Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Dsycona Beech, FL. Mst"ch 5, 2000 Wrenchead.com National Road Race Series Round 1 : Daytona International Speedway Mike Himmelsbach won the Aprilia Cup Challenge after Geep Terranova and Derek King crashed together while battling for the lead. Hopkins' win in the first of seven rounds in the series puts him at the top of the championship charts with 25 points, five more than Buckmaster. Early in the race there were as many as eight riders in the lead pack with Hopkins always near the front, if not actually leading. At the halfway mark it was Buckmaster in front, but only briefly as Hopkins passed him on the next lap though the front was about to have a new look. Suzuki-mounted Lee Acree was at the point with a strong move in the infield on lap nine, but it wouldn't last. Buckmaster and Hopkins soon took back the lead, with Hopkins to the lead on lap 10 and lap 11 before Penguin Racing School's Eric Wood made his move, going from fourth to first entering the chicane - only to lose it to Buckmaster on the exit. The final lap began with five riders having a legitimate shot at winning and ended up looking like a solo run. The leaders ran into heavy traffic on the final lap and Hopkins caught them in the right places. Putting lappers between himself and his chasers, Hopkins escaped enough on the banking that he wasn't in danger of being a drafting victim, and he rolled to the victory with Buckmaster closing hard. "I got mixed up a bit in lapped traffic on the last lap and Hopkins was able to get a better run," Buckmaster said. For the Australian, this was his first race at Daytona. His only previous exposure to the high banks was when he came to Daytona to audition for a Fast by Ferracci Ducati Superbike ride several years ago. Wood emerged from the pack in third place, happy to have been part of the mix. "Everyone was really close the entire race," the Kawasaki rider said. "Going into turn one I would clinch the front brakes as hard as I could. A couple of times the front brake lever came all the way to the bar. It was really intense." Fourth went to Acree with Brian Gibbs a close fifth on a Kawasaki ZX6. First Yamaha honors went to Hudson Valley Racing's Richard Alexander Jr., the New Yorker returning to the track after sitting out most of last year with Lyme's Disease. As a warm-up, Alexander had taken part in the weekend's earlier Championship Cup Series races. Joe Prussiano and Ty Howard fought their own battle for seventh for the duration, with Prussiano getting the nod. Then came Parrot Honda Racing's Brian Parriott with Roger Hayden finishing 10th in his debut for the Mazda Chaparral Suzuki team. CN 8 MARCH 15. 2000' "" Y "" I got up and had no front brake lever. I was hitting the kill switch to slow down for the turns." Balz Renggli of GP Motorcycles was fourth with Jeffrey Wood fifth. CN Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March &, 2000 APRILIA CUP CHALLENGE: I. Mike Himmelsbach; 2. Derek King: 3. Geep Terranova: 4. Balz Renggli; 5. Jeffrey Wood; 6. Phillip Unhola; 7. Aaron Clark; 8. James Monson; 9. Josh Bryan; 10. Justin Desterhouse; 11. Les Moscariello; 12. William Stevenson; 13. David Podolsky; 14. Greg White: 15. Kevin Holman: 16. Michael Kinzer; 17. Bowe Herron; 18. Richard Fults; 19. Jimmy Clark: 20. Dan Schmitt; 2·1. Tommy Gonzales; 22. Shannon Silva: 23. Alex Florea; 24. David Moore; 25. David McPherson; 26. Gus Holcomb: 27. Brian Saieva; 28. Chip Larkby; 29. Andre Castanos. Time; 22 min., 13.578 sec. Distance: 10 laps, 35.6 miles. Average speed: 96.102 mph. Margin of Victory: 10.722 sec. APRILIA CUP CHALLENGE C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 rounds): 1. Mike Himmelsbach (25/1 win); 2. Derek King (20); 3. Geep Terranova (16); 4. Balz Renggli (13); 5. Jeffrey Wood (11); 6. Phillip Unhola (10): 7. Aaron Clark (9): B. James Monson (8); 9. Josh Bryan (7); 10. Justin Desterhouse (6); 1·1. Les Moscariello (5); 12. William Stevenson (4): 13. David Podolsky (3); 14. Greg White (2): 15. Kevin Holman (1). Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March &, 2000 FORMULA USA SPORTBIKE: 1. John Hopkins (Suz); 2. Damon Buckmaster (Suz); 3. Eric Wood (Kaw); 4. Lee Acree (Suz): 5. Brian Gibbs (Kaw); 6. Richard Alexander (Yam); 7. Joseph Prussiano (Yam): 8. Ty Howard (Kaw): 9. Brian Parrott (Hon); 10. Roger Hayden (Suz): 11. Jess Roeder (Yam); 12. Thorvald Saeby (Yam); ] 3. David Jefferies (Suz); ] 4. Stoney Landers (Kaw): 15. Robert Jensen (Yam): 16. Larry Denning (Yam); 17. Jeff Williams (Yam): 18. Mike Luke (Yam): 19. Vidar Lowen (Yam); 20. Chris Arbor (Yam); 21. Kris Clubb (Kaw); 22. Chad Powell (Yam); 23. Keith Marquez (Yam); 24. Fred Stucky (Due); 25. Scott Hermersmann (Hon); 26. Ken Stafford (Yam); 27. Tim Cochran (Hon): 28. Robert Crawford (Suz); 29. Dave Rosno (Kaw): 30. Nick Daniels (Yam): 31. Mark Lawson (Yam): 32. Robert Richards (Yam); 33. Mark McCormick (Yam): 34. David McPherson (Yam): 35. Keith Hoogstad (Yam): 36. Thomas Pfuner (Yam>.; 37. Roland Williams (Suz): 38. Peter Feller (Suz); 39. Robert Ludlam (Hon); 40. Quentin Mise (Yam). Time: 23 min, 38.038 sec. Distance: 12 laps. 42.72 miles. Average speed: 108.454 mph. Margin of Vktory; 0.789 sec. FORMULA USA SPORTBIKE C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 rounds): I. John Hopkins (25{1 win); 2. Damon Buckmaster (20); 3. Eric Wood (16); 4. Lee Acree (13): 5. Brian Gibbs (l·t): 6. Richard Alexander (10); 7. Joseph PrussiclOo (9); 8. Ty Howard (8); 9. Brian Parrott (7): '10. Roger Hayden (6); 11. Jess Roeder (5); 12. Thorvald Saeby (4): 13. David Jefferies (3): 14. Stoney Landers (2); 15. Robert Jensen (I). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Rosamond, California, April 30 Round 3 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, May 21 Formula USA Aprilia Cup Challenge Round 1: Daytona Internat'l Speedway Himmelsbach wins awild one By HENNY RAY ABRAMS DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR 5 t was called the Aprilia Cup ChalI lenge and the challenge seemed to be staying upright. None of the riders at the front of the 29-rider field seemed to be able to, which meant that this was a damn entertaining race. Let's begin with the start. In the first turn on the first lap, fast qualifier Ryan Landers was claimed by turn one. The rest of the fast guys moved up to fill the void and have at it. There was a three-rider breakaway led by Aaron Clark, a New Zealand ex-pat living in Thousand Oaks, California, with San Jose's Geep Terranova and Propac's Derek King along for the ride. The trio laid waste to the pack, leaving Blackman Cycles' Mike Himmelsbach aione in fourth, well out of e nevvs striking distance. Little did he know what lay in store. Clark and Terranova swapped the top spot from time to time, with King then taking it for the first time on lap seven, the order shuffling on the back straight and the trio coming three wide down the front straight to start the eighth lap. The trio would soon become a duo, with Clark crashing out in the International Horseshoe on lap eight. He quickly re-mounted and made his way up to seventh by the end. Alone at the front, King and Terranova continued the fight, taking it hard into the West End Horseshoe on lap nine where it would end in a pile of scraped bodywork and dust. King went in hot and lost the front end; Terranova was an unwilling victim, as was David James Moore, who was being lapped. All three went down, all three got up, but not before Himmelsbach could motor by and make his way to the checkered flag a lap later. "They (Terranova and King) got away from me," Himmelsbach said. "Then I came around and saw the yellow flags and knew those two were the only guys ahead of me. I couldn't believe my luck. I thought to myself, 'I can win at Daytona if I just keep it going to the flag.' I've won a iot of races, but this is really special." King was able to work his way to second, then explained: "I came up too fast on a lapper rider (Moore) and tucked the front end. It was a shame that Geep got involved. I finished the race without a foot peg or rear brake. I propped my foot up on the pipe and melted my boot." Terranova secured third and explained the crash by saying that they "were having a little too much fun out there, playing bumper cars with each other. Derek (King) lost the front end and I went right down with him. I Upcoming Rounds Round 2 - Rosamond, California, April 30 Round 3 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, May 21 Buell Lightning Series Round 1: Daytona Internat'l Speedway Higbee in a laugher By HENNY RAY ABRAMS DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR 5 "Iguess I was born to race a Buell," the retiring Shawn Higbee said after thrashing the 16-rider Buell Lightning Series field in the inaugural Wrenchead.com National Road Race Series event at Daytona International Speedway. "The bike just feels so natural to me." So natural that it looked like there were two classes in this race, Higbee and the others. The Wisconsin native and Buell test rider made it plain in qualifying that he was a cut above, qualifying nearly five seconds faster than anyone else, despite getting only a few laps in on the Tilley's H-D/Buell machine. When the flag fell, Higbee was off and running. On the second lap of the race he looked back in the West End Horseshoe and saw nothing. The field was already over 5.5 seconds back and fading, and Higbee was just getting started. By the end of the 10-lap, 35.6mile race, held in brilliant Florida sunshine, Higbee had amassed a whopping 22.654-second lead. The win also vaults him to the top of the seven race series championship points lead with 25, five more than second placed Michael Ciccotto of Hal's Performance. As dull as the drama for the win was, it was just the opposite for the rest of the front of the field. The fight for second saw six riders strung together like beads for the first half of

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