Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I caught him up, we were dicing, but he had enough for me today. I was disappointed I couldn't put a head to head battle on for the fans, so I gave them a big wheeUe at the fmish." Parriott was looking to redeem himself in the second Superbike race, stating, "I needed to finish, but on the podium if possible! Mike [Himmelsbach] was really riding excellent, I was pushing to get tenths here and there. Then he over slowed for one lapped rider, in turn four, and I got past them both. That Aprilia's really good coming off the corners, he put up some good stuff, but he may have decided to take fourth near the end." For his part, Himmelsbach said that, "everything was working good, but Brian was better! I'm not use to running a big bike for that long," continued the diminutive, ex-GP class racer. "I'm not use to the bike sliding like that near the end, but I'm no quitter. It's my first year with a big bike on DOT rubber, so I'm still extremely happy. The team gave me a bike I could ride hard all race, and Tray [Batey] has really helped me; we work together well." Fifth place for Lopez was something of a miracle, given the confidence draining shape his GSX-R's' just repaired gearbox was in. "It started jumping out of fifth," explained the reigning champion. "I started short shifting, then it started jumping out of fourth and sixth. Then it started miss shifting every gear. The last lap was pretty scary, I didn't know if I would make it. I couldn't find a gear for a long time, then finally I got second, and I gave out a big sigh of relief. It's too bad, otherwise I don't see why I couldn't have run with the leaders." eN (Apr); 11. Byron Barbour (Suz); 12. John Hener (Kaw); 13. Paul Harrel (Yam); 14. Gregory Leffler (Suz); 15. Eric Wood (Suz); 16. Bob Blanchette (Kaw); 17. Alistair Smith (Hon); 18. Arthur Diu (Yam); 19. Jim Bonner (Yam); 20. Dale Dandrea (Suz); 21. Roman Kilgore (Suz); 22. Brian Gregory (Suz). LOCKHART PHlLUP5 UNUI'IJlE) SUPERBIKE LEG ON.E: 1. Lee Acree (Suz); 2. Shawn Higbee (Suz); 3. Brian Parriott (Suz); 4. Michael Himmelsbach (Apr); 5. Grant Lopez (5uz); 6. Troy Batey (Apr); 7. Marc Paleno (Han): 8. Ty Howard (Kew); 9. Roland Williams (Suz); 10. Aaron Clark (Apr); II. John Honer (Kow); 12. Michael Fitzpatrick (Suz); 13. Anthony Fonlo (Suz); 14. Byron Borbour (Suz); 15. Charles Chouinard (Suz); 16. Gregory Leffler (Su,); 17. Mark Ledesm. (Apr); 18. Arthur Diaz (Yam); 19. Bob Blanchette (Kaw); 20. Jim Bonner (Vom); 21. Alistair Smith (Hon); 22. D.le Dondre. (5uz); 23. Roman Kilgore (Suz). LOCKHART PHILLIPS UNLIMITED SUPERBIKE SERIES POINTS STANDINOS (After 4 of 6 rounds): 1. Lee Acree (118/3 wms); 2. Shown Higbee 007/1 win); 3. Craig Connell (82/1 win); 4. Brian Parriott (71); 5. Grant Lopez (76/1 win); 6. Tray Batey (49); 7. Kenneth Chose (47); 8. Michael Himmelsbach (45{; 9. Mlchllel Ciccotto (43/1 win); 10. Paul Harrell 40/; 11. Marc Palazzo \29); 12. Roland Williams 27; 13. Jimmy Moore 26); 14. Chories Chouinard (24); 15. Byron Barbour (23); 16. Eric Wood (21); 17. Aaron Clark (19); 18. (TIE) Vincent HaskovecjJohn Haner (18); 20. Anthony Fonlo Jr. (16). Pee-. IlKewlly Leng Paull, Pennsylv.ni8 1IllSu1ts: august 21, 2101 LOCKHART PHILUPS UNUI'IJ1E) SUPERBlKE LEO ONE: 1. Lee Acree (Suz); 2. Shown Higbee (Suz); 3. Mlch.el Hlmmelsb.ch (Apr); 4. A.ron Clark (Apr); 5. Roland WUliams (Suz); 6. Marc Palazzo (Hon); 7. Michael Fitzpatrick (Suz); 8. Anthony Fanilll (Suz); 9. Craig Conneli (Due); 10. Mark Ledesm. Wood saw his streetbike low-fuel light coming on for a few laps, and pointed to the tank on the front straight, so his crew would know to have gas ready. "We changed an engine in the morning, and refueling got overlooked," explained Wood. "I think I had a gallon or two at the start. When the light came on, I knew I couldn't make it to the finish, so rather than gamble, we came in and got it over with." Back on track in 14th, Wood climbed to 11 th when the red flag stopped the action. "My hat is off to Eric, it's too bad about the fuel," said sparring partner Chouinard from the third step on the podium. "I'm a big guy on a 600, I have to get everything out of it. The combination of the GMD Computrack chassis and the Dunlop tires had me hooking up like glue. We made the most of what we've got." The most notable retirement was Parriott, who pulled into the pits at the end of lap three. "I got a perfect start, I was running the way I wanted," explained the early race second place holder. "Then the bike just died. I got it refired, but there was something going on, it was either electrical or fuel related, we think." Third fastest qualifier Shawn Conrad placed fourth on his Brighton Superbike-built Suzuki. The former AMA Pro Thunder National Champion was ahead of Chouinard in the early going, before getting 'the best of a good race against the Dallas Cycle Sports Suzuki of Shannon Ball and the second Shogun Yamaha of Ty Howard. The Dianetics Suzuki of Stoney Landers was just over a second behind that trio, placing seventh. Cycles 128-backed Jim Lester was part of this group early on before winding up eighth on the first Honda in the results. New England Performance's Scott Greenwood was ninth on a Suzuki after fading to 12th mid- Fonnula lISA Sportbike Round 4: Pocono Raceway Acree not only dominated the Unlimited Superblke rounds, he also won the Sportblke ..ee at Pocono. STORV AND PHOTOS BV COLIN FRASER LONG POND, PA, AUG. 26 rclight Suzuki's Lee Acree and Brian Parriott were the riders to beat in the F -USA Sportbike class, the GSX-R600-mounted pair quickest in qualifying. Acree was the only middleweight DOT class rider to break the 1:42 barrier with a pole time of 1:41.5, and regularly set the fastest class trap speeds. In the red-flag shortened Sportbike final, Acree proved his Sportbike number one plate was no fluke, leading each and . every lap for his second straight win. "The bike was the class of the field," said a modest Acree after his A dominant performance. "It's all about the crew, they gave me a machine that no one else could touch. If I'd traded bikes with one of the other riders, they would have won and I would be behind them on their bike." As in the previous round at Virginia, runner-up honors belonged to the Shogun/Pirelli R6 of California-based veteran Paul Harrell. But this time, rather than edging Harrell, Acree was 10 seconds clear of the lanky Yamaha man when the race was stopped on lap 16 of a scheduled 18. Synergy Honda's Mike Palazzo, running in eighth at the time, caused the red flag. Palazzo slid into the tum five Airfence, and required assistance to extricate himself from the hairpin barrier. Palazzo wasn't injured. For runner-up Harrell, the result made the most of a frustrating weekend at Pocono. "We've been struggling all weekend," confirmed Harrell. "Everyone pulled so hard, the whole Shogun Motorsports crew. We totaled a bike and built this one last night. I just couldn't get with Lee and hang in at the beginning." Charles Chouinard completed the podium in third aboard the Barry Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R600, after staging the most exciting fight of the race, a war with Eric Wood's Suzuki. Chouinard couldn't make a pass stick, but Wood had to stop for fuel. cue I • n ... _:IS . SEPTEMBER 12. 2001 57

• Cover