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/128377
Briefly... Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series Conrinued from page 32 step in and go so see him and slap him down pretty good and let him know that until he's the big show, he needs to break over, and that's just the facts of life. That's just how it works. That blew away any chance for us to win." Duhamel said, even with the backmarker, it would have been tough to catch Zemke. "He [Zemke] rode flawless, and he deserves the win," Duhamel said. Lion Racing/Hypercycle's John Haner thought his troubles were behind him. The transmission problem that dropped him to seventh in the Superstock race was thought to be fixed for Superbike. Not so. Riding the same Suzuki GSX-R 1000, Haner found his problem returning early in the 28-lap race. "They thought they had fixed it for the Superbike race, then on lap three it started doing it again," he said. "Just rode as hard and as long as I could. Just did the best that I could, and that was pretty much it. Sometimes it would shift perfectly, no issues, and sometimes it wouldn't shift at all. I would imagine out of the 28 laps, about I a times down the front straightaway it wouldn't shift. Take that 10 times and add it up, that's where the gap goes." ZEMKE STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAy ABRAMS merican Honda's Jake Zemke took advantage of traffic and a mistake by teammate Miguel Duhamel to win his econd Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series final in a row, today's win coming late on a warm, sunny afternoon at California Speedway. From the start, this was a two-rider race, unlike the previous two rounds when the Hondas couldn't break away. Today they did, quite early, and the race for third was over after a few laps. "To tell you honestly, I couldn't find the rhythm all weekend," Team M4 EMGO Suzuki's Vincent Haskovec said after finishing 37 seconds behind Zemke. "I'm just searching." Duhamel was searching for a way around Zemke. He pressed from the start and made the pass on lap six of 17. Then Zemke came back at him on lap I I, looking to score the extra point for leading the most laps. Zemke's largest gap from laps I I through I 3 was . 160 of a second, with Duhamel only .009 of a second back on lap I 3 - close enough that he was able to make the pass on lap 14. To score the point, Duhamel would have to run the table, which he didn't. His mistake came entering turn one A early on lap 16. Duhamel clipped the removable curbing so hard that he moved it, he said, putting him into a violent tankslapper and letting Zemke past. ''And then I thought I had it under control, and it started up again. And I pumped the brake and took off, and that was almost before the white flag, I think, so a 34 MAY 11, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS (Above) Jake Zemke (98) and Miguel Duhamel (1 7) battled to the very end of the Formula Xtreme race, with Zemke coming out on top. (Below) Zemke also knows how to wheelie. lap and a half to go," Duhamel said. Duhamel thought he could catch Zemke on the final lap, until they hit traffic. "The blue flags were out, and Jake [Zemke] went by one lapper and went by the two other guys, and I just got sandwiched in the inside," Duhamel said. ''And it cost the fans a good show." Zemke said he could see the three lappers ahead and knew getting through them was the key to the race, "and luckily enough, I got through there okay and took it home to the finish." The margin of victory was I .487 seconds. Zemke's average speed of 95.034 was the fastest ever for a 600cc Formula Xtreme race, though the change in the chicane contributed to the increase. Well behind Haskovec came MPTracing.com's Danny Eslick, the fourth-place finisher at Daytona. Farther back, Hotbodies' Nicky Moore edged EMGO's Opie Caylor and Erion Honda's Alex Gobert for fifth. The trio was separated by less than a tenth. CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY FONTANA, CALIFORNIA RESULTS: APRIL 30, 2005 (ROUND 3 OF 10) After experiencing the high of winning the AMA Superstock Championship last season, Aaron Gobert said that the first of few races of 2005 have been the polar opposite experience. "I'm down in the dumps about the whole thing so far," Gobert said. "Starting with zero points in the first round really hurts your motivation to train through the whole week because you think to yourself, 'What am I training for?' Besides race victories ... You know you're not going to have the championship trophy at the end of the year or the number-one plate. I've had some trouble this year, and for some reason I sort of went backwards a little bit at the beginning, but we've gathered it back up now and are starting to make choices that will carry us through to the future. We'll be better off for the next few weekends." LOCKHART-PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME: I. jake Zemke (Hon); 2. Miguel Duhamel (Hon); 3. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 4. Danny Eslick (Suz); S. Nicky Moore (Yam); 6. Opie Caylor (So2); 7. Alex Gobert (Hon); 8. Heath Small (Yam); 9. Ryan Andrews (Duc); 10. justin Filice (Hon); I I. Taylor Knapp (Yam); 12. Armando Ferrer (Yam); 13. Nathan Hester (Yam); 14. Tim Knutson (Yam); IS. Corey Neuer (Suz); 16. jay Tanner (Yam); 17. Victor Chirinos (Yam); 18. Craig McLean (Duc); 19. Matt Furtek (Kaw); 20. Chris Peris (Yam). Time: 24 min.. 41.1 S sec. Distance: 17 laps. 40.12 miles. Average speed: 95.034 mph Margin of victory: 1.487 sec. LOCKHART·PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME SERIES C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 3 of 10 rounds): I. jake Zemke (10412 Wins); 2. Miguel Duhamel (10311 win); 3. Danny Eslick (72); 4. Alex Gobert (63); 5. (TIE) Alex Gober (62)/Nicky Moore (62); 7. Vincent Haskovec (58); 8. Chris Peris (52); 9. (TIE) Opie Caylor (47)/Armando Ferrer (47); II. Tim Knutson (44); 12. Ryan Andrews (43); 13. Nathan Hester (42); 14. (TIE) Kurtis Roberts (32)/justin Filice J. johnson (32); 16. Ben Attard (27); 17. (TIE) Pascal Picotte (25)/jason Perez (25); 19. (TIE) Steve Crevier (24)/Michael Barnes (24). UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 4: Sonoma, California, May 14 Round 5: Fountain, Colorado, May 21