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/128615
Formu la USA/Wr e n ch e ad .c o m National Road R a c e S e r ie s R o u n d 3 : Road America Hopkins got away early in the race leavi ng Lopez to fend off Higbee, a Wisconsin ite and Buell development rider. Higbee too k over second on the th ird lap , with Lopez using the draft to take it back on the front straight, the pair in cons tant close qu arters. So it w ent un t il the se vent h lap when Hi gbe e o utb rak ed Lop ez into th e 9 0 -de gre e left - h and turn fi v e. The pair stayed together for two more laps until th e orde r cha ng ed for good i n th e sa me co rne r when H igbe e overshot the co rn er, then couldn 't get his m achine to start . "I downshifted an ext ra gear at the end of the straight and it upset the bike to whe re it wa s sliding all over th e place," Hig bee said . "When I went to re-fire it , it wo uldn 't sta rt ." He en ded up bein g 28th in th e first leg , w h ic h pu t h im on t he seve nth row fo r the seco nd leg. Cuttin g through the fie ld, he wa s up to thi rd by the fifth lap and checking ou t o n t he rest of the 32-ri der pack. B y then there wasn' t much he coul d do about the lea de rs , not that he didn't th ink abo ut it. " I starte d so far bac k , I didn 't expect to see them during the race ," he said -after finishing thi rd , abou t five seco nd s behind Lopez. "I was k ind of s u r p r ised to see t hem. I thought m ay be I ca n reel them in , an d after ELKHART LAKE, W MAY 20 I, he definition of dom in ati on conti nu e s . W e 'r e ju st t he do m i nant for ce." So said Gr ant Lop ez after he and teammate J ohn Hopk in s thoroug hl y do m i nat ed th e Wr enc h e ad . c om Nation al Road Race Series Unlim ited Sup erb ik e class at Roa d Am erica. Mostly it w as Hopkins who domi nated th e races, winni ng the second aft er pu lling over to allow Lopez to win t he first, wi th Lopez soli dify ing the dominant spot atop the champi onsh ip standings as a result of Hopkins' generosit y . The results sho w th at Lopez won the first race , but it was a gift. Starting from the pole position , th e 16year-old Hopk ins led th e enti re rac e, pull ing over on the final l ap to gi ve teammate Lopez a few extra championsh ip points, while taking second. Lopez was i n a better ch ampi onship position because he 'd ra c ed bo th prev ious rounds of the ser ies , while th e Va l v oline EM GO Suzuk i team had made a financial decis ion to keep Hopk ins out of th e Will ow Spri ngs race. "H e gave me the win there at the end , j ust to help me o ut in p oint s, beca use he's no t runni ng ," Lopez said afte r leg one. "I ap preciate it. I don't l i k e to ta k e it t hat wa y . lit was ] Something he fel t like he wa nted to do. I' m su re he won't do that in the next round . I th in k h e' s going t o go for it ." No t a bad guess, con sidering there was a $ 7 500 win n er's ch eck on the line. T he first leg paid $2500. Right on cue Hopk ins was gon e in the second leg, not both eri ng to pu ll over at the end and ta k ing th e win by 1.812 sec onds in a race wh er e the outcome was never in do ubt . " I wa s definit ely try in g hard," Hop kins said. "I haven 't m ade a mistake all weekend really in the race . It's my birthda y tomorrow. It's just a birthday present to me , I gue ss." " He' s definitely the fastest man on the tra ck toda y ," Lopez said . " He w as ki n d of n ice to me or p la y ing with me or something there the first race. I don 't know . Gave me a couple of points . T hen he was like, 'Yeah , I'll take the money in the second leg " " The end re sults was that , a ft er t h ree o f six races , Lopez le ad s t he cham pionship , 126-93, ove r Arclight Racing's Lee Acree . A cr ee didn 't have a ca reer day in Elkh art Lake . He fin ished fifth in th e first leg , then failed to fin ish the sec ond ' with me ch anical problems. Hop kins moves int o third in points with 70. Hopki ns an d L o p e z had been stro ng in q uali f yi n g , Ho p k in s first, Lopez th i rd , with Millennium Tec h no log ies' Sh awn Higbee seco nd on his Suzuk i. 24 n S T O RY AN D P HOT OS H E NNY R A Y A B RAMS By T MAV31 ,2000' .. U .. I e e vv s (Top) The first leg of Fonnula USA Unlimited Superbike gets undeoway at Road America w ith race winner Grant Lopez (5). second-place finisher John Hopkins (2 1) and Michael Barnes (34) showing the rest the way. (Be low ) Lopez celebrates his victory w ith a wheelie. I