Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

An engine failure may have been the culprit of Duhamel's crash during Sunday's race (nate fairing damage). It ultimately put him out, dropping him to third place, 44 paints behind leader Mladin. Duhamel 's crash notwithstanding, Saturday was better than Sunday for Mladln, who yielded second place to Ben Bostrom (behind Mladin) and went on to finish thi rd on Sund a y. Ben Bostrom. Mlad in rode to a steady third, knowing that Du hamel they share the spotlight in a postrace press conference. " Miguel pushed hard ," Mladin said. "Wh e n you have a motorcywas out of the race and also knowing that he had noth ing more to cle that suits the rules as his does this year, he makes a lot of time throw at the two Hondas ahead of him. up in the straight line. So he was pushing hard. He made up time on On Saturday it was Duhamel who shone, the Honda rider shad , us, but we held on for the win:' owing Mladinand givingit his allto run the Australiandown in the final Mladin admitted that he wanted the point for the most laps led , laps. Only ill-timed traffic ruined his chance, and he came up just .337 thus the charge that he made to get to the front. of a second short at the finish, Third place in that one went to Aaron Yates. But as good as Duhamel was, Mladin was one better. "Eve n if you finish second, you get po ints for most laps led," And when all was said and done, no one left Ohio with a bigger Mladin said. " If I would've finished second to Ben, then it's that extra po int - which helps. It was a tough race. We had to hold on smile than Mladin. The man thinks championships first, wins secto the end . Tires were spinning up and stuff, but we held on . Traffic ond. On this weekend, he did a little of both, winning a titanic bat tle on Saturday and then padding a championship lead w ith a third - ....;:-we nt back and forth. Ben and I had a pretty good lead until we got to that first lot of traffic. We had about three seconds, and it was place ride on Sunday. It was typ ical Mlad in. cut down to about 1.4 with the first lot of traffic. So, you know, that Saturday's was far and away the better of the two races. allowed a few more people to get back in the race also, that may After disposing of the fast-starting Eric Bostrom on the Ducati not have been there:' Austin mount (fro m the second row, no less), Mladin led , chalMladin's comments about how fast th e Hondas are spiked this lenged first by Ben Bostrom. Ben then took his tum at the front, reaction from Duhamel when asked if he'd ever ridde n harder in a leading laps e ight, nine, 10, I I and 12 before giving it back to race: "No , that was ill usion," Duhamel said. "That was a fast bike. Mladin. Meanwhile, Duhamel was on the charge, and he was the I was just on , hanging on . It was remote control. I think somebody next one to challenge Mladin, pulling to just .2 of a second behind from the tower rides the bike: ' before getting balked badly by lappe r Eric Wood w ith just two laps A calmer Duhamel explained further: "Th e bike was wo rking to go . But Duhamel put his hea d back down, sliding the big Honda really good, and I put my head down, and to me it seemed I was all arou nd the racetrack to get back to Mladin for the final-lap showdown. But he couldn't get close enough to make a pass, his the fastest guy ou t there. I was able to reel in Mat, and on a few occasions, through even lapped riders, even though he would effort giving him second place, but also giving Mladin a few more break away, I'd run back in. So things are looking good for tomorpoints over his rival in the title chase. "I caught Eric Wood in the Keyhole, and he completely - I was row. It was a fun race . It was definitely greasy. I was spinning up everywhere and sliding.Hopefully, we got some good camera shots right on Mat until that point, and he [Wood) blocked me completeof that, putting on a pretty good show trying to get up there. I didly, and I lost over a second, I think, right there," Duhamel said. '~d n't have any opti o ns besides going out there and putti ng the power then I had to make that back up. So I made it up, and on the last lap down and trying to reel in Mat:' I was getting up to Mat, but what are you going to do? You're no t going to make up three or four bikelengths on the brakes, or someIfeveryone was hoping for a rematch o f the two antagonists on Sunday, they left disappointed. This o ne was all Zemke. thing like that. So I got close to him again and put a bit of pressure The Erion Honda rider had his head down fro m the start and he [on him] and then just finished the race. My bike worked real good. was never hea ded, pulling away steadily fro m Be n, who was doing We just we need to figure out how to make the bike start: ' likewise to Mladin, Yates, meanwhile, was sitting on his teammate's Yates was a satisfied third, his season beginning to take a tum for tail- exactly where he'd stay. Duhamel was strugglingto keep pace the better. Finally . "I haven't quite got it [his bike] the way I would like it to get early but was just getting going when he threw it all away on the sixth lap. The race was gone. And perhaps the championship. aro und here yet," Yates said. "I just felt like I was fighting the th ing "It was going real good," Duhamel said. "I was being really cauthe whole time, so it was pretty tough. But Icaught back up on Ben tious those first four, five laps. I was over a second slower than what [Bostrom] in the traffic out there. It just was like, you'd come up on I set in the morning. After what, six laps or something, seven, I said, a group of guys, and you just had to go for it, and it was like a whole 'Let' s pick up the pace : Then I started getting into 27.9s, and that diffe rent race other than what you were doing. Just trying to stick felt real comfortable, and right away I cou ld see the gap sh rinking it under people. It helped me catch back up to that pack of guys to Mat and Aaron . I was very confident I was going to catch them that was in front of me. I just got through, seemed to get through before the end of the race and dice w ith him and pass him. Passing the lappers a little bit better in some areas. Isnuck under Ben there, him is one th ing, but I knew I was going to catch up , because my and it was just pretty easy, and I knew it was a couple of laps to go, bike was running rea llygood. It's just unfortunate. Going in [to tum and I just we nt as good as I could that next lap, because I knew he six, at the end of the back straight], I think we had a little bit of a was kind of backing off a bit - the times kind of dropping back up mechanical problem. But until w e prove it 100 percent, I'm willing into the 29s. I really wanted to get up there on the podium: ' to take as much blame as I can . I went in there and downshifted, Mladin had been pushed to the limit, and he knew it. There's litand the rear end seemed to lock up and the engine went dead. At tle love lost between him and Duhamel at th is point in the season, least that's what I felt. Ialmost saved it, and then finallyit threw me and the tension between the two is now obvious, especially when www.cycieneW5.com American Honda tearn manager Chuck Miller revealed that an engine failure caused Miguel Duhamel to crash out of Sunday's Superbike race. "There was a mechan ical failure, and that's what caused him to fall ," Miller said, confirming what Duhamel initially thought . "I think we had a little bit of a mechanical problem," Duhamel said, "but until we prove it 100 percent, I'm willing to take as much blame as I can. I went in there and downsh ifted and the rear end seemed to lock up and the engine went dead . At least that 's what I felt." Miller said the team was investigating and didn't immediately have an explanation. Howeve r, something that sudden and cata strophic would likelybe crankshaft-related. Nonnally the ha nd ges tures are saved for the privateers, but this time it was a factory rider gett ing the business from another factory rider. During Saturday's qualifying, Mat Mladin felt he was balked by Miguel Duhamel, and he showed his displeasure with hand gestures on the front straight. "Just typical factory riders during qualifying they 're worse than the privateers," Mladin said. "TIle ones who are always complaining about the lappers are actuallythe worst themselves. Miguel [Duhamel] was just dawdlingaround, and he looks over his shoulder in the last comer and then, 'Oh , Jeez, there's someone behind me.' As long as no one does it to Miguel, he's happy." In his defense, Duhamel said: "I just heard somebody coming up on the back of me , and I was on the spare bike, and we we re tryinganother radical setup that wasn't quite work ing. It was right before the start/finish line, and I heard a bike behind me, and I thought that maybe it was somebody with a qualifying tire or finishing a lap, so Igot out of the way and hopefullydidn't hold them up too much. I didn't know it was Mat, but he took offense to it and started applaudingor whatever or went on one of his little things. I just took off after that and did my job. I was just trying to be courteous to whoever was behind me." With three poles in the last five races , Jak e Zemke is on a bit of a tear - though he's not exactly sure why. "It was kind of funny coming into this season, because it had been a while since I'd been on qualifiers:' Zemke said. "It was never my strong suit. If you get two laps out of a qua lifier I'd usual, Iy be okay, but just getting that one lap in... It's not something that I've really concentrated on, but it's definitely coming around, and I'm definitely getting better at qualifying. I just have to carry that into the race ." Mid-Ohio is often criticized for its racing surface, and this year was no different . "It' s not better," Ben Bostrom explained. "I understand what they are trying to do . When you ride on the track and you are going slowly,you're initial thought is, 'This is so much better,' because it's very smooth and they 've done a good job of making it smooth. But when they've shaved down and the shaver didn't touch the old spots , wh ich were obviously the low spots , that spot is very polished. Yougo from sticky to polished, sticky to polished. You see these guys falling and going off the track - it's because they are losing the tires . Yougo on grip, no grip, on grip, no grip. Eventually, I Continued on page 23 CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 4,2004 21

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