Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Round 1 2: Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca tors. Thanks for pushing me around, you guys." Tires became an issue with all the restarts, especially since the riders had an allotment that they couldn't just blow through with total disregard. Yates would suffer the most from the i~sue, though Bostrom also had a small problem. "I was pleasantly surprised with how well the bike was working when we put the tires on it," Bostrom said. "Because we kind of struggled with some other tires. The bike seems just a little bit sensitive right now. And I was really pleasantly surprised at the end of race how well the bike was working. We were able to put our head down and do some 25s, and 1 was like, 'Man, at this rate, you know, things are looking really good.' So I think Dunlop got us a great tire. We were able to put our head down twice in a row real good. On the third start, we kind of ran out of tires because we didn't anticipate three restarts. So it was a little more slippery than I wanted at the beginning, and there was no getting away from Nick. He' was just right there on the tail. So 1 just tried to keep my head down and keep mistake-free. And it seemed like we got a little break in the lapped traffic there. I mean, I think I got four guys going in on the brakes going into the Corkscrew, and I was like, man, that had to help." Although he lost touch with the lead pair, Yates seemed a lock to finish third. But then came Chandler, in a determined mood. Combine that with the fact that Yates wasn't particularly pleased with the tire that was fitted for the restart, and it translated to trouble for the Georgian. "We decided to try a different tire after the last red flag," Yates said. "It Kawasaki's Tony Meiring crashed out of his second 600cc Supersport final in a row, escaping unhurt from his turn-six mishap, "We've been trying to get it setup all weekend, and that's where it starts," Meiring said, "I rolled off early to try and get a drive. When I tipped it in, I hit the dip and it bottomed out and I couldn't get it back, I had to ride hard to catch the group, but then I slowed down to let the tires cool." Meiring crashed at Brainerd International Raceway while leading the 600cc Supersport final in the early laps, BRIEFLY••• In a final resolution of the ongoing dispute about the amount of World Superbike practice the AMA wild cards would be allowed. AMA and World Superbike officials agreed that any AMA rider who qualified in the top 16 at the end of World Superbike qualifying on Saturday would be allowed to run half of the final World Superbike practice before Superpole, according to the AMA's Gary Mathers. The six AMA wild cards weren't permitted to nun in Saturday moming's practice session. They needed to qualify for Superpole - finish in the top 16 - to be permitted to run the final half hour in the Saturday afternoon practice session which preceded Superpole. By prior agreement, they'd also be allowed to run in both World Superbike qualifying sessions. "We both realized a compromise needed to be made," said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing, who took part in the meeting. Hollingsworth was joined in the meeting by AMA road race manager, and Clerk of the' Course this weekend, Ron Barrick, World Superbike organizerPaolo Flammini, one of Flammini's assistants, and Cameron Gray of Speed Channel and RPM Productions, the organizer and promoter of the Laguna Seca event, "We were trying to get an agreement and respect what's fair for both sides and respect the safety issue, I think it's a reasonable solution. The teams are happy with it," The teams affected, Blimpie/Yoshimura Suzuki, American Honda, HMC Ducati, Kawasaki, and Yamaha, had all been notified, Mathers said, Eric Bostrom, though he'd entered as a permanent World Superbike rider and was expected to be exempt, was also kept out of the first free practice session. Blimpie/Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin crashed just minutes before the start of the AMA Superbike National. in the final qualifying for the World Superbike race, The Australian went down in tum 10, suffering bnuising to the backside of both hands, Mladin was surprised as to how it happened. "I was surprised as I didn't think I was doing anything different," Mladin said of the crash, "I was on my out lap with a qualifying tire on, and I guess that I didn't get the right side of the tire hot enough, I slapped my hands down hard and landed hard on my shoulders as well." Mladin started the AMA Superbike race, but pulled out after the first red flag. According to Yamaha team manager Keith McCarty, a visor tearoff somehow found its way into the front disc brake on Anthony Gobert's R7, causing the brake to lock and Gobert to crash, The get-off occurred on Saturday morning during World Superbike practice, Gobert ended up seventh in the Superbike National, but opted out of Sunday's World Superbike races with his leg causing him too many problems to make it worthwhile, "I'm disappointed," Gobert said, "I'm mainly disappointed because I went through a lot of pain to ride here in training and preparing myself, and I just can't do it. I'm just not ready, I tried to come here for the fans and for Yamaha, I can't ride, My leg is just too bad, There is no point in just riding around and getting lapped at the back of the pack, I just can't do anything with my leg and I don't want to be a danger to anybody else, " Gary Mathers also explained how the problem surfaced, On Wednesday, Mathers and others met with Roberto Nosetto, the World Superbike race director, It was agreed that they would follow the practice and qualifying nules from last year, allowing AMA wild cards to qualify in both sessions, but limiting them to half of the practice sessions, At a meeting at 10 a,m, on Thursday, Nosetto relayed complaints he'd gotten from a number of World Superbike riders, though not from Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards, or Ben Bostrom, "Our rAMAl riders got more track time than their riders," Mathers was told, The discussion continued throughout the day and into the night and it was decided that the AMA riders would not be allowed to run any of the AMA practice sessions, That decision brought immediate condemnation from the AMA side with more than one team discussing the possibility of withdrawing from the World Superbike races entirely, It was that decision that was ultimately reversed, The AMA Superbike men spent plenty of time on their motorcycles on Saturday, Between taking part in their own practice sessions, World Superbike qualifying, the AMA Superbike National. more World Superbike practice, and Superpole, Doug Chandler estimated he spent over four and a half hours in his leathers on Saturday, Thanks to the World Superbike race at Laguna, Pascal Picotte may be a bit better off tirewise for the final rounds of the AMA series as he managed to get some new tires from the Michelin men, "I really liked the rear tire I used in the race," Picotte said, "We still need to work a little bit on the front. but we made some improvement. As far as the rear goes, I think we have something good for Mid-Ohio and Virginia also, I just wish we could have had a little bit more track time to try more tires and stuff, " Graves Yamaha's Aaron Gobert made a welcomed retum to the racetrack at Laguna Seca, though he was far from 100 percent, "I feel pretty good," the middle of the three Gobert brothers said, "I'm all right. I'm probably about 70 percent, maybe 60 percent. I can't walk in the morning and it takes me about an hour to get out of bed, After spending six weeks in bed, everything shuts down," Gobert suffered serious injury in a horrific 600cc Supersport crash at Daytona in March and it's taken him until now to get healthy, The Australian rode for the first time last Tuesday at Willow Springs and he's planning on competing in a club race at the Southern California facility next weekend on an R6, Gobert was happy to be back on the grid, though the fifth row in the 600cc Supersport race seemed a bit out of the norm, "It felt good to be on the startline," he said, "but being on the fifth row was a bit shit, but I looked over and saw Josh Hayes to I guess it wasn't so bad, Gobert suffered a mechanical failure in the 600cc Supersport final and didn't finish. In the Formula Xtreme race on Saturday, he ended up eighth, "The knees hurt the most, changing directions and all," Gobert said, 20 JULY 24, 2002' cue • e n e _ was like we ran in the morning and it seemed to work pretty good. All the tires seem to drop off after a couple of laps. 1 decided to go with the 616 after trying it this morning. Peter [Doyle, Mladin's crew chief] came over and asked if we needed anything and we decided to go with that tire and he gave us one. We didn't realize it, but when we took the tire warmer off it we saw that it had a lap on it." But it was too late to do anything about it, and Yates started the final portion with a used tire. "I was kind of a little upset because I wanted a new tire," Yates said. "Otherwise, I would have stuck with what [ had. [t didn't hang in there. [ slowed way down. [ tried to get in there at the end, but we ran into some traffic that kind of got in the way. It was sliding allover the place and [ couldn't do much with it." Picotte wished he'd been able to take over Anthony Gobert's wild-card spot, with the Aussie opting out of the World Superbike final. 'I wish I could have taken his [Gobert'sJ spot earlier and used that. We are a small team and we can use all the track time we can get. It would have been nice if we could have gotten more track time, but we're happy and things are looking better for Mid-Ohio, " Traffic continues to be a major concern for the top riders, During Sunday's iace, Miguel DuHamel was balked while chasing down Doug Chandler. Naturaliy, he wasn't impressed, "The lapped riders really played a big part for everybody," he said, "These guys, I don't know why they don't understand, when s Yates' 'Ioss was Chandler's gain and the HMC Ducati looked as though it was on rails, though Chandler said that wasn't exactly the way it was. On the 22nd lap, Chandler took over third place, a spot he would hold to the finish. "[t was crazy with the two red flags," Chandler said. "The first tire [ liked, but [ wasn't going to risk going out a third time on it, so [ opted to put something else on. That one definitely got the job done, but [ wouldn't use it again. Nicky and Eric seemed to have things just a little more sorted and they quickly dropped us. At one stage, [ was wondering if I'd be good to the end, but [ regrouped and changed my riding style a little and my lap times started getting better. [t got really crazy towards the end; [ was doing everything I could just to keep the thing on two wheels. [t was Doug [Chandler] or [AaronJ Yates or anybody comes by, take two seconds, look, then get back to racing, I don't think it would make a big, big difference_ It's not like they're going for a win. They're going for 12th, I say that with all respect. We need everybody out there, I'm just saying let's be smart about this, Eric Bostrom took home $4400 from the $50,000 AMA Superbike purse for winning the race, Nicky Hayden earned $3700 for second place, with Doug Chandler netting $3200 for third, The total purse for the AMA portion of the weekend was $94,500, The Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race attracted so many entries that the AMA turned a way a few of the more successful riders, Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzuki's Adam Fergusson and Clarke Performance Racing's Shane Clarke were both denied entries because their entries were received too late, after the AMA had filled the 65-rider field, Fergusson had originally come to Road Atlanta for a one-race deal, replacing Canadian Jordan Szoke while he sorted out his visa problems, When he tried to pre-enter for the Laguna Seca race prior to Road Atlanta, he was toid the entries were closed for Supersport, Superstock, and Formula Xtreme, Fergusson was able to start in the Supers port race at Laguna Seca on an entry secured by teammate Jimmy Moore, Moore chose not to race. More than a few of the greatest American racers could be excused if they were shy with the handshakes, Former 500cc World Champions Kevin Schwantz (1993), Wayne Rainey (1990, '91, '92), and Freddie Spencer <1983, '85) had to sign a limited-edition run of 530 lithographs celebrating the greatest 500cc riders ever, The other two riders included in the original artwork lithograph are Eddie Lawson (1984, '86, '88, '89) and Wayne Gardner (19871. The artwork will go on sale in September, Sunday's race program was delayed by the always-present Monterey fog, The MBNA 250cc Grand Prix practice was fogged out. as was the World Superbike practice, though for a different reason. The track was dry and comer workers reported adequate visibility, but the fog grounded the medivac helicopter and World Superbike organizers won't allow bikes on track if the chopper can't fly, The World Superbike mornin9 warm-up was delayed 50 minutes, from 9 a,m, to 9:50 a,m, The delay meant moving practice for the MBNA 250 Grand Prix class to after the Superstock race, and delaying the race until the very end of the day, after the second World Superbike race. Part-time MBNA 250cc Grand Prix combatant Roland Sands said he was Iikeiy finished with the soon-to-be-obsolete class, "I think this might be my last ride on a 250 this weekend," said Sands, who doesn't plan on attending the two finai east coast races, after finishing second to Rich Oliver, -I don't know, We'll see, I love 250s, None of us want to say it, but they're on the way out. We all know it." The AMA has announced that they'll likely faze out the class at the end of the 2003 season, Oliver is taking the diehard route, hoping to win the class' last-ever title, "We're going to come back and race Team Oliver Yamaha one more year with Perry Melneciuc and myself," Oliver said, addin9 that he also wanted to build a dirt tracker in the future, "I want to go flat track racing, I do a lot of flat-track-type stuff in my mystery school where I teach riders, And it's all on mini-bikes, so I want to try a big bike and see if I can do that too_ We're going to do that and we're going to come back here and try to win this championship. It's really my last shot at it. I'd love to be the guy that can win the last one:

• Cover