Formula U SA Lockhart-Phi llips Unlimited S upe r b ik e S e r ies
R o u n d 3: Vi rg inia In t e rn atio n a l Raceway
Mike Clccotlo (13)leacIs Craig Connell (153). Brian Parriott (46)
and the rest of the Formula USA Unlimited SUperblke pack at
the new Virginia Intematlonal Raceway. Clccotlo won the first
of the two races, but _bed out'of the eecond race.
STO RY AND PH OT OS BY
H E NN Y R A Y ABR AMS
DANVIllE, VA, JOLY 1
y any m easure , the deb ut of pro fessi o nal mot o rcycle ra ci ng at
Virg inia Internationa l Rac eway was a
success. Fo r the m ost part , the racing
wa s cl ose, it was safe , and it was we ll
run, though a few ri ders complained
that t he rai n-hit second leg wasn' t
stopped qu ickly enough. T he riders '
onl y oth er complaint was the difficulty
in pass ing, a combination of the track's
narro wness and the elevation changes.
In qualifying, the riders realized the
t rick was to get out front and stay
there. It worked more often than not.
Hooters Suzuk i 's Mik e C i ccotto
qu ali fied on the pole fo r the Form ula
U S A Lockhart -Phillip s Un l imi t ed
Superb ik e class . T he key to th e race,
he 'd said beforehand , was the start.
He was rig ht. J etting from the pole ,
the Fl or id ian con t ro lle d t h e pace
early, gave up the lead for a few laps ,
B
14 ..JULv11 ,2001ยท c
ue
I
e
regain ed it, and then sped to victory
in the first of t w o legs, winning by
2.967 seconds at the end of the 18lap, 40.5-mile race. Arclight Suzuk i' s
B rian Parr iott , who led on laps four
and five, stuck with Ciccotto for much
of th e race before settling for a secure
second . Th ird wen t to Parr iott's teammate Lee Acree , who spent the race
in a dogfi ght with three other riders na rrowly coming out on top.
Acree fared much b etter in the
sec ond race , taking advantage of an
erro r by te am m ate Parriott to wi n th e
red-flagged race. When a light drizzle
began to fall on the 14 th of 18 laps,
Parriott, who was leading at the ti me,
put his hand u p think ing h e cou ld
stop the ra ce. N ot so. A cree looke d
to the c orne r workers , who hadn't
waved th e red flag , and co ntinued o n .
When the race was c alled , A cr ee was
o ut front with Parriott second.
" H e [Acreej did t h e rig ht th ing
looki ng fo r th e flags," Parriott said . " I
never should have g iv en up:
n
e
VIl'
s
Lee Acree (84) holds off
Paul Harrell (4 7 ) and Grant
Lopez (1). Acree ended up
going 3-1 on the day; Harrell
had a fifth and a sinh; and
Lopez went 4-DNF.
