Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Roau Race Nicky Hayden (69), Aaron Yates (2) and Tommy Hay~nfoughttothe bitter end in the 600cc Supersport final at Loudon. In the end it was Nicky beating Yates, with Tommy third, making for the perfect Father's Day gift for Eari Hayden. AMAIPro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport series Round 8: New Hampshire Int'l Speedway Happy Father's Day By Henny Ray Abrams lIT 12 LOUDON, NH, JUNE 20 hat's a real good Father's Day. It don't get much better," said Earl Hayden, patriarch of the Hayden racing clan, after watching his sons icky and Tommy finish first and third, respectively, in a thrilling 600cc Supersport race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Sandwiched in between was new father Aaron Yates, the Muzzy Kawasaki rider who was joined in the winner's circle by his first child, his 2't,..month.. old son, Ashton. And not far back was Tommy Hayden's Yamaha teammate Jamie Hacking, the rider who led the most laps (eight) before dropping back ~er his rear tire eroded late in the race. Any of the top four could have won and allied atone point. But it was Erion Racing's Nicky Hayden who prevailed, mostly, his rivals said, because his CBR600 was set up the best when everyone's tires inevitably went away late in the race. While Yates and Tommy Hayden were skating, icky Hayden was scooting and he took the lead from brother Tommy with an aggressive move in turn one on the 18th lap. Yates also passed Tommy Hayden and pressured icky to the final turn, coming up .299 of a second short at the end of the 24-lap, 38.4-mile race run on the altered 12-turn circuit. The new layout, which remains 1.6 miles long, makes for faster racing, and Nicky Hayden's.time of 29 minutes, 29.392 seconds, at 78.129 mph, was a new race record. The more important number is in the points. Nicky added seven points to the lead he holds over his older brother Tommy. After eight of 13 races, Nicky heads Tommy, 255-237. Hacking holds third with 214. Yates and Tommy Hayden went tothe front of the 38-rider field right off the start, Yates taking the lead into one, with Tommy Hayden behind and Jamie Hacking right there. When the first la p ended, the top three of Yates/Hacking/Hayden seemed to be getting away, with icky Hayden mired back in seventh after yet another bad start. "All year I've just been getting terri.. ble starts," Hayden said. ''It's not so much they're bad starts, it's turn one and the first few comers. 1 don't know if 1 get tense or what I do. It's something I've got to figure out." Yates was second until a missed shift on the third lap dropped him back to third. "I got between second and th ird coming out of there (turn six) and I was on it and it wouldn't go," Yates said. "I tried just not moving my foot too much and shifting on the side of the lever and not catching the end of it, and when [ did, I didn't push it down hard enough and it got between the gears and I was stomping on it. It was like, 'Damn!' That was it. So I stepped out of the way and Tommy got by and 1 had to catch back up." Behind Yates was Nicky Hayden, and being back there meant that he had to work his way to the front, and he made his way up to fourth on the fourth lap. Along the way he had to first pass Yoshimura Suzuki's Steve Crevier and then Valvoline Suzoki's Josh Hayes, and it wasn't easy. "The first few laps, 1 got by Crevier and he banzaied back by me and really slowed us both down," Nicky Hayden said. "After that 1 got rid of him and was able to pick off one at a time until I got up there." By the time Hayden had moved into fourth, Hacking was out front, having taken the lead by diving under Yates in turn one to start the third lap. It looked like the Yamahas of Hacking and Hayden were getting away, with Yates soon to come under attack from Nicky Hayden. "I was just kind of behind Aaron and, like I said, for the first half of the race I was just holding on," Nicky Hayden said. "I couldn't do nothing with him. [ figured I would follow him (Yates), because I knew he was going to charge to catch those guys and we were catching them, so I didn't want to try to go back by them and screw us both up. I figured as long as we're catching them, 1 might as well stay behind them." On the ninth lap, Yates and Hayden had caught up to the leaders and the foursome set off. Hacking led until lap 11, when Tommy Hayden passed him in traffic entering the downhill bowl of turn six. One more tour and Yates also passed Hacking with Nicky Hayden on the move, passing Hacking, in the first turn sequence on the 13th lap. Hacking would soon discover that he wouldn't be able to make a run at the leaders. "I got into a couple of massive slides," Hacking said. "I almost highsided, and lost a bit of contact with the front group each time. 1 was riding conservatively, not aggressively, at the time, because I didn't want to crash. I still got into a couple of slides after that." Tommy Hayden was in front, with Yates in second until Nicky went under Yates in turn six on the 16th lap, soon to set out for his brother. On lap 18 Nicky went under Tommy in turn one, using a bold move that took two bends of the turn-one sequence to complete. "Turn one - 1 feel really good there, it's kind of like a dirt track corner for me," Nicky Hayden said. "1 got around him on the outside but I didn't really have enough to make it stiCK in the right. So he kind of stayed with me and then, when we went back left, I just got in front of him. It was kind of an aggressive movement, but I mean, there was some room there." Getting onto the back stretch, out of turn two, Tommy Hayden misshifted, .and Yates was quickly past. "Nick got up beside me and 1 made a mistake and 1 didn't grab an extra gear like I was supposed to and Aaron went by, too, and it took me a couple of laps to get back rolling," Tommy Hayden said. "Tum three, just when icky went by me, 1 didn't backshift like [ normally do there. 1 tried to grab the clutch like 1 do on a motocross bike and it nearly high-sided me. Aaron came by and I tried to go right back by him on the inside going up the hill and it almost high-sided me again." By then he was at the rear of the lead trio, though the"three were within a few bike lengths of each other and working their way through traffic. icky stayed in the front, protecting his lead, even though Yates was probing, especially in the final set of turns leading onto the front straight. Yates made a bid at the end of the 23rd lap but didn't have enough at the end to work past. And when Hayden missed a shift

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