Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Loc khart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series th Jake Zemke out of t he pictu re d ue to his earlier Super b ike crash , there was little hope that an yone could stop American Honda's Miguel Duhamel from landing another Fo rmula Xtreme victory as the curtains fell on the 2004 AMA National Road Race season . HMC Ducati's Doug Chandle r tried. His lead lasted right up to the first turn. After that, it was all Du hamel, the seemingly ageless French Canadian pu lling well clear of the field in the I7-lap event to secure his th ird AMA National win in one day - a new AMA reco rd. Valvoline EMGO Suzuk i's Vincent Haskovec finished second, w ith Chandler third . Duhamel led every lap of the race e n ro ute to a 4.21B-se co nd marg in of victory that doesn't really do justice to his dominance of the race . Then again, t he gap sort of reflects how Duhamel rode more con servatively than he might have wanted to. ''A little known fact is that w e were having som e issues with ou r engines," Duh ame l said. " N ot hing ma jor, but enough to w he re I could n't run th e eng ine that I wante d. So, it is kind of iro nic w hat I did out there. That's the same e ngine that I ro de at Road Atlanta. We had to go back to ou r spare -spa re engine, and th at litt le e ngine go es , but I was asked to be on the kind side of the rpms because we were n't too sur e w hat w as going on. But th e bike wa s great. Th at first lap, I just tried to pace and warm up the t ires good and bring everything up to temperature good . I was just try ing to work my way W out ther e and listen to the bike." Seco nd on the grid, Duhame l effectively had the pole for the race, as Zemke's DNS meant that there was no one to Duhamel's immediate left when the field got the green light. Chandler and his Ducat i 749R led t he field toward turn one, but Duhamel took ove r from the re although, for the aforement ioned reaso n, he didn't stretch t he throttle cables too far, preferring to ru n just ahead of Chandler and Hasko vec up until halfway. "I ke pt loo king at the board and seeing one second, one second ," Duhamel said. 'Then I put my head down and did some 27s. Then I think they got caught in some lappe rs. O nce I got plus-th ree or plusfour, I went back o n t he old ma nagement of just trying to carry my co rner speed . I changed my riding style. I usually try to squ irt, slide and come o ut, but t hen I just tried to roll it in the re . You have to have a lot of weapons in the arsenal ." Chand ler did his best to ru n with Duhame l in the ea rly part of the race, running about two bikelengths behi nd him w hile Haskovec ran another two length s off Chandler's tail section . With Duhamel pulling clea r by the halfw ay mar k, Haskovec overtook Chandle r o n the brakes in t urn one for se co nd place. By then, Duhamel had his four-second gap , and t he best that Haskovec cou ld hope for wa s a mistake or a mechanical fail ure that neve r came. Still , Hasko vec 's ru nne r-up finish was his be st of the year. "It w as pretty much an uphill battle since t he beginning of the year for us because the Suzuki is no t the fastest bike ," Haskovec said. "Our guys tried hard, but we have limited resources. It was an uphill battle , but we're pretty good climbe rs. Some places it wo rked out, like this . Like I said on the po dium , Miguel is just incredible . I don't know what he is eating, but w inning two Superbike races and then this - I mean I'm worked out after th is, an d he is doing two Superbike races, and then he jum ps in a third race. I have respect for him as an at hlete - of course, I did for him as a racer already. He is just amazi ng." Ch andle r finished a litt le less than two seconds behi nd Haskovec, but he was still nearly half a track ahead of fo urt h-place d Mike Ciccotto. "I thought we had o ur setup pretty we ll, but o nce we got se ttled in, I just co uldn't carry the speed , and the y got away fro m me," C handler said. "It was kind of frust rating because t he bike felt good . Th e bike was closer to the Hon das tha n w hat t he y have do ne all year. O ne of my strong po ints was the acce leration off turn three. In the past, the in-lines have always see me d to be quicke r there than w hat my th ing has been . It just didn't stay consiste nt enough." There were a few key DNFs along the w ay in this one too. Kosco HarleyDavidson Buell rider Michael Barnes was ru nning fo urth , ahead of American Suzuk i/Star Motorcycle Schools' Jason Pridmore w hen his XB 12R Firebalt began to trail smo ke at the completion of lap fo ur, forcing Barn e s to retire and mov ing Pridmo re up to fourth . Erion Hon da's Alex Gobert and Young America Suzuki's Blake www.cyc lenews.com Young tangled and crashed in tum one on lap six while battling for sixth place, behind Hal's Harley-Davidso n Buell rider Mike Ciccotto. Ne ither rider was injure d. The cras h allowed Pirelli/Empire Racing Suzuki's Opie Caylor to close in on Ciccotto in a battle that went from being a fifth-place battle to a fourth-place battle , as Pridmore also retired with mechanical problems after crossing the stripe on lap 10. A lapped rider stalled Caylor's drive on Ciccott o as they hit turn o ne on the last lap. Ciccotto was able to hang on to fou rth, vvith Caylor fifth in the only real scrap fo r positio n to be eN found anywhere on the track. V IRGINIA IN TERN ATIO NA L RACEWAY ALTON, VI RG IN IA RES ULTS: OCTO BER 10, 2004 (ROU N D 1 1) FORM ULA XTREME: I . Miguel Duhamel (Hen); 2. Vincen t Haskovec (Suz); 3. Do ug C hand le r (Due); 4. Mike Ciccotto (Sue); 5. O pie Caylor (Suz); 6. Nicky Moore (Hon); 7. Heath Small (Yam); 8. Darin Edwar ds (Suz): 9. D erek Keyes (Suz); 10. Carlo Gagliardo (Yam); I I . Donny Kelley (Yam); 12. Taylo r Knapp (Yam ); 13. Randy Rega (Yam): 14 . T im Knutson (Y am) ; IS. Jeremiah Jo hnson (SUI) ; 16. Lance Yeager (Yam); 17. Dafan Z hang (Yam); 18. N at han Heste r (Yam); 19. Adam Vella (Suz): 20. N ick Cummings am (Hon ); 2 1. Jason Pridmore (Su:t); 22 . Jeremy Haiduk (Y ): 23. Alex Gobert (Han ); 24. Blake Young (Suzl: 25 . Michael Barnes (Bue): 26 . Joseph Arico (Yam) . Time: 25 min., 12.208 sec. Distance : 17 laps. 17.26 mites Aver'3ge speed : 91.5 mph Margin of 'fictoty: "'.2 18 sec. AMA LOCKHART· PH I LLI PS U SA FORMULA XTREME SER IES POI NTS ST AN D INGS (After I t of II rounds): I. Miguel Duhamel (J9Sf8 wins): 2. Jake Zemke (30812 wins ); J. Vincent Haskovec (263); 4. Alex Goben (2S4); S. Lany Pegram (2 IS); 6. J""'" Prid more ( 199 ); 7. Heath SmaIl (197); 8. Nathan Hes ter ( 178); 9. Doug C hand ler ( 166 ); 10. Perry Melne6u< ( IS2 ); I I. Nkky Moore (128): 12. Danny Eslick ( 123); 13. MKhaei Barnes ( 122): 1<1 . Jake Ho lden (12 1); IS. Mike Ciccono ( I t

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