Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Above) The Unlimited Superbike win went to Grant Lopez (5) after on-track winner Michael Barnes (34) was disqualified for being over the horsepower limit. (Right) John Hopkins (21) barely held off Damon Buckmaster (hidden) to win the Sportbike final at Daytona. and Barnes had a little speed advantage on me." Five bikelengths separated Lopez from Hopkins from Barnes as they hit the East Banking, with Hopkins and Barnes taking advantage of the draft to get by Lopez. Barnes came up .011 of a second short in a photo finish at the end. Hopkins said he wanted to conserve his tire because he knew it was going to come down to the last lap. "On the East Banking, I came into Grant's draft and went around him," Hopkins said. "I had doubts that I could hold of Barnes. His bike was . very strong. He actually pulled alongside and I just tucked in as tight as I could and edged him at the line." "I knew my bike had the power, so I just sort of paced them (Hopkins and Lopez) until the last lap," Barnes said. "On the banking I drafted by Hopkins, but I think I came around him too soon." The bikes were kept on the grid for what was meant to be a 20-minute break between' races. It ended up being more like 40. But because Barnes' machine never left the grid, and it was found to be illegal after the second race, it was assumed it was also over the power limit for the first race, and he was disqualified from both at the end of the day. That elevated Lee Acree to third. Acree had cleared out from a pack of four contesting what was fourth, holding off Pegram who got to the front of the group on the 11 th of 12 laps. Following Pegram across the line were Chaparral Mazda Suzuki's Damon Buckmaster, on an AMA 750cc Supersport-spec machine, Yamaha Rl mounted Joe Prussiano, and Penguin Racing School's Eric Wood, on a Kawasaki ZX-9. The second race was different. It was red-flagged on the third lap and a complete re-start was ordered. On the re-start, Hopkins burned his clutch and was out before the end of the first lap. Barnes got another good launch and Lopez went with him, with Buckmaster hanging with them along with Prussiano and Hudson Valley Racing's Richard Alexander. Barnes and Lopez started to make a small break on the fifth lap with Lopez soon taking over and looking like he might clear out, but Barnes was having none of it. He was back in front on the ninth lap and the pair went back and fourth as Pegram recovered from a horrible start to move into third on the 11 th lap, fronting a quartet, then breaking clear to catch up to the leaders. It came down to a run to the flag with Lopez, Pegram, and Barnes Barnes using all of his Daytona experience to draft to the narrowest of wins, by .009 of a second. Not long after he was disqualified and Lopez was made the winner with Pegram second and Acree third. "Yeah he was disqualified, but I don't consider him a cheater," Lopez said. "He played a little too close to the line and maybe we didn't play it close enough. Where do you draw the line?" Lopez said he had a premonition that Barnes might snooker him at the end. "I think I passed him just about everywhere you could pass," Lopez said. "I was trying to rattle his chain and maybe spook him a little bit, but he's been around for a while and I was not going to rattle him." Pegram's team had worked hard just to get a machine ready for the race. "We weren't planning on doing this and then we realized this was a great series," he said. It took Pegram so long to get with the front-runners that he said he didn't really have a plan. "We were a little down on power today and on the banking," Pegram said. "That's what this place is all about. Those two (Barnes and Lopez) were playing cat and mouse and I said, 'Well, I'll just try to stick to whoever's in front and see if I could put myself in second.' I knew I couldn't draft anybody into the lead. But Michael came around both of us and we ended up third." Acree took fourth, then third when Barnes was dropped, with Buckmaster again fifth, Alexander sixth, and Hooters Suzuki's Mike Ciccoto seventh. eN Formula USA Sportbike Series Round 1: Daytona Internafl Speedway Daytona Intemational Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March 6, ZDDD Hopkins on top RACE ONE: 1. John Hopkins (Suz); 2. Grant Lopez (Suz); 3. Lee Acree (Suz); 4. Larry Pegram (Duc); 5. Damon Buckmaster (Suz): 6. Joseph Prussia no (Yam); 7. Eric Wood (Kaw); 8. Michael Ciccotto (Suz); 9. Brian Gibbs (Suz); 10. Richard Alexander (Yam); 11. Tim Bemisderfer (Yam); 12. Mike Sullivan (Suz); 13. Ricky Orlando (Kaw); 14. Roger Hayden (Suz); l5. Kenneth Chase (Yam); 16. Jeff Williams (Kaw); 17. Charles Chouinard (Yam); 18. Derek King (Suz); 19. Anthony Fania (Yam): 20. Jamie Bowman (Suz); 21. David Jefferies (Suz); 22. Emanuel Manusuthakis (Yam); 23. Benoit Pilon (Yam); 24. Dean Scarpa (Muz); 25. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 26. Shawn Conrad (Yam); 27. Vaclav Haskovec (Suz); 28. Mark Ledesma (Kaw); 29. Michael Fitzpatrick (Kaw); 30. Todd Harrington (Yam); 31. David Duprey (Hon); 32. Scott Carpenter (Yam); 33. Scott Ackerman (Suz); 34. Roland Williams (Kaw); 35. Oddgeir Havnen (Yam); 36. Mauro Cereda (Suz); 37. Keith Wilson (Suz): 38. Richie Morris (Yam); 39. Keith Hoogstad (Yam); 40. John Ashmead (Kaw); 4 I. Jack Pfeifer (Suz); 42. Robert Richards (Suz); 43. Brandon Bashore (Suz); 44. Quentin Mise (Yam); 45. Jason Parker (Suz): 46. Frank Aragaki (SUI); 47. William Bush (Yam); 48. Shane Gonyea (Yam): 49, Jeremey Chisum (Suz): 50. Luis Hernandez (Suz); 51. Robert Presby (Kaw); 52. Les Moscariello (SUI); 53. Robert Harth (Suz): 54 .. Christopher Taylor (Yam); 55. Brett Ray (Kaw); 56. Devin Sattley (Yam); 57. Page Gathings (Suz); 58. Philippe Kostezer (Suz); 59. Kevin McCrea (Suz); 60. James Milroy (Kaw); 61. Rich Conicelli (Suz); 62. John Jacobi (Suz); 63. Joe Fletcher (Suz); 64. Rob Bowerman (Suz): 65. Mike Luke (Yam): 66. Chad Simons (Suz); 67. Shawn Higbee (SU2); 68. Marc Underberg (Due); 69. Ty Howard (Kaw). Time: 23 min.. 0.606 sec. Distance: 12 laps, 42.72 miles. Average speed: 111.395 mph. Margin of Victory: 0.011 sec. RACE TWO: 1. Grant Lopez (SUI); 2. Larry Pegram (Due); 3. Lee Acree (SUI); 4. Joseph Prussia no (Yam); 5. Damon Buckmaster (Suz); 6. Richard Alexander (Yam); 7. Michael Ciccotto, (Suz); 8. Jamie Bowman (Suz); 9. Shawn Higbee (Suz); 10. Roger Hayden (Suz); 11, Charles Chouinard (Yam); 12. Ricky Orlando (Kaw): 13. Kenneth Chase (Yam); 14. Jimmy Moore (SUI); 15. Mark Ledesma (Suz): 16. Michael Fitzpatrick (Kaw): 17. Tim Bemisderfer (Yam); 18. Shawn Conrad (Suz); 19. Keith Wilson (Suz); 20. Dean Scarpa (MUl); 21. Derek King (Suz): 22. Roland Williams (Kaw); 23. David Jefferies (Suz); 24. Mauro Cereda (Suz): 25. Todd Harrington (Yam); 26. Anthony Fania (Yam); 27. John Ashmead (Kaw); 28. Keith Hoogstad (Yam); 29. Scott Ackerman (Suz); 30. Robert Harth (Kaw); 31. Robert Richards (Yam); 32. Scott Carpenter (Yam); 33. Richie Morris (Yam); 34. David Duprey (Hon); 35. Jack Pfeifer (SUl); 36. Frank Aragaki (Suz); 37. Robert Presby (Suz); 38. Eric Wood (Kaw); 39. Jeff Williams (Kaw); 40. Luis Hernandez (Suz); 41. Bretl Ray (Kaw); 42. Jeremey Chisum (Suz); 43. Quentin Mise (Yam); 44. Christopher Taylor (Yam); 45. Devin Battley (Yam); 46. Page Gathings (Suz); 47. Philippe Kostezer (Suz); 48. Kevin McCrea (Suz); 49. Brandon Bashore (Suz); 50. James Milroy (Kaw); 51. Brian Gibbs (SUI); 52. Rob Bowerman (Suz); 53. Vincenl Haskovec (Suz); 54. William Bush (Yam); 55. John Hopkins (SUl); 56. Mike Sullivan (Kaw); 57. Oddgeir Havnen (Yam): 58. John Jacobi (Suz) Time: 23 min .. 2.124 sec. Distance: 12 laps, 42.72 miles Average speed: t 11.271 mph Margin of Victory: 0.009 sec. FORMULA USA UNLIMITED SUPERBIKE C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 rounds): 1. Grant Lopez (45/1 win); 2. Larry Pegram (33); 3. Lee Acree (32); 4. John Hopkins (25/1); 5. Joseph Prussiano (21); 6. Damon Buckmaster (22); 7. Michael Ciccotto (17); 8. Richard Alexander (16); 9. Eric Wood (9); 10. (TIE) Jamie Bowman/Roger Hayden (8); 12. (TIE) Brian Gibbs/Shawn Higbee/Ricky Orlando (7); 15. (TIE) Charles Chouinard/Tim Bemisderfer (5); 17. (TIE) Mike Sullivan/Kenneth Chase (4); 19. Jimmy Moore (2); 20. Mark Ledesma (I). By DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 5 he Formula USA Sportbike race kicked off the Wrenchead.com National Road Race Series, better known as the PACE series, by running as the first race in the first event at Daytona International Speedway. The racing was close and intense and it's hard to imagine a better way to christen the new series. In the end the win went to a very fortunate John Hopkins of the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team. When the race was initially started, the California youngster had run off the track on the first lap, managing to stay upright as he careened off the edge of the West End Horseshoe and re-joining the field at the front of the second wave. But he caught a break when the race was red-flagged on the second lap and a complete re-start was ordered. On the second try he had better luck. Hopkins ran near the front of the healthy 72-rider field for the entire 12-lap race, then found a burst of speed and some well placed lappers to pull away on the final lap and capture the race by .789 of a second over Mazda Chaparral Suzuki's Damon Buckmaster, one of a handful of riders who led the race. "On the last couple of laps I was passing so many riders,""Hopkins said after claiming the $2000 top prize. "The other guys must have gotten caught up in traffic. I got kind of lucky since I was clipped by another rider and ran off the track at the kink. I ran through the grass and hit the hay bales at a slow speed and sort of just flopped over on top of my bike. Had it not been for the red flag, I wouldn't have had the chance to win." T Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Rosamond, California, April 30 Round 3 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, May 21 G Y G I e HENNY RAY ABRAMS n e vv so: MARCH 15, 2000 7

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