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/128121
vania he would rather forget, and the trouble wasn't the weather. Connell fell in the first official practice session, wrecking one machine, and then struggled to ride through injury the rest of the weekend (see Briefly ... ). RACE ONE Heading off the front straight into the first of two infield sections on lap one of the opener, Higbee jumped out ahead with Parriott second from Acree, quick second-row starter Himmelsbach, Chuck Chouinard on the Sparks Steak House Suzuki GSXR750, Wood, Roland Williams on the White Tep Racing Suzuki and Aaron Clarke's Pro Italia Apdlia. Batey put up his hand while running fourth in the second infield section, pulling into the pits at the end of lap one. By lap two II pattern began to emerge; Higbee holding off Acree and Parriott, a gap opening up to Himmelsbach, who in turn was clear a dice for fifth between veteran Loudon sparring partners Chouinard lind Wood, fresh from their duel in the Sportbike final. Acree moved to the point on lap three, and while Higbee briefly pulled even in the draft, Acree was in first for good. "He got up inside of me going onto the banking," explained Higbee. "I squared the turn off, got by in his draft, but he blew back past." Soon Acree was working on a slim lead, up to two seconds by lap seven, while Higbee fended off the persistent efforts of Parriott. Out early was current Superbike number-one-plate holder Grant Lopez, starting from the back on the sole Valvoline EMGO Suzuki on hand. Up to 11th from 34 starters at the end of la P three, Lopez suffered a gear-selection problem. With his shift lever dangling uselessly, the well-traveled Lopez was "dead in the water" and forced to retire (see Briefly... ). Riding well in fifth, Chouinard tipped over in the quicker first infield portion on lap six, doing little damage but ending his run. Unable to get the right set-up on his Shogun Yamaha Rl, usual front-runner Paul Harrell had made his way to ninth by lap five, but an off-track trip dropped him down to 13th. Pirelli-backed victor Acree made it look easy, and gave all the credit to his crew. "It was comfortable the whole way," explained the polesitter for race two. (Above left) The second race featured a battle between Shawn Higbee (14) and Acree, but the victory went to Acree. (Above right) Himmelsbach (104) laps a backmarker en route to finishing 3·4 in the two races, giving Aprilla Its first F-USA podium finish. By mid-race, the leaders were dealing with heavy traffic in the tighter, single-line second infield section, turns seven through eleven, Acree now three seconds clear of the Higbee/Parriott pairing. Twice Parriott almost capitalized on lapped rider hold ups, getting even with Higbee. Himmelsbach continued his lonely run in fourth, with Wood fifth and clear of Williams and an on-the-move Clarke. There was a good dice for eighth between Anthony Fania Jr.'s Rider's Edge Suzuki, the Synergy Honda CBR929RR of Californian Marc Palazzo and Edge Suzuki-mounted Michael Fitzpatrick. On lap 11, Parriott lost more than a second in traffic, but made it all up the next clear lap, confirming his plan to challenge second-placed Higbee late in the race. But on lap 13, Parriott crashed, damaging his brakes. Although he continued, Parriott was immediately off track again, and elected to pit to begin repairs for race two. "Shawn [Higbee] and I were going to have a good race to the end, I was cruising and I had a plan, but I didn't get there," said Parriott back in the paddock. "I just layed it into turn three, nothing different, and it lost grip." With the running order established at the front, the race was stopped early due to Wood's huge crash exiting the turn-nine infield kink late in lap 14. With bits of bike scattered all over, and Wood motionless, the race was quickly red flagged, although Wood would prove to be just bruised and battered. The cause of Wood's departure from fourth, and a front-row start in race two, was a malfunctioning tranny. "It started jumping out of gellr under accelerlltion, and I was just trying to nurse it home", started Wood. "It was getting worse, and then it finally jumped out of gear when the throttle was wide open, went to red line, and then reengaged. It was just see you later - it was the biggest highside. The bike hit me as I tumbled; it was violent. I'm just beaten up, but my frame is waffled." Acree was awarded the victory, Higbee second from Himmelsbach. Clarke put in an inspired effort to work up to place fourth, confirming Aprilia's F-USA arrival, with Williams also doing well to net fifth. First time Pocono participant Palazzo was sixth, a rare recent strong F-USA showing by a Honda. Fitzpatrick made it all the way up to a close seventh behind Palazzo, up from 18th on the grid. Fania Jr. faded from the Palazzo/Fitzpatrick dice to claim eighth with Connell working all the way through to'a painful but useful (for points) ninth. Third-placed Himmelsbach was elated, saying that, "we knew all along this was a podium bike. It just happened that things went my way. I had no real problems, the bike was great, there were just a few rider mistakes. It's a learning year for me, and it couldn't be going better. This is my home track, I live an hour away, and [team owner shop] Blackman's is 45 minutes from here. I won't lie, it gets you psyched up a bit more." "My KWS Motorsports Suzuki was great, the pace was what I expected, they only had a little on us," stated Higbee of his Arclight opposition. "We'll make a few changes, find those couple of tenths, and get in the game. My Dunlops were great, but I was a little too careful, I could have used them harder - I had some tire left at the end." cue' _ n RACE TWO In cloudy but still warm conditions, Acree blazed from the inside slot at the start of part two, Higbee slotting in to second as expected. On the move from the back of the grid were Parriott, Batey and Lopez, the second Arclight pilot up to an incredible fifth after one lap after starting on the sixth row. Batey was already 11th after one tour with Lopez 15th. The running order was established at the front early, Acree holding off a more forceful Higbee, the later happy with chassis adjustments. At the start of lap four Himmelsbach was already more than three seconds behind in third, Parriott just over a second back of the Aprilia in fourth. Williams was off to a good start in fifth, Clarke fighting for sixth with Batey. Injured Ducati star Connell was briefly up to eighth before running off and then retiring. Soon Batey disposed of Clarke to take over sixth, with Lopez pulling onto the tail of the second Aprilia to dispute seventh. Still dealing with gearbox problems, an inspired Lopez took over seventh on lap six, and then quickly caught ex-teammate Brian Parriott came from the sixth row to finish third In the second of two Fonnula USA Unllmltecl Superblke rounds at Pocono. _ _ S • SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 55