AMA/Pro Honda Oils SOCJcc Supersport Series
Round 1 : Daytona International Speedway
"If you're going to win any race in
the year, you want to win this one,"
Roberts said. "j've thought about
Daytona since this time last year every day. It's the race you want to
win, and to come up short - you think
about it a lot more. Every time I went
to ride my exercise bike, or ride my
motocross bike, I thought about racing here and this guy to the right of
me [DuHamel]. It doesn't matter if
he's hurt or not, he's still going to be
there. He's a good friend of mine and
I look forward to racing Miguel every
time I get on the bike. That was the
biggest incentive."
Everyone concurred that
Roberts deserved to win th is
one. He was the fastest
qualifier, the fastest
600cc Supersport rider
all week, and he and his
Erion Racing Honda led
the most laps. It would
have been a shame if he'd
lost out on the final run to
the flag, but he didn't. He'd
filed the outcome of last
(Left) Kurtis Roberts (80) leads
Eric Bostrom (32), and Miguel
DuHamel (17) in tum one of the
600cc Supersport race. Roberts went
on to win.
(Below) DuHamel fends off Roberts,
Doug Chandler and Tommy Hayden
out of tum Sill and onto the banking.
DuHamel eventually finished third.
BY PAUL CARRUTHERS
PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, /lIAR. 10
~ n those days when Kurtis
{ . / Roberts didn't feel like getting
out of bed and training this past offseason, he simply thought back to
last year's 600cc Supersport final at
Daytona. It was a race he'd lost by
half a wheel to Miguel DuHamel and
it served as painful inspiration for an
entire year. Win the race, beat
Miguel, win the race, beat Miguel - it
all paid off on Friday at Daytona
International Speedway as Kurtis did
his famous surname proud, winning
his first-ever AMA 600cc Supersport
final. Fittingly, that first victory came
at Daytona - the site of his father's
three victories in the famed 200.
And he also beat DuHamel, who
ended up a close third in the red-flag
interrupted race, making for perfect
redemption for last year's finish. As
always at Daytona, the top 600cc
Supers port men were locked in a
drafting battle that went to the finish
line. This time, though, it was Roberts
getting there first.
24
MARCH 22. 2000'
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