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/128387
ter failing to pull off a lastlap, last-corner pass to win the Repsol Superstock race held earlier in the day, Team amaha's Jason DiSalvo got a second chance at making the same move in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, and this time he made it stick. During round seven of the series, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, DiSalvo came from behind and completed a pass on Team Kawasaki's Roger Lee Hayden in A turn I I to earn his first AMA Supersport win of 200S. Roger Lee finished second, and Team Yamaha's Aaron Gobert finished third. Although Roger Lee led the most laps in the race, which was the last event on the schedule for the huge Red Bull U.S. GP weekend, DiSalvo led the last one, giving the retro "bumblebee"-c1ad Yamaha squad its only win of the weekend. DiSalvo completed the 17-lap race in 2S minutes, 30.440 seconds, averaging 89.5 mph on the 2.238-mile Mazda Raceway circuit. Not that he didn't earn the win. DiSalvo came from all the way back in 10th place on lap one. "I was a long ways back," DiSalvo said. "I couldn't believe how far back I was. I kind of got swallowed up, and the pack went around me. I just put my head down and got through those guys." Roger Lee got the holeshot from the third spot on the grid, followed by two Bens: Attack Kawasaki's Attard and Yoshimura Suzuki's Spies. Attard ran second, ahead of Spies, with pole sitter Tommy Hayden running in fourth and a little the worse for wear after crashing hard in turn four during the Superstock race earlier in the day and breaking his hand. Hayden was scheduled to get his hand plated at Dr. Ting's on Monday, the following day. Attard tried a big move on Roger Lee in T I0 at the end of lap one and led the field across the stripe, only to be outpowered by Roger Lee over the hill and into tum two. Spies also got by Attard on lap two, but Attard quickly moved back around him up the front straightaway. Attard then took another shot at Roger Lee, retaking the lead at the top of Corkscrew on lap three to lead the field 36 JJLY 20, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS again. Attard was looking like a contender when he lost the front end at high speed in Rainey Corner and crashed out on lap four. "The bike was going well," Attard said. "We had a good setup, and I felt comfy. I could make time up on Rog, and I got by him, so I was going to give it a good crack and try and break him. I just hit a bump up there, and before I knew it I was in the gravel. I got away pretty injury-free and lucky, but I feel for my guys, because they work so hard. It was the best I've run all year. I definitely need to learn some patience." DiSalvo was up to seventh by then, haVing followed Gobert past Team Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster and Topline Printing Yamaha's Chris Peris. Up front, Roger Lee continued to set sail, running 1.704 seconds ahead of Spies. DiSalvo got past Gobert by lap nine, and the two caught Tommy, who was doing all he could just to maintain a decent pace. First DiSalvo and then Gobert got by Tommy on the run up to the Cork- screw on lap I I. Roger Lee's gap was 2.476 seconds to Spies by then. DiSalvo then got by Spies for second going into turn six, and he qUickly cut into Roger Lee's gap by lap 13, just as the two hit lapped traffic at the top of the Corkscrew. DiSalvo got right on Roger Lee's tail off turn I I on lap 13 and dogged him throughout all of lap 14. A lapped rider ruined any chance of DiSalvo's making the pass in turn I I. The battle carried into lap IS, with DiSalvo and Roger Lee never much more than a bikelength apart from lap 13 onward. DiSalvo took a big look up the inside in turn I I with three to go, but he still couldn't put a move together, as Roger Lee appeared to be a little quicker in and out of Corkscrew, thwarting DiSalvo's attempt. But that wasn't enough on the final lap. DiSalvo backed it in underneath Roger Lee in turn I I, the two swapped paint, and then Roger Lee got on the gas too hard and spun up on the exit, allowing DiSalvo to escape to victory by .243 of a second. "The race started out pretty good," Roger Lee said. "When Attard came around me, I kind of wanted to set behind him, because I didn't really feel that comfortable out there and I thought that maybe he'd drag us along. Then he ended up crashing. I knew Jason was behind me the last four laps. I tried to block the inside, and we made a little bit of contact, but that's racing. On the last lap, you gotta do what you gotta do. I didn't give it up until Ispun up big. Once Ispun up, that was that." DiSalvo said that after the first few laps, he didn't think he would get close enough to contend for the win. "I remember like the third or fourth lap, I saw Rog, and he was pulling a gap," DiSalvo said. "It was after Attard crashed. I thought, There's no way.' Then, six laps into the race, something just clicked inside my head. I have big blisters on my hands, and they stopped hurting, and I started hitting my marks and getting drives. The next thing I know, it was like the last lap and I was right behind Rog. I don't even remember half the passes I made, but the last one on Rog was definitely close. He had a lot of speed, and he didn't make it easy." Gobert got away from Spies to finish a comfortable third, rewarding himself and Team Yamaha with another podium finish on the weekend - and Gobert's first podium of the year. "It's rewarding and disappointing," Gobert said. "Qualifying fifth was a really good position. The first three or four laps, I think we were going backwards. It was just our tire choice. We weren't ready to go at race pace at the drop of a hat. I went as hard as I could and just passed a few people. It was a bit hard at the beginning,