Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

G en u in e S u z u k i A cce s sorie s Su p ers t o c k R ound 1 1 : B arbe r M o t ors p o r t s P a r k Hayes had a diffe rent view . "When th ey were go ing to restart, it was like 'Uh -oh , this isn 't too good.' " H ay d en dropped stra ight off the rest art, and his lead bega n to grow . " I put in like three rea ll y hard laps and g ot a l i t tl e gap , and that 's wha t I wanted t o do ." But he n eed ed tw o r id ers t o g et between him and Hay es, and th e only rider maki ng his c ase was Yamaha 's J ason DiSa lv o , wh o'd finish ed th e first segment in fi fth and wa s a late cha rger. Settl ed into f ourth behind Rapp on th e pen ultimate lap, DiSalvo caug ht a br eak when Rapp's ele ctric sh ift er cut o ut wh ile he was lea ne d over at full throttle, 11,000 rpm , spittin g him o ut of the saddle . Di S a l v o sa id , " T h e re was so m e smoke that c ame off the rear tire, and it just k in d of snapped real vi o lently and threw him off right off th e seat, and I had to k ind of do a little evasiv e maneuv ers to get around him." T hen he was into sec ond and cl osing o n Hayes, finishin g less than a tenth of a second ba ck . Hayes sa id DiSal v o k ept him hon est . a nd c o n centrating o n th e t ask at hand , "but Tomm y ( H a y d e n ) wa s cr e ep in g away. I j ust wasn 't going t o take th e chanc e, espe ciall y n ot the first lap down in tha t left hander. " So Ha yes kept the bi g p icture in focus a nd c am e away a fi r st - ti me champion . "The first three rac es w ere pretty ro ugh , but we put the rest of th e sea so n togeth er pr etty go od ," sa i d Hayes, wh o didn 't podium until race fou r at Road Atlanta. "W e'v e been on AMAIMBNA 250cc Grand Prix S eries R o u n d 1 1 : B a r b e r Motorspo r t s Park By PHO T O Sorensen by 7 .6 6 7 sec onds afte r 17 lap s of t h e 2 .3 - m il e Ba rber M o t or sport s Park track . One o f b e nc h ma rks of O l ive r's c areer has been his abili ty to stomp the co m p etition rig ht from the start . He d i d ju st tha t t o d ay , putt in g 1.4 sec onds on So rensen on th e ope ni ng lap. T he A prilia rid er , ho wever, hu ng to ugh , st ay ing w ith in th ree seco nds for th e fi rs t f i ve l ap s ' be fo re O liver ripped off a 1:2 9 .58 1 to So rens en 's 1 :31.384. Tha t all ow ed th e gap t o s t retch t o a lmost f i ve seconds. It would continue to g row inc rem entally from that po int on , Ol iver ridi ng hard the entire d istance - an othe r trade mark of his career. "I felt very co nfi dent t oday ," Oliver sai d. "I'm usua lly no t too bad in these types of co nd it ions where th e track is half wet and half dry , and by th e ti m e we got o ut there, it was reall y a d ry line or a co m pletely dr y track . T here were a few bi t s of wa te r p ecula t ing up , b ut no t hing tha t wo u l d bother yo u . With th e c o nd it ion s this m orn ing , whe re they red flagged practice then put us back out there for some wet p ra ctic e , it w as j ust sort of all sc att er ed , a n d the sc he d u l e w a s ch ang ing by th e m inute. You really c o u ld n ' t m entall y p rep are fo r y our rac e today bec ause yo u d idn 't kn ow wh en it was goi ng to be o r if th e tr ack wa s going to be wet. By th e tim e I sat on th e b ik e, I w as li k e 'Wh ew , I'm o n the st arting line.' It' s m uch easier t o be on the st art ing li ne tha n it is to be worrying ab o ut w ha t w ill be next in ..the pits . I j ust wanted t o rid e th e bik e and enj o y_.- y self. " m .. . . ." .' P A U L C A RRUTH E RS By H E N N Y R A Y A B RA MS BIRMINGHAM, AL, SEPT. 21 t wa s a cele bration of sorts , a tri but e t o the in cred ibl e r ac in g c areer of on e Ri ch O li ver. Mea nwh il e , it w as also the end of a long ro ad for AM A 250 c c Gr and Pri x racin g, th e cl ass having i ts fin al ou t in g at an AM A N ational. Fittingly , it wa s Oliver. - th e m a n w h os e nam e will be f o r ev er li nk ed wi th AMA two-stroke ra cing who won the fina l race, and he did so in front o f Spe ed Cha nn el ca me ra s an d a l a rg e crowd at the first- ev er AMA race at the brand -spank ing -new Barber M <,:> torsp ort !! Park. Th e wi n was th e 72n d of Oliver's 250 c c G P career - 47 mo re than J imm y Fil i c e , t h e m an w ho r an k s sec ond t o Oli ver in a ll-time wi ns in th e cl ass. It's a m ark th at obv io usly will nev er be broken, and O liver goes dow n in hi st o ry as the King of AMA 2 50 c c GP Ra cin g. Wh o knew that when he won hi s first -ever 250cc GP ra c e i n Poco no, Pen n s yl v a ni a , in June of 1986 that 17 years lat er O liver wo uld co m plete his third season in whic h he didn 't lose a single race? If th ere was a perfect ending to a ste llar career, t he ' perfect way to close th e boo k on 250 cc GP ra c ing in thi s country , an Oli ver victory was it. Unfo rt unately , th is vict or y wasn't a ri veti ng one . Ins tead it was li ke th e m aj ority of Oliver 's victo ries of late. a rather m undane runaway . He led off th e sta rt , a n d he led at the finish , b e a ti n g Starge l Apri li a 's Cbu c k I 18 OCTOB ER 1 , 2 0 03 ' cue I . e nevus the podium a who le lot. It all paid off in th e end . We led the points for q uite a few ra ces , and it c am e down to the last ra ce , and lu ck ily we got the j o b don e th at we needed to do." B eh ind DiS alv o c a me H ooter s Suzuki ' s Vincent Hask ovec, clo sing h ard o n D iSalvo . The Czech na t ive fin i sh ed third in p oint s, 20 b ehind Hayd en . Then c am e Rapp, wh o d idn't c onte st th e w ho le series b ut st ill ended sixth in points , fo ll ow ed by Kawasak i' s Tony Meiring, fourth in the cha m pi onship . CN Ba rber Motorsports Park Binninghan, Alabama Results: September ZO Z003 IRound 111 , GENUINE $(]ZUKI ACCESSORIES $(] PERSTOCK: 1. T omm y Hayden (Kaw); 2 . Josh Hayes ( Suz); 3. Jason D isalvo (Yam); 4 . Vincent He skovec (S uz) ; 5 . Steve Rapp (Suz) ; 6 . Tony Me iring (Kaw); 7 . John Sorensen wa s a lso a lo n e in se c ond , havin g give n hi s best tr y ing t o sta y with the vete ran Oliver. "It was great raci ng at this facil ity , a to p- notch p l ac e ," So ren sen said . " Un cha ra cteris tica lly , I got a better st a rt th an n orm al and w as w ith th e lead three in th e fi rst turn . I tri ed to watch m y board , and Rich was right th er e , m ay be a se co n d o n th e first lap , a co up le of seconds aft er that. I ju st t ri e d t o l o o k a ro u n d at th os e pa tches to see if it wa s ok ay to rid e, and I thi nk it was m ore of a m enta l thing than what the trac k really was. Th e track was fine, and we co uld go as fast as we were, but I was a littl e tenta tiv e in the fi rst few laps. I sta rted t o charge, w ith my team ro oting fo r m e fr om t he pit wa l l. Ev er y t ime I would see th e time shrink , I wo uld get ca ug ht in traffic, and it wo uld go back out by a sec ond or something . I wo uld charge again and get a cle an lap, and it was som ewh at of a tug of war." So rensen was abl e t o finish w ell cl ear of Prior ity Rac ing's Simon T urn er, the Iris hman happy to end up sec ond in the cha m pionship . " I ju st wa nt t o t hank my whole tea m a n d st u ff fo r g ivi ng u s th e chance," Tu rn er sai d. " It wa s a lot of fun riding this new track; it's a lot of fun . I wish I co uld have gotte n closer t o thes e boys today. but it wasn't mea nt to be. I had a lot o f fun , and it was a lonely ra ce . It w as very im por tant for my team owner to get second in th e cham pi onship , so I was rea lly p l eas ed t o ge t t hat for him. T hat's a b o ut it, a n d no w I'm read y for a beer. Th e season i s o ve r , and I ' m ready t o st art drinking ." J ens en st ern .c om ' s Colin J ensen rod e h is Apri l ia RS250 to fourth , som e four seconds clear of M icha el Montoya and his La Yamaha Yamaha . Aft er I I rounds, O liv er 's p o int tall y wa s a perfect 415. Turner ended wi th 294, just th ree poin ts 'bett er than Perry.. Me ln~s !u c , . the Flor idian finish- Haner ( Suz); 8 . Opie Ca y lor (Suz) ; 9 . Er ic Wood (Suz) ; 10 . Jame s Ell ison (Suz) ; 11. Brian Stokes (Suz); 12. Jacob Holden (Suz); 13. Lee Acree (Suz); 14. Chris Ulrich (Suz) ; 15. Chris Pe rls ( Han ); 16. Jeremy Toye (Suz); 17. Scott Jensen (Suz); 18. J.J. Roetlin (S uz) ; 19 . Jaso n Peters (S uz) ; 20 . Da vid Weber (Suz); 2 1. Logan Young (Ya m); 22 . Marco Martinez (Suz); 23 . Darin Edwards (Suz); 24 . John McGarity (Suz); 25. Tom Wertman (Suz); 26. Heath Sma ll (Yam ) ; 27 . James Stroud ( Han); 28 . Chad Rolland (Suz); 29. Taylor Knapp (Yam); 30 . Chuck lvey (Suz); 3 1. Matthew McBride (Kaw): 32 . Nathan Hester ( Yam ); 33 . Eric Erlin g Haugo (S uz) ; 34 . Danny Eslick (Suz); 35 . Joseph Dawson (Suz); 36 . Darren Luck (Suz); 3 7. M ik e Cic cotte (S uz) ; 3 8. Corey Eaton (Suz); 39 . Adam Fergusson (Suz); 40. Arash Hoshmandy (Suz); 4 1. Travis King (Suz). Time: N/A due to red flag. Dista nce: 17 laps. 37.4 miles -, Average speed: N/ A due to red flag. Margin of victory: 1.500 sec. ') GENUINE SUZUKI AC CESSOR IES SUPERST OCK C'SHIP PO INTS STANDI NGS (Afte r 11 o f 11 rounds) : 1. Josh Haye s (33 2/ 2 wins); 2. Tomm y Hayden (32 6/5) ; 3. Vincent Haskovec (30 6 ); 4 . Tony Meiring (272); 5 . Adam Fergusson (259 ); 6. Steve : Rapp (237 ); 7. Jason DiSalvo (225 ); 8. Opie Coy lor (2 18): 9. John Haner (209): 10. M;ke Clccottc (200); • 11. Cbrls Ulri ch ( 189) ; 12: J .J . Roetlln (149) : 13. Jimm y Moore (1 42 ); 14 . Brian Stokes (1 36); 15. Jacob Holden ( 126) ; 16 . Jerem y Toye ( 108 ); 17. Eric Wood (98) ; 18. Matthew Furtek (93 ); 19. Chris . Peris; 20 . Tom Wertman (92) . Rich Oliver (9 71 blasts off the line in what was t he f inal AM A 250cc Gra nd Prill race . Fittingly, it was Oliv er - t he ' Kin9 of the class - who won th e race, th e 7 2 nd of his career. i ng s ixth today o n h i s D e l a Cruz Yama ha TZ250 . So rense n and Chris Pyl es, 11th today , roun ded o u t the t op f ive in t he fi na l c ha mpionshi p CN stand in gs. Barber Molorsports Park Binningham, Alabama Results: September Zl , Z003 IRound11) 250 GRAN D PRIX: 1. Rich O live r ( Yam) ; 2 . Charles Sorensen (Apr) ; 3 . Simon Turner (Hon); 4. Colin Jensen ( Apr) ; 5. M ichael Montoya (Yam ); 6. Perry Melneciuc (Ya m ); 7 . Ed Marchini (Ya m); 8. Barrett Long (Yam); 9. Ed Sorbo (Yam) ; 10. Sandy Noce (Yam ); 11. Chris Pyles (Hon); 12. John France (Hon); 13. Sean Wray (Yam ); 14. John Ulrich (Yam); 15 . Geo ffrey Maloney (Ya m) ; 16 . Sha wn M urray (Han) ; 17. Keith Floyd (Yam) ; 18. Mark Stiles (Yam); 19 . Bruce Lind ( Yam); 20 . William Himm elsbach (Ya m) ; 2 1. G le n Christia nso n (Ya rn): 22 . Joji Tokumoto (Yam ); 23 . Michale Rentschler (Yam); 24. Jeremy Bonnett (Yam) ; 25 . James Bonner (Yam) . Time: 25 min.. 37.280 sec. Distance: 17 laps. 39 .1 miles Average speed: 91.6 mph Margin of victory: 7.66 7 sec. AMA 250 GRAND PRIX C' SH I P POINT STANDI NGS (Aft er 1 t of 1 t rounds): 1. Rich Oliver (415/1 1 wins) ; 2 . Si mon T urner (294 ) ; 3 . Perry Melneciuc (2 9 1); 4. Charles Sorensen (284) ; 5. Chris Pyles (26 9) ; 6. Ed Marchini (230 ); 7. Sandy Noce (22 1); 8. Ed Sorbo (209) ; 9 . Colin Jensen ( 193); 10. Jo hn France (167) ; 11. Sean Wray ( 162); 12. Greg Esser ( 160); 13. Barrett Long ( 15 1); 14 . Stephen Bowline (139 ); 15. Shawn Mu rra y (13 1). s-

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