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Pro Honda Oils Supersport Round 5: Pikes Peak International Raceway Jamie Hacking (2) came away with I.Ii. third Pro Honda 011. 600cc ..............-... ......... • • lIr••• rt .... ~ _ _ o0 til'!f{!·:fi'i!""""illiinllllilllli_.·~ _e:lliH IsJitW that left bIIcI blood In the va-ha camp. 8acI blood or _, the factOry YaIIIIahM swept the ftrst four PMItIona In .... race. 1-2 STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS FOUNTAIN, CO, JUNE 1 Y amaha's unprecedented sweep of the top four places of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race at Pikes Peak International Raceway was diminished somewhat by an uncivil war among the teammates over how the ultimate order of finish was determined. On his way to victory, Jamie Hacking passed teammate Damon Buckmaster on the seventh of 20 laps with an aggressive move in turn three, the most popular passing zone on the 1.315 mile track. Hacking thought the pass was firm, but part of racing; Buckmaster, who went from first to fourth, vehemently disagreed. The final order was Hacking, Aaron Gobert, Jason DiSalvo in his first AMA podium, and Buckmaster. "If the guy's faster than me, find a way around me and pass me," a visi- TIle ............. 11ac1dDt110 points aheIId 01 8UcIunIIlItM' In • • eoocc SUpenpart ....... points stancIInp, 154-144, with 1IIe ....... IIbout to nNlCII the halfWaY point It couIcI get ugly lief-. It's over. the top four covered by 2.208 seconds, Hacking winning by 0.288 sec- bly irate Buckmaster said after the race. "Rubbing's one thing and onds. "I don't think this has been done in bumping handlebars a little bit. T- Yamaha history," Hacking said. "I'm boning like that, that's f&%Aing out of sure those guys are really pleased." the question." (See Box). The complexion of the race "This sport's too dangerous for that kind of crap anyway. And I'm not going to take it from a dickhead like that." Some of the more sedate words of an enraged Damon Buckmaster after Yamaha teammate Jamie Hacking used an aggressive pass to take over the lead on the seventh lap of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race at PPIR. Hacking thought it was just racing; Buckmaster thought it was inexcusable dirty riding. The situation snowballed into a shouting match among Buckmaster, Hacking and Hacking's wife, Rachel, inside the Yamaha transporter. In the post·race press conference, winner Hacking had said, "It got kind of close. He stilt had the gap left open, and there was enough room for me to go on the inside there, so I just kind of put it on the inside. I think it spooked him more than anything. He jerked it up really fast. lhat was racing. I didn't think I did anything bad. If somebody had done that to me, I'd have been like, 'That's racing; that's just the way things go.''' Hacking went on to say that turn three was the only pIace to pass. "I think my fairing maybe caught his butt. It was just barely a tap. Just like I was saying to (SpeedTV's) Greg White earlier, Kurtis Roberts, a couple of years ago going for the (Supersport) championship at Willow Springs, all three of us (Hacking, Roberts, and Eric Bostrom) hit at 160 mph. He (Roberts) won the championship. I never held it to him. We could all be laying out in the middIe of nowhere. It's just the way it goes. Aggressive peopIe are going to get tl:>rough.." Buckmaster's take on the incident: "I got punted out of the way. Simple as that. Stood me straight up. Ran into me with so much force I almost had to sh.oot down the (escape) road, I felt. Total bullshit. The fact that he thinks he can race like that is f*&%ing unbelievable, and my teammate as well. I don't go from first to fourth just from making a mistake. It was a good hard hit that stood me up. If he thinks I'm going to let this go, he's got another thing coming. Expect fireworks because the next time I put my heImet on, it's going to be ugly. It's going to be f*&%ing ugly. I'm not puttin~ up with that shit, It's his last chance. He crashes his brains out in every other team. He s obviously threatened by me beating him i.n the championship. He knows if he loses it, it's one less draw card he's got to negotiate a deal for next year. He can't ride a Formula Xtreme bike for shit. so he's got to do it in the 600. He punted me out of the way. If he thinks I'm going to put up with that crap, he's got another thing coming." Buckmaster described an incident between the two in the first, red-flagged segment, which he excused. Not this one. "If the guy's faster than me, find a way around me and pass me. Rubbing's one thing and bumping handlebars a little bit. T-boning like that, that's f&%Aing out of the question." What makes the situation more difficult for team manager Keith McCarty is that the whole Yamaha team will spend Wednesday and Thursday together at the Yamaha dealer show in Las Vegas before flying off to Road America for the sixth round of the champi· onship. 14 JUNE 1 1. 2003' cue I e n eVIl's

