Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Th ird went to Millenniu m Tech no lo g ies' Shaw n Higbee , who 'd got ten co llecte d in a f irst -ra ce m e l ee. Black m ans C ycl e's Tray Bat ey was a close fo urth, to go w ith hi s fifth in leg o ne , w ith Paul Ha rrell an ailing fifth, aft er a sixth in the fir st race . Harrell was suffering fro m food po is onin g an d vo m it ed early and often. What of C i c c o t t o ? T he H o o te r s' rider crashed o ut of second pla c e in th e t u rn- 14 roll erc oaste r j u st as a li ght ra in began to fa ll . F -USA offi cials didn 't th ink it was raining hard enoug h to sto p th e rac e, but Ciccotto veh ementl y di sagreed . Most of t he riders sided w ith th e F -USA. An oth er seco nd - leg crasher w as Val v ol in e EMGO S uz uk i 's G ra nt Lo pez. Lopez, still recov ering fro m a bro k en sho ul de r, wo rke d h is wa y up from a thi rd-row start to fi nish fo urt h in th e first leg , then crashed on the sec o nd lap of the sec o nd le g . Even so , th e d ef e n d in g class ch amp ion ma naged to hold o n to fou rth in the champion sh ip with 65 points . A d v a n c e d M o t or Sp o rts ' C r ai g C o n n e ll , sev e nth and six th i n th e ev ent , leads the title chase w ith 75 poin t s after three of six rounds . Acree is sec ond at 68 , one point better than Hig bee's 67 . Acree was the biggest money -win ner on th e day , ea rn in g $44 25 fr om th e $2 0, 0 00 Un lim i t ed S up e r bi k e purse. Parri ott earne d $3 70 0 , plus the $450 Cycle News Holeshot Award fo r getting th e jump in th e sec o nd leg. RACE O N E Ci c c otto l ed t he 3 4-r i de r sn a ke t hrou g h th e fir st sequence of tu rn s w ith Conn ell a n d Parr iott c los e behind , th en Acree and Harrell. Qu ickl y , th e to p five got awa y , Parriott up to second o n the second lap and taking the lead wh en Ciccotto had a sli ght bobble in the turn - 14 rollercoaster on the third lap, ho ld ing it fo r two tours of th e 2.25 m ile road co urse , then g iving it back. A fterward, Parr iott adm itted th e move was prematu re. " Th at m a y ha v e showed M i ke som eth ing a little too early: Parriot said . "I wa s pretty good on the brakes. It looked he was struggling a litt le bit at firs t. On ce he saw m e do ing it, he started doing it. I shoul d have j u st pa rk ed i t b eh in d h im an d b a ng ed through the lappers li ke he did ." " O n c e Br ian starte d pressu r in g me, I de cid ed to put m y head down : Cic c otto said . "M y wrist [which he'd hurt i n an e a r li e r Sp ortbik e rac e crash] started lo osening up a little bit. On c e I got arou nd him I j ust put my head down for a few laps and sta rted o pening up a gap. Halfwa y I just took it home." By the eighth of 18 laps , Ciccotto a n d Par r iott w e r e awa y from the pack , with C i c c o tto soon to edge Parriott (4 6) e nded up with a pair of seconds i n the two races. C raig Conn ell (1 5 3) still leads the cha m pionship points stan ding s after three rounds . away on his way to victo ry , aid ed at the end by lappers. " I' m gla d I got t h e h o l e sh ot because then 1 c ould co ntro l it, " Cic co tto sai d. "This is a real tough track to pa ss on. I figured I'd slow the pace down and save m y tire for the e nd." T hird pla ce was a four-way battle for the second half of the race , fronted early by Austr ali an Cra ig Connell until his forearms pumped up and he fell back . He 'd end up seventh. Acree h ad al rea dy taken over the spo t when Connell bega n to move back. Harrell passed him, A cree too k it back , then made him self difficu lt to pass. " It work ed in th e 600 race trying to get w ide ," Acree sai d . "I ke pt gettin g p lu s zer o s, expect in g it t o be Paul [Harrell ] over my sho ulde r and it was Gran t [Lopez] ," ab ou t hal f a second back . Lop ez sa i d h e wa sn ' t phys ic a ll y 10 0 p erc ent , a nd that h e c o u ldn ' t mu scl e th e Su zuk i GSX - R750 R like he'd like. "T ha t hurts my co nfide nce a little bit too , and in ro ad ra ci ng co nfi de nc e i s key : h e sa id . More o f a ke y w a s t ha t hi s m e c h an i c , Todd F ent on , had c h a n g e d r e ar sp r i n g rat es j ust before th e race . " It took m e a m in ute to get used to it , bu t it felt co mfo rta ble a n d r ea lly ca me in . I d idn 't k now i f t hey w er e slow ing down o r I was speed ing up . Toward the m iddle part of th e race I was real ly con fident, feel ing like I was on a groo ve ." Batey had m ore power at his dis posa l tha n he had all week end . The B lack m ans Cycl e cre w had his Ap rili a RSV- 100 0 M ille near the cl ass li mit of 145 fo r th e first ti me and the big V tw in was ru nning hot. "I wa s kind of rolli ng out of it do wn th e front stra ig ht trying to save it : Batey said . "I knew I co uldn't attack, b ut if I could j ust m aintain fi ft h th at would be a good run ." Harrell was an unhealthy sixth . The Californi an sai d he'd had ba d shri m p at d inner on Saturda y night and woke up sick on Sunday morning . "I' ve be en h ea ving a ll da y : h e said . " W e got thro ugh th e 600 ra ce [fin ish in g a close second to A cree]. I was pre tt y sick and then the fi rst for mul a o n e ra c e was agonizi ng, a nd t hen r ight before t he second one , I heaved up I think the shri m p, so tha t ki nd of got rid of it. .. Co nnell had faded to sev enth with arm pump , th en c ame a pa ir of N ew En gl ander s, Keyston e Learn ing Sys t em s' Eri c W ood and Spa rk s Steak Hou se's Charl es Ch ou inard . Hooter s S uzuk i ' s Gab rie l He n n ing f ill ed o ut the to p 10 . R A C E TWO Rain had been fo rec ast fo r Sunda y e a r l y in t he weekend a nd i t h a d rained o n Saturday. The second rac e began un de r da rke ni ng sk i es w ith Parr i ott l ea d ing Co n nell, Cic c o tto , and A cr ee. Conn ell to o k the lea d on the th ird l ap , holding it until the l Oth, w hen Parrio tt ca me by at the en d of th e front stra ight. After th at it w as Par rio tt' s race to win or lose . The first rai ndrops beg an to fa ll on some parts of th e co urse aro und the 13th lap , Ciccott o now up to second , befor e falli ng in the roll er coaster. He cl ai med t hat it w as ra in ing and th e ra ce shou ld have been sto ppe d , bu t F· U SA official s d isagreed . " Rain fl ag s were up befo re Ci ccot t o c r a sh ed in th e co rne r s w h er e it st a rted precip it at in g first : F - US A Di rec t o r o f Co mp et it ion B ill S y f an said . " We checked the co rner wh ere he cra shed and the surface fl ags were out before he crashed ." After Cic c ott o fell , Acree m o ved into second behind Parriott. The rai n began to fall slightly ha rder and Par riott thought he cou ld stop it. He pu t his hand up , sat up , and slo wed early on the 14th la p a ll ow i ng A cre e t o sp eed by . Parr iott had crashed in th e Sportbike race earlier in the day and did n't wa nt a repeat. He was co ntent t o fi nish beh ind his team m at e. " I wa s alread y o n my he ad o n c e today , fo r th e team and fo r everything else I d idn't wa nt to do it again : Parriott said . " I j ust got spooke d. And I didn 't k no w th e rul e book ." " It was rea lly Bri an 's ra ce toda y , h e ro d e ph en omena lly : Acree sai d. "I th ink he had us covered , but that 's the way it works out. .. As for wh ether it wa s st o p pe d at th e right tim e , A cree sa id, " I think they d id a p retty good j o b. The fir st lap it was ra in ing , the t rac k wasn 't th at wet and when we c am e th rough the next t im e o nto he to p sec t ion it was really po ur in g bac k there." Connell lo st touch with the leade r when he ran off in tu rn one not long befo re the ra in fe ll. Carrying mo re corner speed t h an Parri ott in to t he fi rst turn , Co nn ell had no cho ic e b ut to avoid him. He rej oined the pa ck in fi ft h and was beginning to pu sh when the race was c all ed. "A nother lap and I woul d have been sweet: he said aft er finishi ng sixth. Conn e ll was o n e of the few wh o thought the race should have co ntinued. "These tires, you 're goi ng to slow dow n . They' re not as ba d as slicks in the wet. It was dry wh en he [Ciccotto) f ell. I w asn ' t slow ing d own at that point: he said. B e hind th e Arcligh t t ea m mate s was a four-w ay battl e w ith Higbee The Arcllght pair, running together at the front of the second leg. Acree (84) won with Parriott (4 6) finishing second. cue I e n e _ S • J ULY II , 200 1 15

• Cover