Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Formula USA Lock h a rt-Ph illip s Unlimited Supe r b ik e S e r ie s Rou nd 3 : V irginia International Raceway Michael Barnes dominated the Buell Lightning race in Virginia, topping Richie Morris by some 13 seconds. FormulaUSA Buell LightningSeries Round 3: Virginia International Raceway By H EN N Y R A Y A B RA MS DANVILlE, VA, JULY 1 he le s s on of toda y's Buell light ning Series race at Virg inia Inter nation a l Raceway is tha t it d o es n 't p a y to be healthy. Riding with an a c hing left s ho u ld e r, the resu lt of a pr a ctic e c ra s h three weeks e a rlier in En gl a nd , Micha e l Ba rn e s ran a way with the race , stretching his champ ionship lead in the pro cess . Ridin g with a ha nd that was nearly amputate d as a result of the horrifying startline incident in the March running of the Da ytona 200 , Ha l' s H-D /Bu ell ' s Rich ie Mo rris , finished seco nd . T he bes t a healthy bo d y co u ld d o was third , with Bry a n Bemis de rfe r taking the spot. Three weeks pr ior to the VIR ra ce , T 18 J U L Y I I , 2001 • cue I e Barnes c rashe d whi le qu a lify ing for the Wor ld Endurance round at Brands Hatch in England. He 'd ri d de n at Loudon two week s ago a nd hi s le ft should er wa s s till sore in Virg in ia . Barn es knew the shoulder would be a problem and tr ied to pace himself. He only rode three laps of qualifying on the Bue ll a nd th ree o n his Sportbike en try. In the Sportbike rac e , run just befo re the Buell event, Barnes took a th ird in a race plagued by attr ition. The 600cc race stu ck with him when the Bue ll race began . "At first , I was kind of stuck on m y 600 lines , and I wa s turni ng in a little lat e o n my Buell," Ba rnes said. "O nce I figured that out - turn in early, gas e a rly - it wa s easier to figure ou t after that. The first la p wa s a little tricky . I kn ew it woul d be . My s hou lde r was n e vv s s till rea l stiff fro m s witch ing fro m th e 600 to the Buell race ." Not that it sh o wed. Barnes was a lwa ys at th e point and never th re ate ne d . La pp ing o ver a s econd fa s te r than Morris , Ba rn e s won by 13.290 s ec o nd s, a veraging 83.752 mph for the 12-lap, 27 -mile race. "It' s hurting m a n ," Barnes sa id. "I never got a cha nc e to heal for a da y. The ic e wasn 't do ing enough . I need a c ou ple o f good three weeks off and hopefull y I'll be ready for Suzuka with Hooters beca use that's really what we ' re looking forward to ." Three races into th e s ix-r a ce ca mpaign , Ba rn es leads the c ham p ionship with 70 points, 30 mo re than Hoban's H- D/ Buell's J e ff Joh n son , fifth to day . Ne w Ca s tle H-D's Tr ipp Nobles is third with 36 . Nobl es didn't race at VIR, traveli n g to Port land Internationa l Rac e wa y for a conflicting AMA/Buell Pro Thunde r ra ce that was runn ing wi th a WERA Grand National. Morris wasn 't sure what to expect wh en he arrived a t VIR. S ince Daytona , he hadn't ridden , but had been unde rgo ing therap y fo r h is badly damaged left hand . "I t wasn 't for s u re I'd e v er be back," Morris said. "They were tal k ing about amputatin g th e hand at one point. I still don't have an y feeling in tw o of m y fingers and my wris t . In lefts an d o n the b ra kes is the o nly p la c e I fee l a lot of pa in." Mo rr is knew to be ca ut ious . Th e ha nd still contains pla tes and scr e ws and a crash would set him back. "We' re not going to win this race, but we 're going to do better than we thought we 'd do ," Morris said, and he was righ t. Whe n the race began , Morris saw the red mist a nd was ins tantly in th e th ic k o f it. Fo r the first four la ps he trailed Be m is de rfe r, looking for the opening th at would come in th e esses on th e fifth of 12 la p s . Bem isde rfe r looke d ov e r both s ho ulde rs trying to keep Morris at ba y, but it didn 't wor k a nd Morr is wa s u p to th ird . By th e e nd h e ' d pu t seven s e c o n d s on Bemisderfe r, his second s ec ure . " No t bad for an old, o ne-a rmed cripple," Morris said. "The a d renaline ju st took ove r and set a pace there and it was g reat. I could n't catch Bar ne y, bu t we 'll get him th e ne xt race." "My hat's off to Ric hie Mo rris," Bem isd erfer s a id . "He was right in there bumping and grind ing and I res pe ct the kind of rid ing he did and I had fun ." Four seco nds beh ind Bemisderder ca m e Smith Brothers Harley/Buell 's J ason Smith. S m ith ha d been at the front of a c ha sing quartet before edg ing away in the fina l stages. Same for Hoban 's H-D /Bue ll' s Jeff Johnson who cleared some s pac e on the fight fo r s ixth that went to H-D /Bue ll of Boston 's Chad He a ly ov er Conrad Motorsports ' Stev e Luxem. eN V irginia International Raceway Danville, V irginia Results: July I, 2001 I Round 31 BUELL UGtITNINCi SERIES : 1. Michael Barn es; 2 . Ric hi e Morris; 3. Br y an Bemisderfer; 4 . Jason Smith; 5. Jeff Johnso n; 6. Chad Healy; 7. Steve Luxem; 8. Mark Reynolds; 9 . Brian Frank ; 10. Brian Bod ine; t 1. TImothy Jo hnson; 12. Patrick Wak efi eld; 13. Danie l Bilansk y; 14. Ti mothy Bemlsderfer. Time: 19 mins., 20.5 72 sees . Distan ce: 12 lap s, 27 m iles. Avera ge speed: 83. 752 mp h. Margi n of victory: 13.290 sees. B UELL LI GHT NI NG SER IES C'S H I P POINT STANDING S ( A ft er 3 of 6 ro un d s) : 1. Mi chllel Barnes (70/2 wins) ; 2 . Jeff Jo hnson (40); 3. Tr ipp Nobles (36); 4 . Richi e Morris (33) ; 5. Jason Sm ith (30 ); 6 . Brl en Bodin e ( 26 ); 7. J ust in Mc Reyno lds (25); 8. Brian Frank (20) ; 9 . Steve Luxem (19 ); 10. Chad Healy (1 8): 11. Bry an Beml sderfer (1 6) : 12. Mark Reynolds ( 15 ): 13. Daniel Bilansk y ( 13) : 14. (T IE) J oseph Ham mond{rimothy Jo hnson (1 1); 16. (T IE) Wil liam Finn ert y /Gre gory Ave llo (7) ; 18. C hris to ph e r Dec ell e s/J ohn Burn s/ Pa tr i c k Wa ke field/Pa ul J am es (4 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Long Pond, Pennsylvania, August 26 Round 5 - Portland, Oregon. September 9

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