Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Leftl Kevin Varnes (8 91 got away from A.J. Esl ick (1 61 and Jared M ees (l eft) t o finish second in the T w in s race. (Rightl Eslick c limbs off his steaming Suzuki after finishin g third. Sand pac ked i nt o the rad iator c a used the machine to run h ot, b ut it ne ve r faltered. star tin g to c atc h T err y , and th en here ca me Lo gan M yer s up in th er e. Th e spr ay is reall y hard on yo u o ut there . You l o se 10 mph w he n it hits yo u . E ver y tim e I tri ed t o g et b y T e rr y , he'd ju st sq ua re it u p and spray m e down . I finall y got by him so th at I co uld rid e m y own race . It was a lo t of fun . T he trac k he ld up a hell of a l ot b etter t his yea r t h a n it did l as t yea r. It wa s still crap py, but it was a lot of fun." M yers als o got past Poo vey to fin ish a sol id fo urt h. ' We st arted off th e back ro w , so th at wasn 't goo d , but we chang ed p ipes j ust before th e main eve nt to get a little bit more power, and that seemed to help us a lo t, " Myers said . " With a couple la ps to go, I fo und a really good lin e, and I go t past Terry Po o vey and sta rted catching J ared M ees rea ll y f ast. Too bad the race wa sn 't a little bit lo nger. I' m p retty happy . I w as looking for a top-th ree well actua lly I was looking for top -on e - but this will wo rk ." Po ov e y slowe d to fi ft h. O n pur po se. "T here's tw o thing s that' ll k eep m e fro m raci ng, " Poov ey sai d. "If I ca n 't see or I c an 't sto p , then I don 't wan t anythi ng d o t o wi th it , and today I c o u ldn ' t see . Th e tra ck was pret t y good , but I' m going to get some thin ner tearo ffs for next time." St anley held o n for sixth, followed by KTM /J ones Pow ersports ' J o e K opp , Ro c kwall H onda 's W i ll i e McCoy , K irby K y cl es Racing 's Rob Pea r son and A p ex S p o rt s/G enera l En g i n eer in g ' s D a v e D u r e ll e , w h o co mpleted th e top 10. M E M P HI S S HADES T W INS CHALLENGE In big- twi n action , K K Motorcycle Supply /Las Vegas Harley-Davidson 's G eo Roe der II w a s o nce agai n t he K in g of D el Mar, winni ng the IS -l ap Memphi s Sh ades Twins Challenge fo r th e th ird tim e in fo u r ye a rs . Th e Ohi o an an d h i s Sk ip E a k en -tun ed Harl ey XR750 had to do battl e wit h facto r y Suzuk i ride rs K evin Varne s and A.J. Es li ck ea rly o n, but th en he pulled clear of both to win th e race by a whopp ing 8.56 seconds . Eslick got th e hol eshot and man aged to lead the first co up le of laps while ba ttli ng with Varn es, but Roeder was va stly sup eri o r at th e entrance to th e turns, especially turn th ree. It was th ere that he used th e draft of the tw o S uzu k is t o h is ad van tage, bl a st in g into the turn o n lap fo ur and pu ll in g cle ar of the Suzu kis . " We w er e ju s t d ial e d in t od a y , m an ," Roed er sai d . "Ever ything w as worki ng great. Th e bik e was fast and it c o rne red well , so yo u co uld n't ask fo r a better co m bi nat io n th an th at. " Roed er sai d that hi s big draft m ove past the Suzuk is was somethi ng th at he had act ually d is cu ssed w it h h i s tuner , Eaken , before the m ain event beg an. " T hey h a d som e str aightaway speed on m e: Roed er said . "I cou ld get in th eir draft and I could stay with them , but I co uld n't pass them . They were just towing me along , and th ey would g ive me so much sp eed that I could really run it off in there hard, and the n my b ik e was handling so go o d that I co u l d g et t hrou g h t h e m idd le of th e corner. T hey j ust ki nd of sli ngshot m e o ut the re , and then , o nce I co ul d run a straighta way with o ut the m p assin g m e , I pre tty m uch had th em th en . Th at wa s our gam e p lan , and it worked out perfectl y ." Varnes fin ished second , pu ttin g th e team's n ew D LlOOO-powered d irt tr ack er on the pod iu m for th e second tim e in as many Formula USA mile round s; Varn es was third at Sa cra m ento aboard th e machin e , whi ch us es the same eng in e found in th e Suzu k i V-Strom street bike. "This defin it el y m ak es th e off sea so n a li tt le easier , " V a rn es sa i d . 'We' re right where we need to be on th e mil e trac ks . Now we j ust need to put the focus on the half- m ile tracks and get them better there . At the beg inn in g of the year, I was a li ttl e discouraged wi th the program, but now that we have the new DL 1000, the th ing just k eep s gett ing be tter and be tter. We' re all up beat now - the rid ers, m ech an ic s, eve ryone . And that j ust m ak es us want to tr y ha rder next ti me." Varn es said th at he didn 't want to run anywhe re nea r the o uts ide of the track du ring th e main even t bec au se he kn ew it wou ld be rougher up there. " I j ust fo und a line aro und th e bot t om th at see med t o work , " Varn es said . " I j ust had to ride it in straigh t and g o o ve r the bumps. On c e I got t h ro ug h that , t he m i ddl e was n' t th at bad , and I was ge tti ng g reat dr ives co ming o ff th e turns. " Varn es' tea m m ate Es lic k fi n is hed t hird in th e ra c e , pu ll in g doubl e duty, as he also wore an on -bike ca mera to collect footage for an upcom in g show on th e Sp ik e TV te lev ision network . " Hey, I led it fo r a fe w la ps befo re Roe d er g o t by m e," E sli ck sa i d . " I k new that he would be th e one to be pass in g m e. I tried sticki ng with h im. but he 's a di e-hard cushion guy . I fig u red that I'd b et t er let him go and save m y tearoffs i n c ase a n y b o dy else came u p and started racing m e. I knew I'd need the vision . So I d iced w ith Kevin for a few la ps , and he had a smoother li ne th an me. I was run ning through a few more bump s than he wa s. Then J ared and I had a big time battle for the la st four or five laps. The Suzuk is finished o ut there, wi t h b ot h of 'e m o n t h e podi um . T hat's good." Beyond th e to p three, Kopp m ade histo ry by de buting the KTM 9 50 LC8 V-tw in in Nat ional co m pe tition fo r th e first ti me . After q ual ifyi ng for the m a in ev ent aboa rd his Ha rley -D av id son , Ko p p e lec ted t o swi t c h to t he LC8 for th e main event, wh ere he fin i sh ed a l onel y seventh . Afterward , Kopp appeared to be pl eased with the ma chine on its maiden vo yage. "That wasn 't how we wanted to do it ," Kopp said. " We actually pl an ned to test th e KTM in th e heat race and then maybe switch t o th e Ha rl e y in th e m ain event, but we had a problem , so that we could n't ride th e KTM in the heat ra ce . I d id n 't have anything to lose pointsw ise, so we just decided to bring it out and show it off." Kopp said that he learned a lot abou t t he b ike in the IS-lap race, namely that it needs lots m o re chas sis development. "R un ni ng it for 15 la ps hard li k e tha t is a whole lot d ifferen t than just cru isi ng it for four laps : Kopp said . " I co uld reall y feel th at th e wh eelba se is t oo long . I wa s having a heck of a time ke ep ing my wh eels in lin e, but th e m otor felt totally usab le. Wh en th e rea r end would hang o ut, I co uld roll o ff th e th rottl e , a n d th e th ing would get right ba c k in line. W e 'r e cue I e n definitely goi ng t o bu ild a sp e c ial chassis for it; the n I don 't th ink tha t we'll be that fa r beh ind th e Suzukis at al l. I have rid de n th e Suzukis a lo t, and w ith as many laps as I have on them , I can already tell that the KTM is a lot more usabl e than th e Suzukis - the ones that I rode, anywa y ." One sentiment that many of the top riders shared was that the tw in s nee d to be featu red at all of the big tracks o n the Formula USA circuit. " T he y should m ak e the tw ins the big race he re, " Roeder said, sum m ing up th e thoughts of the gro u p . "The tw ins are the draw here at D el Mar, an d if t hey did t hat , the n g uys like Carr an d King would have to show up here . W e need th em g uys t o co me ba c k h er e . It' s grea t t o h a v e th e Suz ukis, the young guys li ke J ar ed Mees here, and my bro ther, but I wa nt everyone to be here whe n I w in." Formula USA o ffici als hinted that th e san cti onin g body ma y be ad d ressi ng its t wi ns program in the near fu tu re. eN Del Mar Fairgrounds Del Mar, Californ ia Results: October 5, 2003 (Round 9 of 91 PRO SINGLES NA n ONA L ( 16 laps; 16 rid ers): I. Bryan Smith ( Hon): 2 . Nick Cum m ings (Hon) : 3 . Ja red Mees ( Hen ): 4 . Log an Myers (Hon); 5 . Terry Poovey ( Hon); 6 . Dan Sta nley (Hon) : 7. Joe Kopp (KTM): 8 . Willie McCoy (Hon) ; 9 . Rob Pearson (Hon) : 10. Dave Durelle (Hon ); 11. Kenny Coolbeth (KTM); 12. 14. 16. 18. Brett Pank e y ( Hon); 13. Scooter Vernon ( Hon); Ky le Ragsda le (Hon); 15. Kenny Carlotta (Han); J .R . Schnabel ( Yam); 17. Charlie helle (Yam ) ; Gary Rogers ( Ha n ). Time : 11 min .• 01.956 sec . FO RM U L A U SA K& N FILTE RS PRO SERIES PO I NT S ST A N OI NGS ( A ft er 9 o f 9 roun d s) : I. Bryan Smith (282/3 wins ); 2. Terry Poovey (208/1 win ); 3. Willie McCoy ( 176 ); 4. Da ve Du re lle (170/1 win): 5 . Kenny Cool beth (16 4/1 wi n ) ; 6 . Nic k Cum m ings ( 162 ); 7 . Ja red Mees ( 160/ I win ); 8 . Rob Pearson (1 46/1 w in) ; 9 . Joe Kop p (1 46/1 win ); 10. Dan St an ley (1 46): II. J .R. Sch nabe l (1 40) ; 12 . Logan Myers ( 120) ; 13 . K yl e Reqsdale ( 108); 14 . Jet hr o Halbert ( 108); 15 . Rich K ing (7 8 ); 16. John H leb o III (74); 17 . Greg Te ag ue (62); l B. M er le Sch er b (56) ; 19 . Sc o o ter Vernon (54); 20. Ja ke J ohn son (48 ) . MEM PHIS SHADES TWINS CHA LLENGE ( 15 lap s ; 12 rider s ) : 1. Gee Roeder II (H ·D ); 2. Kevin Varnes (Suz); 3. A.J. Eslic k (Sur): 4. Ja red Mees (H ·D); 5 . Wi ll ie McC oy ( H- D); 6 . Jess Roede r ( H· D ): 7 . Joe Kopp ( K T M); 8 . Mi k e Ind erb itzin (H ·D); 9 . J .R . Sc hn ab el ( H · D); 10 . Rob Pearso n ( H· D ) : 11. Gary Roger s (H· D); 12. Kenny Coo /beth (H-D) . Time : 9 m in.• 48 .813 sec . c vv S • O C TOBER 1 5 , 2 00 3 25

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