Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

bike. I'm not too sure, maybe suspension, maybe tire, but it was the same tire that Nicky [Hayden] rode. There was a lot of instability in the front. Whenever I touched the brake, I thought the front was going to tuck underneath me. From the get-go, I was struggling. This morning, it was fine. I ran the same lap times they ran in the race. We went to a stiffer front tire because of the heat and we stiffened up the suspension a bit, anticipating doing some good laps. They didn't come, so ... it was really frustrating out there. All I could do was cruise around and get points." Then came a frustrated Gobert, forced to simply cruise with a front tire that was so over-inflated it made just riding difficult. Racing was out of the question. The result: an eighthplace finish - a lap behind Hayden. "It was a bit of a shame," Gobert said. "When I went out on the sighting lap, it felt really hard. I thought maybe someone had given the hard compound instead of the medium that I was running. I went around in the race and I tucked the front and nearly crashed. After that, 1thought it might have been me. But I tucked it again and knew there was something definitely wrong with the front tire. I just settled for points and it turned out that someone forgot to put the right air pressure in. It was just one of those things. Obviously, it got pumped up and beaded and never got let down to the right pressure. It's just one of those things. Everyone makes mistakes." eN Callfomll Spledwly Fontlnl, Califomil Resuhs: April &-7, ZOOZ SCIPERBIKE QClALIFYING: I. Anthony Gobert (I :25.250); 2. Aaron Yates (I :25.628); 3. N;cky Hayden (1 :25.007); 4. Mat Mladin (1:26.127); 5. Kurtis Roberts (1 :26.141); 6. Eric Bostrom (I :26.465); 7. Jamie Hacking (1 :26.659); 8. Doug Chandler (1 :27. 174); 9. M;guel DuHamel (I :27.423); SUPERB IKE RACE TWO: 1. Nicky Hayden (Hon): 2. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 3. Mat Mladin (Suz); 4. Doug Chandler (Duc); 5. Pascal Picotte (Due); 6. Jamie Hacking (SOl); 7. Miguel DuHamel (Hon): 8. Anthony Gobert (Vern); 9. Brien Parriott (Suz); 10. Andy Deatherage (Suz); 11. Rich Conicelli (Suz);12. Owen Richey (SUI): 13. Brian Uvengood (Suz); 14. Mike Sullivan (Hon); 15. Aaron Clark (SUI); 16. Robert Mesa (Suz); 17. John Dugan (Suz): 18. Scott Jensen (SUI): 19. Dean Mildal (SUI); 20. Robert Christman (SUI): 21. Pedro Valiente (Suz); 22. Randall Mennenga (SUI): 23. Shawn Conrad (Suz); 24. Kim Nakashima (Suz); 25. Giovanni Rojas (Suz): 26. Jeffrey Purk (Suz); 27. Aaron Vates (SUI); 28. Marco Martinez (Suz); 29. Robert Underwood (Suz); 30. Alan Schmidt (Suz). Time: 34 min., 48.072 sec. Distance: 24 laps, 56.64 miles Average speed: 95.169 mph Margin of victory: 6.366 sec. AMA SCIPERBIKE NATIONAL C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 3 of 15 rounds): 1. Nicky Hayden (104/2 wins); 2. Anthony Gobert (9 I /I); 3. Andy Deatherage (66); 4. Brian Uvengood (63); 5. Jamie Hacking (60); 6. Aaron Yates (59); 7. Eric Bostrom (58); 8. (TIE) Mat Mladin/Doug Chandler (54); 10. Pascal Picotte (52); II. Rkh Conicelll (50); 12. Brian Perrlott (45); 13. Brian Dugen (44); 14. Owen Richey (38); 15. Marco Martinez (36); 16. (TIE) Rllndall Mennenge/AlelO Schmidt (33); 18. Mike Sullivan (32); 19. (TIE) Robert. Mesa/Kim Nakashima (27). 10. Pascal Picotte (1:27.631); 11. Jimmy Moore (1:30.616); 12. Chris Ulrich (1:30.703); 13. Owen Richey (1:31.384); 14. Craig Connell (1:31.441); 15. Lee Acree (I :31.502); 16. Vincent Haskovec (1:31.809): 17. Brian Parriott (1:31.957); 18. Andy Deatherllge (1:31.991); 19. Rich Conicelli (I :32.368); 20. Robert Jensen (1 :32.436); 21. Shawn Conrad (1:32.965); 22. Brian Uven900d (1:33.065); 23. Alan Schmidt (1:33.109); 24. Kim Nakashima (1:33.508); 25. Jacob Holden (1:33.684); 26. Robert Mesa (1:33.752); 27. John Dugan (1:33.845); 28. Richie Mennengll (1 :33.874); 29. J. Purks (1:34.097); 30. Dean Mizdal (1:34.120); 31. Mike Sullivan (1:34.120); 32. Ma",o Martinez (1:34.306); 33. R. Christman (1:34.349); 34. P. Veliente (1:34.428); 35. Aaron Clark (1:34.616); 36. Giovanni Rojas (1:34.651); 37. Scott Jensen (1:34.713); 38. R. Underwood (1:35.256). SUPERBIKE RACE ONE: 1. Anthony Gobert (Yam); 2. Aaron Yates (Suz): 3. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 4. Doug Chandler (Duc); 5. Pascfll Picotte (Duc); 6. Mat Mladin (Suz); 7. Lee Acree (Suz); 8. Brian Parriott (Suz); 9. Brian Livengood (Suz); 10. Andy Deatherage (Suz); 11. Kim Nakashima (Suz): 12. Owen Richey (Suz); 13. Alan Schmidt (Suz); 14. Marco Martinel (SUI); 15. Shawn Conrad (SOl); 16. Mike Sullivan (Hon); 17. Dean Mildal (Suz); 18. John Dugan (SUI); 19. Robert Mese (SUI); 20. Randall Mennenga (Suz); 21. Pedro Valiente (Suz); 22. Robert Underwood (Suz); 23. Rich Conicelli (SUI); 24. Robert Christman (SOl); 25. Aaron Clark (Suz); 26. Scott Jensen (501); 27. Jeffrey Purk (SUI); 28. Jamie Hacking (Suz); 29. Jacob Holden (SUI): 30. Giovanni Rojas (Suz); 31. Miguel DuHamel (Hon); 32. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 33. Craig Connell (SUI); 34. Robert Jensen (Suz). TIme: 39 min., 28.637 sec. Distance: 28 laps, 66.08 miles. Average speed: 97.879 mph. Margin of victory: 0.014 sec. Upcoming Rounds: Rounds 4-5: Sonoma, California, May 4-5 Rounds 5-6: Braselton, Georgia, May 18-19 get by Anthony and then rode my own race after that." Before doing so, however, Yates first had to get past Buckmaster. He picked the same spot, turn five, to pull past the Australian for the runner-up spot, on lap eight. He then reeled in Gobert and tried to make a move up the inside on the front straightaway, but he could not make it stick. Further back, Yates' teammate Jamie Hacking had worked his way up to fifth place, and it appeared as though he might be able to pull to within striking distance of the leaders at some point. Unfortunately for Hacking, things went the other way, as he was caught and passed by Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies, the youngster coming from 10th place on the opening lap. Hacking ultimately finished sixth. "It was the worst race of my life," Hacking said. "Well, it wasn't the worst, but it wasn't the best of my career. I am very disappointed, but I finished. I am here to finish and to try and keep my points and try to move on to the next [race]. We'll see what we can do later down the line for the rest of the year. The performance of my bike was not up to par by any Pro Honda Oils Supersport Series Round 2: California Speedway Bv SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTO BY BLAKE CONNER FONTANA, CA, APR. 7 ith the bends on the 21-turn California Speedway road course still too new to have earned any sentimental nicknames, such as those bequeathed to other moreestablished circuits around the world, Roger Penske and co. might do well to name turn five after Blimpie's Yoshimura Suzuki rider Aaron Yates. For it was in turn five - a left-hander that can be mastered by a rider who is hard on the brakes - that Yates worked his magic, completing three successful passes there to pick off his competitors before pulling away from them to win the 17-lap Pro Honda Oils Supers port final by 3.344 seconds. Team Yamaha's Anthony Gobert finished second, while Team Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden barely outran Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster for third in the final dash to the stripe. But even if Yates' performance wasn't enough to get turn five renamed "Yates Corner," there can be no doubt that the Georgian has the 600cc class cornered - at least for now - having earned two wins in as many rounds. "I was feeling really good out there on the 600 today," Yates said. "This morning, I went out and went real fast, and was kind of surprised. I kind of saw how everybody was going, and I felt like really nobody could match my pace. In qualifying, I strung together a bunch of really quick laps, and I felt comfortable going into the race." The polesitter for the race, Yates was only fourth best off the start; however, while Hayden put his ZX-6R into the lead from the outside of the front row, Gobert slipped into second, followed by Buckmaster and Team Kawasaki's Tony Meiring as the field sorted itself out through the infield. Hayden held on to lead across the stripe on the first lap, but Gobert drafted past him and snatched the point as they hit the chicane to start through the infield on lap two. Buckmaster made an inside move on Hayden in turn three to take over the second spot, and he then managed to show Gobert a wheel as they crossed the stripe to start the third lap before things settled down a bit. The front four of Gobert, Buckmaster, Hayden and Yates began to pull clear of the rest of the pack by then; Meiring kept the rest at bay while holding down fifth place. Yates made his first move toward the lead with a clean pass on Hayden for third in turn five on the same lap. "I'm kind of glad that I didn't get the holeshot and get out front," Yates said. "I got to follow some guys around and see how it was going to go. That made it easy for me. I had a couple spots where I was a little better on the brakes, and that made it easy to get by. I played the race safe and waited till a few laps from the end there. I just picked my place to cue I e means." Hacking also said that he had a terrible start, and he griped about the AMA's starting procedure. "They're not regular with the lights," he said. "It seemed like they went two and green. It seems like they have more of a pause." Spies seemed to be pleased with his performance. "It was pretty good," he said. "I kind of got hosed on the start. If I had a better start, I think I would have been up there and would have had something to shoot for. With six people ahead of me, I couldn't see the brake marker ahead of me, and a bunch of people flew by." Yates dogged Gobert for three laps, and he looked high and low for n e _:IS • APRIL 17. 2002 21

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