Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Pro H o n d a Oils Supersport R o u n d 1 1 : B a r b er Motorspo r t P a r k Hayden c ame by , D uhamel and Gob e r t a l s o c o ming a lo ng, Hack ing a ss u m in g h is sp ot at t h e ta il of t h e fa st p a ck . Ha y d en and B u c km ast er my Own Race @@ Aaron Gobert 4th Aaron Gobert was leading on the 12th lap, just before the red flag, unc oncern ed by the p atc hy , wet track . "I was willing to push in those conditions. I had nothing to lose. I go good when it's lik e that. In road Ameri ca, where I broke my wr ist , I was quic kest th en on a 600 . I kn ew Migu el (Duhamel) was going to be fast; he's always good in those conditions, lik e myself, we're similar riders." Gobert kept the same ti res on whic h he'd run for the first 12 laps, though that wasn't his intent. "I was going to go for a different rear, but ther e was a bit of con fusion in the coding of the tire, and we didn 't have what I requested. That' s not to say that' s the reason I lost, but it did keep us out of that little bit." @@ Jake Zemke 6th Zemke finished the first lap of the first start in 2 1st place. By the red flag he was up to 13th , but his tires weren't helping. He opted for the hard Daytona front, and it took for ever for it to start working, "so I just kept going backwards . About four laps before the reo! fiag, I started moving forward. I was comi ng on pretty good. I just got caught out on tire choice. I had a hard rear and a brick on the front." In the second segment, Zemke went with the same compound of new tires. "Luckily the track had dried out to where I could push pretty hard from the get -go. I think on the first lap I was 25th (21st) , so to finish sixth wasn't too bad." ~® Alex Gobert 7th Erion Honda's Alex Gobert ran alone for much of th e first 12 laps, closing in on Darren Luck as the red flag came out. On the second row for the restart , Gobert m o ved into the mix just behind the lead quintet , only to get passed by teammate Zemke two laps from the flag. "After the restart, (Tony) Meiring came past me. Meiring got going a bit quicker than me, and I got him back. I had a good battle with Jake (Zemke). I had the 701, the normal hard front, not the Daytona hard one, and the 240 rear. I had the same tires from the first part to the restart. Didn't even change them. They were working pretty good. When Zem ke came past me, he got me going a bit more. I sort of didn't look at the track after that. Just chased him ." @@ Roger Lee Hayden 8th Roger Lee was with his Erion Honda teammates after the restart, the gang moving up to j ust behing the lead fiv e. Like Zemke, Roger Lee started the first race badly , 16th at the end of lap one. By the stoppage he was up to eighth, having chosen medium DOTs ov er rain tires. " It was only six laps, so I wan te d to be able to go straight away. It was a good race. I was trying to get Jake (Zemke) and Alex (Gobert) , but I couldn't find a safe enough place to pass. It was a lot of fun. Most of the track was completely dry, and the sealer was a bit wet from the rain. It dried out a lot more than I thought ." swa p pe d the lead , but it was Hay d en in front ac ross the stripe every la p of t h e r es t a rt, r i g h t t o the end. Bu c k m ast er mad e a run , finis hi ng 0 .626 seco n d s ba ck, w it h D uh am el in his sh ad ow . A sec ond late r ca m e Go be rt , then Hac k in g , th e new c h am p ion, re lieved t ha t th e ra c e was over an d th at he cou ld rac e again . " T hese l a st two r a c e s I' ve r ea lly put it in to co nse rv ati ve m od e," t h e 32- yea r-o ld S o u t h Caro linian sa id. "M an , th at's t he ha rd est t h ing to do . You ride t erri ble w h en yo u d o t hat. I' v e got so m an y th ings g oing t hrough m y m ind , n ot t h inking ab o ut ri d in g , w hat I' v e b ee n d oi ng al l yea r lo n g . M aking some sill y mistakes h ere and th er e. It' s hard . I've never been in t hi s p o si ti on to w in a c ha m p io n s h ip before, an d now I kn ow ex ac t ly ho w it need s to be done , an d I know wha t I n e ed to do eve ry wee ke n d . It fee ls good. It's awesome. It ' s b een a long t im e for me. It ' s bee n six h ard yea rs of t h is , and I fe lt like I sh ou ld 'v e done th is a w hile b a ck in m y ca re er, but unfortunately I d idn 't. B u t I learn ed fr om m y m istakes, an d h er e we are tod ay ." H a y d en p l a y ed a m ind g am e o n h im self for t he fina l few la p s. " T he l ast c o u p le la p s I j us t m entall y ju st p retended th e t rack was dry, " h e sa id. "Tried to ri de as hard as I cou ld on th e whole thing . A nd I was ab le t o get just t hat li tt le b it of a ga p. A n d I j ust t ried to ho ld it. I k new t hey wou ld be trying t he la st lap - o ve r her e in fiv e, T h e n Duh am e l ca me b y o n lap fyi ng so ft in so me cases. Bu c k m aster went softer, but it didn 't ma ke any four , and b efo r e l on g Buc km a ste r wa s d o w n to fo urth, wi t h Ha c k in g differenc e. "I don 't think having a diffe rent tire slowly dropp ing o ff th e tail , but w ell in front of sixth p lace, wh ich was Dar- o n w ould help m e win the r a c e , " Buckmaster said . ren Lu c k , a Flor ida priv at eer. G ob e r t a nd D uhame l swapped "I w a s ridi ng as har d a s I cou ld , so wa s T ommy [H ay de n], so was Mi guel [D u h amel] . " B y back a nd for t h fr om l a p s eig ht we we re tr a din g a l o t t he re - so I broke rea lly deep the re an d didn 't see any fro nt w heels, so I just finished out th e lap as hard as I cou ld ." D uhamel had a pla n for t he last lap , but H a y d en t hwarte d it w ith a d eep b rak ing mov e. "Tommy ( Ha y d en) was t he fa st est guy , and the bravest, o ut th ere, and I'm hap p y for t h ro ugh 12 , t he n t he red f l ag ca me now they w ere deep i n tra ffic, an d h i m to win ," D u h am el sa i d . out , and it all beg an anew. Th e qu e st i on wa s t ire s, and t he H ay d en was getting ba lked , so the red fl ag was a plus. c ho ice fo r ma ny was to go so ft , qua li- Bu ckm a ster led t he fi rst lap, t he n Bu ck y (B uckmaster ) was doing a good j ob o ut t here, co ns ideri ng h e ' s g ot a c h am p io n sh i p t o th ink of. He L o c kh a r t - Ph ill ip s U S A Form ula Xtreme "A nd And the champion is .•• Jamie Hacking. wa s defin ite ly letting it han g out. " T h e E rion Honda s w ere nex t , J ake Zemk e l e a d i n g Al ex Gob ert an d Ro g er L ee Hay d en , t he trio cove re d by ju st o ver h alf a seco nd, w ith Kawas ak i's T on y M eiring j ust ove r a tenth be h in d. D a r r en Lu c k w a s n e xt , bu t not l u c k y . T he expl anation f or hi s success i n th e f irst segm ent showe d up i n th e p o st -ra c e t e ard own: H e was d isqualified for an oversize en gine . e N Barber Motorsports Park B irmingham, Alabama Results: September 21, 2003 (Round 11J PRO HON DA OILS SUPERSPORT: I. Tomm y Hayden (K aw ) ; 2 . Damon Buckma ster (Ya m) : 3 . Miguel Duhame l (H an ); 4 . Aaron Gobert (Yam) ; 5 . Jamie Hacking (Yam) ; 6 . Jake Zem ke (Han ): 7 . Alex Gobert (Han); 8 . Roger Lee Hayden (Hon); 9 . T ony Meirin g (Ka w ) : 10 . Bla k e You ng (Ha n) ; 1 1. Lee Ac ree (Y a m ) ; 12 . J ami e Sta uffe r (S uz ) ; 13 . T y Heward (Hen): 14 . Jason D iSalvo (Yam ); 15 . Greg Mye rs (Ya m ); 16 . M arty Cragg ill ( Ha n) ; 17 . Dir k Sanchez (Kaw); 18 . Logan Young (Yam); 19 . Chris Peri s ( Ha n); 2 0. Stev e Br e ck e nr idg e ( T ri ) ; 2 1. Matthew McBride (Kaw); 22 . Hector Romero (Yam ): 23. James Stroud (Han): 24 . Chad Klock (Kaw); 25. Mi chael Sanc he z (Ya m) ; 26 . Ch rist op her Rankin (Hon); 27 . Jerem y Haiduk (Yam); 28 . Greg Wh ite (Yam ) ; 29 . Scott Vanscoik (S uz); 30. Anth ony Ian C a m ma c k ( Su z ) ; 3 1. T a y lor Kn a pp (Y a m) ; 32 . Michael Morgan (Suz); 33 . Nathan Dressman (Yam ); 3 4 . Ch ris Siebenha a r ( Ha n) ; 3 5 . Na tha n He ster (Yam): 36 . Jeff Wood (Yam) . Tim e: N/A due to red flag Dista nce: 17 laps, 39 .1 miles Average speed: N/ A due to red flag Ma rgin of victory: 0 .626 sec. PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT C'SHIP POIN TS STAND INGS ( A fter 11 of 11 rou nds ) : 1. Ja mie Ha cki ng ( 3 3 4/ 4 w ins) ; 2 . D a m o n Bu ckm a st er (32 6/1 ); 3 . T ommy Hayden 25 0/1 ): 4 . Aaron Gobert (24 1); 5. Jake Zemk e (240/1) : 6. Alex Gobert (239 ): 7 . Tony Meiring (238 ); 8 . Roger Lee Hayden (23 0 ); 9. Ben Spies (228/1): 10. Jason DiSalvo (22 1): II . Miguel Duham el ( 184 /1); 12. Jason Curtis ( 155 ); 13 . Jamie Stauffer (1 54); 14 , Doug Chandler ( 1 10); 15 . Chris Peri s ( 104): 16. Marty Craggill ( 103 ); 17. Ty Howard (99) : 18 . D irk Sanchez (88 ): 19 . Giovanni Rojas (79) ; 20. Da rren Luck (57) . Motorspor ts Park . ;'T he yea r w ent exactly li k e I w ant- wou ld n ' t be ca u g h t an d w ou ld ea rn ed it to , bu t I d id n 't k now if it wa s wou ld se co n d pla c e Ja k e Zemke o f g o ing to h ap p en ," t he 19-yea r-o ld Texa n sa id a f te r giv i ng S uz u k i it s Erion Hon da be c aug ht . t h ir d L ockha rt-P hi llips F ormu l a R ou n d 10 : B a rber M otorsports P ark Bu ckm a st er , was v u l ner a b le, so h i s seco nd FX w in of t he yea r. N o r But Hac k in g ' s t e amm ate , D amon Xtreme t itle in a row . "W e ca me her e Sp i e s , w ho' d st arte d f ro m t he p ol e S T O RY AND P H O T O BY Sp ies h a d done t h e heavy l ifti ng with a 30 po int lead , j ust di d w h at we pos iti on eve ry r ac e thi s yea r, we nt H E N N Y R A Y A BR A M S b efo re h e got here , w inni ng fiv e of had t o do." aft er hi m , p as sing him on t he 14th o f nin e ra ces . So th e heaviest t hing he Rider att rit io n by the halfw ay point 17 laps . B uckmaster was the o nly BIRMINGHAM, AL, SEPT. 21 had to lift was the thi rd -p la ce trophy, meant the t itle was h is w het her h e ri d er wi t h a m at h ematic al cha nce of O f all t he unde cide d c h a m p i - the cha m pag ne bottle, and t he nu m - f i n i s h ed o r n ot. B y t he n G r a v e s taking the t itl e, an d it w as sli m . ons h ips , this one h ad t he lea st ber-o ne p late , at t he end of an ove r - Motors p o rts Yam ah a ' s J am ie Ha c k in g was f ar en o u g h in f ro n t that h e d r am a . Yosh imura Suz u k i ' s B en 14 O C TO B ER 1 , 2003 ' c u e cas t and rain -p lagued day at Barb er I e n e vvs " A t th e h alfw a y p o int th e y g a v e m e th e 'M' b oard w h ic h m eant it w as

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