Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Pro Honda Oils Supersport Tommq HaLJden gets the job done behind Yamaha's one-two-three By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY BRIAN J. NELSON n a race that lacked the brother-againstbrothe r firewo rks that some m ight have anti cipated, Team Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden fulfilled his dream of becoming an AMA Nat iona l Road Race Cha mpio n during the final roun d of the AMA Pro Hon da O ils Supersport Series at Virginia International Raceway. He did so by carding a conservative sixth-place finish, two spots be hind his brother and sole title rival - Roger Lee Hayden. But the pyros were still in full effect at VIR, on ly they were big, br ight and blue, as Team Yamaha's Jaso n DiSalvo cappe d the best year of his yo ung career by o utdueling ex iting AMA Supe rspo rt Cha mpion Jamie Hacking in a brawl that wasn't decided until the final lap. Newly crowne d AMA Supe rstoc k Cham pio n Aaron Gobe rt finished third, making for a Yamaha sweep of the podium positio ns. For the 26-ye ar-old Hayden , w ho joined younger brothe r Nicky Hayde n as an AMA Supe rspo rt Champion, the co nservative approach allowed him to land his first career AMA road race title afte r an up-and-down se ason. The winning differ en ce was nine po ints, Tommy Hayden finishing with 3S2 to Roger Lee 's 343. "It was a long year, for sure," Hayden said. "Starting way back to Dayton a seems a long way from right now. But the whole year went rea lly good . I felt like I rode every race hard and was on the podium a lot, and that was my goal. It has been close a lot of times, and this yea r, to finally get ove r that hump , I guess, and go ahead... I've been second a number of times, but to win, it is definitely a special day for me." While Hayden braced himself for the war, DiSalvo was clearly focused on the battle as he cam e off the pole to lead the ))-rider field into the first turn at the start of the 17-lap race. Tommy Hayden ran second, off the outside pole, with Team Yamaha's Damon Buckmast er moving to third , ahea d of Roger Lee, w ho came from the second row. By the end of the first lap, Hacking had passed Roger Lee to assume the fourth spot. Buckmaster then snuck past Tommy Hayde n on the brakes going into turn one , wit h Hacking also shuffling Tommy back to fourth on lap tw o . Buckmaster led it at the stripe. Thr ee laps in, there was a seven-rider str ing at the front of the field, w ith DiSalvo back on the point, ahea d of Buckmaster and Hacking. Valvoline Emgo Suzuki's Steve Rapp made his presence known by I moving to fourth, ahead of Roge r Lee and Tommy, while Gobert bro ught up the rear. Once Roger Lee was ahead of To mmy, the chase was on , thou gh Tommy had no inten tions of egging little bro ther into a bar-banging battle. All that was needed was to kee p him in sight. "Pretty mu ch that wa s my plan," Tommy Hayden said. "I was going to go as fast as he wa nted to, and that was it. I got , actua lly, a pretty goo d sta rt, better than I expected, and I was second there for a couple of laps, and I figu red tha t I would just wait for him to pass me, or just set a pace , and if he didn't, he didn't. From the re , he came by. It was a little bit later on, pro bably not 'til the third or fourth lap, and when he did, I just pretty much sat on his back tire . And at the e nd, [Steve] Rapp got between us, and that was it. I knew that wasn't really a big dea l, but I just tried to stay close, just in case something weird happe ned , we had to restart or anything, I didn't want to be too far back. So I was just riding around, hoping there weren't any red flags, and waiting for it to be over." Meanwhile, DiSalvo and Buckmaster found thems elves in just that kind of battle, tho se two and Hacking all but to uching as they drafted ea ch other dow n the long VIR front straight. But Buckmaste r's run would come to a prematu re e nd when he lost the front end and crashed in the turn-I I area o n the back side of the course on lap nine. Buckmaster wa lked away from the crash. "That was just about as good as I've felt since bloody Sears Point, that' s for sure ," a disappointed Buckmast er said. "I was just push ing too hard. I was having fun, and I thought I cou ld w in it. On the br ight side, I'm getting better every time I ride. Y sit on the couch for so long and ou you start to doubt your capabilities, but I feel like I'm back." With Buckmaster gone, DiSalvo and Hacking continued to run close , DiSalvo showing a clear advantage in the run to the stripe , though Hacking did manage to lead him there on lap IO. In the end, Hack ing's ch ances fo r victory we re spo iled by a backmarker, spo iling his run through the right-handed turn seven . "I waited till the last lap," Hacking said. "I knew what I want ed to do up the re at the top of the hill. Sure en ough , there was a lapped ride r, and I knew that was going to play a big part into it, and Jason had to dive in inside, and he drove it in a little deep, and I went to the inside ofJason and CY CLE N EWS • OCTOBER 20,2004 21

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