Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128612
Formula USAy/VVr e n c h e a d .c o m Nat io n a l R o a d R a c e S erie s R ound 2: Will o w Springs Raceway tis o • airy ae Ricci Motorspo rts' J immy Mo ore e n ded th e d a y in fifth place in th e seco nd race a ft er fin ish in g eigh th (actua lly, s ixth) in th e first le g. Six th at the conclus ion of the second ra ce went t o Co mpe t it io n Accesso r ies Du c a ti's Larry Pegra m - three s pots be tter tha n he 'd m an aged in th e first ra ce . Pegr am 's Ducati had overhe ated in both races , th e stock rad iator pr oving ina d equate in th e high heat of th e S outh ern C ali forn ia h igh des ert. The m ost notab ly of the non-finis he rs wa s Chaparral Suzu ki's Damon Buckma ste r. The Australian , who had By P AUL C A RRUTHER S PH OT O S BY B RIA N N ELS ON R OSAMON , CA, APR. 30 D U While Gr os s ' fa iry tal e h ad a s ob ering e n d in g, a seco n d Will ow Springs s pec ia lis t h ad hi s d rea ms come tru e . Vinc ent Haskov ec was a late replacement fo r Eri c Wood o n th e Penguin Racing School 's Kawas a ki, and he made the most of his go lden opportunity , storming through to finis h fourth o n th e ra c etra ck and th ird in th e fina l st anding s when Gro ss was DQd. Hask ovec h ad jumped the start in th e first le g and was giv en a sto p- and-go penalty . He di d n ' t give up , howeve r, and managed t o fight his way t h ro u g h t h e pack to a 15th-p lace finish - a re sult th a t woul d improve once th e d isqua lifications were handed out at th e e nd of the second race. Gross wasn 't the only one to have his day ruine d by that pesky little Mr. Dyna mometer. Richa rd Alex ande r Jr. was also s tri pped of his fifth-p la ce finishi ng position in th e second le g (and a lso his sixth from the first leg ) be c au s e of a ho rs e p owe r infra ction, th o ugh Ale xand er was closer to hitting th e mark than Gros s. Alexander's R1 was clocke d at 145.9 horsepower - jus t .9 over the lim it. Alexander's ouster moved Hooters Su zuki's Jamie Bow ma n up to fourth pla c e in th e second race . Bowman ha d fin is hed 11 th ( ni nth whe n yo u throw Gross and Alexande r out of the m ix) in ra c e one. 28 n c ue I e qu alified on pole pos ition fo r the ra ce , was na rrowl y defeated by Ac ree in the first leg of th e two-part ra ce , but c rashe d out of the seco nd leg whil e lea ding the ra ce o n the final lap . Buckm aster, however, proved to be the be st sta rter as he gr abbed the h ole shot in b oth races. In th e first ra ce , he led ac ross the stripe for the first s ix la p s , wit h Hoo ters Suz uki's Mi ke Cic cotto a shadow se cond. Beh ind th em the pack was t ight, led by Acr ee o n h is Fo rmula USA -spec 1999 Suzuk i GSX-R750 . On the s ixth lap , Acree - ha ving jus t disposed of Ciccotto - sto le th e le a d away from Bu c kmaste r head ing int o turn o ne . Fro m the re , the North Ca rolina n le d th e rest of the way, th ough not without constant pressure from Buc km as ter. At the finish line it was Ac ree by .09 7 of a s e cond over the Australia n and his AMA 750cc Supers po rt-spec 2000-model GSX -R7 50. Third p lace wen t to Lopez , wh o wa s right o n the tail o f th e two race leade rs fo r t he duration . Yamaha- mounted Bryan Kovaric k too k a dvant a ge of Ciccotto's last -la p c ra s hing out but fortunatel y suffering no injur ies . "I really can't say what happened, " Ad ams s a id later. "I e it he r c lip p e d somebody or was hit by somebody, or I put it on the engine cases on the inside. It just happened ." Although Bowman was able to get his Suzuki into the m ix at the front earl y on , the battle for the victory came down to four rid e rs : Acree , Buckmaster , Lopez a nd Gross. Acr ee led until lap eig ht, with Lopez sliding his way under the Arclight rider in turn one o n the ninth lap. Lopez he ld the lea d until the final lap, with Buckmaster taking over with a bold move on the brakes - aga in in turn one. S hortly the re after, Buc kmaste r was down, losing the front on the entra nce to tum three. "I just tried to unde rbra ke a bac kma rke r and I' d never b e en in th a t clos e ," Buckmaster explaine d . "I was committed to the ins ide a nd ther e 's a seam a nd I'd never been in that clo se to realize how bad it was on the inside. I hit it with th e brakes o n and it just tucked the front. " IAb ove) Damon Buckmaster (6 1) le ads M ike Cicc otto (13), Larry Pegram (7 2) and the re st of th e Unlimited Superbike class up the hill on the ex it of tum three in Formula USA action at Willow Spri ngs. (Righ t) Lee Acree won both legs of the Unlimited Superbike class and also finished second in t he Spo rtbike final. nfortunately for Bryce Gross, fa iry tales a re no thing more tha n ta les of fictio n. Fo r while Gross m anaged to ride his Yamaha R1 to victory on a Willow Springs Raceway tra c k with which he is intimat e ly familiar, his fairy tal e vic tor y in th e Unlim ited Supe rb ike ra c e lasted only 30 minutes befo re he was str ipped of the win when his R1 failed to produce les s than 145 ho rsepower during the post- race dyno check. Exit Gross, enter Lee Acree. Gros s ' disqualifica tion from the second (and all-im portant) Un lim it e d S u perb ike le g gave the vi c to ry to Acr ee an d his Pirelli-shod Arclight Racing S uzuki GSX-R750 . Acree , ho wever, was a worthy race winner , ha ving won the first leg prior to finishing right on Gros s ' ta ilsection in the second. Gross had re c e ived a gift of sorts and he knew it - but rules are rules , and hav ing a motorcycle that produces 148 .2 hor sepower in a 14 5 -horsepower class will get yo u disqua lified . Fin is hing b eh ind Ac ree in s econd pla ce once Gros s was tossed out was' Valvoline EMGO Su zuki's Gra nt Lopez , th e winner of ro un d one at Da ytona Internation al Speedwa y bac k in Mar ch . Lope z was a fac to r throu gh ou t . the day, running at the fron t in both le gs and narro wly m iss in g victo ry as he was c a m ped o ut behind Acree whe n the lead trio crossed the finish line . Acr ee a nd Lo pez now s it ato p th e cham p ionsh ip p o in t s ' tab le , w ith Ac re e ho lding a slim on e -point lead ov e r Lopez , 8 2 -81 , a fte r tw o of six rounds . MAY 10 . 2 0 0 0 ' c rash to finish fourth , one spot a hea d of Alexander who wo uld late r ha ve to g ive up the po ints an d money that went wit h t he fin ish be c au s e of his disquali ficati o n . Th a t gave fift h to Zlock Ra c ing's Michael Barnes. After a 30-minute bre a k , ra c e two got u nderway in s im ilar fa s h ion to ra c e one with Buckmaster leading the c harge. Th is t im e , h ow ev e r , Ac ree wa sted no time in ta king th e lea d a nd he he ld th e point pos it io n whe n th e p a c k c rossed th e fin ish line fo r th e first time. It was in turn one to start th e sec ond lap that th e ra c e los t Kovarick a nd Curtis Adams , th e pair e vv s