Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 213: California Speedway a place to pass. When the pass did come, though, it was in turn five, same as the others that he'd made. "Turn five, which one was that?" Yates said. "My bike was pretty much working well everywhere today. I was getting great drives off every corner, which made it easy to set people up in the next corner. It was all good." Gobert said that he wasn't surprised when Yates finally did pass him. "I kind of thought that Aaron was going to run away, to be honest," Gobert said. "My fitness is still a little bit down from Daytona. I had some injuries from there, and I didn't get to train too much, so I chose not to do many laps on the 600 [in testing]. I knew it was going to hurt me come racetime. I got out front, but I kind of felt that Aaron was sitting there - he showed me a wheel a few times. I gave up the lead to try and push him, but then straight away we hit lapped riders, and he got big gap on me. There just wasn't enough time to get him back. In the end, I just chose to settle for second." Buckmaster and Hayden had the best battle on the track during the final few laps. The pair pushed each other hard as they sliced through lapped traffic. Buckmaster had a tense moment when he made contact with a lapper as they came off turn four. "I'm not really sure if the lapper saw us or not, but it seemed like he knew I was there," Buckmaster said. "Anthony went around him in the same corner, and I was going to do the same thing, but it seemed like he was keen on racing. I just went around him and sort of clipped him. I didn't feel it much, but it did allow Tommy to catch me and consequently pass me. It was a bit of a bummer." Buckmaster continued to charge, and he repassed Hayden in the turn 12/13 chicane on lap 15, only to get drafted by Hayden at the line and lose the position again. He stayed close to Hayden for the rest of the way, but his bid came up just short. Hayden landed the final podium spot by inches. "I just got a really good start and then got out to the lead for a couple of laps," Hayden said. "Then Anthony and Damon got by me, and I kind of followed them for a while. Then Aaron came by. They actually got away from me about a second or so, and I kind of hung right there for probably half the race. I couldn't gain any ground. With about six laps to go, it seemed like I was able to find a little time and work my way back up to them. There at the end, it was pretty much me and Buckmaster battling for third. I was able to get by him with a couple laps to go, and I just barely held him off." Behind Hacking, Attack Suzuki's Jason Pridmore, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Tom Kipp, and Erion Racing Honda teammates Mike Hale and Roger Lee Hayden rounded out the top 10. eN c.lifamia SplldwlY FOnUne, c.lifamia Results: April 7. ZOOZ (Round Z at 10J SUPERSPORT: 1. Allron Yates (Suz); 2. Anthony Gobert (Yllm); 3. Tommy Hayden (Kaw); 4. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); 5. Ben Spies (Suz); 6. Jamie Hacking (Suz); 7. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 8. Tom Kipp (Suz); 9. Mike Hale (Hon); 10. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 11. Tony Meiring (Kaw); 12. J8ke Zemke (Hon); 13. Alex Gobert (Hon); 14. Jimmu Moore (Su,). 15. Ty Howard (Su,); 16. Clint McBain (Su,); 17. Mark Ledesma (Hon); 18. Owen Richey (Yam); 19. Scott Simpson (Kaw); 20. Tyler Wedsworth (Yam); 21. Matt Zurbuchen (Suz); 22. Dirk Sanchez (Kaw); 23. Daryl Woodward (Yl!lm); 24. Chris Siebenhaar (Hon); 25. Robert Campbell (Kaw); 26. Kevin Pate (Suz); 27. Michael Hannas (Kaw); 28. Jay Tanner (Yam); 29. Todd Costley; 30. Hector Romero (Yam); 31. Tekahiro Sohwe (Hon); 32. Troy Green (Yam); 33. Brien Parriott (Hon); 34. Alex McEleya (Hon); 35. Jimmy Filice (Kaw); 36. Steve RliPP (Su,). Time: 25 min.. 16.820 sec. Distance: 17 laps. 37.26 miles. Winner's average speed: 92.799 mph. Margin or victory: 3.344 sec. PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 or to rounds): 1. Aaron Yates (73/2 wins); 2. mE) Damon Buckmaster (52)/Jamie Hacking (52); 4. [TIE] Ben Spies/Jason Pridmore (47); 6. Mike Hale (46): 7. Tom Kipp (43); 8. 'TIEl Roger Lee Hayden/Tony Meiring (39); 9. (TIE] Anthony Gobert/Nicky Hayden/Jeke Zemke /Alex Gobert/Jimmy Moore (33); 14. [TIE) Tommy Hayden/Miguel DuHamel (29); 16. Kurtis Roberts (27); 17. Ty Howard (23); 18. Joshua Hayes (22); 19. Owen Richey (21); 20. Tyler Wadsworth (20). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Sonoma, California, May 4-5 Round 4 - Braselton, Georgia, May 18-19 Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Round 1 : California Speedway By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTO BY BLAKE CONNER FONTANA,CA,APR.7 his time, it may just add up to the few extra points that Damon Buckmaster needed. Unlike last season, where the Graves Motorsports Yamaha-backed Australian finished a mere point shy of the LockhartPhillips USA Formula Xtreme Championship, his 2002 season-opening victory at California Speedway might be the one that he will look back on as the key to his title drive. And if not, well, at least Buckmaster can say that he could look back on all his competitors when he blazed to victory in the 17-lap final. In contrast to the disappointment of missing out on the podium in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, Buckmaster was all smiles after cutting through traffic and cruising to the head of the Formula Xtreme class, with 19.694 seconds in hand. "This one went a little smoother, I think," Buckmaster said. "I got a bit better run through the backmarkers. You know, they are out there running their race as well, but it's just at this race there were a few more than we're used to. I probably used them to my advantage more in this race T 22 ApRIL 1 7, 2002' cue I _ than I did in my 600 race, for sure." In fact, were it not for a formidable challenge by Attack Suzuki's Jason Pridmore during the middle of the race, it might have been a yawner. '" never looked behind, but I knew it would be Jason anyway," Buckmaster said. "I knew he was there, and I just had to keep running my own race. I knew that I could consistently do mid to high 26s. That was enough to keep him behind me." Erion Racing's Roger Lee Hayden jumped out to the lead as the field hit turn one, with Pridmore, Buckmaster, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Tom Kipp, Erion Racing's Mike Hale and Bruce Transportation Group's Jake Zemke giving chase. Hayden's lead lasted only a little more than a lap, as he blew the chicane that led to the infield and handed the lead to Buckmaster, who had passed Pridmore for second place. Hayden's troubles were just beginning, however. Buckmaster, Hayden, Pridmore and Kipp quickly pulled away from the rest of the field, with Pridmore moving to second before lap three. Kipp went under Hayden in turn two for third place one lap later, Zemke making it a tight, three-rider battle for third place by edging closer to Hayden off of turn five. n __ S Buckmaster pulled out to l.B-second advantage over Pridmore in the clear, but Pridmore managed to catch back up. Kipp, meanwhile, began to lose a bunch of time, dropping out of the hunt for the win completely by lap nine, the victim of fork woes. "I had moved up to third, and I felt like I had a tire that was really going to be strong at the end," Kipp said. "I felt that the Dunlops were going to start to fall off at some point. But, unfortunately, fairly early on in the race, we blew a fork seal. It drained all of the oil completely out of the left front fork and oiled up the rear tire. We just had to deal with it. It wasn't bad enough to where I felt that I had to pull in, but it was pretty sketchy for a few laps. I think I made the right decision to stay out there." To add insult to injury, Kipp was among several riders docked a position for what the AMA determined was "shortcutting the course" at the turn-one chicane (see Briefly... ). Kipp was recorded as eighth. It seemed as though every time Pridmore appeared set to make a Damon Buckmaster dives under Jason Pridmore en route to victory in the Fonnula Xtreme final at California Speedway. challenge for the lead, backmarkers would spoil his attempt and he would lose several lengths to Buckmaster. "Damon rode really good," Pridmore said. "He was setting a really fast pace. He was getting hosed by the backmarkers, and I was getting hosed a little bit more, but even when we had a clear track, he was keeping that gap. I don't know if I would have really had anything for him if we had gotten beside each other without any traffic. We were running a pretty good pace. , think the fastest Superbike time yesterday was a 26.5, and we matched that. I think that my biggest problem was that I got a bit too impatient early. But you get Roger Lee [Hayden] in front of you, and he starts backing it into the chicane on the front straightaway and he overshoots the thing on the first lap... I thought I was going to get taken out, so I wanted to get by him as soon as I could."

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