Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

door slam shu t. Many had visions of a repeat of last year, when Yates crashed into Hayden on the final lap, but a long battle was not to be . On lap 10, it was Havden who outbraked Yates at the end of the back straight, charging off to pursue his brother. Yat es wasn 't able to keep pace and began gradually falling back from the lead ers. Roberts, meanwhile, had accidentally downshifted his bike when he meant to upshift and had fallen back a considerable distance from Yates. He would la ter bla me riding street bikes (w hich have a reverse shifting pattern from the race bikes) at Honda's factory in Ohio all week lead ing up to the race as the cause of his mistake. He would stead ilv m ake u p ti me on Yates an d ge t past him on th e final la p, a lt ho ugh it was h ard ly n ot ice d because of w ha t was going o n a fe w seco n d s in fro nt of them. To mmy led Nicky at the white flag . As the two we nt into the Keyho le, Nicky braked very late going in to the turn an d actua lly took over the lead for a seco nd befor e ru nn ing wi de on the exit of th e turn, allowing Tom my to sli p back in to the lead . The next tu rn was the en d of the long straightaway. It's the most popular passi ng s pot o n the tra ck a n d Tommy knew Nicky was go ing to make his move there, bu t not in the spectacular fashion it was d one. To m my we n t low to p ro tect t he' inside and braked late r than he ha d all weeke nd, b u t it wasn ' t enough . N ick went on th e outside a nd braked even later . The two we nt side by side in to the tu rn, bo th bare ly in co n trol of th e ir bikes. As they came out to the esses, it was N icky w ho ha d the line . It was a bold and innova tive move tha t proved to be the winning pass. "I thou gh t he would pass on the back stra ight, but 1 di dn' t thi nk it wo ul d be on the ou tside, " said Tommy Hayd en . "I could feel him sucking on me , so I knew he was there. 1 tried to ha ng on, but he broke a little d eeper, and he was on the ou tsi de o f me, so I th ou gh t I' d be all right because the track is really rough there and yo u really have to be on you r lin e . A nd th en on th e left turn I w as kind of pinched off." N icky Ha yd en ha d wanted to mak e hi s mo v e ea rlier, but when it d id n ' t hold , he k ne w he ha d o n ly o ne more cha nce. "O n the last lap, I tried to take him on th e key ho le a nd I got a good run coming ou t a nd drafted by him, a n d then I just tried to pinch him 'off," Nicky Hayd en said . "It was kind of funny on that las t lap; it was kind of like we were in th e back ya rd (on Honda XR100s) . There was mo re p ressure back ho me, reall y. But with no one watching, jus t me and him, we p robably would have taken each other out." Behin d Yates cam e Bostrom, In-fifth. Hayes was sixt h, followed by Prid more a nd Valvoline EMGO Su zuki's Jo hn Hopkins. Mid-Ohio fan favo rite Tom Kipp was nint h an d Steve Rapp edged out Joseph Gill for 10th. The vic tory moves Nicky H a yd en into a tie with Doug Chandler for fourth on the all-time caree r wi n list in AMA 600cc Supersporl. Hayden and Chandler , each ha ve six wi ns in the class . Mig ue l DuH am el lead s the wi n list wi th 36 victories, followed by Mike Smith with 13 eN wins and Doug Polen with 10. Mid-Oh io Sports Car Cou rse Lexing ton , Ohio Results: July 18, 1999 (Round 10 of 12) 600c( SU PE RS PORT FINAL: 1. Nicky Hayden (Hon): 2. Tom my Ha yden (Ya m ); 3. Kur tis Ro berts (Hon); 4. Aaro n Yates (Kaw): 5. Eric Bostro m IHon): 6. Josh Ha yes (Suz): 7. Jaso n Pri dmore (Suz): 8. Jo hn Hop kins (Suz) ; 9. Tom Kipp (Suz) ; 10. Steve Rapp (Suz): (Abo ve) Tommy Hayden (22) gave Yamaha 's R6 it s first vi ct ory in the 750cc Supe rsport class when he passed Jake Zemke (98) late in the race . (Right) Prior to that, Hayden had punted championship leade r Tom Kipp (16) off the track. II. Joseph Gill (Ka w); 12. Damon Buckmaster (Suz ); 13. Bria n Parriott (Hen): 14. Jake Ze mke (Suz); 15. Eric Wood (Ka w ): 16. William Mrklas (Yam); 17. Roger Lee H a yd en (S uz ): 18 . Nick Da n iel s (Ya m) ; 19 . T r oy Yeoma ns (Suz) : 20. Kevin Lehman (Yam); 21. Lau ren ce Borst (Suz ); 22. Trent Thom pso n (Suz): 23. Eric Twigg IHo n): 24. Leo Ven ega (Suz) : 25. Kenneth Sn yder tIl (Suz); 26. Sean Kow alski (He n): 27. Michael Hannas n (Yam ); 28. Jess Roed er (Hon); 29. Kurt Marmor (Kaw): 30. Steve Crevte r (Suz); 31. Jami e Hacking (Ya m); 32. Jon Co rn well (Honj. AMA 600ee S UPERSPO RT SE RI ES POI NT STAND INGS (After 10 of 12 rounds): 1. N icky Ha yd en (317 /5 wins ); 2. Tomm y H a yd en (306 /3 ); 3. Jam ie Ha ckin g (248/ 1); 4. Kurtis Robert s (238 ); 5. Aa ron Yates (226); 6. josh Hayes (221l; 7. Steve Crevie r (215); 8. jason Prid more ( 97); 9. Steve Rapp ( 93); 10. Eric Bostrom O≪ 11. Brian Parriott ( 50); 12. Tom Kip p (l45); 13. Rich Oli ver (loW); 14. Sean Kowalski (38); 15. Ja ke Zem ke (l1 9). Upcoming Rounds: Round 11 • Brainerd, Minnesota, August 1 Round 12- Fountain. Colorado, September' 9 A MAIlockhart Phillips U A750cc Supersport S Series,Round 9:M id.Qhio Sports Car Course The R6's day By Paul Carruthers LEXINGTON,OH. JULY17 t was bo un d to happen. . Yama ha's R6 'was eventually goi ng to w ina n AMA 750cc Su pers port fina l, especia lly with the hot ha n d of Tommy Hayden at the controls. Mu ch to Suzu ki's chagrin, that day fina lly came at the Mid-Ohio Spo rts Car Course, an d it ma rked the GSX-R750's first d efeat in 750cc Superspo rt racing since Tom Kipp wo n the final race in 1995 on a Yam ah a. It was also the first time in the history of . th e se ries th a t a 600 had wo n a 750cc Supe rspo rt race. Hayden took advantage of bo th the tight and twisty Mid- O hio layout a nd the miscu es of so me o the r riders to give the R6 its firs t victory in the class - and it was also Hayden's first win in 750cc racing. I The race was eve ntfu l from the sta rt, wi th Chaparra l Suzu ki's Da mo n Buckmaste r ta k in g co n t ro l ri ght away . Behind him, however, thi ngs we re heating u p, with Hayd en in a ru sh to ge t to th e fro nt. O n the s ixt h lap , a fter two unsu ccessful passing atte m pts on cha mpi onshi p lea d er Kip p, H ayd e n tr ied again entering tu rn 14. Th is time he ran into the back of Kipp, se nd ing bo th riders off the track and on to the grass. Hayd en wa s ab le to recover in thir d pla ce, wit h Kipp goi ng all the way to the tire wa ll before he could ge t the Suzuki back on track - in eighth place. Hayd en th en cha rged afte r second placed Jake Zemke on the 1-800-CYCLEGEAR Suzuki and started to reel him in. O n th e 10 th lap, every th ing cha nged w hen Buckmaster threw away cer tai n victory w hen he cras hed at the end of the back straight. It didn't go unnoticed by Hay den, who rea lly put his head down to catch Zemke, who now led the race. 13

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