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F o r mula USA R e t u rn of the Superbikers D e l M a r Fairgrou n ds By S COTT R OU SSEAU P HOTOS BY D OUG K A RCHER DEL MAR, CA, OCT. 4 nerh aps it was only fitting that the Ret u rn o f t h e Superb ik e rs wo ul d be won by a gu y wh o was there wh en th e o rig inal Su perb ik ers eve n ts to ok pla c e ju st u p t he ro ad in Carlsbad , Ca lifornia , m or e than 20 y ears ag o . Ol d e r , w i ser , but defi n i te ly n ot m uch slo wer, Troy Lee D esig ns /Fun Bik e Center Honda's Jeff Ward m ad e h i s firs t F o r mu l a USA Sup er m ot o a p pe ara nc e a successfu l o ne as h e bli tzed th e fiel d to take the Return of th e Su perbi k er s win on a tec hnic al, tem porary co urse in fro nt of the m ain gra nd st and at th e fabled Del M ar Fair grounds. Th e 42-y ear -old Ward, w ho race d in the original Superb ik ers as a fa cto r y m o t o c r o s s sta r wi t h T eam Kaw asaki , led th e 25- lap m ain ev ent fro m st art t o fin ish , w in n ing th e race by 20 .69 1 sec o nd s and la pp in g the fiel d up to fourth place. Ward cut t he fast est l ap of t he r ac e , 57.454 sec onds , on lap three . The uniqu e t rack incl uded an o ve r/ u nd er sec t ion th at was bo rrow ed from the TH Q Su per cro ss Ser ies. "T hat wa s different: Ward said . "I do n' t think th at I hav e ever led one of th es e r ac es fr om th e start lik e th at b ef ore , eve r . I u su all y co me f ro m beh ind . I j ust caught a break an d go t a good st ar t. I pa c ed m y sel f. It w as k ind o f di ffe r en t b e i n g o ut f r ont [immed iat ely ]. It was pr etty good ." Fo rm er AMA Gr a nd N at i on a l Champ io n J oe Ko pp got the ho leshot off th e lin e to start t he m ain, bu t th e K TM /J on e s Pow er s p o rt s-b a c k ed Ko pp backed it in a little too hard in the first co rne r and wound up d riftin g wide . Ward seized th e opportun ity to k nife un dern eat h Kopp, took the lead and chec ke d ou t. '" kn ew wh er e I had to br ak e [in turn o ne ], and I wasn 't go ing to ge t suc kered into d riving in th ere fur ther t han I w ant e d t o ," W ar d said . " I f so m eo ne wanted to t ry and dri v e in t her e furth er than m e, I was j ust go ing to let them have it, but th ere was no way t hat th ey were go ing to m ak e t he corn er. If he [Kopp] had been on th e insid e, he woul d probab ly have t ak en r Joe Kop p (3) gets loose in front of Jeff Ward (3X) and th e rest of the pack at the Return of the Supe rb lk e rs at the Del M a r Fa irg ro u nd s. Ward w en t on t o win the race by 2 0 seconds. m e wit h him , so I wa s lu c ky that he was o n t he outsid e." Aft er th at, Wa r d said h e trie d t o rid e faster every lap. "I didn't cru ise : Ward sai d . "I j ust k ept pushing , pus hi ng , p ush ing, and m ak ing every c o rne r fas te r than t he last ti m e. You 'll m ak e a li ttl e m ist ak e her e and th er e doi ng th at, but I ca n find t he lim it s pretty q uick. It was a diffi cu lt tra ck j us t bec ause it wasn' t that fast and there was a lot of brak ing. Th e paint [lin es o n th e p avem ent ] was a li ttle nerv e-wrack ing , bu t all in all it was pretty good ." While Ward was running awa y w ith the r a c e , tw o o f h i s f e l l o w AMA N at io nal 125cc Nati onal MX Cha m p io ns w er e a l so h av in g goo d runs o f th eir ow n . Form er T eam Ho nda star M i c k e y D ym ond go t a good sta r t a b o a r d h i s K T M / A ll A c c e s s / Ra c e T ech entry and ran second for 20 laps befor e being overt ak en by a charg ing Gran t Langsto n , th e So uth Afr i ca n hav i n g co me f ro m t he b ack of th e pa ck after havi ng had to gai n entry to t he m a i n through a semi. Th e Red B u ll KTM -ba c ke d La ng st on pass ed Dymond in the paved section o n the back part o f th e cours e , knif i ng W a rd , now 42, was one of the o riginal Supe rb ik e rs ba ck in the early '8 0 s. He has be e n a d ominant force since the sport has bee n rekindled In America. 26 O C T O B ER 15, 200 3 cue I e n e 1M S und erne ath Dy m o nd afte r D ym on d sp un up the r ear ti r e o n t h e ex it. Langston t he n pu ll ed away , pu tting 14 second s on Dymond, wh o back ed o ff and cruised to th ird . "T ha t was a lot of fu n : Lan gst o n said . " I had to co m e fr om t he fourth row, and I nev er ex pecte d to be on the pod ium . It was a g o od come-from behind for m e. By th e ti m e th at I got to t he lap pe rs, I p re t ty mu c h k new whe re I was . I co uld see Ward y , and I co uld see Mick ey j ust ahe ad of m e. I just c o nc ent rat ed o n tr ying to catch Mi ck ey . Th e tr ack was pr etty techni cal, wh ich suited m y style." D y m on d sa i d that he was ha p p y w ith his run in th e fi rst 12 lap s of th e race, but no t in the last 13 . "I feel like that if I were to go ba ck and look at the fi rst 12 laps th at I did , I'm happ y, but it's the second 13 lap s where I was n o t rid ing t o o w ell ," Dymond sa id . "Fitnes s has a li tt le b it to do wit h that. , got arm pump, which I haven' t had in a long ti m e. I'v e got to work through t ha t an d get a li ttl e m ore fitness on m y side . I've com e a lo ng way wi th my rid ing and m y fi t ness and m y set up sinc e Lagun a. If I ca n peak at Vegas, then we 'll have a good c ha nce. I was ho p in g to get a podium here t oday , but I didn't ha ve any ex pe ct atio n s ot h er than to ride well ' and tr y hard. I did that, mostly, tod ay . I'm happy ." Five-time for me r Daytona 200 wi n n er a n d f orm er AMA a n d World Sup erb ike Ch ampi on Sc ott Ru ss ell put in a rar e Superm ot o appea ranc e at Del Mar and ca me away w ith fou rth pla c e - t he la st rider on th e lead lap a board hi s HM C Sup erm o t o KTM . Behind h im was a gr eat battle for fifth b e tw e en Am e ri ca n Sup er ca mp Honda's Roger Lee Hayden and Kopp . It was a batt le tha t would end in contr ove rsy , as K opp ran down Hay den and passed him late in the race, o nly t o r eli nquis h th e spo t wh en W ard c ame up to lap th e pair. Hayden fol lo w ed W ard p ast Ko p p a n d r eto ok f ifth, but K op p cl a i m s th at Hay d en pa ssed Kopp whe n he m ov ed ove r to let Ward by , pe r th e rul es of th e blu e flag th at Ko p p sa ys w a s sho wn to both ride rs. "Typica l c ontrove r sy: Kopp sa id . "I wa s on Roger the wh o le race, and I fina lly got him down in that far ri gh thand tu rn on th e as pha lt. T hen Ward was t ry ing to pass m e in t he d irt corn er after t h at. Co m ing up o ver t he j ump , there wa s a blue flag . I went a li ttle wid e in t he nex t corne r to l et W ard by, an d Rog er j ust went right w ith him. I w as a li ttle pi ssed o ff. A blu e fl ag is li k e a ye llow flag . He says he didn't see it, but it's j ust a co urte sy th in g ." Hayden said t hat he didn 't see t he flag . "Joe says t ha t he scooted over for a blu e flag , but I never seen th e blue fl ag, " Hayd en said . " I passed him on th e begi n n ing of t he track , and he says he scooted ove r for W a rd , but Ward passed m e o n th e back part of the track . I d o n ' t k now wh at ha p pened . It was a heat -o f -t he -mo ment de al, but I just ro de as hard as I co uld out t here. I wasn 't out ther e to m ake fr iends. I reall y wan t to tha nk Ameri ca n Super camp and Came ron Gray for j ust g iv ing m e th e opportun ity to g et my f eet w et in Superm oto . It 's reall y cool." CN D Mar Fairgrounds el Del Mar, California Results: October 4, 2003 RETURN OF THE SUPERBIKERS (25 laps ): I. Jeff Ward (Hon) ; 2 . Grant Langston (KTM ); 3. Mickey Dymond (KTM) ; 4 . Scott Russell (KTM) ; 5 . Roger Lee Ha yden ( Ho n) ; 6 . J oe Kopp ( KT M ) ; 7 . Kenny Coo l beth (KTM ); 8 . D a n Sta nle y (Hon) ; 9. Mi ke Metzger ( Hon); 10. Josh Chisum ( Hon); 11 . Dustin Nel son ( Yam ); 12. Steve Dr ew ( Hon); 13 . T rav is Ma rks ( Hen); 14. Randy Mennenga (Hen); 15. Marty Moa tes ( Yam) ; 16 . Mar k Cem icky ( Hon); 17 . Gary T ra ch y ( Ho n); 18 . Greg Tra chy ( He n ); 19 . Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw); 20 . Jake Zemke ( Hon). Ti me of race: 24 min.. 16.1 10 sec. Margin of victory: 20 .69 1 sec.