Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

which turned out to be the race," good enough run out of turn seven to Hayden said. stay in his draft." Buckmaster's Yamaha was the Spies had bobbled in turn three on opposite of Hayden's on speed. It was the final lap when his rear tire let go. clear he didn't have the speed to "It was a huge mistake and it messed keep up, which meant that he wasn't in a position to make a move in the me and Damon [Buckmaster] up," Spies said. Buckmaster was on Spies hard-braking zones. That, and lapped and ready to take advantage in turn traffic, signaled the end of his aspira- 1 O. Spies knew he was coming, but tions. Still, he was able to pass Spies didn't execute the corner the way he on the final lap for fourth. "I just got him on the brakes in turn 10," Buckmaster said. "I got a felt he should have. "If I could've, I would've done things differently," he said. eN IIolId Atlanu Brasalton, &eorgia Results: May 19, 2002 [Round 3 of 91 PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT: 1. Jamie Hllcking (Suz); 2. Aaron Yllites (Suz); 3. Tommy Hayden (Kaw); 4. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); 5. Ben Spies (Suz): 6. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 7. Tom Kip? (Suz); 6. JllIke Zemke (Hon); 9. Jll:son Pridmore (Suz); W. Tony Meiring (Kow); 11. Mike Hole (Hon); 12. Andrew Nelson (Hon); 13. Alex Gobert (Hon); 14. Ty Howerd (Suz); 15. Jim Filice (KlIw); 16. Michllel HlInnas; 17. Scott Hermersmzmn (Suz); t 8. Jeff Muskopr (SUl); 19. Jomes Stroud (SUl); 20. Chuck Ivey (SUl); 21. Ted Cobb (Suz); 22. Kevin Pote (Suz); 23. Pliul Alliderks (Suz); 24. Richard Ford (Suz); 25. Raymond Bowman (Hon); 26. Justin Blake (Suz); 27. Anthony Ian Cammack (Suz); 28. James Kerker (Hon); 29. Giovanni Rojas (Tri); 30. Lance Yeager (Suz); 31. Ronny Camilo; 32. Caesar Gonzales (Kaw); 33. Tyler Wadsworth (Yam). Time: 21 mins.. 58.900 sec. Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme: Round 3 It may . . . . taken ....... to get It finished, but when It w_ _ .... Fonnula Xtreme _wln~too IIuc:Icmaater IIIId hi. 0nIYea Yamaha. STORY AND PHOTO BV HENNV RAV ABRAMS BRASElTON, GA, MAY 19 he Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme race had more red flags and ill will than an Enron audit. The official time for the 15-lap race was two hours, 32 minutes, 40.006 seconds; though, start to finish, it took considerably longer. The winner's average speed was 14.974 mph. The winner's average lap time, 10 minutes, 10.667 seconds. Margin of victory? Only 0.972 of a second, Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster holding off the charging Roger Lee Hayden, of the Erion Honda team, in the final nine-lap sprint to the flag. "It took forever, that race - red flags and so forth," Buckmaster said after his third win in three tries. "I thought they should've just called the damned thing and got it over with." The call never came because the race hadn't run the necessary distance, despite the red flags and delays. There were other calls that had a direct bearing on the race, none of which were very popular, and they involved Attack Suzuki's Jason Pridmore. Pridmore was given a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the original start. "If you look at the video, I defmiteIy didn't put my axle anywhere out of the box," Pridmore said. "I put my bike in gear is what I did. They call you for that." Pridmore also objected because the AMA official who made the call is married to Keith Parry, the crew chief for Valvoline EMGO Suzuki, which had two bikes in the race. "I reviewed the video, but for me the video wasn't conclusive, so I've got to go with the official that was on the front row," AMA Road Race manager Ron Barrick said. "It was a positive call by the official on the front row, who is the closest one." As to whether Barrick was concerned about bias, he said, "I would think, if anything, that would go in the favor of any Suzuki out on the grid. But, I think to me, it's an impartial situation. If I didn't think any of our officials would be able to make impartial calls, I wouldn't have them here." The first attempt to run the race, begun as the third race of the day just before the second Superbike race, made it less than two laps when it was red-flagged by a crash in turn three. The second attempt began with Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies out front, holding the spot until the fifth lap when Buckmaster came past, with Bruce Transportation Group's Jake Zemke out front on the sixth lap, in front of Spies and Buckmaster. That same lap, the engine in Pridmore's Attack Suzuki GSX-R I 000 blew on the run down to turn 10, the end of the back stretch. Pridmore rode it into the gravel trap and, according to Barrick, 12 riders made it through. On their next run through, Zemke and Spies weren't so lucky. Due. e Distance: 15 laps. 37.8 miles. Average speed: 103.996 mph. Margin of victory: 0.351 sec. PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After four of 10 rounds): 1. Alliron Votes (142/3 wins); 2. Jomie Hocking (119/1): 3. DlImon Buckmaster (106); 4 Ben Spies (99); 5. Joson Pridmore (91): 6. Mike Hole (90); 7. Tom Kipp (88): 8. (TIE) Joke 2emke/Tommy Hayden (81): 10. Tony Meiring (80); II. (TIE) Anthony Gobert/Alex Gobert (66); 13. R0ger Lee Hoyden (64); 14. Ty Howard (57); 15. Jimmy Moore (51); 16. Owen Richey (35); 17. Nicky Hoyden (33); 18. Miguel DuHamel (29); 19. (TIE) Clint McBoin/Jlm FilicefTyler Wadsworth (28). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Fountain, Colorado, June 2 Round 6 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 9 Both hit the oil and instantly hit the ground. Because it was determined that they, and not Pridmore's oil, had caused the red flag, they were put at the back of the grid, a decision which incensed Pridmore and confounded the affected riders. "My bike blows up, I'm the one who causes the red flag, yet Jake [Zemke] and Ben [Spies] have to go to the back? Now explain that to me," Pridmore said. "Why didn't they get the red flags out when they saw my bike blow its guts all over the place?" Spies said he had no clue as to why he was put to the back. "I think the AMA is a good)c1ub, but I'd pretty much call it stuPid on that," Spies said. "Me and Zemke didn't cause tpe red flag, Jason's oil did," Zemke said. "Apparently, we were the cause of the red flag and not the oil on the track." The AMA's Barrick said the call to throw a red flag is left up to the corner workers. Clearly, they didn't know there was oil on the track. As for the decision to put the riders on the back of the grid, Barrick said that was in the rulebook. "Well, ultimately they were the cause of the red flag, but obviously [the oil] that was left by Pridmore's machine contributed to that." Barrick went on to say that "it's basically my decision to make a determination if one rider or all riders involved were contributing to the red flag." Because time was running out on the 3:00 p.m. start for the live Superbike telecast, the decision was made to finish the Formula Xtreme event after the Superbike race. That was a blessing for a number of teams, especially Attack Suzuki, which had a pair of severely damaged motorcycles, allowing all the time to make necessary repairs. The final run was nine laps, and it was all Buckmaster, though Hayden kept him honest. Buckmaster and Hayden were away early, the Yamaha rider getting over a one-second lead when Hayden began to gnaw away. "I had plus-one I think on the second or third lap maybe, and he [Hayden] just closed the gap on me," Buckmaster said. "It was 0.8 to 0.6 then it was zero, so I thought it was Roger. I wasn't 100-percent sure. He pushed me the whole way, definitely." Hayden said his machine had broken a gasket and he'd missed the n e _ s • MAy 29, 2002 15

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