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AMA Lockhart-Philips USA Formula Xtreme Series In a thrilling final, Miguel Duhamel does the deed • again merican Honda's Miguel Duhamel won the LockhartPhillips Fonmula Xtreme final at Road Atlanta in the most dramatic fashion, capping an improbable late-season comeback that earned the veteran his second consecutive Formula Xtreme Championship and eighth AMA Pro title overall. "It was mind-boggling," Duhamel said of his final two races. To win the title, Duhamel had to not only win the final two races (at Virginia Intennational Raceway and Road Atlanta), but he also had to eann the points for pole position and laps led. That meant leading rival teammate Jake Zemke for eight of the IS laps in Atlanta. Ending the ninth lap, it didn't look good. Duhamel trailed six laps to three, with Zemke taking the title if he led the most laps and finished second. Then Duhamel went to work. He led the next four laps, taking the laps-led lead before Zemke evened it up on lap 14th. It all carne down to the final lap of the season. But it didn't go to the flag. The season ended for Zemke early in the lap when he ran wide and off the track in tum one, tumbling to an early demise. Zemke said when he "let the clutch out, it just didn't seem like the thing slowed down, like I didn't have engine braking or something. Not really sure, but all in all, it was a good year. You know, the guys have done a wonderful job on that bike." The final points taly was 314 to 295 in Duhamel's favor. The FX win was Duhamel's fourth of the season and 12th of his career. It was also the 86th AMA Pro win of his career. For the final two races, Duhamel did everything he had to. A 32 SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 • "I mean, from the beginning, the first half of the season, Jake [Zemke] was on fire," Duhamel said. "His team did a great job. We were just catching wind. And then, of course, he put that in his bag and he just kept getting stronger and faster." Duhamel admitted he had the faster CBR600RR at Mid-Ohio, yet Zemke won. "He stole one from us right there," Duhamel said. "Then, we didn't have a choice - back against a wall. Virginia was great, and then here, put in a pretty fast qualifying time and tried not to show him everything we had." That carne in the race. The pair raced hard and mostly clean, though there were a few close calls for both. Duhamel did most of his passing in the area from tum one up the hill to tum three. Zemke was better geared to make his pass at the end of the back straight into the tight, left-hand tum 10. Early on, Zemke was nearly full lock on entry when his clutch disengaged late. Duhamel ran off the track in the same place trying to make a pass. With the difference in gearing, Duhamel's only hope was to keep Zemke far enough back that he couldn't draft into tum 10. "Like the pitcher at a baseball game or chess, whatever, you want to always change your strategy a little bit," he said. "On the championship race, with the points led, you're being pushed in position. If we didn't have the points-led thing, then the championship would be on whoever won the race, then it would have been a different race for sure. But I didn't have a choice. I had to fight like every lap counted, and it did. That was the only thing I was trying to do. I was trying to figure out what he might be thinking I might do and do the opposite. So move around a little bit and make it hard for him to draft." CYCLE NEWS "You know, I guess he was doing what he had to do, and in the end it was my own mistake that cost me the win, not him weaving around," Zemke said. Zemke might have had his break when Duhamel ran long in tum lOon the eighth lap, losing 1.5 seconds. "It was really difficult," Duhamel said. "There was not a lap that I could maybe relax. We got really close down in the chicane one time, and I locked up the rear. I was like, 'Don't let the championship go like this.' It's such a build-up; it's such a tough year. We raced back, we came back into the championship, and to have it mess up like that with a stupid almost stop-and-go in the chicane, I said, 'I'm not going to let it go that way.''' He closed right back up in short order. On the run to turn lOon the 14th lap Duhamel weaved back and forth, but he left the door open on the inside. Zemke took the invitation, with Duhamel swooping around on the outside on the run over the crest and down the hill, so far to the left that he spun up on the paint stripe and nearly crashed. The bike got sideways, but it corrected itself, and Duhamel made the save. "I had to lead that lap," Duhamel said. "I had to lead every lap. And that's what you saw. Every lap was a totaly new script, and it was wonderful to the end there." Duhamel's team was posting the lap score on his pit board. The situation looked dire at one point. "You saw it sliding down the hill here and sideways in the chicane, tankslappers, and front end flying off and pumping brakes and almost run into each other and stuff," Duhamel said. "It was incredible. It was a beautiful race, and it would've been better for sure if Jake would've just ran wide and came back and got second - then at least he's got the podium. And it was a valiant effort. Unfortunately, he went a little too hard there." Zemke was composed in the Honda transporter after the race. He thanked his crew and hoped he gave the fans the show they carne for. "I'm proud for those guys," he said. "I'm proud that we were able to get fIVe wins on the season - a little disappointed we didn't win the championship. That's the way it goes sometimes. You know what, there's so much stuff going on in the world right now, it's not that big of a deal. There's a lot more important things in the world than motorcycles." Duhamel agreed. "Before I forget, I want to dedicate this Xtreme championship to Vincent Haskovec, of course," Duhamel said of the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki rider who was paralyzed in a racing accident at Infineon Raceway earlier this year and made his retum to the racetrack at Road Atlanta. "I mean we're all out here to have fun racing and put on a show like that. Unfortunately, with all the improvements we try to make, Vincent got injured to the point where he will not be able to race. But he'll be a part always of our history and always be part of the paddock, as you see this weekend. And he definitely can bring a lot to a lot of tearns, a lot of people." After passing Michael Barnes three laps from the end, Attack Kawasaki's Ben Attard inherited second when Zemke crashed. It was his best-ever AMA finish. "I just did my laps and pushed, especially from about lap 10 to the end," Attard said. "I really pushed hard and was catching Barney [Barnes]. And [l] sat behind him for a lap and knew that he couldn't push the front that hard. I dived pretty hard on the brakes in 10, and I didn't see him again, so it was a great ride." Barnes took Haskovec's place after his injury, always careful to point out that he was filling in until Haskovec could retum. Today, he finished third after a setup issue caused front-tire problems late in the race. "I don't know if it was a little added track temperature that maybe affected myself a littie bit, but Istarted having a little problem with my front tire," he said. "So Ijust had to back it down a little bit, and that was just enough for Ben [Attard) to inch up doser to me." 01 ROAD A11ANTA BRASELJON, GEoRGIA SEPrwBER 3, REsuus: 2005 (ROUND 9 OF 9) LOCKHART·PHIWPS USA FORMULA XTREME: I. M;gueI Duhamel (Hon); 2. Ben Attard (Kaw);]. MKh:oel Barnes (Suz); 4. Danny E>lKk (Suz); 5. f'OOert J"""'" (Y:om); 6. Chris Pens (Y:om); 7. Op;e Caylo<- (Suz); B. Ryan And""" (Due); 9. Alex Gobert (Han); 10. MKh:oel Hale (Hon); II. Annando Ferrer (Yam); 12. Nathan Hester (Y:om); 13. T')'!o<' Knapp (Y:om); 14. Ryan Elleby (Suz); 15. Sl-ea Foochek (Suz); 16. Dominic Jones (Suz); 17. Jake Zemke (Hon); lB. Myron Bell (Suz); 19. Ch;ri"", (Y:om); 20. RodoIfo -(Suz); 21. Nicky MoOO'e (Yam). Time: 21 min., -40.0 I0 sec. Dmance: 15 laps. 37.00 m;!es Average 'f""'d: I05.507 mph Margin olvkto

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