Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128103
Formula USA National Road R a c e S e r ies R oun d 2 : W illow Spr ing s R a c e w a y Pa ul Ha ....11 led every lap of the 5 portblke race, eventually winning by ove r 1 .5 seconds. with 25 point s follow ing h is first win of th e s easo n. CN Willow Springs llaceway Pole st a rter Pa lazzo wa s also in the hunt th e entire race , most notably in the early laps - befo re Harrell started to inc h away . "We started on the pole: Palazzo said . "Un fo rt u n a t e ly , I got a poor s ta rt b ut , o nce I got up th ere with those guys , it seemed like I wa s a lit- tie underpowered . I had to make up for it in the c o rners . I was going in d ee p into turns ni ne , one and thre e and I was getting those g uys . The Suzuk is wer e tea mi ng up on m e and dr af tin g m e on th e fron t s traighta way - it was pretty o bvi ous we we re down on powe r. Fortu nately, the S yne rg y Honda really handles well. There was some bumping going on - there was wa y more bumping going on than yo u guys saw . But there was more bumping going on with [Lee] Acre e a n d the Suzuk i guys - the y were te a mi ng up on me and we were bump ing back and forth ." Cic c otto , mean while , re tai ns hi s po ints lea d after finishing fourth (following th e d isqual ifications ) at Willow and winn ing the Daytona ra ce last month . Ciccotto leads Ac ree, 38-29. Harrell jumps to third in the s ta ndings Formu la USA B u e ll Light n ing S e ri e s Upstart 2 1-year-old Justin M cR eynolds (2 0 9 ) showed veteran Michael Barnes (34) a th ing or two in the Buell Lightning race by running away early and t he n winning by almost a second at the chec kered flag. B y B LA K E C ONNER P HO T O S BY B RIA N NELSON ROSAMOND, CA, APR. 22 h e Bu ell Lig htn in g ra ce d idn 't exactly ha ve th e largest g rid of the weekend a nd th e race wa s rather processiona l. Howev e r, don 't te ll that to Vall ejo Ha rle y Da v id s o n / Bu e ll' s 21 -year-o ld rider Justin McRe ynolds . McReyno lds s im ply took off like a bat out of hell an d wa s n ever s erio us ly cha llenged. At th e start. it wa s Smith Brothe rs Harley Da vidson/ Buell's Jason Sm ith T 36 MAY 9 , 2 0 01 • eye I e wh o got th e ho le s hot a nd t he e a rly le a d , bu t it was s ho rt lived. By th e e nd of t h e fir st la p, it wa s McReynolds, Florid a 's Micha e l Ba rn es a nd New Ca stl e Harley- Davidson's Tripp Nobles - a nd th ey we re already putting a gap on th e res t of the pa c k. By lap two , McRe ynold s alread y had te n b ik e le ngth s o n Barn es a nd Nob le s , wh o we re swa p p ing pl a c e s ba c k a nd fort h. Ba c k in the second p a c k in fo u rt h place w a s Dan ie l B ila n sk y on h is Ha l 's H-D /B u e ll. Bila ns ky was in a ba tt le with J ose ph Ham m o nd on a San Die g o Harley n e VIl' s Da vid s o n -p re p p ed Bue ll. Those two wer e swa pping position s a s fre qu ently as Nob les a nd Barnes. The figh t for sec on d p lac e allowed McRe ynolds to keep pulling away f rom the two veterans, as they seemed to be slowing each other dow n. By the halfway point , th e ga p ba ck to fourt h p lace had inc reased to a whopping 10 seconds a nd th e race wasn't even to the halfway point. On lap seven, Ba rnes was able to ma ke a break on Nobles , who started falling off the p a c e . Ba rn e s put his h e ad d ow n and s ta rte d r u n n in g Rosamond, California Results: April 22, 2001 Sportbik e: 1. Peul Herrell (Yam ); 2. Lee Acree ( Suz); 3. Marc Palazzo (Ho n) ; 4 . Micha el Ciccotto (Suz) ; 5 . Lanc e Isaacs ( Hon); 6 . Brya n Kovarick (v ern) : 7. Joseph Gill (Yam ): 8. Karl Lowery (Yam ); 9. Shan non Ball (Suz) : 10. Ty Howa rd (Yam ); II. Shane Prieto (S uz); 12 . Dale Kieffer (Suz) ; 13. Shawn Conrad (Suz); 14 . Jason Paden ( SU1): 15. Brett Champagne (Suz); 16 . Stuart Stratton (Y am) ; 17 . Scott Greenwood (Suz); 18. Roland Williams (Suz); 19 . Byron Barbour (Suz); 20 . Stoney Lende rs (Kaw); 21. Kevin Pete (Kaw); 22. Dan Fischer (Suz); 23 . Clinton Bretz (Yam ); 24. Samuel Camibucci (Yam); 25. Jo shua Bryan (Suz) ; 26 . Peter Christe nse n (Yam); 27 . Jeff Pepio t (Yam ) ; 28 . J ustin Bla ke ( Hon) ; 29 . Robert Christman ( Yam ); 30. Willi am C la rk e (Ya m) ; 31 . Mar ti n Si ms (Ya m ); 32 . Jeff Longbottom (Yam ); 33 . Will iam Pogue (Suz) ; 34 . Jonthan Dickinson (Yem ): 35 . Steve Luxem (Yam). T ime: 16 min., 55 .298 sec. Distance: 12 la ps , 30 miles Average speed: 106 .373 mph Margin of victory: 1.63 1 sec. SPORTB IKE C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 2 of 6 rounds): 1. Michael Ciccotto (38 l /w in); 2. Lee Acree (29 ) ; 3. Paul Harr ell (25 /1 ) ; 4 . {Tie } J ohn Hopkins (20) / Joseph GHI (2 0) ; 6 . (T ie ) Roll and Will iams ( J6) / Marc Palazzo (1 6) ; 8 . (T ie) O wen Weiche l ( 13) / Shane Prieto (1 3) ; 10. Lance Isaacs (1 1); 11. (Tie) Bryan Kovarick ( I O)/Byron Barbour ( 10 ); 13. Karl Lowery (8): 14. (T ie) Brian Parriott (7)/ Shannon Ball (7) . Upcoming Rou nds: Round 3 - Alton, Virginia, Jul y 1 Round 4 - l ong Pond, Pennsylvania, August 26 McReynolds down. Th at pace pu t h im s o me five -seconds ahead of Noble s. Barnes got to within .766 of a second at the finish line , but McRe yno lds ' win wa s nev er in jeopardy. "I c a me into the race knowing th at these ar e the top dogs ," McReynolds sa id . "I kn ew that I wa s going to h a ve to get a go o d start and , ho p efully , lead it, and keep somethi ng in m e so, if I had to get in a battle , I could pu ll something out. It went like I wa s hoping - I led the whol e thing , a nd it just ke pt getti ng bett er a nd better, and it felt good. I didn't ha ve a pit boa rd - I looked ba c k and sometimes a nd it loo ked like I had a big lead, and other times I looked back and couldn' t see th em at a ll." Jeffery .Johnson , out of Minneapo lis, Minnesota , e nded up winn ing the battle in th e second group of riders to finish fourth. and he now sits third in the points with 29 , afte r his t h irdplace finis h at Daytona. Barnes leaves Willow Springs with the points lead over Nobles , 45-36. McReynolds didn 't compete at Da y tona , but h is strong showing h e re puts him fo urth with 25 poi nts. CN WillowSprings Raceway Rosamond, California Resuhs: April 22,2001 Buell U ghtning: 1. Justin McReynolds; 2. M. chael i Barnes; 3 . Tr ipp No bles ; 4 . Jeff ery John son ; 5. Jose ph Ham m ond ; 6 . Dani el Bllansk y : 7 . Brian Bod ine; 8 . Jaso n Smi th; 9 . Willia m Finnerty; 10. Gregory Avello; 11. Steve Luxem: 12. John Bums. Time : 14 min. 49.60 6 sec. Distance: 25 miles Average speed: 10 1.168 mph Margin of victory: .766 sec. BUELL LIG HTN ING C' SH IP PO INT STAN DIN GS (Afte r 2 of 6 rounds): 1. Michael Barnes (45 J/win ); 2. Tri pp Nobl es (36) ; 3 . Jeffery John son (29 ) ; 4 . Justin McReynolds (25) ; 5. Brian Bodine (20 ); 6. Jason Smith ( 17); 7. (Tie) Richie Morris (13 )/ Brian Frank (1 3 ); 9 . Joseph Hamm ond ( 11); 10. Daniel Bilens ky (10) . Upcoming Round s: Round 3 - Alton , Virginia. Ju ly 1 Round 4 - long Pond. Pennsylvania, August 26