Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

flared up. Ulrich wasn't able to make left-right transitions quickly and came under attack from Howard, who passed him on the final lap to take sixth. Nicolodi Racing's Vincent Haskovec was eighth, just in front of Kawasaki's Tony Meiring. CN SolS Point Raceway Sonom., c.llfamiJI Results: ~ 4, 2002 (Round 31 GENUINE 5(JZ(JKI ACCESSORIES SUPERSTOCK: 1. Lee Acree (SUI); 2. Brion Poniott (SUI); 3. Tommy Heyden (Kaw): 4. Jason Disalvo (Suz); 5: Jlm~y Moore (Suz); 6. Ty Howard (SUI): 7. ChriS U!r!ch SUZ); 8. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 9. Tony Melnng Kaw)' 10. Jeremy Toye (Suz); 11. Jacob Holden SUI); '12. Alon Schmidt (Suz); 13. Brion Uven900d Suz); 14. M.ichael Hannas «Kaw); 15. Owen Welchel Kaw); 16. Marco Martinez (Suz); 17. Pedro Valiente Suz); 18. Scott Simpson (KlIw); 19. Robert hristmon (SUI); 20. Jeff Bostrom (SUI); 21. JUStin ! Blake (Suz); 22. Robert Jensen (Suz); 23. Jason Perez (Suz); 24. John Scott Wilson (8uz); 25. Cory Coli (Su,); 26. Robert Compbell (Kow); 27. Lon~e Wi1li8ms (SUI); 28. Kenyon Kluge (Su~); 29..En~ HOU~{SUZ); 30. Kevin Pate (Suz); 31. Rich CO~lcelh SUZ ; 32. Jeremy Chisum (Suz); 33. Bryan, Ed~nton Suz ; 34. Chris Siglin (8uz); 35. Steve Smith (Due); 6. rtin Sims (Suz); 37. Owen Richey (Su,); 38. l Scott Jensen (Suz); 39. Ben Spies (Suz); 40. Andrew Nelson (Kaw). TIme: 25 mins., 52.091 sec. Distance: 16 laps, 37.] 2 miles. Avet1lge speed; 93.520 mph. Margin of victory: 1.253 sec. GENUINE SUZUKI ACCESSORIES SUPER STOCK C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 3 of 10 AMA/MBNA 250cc Grand Prix Round 4: Sears Point Raceway By PAUL CARRUTHERS PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS SONOMA, CA, MAY 5 ,_ \ ith no disrespect to Rich Oliver, ~ 250cc Grand Prix racing is a lot better when he's either injured or absent entirely. Unfortunately for Oliver, he was both at Sears Point Raceway. The King of 250cc GP racing suffered an arm and foot injury during qualifying on Friday and he was in the hospital (see Briefly ... ) when racing action started without him on Sunday afternoon. What he missed was a good one, a race-long battle between eventual winner Chuck Sorensen and his Team Stargel Aprilia and the Performance Machine Yamaha of Roland Sands. For Sorensen, the victory came after a tough weekend, with the finicky Aprilia giving him and his crew some problems. That led to a second-row start for the Californian, but he was up to the task once the race began and the bike ran flawlessly in the final. In the end, he was 2.4 seconds ahead of Sands, though the outcome was in doubt right up to the final laps. Third place was equally as heated, if not more so. Cruise America's Jason DiSalvo ended up taking the spot, but not before battling with Priority Racing's Simon Turner for the full 16 laps. It all came down to the final lap, with DiSalvo taking the spot from Turner in turn seven, then holding off the Yamaha TZ250-mounted rider in the final corner when Turner tried to outbrake DiSalvo and his Honda RS250. The battle for fifth was non-existent, as Shark Energy Drink Aprilia's AI Salaverria circulated alone after losing touch with the leaders. He ended the race well clear of the battle for sixth between Hasselgren Engines' John Davis, Arai-backed Edward Marchini and the Team Oliver Yamaha of Perry Melneciuc. They finished in that order. The win puts Sorensen 20 points clear of Melneciuc, 100-80, with Sands third with 71 points, Ed Sorbo with 67, Colin Jensen with 66 and DiSalvo sixth with 59 points. Sands wasted no time on the opening lap, shooting past Salaverria in the Carousel and then passing the holeshotting Turner on the approach to turn 12. But he couldn't pull away once in front as the others tucked in with him. Sorensen gave him the most trouble, even though he was coming from row two. Sorensen eventually snuck under Sands on the fifth lap in the carousel, just a lap after he'd dived under Turner in turn two. Sorensen then led until the eighth lap, when Sands snuck under him on the brakes heading into tum 12. By this point, the lead duo had put two seconds on the battle behind them between Turner and DiSalvo, with Salaverria trying to keep those two within his grasp. On the 11 th lap, Sorensen again blasted his way past Sands, this time in turn three. He then started to open a bit of a gap, but there was no quitting in Sands as he stormed right back on the leader by the time they got to turn 12. Sorensen was quicker in the first half of the track, but Sands seemed to get it all back with quick runs through the esses. DiSalvo fought past Turner on the 12th lap, but that duo ended the lap some five seconds behind the lead duo. Still, they were now well clear of Salaverria who would run the rest of the race alone - miles ahead of the trio battling over sixth. With the race coming to a close, Sorensen was able to gap Sands leading him across the stripe by 1.1 seconds to win his second race of the season. "It was a crummy start, as far as my launch," Sorensen said. "But I passed about three or four guys going up to two on the outside. I got in with the front pack, got around Jason [DiSalvo] and tried to focus in on Simon [Turner] and Roland [Sands] just not letting them get away. We got very little practice time this weekend because of the problems we had with the engine, but my crew kept its head down and did a great job. That's what got me up there today. This is the first time that the bike didn't have any problems at all. Roland and I were scrapping it out and I couldn't believe when I saw 34 on the board. It didn't seem real, but it was a battle and I was working hard. All I saw was 'plus 0, plus 0.' Exiting seven on the last lap, I looked back and didn't see him on the one side but I thought he could be on the other side. I didn't hear the bike, so I just kept it clean." Sands was impressed with how quickly the leaders had circulated. "That was a really good scrap," Sands said. "We went 36.1 in qualifying, and I didn't think that was that fast. I wasn't pushing real hard when I rounds): 1. Tommy Hay-den (91/1); 2. Lee Acree (84/1); 3. Brion Poniott (77); 4. Chris Ulrich (71); 5. Jimmy Moore (66); 6. Vincent Haskovec (63); 7. (TIE) Jordon Szokerrony Meiring (61); 9. (TIE) Ty Howard/Brian Livengood (59); 11. Jason Disalvo (47)' 12. Jeremy Toye (42); 13. (TIE) Crolg Conn~II/Alon Schmidt (41); 15. Rich Conicelli (37); 16. (TIE) Michoel Bomes/Jocob Holden (29); 18. (TIE) LofT)' Pegrom/Moreo Mortine, (27); 20. Scott Greenwood. Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Brasenon, Georgia. May 18 Round 5 - Fountain, Colorado, June 2 did it and I should have gone faster, but I got pole because no one else was going faster. Chuck definitely raised the level in the race, and I think we got down in the fours [1:34sJ. I didn't really want to go that fast here, to tell you the truth. Chuck pushed the level and of course I stepped it up to try and pull away from him. That didn't happen. He was on my ass. I thought I could pull a little gap on him maybe for the last lap, but he put some good laps together and got away from me and I had nothing left for him on the last lap." Meanwhile, the race for third went full distance with DiSalvo passing Turner heading into turn seven on the final lap. Turner got a great drive out of turn 11 into tum 12, but he was on the outside and DiSalvo was able to keep him at bay, beating him to the line by just 0.1 of a second. "Me and Simon [Turner] were going at it," DiSalvo said. "I would have liked to have gone with these guys because it would have been a hell of a race, but my bike was just slightly underpowered. Once they started to go, I figured it wasn't worth thrOWing it away trying to follow. I just stayed back and tried to get points. It's debatable whether Roland will do the whole season or not, and as we sawall weekend, Chuck's Aprilia might not hold together for all the races. If I have to get third the rest of the season to get the championship, then I'll finish third the rest of the season." Then came a lonely Salaverria, miles ahead of Davis, Marchini and Melneciuc. eN Sears Point Racew.y Sonoma, c.llfamill Results: M.y 4, 2002 250cc GRAND PRIX; I. Chones Sorensen (Apr); 2. Roland Sands (Yam); 3. Jason DiSalvo (Hon); 4. Simon Turner (Yam); 5. Al Salaverria (Apr); 6. John Davis (Yam); 7. Edward M8rchlni (Yam); 8. Perry Melneciuc (Yam); 9. Colin Jensen (Apr); 10. Frank Arag8ki (YlIm); 11. Darren Fulce (Yam); 12. Ed Sorbo (Yam); 13. Cory Denton West (Yam); 14. Jonoh Miller (Apr); 15. Ty Dsvld PI, (Yom); 16. John France (Hon); 17. Rich8rd Denman (Hon); 18. John Williams (YlIm); 19. Kelly Jones (Hon); 20. Jason Olive (Yam); 21. Joji Tokumoto (Hon). rune: 25 min.• 41.140 sec. Distance: 16 laps. Average speed: 94.185 mph Margin of victory: 2.449 sec. AMA 250cc GRAND PRIX C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After three 01 10 rounds); 1. Chones Sorensen (100/2 wins); 2. Perry Melneciuc (80); 3. Rol.nd Sonds (71/1 win); 4. Edwords Sorbo (67); 5. Colin Jensen (66); 6. (TIE) J8S0n DiSalvo/Darren Fulce (59); 8. Cory Denton West (58); 9. (TIE) AI Salaverria/Ty David Piz (55); 11. Simon Turner (54): 12. John Wlliloms (45); 13. Thod Holsmer (44); 14. Frank Aragaki (43); 15. John France (34). Upcoming Rounds Round 5: Braselton, Georgia, May 19 Round 6: Founlain, Colorado, June 2 Chuck Sorensen (90) and Roland Sands (hidden) battled to the very end of the 250Cc Grand Prix final, with Sorensen taking the victory. n • _ S • MAY 15. 2002 23

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