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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128205
Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Round 1 : Daytona International Speedway 200, Kawasaki pulled Eric Bostrom from the race. The top-placing Suzuki was Yoshimura's Ben Spies in ninth. Defending Supers port champion Aaron Yates was 14th. The rain on Friday moved the Supers port race to Sunday, and it was shortened from 18 to 15 laps and slotted second in a five-race schedule, after MBNA 250 Grand Prix and before the BMW Boxer Cup. As it turns out, those three were the only races that would run before torrential rains ended the day early and forced the Superbike and Superstock races to Monday. Because the race was shortened, Kurtis' winning time of 28 minutes, 30.511 seconds wasn't a record. His winning average speed of 112.4 mph bettered the previous mark of 110.176 set by Miguel DuHamel in 1999. tona after a small but critical gearing change. Kurtis and crew chief Dave McGrath put their heads together the night before the race and decided to go smaller by half a tooth. Though there was only 220 rpm difference on top, it made all the difference in the race. Kurtis gave up a little in the infield but made it up on the banking. Knowing that he had to control the pace to save his energy for the Superbike race scheduled for later in the afternoon, Kurtis led nine of 15 laps, including the one that counted. On the final lap, Kurtis stalked race leader Jamie Hacking of Yamaha out of the chicane and blew by him as the track flattened out off of NASCAR Turn Four and before the start-finish line, perfectly executing the classic Daytona chicane to finish line draft-slingshot. Hacking, who knew he was a sitting duck, was 0.118 seconds behind, with American Honda's Miguel DuHamel third. Fourth went to Erion Honda's Jake STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS "N DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MARCH 9 ew and improved" was the theme of the Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport race at Daytona International Speedway. Three of the big four Japanese manufacturers trotted out all new 600s for what many consider the single most important advertising vehicle of the year. Never is the slogan "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" more true. So eager were they to show off their shiny new creations that a few brought in the big guns in one-off rides. Kawasaki enlisted Eric Bostrom, American Honda drafted his brother Ben, and Parts Unlimited/PJl/Erion Honda had Kurtis Roberts. Of all the creations, it was a rider that was the most improved. Under the watchful, patient, discerning eye of Freddie Spencer, Kurtis Roberts had revamped his riding style in the past two months. Gone was the impetuous 24-year-old, who many feel cost Honda the Supersport race in 2002, replaced by a more patient, more mature racer. "Before I got here, I said he's a different kid than he was two months ago," Kenny Roberts, Kurtis' dad and Spencer's first great rival, said. "And I think Freddie's schooling, the way they approached that deal clicked, and he moved it another point, moved it another point, moved it another point." The new Kurtis Roberts gave Honda its first victory with the all-new Honda CBR-600RR, winning at Day- 32 MARCH 19, 2003· cue • e n e vv s Zemke, who like DuHamel was short on gearing. "I changed the gearing last night from the same setup Miguel (DuHamel) was running, and it paid off," Kurtis, who also won the Daytona 600 race in 2000, said. "We were kind of worried about it. It didn't work as well through the infield, but it definitely worked right where we needed it to. It was perfect today. I don't think I put a wheel out of place." The top seven riders all finished on the same second, with Hondas and Yamahas filling the top eight spots, and the Suzukis and Kawasakis down on top speed at the superspeedway. Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, who finished 13th, said: I knew it was going to be tough. I just didn't think it was going to be that bad." Teammate Tony Meiring was 16th. Because the race had been rained out on Friday, and rescheduled on Sunday morning, the same day as the The gearing change meant that running by himself with a good drive out of a chicane Kurtis would be fine, but it might be borderline if he was in a big pack, the standard of this class. The trade-off was that they'd have to make the wheelbase longer, and it might impact handling. "We couldn't keep the wheelbase the way we wanted it, the way he liked the way the bike was going to handle," crew chief McGrath said. The X factor was the wind on the front straight. "It worked out well in the morning. The gearing that we had pulled off, if I'm not mistaken, is the gearing that Ben (Bostrom) and Miguel (DuHamel) used. We had it sitting there just in case." The initial pack was about 16 riders, which got smaller until finally there were 10. The lead went from Kurtis to DuHamel to Kurtis to Hacking to Kurtis for three laps to Zemke. Zemke and Kurtis shared it for the second half of the race, the Yamahas just off their shoulders, ready and waiting, the Suzukis and Kawasakis nowhere to be seen. "I knew Jamie (Hacking) was fast through the infield before this race started, and I knew a few other .guys were, and I didn't feel like going that fast through the infield today, especially with the Superbike race going, so I knew that if I could just keep using the advantage I had on the top speed and just kind of park it on these guys in the infield, just keep it where I wanted to do, kind of play my