Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128228
Formula USA Thunderbike Series Round 5: Heartland Park tona with something that a lot of people aren't expecting, so we should turn some heads down there." With two races remaining, 52 points are up for grabs, the same number as Wood's lead. The title is his if he scores only one point in the final two races, and that's if one of his pursuers, who aren't series regulars, takes the pole and wins both races. Not likely. Wood broke both feet at Virginia International Raceway six weeks ago. The only broken bone remaining is the socket in the base of the big toe in his right foot. It's still broken in about three pieces, and he has a crack in the ankle of his right foot. "The inside of my boot's all foam," Wood said. "I'm just trying to make it as easy as I can. I have to make sure I'm straight up and down and take my time downshifting and do the best I can." Shifting was so troublesome on the Kosco Buell XB-9 that he had to sit out the later Sportbike race. "It's got a little more throw, and it takes a little more force to make it shift," Wood said. "The guys from Kosco knew that was probably going to be the case coming into the weekend. They're real good. They gave me the green light to keep defending the championship lead in this class and let me sit out Sportbike so I could be healthy for the next one. Didn't see any point in making my foot worse, so I couldn't race four weeks from now. Summit Point four weeks from now, we should be 100 percent." Denning was able to push Wood because of displacement: He had a Yamaha 1000, and Wood was on a Suzuki 750. "He's [Denning] got a big Rl, and this is one of his home tracks, so I just said, 'You know, try to keep my head down, be smooth, keep it fast,' and if he came by just try to figure out where I can get him back, otherwise just kind of ride a little bit defensively, which is kind of what he was doing, and make it hard for him to get by," said Wood. Denning was chipping away at Wood right up until he fell in the final corner at the end of the ninth lap. A few laps earlier he'd lost his left knee and then I didn't want to have to ride real hard," Estok said. "I just wanted to ride safe so I could bring it home." Safety was a concern because of the condition of the track surface. "I wouldn't say the track is terrible: I heard so many rumors that it was so bad here," Estok said. "Once you get used to figuring out where the bumps are in certain places, a lot of them are avoidable. It's just a track that you could lose it at any time catching a seam or getting a little off line, and you're in trouble. So that's kind of why I backed it down that little bit and figured I should think about the championship and bring it home." STORY AND PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS TOPEKA, KS, AUG 10 osco Harley-Davidson/Buell's Dave Estok moved closer to the Thunderbike class title with a wire-towire win on a hot afternoon at Heart- K land Park, the fifth of seven rounds in the championship. From the pole position, which he'd earned with a time over a second a lap faster than anyone else, Estok jumped into the lead and disappeared, adding over a second a lap to his lead that totaled over six seconds by the fifth lap. Then the Floridian put it on cruise control to the end of the 15-lap, 31.5-mile race. "I just wanted to take off and. put my head down and see how much of a lead I could get in the beginning, 18 AUGUST 20.2003' cue I e Dave Estok was in a class by himself in the Thunderbike race, easily winning and moving close to the class championship in the process. n e _ s slider, which meant he couldn't use the same line in the final looping left onto the front straight. Riding over the sealer in the middle of the corner, he was transitioning from left to right when he fell over. "I never settled. I kept going," Denning said. "It was so graceful. It wasn't even a crash." But it did put him out of the race and award second to Yamaha R6mounted Daniel Doty, though at some distance. Doty had RacersSupply.com's Jason Swan on him for the first half of the race, then he was able to pull away, even though Swan was on a Suzuki GSX-Rl 000. "It's tough to compete against these big bore bikes with this little 600," Doty said. "I just tried to do what I could do, catch them in the tighter stuff. Hopefully, I can beat them in the back section where it's a little more to my advantage." Swan ended the race more than 10 seconds behind Doty after a series of mistakes. "Doty got up to me and got by me, and I figured I'd stick with him until the final couple laps, then I kind of took myself out of the race," Swan said. "It was all on me today. Hopefully, I can come back next time and give him a challenge. I just didn't have the times today. Yesterday, I rode much better. I was two to three seconds off pace today. No explanation, just rider error." Good enough though to keep fourth-placed Mat Malterer (Suz) well behind. Then came Tom Bibeau, the final finisher. I:N H.artlllnd Parle Tapeka, Kansas Results: August 10, 2003 [Raund 51 U/L GP: 1. Eric Wood (Suz); 2. Daniel Doty (Yam); 3. Jason Swan (SUI); 4. Matt Malterer (Suz); 5. Tom Bibeau (SUI); 6, Larry Denning (Yam); 7. Kevin Gordon (SUI). OIL GP C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 5 of 7 rounds): 1. Eric Wood (78): 2. (TIE) Michael Barnes/Robert Jensen/Alexl!Inder Bllrrere (26); 5. (TIE) Kevin Gordon/Arthur Wagner (25): 7. (TIE) John McGllrity/Matt Malterer/Jason Swan (24); 10. (TIE) Brian Stokes/Eric Gulbrllnsen/Joe Spina/Shawn Conrad/Daniel Doty (20): 15. (TIE) Geoff May/Scott Carpenter/Andrew Nelson (16); 18. Rick Doucette (13): 19. Tom Bibeau (12): 20. (TIE) Russell Masecar/Mlchael NiksllI/Christopher Rankin (II). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Summit Point, West Virginia. September 7 Round 7 - Daytona Beach, Ronda, October 19