Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128202
Q) 1o..IIo...I.......",..J L.IL......1,~ . Daytona Bike Week The brutal G-forces on the banking struction that we used in March of '02 mean that tires will also be a worry at Daytona. Rain plagued the December test, with bikes on track for only a little more than a day in a three-day is faster. It's a faster tire. We found a way to make the longitudinal, circumferential-joint integrity better on that tire. Now it's a much safer tire." A three-time winner of the 200, the test that was extended for half a day. Only two riders, Ben Bostrom and Roberts, were able to do extended runs on the new tires. Their lap times were faster than last year's race veteran French Canadian has been involved in two of the tightest finishes at Daytona, including the closest ever, his .010-second w.in over Lucky Strike Suzuki's Scott Russell in the 1996 Daytona 200. DuHamel times, and the temperatures were under control. Roberts, who had a tire failure in the 2002 Daytona 200, pulled in when he felt a vibration late in his stint, as he had worn the rubber off his rear tire. Ben's tire had another remembers Russell's Suzuki GSXR750 as faster than his Honda, so fast that he couldn't draft past him. DuHamel could make the pass into turn one, but it wouldn't stick to the finish line. The last-lap plan was vintage DuHamel. 15 laps of life in it. "We've upped the performance; we made a faster tire," Dunlop's Jim Allen said in December. "We have a new rear size - that size in the same con- "I figured I'd take the lead and try to pull some crazy move to throw off his game plan, and it worked," DuHamel said. "I couldn't draft and pass him, so what's the use of doing that? I stayed in front and did some pretty crazy moves out there - still safe, but crazy - unexpected, I should say." As the track leveled out off of the final bit of banking, DuHamel slid up near the wall. "That's what threw Scott off," he said. "Even then I barely beat him at the line." In 1999, DuHamel beat Mladin by .014 seconds, a race that left him exhausted. "To be honest, if somebody said, 'You lost Daytona,' as soon as I got energy, I would have beaten them up," DuHamel says. "I was just too tired; I was really too tired to care. I thought I was going to pass out." DuHamel exited the chicane in the lead; not the best strategy if you're on equal machinery, but DuHamel's Daytona Supercross [fJ@~ [fJ@@®rniJ ®(J [fJ@@®rniJ~ Honda's Ricky Carmichael has made a habit of breaking records. We all know many of the records he's set or tied, including the amazing run he had to end the season last year with his perfect 250cc National season. Just this year, he's already moved into second on the all-time AMA Supercross win list, surpassing Bob Hannah (27) and Rick Johnson (28) in consecutive weeks, and he has a shot at the overall record for AMA National wins before this season ends as well (Jeremy McGrath holds the record with 89 wins, while Carmichael started the season with 80). At this year's Daytona Supercross presented by Honda, Carmichael will have the opportunity to tie two more records - both of which are appropriately enough owned by Honda's own Jeff Stanton: most Daytona Supercross wins, and most Daytona Supercross wins in a row. Carmichael scored his first-ever supercross win at Daytona in 2000, about halfway into his second season as a 250cc supercross rider. He didn't get his first "indoor" supercross win until San Diego in If R1cQ Carmleha" wins the Daytona 200], but he has won every Daytona SuperSupercross apln this par, he will tie cross in the new millennium. Part of the reason for this is likely his two m_ records: ~ wins, and four outdoor prowess - Daytona is the most "out- wins In a row. door-like" of all the supercross races on the AMA'tour. It gets rutted, bumpy, chopped up, and the jumps get knocked down; it really takes a well-rounded and, more importantly, fit rider to do well at Daytona. Jeremy McGrath didn't win his first there until 1996 - the year he won all but one race on the tour. Mike K'ledrowski had won three in a row before that, and he was also always known for his outdoor skiUs, and Stanton - he was the model of well-roundedness, winning three 250cc Supercross and three 250cc National Championships in a span of four years. Although Yamaha's Chad Reed has challenged Carmichael's dominance more than once this year, few Wnk that he'll be able to hang with Carmichael when the racing goes outdoors - which isn't anything against Reed because, as last year demonstrated, it doesn't seem that anyone can. Anything's possible, but since the Daytona Supercross is basically a 20-lap Outdoor National in many respects, you may want to watch for the number-four bike to be up front again this year. The question is, though Stanton still works for Honda and cheers for Carmichael at every tum, one wonders if a part of him will be rooting for Honda's Ernesto Fonseca to win at Daytona instead. Steve Cox carmichael's used to this position at Daytona - or alQwhete, for that nurtter. 22 FEBRUARY 26, 2003" cue I e neVU's Honda RC-45 had speed on Mladin's Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750. At the end, he didn't have the energy for anything but an all-out speed race, so he led out of the chicane, knowing Mladin would have to do everything perfect to beat him, "And perfection is hard to do when it's just the time to do it," DuHamel said. "When you've 50 shots at it, you can still do it, but when you got one shot, it's hard." "Unfortunately, in '99 it didn't matter where I was on the racetrack," Mladin says. "Compared to what DuHamel was riding, I couldn't have overtaken from behind him anyway." The race in 2003 looks to be more interesting. The Hondas may have an advantage, but the Yoshimura Suzukjs have made great progress since their unveiling at the tire test. And the Kawasaki has yet to be run on the Speedway in its greatest displacement. "If we are equal to speed with them or have better speed, then we'll see what happens," Mladin says. "I guarantee you right here, if I get through the infield on this 1000 like I used to on my 750, and the guys on the Vtwins get through the way they've always got through, they've got no hope; they've got no chance at all." eN Daytona Short Track {j)G!J11 D11 D[JD11® [fJ@~[ff)@@11DL'l@ The traditional first stop in the 20-race AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships, the Daytona Short Track, is sort of like the political landscape of America. Some may take a conservative view, namely that one of the incumbent former winners will rise up and win the Short Track again, perhaps becoming a two- or three-time winner. The other side of the coin is filled to the brim with both young and old talents, many who have yet to stand on a rung of the victory podium, let alone on top of it. Making a compelling argument for any potential Daytona Short Track winner simply boils down to your perspective. In a thrilling 2002 Daytona Short Track, the relatively unknown Pennsylvanian Rick Winsett carried the torch for the first-timers, pulling off what would have been a true upset in any other arena besides Municipal Stadium. Following him home was two-time Daytona Short Track winner Terry Poovey, the Texan's late-race charge coming up short at the finish. Perspective. So it comes down to this: If you want to take the conservative route, then there are a couple of former winners and top-] 0 veteran GNC campaigners to root for. First and foremost of these would have to be Poovey, who has claimed retirement from active competition on the entire circuit. Nevertheless, the 44-year-old Texan should be as competitive as ever at Daytona. And he'll have the added incentive of wanting to match the late great Will Davis' record of three Daytona wins before Poovey retires. Another former winner to watch for is reigning U.S. Flat Track Champion Chris Carr. Uke Poovey, the two-time Daytona-winning Carr would like to add his name alongside Davis, and he is also committed to the continued development of his Vor short trackers. This could be the year that an Italian machine cuts into the dominance of the Austrian-built Rotax. Of course, the list of riders still on the outside looking in is much longer. It includes names such as Kevin Vames, Kenny Coolbeth, Johnny Murphree, Joe Kopp, Rich King, Mike Hacker, Bryan Bigelow, Dan Stanley and a host of others who typically show up and terrorize the Municipal Stadium quarter-mile, each with a better-than-average shot of winning the whole shebang. And don't forget about 2002 Ricky Graham Rookie of the Year Jake Johnson either. At the end of the night, though, it's a good bet that one of the above names will be a winner, no matter which side of the fence you're on. Bet on Carr for the podium. Scott Rousseau .JoIInnw Murphne pulled off a thI'IIIIng win of the 2002 Dartona Hot Shoe race the night before the _son-opaning D8ytoNI Short TI'lICk. WIll he be the big winner on Saturday night In 20037