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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128096
Bostrom, Yoshimura Suzuki's Jamie
Hacking, Yamaha's Tommy Hayden
and the last of the lead group,
Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates.
On the other end of the spectrum,
in regard to the red flag, was Valvoline Emgo Suzuki's John Hopkins.
The young Californian was running in
the lead group on his GSX-R600
when the red flag came out, then ran
into the back of a slowing DuHamel
on the back straight. The result was a
high-speed slide down the back
straight, a wrecked bike, and a broken right collarbone.
"It was one of those deals where
Miguel [DuHamel] had both of his
hands off the bar and he was pissing
around and there were like five guys
all together and I think Hopkins was
looking sideways or something and
he ran straight into the side of him,"
eyewitness Bostrom said.
As always, the early laps of the
600cc Supersport final featured
mostly posturing, with all involved
knowing that it was impossible for a
single rider to pull clear of the pack.
DuHamel led into turn one and led
across the stripe more frequently
than any of the others, but it was a
swap-fest all around the racetrack
with seven riders running in formation - at times diving into turn one
four abreast.
On the seventh lap, Roger Lee
Hayden's Honda blew up, causing
him to crash in turn one. Apparently,
he left a bit of oil on his way down
and a lap later it claimed his brother,
Nicky. Nicky Hayden was able to
remount quickly and rejoin the fray,
crossing the stripe a lap later in 13th
place. Then the red flag came out
when Grant Lopez also went down in
turn one.
Almost immediately after that,
Hopkins had his post-red-flag incident, essentially knocking both of the
Valvoline riders out of the race,
though Lopez did restart to finish
17th.
"I fell down there," Nicky Hayden
said. "I don't know what happened.
1 think there must have been some
oil because my little brother blew
up there and then he crashed. When
I came through there I was a little
wide, but I wasn't in really hot. It
was all so quick. Then the next lap,
I guess another guy crashed. Then I
saw there was oil dry out on the
restart. I don't know why if there
was oil down that there wasn't any
oil flags. That seems kinda
strange. "
Hacking led the restart, with Yates
giving him grief for the next few laps
as the lead pack consisted of nine
riders before being whittled down to
eight when Erion Racing's Jake
Zemke lost touch. With the only laps
that matter being the final ones,
that's when DuHamel stepped to the
fore and he led as the group started
the final two laps.
Amazingly, he was able to hold
the lead, including the wild run to the
checkered flag from the chicane usually a no-man's land for the
leader of such a race.
"It is really emotionally draining,"
DuHamel said. "Because you don't
know where you are going to end up.
Obviously, being Daytona, we really
wanted to give Honda a victory with
the new bike. I'm really happy and
pleased that we were able to go 1-2
here at Daytona."
And what of the run to the flag,
Mr. DuHamel?
"From the chicane to the start/finish line, my bike was on a mission,"
DuHamel said. "It was running hard.
My strategy was that my bike was
good enough that if I could get a little
bit of a gap on the guys, they would
run out of time before getting me at
the start/finish line. It was just a
guess, but I just decided to lead and
let my Honda do the talking out
there."
Although he realized he was lucky
to simply be in position to win, given
the fact that he'd crashed, it was still
a bit disappointing to Hayden that he
lost the race on the run to the flag.
"It was frustrating not to win,"
Hayden said. "Miguel did a little bit of
a weave on the banking and I stayed
right with him. I didn't really go by
when I pulled out and he did a weave
and I shut off for just a little bit
because it was so close. I thought I
was going to crash maybe. That was
about it."
Gobert was pleased with his debut
on the R6.
"The only change was in the first
one I didn't get the best of starts and
there were a lot of guys going desperate on the first lap," Gobert said.
"Starting from the third row, I knew it
was going to be hard and a lot of
guys came up the inside and ran us
wide. Once I got to the front of that
group, there was already too much of
a gap. In the second one, I said to
myself that I was going to be the one
making the moves, and I did. I got
with the lead group. Once you get
with 'em, it's pretty easy because
everyone is holding each other up in
the corners. I learned a lot and I really
had a lot of fun. It was a good race.
was back to square. I thought we lost
a little bit, of an advantage that we
had. Things were going good and I
led a bit, and on the white flag everyone came drafting around me and I
got shuffled back just at the wrong
moment. It was right up the front. I
nearly passed a couple of guys in the
chicane, which would have put me in
a good position, but I just didn't
squeeze by. So then [Anthony] Gobert shut me out. I knew I was in a bad
position coming out of the chicane
and then coming down the front
straightaway, actually, I had a good
draft and I came by Gobert and
Roberts, but I couldn't get back into
Nick's draft and then so Gobert and
Roberts came back by. I think we got
on the apron and started spinning
down there.
Hacking was sixth, hampered in
his final run to the flag by Roberts'
blocking move.
"I just got pushed out by Kurtis,"
Hacking said. "He pushed me up
against the wall coming out of
NASCAR Four. He was trying to get
the tow off Miguel and Nicky just like I
was and I was in line with him. He was
hung out there and he pushed us up
and my ra'ce was done there. I worked
hard the whole race to get nothing. I
was in the front the whole race. From
the beginning to the red flag and after
that, 1 never went beyond third. I
dropped back to fifth one time at the
end of the race, but 1 did that on purpose. The whole race I ran up front.
[At the end of the race] I was happy to
be where 1 was. I worked hard to be
where I was. It's kind of disappointing.
But I figure it's better off than where 1
was last year. I was over there sitting
in the hospital."
l:III
Aaron Yates (20) leads Jamie Hacking
(2) and Miguel DuHamel (17) Into the
International Horseshoe on the restart
of the 600cc race.
"Kurtis [Roberts] went a little bit
desperate: Gobert added. "And it
could have turned into a bad crash. I
was lucky to get through that. I
thought about stuffing Jamie [Hackingj in the infield and 1 probably
should have because he ran wide and
made it back up. I got on the back of
these guys by the finish line."
Despite ending up fourth and
doing little to his chances of repeating as the 600cc Supersport Champion, Roberts wasn't overly pleased
with the race, complaining of a lack
of top speed.
"I just couldn't pass anybody:
Roberts said. "I got [Anthony] Gobert
and [Jamie] Hacking both in the
infield, but my bike couldn't get out
of its own way today. I haven't run
with anybody. I've never been able to
pass anybody. I don't think I passed
one person on the front straightaway
the whole race. What 1 did was I just
stuck it to Hacking, because I knew if
I stuffed Hacking - I got Gobert in one
- because I knew I had to get both of
them guys. At that point, I knew I
wasn't going to win, so I needed the
Honda to win. And I knew if I stuffed
Hacking, then he couldn't catch
Miguel, because Miguel's bike was
good. So that's just what I tried to do,
and it worked. "
Bostrom was also one of the nearly men in this one, ending up an everso-close fourth after just losing out to
his championship rival of a season
ago, Roberts.
"The first start was actually great,"
Bostrom said. "Once things sorted I
was just hanging back and then Nick
[Hayden] and them crashed in that oil
and I almost crashed too. We both
got in the oil. I was able to pick the
thing up without crashing, but I lost a
couple of seconds. And I was worried
about losing the draft. I dropped the
hammer and did like a 53.4 all by
ourselves catching up. So I was like,
'Man, we're in good shape.' And then
the red flag came out. The second
start was kind of a bummer because I
felt like we'd taken good care of our
tires. We were in pretty good shape.
And then the second leg everyone
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