Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

------- - - - Round 7 June 26, 2004 AMA SUPERBIKE ~ oW hard fought was the Lockhart-P hillip s USA Formula Xtreme race? Th e largest lead in the first 12 laps was .356 of a second. That was on the penultimate lap, American Honda's Miguel Duhamel in front of Erion Honda's jake Ze mke, the pair we ll away from third place by the n. So e qual had the race been that eac h had led six laps. The final lap would decide who ea rned the point for most laps led and, more importantly, who earned the 36 po ints for the win. Duhame l led at the start of the lap , knowing Zemke wou ld come at him. It would have to come in the ea rly part whe n Zemke could take advantage of the draft in the ultrafast turn s o ne and tw o, the spot whe re Ze mke had ea rlier made passes . Zemke wa nted to make a charge , but he knew he didn't have the power or the tires . Only if Duhamel made a mistake did he have a chance . Through the infield, Duhamel was flawless, neve r giving Zemke an opening. Speeding off the final co rne r, Duhamel crossed the line .375 of a second before Zemke, the most they 'd been apart in 39 miles , I3 laps of racing. Duhamel averaged 108.9 mph . " I knew Miguel [Duh am e l] had som e motor on us," Zemke said, add ing that his crew had closed the gap since Road America. "But I was having to ride really hard to just stay where I was up there, and in the end there our tires, my tires, wer e moving just a bit bec ause I was having to work them pretty hard just to kee p up at the fron t there." Duhamel had a slight hiccup ea rly in the race that could have bee n wors e . His right knee slide r came off in turn tw o , and he had to alter his riding style. "So I was trying to turn and try not to put my kne e too much on the ground," he said." Try to ride like my dad [Yvon], I guess . Every time I put my knee on the gro und , it would H 30 JULY 7 ,2004 • CYCLE NEWS AMA Lockhart -Phillips USA For mula Xtreme hook up and yank pretty hard ." The effect was unno ticeable . He first took the lead from Zemke on the third lap, but it was Ze mke acr oss the line at the lap's end . The same thing happened on the fourt h, but this time Duhame l made it st ick for two laps, Ze mke back in front on laps six and seven , though Duhamel was able to draft by on the front stra ight each time . By now two of the front-run ners were out. HMC Ducati Milwau ke e 's Do ug Chandl er pitted at the end of th e third lap with e lect rical problem s. His Ducati 749R wo uldn't rev past I 1,000 rpm. He we nt back out fo r one more lap before retiring for the day. Star Motorcycle Schoo l's jason Pridm ore mad e five laps befo re engine problems struck . The cam timing sensor failed on the fifth lap, the Suzuki GSX-R600 popping and coughing and flashing dire warnings. Pridmore made ano ther lap before th e engine failed in tu rn nine, close enough to the finish that he could coas t into the pits. The lead swapped at the stripe on lap e ight w ith Duhamel in front. Then on nine it was Zem ke again after a draft -pass on the front straight . Duhame l used the same drafting maneu ve r to take the lead , and this time it wo uld be for good. Duhamel knew he couldn't win if he was second out of th e final corner. He also wanted the po int for most laps led. "Thankfully the bike was working re ally good, and I was able to win," he said. With four races re maining in the I I-race season, Duha mel widened his margin ove r Ze mke to 15 points, 250-235 . Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Vince nt Hasko vec broke through with his first pod ium. Haskovec was th ird fro m the start but had to catch up to the leade rs. Once th e re, he was always on their ta il, but never able to move beyond third , though not for lack of effo rt. In fact, Haskovec used his tires up in purs uit. In the late r laps he was riding so hard to keep up that he bounced off a curb in turn six, damaging his fro nt w heel. That ended his drive and forced him to baby his Suzuki GSX-R600 home, his third place secure. "I really felt many times already this year like I missed it, but just some unfortunate things happening," he said. "I was very close, but it didn't work out for many reasons. This time I just qualified sixth. Let' s see what's going to happe n. I'm rea lly happy with the resu lts." There wasn 't muc h passing beh ind Haskovec . Erion Ho nda's Alex Gobe rt was a dista nt fourt h with plenty on Picott e Yamaha Racing's Pascal Picotte . Picotte was running his Canadian Supersport-spec Yamaha R6, which is far less mo dified and less powerful than the best AMA FX bikes. The bigger problem was the Hal's H-D/Buell X9R Firebolt of Mike Ciccotto. On the second lap , the Buell started spewi ng oil o nto Kosco H-D/Buell's Michael Barnes before Barn es backed off, Picott e taking ove r the spot. For two laps, Picotte tried in vain to get the attention of the co rner workers. "Y co uld see a black strip on the track," ou Picotte said, adding that he tho ught , "This is going to be nasty." Th e time Picott e lost in the early laps couldn't be made up. After Picotte came Barne s, who wo rried that Ciccotto might be brou ght down by his own oil. "I've never been so scare d for anybody as for him go ing into turn on e," Barnes said, adding tha t the oil in turn two was causing the rear of his own Bue ll to step out. Barnes said Ciccott o's team could not trace the cause of the leak and tha t there 'd be furthe r inspection when they returned to the Hal's race shop. Barnes had practiced with an envelo ping body wo rk th at looked straight off an early Eric Buell RRI000, but he race d w ith a mo re conven tional seat and fairing. eN BRAINERD INTERNAnONAL RACEWAY BRAINERD, MINNESOTA RESULTS: JUNE 26, 2004 (ROUND 7) LOCKHART·PHILLIPS USA F-XTREME: I. M;guel Duhamel (Hon); 2. Jake Zem ke (Hon) ; 3. VInCent Heskcvec (Suz); -4 . Ale x Gobe rt (Hon) ; S. Pascal Picotte (Yam); 6. Michael Barnes (Bue); 7. Blake Young (Suz); B. Lml' Pegram (Y :om); 9. Heath Small (Yam 10. Nicky Moore (So2); II . Nathan Hester ); (Y am); 12. Perry Helneciuc (Yam); 13. Matt Prentice (Y am); 14. Eric Haugo (Suz); IS. Jos h Bryan (So2): 16. Doug Chandler (Due ); 17. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 18. Mike Ckcono (Sue) TIm e : 2 1 min., 29.675 sec. Distance: 13 laps. 39 miles Ave rage speed: 108.9 mph Margin of victory: 0.375 sec. LOCKHART-PHILLIPSUSA FORMULA XTREME C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (Afte r 7 of II rounds): I. Miguel Duhamel (250/5 wins) ; 2. Jake Zem ke (23Sfl) ; 3. Alex Gobert ( 193); 4. Voncen Haskovec (162); 5. Lmy Pegram (139); 6. t Jacob Ho'den (12 1); 7. Nathan Hester (118); 8. PerryMelneciuc ( 116); 9. Michael Barnes (I II ); 10. Heath SmaJ1( 107}; 1I.!a'on Pridmore ( 106); 12. Danny Eslick ( 104); 13. Pascal Picott e (H); I" . Doug Chand ler (71); IS. Mike Ckc ott o (66); 16. Cor ey Eaton (65); 17. Nicky Moore (62); 18. Steve Cre vier (53); 19. Blake Young(" 5); 20. Ben Bostrom (33). UPCOMING ROUNDS: R 8 . Monterey, California, Ju~ 10 ound Round 9 . Lexington, Ohio, Ju~ 25 40th Anniversary I Briefly... Continued from page 29 de France w inner Lance Arm- strong, but Yamaha's Timmy Ferry is also listedamong its elite athletes right next to Indycar racer Eliseo Salazar . In an effort to close the gap on the dominantjapanese four-cylinders, Kosco H-D/Buell's Michael Barn es tried a slippery, old-fashioned set of bodywork that looked likesomething from an earlier Erik Buell RR I000. It turned out to be a mixed bag. It increased top speed, but gusting winds made it unpredictable. In the end, he raced his XN 12R Firebolt with more co nventional bodywork. "We gained, I'd say , an easy six to eight m iles per hour," Barnes said. "It's supposed to be good for nine or I 0, which is very feasible." Bames said his top speed was measured at 167 with the traditional bodywork and 176with the newer seat and fairing, but that was also with a fresher motor. "Y can feel it. ou It's slipperier through the wind." Barnes said it allowed him to tuck in better and hold a better line through the high-speed turns one and two. Ram-air ducting also increased t he amo unt of air pushed through the air box. giving mo re pow er. Barnes said he w asn't sure how much w as gained. Initially he thought the clutch was slipping because of the increased RPM on the top end. "These guys are thinkingthere's a lot to be had there," Barnes said. All that got thrown out by the strong crosswind blowing through turns one and two. The bodywork was mostlyfor Road America and Brainerd, the two high-speed tracks, though it would have been a perfect Daytona bike. Unfortunately, the team wasn't ready for Daytona. They missed Fontana as well. "We've hit ninth in points. Seventh is within reach," Barnessaid. Pascal Picotte was again using the AMA series to get ready for the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. From BIR he'll be on the road lor two days to Calgary. Alberta, site of the next round. For the first time. the weekend will feature double rounds of both Supersport and Superbike, and Picotte wanted to be ready. Picotte finished fifth in the BIR FormulaXtreme race after being slowed by oil coming out of the Buell of Mike Ciccotto. "I couldn't believe the corner marshalsdidn't see anything," he said. "It was smoking." Hisfirst thought was to get past the Buell, but that wasn't feasible. "Their bikes were faster than my bike," Picotte said, though he was faster through the infield.

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