Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Suzuki's Adam Fergusson was still in the hunt, though the Australian dropped back to eighth after running between Zemke and Hacking on the first two laps. "It was a combination of things," Fergusson said. "We had a problem with the brakes, but on lap four Jake cut across the track between 10 and 11, and he flicked up a rock that smacked me in the shoulder. I started losing feeling in my right arm, so it was a combination of that and the brakes. In the end I just had to play it safe. That's the way it happens, I suppose." With his pursuers falling by the wayside, Zemke went on to ride what he described as a "long, lonely race," finishing seven seconds up on Bruce Transportation Group's Marty Craggill, who was riding another Honda CBR954RR. Zemke said that he was happy with the weekend, even though it started out with several small mishaps which limited his practice time. "It was nothing major, just kind of like first-race stuff" Zemke said. "It was just little things going wrong, and we maybe weren't as prepared as we should have been. We did a lot of testing this winter, and everything went smooth. Then all of a sudden you show up at the first race, and this is going wrong, and that's going wrong. It seemed like on Friday I might as well go home if that was the way it was going to be. I spent more time sitting on the pit wall than anything. But obviously the boys put everything back together, and the thing ran flawless the whole time. Hats off to my whole crew. Those guys work long, long hours. People don't realize how much time they do put into it. My job was pretty easy, except for Ben. He just checked out on us today. But we'll go up to Sears. It's a good way to start the championship - in second place. This what got me where I was last year, just being on the podium and being consistent. As long as we keep that up and get a few wins in between, we'll be okay. We know what those guys [Spies and Suzuki] have now." Craggill, meanwhile was able to just stay clear of Attack Suzuki's Josh Hayes, who, in turn, kept Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster at bay, with 1.5 second gaps falling among the three. Craggill's podium finish marked a comeback of sorts, as he has been recovering from neck problems that have plagued him for some time. "Basically, I had a crushed disc in my neck, and my left arm had become paralyzed, so I couldn't use it," Craggill said. "So I'm pretty happy to be here. I didn't get off to the best of starts. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I took it easy for a few laps and waited for guys to settle down. Guys were crashing and running wide. I just kept consistent and tried to stay in there. I just rode to the end and made sure that I finished. We had some problems in the morning warmup. The bike went two laps and then quit. Lucky for us it happened then." Erion Honda's Roger Lee Hayden was about the only rider making a race of it, the youngest of the racing Haydens stalking Buckmaster late in the race, only to be foiled on the last lap by a backmarker, who turned Hayden's shot at fifth into a sure sixth. "I was a little faster than Buckmaster was," Roger Lee said. "He rode away a little bit, and then I caught him. We went through turn one, and I was going through there real fast. I was right on him, and he went by the lapper, and I was on the outside of the lapper. I was pretty wide because I wanted to get a drive out of the right heading into the infield. Whenever I was behind Bucky, he was spinning Spies (centel1 takes to the podium with runner-up Jake Zemke (left! and third-place finisher Marty Craggill (right). there, and I thought maybe I could get a drive to the next corner and outbrake him if he spun up. So I went wide past the lapper, and I don't know who he was, but that was probably the quickest he ever went through there in his life, because he repassed me, so I had to pass him again. After that, there was no shot to catch Bucky and pass him, but, you know, we finished the race. I'm definitely not happy with sixth,' but I didn't get to test last week, and that may have put me back a little bit. My bikes are good, and I can't wait until Sears Point." Nor can reigning series champion Jason Pridmore, who had to have suffered one of the most unbelievable weekends of his career. It began when Pridmore's Attack Suzuki racebikes were AWOL when Friday practice rolled around. It ended with a 28thplace finish in the Xtreme feature, Pridmore riding just two laps in the race before he was done for the day. "It's frustrating because I feel like I have the best team in the paddock," Pridmore said. "We just got all our stuff late, and we weren't prepared for this race; that's the bottom line. We didn't go testing like everybody else did. We just weren't prepared - and that's through no fault of my own or my crew. It was just a bunch of things. Then, sure enough, I get run off in the first turn on the first lap, and then a couple laps later, the motor blew. It was just a horrible weekend. We've just got to regroup and do better at the next race, I guess." eN Califomia Speedway Fantllna, Califomla Results: April 6, 2003 (Round 1 of 101 FOR/'ilULA XTREME: I. Ben Spies (Su,); 2. Joke Zemke (Hon); 3. Mllrty (r899i1l (Hon); 4. Josh Hllyes (Suz); 5. Damon Buckmllster (Yllm); 6. Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 7. Steve Repp (Suz); 8. Adem Fergusson (Suz): 9. Allron Gobert (Yllm); 10. Jimmy Moore (Suz); It. Doug Chendler (Hon); 12. Chris Ulrich (Suz); I). JoIlIson Curtis (Hon): 14. Ty Howard (Han); 15. Marco Mllrtinez (Suz): 16. David Guy (Suz); 17. Eric Haugo (Suz): 18. John Wilson (Suz); 19. St~ve Engelbrecht (Suz): 20. Jllmes King (Suz); 21. Al~x McElyea (Hon); 22. Jllmi~ Hacking (Yam); 23. Mork Ledesmo (Hon); 24. Mickey Lone (Su,); 25. Micha~1 Kosta (Suz); 26. David Bell (Apr); 27. Sandor Bitt~r (Suz); 28. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 29. Mark Simon (Suz); 30. Craig Connell (Han); 31. Lenny Beckman (Suz); 32. James Randolph (Suz); 33. Danny Eslick (Suz): 34. Kim Nakashima (Suz); 35. Nathan Hester (Suz). Time: 24 min., 45.040 sec. Distance: 17 laps: 39.1 mil~s Margin of victory: 5.565 sec. Average speed: 94.8 mph AMA FORMULA XTREME SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 10 rounds): I. Ben Spies (38/1 win); 2. Joke 2emke (32): 3. Morty (roggill (29); 4. Josh Hayes (27): 5. Damon Buckmaster (26); 6. Roger Lee Hoyden (25); 7. Steve Ropp (24): 8. Adllm Fergusson (23); 9. Aaron Gobert (22); 10. Jimmy Moore (21); 11. Doug Chandler (20): 12. Chris Ulrich (19); 13. Jason Curtis (18); 14. Ty Howard (17): 15. Marco Martinez (16); 16. DllVid Guy (15): 17. Eric Hougo (14): 18. John Wilson (13); 19. Steve Engelbrecht (12); 20. JlImes King (II). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Sonoma, California, May 4 Round 3 - Braselton, Georgia, May 17 Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Round 2: California Speedwa By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTO By BRIAN J. NELSON FONTANA,CA,APR.5 or Team Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, the hardest part of the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock title race rna y be over. Already victorious with the series opener at Daytona under his belt, Hayden and his Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 picked up where they left off at California Speedway, with the Kentuckian bagging his second win in as many rounds by flat outpowering the competition, most of whom are mounted on Suzuki GSX-R 750s. Hayden won the race, which was red-flagged with 14 of the scheduled 17 laps in the books, gapping the runner-up, Corona Extra Suzuki's Adam Fergusson, F by 3.604 seconds. If Hayden's pace continues, Kawasaki's full factorybacked assault on the Superstock class appears likely to produce the championship. "For a little while they were making it pretty tough on me, pushing pretty hard, but in the end I was able to get a little lead on them," Hayden said. "I got into the lead there on the first lap, but it took me three or four laps to get into a pace where I was Two for two for 22: Tommy Hayden (22) pulled clear of Adam Fergusson (68) to make short work of a shortened Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock feature at California Speedway, earning his second win in as many rounds. cue I e n e _ S • APRIL 16, 2003 27

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