Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2001 11 07

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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AMA Buell Pro Thunder series Final Round: Road Atlanta Cruise America's Jason DiSalvo rode his Honda RS250 to a pair of wins, one a romp, the other a thriller. In the six-lap Formula 2 Expert race, the 17-year-old New Yorker had no competition, getting out early, doing wheelies, and generally enjoying his 19.24-second win over Monty Warsing. The final two riders in the fourrider field were on Honda RS125s and didn't pose much of a threat, Jason Peters taking third and Logan Young fourth. Peters earned the class championship. "It's almost impossible to keep up with him," Warsing said of DiSalvo. The final race of the day, and the weekend, was the Formula 1 Expert. DiSalvo started on the sixth row but was quickly near the front of the field, second on the second lap with Curry Justice well in front. Justice was on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 with DiSalvo on his Honda RS250 and they both had their strengths. DiSalvo's advantage was in corner speed, Justice had the power off the corners and straightline speed. DiSalvo began noticeably closing on the fourth of six lap, inching ever closer until he was able to make a run on the final lap. "On the last lap, I came into it thinking I didn't have much of a chance to win," DiSalvo said. What he needed was a bold maneuver in turn six, which would give him a chance to get out of seven better and down the hill to turn 1O. "He was on me in 200 yards," DiSalvo said of Justice's pass on the back straight. DiSalvo needed another brave move to win, and made it coming under the bridge before the final run to the flag. "1 had better traction coming out," DiSalvo said. "I got a drive down the hill and tried to be really wide at the stripe ... "That doggone 250 corner speed just got me," Justice said, though he had the consolation of winning the WERA Formula 1 title. Scott Carpenter was third on his Suzuki GSX-R750. Richmond Cycles' Bradley Champion, who won two Sportsman Series Finals, took a win the National Challenge Series as well. His came in Friday's final race, the Expert lightweight Twins. Champion and David Yaakov moved the front early on, the pair separating from the field and making the race their own. On the third lap of the eight lap race Champion had a very slight lead, but he also had a problem. His fairing was coming loose. The left side had come loose and then the right, the fairing flapping in the breeze and rocking the Suzuki SV·650 back and forth. When Champion wasn't using his left hand to clutch, he was using it to stabilize the fairing. "If it fell off, it fell off," he said. "It was definitely rocking and moving around. If there was no black flag flying, I was going to keep going. I was doing the best I could do, hanging onto it when I could." The pattern of passing was that Yaakov would go in deeper, especially in turns one and five, but would run wide, allowing Champion by. Champion led on the final lap and took the win with his biggest gap of the race, .59 of a second. Yaakov was second with SB Motorsports' Alan Schwen third, just in front of Harley-Davidson of Frederick's Buell-mounted Bryan Bemisderfer, and Chris Normand (Suz). The class title went to Yaakov over Normand. eN Brasllton, GIorgio Resu~:OetoberZ7-ZB,ZOOl EXPERT LIGHTWEIGHT TWINS: I. Bradley Chempion (Suz); 2. Devid Yeakov (Suz): 3. Alen Schwen (Suz): 4. Bryon Bemisderfer (Bue): 5. Chris Nonnand (Suz). Time: 12 mlns.. 46.2 sec. Distance: 8 laps. 20.) 6 miles. Margin of victory: 0.59 sec. 750 SOPER STOCK EXPERT: I. Lee Acree (Suz); 2. Scott H21rwelJ (Suz); 3 ..Ken~eth Snyder (SUl); 4. Cunry Justice (Suz); 5. Chns Olroch (SUl). Time: 6 mins.• 59.18 sec. Distance: 618PS, 15.12 miles. lXINLOP 600 SOPER STOCK EXPERT: 1. Lee Acree (Suz); 2. Scott HeNcH (Suz): 3. Kenneth Snyder (502); 4. David Yeakov (Suz); 5. Vincent Hoskovec (Suz). Time: N/A due to disqualification. Distance: 6 laps. 15.12 miles. Margin of victory: NtA due to disqualification OPEN SOPER STOCK; 1. Chris Olrich (SUl): 2. Bryon Bemisderfer (Suz); 3. Scott Harwell (Suz); 4. Shone Stoyko (Suz); 5. Wade Buffington (Suz). Time:: 11 mins.• 47..85 sec. Distance:: 8 IllPS, 20.16 miles. Margin of victory: 1.95 sec. METZELER 600 SOPER STOCK NOVICE: I. Giovllnni Rojes (Sux); 2. Tomas Bauchie:ro (Yar:n); 3. Richard Ford (Suz); 4. Max Norton (Suz); 5. M;choel Worley (SUl). Time:: 12 mins., 21.84 sec. Distance:: 8 leps, 20,16 miles. Margin of victory: 0.24 sec. 750 SOPER STOCK NOVICE: 1. Giovanni Rojes (Sux); 2. Shllwn Stinnett (Sux); 3. Tomas Bauchiero (Sux); 4. Mex Norton (Sux); 5. Richard Ford (Sux). Time:: 12 mlns., 15.76 sec. Distance: 8 laps, 20.16 miles. Margin of victory: 2.91 5«. EXPERT 600 SUPERBIKE: 1. Kenneth Snyder (SU1); 2. Joseph Temperato (SUI); 3. Chuck Neighoff (Yllm); 4. Mlchllel Gllrafalo (Yllm); 5. Scott Gllrdner (Yom). Time: 12 mlns., 12.69 sec. Distance: 8 laps, 20.16 miles. Margin of victory: .022 sec. . NOVICE 600 SUPER-BIKE: 1. Tomas Blluchlero (Yllm); 2. Richard Ford (SUI); 3. Giovllnni Rojas (SU2); 4. Jeff Walker (Suz); 4. Shllnnon Moham (Yom). Distance: 8 IllpS, 20.16 miles. WERA FORMULA 2 EXPERT: 1. Joson DiSalvo (Han); 2. Monty Warsing (Yam); 3. Jeson Peters (Hon); 4. Logan Young (Hon). Time: 9 mins., 11.06 5«. Distance: 6 leps, 15.12 miles. Margin of victory: 19.24 sec. WERA FORMOLA 2 NOVICE: 1. Tyler SchmKlt (Han): 2. Chris Nicoloff (Han); 3. Bryan Hoelzer (Hen); 4. B...tt Woodard (Apr); 5. Vito Dionisio (Apr). Distance: 6 leps, 15.12 miles. EXPERT HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS: 1. Scott Harwell (Suz); 2. Bud Lawter (Suz); 3. Bill St. John (Due); 4. Mllrk Crozier (Han); 5. Fred Farzanegen (Suz). Time: 9 mins., 12.96 sec. Distance: 6 laps, 15.12 miles Margin of victory: 1.18 sec. NOVICE HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS; 1. Michael Fields (Suz); 2. Shawn Stinnett (Suz); 3. Joshua Guyer (Suz): 4. Bred Ervin (Due): 5. Shene Palter (Duc). Distance: 6 laps, 15.12 miles. EXPERT 750 SOPERBIKE; I. Wade Buffington (SUl); 2. Shone Stoyko (SUl); 3. John Ross Jr. (SUl); 4. Rayfus Belser (Suz); 5. David Newman (SUl). Time: 9 min,., 4.24 sec. Distance: 6 laps, 15.12 miles. Margin of victory: 3. I I sec. NOVICE 750 SUPERBIKE: 1. Giovenni Rojas (SUI); 2. Shllwn Stinnett (SUl); 3. Andrew Mueller (SUl); 4. Tomes Bauchiero (Yam); 5. Shannon Moham (Yam). Distance: 6 IllpS. 15. '12 miles. WERA FORMULA 1: 1. Jason DiSalvo (Han): 2. Curry Justice (Suz): 3. Scott CZHpenter (Suz); 4. Billy Ethridge (Suz); 5. J.J. Roetlin (Suz). Distance: 6111PS. 15.12 miles. fully recovered from his practice crash in the final AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike round at Virginia International Raceway and skipped Road Atlanta.) Tilley's H-D/Buell's David Estok also had a mathematical chance at the title. Montano didn't have the benefit of a qualifying tire; Dunlop didn't bring any. And Buell came heavily armed. To boost Ciccotto's chances, Buell, which sponsors the series and was looking at losing it two years in a row to a Ducati, brought in Buell test rider Shawn Higbee and Michael Barnes, who was riding Ciccotto's spare a week after winning the Formula USA Buell Lightning Series crown. "We had a plan to gang up on Montano," Barnes said. The gesture wasn't lost on Montano. "They brought in a bunch of bikes and two haul-ass riders," he said. Ciccotto led most of qualifying until Montano was able to put in a fast lap toward the end of the one timed session to take the pole. "I was watching my lap counter," Montano said. "Finally I just put one together. I wasn't sure if I was fast. I didn't know where Mike [Ciccotto] STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS BRASELTON, GA, OCT. 27 homas Montano won the Buell Pro Thunder championship a few hours before the final race at Road Atlanta, even though he didn't know it at the time. The Munroe Motors' rider knew that he needed every point to fend off the challenge of Hal's H-D/ Buell's Mike Ciccotto, and the posse he brought with him, he just didn't know that the point he earned for taking the pole in qualifying would be the one that would give him the championship by a single point. "We did our job earlier today in qualifying," the Ducati-mounted Montano said after clinching the title with a third-place finish in the year's final event, run in conjunction with the WERA Grand National Finals. Montano's third gave him 256 points, one more than race-winner Mike Ciccotto, who was knocked off the pole by Montano. "We came up one point short, actually six one-hundredths of a second in qualifying," Ciccotto said, though his math was a little off. Montano qualified at a 1:29.862, with Ciccotto at 1:29.976. "Thomas [Montano] had a heck of a year. Again, my hat's off to him. He did a great job," Ciccotto added after winning the race by 3.902 seconds over teammate for the weekend Michael Barnes. The format for this year's championship allowed a rider's two worst finishes to be thrown out. Ciccotto had to throw out the two races he didn't attend and, when the best finishes were tallied, Montano had a ninepoint lead coming into the final race, 227 -218, over Ciccotto and Advanced Motorsports' Jeffrey Nash, the reigning champion. (Nash hasn't T cue I e was." The front row for the 15-rider field was Montano, Ciccotto, Barnes, and Estok. Estok would be the first out with a clutch problem on the opening lap. Higbee would be sidelined a few laps later when his Buell went on one cylinder. Ciccotto had gotten the jump and was quickly clearing out. Montano To the champion goes the spoils: Thomas Montano holds the numberone plate after securing the Pro Thunder title while race winner Mike Clccotto holds the winner's trophy. n e _ so

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