Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128346
drove it in d eeper tha n he d id. And it w as just ki nd of tough getting th e t h ing sto p ped, a nd I tried like hell , b ut I did n't want to pull on it too hard , beca use I w as out t here in t h e garbage, so he s ho t back d o wn th e o ut side of me, a nd t hat was it . But it was a good race. I had fu n." DiSalvo 's margin of victory a t t he line was just .26 2 o f a second . "This weekend, how special it w as. It 's righ t u p t here wi th D aytona if not better than Dayto na ," D iSalvo sa id . "So I th ink , fo r sure, t hat weekend a nd this weekend are t he two high lights o f the season. It was such a fu n race. We kind o f b roke away fro m t he rest o f the field , and it's like t hat when you're run ning up fron t with so meone. W e were jus t kind of running a comfo rt ab le pace. I knew it was going to come down a nd be one of those crazy last laps. And I ro de ha rd on t he las t lap . D iSalvo sai d t hat he saw t he lap ped r id e r as he a nd Hacking reached t he t o p o f the h ill. " I kind o f was like , 'O o h, t h is is go ing to make t hings in te re st ing,' a nd it defi nite ly d id," D iSalvo sa id . " I can't wait to see t h is ra ce on TV Well, actually, I could p roba b ly fast fo rwa rd through t he w ho le ra ce and jus t w atc h the last lap . But I'm sure it lo o ked pretty cool up t here, t h re e wi de going into t hat hairp in u p at t he top. ''I' m just so ha ppy," he co ntinued. 'I\nd for sure, I think I had Jam ie a litt le bit on the straightaways. Whether it was t he bike or my all-Triscu it diet t hat I had , I don't know. Either way, it seemed like I just had that little b it more. Maybe that little bit more t hat I've been lo o king fo r all season." H ac king said that he sim ply can't lose a nymore weight. " If I lo se a ny m o re, I'll blo w away," Hac king said . "They' ll jus t hav e to bu ild me a littl e more power." Gobert had t hre aded his way into th e Hayd e n/Rapp battle to land third by lap nine, engaging Rapp in a d raft ing war past the start/finish line for a couple laps befo re pulling clea r to ce ment the all-b lue pod ium . " I t hought I would've be e n o ka y w ith t he pace ," Gobe rt sa id . " T ho se g uys definite ly w ere going fast, a nd I had n't be e n t hat fas t all weekend . I found m y limits, a nd that was p retty much it. I was happy. It's my first seaso n in t hree years t o be co m p lete d . I was p re tty hap py just to be going home today in a regula r car, not a meat wagon. W he n I saw those guys check o ut, I just staye d t here for a w hile, a nd it was pretty cool. Whe n D a mon [Buckmaster] c rash e d , I re alize d the top t hree for Yamaha was gone, so... It's not like I deci ded , but those other gu ys [Rapp and th e H aydens] just had worn out t he ir fron t t ires, and they weren't braking as lat e as they were at the beginning , a nd I was a ble to jus t go pas t t he m all straight away. So t ha t was it , basically. Just finish e d it o ff and brought it ho m e for t he topthree for Yamaha." Roger Le e too k t he fourt h sp o t away from Rapp two lap s fro m t he finish to land fo urth, wi th Rapp be ing t he meat in t he Kawasaki sandwich . D es pite a sixth- place finish , t he t itle b elo nged to To m m y. It should make fo r a he ll o f a bargaining ch ip, as Tommy's contract wi t h Kawasa ki e xpires at the end o f the year, leaving him MY OWN RACE 95 Roger Lee Hayden 4th The race didn 't pan out the way that Roger Lee Hayden had hoped it would, and he blames no one but himself for the championship outcome. "I wasn't on pace with the top two guys anyway," Roger Lee said. "Those guys got such a big gap . and I got stuck behind Steve Rapp. Then I got by him and he hit me and got back by me. By then, half the race was over. I tried to catch those guys, and it just wasn't happening. Aaron [Gobert] got by me, and I just spent the rest of the race trying to chase him down. It was a good day. I was just fourth best today. Those other three guys just rode better than me today, and I have no excuses for that. But I had a good year, and I proved a lot of things to myself. I proved to myself that I can run with these guys and win races w ee k in and week out. If I improve as much next year as I did this year, I think we'll be all right. I'm definitely motivated. It's hard to be here right now, around all these championship hats and shirts that don 't have my name on them. I want to be the best, and that's what I'm going to keep shooting for." 5 Steve Ra pp 5t h The Valvoline Emgo-backed Rapp put together a solid run at VIR, battling with both Haydens and Aaron Gobert at points during the race before splitting the Kawasaki riders, who were sorting out the class championship. "It was a good way to end the year," Rapp said. ';1\11 of our work pretty much came together right at the end of the year. We had a good bike that we could have won with in Atlanta, but we had an electrical problem, and there were a few other races where we were developing the Michelintires. It finally came to this point, where the bike was running good, the suspension was dialed . in and we had a really good tire from Michelin It all just came together." Rapp said that being caught in the midst of a title battle that he was not a 22 oaOBER 20, 2004 • CYCLE N EWS at a crossroads of sorts, torn between his loy alty to Team Green a nd his desire to r e turn to Superbike, something that Kaw asaki presently has no p lans to do. " N e xt year is sti ll up in the air," Tommy Hayden said. " I am really happy w ith my team. This is m y th ird year he re [at Kawasak i], a nd we hav e w o n a lot of rac es a nd th e champion ship no w . It's a really go o d home fo r me. I want to go race Su perbi ke , an d th e y kn ow t hat, a nd t hey' re t rying to make it happen for me. Now that w e 've go t t his year o ver w ith, we'll start making some decisions . Ho pefully everyth ing w orks o ut fo r th e best ." eN V IRGINIA INTERN ATIO NAL RACEWAY ALTON, V IRGIN IA RESULTS: DECEMBER 10 , 2004 (ROUND 11) SUPERS PORT: I. Jason Disalvo (Yam): 2. Jamie Hacking (Yam); 3. Aaron Gobe rt (Yam) 4. Roger l ee ; Hayden (Kaw) ; S. Steve Rapp (Suz); 6. Tomm y Hayden (Kaw); 7. Ben Spies (Suz): 8. Ben Attar d (Suz); 9. Michae l Barnes (Yam); 1 l ee Acree (Suz); I I. Blake Young (Suz); 0. 12. Ch ris Pe ns (Suz); 13. Tony Me iring (Kaw) ; 14 . Giovann i Rojas (Y am); IS. Darre n l uck (Suz); 16. Nicky Moo re (Hon) : 17. Jason Moss (Yam ); 18. Barrett Long (Yam); 19. Josep h Ford (Yam); 20 . Nathan Hester (Yam); 2 1. Montez Stewa rt (Y am): 22. Ned Brown (Yam); 23. Chad Klock (Han) ; 24 . Jake [ohnson (Han) ; 2S. laylo< Knapp (Y am); 26. William Meyers (Y am): 27. Danny Eslick (Suz); 28. Adrian Jo nes (Suz); 29 . Jere my Haiduk (Yam); 30. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); 3 I. C hris Ulrich (Suz); 32 . Darin ). Edwa rds (Suz); 33. Lindsay McGregor (Yam Time: 25 min., 11.299 sec. Distance : 17 laps, 37.26 miles Ave ra ge speed: 91.5 mph Margin of victory: .142 sec. AMA PRO HONDA OiLS SUP ERSPOR l SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Afte,. II of I I rou nds) : I. Tommy Hayden (3S2J4 wins); 2. Roger l ee Hayden (343/4 wins); 3. Aaron Goben (284): 4. Ben Spies (279/1 win): 5. Jason Disalvo (274/2 wins); 6. Steve Rapp (255); 7. Michael Sames (248); 8. Jamie Hacking (233); 9. Ben Attard ( 190): 10. Chris Pens ( 170); II. Tony Meiring (168); 12. Danny Eslick ( 160); 13. lee Ac. ee ( 154): 14. Darren luck ( 153); r 15. Aaron Y ates (14 1); 16. Jason Perez ( 12l) ; 17. Giovanni Rojas ( 120); lB. Bl ke Young ( 117); 19. Nicky MOO<'<