Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Round 617: Road Atlanta anything like that [as if they were] to go 26. But everything's really good. My bike was working good. It's fast. I was having a little bit of a problem in the draft. The thing was getting upset ond part, there was no time for such frivolity. Head down and waiting for no man, Hayden shot past Yates, a little bit." DuHamel and finally Bostrom in what amounted to two decisive moves. DuHamel knew that he couldn't wait Things didn't look especially good for Hayden on the restart as he was mired in fourth place at the conclu- into second place by the end of the third lap of the restart. The two Hon- sion of the first lap. Again, it was Bostrom with the best start, heading into turn one from the outside with das slowly pulled away, with DuHamel doing his best to stay with Hayden. He did so, and it appeared as though the lead. He was followed by DuHamel, Yates, Hayden, Mladin, Picotte and Hacking, with all of the there would be a last-lap battle into the all-important turn 10. Not so, however, as DuHamel muffed the entrance to the back factory men at least trying their best to think they had a legitimate shot. In the first portion of the race, Hayden had been patient. In the sec- around, so he followed suit, moving straight with his best Gary Rothwell wheelie impression. That was all it took for Ha.yden to cruise home 1.1 American Honda's Nicky Hayden (pictured) nearly forgot that his Friday qualifying time was good enough to hold up on Saturday, giving him pole position for the two AJIlA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike rounds at Road Atlanta. With Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin putting in the fastest time on Saturday, it took a minute for Hayden to realize that pole position was still his. "When I came in, I saw what the fastest lap today was, and I totally forgot that yesterday I'd went faster," Hayden admitted. "So at first I was thinking, 'Aw, I got bumped off the front row, or off the pole.' And then my guys reminded me that yesterday I'd went faster. So I was pretty happy when I went out. Mat [Mladinj stopped and let me go in front, and it's like, you don't really want to give anybody a tow, we didn't have a lot of time, so it's not like you could stop and wait for a clear track. And then Pascal (picotte I kind of stopped and waited, too. I mean, you'd feel stupid if you give somebody a tow and they bump you a spot. So, like I said, the clock was ticking, and I didn't really have any time to stop and just go by myself. But this is only my third pole, so it feels pretty good to get on pole, and I'm pretty happy. But I'm a lot more worried about the race and stuff. I'm looking forward to the race more than qualifying. But still, I mean, getting on pole is pretty cool." Was the cooler weather the reason he couldn't match his Friday qualifying pace? "I think the track was faster today, really, being cooler and stuff," Hayden said. "I mean, there was a little bit at the bottom of the esses, right in the cracks was a little bit of water. But I don't know. I think yesterday I just had a better lap. Today, we thought it was going to rain so we thought we were just putting some laps on some tires and stuff, and right at the end is when I put on that tire and tried. And I really didn't go any faster than I did earlier in the session." In addition to pole, Hayden also earned the championship point that goes with it. Not that he needs those these days. With the point, Hayden went into Saturday's sixth round of the series with a whopping 61-point lead over his nearest competitor, Anthony Gobert· and the Australian was out of action, having suffered a broken leg during Friday's session (see Briefly...). So, although Hayden didn't go quicker on Saturday morning, he didn't really need to and pole position was his· by virtue of his 1:23.287 set on Friday aftemoon. Mladin ended up second on the grid, disappointed to be slower than he was a year ago when he set a lap record during qualifying that still stands at 1:22.735. This year. M1adin lapped at 1:23.463 as he used a qualifying tire to improve on Saturday moming. Still, he was far from satisfied. "1 didn't use a Q [qualifying tire] yesterday," Mladin said. "I used one today, just those last couple laps after the red flag. That's about it. I've been trying for the last six months. Unfortunately, we're down a second slower than what we were last year at every race· track. I don't know what it is. That's as fast as I can go. My arms are hanging down about four foot lower than they normally are just trying to hang on to the thing. I really don't know what's wrong with it. I can't get it to work." Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom, like Hayden, couldn't match his times from Friday when it came time to qualifying on Saturday. Still, he started from third on the grid and was happy to see cloudy skies and cooler temperatures on Saturday moming. "We threw on a Q before Doug [Chandler - who brought out a red flag with his crash] got off, and I think coming back into the pits and going back out on the thing really hurt us," Bostrom said. "Because the first lap out, I was just like spinning all over the place and coming out of the saddle. So I never really got a chance to make a good effort. But front row is front row. I'm excited. I think the divine intervention with the weather is going to be a really good for us. So I'm excited about that." Yamaha's Anthony Gobert was an absentee from the front row as the Australian was en route to California to have his leg injury assessed. Mladin's teammate Aaron Yates led the second row of American Honda's Miguel DuHamel, HMC Ducati's Doug Chandler and Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati's Pascal Picotte. The final session on Saturday was red·f1agged with some seven minutes remaining when Chandler crashed in tum four. The Cali~omian suffered an injUry to his left foot and right thumb and was a non-starter in either of the two Superbike Nationals. 10 MAY 29,2002' II: U II: • e Mat Mladin had a frustrating weekend, finishing fifth and sixth In the two races. The defending series champ has yet to win a race in 2002. n e..., s seconds ahead of his teammate who, ment," Yates said when asked about in turn, had 0.9 of a second on Yates. "The red flag helped us," DuHamel explained. "We changed a few little things and the bike was quite a bit better in that second race. So every- it, before defending his team and his motorcycle. "But things are going good. Our bikes are going good too. We had them working real well, and I thing was going good. I was just trying to stay close to Nicky there and be able to make a move on him, or if he made a mistake, to try to capitalize on it. But, unfortunately, I'm the one that made a mistake, coming out of seven. It was pretty bad. It looked like I had at least two hours of racing experience when I came out of there." Yates continues to impress, his third place a testament to his neversay-die attitude. If the Suzukis were having problems, then so too was Yates' - but he seemed to be able to make the most of what he had and he put the bike on the podium. In the post-race press conference, Hayden either slipped up or made a point of letting everyone know that Yates' Suzuki was slower than the Hondas. "I've always heard a little saying, there's no replacement for displace- was able to just ride as hard as I could. I was really feeling good because I was kind of struggling early on. The times weren't showing Jjke I was hoping, so we made some changes this morning • some things in the forks and stuff - and just allowed me to make up as much time as I could going into the turns. I just rode my bike hard, and hopefully we can find some speed and be a little closer tomorrow." Fourth went to a hard-riding yet increasingly despondent Bostrom. "It's just no fun," Bostrom said. "The only fun I had was that I could go by anybody on the brakes in 10. Honestly, the bike just has no grip. Jamie Hacking (92) battles with Pascal Picotte (21) In Sunday's final. Hacking crashed out and Picotte finished fifth.

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