Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

1O. Lee Acree (1 :36.192); 11. Mark Foster seventh from yesterday and a sixth problems were, but the modifications from today isn't what I wanted, but at we made didn't seem to make any least we still scored some valuable difference," said Chandler. "It's pretty Scott Jensen (1 :37.381); 17. Edward Milhausen championship points. Aside from disappointing because I thought we Nicky, the rest of us are fairly close had a really good bike for today's (1:37.492); 18. Chds Ulrich (1:37.614); 19. Owen Richey (1:37.648); 20. Jacob Holden (1:37.928); 21. Andy Deatherage (1:38.015); 22. Dean Mildal (1:38.259); 23. Doug PItcock (1:38.280); 24. Jeremy Toye (1 :38.311); 25. James Kin9 (1 :38.567); 26. on points, so now we'll have to try race. This morning, we made a big and maximize our points at Road step forward, finding a few things we Atlanta for the next round." knew would contribute to the chatter Hacking said his GSX-R750 was and I thought we'd fixed it, but on the b'etter than the day prior - but only first lap, heading into the carousel, I marginally. felt it. I knew then it was' going to be "It was a tiny bit better," he said. "Aaron [Yates] changed his more than we did and I think he made some progress. I just had no confidence in it early. Once I figured it out, I seemed to be able to charge, but it was too late by then." Chandler's chatter problem from Saturday didn't get fixed and he struggled again, ending up eighth. "We looked at the data after yesterday's race and foun'd where the a long race. I tried to hold Jamie [Hacking] off, but the bike was hopping real bad. Once we got into the lappers, where you have to squirt (1:36.451); 12. Vincent Haskovec (1:36.619); 13. (1:36.931); 15. Thomas Montano (1:37.237); 16. Robert Christman (1:38.585); 27. Alan Schmidt (1:38.615); 28. Ty Howard (1;38.837); 29. Robert Mesa (1:38.849); 30. Brian Uven900d (1:38.936); 31. John Dugan (1:38.961); 32. Brian Parriott (1:39.164); 33. Pedro Valiente (1;39.234); 34. Rich Conicelli (1:39.284); 35. Shawn Reilly (1:39.605); 36. James Compton (1:39.803); 37. Marco Martinez (1:39.830); 38. Kim Nakashima (1:40.405); 39. Justin Bilike (1 :40.422); 40. Eric Erling Heugo (1:40.896); 41. James Doerfler (1:41.055); 42. Garry Combs (1:41.307); 43. J.J. Roetlin (1:41.855); 44. Michael Hanley (1 :43.100); 45. Martin Sims (1 :44.900). SUPERBIKE RACE ONE: 1. Nicky Hayden (Honda); 2. Miguel DuHamel (Han); 3. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 4. Anthony Gobert (Yllm); 5. Pascal Picotte through them, I just couldn't, so I had (Due); 6. Aaron Vates (SUI); 7. Mat Mladin (SUl); 8. to let him go." Jamie Hacking (Suz); 9. Doug Chandler (Duc); 10. Brian Peniott (Suz); 11. Scott Jensen (Suz); 12. Merk Foster (KllW); 13. Thomas Montano (Duc); 14. Jeremy Toye (SoI); 15. Edward Milhausen (SoI); 16. Brilln Livengood (Suz); 17. Robert Mesa (SUl); 18. Rich Conicelli (Suz); 19. Dean Mizd81 (SUl); 20. Andy Deatherage (SUl); 21. Owen Ritchey (SUl); 22. Doug Pitcock (Suz); 23. James King (Suz); 24. Justin Bllike (SoI); 25. Robert Christmlln (SUl); 26. Marco Martinez (SUl); 27. Pedro V8liente (Suz); 28. J.J. Sears Point Raceway Sonema, Califomia Results: May 4-5, ZOOZ SUPERBIKE QUALiFVING: 1. Anthony Gobert (1 :31.692); 2. Nicky Hayden (1 :32.149); 3. Eric Bostrom (1:32.292); 4. Aaron Vates (1:32.724); 5. Mat Mladin (1:32.882); 6. MI9uei DuHamel (1:32.938); 7. Pascal Picotte (1:33.806).; 8. Jamie Hacking (1 :34.106); 9. Doug Chandler (1 :34.506); BRIEFLY••• Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts hopes to make his retum to racing at Road America, June 8-9. but may return sooner. ''I'm doing some physical therapy and trying to get back as soon as'possible." Roberts said in the Honda pits at Sears Point Raceway. "For sure it was Elkhart Lake, but it could be sooner." The Hickman. California. resident made the relatively short drive in his motomome to spectate while recovering from surgery on his right knee. The knee was damaged in Friday qualifying at California Speedway nearly a month ago. Roberts only began therapy on Thursday and has a long way to go. "The right knee is still stiff. It's really sore. They took out a lot of fluid and some muscle," he said. The operation was required because the pressure of the fluid build-up, as a result of the crash. wasn't going away. As to whether it was difficult to spectate. Roberts said not at Sears Point. "This place isn't hard to watch at, - he said. "Last year was tough to watch at Laguna. Driving in here. I never got anxious. If you were going to watch one. this is the one." While Roberts recovers. his crew. led by crew chief Dave McGrath. is working with Miguel DuHamel, giving him the luxury of two RC-51 s. Sears Point was the place to get buzzed. Supercuts. the title sponsor of the Superculs AMA Superbike Challenge, was offering $ 10 haircuts and $5 cut and trims on the Earnhardt Terrace above tum two. There was a slight delay in getting the outdoor salon up and running while the proper permits were secured for cutting hair outdoors. Supercuts has a two-year deal to be the title sponsor with an option for a third. The sponsorship came through the Northern California Supercuts franchises. with the tacit approval of the national headquarters. The cuttery will have a presence at all events at Sears Point for the duration of the contract. Corona EBSCO Suzuki's Steve Rapp gave it a brave effort to practice on Friday at Sears Point Raceway, but the injuries he suffered in a motocross crash during the week proved to be too painful for him to continue. "It's not just the shoulder or the ribs, it's everything," Rapp said. "I'm just beat up." Rapp was injured when he crashed his motocrosser at Lake Elsinore Motocross Parl< in Lake Elsinore. California. in the week leading up to what is his home race. Bruce Transportation Group's Roger Lee Hayden was another of the walking wounded at Sears Point. the teenager having injured his knee playing basketball - though it was brought about by his crash at Califomia Speedway. "I was just running down the court and it popped," Hayden said. "I went to see Dr. [Arthur] Ting and I guess the meniscus is turned upside-down. He said it was going to happen sooner or later. He scoped it Thursday night [May 2J. i started out with two crutches. went to one crutch and today I have no crutches. I've already been on a stationary bike and I'm pretty sure Road Atlanta will be okay." Eric Bostrom seems hellbent on getting the AMA to listen to him when he says that something has to be done about lapped traffic in AMA Superbike Nationals - especially since some riders are getting lapped twice over the course of the race. "For about six or seven races in a row, I had to ask the AMA. ·Hey. you guys have got to do something.' They have a rule. The rule is you've got to take lappers off the track if they get lapped before halfway. Once again. they didn't do that. It's just like, get your act together. guys. I mean. it's not that difficult and it's happened like every race this year. and it's kind of a joke." After Sunday's race, Nicky Hayden brought the subject up once again. "Once again today, not to say anything bad but. yesterday Eric [Bostrom] said they were going to black flag the guys we lapped twice and sure enough today we were lapping guys twice again at the end. I guess that's just the way it is. I don't know." Average speed: 96.623 mph Margin of victory: 2.775 sec. SUPERBIKE RACE TWO: 1. Nicky Hayden Robert Jensen (1:36.880); 14. Jimmy M.oore Roetlin (SUI); 29. Garry Combs (SUI). Time: 40 min., 41.150 sec:. Distance: 26 18pS, 60.32 miles Miguel DuHamel was actually relieved when his radio got unplugged during Saturday's Superbike National. "My radio got unplugged during the race, which was kind of a good thing because my guys were just talking to me too much," DuHamel said. "It unplugged by itseif. it was a really good thing. I was about to hit the button and tell the guys there was no need to talk to me this much. I mean, I told them they could talk to me. but they were asking me where I went for breakfast, and it just never ended. They came up with a lot of good stuff. We'll fix that. The guys were giving me good information out there. so it's some· thing definitely that I'm happy that we have." On Sunday, the radio was plugged back in: "We taped it this time." DuHamel said. "We had a little meeting and I told them no bacon-and-eggs talk. no weather report and stuff like that so it was much better this time. It was a lot of fun. I was able to radio back in and let them know what was going on with the shifter and ask for some laps. It's turning out to be a pretty good tool. It's demanding on the rider because you 've got to listen to somebody and talk back. It's not as easy as it looks, but I think we're getting the hang of it. " A hard day's night dept: Kawasaki mechanics Kenny Hunter and James Hashimoto had an eventful night on Saturday. With Eric Bostrom having trouble with his tires spinning on his Superbike's rims. the team decided to go back to the rims they'd used last year. The only problem was those rims were back in their Lake Forest, California, race shop. So Hunter and Hashimoto flew to Los Angeles, rented a car, drove the 45 or so minutes south to the race shop. grabbed the rims, then drove all the way back to Sonoma. They anived at 6 a.m. after pulling their all-nighter. "We can't be sure what it is because so much has changed." team manager Mike Preston said. "We have better tires. the bike makes more power. the rims are different... we just decided for peace of mind to try the old rims." According to Anthony Gobert. Yamaha will go with the new Ohlins suspension exclusively from here on out. -We're going to use the new stuff from here on. - Gobert said. "We've got it to a point where it is generally better. but it can definitely be tuned in a lot more. We're happy with what we've got right now and we're confident we can win with it." Corona EBSCO Suzuki replacement rider Katja Poensgen crashed the team's Formula Xtreme bike in tum three on Saturday. suffering abrasions to her left arm. Poensgen, who was on a plane from Europe just three hours after getting the call from EBSCO team bosses, missed Thursday's promoter practice but took part on Friday before crashing on Saturday. On Sunday. she finished 38th in the 600cc Supersport final after completing just eight laps. Poensgen didn't compete in Formula Xtreme. Rich Oliver crashed his TZ250 on Saturday. suffering a com· pound fracture of his right forearm and losing the tips of two toes on his left foot. Oliver was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and was scheduled to be released on Monday. '" just want to say hello to my fans and let them know that I'm okay," Oliver said in the release issued by the track on Sunday morning. The 41-year-old Fresno resident finished second to Performance Machines' Roland Sands at California Speedway four weeks ago after recovering from the broken pelvis suffered in a practice crash at Daytona in March. No timetable was given for Oliver's return to racing. Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has sold his home in North Carolina and is moving back to Texas. Schwantz recently sold his place - in the heart of NASCAR country - to none other than NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. who won the Pontiac Excitement 400 in Richmond. Virginia. on Sunday. Schwantz is currently in the process of relocating to Austin. (Han): 2. Aaron Yates (SUI); 3. Miguel DuHllmel (Han); 4. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 5. Pascal Picotte (Duc); 6. Mat Mladin (SUl); 7. Jamie Hacking (Suz); 8. Doug Chandler (Duc); 9. Bri8n Uvengood (SUl); 10. Thomas Montano (Duc); 11. Brian Parriott (SoI); 12. Jeremy Toye (Suz); 13. Edwards Milhausen (SoI); 14. Robert Mesa (Suz); 15. Vincent Haskovec (SUI); 16. Andy Deatherage (SUl); 17. DOU9 Pitcock (SUI); 18. Dean Mizdal (Suz); 19. Owen Richey (Suz); 20. Justin Blake (Suz); 21. John Dugan (Suz); 22. James King (Suz); 23. Robert Christman (Suz); 24. J.J. Roetlin (SUI); 25. Rich Conicelli (SUI); 26. Garry Combs (Suz); 27. Marco Martinez (SUI); 28. Shawn Reilly (SUl). Time: 40 min., 36.751 sec. Distllnce: 26 laps, 60.32 miles Average speed: 96.798 mph Margin of victory: 2.715 sec. AMA SUPERBIKE NATIONAL C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 15 rounds): 1. Nicky Hayden (178/4 wins); 2. Anthony Gobert (118/1 win); 3. Aaron Yates (116); 4. Eric Bostrom (114); 5. Jamie Hacking (107); 6. Pascel Picotte (104); 7. Mat Mladin (103); 8. Brian Livengood (100); 9. Doug Chandler (99); 10. Andy Deatherage (92); II. Brian Parriott (86); 12. Miguel DuHamel (85); 13. Rich Conicelti (69); 14. Owen Richey (60); 15. Robert Mesa (58); 16. John Dugan (54); 17. Deen Mizdal (51); 18. Marco Martinez (45); 19. Thomas Montano (39); 20. Scott Jensen (38). Upcoming Rounds Rounds 6(7: Braselton, Georgia, May 18-19 Round 8: Fountain, Colorado, June 2 Formula Xtreme winner Damon Buckmaster knew that fellow Australian Marty Craggill would be a factor in the class· even though it was his first-ever AMA race and his first time to Sears Point. "I was teammates with Marty in '95. '97. and '98. When he gets a bit of shit in him he can be tough," Buckmaster said. "He needs a ride. he wants a ride. he wants to stay here and deservedly so - he put in a great ride. I knew he'd be a bit of a threat in the race." Craggill finished third. Anthony Gobert called his tum-12 save, "the save of the century." Unfortunately, the save left him with a broken left handlebar and a broken right footpeg . putting him out of Sunday's Superbike National. The near crash occurred when Gobert took a look over his left shoulder in the right-hander. Still leaned over at the time, the bike slid violently and sent Gobert up and out of the seat. "I learned a bit of a lesson today," Gobert said. "Don'llook over your shoulder like that. " Of the $50.000 Superbike purse. Nicky Hayden won $4400 for winning both Superbike races at Sears Point. Hayden's two victo· ries at Sears were the 11 th and 12th of his career. putting him in a tie with Doug Chandler for ninth on the all-time Superbike win list. Aaron Yates. meanwhile. won the 10th 600cc Supersport race of his career, putting him in a tie with Doug Polen for third on the all-time list. Graves Motorsports' Aaron Gobert has begun therapy while recovering from his honific Daytona injuries. but his return to racing is still a ways off. according to team owner Chuck Graves. "He's up and walking on crutches on his own." Graves said. "He's been doing hydrotherapy for almost a week now. His spirits are great. He's really looking forward to coming back." As to when that would be, Graves said he hoped 10 see Gobert back on track at a test at Virginia International Raceway June 18-19. nine days after the race at Road America. "We're hoping for that test," Graves said. "at least to get his feet wet, but with no pressure. American Honda's Nicky Hayden showed off a new way to keep track of his 2002 Superbike victories. After each win. he has a skull and crossbones patch sewn on to the back of his Joe Rocket leathers. just above the waist. Before Sunday's race. he'd already added the third marl< to signify his Saturday win along with the Daytona and Fontana victories. Dave Stanton left racing early in 1997 to do the things a normal person does, work and raise a family. "I'd basically retired." he said. His last race was at Laguna Seca in 1997. where he rode a Supersport machine for Arclight Suzuki. Last year, Chuck Warren. the Arclight Suzuki team owner who lives half a mile from Stanton in Lafayette. California. asked him if he wanted to ride again. He had a 1999 Superbike.spec Suzuki GSX·R750. "Chuck said, 'I've got it if you want to try it out.' I did all but one of the AFM races last year. I just missed out on number one by two points." Stanton said. This weekend. Stanton was on an '02 Suzuki GSX-Rl000 that he'd raced at Sears Point in an AFM event two weeks earlier. He won Open Superbike and finished second to James Randolph in Formula Pacific. "Two weeks ago. I was here and we learned a lot. The bike didn't handle two weeks ago and we made a lot of changes and it's a lot better now." For the Formula Xtreme race, Stanton said "I'm just trying to keep these guys in sight if at all possible. The main thing is I'm having fun." He finished eighth in the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme. The plan for 2002 is to do some AMA races, including Laguna Seca. But his main focus will again be AFM. He'll be con· testing the Formula Pacific and Open Superbike classes. "I wouldn't be doing this if he [Chuck Warren] wasn't helping me out," Stanton said. Stanton said there are no plans to join Arclight Suzuki's Lee Acree and Craig Connell in any of the Formula USA National Road Racing Series races. cue' e n e _ s MAY 15, 2002 19

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