made his racing "return at Wil:Many were surprised to hear that Chaparral Suzuki-"s Damon low Springs, finishing 14th in ihe Superbike. National after ·strugBuckmaster. was. scheduling ·his ·return to ·racing for Laguna gling with traction problems. ''I'm glad to be back on twei wheels
,Seca ·at the .end of April. Those same people will" be.astOQishep to and I"m really proud ·of the Harley ieam· - they"re working· really"·
hear that .Buckmaster hqs moved up the date of his retum to rac- hard," Russell said.
-took· me a couple of days to get the cob.ing to .nexi week ·at ·Sears. Point Raceway in S.ono'11a·, ·California: we.bs off, bu.t it's good to be back. I hate this.race track and ·1
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