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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128389
Continued from poge 37
was as cJose as you GIll get without crashing. He came up to me and
talked to me about it. It really wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, yeah, his
wheel was on me, it could have been a lot worse if he had panicked or
done something stupid at that point, like try to grab the brake or something. I mean, growing up racing dirt track, you're used to guys running
into you. That's part of the game. I was holding those guys up anyway
at that point. I knew it. Isaw his front wheel as Iturned in, and Icould
see that his front wheel was there. I stlIrted to tum in and Ileft him a little room. Iactually didn't even get inside the patch there going into one.
Iwas aetually on the patch, but his wheel, he said when he flicked it in
there, he lost the rear, too; then he said, 'Then I couldn't slow down.'
And he just plowed into me. It was no big deal."
Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden was bravely going about his business of
trying to protect his points lead in the Supersport $eries, despite having
suffered a broken right hand at Laguna Seca just two weeks ago. Hayden, who had a plate and eight screws put in the hand on the Monday
after Laguna, was just hoping to get a top-I 0 finish. He opted early on
to park the Superstock bike and concentrate on defending his Supersport title. "It doesn't work," Hayden said of his hand. "My brain says
it's time to brake, but my hand doesn't do it. It doesn't get worse as I
ride, and the straightaWays aren't too bad. The rights are wor,;." too,
I'm finding out." Hayden found out that by taking part in the Supersport race at Laguna after crashing out of the lead earlier in the day
in Superstock, the break in his hand actually got worse. "When I
went to get X-rays at Ting's [Dr. Arthur Ting] on Monday, I heard
him [when he was looking at the X-rays] go, 'Ooooh.' I guess it displaced during the race and the bones slid on top of each other. He
plated it and put in eight screws. I just don't have the feel... that last
little bit. It just feels vague. I came here to get top 10, and anything
better than that would be great."
problems before taking the lead from Lion Racing's John
Haner with a pass exiting tum one. Once out front, he heard
someone close in. It was DiSalvo.
"Looked like we had a pretty good gap on folks," he said.
Yates controlled the pace, with DiSalvo keeping up. "I
thought he was going to try to make a move on me," Yates said.
It never happened.
Instead, DiSalvo felt his gearbox tightening up. There were
too many false neutrals and one big one entering tum one.
"I actually didn't get the gear until about the middle of the
comer, and it was kind of a little moment for me," DiSalvo
said. 'i\fter that, I decided just to kind of sit back and take the
second place, because if I tried to run the pace that Aaron
was holding at, for one, I wouldn't have been able to get by
him, because I couldn't really get into the comer deep
enough to make the downshifts. It would have kind of been
pretty hairball."
That allowed Yates to escape to a record-setting victory.
He averaged 97.41 mph in winning the 16-lap, 38.4-mile race
in 23 minutes, 39.160 seconds. The former record was
93.851 mph, set by Jimmy Moore in 200 I.
"The pace was pretty high, I felt, and pretty consistent, so
it definitely would have been a good race right to the end,"
DiSalvo lamented. "I don't know if I could've got by Aaron or
not, but I sure would've like to have tried on the last lap."
Michael Jordan Motorsports' Steve Rapp slotted into third
on the eighth lap. The leaders had gotten away, and Rapp
was working his way through the field, including early leader
John Haner.
"When you're behind him, he's scary, because it looks like
he's on the verge of crashing every comer," Rapp said.
He and Lion Racing's Jake Holden passed Haner on the
same lap. Two laps later, Rapp took third from Holden, who,
like his teammate, was troubled by rear grip problems.
"The bike was probably the best it's been all year, and the
tires were really good, too, so it's a good combination," Rapp
said after his second podium of the year. "Usually, halfway
through the race or towards the end of the race is when problems usually occur. It stayed consistent the whole race, so it was
nice,"
Holden dropped back from Rapp, but he was never imperiled by the battle for fifth.
Kawasaki's Roger Lee Hayden was on the third row at the
start. Soon part of the pack fighting over fifth, Roger Lee made
his way to the front of the quintet on the final lap.
"I charged hard the whole way, got a position the last lap,
and we'll move on," Roger Lee said.
Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki's Jason Pridmore and
Team M4 EMGO Suzuki's Michael 8arnes finished on the same
second, with Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Damon
8uckmaster a second in front of Haner. Bames' teammate,
Geoff May, was 10th.
MID-OHIO SPoRTS CAR COURSE
UxlNGTON, OHIO
lbsulJS: JUlY 24, 2005 (ROUND 8)
REPSOlLUBRlCANTS SUPERSTOCKo I. Aaron Y,,,,, (Suz): 2. J""" D&Jw
(Yom): 1. St""" Raw (Suz): 4. Ja",b Holden (Suz): S. Roger Lee H~ (Kaw): 6. Joson
I'ridmoo-e (Suz): 7. MKhoeI Barnes (Suz); 8. o.mon Buckma>ter (Yom); 9. John H...".
(Suz); 10. Geoff Moy (Suz); II. Aaron Gobert (Yom): 12. Tony Me;ring (Suz); 11. Eric
Wood (Suz); 14.j""" Pe