Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 1 3/1 4: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course _ _ V.... CIOI didn't .... to win to cIncIt ... . . S!f:IIWPDIt _ .... 1liil ...... rn ~wIIIIt did. .. ••, .... T....., ..... - . •• ' ....... CI2L ~ _ it, AUGUST 7,2002' a U a I --~ ...., ••1:1 •• Yates claimed his first 600 Supersport title at Mid-Ohio a race early, after winning five races so far this year. fun track for me," Yates said after the win, his fifth of the year. "I've always gone real well here. I've never really put it all together in a 600 race. I've been there a few times and fell off towards the end. But this weekend I was just thinking, 'Yeah, I could take it easy and ride around and clinch the championship, or I can go out and ride hard and try to win the race, and if something happens, I got a pretty good cushion, I can still go out next weekend and try and get in the top 10. "So, not that I was really out there trying to set the world on fire or anything, but just was a fun race, it all played out pretty good." Good enough that the 28-year-old from Milledgeville, Georgia, was able to add this year's Supersport title to the 750cc Supersport title he won back in 1996, and the SuperTeams title he won in 1995. With one race remaining, he holds an insurmountable 63-point lead, 304 to 241, over Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, third at Mid-Ohio. Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster, a career-Supers port-best second today, is third with 226 points. Yates didn't lead at the start, Yamaha's Anthony Gobert did, and he held the spot for four laps before being caught up in the pack of six riders who formed up at the front. Gobert's fitness is well down, the Australian unable at train until he gets a pin taken out of his ankle, the last vestige of his crash at Mid-Ohio back in May. Though he soldiered on to fifth, he opted not to run in the Superbike race later in the day. Yates moved to the point and held on for three laps before Erion 18 _..,II • Honda's Roger Lee Hayden took the lead, the first time he'd ever led a Supersport race. A large contingent of family and friends had come from Owensboro, Kentucky, to watch the Hayden brothers race, and this was Roger's and Tommy's showcase, and Yates knew it. "I knew for sure that he would really like to win here," Yates said. "I know he's probably got a lot of friends and stuff up here. We're pretty close to his home, you know?" What Yates also knew was that Roger Lee was pushing hard and that would play into the final result. Roger Lee and Yates had a slight gap before the pack swallowed them up, brother Tommy leading the charge, and by the 12th lap Yates was back in front as the leaders, a strung out group of six, weaved their way through traffic. The second Hayden to take the lead, Kawasaki's Tommy, moved to the front on the 14th lap and held it into the keyhole on the 15th lap, where he ran into Street-N- Trail Motorsports' Chuck Ivey. The collision caused Hayden to run wide and allow Yates and a few others through. "From there, I was just trying to charge back and at least get back on the podium," Hayden said. "Damon [Buckmaster] was just right there ahead of me, so I didn't try to put a pass on him until the last lap, and try to at least get on the podium." n e _ s Once Yates took the lead, he was unstoppable, the thread of riders suddenly unraveling as he exerted his will. Roger Lee Hayden made one last run at him exiting turn one. By then, his tire was well worn, and instead of closing up, Hayden was thrown from the Honda and nearly highsided. "I was inching up on him, and I was trying to just get close enough so I could get him on the back straight," Roger Lee began, "and I lost the rear and it came back and it threw me over the bars. I was looking down at the ground over my windscreen. Feet was off the pegs and one hand. I don't know how I saved it. Just sat back down and re-grouped and brought it home in sixth." Roger Lee's excitement caused the others to check up, and Yates was home free. "I wanted to try to win," Yates said, "and to top off the championship like that, to win, and winning it early and all, it was just great." The race behind him went to the line, Buckmaster taking second with Tommy Hayden third in front of Pridmore, Gobert, and Roger Lee Hayden. "I had a bit of a strategy going there the whole race, and that's how it worked out," Buckmaster said. "Unfortunately, Aaron [Yates] got away. He was riding really good anyway. I'm not sure how we would've fared with him even jf we were right behind him on the last lap." Tommy Hayden saw his chances damaged when he hit the rider in the Keyhole. His brother gave him a small assist with his last-lap travails. "Rog [Roger Lee] had that big moment up there and it kind of bunched us all up, kind of, again there, our little group, and I was able to just get under him in the Keyhole. And then just cruised the last lap, I guess," Tommy Hayden said. Pridmore's fourth matched his best finish of the year and it came as something of a surprise. Pridmore said that, because the Attack Suzuki crew was short-handed, the team focused on the Formula Xtreme GSXR 1000. Pridmore didn't use the Superstock sessions to work on the GSX-R600, but was surprised that changing weather conditions allowed him to qualify on the front row for the Supersport race. "We were able to hook in the back there and ride around with those guys and get fourth out of it," Pridmore said. "It was good to be running up in the front again. "We've been close at certain tracks, but they've been mostly the faster tracks where we can get in the draft. Here we were able to just ride with them. I don't really know the reason." eN Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lellingtan, Ohio Results: July 28, 2002 (Round 9J PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT: I. Aoron Ytltes (Suz); 2. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); 3. Tommy Heyden (Kew); 4. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 5. Anthony Gobert (Yam); 6. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 7. Jake Zemke (Hon); 8. Jamie Hacking (Suz); 9. Josh Hoyes (SUI): 10. Ben Spies (SUI): II. Ty How8rd (SUI); 12. Tony Meiring (Kaw); 13. Aaron Gobert (Vom): 14. Mike Hole (Hon): 15. Mlchoei Hannas (Kaw); 16. Troy Green (Vern); 17. Andrew Nelson (Hon); 18. Adem Coco (Vern); 19. Kevin Pate (SOl); 20. Jeff Muskopf; 21. JUSlin Bloke (Suz): 22. Kevin Lehman (Hon); 23. Monte Nichols (Vern); 24. Jetson Peters (Suz); 25. J21mes Kerker (Hon); 26. Tyler Wodsworth (Vom): 27. M

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