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Formula USA Thunderbike Series Round 1: Daytona International Speedway The best battle on the track was between teammates Scott Jackson and Stewart Aitken-Cade, for fourth place. That turned into a battle for third when Johnson began to slow and was passed four laps into the race. Then the Jackson/Aitken-Cade duel turned into a battle for second when Wenner dropped out of the running just one lap from the finish. The two battled side by side through the chicane on on lap five. Three laps later, Aitken-Cade shot by Jackson at the stripe and managed to hold him off until the finish. "I was a little hesitant at first, and then I started feeling good and started picking it up," Aitken-Cade said. "Then I saw Scott, and I thought I might have a shot at him. It's too bad, though. I was aiming for Brian. I came all the way across the country to have a piece of him, and he was just too darn good this weekend. I knew he was going with the slick, and I was hoping that it would catch him out, but once I saw the track, I knew that he had made the right choice." Jackson was wishing for better grip during the race. "It felt like my tires were sliding," said the 16-year-old, who was making his first Daytona appearance. "I thought that I could hold Stew off until the finish, but he caught me. Luckily, I came out third. This was my first time here, and it's only my second year. Now I have a fast bike." Samantha Cotter also passed the ailing Jackson to take fourth place. Jackson was fifth. SPEEDSCREEN AMATEUR UNLIMITED GP The dreaded stop-and-go penalty flag ruined what could have been a great showdown among some of the week's top CCS amateur riders during the opening round of the Formula USA National Road Race Series. On successive laps, the infamous "meatball flag" was shown to Brian Shaw and David Loikits, both whom were engaged in a rousing battle with three-time CCS winner, Riviera Country Club Kawasaki rider William Meyers II. The penalties assessed to Shaw and Loikits all but handed the win to the 25-year-old Meyers, who rode probably one of the oldest modernera sportbikes at the track all weekend, a 1996 ZX- 7R. The steady green dinosaur pulled him through, however, and Meyers wound up bagging his fourth win by over seven seconds. "I always enjoy riding my Kawasaki; that's for sure," Meyers said. "It's an old one, but I've put enough time in the suspension with Max and the guys at Traxxion Dynamics. If you put enough time on it, you can make anything work, and I think I've proved that with four wins." Loikits jumped into the lead at the start of the nine-lap race, but Shaw bolted past him in the run toward the International Horseshoe, taking the lead. The Suzuki GSX-R750-mounted Shaw led the first lap, but Loikits was right there on his GSX-R 1000, as was Meyers, GSX-R750-mounted David Sadusky, GSX-R1000-mounted Fernando Garcia and GSX-R1000 rider Richard Henry. As the field began to string out, Shaw and Loikits pulled clear, with Meyers moving to within striking distance of both. Loikits got his big 1000 rolling on the superspeedway to overtake Shaw and lead lap two. Shaw's gameplan appeared to be to use his braking advantages to make up time in the infield, but when Formula USA officials deemed that he had jumped the start, they flagged him in. "I didn't think that I ran the start, but if they say I did, whatever," Shaw said. "I know was behind the line." Shaw rejoined the fray well behind Loikits and Meyers, but then on the next lap Loikits was assessed his stop-and-go penalty, and when he rejoined the race, he did so just ahead of Honda rider Hector Jimenez, Shaw - who had already made it back to fourth place - and Sadusky. Loikits and Shaw resumed their close battle, only now it was for second place, as Meyers was long gone. Loikits was able to use the big power to hold Shaw off at the line for second place. "I made a mistake on the start," Loikits said. '" had a little brain fade. But I'll tell you what, coming into Pit Lane at a 140 mph is a rush. We screwed up, but we still pulled it out. I wasn't sure that the meatball flag was for me. I went by again, and I acknowledged it, then I just tried to get a really fast in lap and really fast on the rest of the out laps." Loikits didn't realize that he hadn't lost a spot until after the race. "They got him [Shawl too?" Loikits asked. "I came in, and then he was behind me, and I was like, 'How did he get behind me?' But we had fun. He was killing me going wide in turn one. He was getting me on the brakes wicked bad, so I started going on the outside into turn one and then staying to the inside in all the turns through the infield." Meyers was still comfortably ahead at the finish, although the Loikits/ Shaw dice did cut his advantage in half. It begged the question as to whether or not Meyers truly felt he would have won the race were it not for the penalties his competition received. Meyers said that he felt he still could have won "I'll tell you what, Brian Shaw was definitely fast," Meyers said. "It's unfortunate that in both of our races together this week that he had trouble. He crashed yesterday, and then he got the meatball flag today. He's definitely fast, but I think that even though the dinosaur is old, 1 think I had enough top end to stay with him. It would have been close." As for Shaw, his sights are set on racing the Daytona 200 in 2004. "My uncle, Rick Shaw, is going to be getting the mileage record here this weekend, and we don't know what he's going to do after that - pas- sibly retire," Brian said. "I may try to keep the name going at Daytona by coming back here next year with white plates on." eN O.ylDna Intern.lian.1 Speedw.y O.ylDna BucII, Florid. Results: M.n:II Z, Z003 lRaund 1 of BI THUNDERBIKE: 1. D.ve Estok (Bue): 2. Joseph Rozynskl (Sue); 3. Richie Morris (Sue); 4. Arthur Wegner (Han); 5. Derek Keyes (Suz); 6. Clint Brotz (Sue): 7. Alex Ferreire (Suz); 8. Bryan Bemisderfer (Sue): 9. Jerry Wood (Duc): 10. Richard Britton (SUI): 11. Jason Scott (Sue); 12. Greg Avella (Sue); 13. Kyoshige Watanabe (Suz); 14. Darren JlImes (Bue): 15. Tim H.II (Su.): 16. John Long (Due): 17. Jeff H.rding (Bue): 18. Riek PatroJi. (Su,): 19. P.ul JlImes (Sue); 20. Michllel Mills (5uz); 21. ChllrJes Burnett (Han); 22. Rhizmnon Lucente (Hen); 23. John Costa (Sue); 24. Daniel Bilansky (Sue); 25. Brizln Sehl.ditz (Bue): 26. Seott Korol (Bue): 27. Josh Guyer (Sue); 28. Anthony Caligiuri (Bue); 29. Dave Ellis M.ney (Due): 30. Andrew H.mbJin (Bue): 31. Jeff Johnson (Sue); 32. Tony Martin (Sue); 33. Tripp Nobles (Sue); 34. Sam Rozynski (Sue). TIme: J 4 min., 04.200 sec. Distance: 7 laps, 24.92 miles Average Speed: 91.807 mph MargIn of Victory: 1.849 sec. FORMULA USA THONDERBIKE SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 8 rounds): 1. Dave Estok (25/1 win); 2. Joseph Rozynski (20); 3. Richie Morris (16): 4. Arthur W.gner (13): 5. Derek Keyes (11): 6. Clint Brotz (10); 7. Alex Ferreirll (9); 8. STylin Bemisderfer (8); 9. Jerry Wood (7); 10. Richard Britton (6): 11. J.son Scott (5): 12. Greg Avello (4): 13. Kyoshige Watanabe (3); 14. Darren James (2); 15. TIm H.II (1): t 25 GP: 1. Brilln Kcreget (Hen): 2. Stewllrt Aitken~Cllde (Han); 3. Scott Jackson (Han); 4. Sllmllntha Cotter (Han); 5. Mark Johnson (Han); 6. Reef Des (Han); 7. Ollie Greenwood (Han); B. Marshllll Young (Han); 9. Steve Wenner (Han); 10. Miguel Chirino; 11. Scott Maxey (Han); 12. James Lovejoy (Han); 13. Errol Tucker (Han); 14. Chris Mllnnino. Time: 21 min., 15.324 sec. Distance: 9 laps, 32.04 miles Average Speed: 90.443 mph Margin of Victory: 45.607 sec. USGPRU 12S GP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 8 rounds): 1. Brilln Kcrllget (25/1 win); 2. Stewllrt Aitken-Cade (20); 3. Scott Jackson (16); 4. Samllntha Cotter (13); 5. Mark Johnson (11); 6. Reef Das (10); 7. Dale Greenwood (9); 8. Marshall Young (8); 9. Steve Wenner (7); 10. Miguel Chirino (6); 11. Scott Maxey (5); 12. James Lovejoy (4); 13. Errol Tucker (3); 14. Chris Mllnnino (2). AJIIATEOR UIL GP: 1. Willi.m Meyers II (Kaw): 2. DllVid Loikits (Suz); 3. Brian Shaw (Suz); 4. Henry Chin (Suz); 5. Fernando Garcia (Suz); 6. DliVid Sadusky (Suz); 7. Chris Mannino; 8. Laz Dillz (Yam); 9. Stuart Vernon (Yam); 10. Femllndo Garcia (Suz); It. Chris Sousa (Han); 12. Jose Rivera (Suz); 13. Robert Deily (Y.m). Time: 18 min.. 40.157 sec. Distance: 9 lllpS, 32.04 miles Average Speed: 102.971 mph Margin of Victory: 7.053 sec. SPEEDSCREEN AMATEUR U/L GP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 8 rounds): 1. Willillm Meyers II (25/1 win); 2. DllVid Loikits (20); 3. Brian Shllw (16); 4. Henry Chin (13); 5. Fernando Gercill (11); 6. Dllvid Sadusky (10); 7. Chris Mannino (9); 8. Laz Diaz (8); 9. Stuart Vernon (7); 10. Fernando Garcia (6); 11. Chris Sousa (5); 12. Jose Rivere (4); 13. Robert Deily (3). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Glenwood, Iowa, May 23-25 Round 3 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 13-15 Championship Cup Series Round 1 : Daytona International Speedway By HENNY RAY ABRAMS & on the two-day Formula USA Cham- SCOTT ROUSSEAU pionship Cup Series weekend at Day- PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS tona International Speedway. A num- DAYTONA BEACH, Fl, FEB. 28-MAR. 1 on the weather. downpours on Friday followed by the threat of showers and a light rain on Saturday put a damper '0 lame it tJ Torrential 26 MARCH 12, 2003' cue • e ber of riders chose not to ride on Friday, and those that did failed for the most part to offer bar-banging drama. The quality of the racing, like the n eVIls weather, improved markedly on Saturday with a number of close finishes and appearances by a number of AMA and F-USA veterans, most on new teams and new machinery, though not everyone entered showed up. The weekend was to be the debut of American Honda's Miguel DuHamel and the new Honda CBR-600RR. The winningest rider in AMA road race history was entered in a number of CCS sprints as a tune-up for the allimportant Honda Pro Oils Supersport race next Friday. But neither he nor the new machinery was present. Maybe Honda decided that presenting