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/128348
Josh Hayes takes home the big cash te r 200 miles and BO laps of batt ling the wind aro und Willo w Springs Internati onal Raceway in the high desert f Southern Califo rn ia, Josh Hayes looked as if he could go anot her BO. After winning t he Toyota 200 and the $50,000 winner's purse fo r the second consecutive year, it's easy to unde rstand why the Att ack Kawasaki ZX- IOR rider didn't look the least bit tired . No t a bad payd ay for the 200 3 AMA Supe rstoc k Champion. "In the Southe ast when the wind is blowing this hard t hey give it a name, because it's usually a hurricane," Hayes said on the podium. Attack Kawasaki was the "big-name" team in attendance th is year w ith riders Hayes and Australian Be n Attard , but they weren't the only Natio nal-caliber riders on the entry list . Michael Barnes and Vince nt Haskovec were also on hand to give the local Willow Springs riders a run for the big payday. T he day got o ff to pe culiar sta rt because of rain and a wet race track - not A 4? "'()\II=M P. I=~ ':l ?MA .. r v r , J: In a com mon occurre nce at Willow Springs. The kicker was that Dunlop - the brand that pre-race favorite Attack Kawasaki is co ntracted to - was n't prepared for wet cond itions, having to make hasty arrangements to get rain tires to the track in time for the race . After pract ice however, things sta rted looking bett e r as the wind and sun start ed drying the tra ck out. By the time the grid for med for the Toyota 200, co nditions were dry, but the same wind that dried the track wo uld also prove to be bothersome du ring the race . At the start, it was Barn es get ting a flye r off the second row of the grid aboard his Ca rry Andrews-tu ned Suzuki GSX-RIOOO. "I rea lly e njoy start ing on the big bikes," Barn es said late r. " I've rea lly bee n struggling on my 600 s all year. I had a goo d openi ng fro m the second row, and I kind of figured I'd get the holeshot. I knew everyone was going to take it easy, but I wanted to get as muc h of an advan tage as I co uld." Polesitter Hayes didn't get the best of starts, but he was still near the front NJ:WC; nth the high desert STORY AND PHOTOS BY BLAKE CONNER where he nee de d to be, ending the first lap in third place. Haskovec got around Barnes and led across the stripe at the end of the second lap. It quickly beca me apparent wh o the guys to bea t were going to be, as Hayes and Haskovec sta rting droppi ng th e field once Hayes got into the lead on lap three. Hayes led laps six through 16, but Haskovec was n't making it easy on him, taking the lead for the next thr e e laps. It was clea r that the Attack Kawasaki team was going to have an advantage in the pits with its slick quick-change setup s and the fact that the team practi ced we ll into the dark t he night before the race. The biggest advantage, howeve r, was the fact tha t Hayes stayed out on tra ck for six laps longe r than Haskovec did before his first pit sto p, proving that his Kawasaki was getting better fuel mileage and/or range between pit stops. Haskovec pitted o n lap 2B for tires and fuel, allowing Hayes to build up a 40second lead. Then it was Hayes' turn on lap 34, and his Attack Kawasaki crew had him back on track in we ll unde r 15 sec- on ds - allowing him to exit the pits with his lead still intact. "It we nt pre tty smooth out the re," Hayes said . " I was pret ty comfortable with the pace that Vincent [Haskovec] and I were ru nning early. After the first pit stop , I came out and he was still right there with me , so we just co ntinued whe re we le ft off. So mew here in the re I got a break in traffic where I got a sec ond or so on him. I thought , 'T his is my chance, let's see what Vincent can do ,' and I picked up the pace a little bit and dropped about a second a lap and just tried to put in some de cent laps." Haskovec was only four seconds back and it looked like his batt le with Hayes was about to resume - the Suzuki rider 's tires up to te mpe rature w hile Hayes was tiptoeing around for a lap to get up to speed. Barnes was ho lding down a solid third place after t he first round of pit stops (his came on lap 30), though he was 36 seco nds adrift of the battle for the lead. Willow Springs regular Jaso n Pere z had his Yamaha RI singing along in fourt h, a pos ition he had a lock on for the first 20