Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Daytona Seech, FL . March 12, 2000 AMA/Chevy Trucks Superbike Series Round 1 : Daytona International Speedway AMA/CHEVY TRUCKS SUPERBIKE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (After I of 13 rounds): 1. Mat Mladin (36/1 win); 2. Nicky Hayden (33); 3. Doug Chandler (29); 4. Miguel DuHamel (27); 5. Aaron Yates (26); 6. Steve Rapp (25): 7. Tommy Hayden (24); 8. Eric Bostrom (23); 9. PascZlI Picotte (22); 10. Larry Pegram (21); II. Oddgeir Havnen (20); 12. Jimmy Moore (19); 13. Jamie Bowman (IS); 14. Ricky Orlando (17); 15. Mike Ciccotto (16); 16. John Jacobi (15); 17. Mike Tommy Hayden (221 put his Yamaha in seventh place with a pass on Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom (32) on the final lap. Pascal Picotte, Harth (14); 18. Chad Simons (13): 19. Mike Walsh (12): 20. Brandon Bashore (I I); 2 I. Randall Mennenga (l0); 22. Shane Clarke (9); 23. Frank Aragaki (8); 24. Brett Ray (7); 25. Nigel Manning Morton (6): 26. Rob Bowerman (5); 27. Dean Mizdal meanwhile, gives chase. (4); 28. Richie Morris (3); 29. Raife Snover (2); 30. (TIE) Troy Bayliss/David Smith (1). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Sonoma, Califomia, May 2 Round 3 - Braselton, Georgia, June 3 BRIEFLY. •• The Kawasaki team also made a splash in its debut Mat Mladin's lone mistake in the Daytona 200 came on the ninth lap when he ran straight in the chicane. "My first front tire really wasn't very good at ali." Mladin explained. "I struggled with it. and I had to tip it into the turns a lot earlier than I like to. That particular time I tipped it in where I normally tip it in. and I just decided it was better to go straight ahead. It wasn't really a big problem to catch back up. It was better to do that rather than risk crashing or going into the grass and wasting more time. I think the lap was still a 56 [1 ;56J or something." Although Mladin fell some five seconds behind Nicky Hayden and Troy Bayliss, he was able to make up the ground by the time the first round of pits stops came around. Mladin celebrated his 28th birthday on Friday - one day after qualifying second for the Daytona 200 and two days prior to winning the race. Those with a keen ear could tell that Nicky Hayden's RCS1 had developed an exhaust leak midway through the 200. The Honda crew knew about it and was prepared to make prepares in case Hayden pitted. "Halfway through, I broke an exhaust pipe," Hayden said. "I thought the bike was blowing up because it got so loud. I fell off the pace a little bit because I thought the thing was going to blow up. I was actually about to pull in. and I thought. 'run it till it stops.' I kept going, and after that it never had a problem again. Maybe it robbed a little bit of power. but... " Prior to the race. defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin downplayed the importance of winning the Daytona 200. "I'm still focused on the championship and the points. but Daytona would be a nice one to win." Mladin said... As an Australian, .. it's not as important as it is to an American. Within the American culture, Daytona is iJ very big race, but outside of America people don't follow it that much. Within the series, it's a big race, and it's one that I'd love to win. I haven't won and I haven't got the pole yet, so if I come back next year I mighibe able to get pole." since going inhouse at the com- pletion of last year. The team - which in years past had been run by Rob Muzzy - looks to have outspent every team in the paddock, including Honda. New team uniforms, fancy golf carts and NASCAR-like tool carts turned heads on the opening day of practice at Daytona. The carts are complete with all the necessary tools. air. etc., and they also have built-in TVs - on which the team watched Martha Stewart on Wednesday morning. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 of Mladin was right on the pace straight away. Mladin said the team had done a lot of Daytona testing. even when they weren't at Daytona. "We done a little bit of testing here in December and tried a few things. - Mladin said. "The bike is pretty similar to last year, so we went to Laguna and did some testing. and done a couple of days at Willow Springs. We didn't have a lot to test up there, so we did all our his elbow in the 600cc Supersport crash that brought out a red flag. Hacking injured the same elbow he'd injured during the offseason last year in a snowboarding accident. The South Carolinian was slated to go to California on Monday to seek treatment from Dr. Arthur Ting. was all the way in the back section of the track. By the time he got back to the pits, time was almost out in the session. He somehow managed to get the 10th-best time of the session. but was hoping for smoother days to come. Those smoother days didn't come for Pridmore. His Daytona 200 started poorly when his Suzuki died on the line. Although he got it restarted, officials held him on the line until both waves had started, and the Californian began his race dead last. Although he was' able to quickly knife through the non-factory riders, Pridmore's day ended early with an electrical problem on his GSX-R. "It was a pretty bad weekend for me. - Pridmore said. Things didn't start smoothly for Miguel DuHamel, either. The defending Daytona 200 champion discovered shortly after riding for the first lime on his 600cc Supersport mount that he had a that DuHamel barely rode until Friday. On Thursday. DuHamel flew in his chiropractor from Montreal, and on Friday he went out and qualified fifth for the 200 - and then finished third in the 600cc Supersport final, He rode with the aid of a makeshift neck brace on his leathers, but steadily progressed throughout the week. Erion Racing' s Kurtis Roberts will definitely get a shot at riding a Honda RC51 in selected AMA Superbike Nationals this year. Which ones? He's not sure yet. though he did say that Sears Point. the next round in the series, wouldn't be one of them. "I will be riding certain Superbike events, - Roberts said. "I don't know exactly which ones yet. We'll just have to wait and see which events they are... With Troy Bayliss qualifying on pole position, it again brought up the question as to why so many fast road racers have come from the land Down Under recently. -The only Aussie guys you Former Fast By Ferracci Ducati rider Matt Wait was an interested spectator at Daytona, though he would have much preferred to be racing. The Califomian is still without a ride for 2000. ·1 hope something comes up, but it sucks waiting." said the appropriately named Wait. According to Wait. he was offered a Kawasaki 600 and gOO but would have had to form his own team in order to race them. and I have never raced together," Bayliss said. "Actually. when Mat left to come over here, I stepped into his ride. It turned out good." H Bayliss said. "If we make it out of never raced against each other prior to thIS year's Daytona. "Mat 10 MARCH 22, 2000' eye I e H Yamaha's Jamie Hacking, last year's third-place finisher in the there. we're usually going pretty fast. All these riders are tough. hard riders - that's just the way it is. - Some people were surprised to hear that Bayliss and fellow Australian Mat Mladin had first outing on the Green Team. The Californian showed up at I learned a little bit on how to conserve a tire, took him out. Suddenly. Pridmore found himself sliding backwards down the track on his stomach - damaging his new leathers and the motorcycle. but nothing more. By the time the crew had repaired the damaged GSX-R750, Pridmore had missed the first portion of the second session. Then. when he finally did get out on the track, the bike ran out of gas when he see are the fastest ones, Daytona with jet-black hair, complete with bright-green spots. H on Thursday, Pridmore was heading into the chicane when a slower rider who had crashed on the entrance to the chicane testing with Daytona stuff on. We tried some different stuff and Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom was showing new-team spirit in his conservation. Day one for Jason Pridmore was a hectic one. Things started out well for Pridmore in 600cc Supersport practice in the morning. but then things changed. In the first Superbike session came up with some stuff we believed was going to work. Ten laps into practice yesterday [Wednesdayl, we realized we were on something pretty good. - The more things change, the more they stay the same dept; The opening day of practice for the Daytona 200 on Wednesday proved that not much had changed since a year ago. Case in point: Pascal Picotte's Harley-Davidson VR 1000 did one lap before blowing up; and Jamie Hacking had his first crash of the season. One of the many things that Nicky Hayden was faced with learning coming into his first Daytona 200 was the fine art of tire Hayden said. "We have a tire that will no doubt go the distance. but we would just like one with a little more grip. After about 18 laps or so. they're not much fun to ride after a few in this heat. I think it'll be the same for everybody. " sore neck - an extremely sore neck. In fact. the pain was so great Mladin spent the majority of his off-season at home in Australia. relaxing more than he normally does during the off season. "I haven't really done too much. to tell you the truth; probably just the last six weeks I got back into it." Mladin said. "I took a few months off where I didn't do a whole lot. I just relaxed. Last year was pretty tough, so I just kicked back. I really haven't had any time off for the last couple of years, up until the end of the season last year. I thought I'd take a couple of months off and just chill out - not do too much. - good start for the new Kawasaki Superbike team and the new ZX6. I thought I did a good job out there. It's definitely a better bike than the one I rode in '98." Daytona 200. was a non-starter in this year's race, having injured Honda's road race and motocross teams were scheduled to stay on at Daytona Intemational Speedway on Monday, March 13, to film a television commercial. Quick Daytona facts: 17 States were represented in the Daytona 200, with Florida leading the way with nine riders qualified: seven foreign countries were represented with 14 riders - Canada (6 riders). Australia (2), England (2). and one rider each from Switzerland, Germany, Panama, and Norway; six manufacturers were represented - Suzuki (27l. Kawasaki (8). Ducati (7), Yamaha (5), Harley-Davidson (3) and Honda (2): there were three former Daytona 200 winners in the field - John Ashmead, Miguel DuHamel and Scott Russell; and four AMA Superbike Champions - Doug Chandler. Miguel DuHamel, Mat Mladin and Scott Russell. True story: When Kevin Schwantz gave Suzuki its first win in the Daytona 200. Nicky Hayden was seven years old. Although the Honda RCS1 was impressive in its racing debut, it figures that it will get even better. The factory team is scheduled to test the new bike prior to the next round at Sears Point. The pairing of Miguel DuHamel and Nicky Hayden will test at Road Atlanta in early April, Mat Mladin wasn't overly impressed with the performance of Troy Bayliss when the lead trio ran together in the Daytona 200. "I think I got away a little bit. but then I could hear a couple of twins behind me in a few of the corners," Mladin said. "I figured it was probably Nicky [Hayden] and Troy [Bayliss] or maybe Miguel [DuHamelJ and Troy. I figured that this was going to go 57 laps. It seems like Troy messed up there somewhere, and it was only left up to Nicky. He's [Hayden) a pretty controlled sort of a guy, but Troy looked a bit erratic for the whole race. For 15 laps, he never hit one apex. I actually sat back about a second behind .em because he just would not let Nicky stay in front of him: he wanted to be at the front. For 200 miles it's tough to keep riding like that - when some guy outbrakes you and you just keep going in deeper and outbraking them.Hayden. meanwhile. didn't have any complaints. He was just a bit unsure of racing with someone he hadn't encountered before. Although he wasn't saying anything in advance that would make him sound cocky, Bayliss believed he could earn pole position for the Daytona 200. "In myself. I thought I could," Bayliss said. "I didn't tell anybody, but now I can because I did. I expected to go a bit faster. to tell you the truth. I was disappointed because I didn't go as fast as Anthony [Gobert) did last year, but it's 10 degrees hotter. and it was windier. They told me not to beat myself up about that. This is a dream for me - that's for sure. This is Daytona - it's the Superspeedway, as they say." Doug Chandler definitely won't be back on a ZX6R in the 600cc Supersport class this year, despite the fact that he finished second at Daytona. "I had a lot of fun. and I think that'll be good enough for the rest of the year," Chandler said. -I think it was a neVIl's "He [Bayliss] was trying really hard. and like Mat said, he was making a few mistakes." Hayden said. "It looked like going into one he got sucked in on the draft. I didn't think he was going to make it there, but he was riding really hard. I was just trying to be pretty easy with him because I'd never raced with him before. " Harley-Davidson's Scott Russell had his most inspired ride to date on the VRlOOO, running in a battle with his teammate Pascal Picotte before encountering a mechanical failure that put him out of the race on the 30th lap. Only 47 riders started the 59th running Daytona 200 - the smallest field ever since the race left the beach.

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