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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AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 2/3: California Speedway BY PAUL CARRUTHERS PHOTOS BY BLAKE CONNER FONTANA, CA, APR. 6-7 icky Hayden came to the debut AMA Superbike Na~ional at California Speedway with dreams of continuing his winning streak and breaking his teammate Miguel DuHamel's record of six straight Superbike victories. But the reality of the situation is this: Hayden will simply have to be content with further extending his lead in the championship while com- pletely burying a few of those who were projected as rivals. Hayden didn't win both races at Hayden in the championship points standings as the series went to bed on Saturday night. the sparkling California Speedway facility, but he did come away with a But that lasted for just a day. On Sunday, it was Hayden's turn to victory in the second of the two make hay while the sun shone as he events after finishing third in the first. The first race win went to Yamaha's went out and won the race, with Gobert struggling to finish eighth when a crewmember failed to check the air Anthony Gobert on a rather miserable day in Southern California, and that win, combined with the point earned for leading the most laps and capturing pole position, left him tied with pressure in Gobert's front tire. The tire was so hard it made racing almost impossible and Gobert was forced to cruise around in eighth place. (Topl Nick)' Hayden (691 was In top tonn In SundllY's second round of AMA Superbike racing at Cllllfomlll SpeedwlllY. Hayden took the lelld over Aaron Yates (201, Eric Bostrom (321 and the rest of the pack earty and was never headed. (Leftlln dreary conditions on Saturday, Anthony Gobert (161 was the King of Fontana a"he took the victory. Here, he leads Mat Mladln (11 and Aaron Yates (201· 16 APRIL 17, 2002' cue •• n e . . -s Certainly, it was a bad day for Gobert, but not enough to derail the Australian's hopes for a championship as he still holds down second in the points chase - 13 points behind Hayden. The others? They're not so close. Yoshimura Suzuki's three-time defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin found himself in a hole when an injury prevented him from racing in the Daytona 200. That hole got even deeper after the two races in Southern California. Mladin was unlucky on Saturday when his rear tire spun on the rim, the chunking tire forcing him to slow to an eventual sixth-place finish. On Sunday, things went a little better, and though he suffered more tire woes, they weren't as severe and he was able to finish third. Still, he couldn't match Hayden's pace and he's now fallen 50 points behind the championship leader. If you scan the current championship points standings, you may think you've lost your eyesight. Privateer Andy Deatherage now holds third place in the standings after the Woody's Service-backed Suzuki ri~er posted two 10th-place finishes at California Speedway. To further show how upside-down the standings currently are, another privateer, Brian Livengood, is fourth in the standings after posting ninth- and 13th-place finishes in Fontana. Only then comes another factory rider in the form of Yoshimura Suzuki's Jamie Hacking, the South Caroli-