Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

and he just kept coming and I thought he saw me and he picked it up a little bit and we kind of touched and he just kept leaning and my front end went away. I've passed there many, many times. There's enough room for three bikes to go through there." Barnes felt that Weichel took him out when he slid off. He was able to remount and finished 10th. I:N Scott Greenwood (Suz); 9. Ugo Levert (Suz); 10. MicMel &mes (Suz); 11. Bruce McDonllld (Vam); 12. Greg Bokl (Vam); 13. Ray Bowman (Hon); 14. Joel McDonald (Yam); 15. Cory West (Hon); 16. Francis Dubuc (Suz): J7. David Lamb (Yam); 18. M....rt IId11matioulllKewly Iowsuville, Oldllrio, Cana... Ilesults: Joly 21, 20DZ Jerome Plourde (Suz); 21. Chris Peris (Hon ; Zenon Nelson (Suz); 23. John Lounsbury (Suz); Darrin Mitchell (Suz); 25. Richerd Kjer (Vern); Peter Marsh (Kaw); 27. Joseph Rozynskl (Suz); Paolo Mariano (Suz); 29. Patrick Blouin (Hon). TIme: 18 mins., 45 sees. Victor Pelva (Kaw); 19. Martin Hamel (Yamj: 20. HONDA PRO OILS SPORTBIKE: I. Craig Connell (Suz); 2. Lee A~ (Suz); 3. Clint McBain (Suz); 4. Kevin Lacombe (Hon): 5. Jeff Wood (Suz); 6. Jeff Williams (Suz); 7. lzIrry Pegram (Suz); 8. 22. 24. 26. 28. Distance: 12 laps, 29.88 miles. Margin of victory: 4.585 sees. HONDA PRO OILS SPORTBIKE C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 of 8 rounds): I. Craig Connell (53/1 win); 2. Lee Acree (45); 3. Michael Barnes (43); 4. Larry Pegram (41); 5. Matt Wait (29); 6. Jeffrey Wood (28); 7. Eric Wood (25); 8. Scott Greenwood (24); 9. (TIE) John Lounsbury/Ray Bowman (21); II. (TIE) Clint McBain/Owen Weichel/Anthony Cammack/Jim Lester/James Kerker/John Dempsey/Bryan Bemisderfer/Dale Dandrea/Sam Rozynski/Paolo Mariano (16). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Elkhart Lake. Wisconsin, August 4 Round 6 - Long Pond, Pennsytvania, August 25 Formula USA/Buell Lightning Series Round 4: Mosport International Raceway --------------- STORV AND PHOTO BV HENNV RAV ABRAMS BOWMANVIu.E, aNT, CANADA, JULY 21 ichael Barnes and Richie Morris made contact in turn two on the second lap of the Buell Lightning Series race. Kosco Harley-Davidson/Buell/Innovative Motorcycle Research's Barnes went down, Hal's Performance/Daytona Harley-Davidson/Buell's Morris was slowed when his chain derailed. Barnes said it was Morris' fault. Morris saw it differently. Either way, the two were out of contention and Clint Brotz was in the right place at the right time. The Hal's Harley-Davidson rider took the lead and ran with it to the checkered flag, earning his first-ever Buell win, this one coming in a shortened main event at Mosport International Raceway. "I was right behind when it happened and I just barely missed Barney [Barnes] when he went down," Brotz said. "Richie [Morris] went around him he was having some problems and then I just took my opportunity. " Brotz's previous best finish was a fourth, achieved twice, and he'd never led a Buell race. "I kept on looking back in [turn] five and they were pretty far back, so 1 just put my head down and kept doing consistent lap times," said the Wisconsonite, who just began contesting the Buell class this year. "I just put my head down once Barnes and Richie were out of the picture. The bike ran perfect, absolutely perfect thanks to Todd Evans and Hal's Harley-Davidson. " Brotz completed the eight-lap, 19.92-mile race in 13 minutes, 57 seconds, winning by 5.350 seconds. The race had been shortened from 12 to eight laps because of a lengthy delay caused by a lack of the required number of ambulances fol- lowing a crash in the previous ASM Amateur 600cc Supersport race. Hoban Bros. Racing's Jeff Johnson came from the back row of the slim 15-rider field to finish second. Johnson landed on the back row after his qualifying time was disallowed when his Buell Ughtning had exceeded the class-mandated 90-horsepower limit. Harley-Davidson of Frederick's Bryan Bemisderfer was third. "We've been having trouble metering down the horsepower this year," Johnson said of his violation, 1.5 horsepower over the limit. "We put in one orifice and it goes too low, below 90, and another one it goes too high, like five-tenths over. So hopefully, we'll meet our numbers on the dyno. I'm not going to feel comfortable until we get through that part of it." Once in the race, Johnson said he just kept his head down. "I knew I could do better times than the guys in front of me. And then Jason [Smith], I didn't know if I was going to be able to get around him because he was going very fast. He had a front-end push out on him in turn five. That was kind of a downer. He's a good friend, kind of wanted him to do well to. He was going to be tough to get around. I don't know if I could have did it. We were doing pretty close to the same lap time." Smith crashed out of second on the penultimate lap. That moved Bemisderfer to third, a spot where he was content to fmish. "At first, I was just sitting back trying to get somebody to help me through this track," he said. "I've been having a little bit of a problem all week." Bemisderfer saw Barnes go down, though he wasn't close enough to see who caused it, "and I wanted to get on the podium. Then I went to protect the points. It puts me up front." Bemisderfer was also following Jason Smith when he crashed. "He went down in five, just lowsided it. It was an easy crash. At that point, I just sat back. I didn't want to jeopardize the points thing." With all the calamity, Bemisderfer ended the day in the points lead. At the halfway mark in the eight-race series, he leads Barnes, 64-62, with Brotz third at 59. What of Barnes and Morris? Barnes had qualified fastest on the 2.49-mile track by close to 1.6 seconds. Brotz was second, Johnson third, Jason Smith fourth, Morris fifth. "I went by Barney on the inside [of turn two]," Morris began, "I had a better drive coming out of one. I beat him into two. I don't know happened, but he got into my back sprocket and knocked my chain off. I guess it took his front out when he did that. I had him passed if he hit my back sprocket. I have to talk to him. I hope he's okay. It looked nasty. I got the chain back on. Figured I might as well ride around, see what happens." Morris finished 12th. Barnes had earlier been involved in a crash in the Pro Honda Oils Sportbike final and was still seething. The cause of that spill was also in dispute. As to the cause of the Buell crash, he said, "He took my left handlebar out and I went over the highside and I was in the lead and he was passing me," a clearly irate Barnes said. Told that Morris said that Barnes had hit him from behind, the Floridian replied, "I can't even comment on that. He took my left handlebar and I went over the top. Clear cut." Mosport lnt8matiOlllllllllceway .........oville, Ont8rlo, CIIn.... Ilesults: Jaly 21, 20DZ lRoa" 41 8UELL LIGHTNING SERIES: I. Clint Brotz; 2. Jeffrey Johnson; 3. Bryan Bemlsderfer; 4. Jeff Harding; 5. Darren James; 6. Jesse LAuder; 7. Costll Mousouris; 8. Joseph Rozynskl; 9. &tm Rozynski; 10. Steve Luxem; 11. Jamie Fitzgerald; 12. Richie Morris. TIme: 13 mins., 57 sees. Distance: 8 laps. 19.92 miles. Margin of victory: 5.350 sees. BUELL LIGHTNING SERIES C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 of 8 rounds): I. Bryan Bemisderfer (64); 2. Michael Bl:Imes (62/2 Wins); 3. Clint Brotz (59/1 win); 4. Jeff Johnson (39); 5. Richie Morris (32); 6. Jeff Harding (31); 7. Steve Luxem (30); 8. (TIE) Darren Jomes/Anthony Fonia (28); 10. (TIE) Joson Smith/Joseph Rozynski (24); 12. Sam Rozynski (19): 13. Mark Reynolds (16); 14. Shawn Smith (14); 15. Douglas Burton (13); 16. Chad Healy (II); 17. (TIE) Gregory Avello/Jamie Lauder (10); 19. Costa Mouzouris (9); 20. (TIE) Brian Bodine/Scott Korol/paul James (8). Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 4 Round 6 - Long Pond, Pennsylvania, August 25 Clint Brotz won the Buell Lightning race when Michael Barnes and Richie Moms crashed out of the race. CUD I e n e _ S • .JuLv31,2002 27

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