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Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Round 2: California Speedway Francis Martin (Suz); 24. Lenny Beckman (Kaw); 25. Scott Simpson (Suz); 26. Matt Zurbuchen (Suz); 27. David Guy (Suz); 28. Tim Knutson (Yam); 29. Matthew Hartlieb (Suz); 30. David lzImbert (Suz); 31. James Jessen (Yam); 32. James Kerker (Han); 33. Jay Tanner (YtJlm); 34. Tim Cook (Yllm); 35. Hector Romero (Yam); 36. Heath Small (Yam); 37. Matt Wait (Yam); 38. Jamie Stauffer (Y"m); 39. Andrew Nelson (Han); 40. Jeff Williams (Suz); 41. Quenton Wilson (Suz); 42. Chris Siebenhaar (Han); 43. Ty Howard (Han); 44. James Mann (Yam). as fifth early before experiencing tire problems that eventually dropped him to the back. Spies came through the pack to finish fifth, while Chandler managed to pull clear of a back-andforth swap between DuHamel and DiSalvo to finish sixth - and first Honda. DuHamel, DiSalvo, Hayden and Zemke rounded out the top 10. CN Time: 25 min.. 8.900 sec. Distance: 17 laps: 39.1 miles Margin of victory: 2.621 sec. Average speed: 93.1 mph AMA SUPERSPORT SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 11 rounds): 1. Jamie Hacking (69/1 win); 2. Aaron Gobert (55); 3. Miguel DuHamel (54); 4. Damon Buckmaster (53); 5. Jason DiSalvo (49); 6. (TIE) Jake Zemke (48)/Ben Spies (48); 8. Tommy Hayden (47); 9. R0ger Lee Heyden (42); 10. (TIE) Kurtis Roberts (37/1 win)/Doug Chandler (37); 12. Alex Gobert (36); 13. Tony Meiring (33); 14. Chris Peris (26); 15. Jamie Stauffer (24); 16. Jason Curtis (22); 17. Ben Bostrom (21); 18. (TIE) Mett Wait (19)/Merty Craggill (19); 20. Thad Halsmer (18). Califomil SpeedwlY Fantana, Califamil Results: April &, 2003 [Round 2 at III SUPERSPORT: I. Jamie Hacking (Yam); 2. Aaron Gobert (Yam); 3. Tommy Hayden (Kaw); 4. Damon Buckmaster (Yelm); 5. Ben Spies (Suz); 6. Doug Chandler (Han); 7. Miguel DuHlImel (Han); R Jason DiSalvo (Yam); 9. Roger Lee Heyden (Han): 10. Jake Zemke (Han); 11. Alex Gobert (Han); 12. Marty Craggill (Han); 13. Tony Meiring (Kaw); 14. Chris Peris (Han); 15. Steve Crevier (Suz); 16. Craig Connell (Han); 17. Nale Wedl (Kaw); 18. Jason Perez (Suz); 19. Chris Siglin (Suz); 20. Jason Curtis (Hon): 21. Thad Halsmer (YlIm); 22. Clint McBain (Suz); 23. m Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Sonoma, California, May 4 Round 4 - Braselton, Georgia, May 17 Own Race Ben Spies 5th The teen-age Texas terror and his Yoshimura Suzuki were fast enough to run with the leaders, coming through the second train of riders to take the fifth spot after an uncertain first few laps. "On the warm-up lap... we're not quite sure what happened, but the clutch was acting like it was smoked, " Spies said. "Every time it would get up to about seven grand, it would just go up to the limiter. So they adjusted it and told me it would take a couple laps for it to come in, and that's exactly what happened. We were running 16th, and then it started working, and I just started picking people off until I got up to fifth. Actually, I was running down that group in third, but there was just no way I could catch them. I just sat back and stayed consistent and got fifth." 1] 1] @ Doug Chandler 6th The No Limit Honda-backed Chandler got what he called a "rare, decent start" and parlayed it into a fine sixth-place finish at Fontana. "This morning's practice was really good, so I knew that our times were there if I got a good start," Chandler said. " I did, and I put a pretty good move around some guys in the first tum and dropped in, and it was where I wanted to be. I just kind of let everything settle out, and it seemed like I was able to keep my times going. I didn't have any trouble until about the last couple laps. I think we had a better compromise (setup) than some of the other guys. Hopefully, this finish will get us some more assistance. " 1] 7J Miguel DuHamel @@ Jake Zemke ~® Alex Gobert 7th The American Honda-backed veteran admitted that he was riding a little on the cautious side, and no one could blame him after he was battered by crashes during both Superbike and Supersport practice over the course of the weekend. "The muscles were tightened up for sure," DuHamel said. "My legs, my gluteus maxmius... My elbows are a little swollen. That's racing. In the Supersport [qualifying), an Annandale guy wanted to follow me so bad that he ran into me and took me down. That one actually hurt more [than the Superbike crash), even though it was slower. The front end of our bike was a little soft in the race, and these are all things that we're still learning because we are being so meticulous with this bike. I think that we're really going to rock and roll as the season progresses. I think that I could have maybe got Chandler, but he was riding well, and I'm glad for him to see that. I passed DiSalvo and Roger Lee, and I was just going to go after Doug with about four laps to go when I noticed a waving yellow. Somebody had just fell. Usually, people catch that stuff with me. Some people can get away with it, but I knew I'd get cooked by it, so 1 stuck my foot out and let Roger and DiSalvo go by me again to put everything back as it was. Then I took off after them and passed them again. We're definitely still in it {the championship race]." 10th Fontana was a case of bad to worse for the Erion Honda rider, who started fast but went backward faster, ultimately finishing lOth. "I got a good start off the second row," Zemke said. "I was up to fourth, but I just made a bad tire choice, I think. It wasn't good from the get-go, and it never came good like I thought it was going to. I went for a pretty hard tire, and I was expecting it to be a little skatey at the beginning but to be there at the end. 1 was just riding around there like 1was on ice. I was over a second slower than I was this morning, and doing that you're not going anywhere. I couldn't get off the comers, and guys were just going by me down the straightaways. It was a long race, and I'm a little bummed out about it. " 11th By contrast with Zemke, Erion Honda's Alex Gobert said that he was pleased to finally get up and start racing closer to the top 10. A victim of fU'st-turn bunching, the youngest of the three Australian Gobert boys came through to finish 11th. "I got a pretty good start, and then things got bunched up in the first tum," Gobert said. "I got past a few of the slower guys, but the lead pack was long gone by the time I got through. This is probably my worst track of the season, so to get through here with some decent points, I'm pretty happy." 26 Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Round 1 : California Speedway APRIL 16, 2003' cue I e n e vv s By SCOTT ROUSSEAU By BRIAN J. NELSON PHOTOS FONTANA,CA,APR.6 \If'0shimura StlZuki's Ben Spies popped the cork off the first bottle of victory champagne when the opening round of the AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series concluded at California Speedway. The 18-year-old Texan dominated the class all weekend, earning the pole and then leading right from the flash of the green light to the drop of the checkered flag. His lap times hovered in the low- to mid-one minute 26-second range, with his best blast, a 1:26.318, coming on lap five. When the 17-lap race was over, he had put just over 5.5 seconds in the bank on his nearest rival, Erion Honda's Jake Zemke. The win served as a notice that his run at Daytona was not a fluke and that the young Texan may just fulfill all the promise that his performances of last year seemed to indicate. "My bike was a missile: Spies said. "I was ki-nd of worried about coming to this kind of track because I didn't know how it would be, but the thing was hooked up. We have tested a lot. We went over to Malaysia and tested in hot conditions to see how the bike would be in hot weather." While the sun did shine, the track conditions were hardly blistering. It only helped Spies, as he simply rode away from the pack, keeping his cool and avoiding trouble with lappers as he negotiated the 3.2-mile California Speedway road course. By virtue of his pole position and the fact that he led the most laps, it meant that Spies came away with the maximum number of points possible from the Xtreme opener. He leads the series with 38 to Zemke's 32. On the surface, it seemed like a trouble-free weekend for Spies. "Actually, this weekend we had a Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies flat owned the opening round of the Lockhart Phillips USA Fonnula Xtreme Series, leading every lap aboard his Suzuki GSX·R1000. U lot of trouble with our fuel pump," Spies said. "It broke three or four times. Every time I let off on the straightaways, I was hoping that when I got back on the gas, there would be some power. It made it through the race. I just put my head down for the first couple laps and tried to stay consistent. 1 got a little bit of a break, and I tried to get through traffic clean and not make any mistakes." Meanwhile, Zemke tried all he could to chase Spies down, only to watch him ride off into the sunset. The Californian's lock on the runnerup spot was challenged only briefly by Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Jamie Hacking, but that challenge reached its conclusion on lap eight, when Hacking crashed on the exit of the hairpin turn eight, which leads to the short chute before the fast chicane on the infield. Instead of a podium finish, Hacking wound up 22nd. "About the second lap in, we started having grip problems with the back," Hacking said. "It was just terrible. This morning I ran a tire where I did low 26s and high 25s on the thing. I was pretty comfortable. Then the second lap into the race, the bike was just backing into the corners, and I couldn't pick up the throttle. I just backed off, and then I flicked it in the right-hander and barely picked up the throttle, and it went right to the lock. It happened slow, and then it flicked me off. I landed on my elbow and my ankle, but I'll be okay. We're definitely making a Jot of power. We've only tested twice, and we haven't gotten anything accomplished, but I'm sure we will." Two laps before that, Corona Extra