Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Barnes. Defending class champion Shawn Higbee is third at 112. RACE ONE Pegram got the jump on the field. Barnes. Higbee. and Connell going with him. By the fourth of 12 laps. Connell had moved by Pegram for the lead. Barnes was second. then back to third. where a number of factors would conspire to blunt his drive. The first was a lingering flu bug which he'd had for over a week and was just getting over. Having been involved in the rabid fight for second in the earlier Sportbike race. Barnes was. physically. down on power. "The last few laps of the first leg. I was getting a little nauseous." Barnes said. "As you know. I've been a little under the weather since I was spectating [at Mid-Ohio] last weekend. It really took a lot out of me. The 600 race was a lot tougher than I thought." Mechanically. he felt he was short-changed on setup time [see Briefly... ] and didn't know what to expect late in the race. "I was definitely competitive but. towards the end. I didn't really figure how the tires were going to work and the suspension was going to work because we have had exactly zero setup time this weekend as far as practice is concerned." he said. Combined. it forced him to slow to the point that he was vulnerable to attack from Higbee. who topped him at the stripe. Running out front. Pegram was perplexed. The GSX-R750 which had run so strong all weekend was suddenly a 98-pound weakling. "I got behind Craig [Connell] and I couldn't draft him." Pegram said. "I'm like 'What the heck are they doing?' I honestly thought. 'They're cheating. they're cheating. There's no way that thing's going to pass tech.'" Pegram was in front going into tum one on the eighth lap. holding the spot until the 10th. when Connell took over with a similar move. There end. the thing really started slowing down and I looked down and it was about 260 and I said. 'Just don't look at it. The last lap. when I come across the line. it was 290. Got it back here and they said it looked like it blew a head gasket." Barnes said that. between races. he'd gotten a massage and tried to rest. "I concentrated on breathing in the second race. because I was worn out in the first one. The second one. I was like. 'Man. I'm in second,' and I looked back and Larry was back there and Higbee was back there and I'm like. 'Man. I know Higbee closed on me so bad in the first race,' but he was getting so anxious and looking back and looking back. So. in the second one. I said 'Look at Craig and try to stay as close as you can to him and breathe.' I held on to second. even though Larry was a little unfortunate with his motor." As Pegram began spewing water. other riders slowed down. not knowing it was coolant and not oil. Haskovec noticed Higbee slowing down while he. too. began getting misted. Realizing it wasn't that bad. Haskovec took advantage and passed Higbee to take fourth. Higbee was less adventurous. "I kind of backed off when Pegram had oil coming off his bike. and I didn't have any tear-offs on my visor and it started getting a little cloudy," Higbee said. initially thinking it was oil and not engine coolant. "We were down maybe a little on horsepower. so. as soon as I backed out of it. I lose the draft and I was on my own and I went backward. Haskovec caught me. and I didn't really have my head into it after that. I was worried about Pegram crashing. with the oil coming off." Wait came sixth. with Wood seventh and Himmelsbach dropping to eighth with a slowing motor "We were there. we were up at the front." Himmelsbach said of his decline. which began two laps from the end. "We just had a problem. I decided it was better to finish and bring it home." eN was nothing between them. neither could get away. It would come down to the end. Connell passed Pegram on the last lap. and Pegram was determined to get by in the final corner - turn 14. a 90-degree right leading to the uphill finish run. Connell protected the inside line. "I thought. ·Man. if you're going to go up the inside. you're really going to go up the inside,'" Connell said. "You were on the white line. I was almost in the grass." Pegram responded. Haskovec finished fifth after a harrowing incident early on. He was behind Geoff May on the run from turn three to turn five when May's Suzuki GSX-R 1000 wheelied. When the front wheel came down. it blew the fuse for the fuel pump and he immediately put his hand up. Haskovec was right in his draft and had to take immediate action to avoid a catastrophe. "I missed him by inches," Haskovec said. thinking "It's going to be ugly." A handful of riders sped by. and Haskovec spent the rest of the race fighting through the pack to fifth. Matt Wait was sixth on the W-3 Racing Suzuki. Wait was dismissed from his previous team. Synergy Racing Technologies [see In the Wind) prior to Road America and came to Wisconsin searching for a ride. He found rides in both the Sportbike and Unlimited Superbike classes. Blackmans Cycles Aprilia's Michael Himmelsbach was eighth. a lack of setup time leading to an unsettled front end. Frank Trombino. the Canadian who replaced Wait on the SRT Honda. was ninth. RACE TWO Pegram got another holeshot. this one earning him the $250 Cycle News Holeshot Award. with the same cast of characters joining in the fun. Barnes and Connell and Higbee were there. as was Haskovec. making use of his inside second-row starting position. Pegram held on for a few laps before both Barnes and Connell drafted him. Connell taking the lead into tum five on the fourth lap. Unable to get away. he was passed by Pegram on the fifth lap, with Barnes in front on the sixth. though Connell had the lead at the line. The drafting continued. Barnes and Pegram went past on the seventh. with Connell in front on the eighth. Once the draft was broken. Connell sped home. his fourth Superbike race win in a row completed with 2.511 seconds in hand. Second would have gone to the flag had Pegram's engine not slowed. As it was, he was third behind Barnes. with Haskovec fourth. the three covered by .278 of a second. "I had run with [Barnes] all weekend and we were just spot-on together down the straightaways. and I couldn't even draft him" in the second leg. Pegram said. "And I was like. 'Something's wrong with tl\is thing.' And about three laps from the a u a I e Road Ameriao ElllMrt .... ke. WISconsin Results: August 4. ZOOZ (Rau d 51 RACE ONE: I. Cro;g Connon (Suz); 2. Lorry Pegrllm (Suz); 3. Shawn Higbee (So2); 4. Michael Barnes (Suz); 5. Vincent Hllskovec (Suz); 6. Matt Wllit (Suz); 7. Eric Wood (Suz); 8. Michael Himmelsbach (Suz); 9. Frank lrombino (HOn\; 10. Tim Bemisderfer (Hon); 11. J. J. Roetlin \Suz ; 12. Scott. Greenwood (So2); 13. Jason Knupp SUI; 14. Jeffrey Purk (Suz); 15. Joe Spina (SUI): 16. Jason Smith (Suz): 17. Olive Ebben (Suz); 18. Steve Johnson (Apr). Time: 27 mins.. 2.684 sees. Distance: 12 laps. 48 miles. Average speed: 106.469 mph Margin of victory: 0.043 sees. RACE TWO: 1. Craig Connell (Suz): 2. Michllel Bllrnes (Suz); 3. Larry Pe~rl,m 15uz); 4. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 5. Shewn HIgbee Suz); 6. MlItl Wait SUZ); 7. Eric Wood (Suz): 8. Michael H;mrnelsboch Apr): 9. Geoff May (5uz); 10. Scott Greenwood 5uz); 11. D~lVe Ebben (5uz); 12. Jason Smith ~5UZ); 13. Steve Johnson (Apr); 14. J. J. Roetlin (SUI; 15. Ji:lson Knupp': (Suz); 16. Fnmk Trombino (Hon ; 17. Joe Spina (SUI); 18. Jeffrey Purk (Suz): 19. Tim Bemisderfer (Suz). Time: 27 mins., 2.773 sees. Distance: 12 11IpS, 48 miles. Average speed: 106.484 mph. Margin of victory: 2.511 sees. LOCKHART-PHIWPS USA UNUMITED SUPERBIKE C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 8 rounds): I. Crllig Connell (161/4 wIns); 2. Michael Barnes (138); 3. Shown H;gboo (112); 4. Eric Wood (102); S. Lorry Pogrom (100). I Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Long Pond, Pennsylvania, August 25 Round 7 - PorUand. Oregon, 5eptember 8 n _ _... • AUGUST 14, 2002 29

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