Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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, Round 3 AMA SUPERBIKE I May 2 , 2004 ~ Lockhart-Ph illips USA Formula Xtreme Se ries Heanbreak Hotel JAKEZEMKE NARROWLY MISSES OUT -AGAIN! By PAUL CARRUTHERS PHOTOS BY HENNY RAy ABRAMS rion Racing's jake Zemke was hoping t o get a little bit of revenge in the Formu la Xtreme final at Infineo n Racew ay. Instead , he jus t got his heart broken a little bit more. And it was t he same man doing him in - Migu el Duhame l. just m inutes after losing w hat looked to be th e first AMASuperbike National of his career to Duhamel in the final corner of that race, Zemke again lost out to the American Honda rider - th is time after leading the race by as much as 5.7 seconds . With just seven laps to go . At the nag it was Duhamel by 1.9 seconds, with Zemke having used up his rear tire trying to get away from the veteran early on . Third place went to Erion Racing's Alex Gobert, the young Austra lian passing DXS Diablo Suzuki's Steve Crev ier late in the race after sitting be hind the multitime Cana dian champion for most of the race . It was the youngest of the Gobert bro thers' best result to date . Washington's jaco b Holden finished an impressive fifth on the Hypercycle Suzuki, ahead of the injured jaso n Pridmore, the latt e r com ing from dead last on the grid to earn sixth place on his No Limits Suzuki GSX-R600. Pridmore had wo rked his way past the entire pack , including seventh-place finisher Larry Pegram on his privateer Yamaha R6. Eighth place we nt to Michael Barnes, the Floridian riding a Kosco Harley-Davidson Buell XB9R Firebolt to its best-eve r Xtreme finish. KWS Moto rsports' Danny Eslick and Lion Racing's Corey Eaton rounded out the top 10 with a second Buell, this one ridden by Mike Ciccotto, finishing I Ith o Duhamel's victo ry was his third straight in the three-race-old Formula Xtreme season, and it gives him an IBpo int lead over Zemke after three of I I roun ds. Gobert is third with B3 points, nine better tha n Holden, who had his E 46 best-ever class finish here today. With the Superb ike loss fresh in his mind , Zemke blasted off the start line and didn't look back , hell bent on making amends for the mistake that cost him his first Superbike National just minutes ea rlier. Duhamel went with his pse udo team mate, but it was quickly appare nt that the French Ca nadian wasn't able to match Zemke 's pace . Zemke led by 1.5 seconds after three laps, 3.7 seconds after five and 5.7 sec onds after 10 of the 17 laps. Then the unth inkab le happened . He started to come back to Duhamel. From 5.7 seconds on lap 10, the gap dropped to 4.1 on lap 12, 3. I on lap 13 and 1.7 on lap 14. Oh , oh , Zemke was in tr ou ble, but somehow th e racing gods were sure to look favorably on him and allow him one w in on the day. Not th is time. On the 16th lap, Duhamel took the lead and galloped away, beating Zemke to the line by 1.9 seconds for his second win on the day and his third Xtreme win of the three-race-old series. "The first few laps, jake took off and had a good lead ," Duhame l said . "I was thinking it wasn't a bad trade-off fro m the Superbike race . But my bike was wor king really good, and by midway it was working even better. I just started pushing the pace a bit more because the lap times were a little bit slower tha n what I was doing in practice. Basically, what I tried to do was re-establish the times I knew I cou ld do pretty comfortably. The n I started to catch up to jake . He had a few insta nces with lapped riders where he lost quite a bit of time. Of course, the closer I got , the more I realized that it MAY 12,2004 • CYC LE N EWS wasn't jake being tired but his tire being tired . I just put another push on him, and when I did pass him, I figured if I put my head down, he didn't have enough in his tire to follow me . Again, the team worked hard , and the team worked hard and luck was on o ur side. It was just a great day for me, rea lly." Zemke knew long before Duh ame l that he was toast. His tire was gone, and he was just persevering, thinking o f what could have been. He was really close to coming out of Infineon with two race w ins. Instead, two seconds was the best he could hope for. "A little past halfway, I knew it was going to be a long ways to get to the finish," Zemke said. "Straight from the get go the bike was working really well, and the tire was working really well. After tha t Superbike race there was no way I wasn't going to ride 100 percent the w hole race, and my tire ended up looking a lot like my Superbike tire fro m yesterday. It co uldn't take what Iwas doi ng to it, and in hindsight I pro bably chose the wrong tire . It's part of racing and part of learning." Gobert, meanwhile, was showing the patience of a veteran, waiting unt il the very end to zap Crevier. "I went out at the start, and when I got out there, my groove didn't come straight away - I didn't fee l real good," Gobert said. "I started to drop back, and then Steve Crevier came past . I felt that if I just sat be hind him and got him at the end , I'd get fourth. Then, luckily, the Valvoline rider [Vincent] Haskovec had something go wrong, and then it was a battle for third. I knew all along I could get Crevier beca use my bike was a lot better. My hat's 40th Anniversary Briefly... Brian Parriott was on an unfamiliar motorcycle on familiar grounds. The Calistoga resident was aboard the No Limits Suzuki G5X·R1000, the most powerful motorcycle he'd ever ridden, at Infineon Raceway, his home track. Parriottwas replacing the injuredJimmy Moore,the Oregonian who continues to haveproblems with the arm he broke at Brainerd lastyear. "I justcalledJason [Curtis]on the phone last Sunday night. and I talked to hisdad [team owner BenCurtis] the next day," Parriott said. After speakingwith Team Suzuk i Sport's Morgan Broadheadon Tuesday, he had the answer. "It's been quite the learning curve," Parriott said of the No Limits GSX · RIOOO He'd raced an RC-5 1, which made . about 142 horsepower, but had never ridden an inline four-cylinder that makes considerably more. "They're monsters," he said. The best way to attack them isto "get on and ride." It took hima few laps to get up to speed and find out where the limits were. The goal was to make the bikemore compliant, more to his liking. "Nothing the same 's as what I'm used to. The power changes everything." As for having home track advantage, Parriottdismissed it. "It might have been easier on someplace not so technical like Willow Springs. Ithinkit would be a difficult biketo ride everywhere." Parriottdoesn't know if this is a one-offor ifthere will be more. Lastyear, he raced the BMW BoxerCup Seriesand hopes to continue. Parriott started the season with a win inthe BoxerCup race at Daytona. Butfunding problems may keep him from continUing. "I'm trying likehell to get it done," he said. San jose BMW helps out, but it's not enoughto do the entire season. off to Ho nda beca use my bike was so good. It fee ls a bit strange to be up he re because it seems like my mec hanics and Honda dese rved it more than me." Haskovec loo ked to be set to finish third whe n his Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX· R600 blew up heading into turn one o n the 12th lap. eN IN FINEON RAC EWAY S ON OMA, CAUF ORNIA R ESULTS : MAY 2, 2004 ( ROUND 3) F-XTRE ME: I. Miguel Duhame l (Hon); 2. Jake Zemke (Hon) ; 3. Alex Gobe rt (Hon) ; 4. Steve Crevier (Suz); 5. Jacob Holden (Suz); 6. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 7. larry Pegram (Yam); 8. Michael Barnes (Bue); 9. Danny Eslick (Suz); 10. Corey Eat on (So2); I I. Mike Ciccotto (Bue); 12. Jeff Williams (Suz); 13. Brien Whitlock (So2); 14. Thomas Montano (Hon ); 15. Andrew Nelson (Hon) ; 16. Nathan Hest er (Yam); 17. Garth Dillon (Yam); 18. Michael Leon (Suz); 19. Heath Small (Yam); 20. Perry Melneciuc (Yam); 2 1. Chad Rolland (Yam); 22. Jay Tanne r (Yam 23. Mike ); Krynock (Due) ; 24. Ed Sorbo (Kaw); 25. Tim Knutson (Y am); 26. Ruben Munoz (Suz). TIme: 28 min., 26 .850 sec . Distance : 17 laps, 37.4 miles Average speed: 83 .2 mph Margin of victory: 1.985 sec . F·XTREME C'SHIP PO INTS STANDINGS (Afte. J of II rounds): I. Miguel Duhamel (1121 wins); 2. Jake 3 Zemke (94); 3. Alex Gobert (83); 4. Jacob Holden (74); 5. Corey Eaton (65); 6. Jason Pridmo re (54); 7. Vincent Haskovec (53); 8. Nathan Hester (5 1); 9. Perry Melneciuc (50); 10. l.an'y Pegram (49); II. Danny Eslick(43); 12. Ben Bostrom (11); 11. Heath 5mall (32); 14. Garth o man (1 1); 15. Brien Wh itloc k (28). UPCOMING ROUNDS R 4. B ound irmingham Alabama, May 16 , Round 5 . F ountain, Colorado, Moy 23