Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

those g uy s we re tr y ing to g et in t o t urn 10 too hot down the re and ran o ff the tra ck . So that he lped me o ut a bit." Beh ind t h e lea d tri o c am e t he Yamaha team of Jamie Hac king and Tommy Ha yden. The bikes were cl e arly down on sp eed to the Ka wa s a ki, Honda, and even the dated S uzuk i. Not only that, bu t th is was Hacking 's first rac e back s ince h is horrifi c crash in the 600cc Supersport ra c e at Daytona . "I had eigh t laps this ye ar at Da ytona ," Ha ck ing s aid . "I to re th e trice ps t e ndon in th e 600 ra c e . It's swollen up , sore , very sore. I just kind of over-rode it." He c ouldn 't over-ride th e m a ch ine and h ad li tt le t o say a b o u t t hei r d efic it. "I'm not go ing to sit here and sa y m y bik es are slow ," he sa id. "I don 't know if th e y'r e c heating or good o r w hatever th e y ' re d o in g - th e y ' re do ing something , yo u kn ow. I've just got t o s t ep u p t o t h e m b e c au s e they 're not getting caught. We 'll be back on top ." Roberts wa s next , then Yos him ura Suzuki's Jason Pridmore, followed by cla ss champion Nicky Hay den . Ha yden ha d don e the same th in g a s Roberts , backsh ifting one too many times going into the chica ne, his mis take comi ng o n the 14th lap wh ile he was in th ird place. "It was just a stupid mistake ," he said. "No excuse for m a k ing it. In the 600 cla ss , th ing s are not g o ing so good." Afte r two ra ce s , Ha yde n finds him s e lf in qu ite a ho le . Bostrom le a ds th e c h a m p io n s h ip wit h 63 poi nt s , on e m o re th a n Robe rt s , wi t h Du Ham e l third a t 58. Afte r not finis h ing at Da yto n a , a nd g e tt ing a n e ig h t h here , CN Ha yd e n 's ba ck in 14th pla ce. Road Atlanla Braselton, Georgia Results: June 4, ZUUU IRound Z of 91 PRO HONDA OILS 600« SUPERSPORT: I . Eric Bost rom (Ka w) ; 2 . Aaron Yat es (Suz) ; 3 . M iguel DuHame l (Hon) ; 4. J am ie Hac king ( Yam) ; 5. Tom my Hayden (Yam ) : 6. Ku rti s Roberts ( Hon); 7. J ason Pridmore (Suz); 8 . Nic ky Ha yden ( Hon); 9 . J o sh Hayes (Ho n) : 10 . Damon Buc kmaster ( Su z) ; 11. Ja ke Zemke (Hon) ; 12. Richard A le xander (Yam) ; 13. Mark Miller (Yom) ; 14. Roger Lee Hoyden (Suz ); 15. Mic hael Hennas (Yam ); 16. Chri s Caylor (Suz); 17. Clint Brotz (Ya m); 19. Sc ott Gardner (Ya m) ; 20 . Manny Ma nu suthakis ( Yam) ; 21 . Jason Lat e (Yam) ; 22. Kurt Marm or (Hon); 23 . David Ortega (Kaw) : 24. Shawn Potter (Yam) ; 25 . Justin Bl ak e (Hon) ; 26 . Daniel Urbina «(Han) ; 27 . Scott Brown (Ye rn): 26 . Kev in Lacombe (Hon); 29. Leo veneqa (Suz) : 30 . Kris Clubb (Kll W); 31. TIm Cochran (Hon) : 32. Chad Simon s (Yam) : 33. Keith Hoog stad (Yam); 34 . Peqe Gath ing s (Hon) . TIm e: N/A due to red flag . Dist an ce: 15 laps . 37 .6 mi les. Av erage speed: N/A due to red flag . Margin of victory: 0.1 7 5 sec. PRO HONDA OILS 600cc SU PERSPORT C' SHIP POINT STANDINGS ( After 2 of 9 round s): I. Eri c Bos t rom (63 /1 wi n) : 2. Kurti s Robe rt s (6 2 /1 ); 3 . M iguel Du ham el (58); 4 . Tom m y Hay den (53); 5 . Jason Pri dmore (49 ) ; 6 . Aa ron Yat es ( 4 6 ): 7 . Ric hard Alexande r ( 43) ; 6. J ake Zemke (4 1); 9 . (TIE) Do ug Chandler /R oge r Lee Hoyden (3 2 ); I I. .Jemle Hocking (27) : 12. Chris Caylo r (25); 13 . (TIE) Steve Crevie t / Nlck Ha yd en (23) : 15 . (T IE) Josh Hayes/ J ohn Hop kins (2 2): 17. Damon Buckmaster (2 1); 18 . Mark Mille r (20) ; 19 . Tborvald Saeby ( 19); 20 . (TIE) Brett Champagne/B rian Parriott ( 16) . Upcom ing Rounds: Round 3 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 11 Round 4 - Loudon , New Hampshire, June 18 Lockhart P h illip s U SA 750cc Supersport: Round 2 lWo in a Row For Hopkins B y H E N N Y R A Y A B RA M S P HOTO B Y B RIA N N E L SON BRASELTON , GA, JUNE 3 uck and skill played equal parts in the ou tcome of the Lockhart Phi llips USA 750cc S upers port ra c e o n a ho t and m uggy S atu rda y afte rnoon at Ro a d At la nta . Luc k , in the fo rm of ra c e le a de r Gr an t Lop e z c ra s h ing his Va lvo lin e Em go Suzuki out of the lead with le s s tha n s ix la ps to g o . Sk ill, in his tea m m a te J ohn Hopk ins ta king the gift a nd ru nn ing with it , h old in g off t he p ers ist ent Da m o n Bu c km a s ter a nd hi s Mazd a Chaparra l S uzu k i to win h is s e c ond race o f th e seaso n. And ev e n more luck because none of the top finisher s beh ind Hop ki n s at Da yt o na were a fa ct or in today's ra ce, so he wa s a ble to stretch his cha mpionship lea d . "I could s ee he [Lopez] was pus h ing ," Hopkins said. "He wa s defi nitel y tr ying to ma ke a bre akaway . I wa sn't prepared to go t hat hard becau s e , lik e Da m o n [ Bu c k m a s t e r ] sa id , I kne w the trac k te m perature wa s pre tty hot. I kn ew th e tires' would m a yb e go away ." Wh ic h th e y d id , just like Lo pe z's front e nd . Buc km a ste r ha d go tten the jum p o n the field . holding th e po int for two la ps befo re Lopez c a me p a st. A fe w la ps lat er , Hop kins also m a de h is wa y by and the re we re thr ee a t th e fron t , with Hoot ers Suzuki's Mike Cic c otto righ t a t the tail of t h e pack . S o o n afte r , Buckma s ter kn e w t ha t t ires wou ld be a problem . " It was a p a c e th at I tho ug ht 1 c o uld proba bly ru n a t ," Buc km a ste r L old Ca lifornian se t a new race re cord , com p leti ng t he I S- la p, 3 7 .8 -m ile race in 22 m inute s , 1.4 87 seco nds. a t an averag e s peed of 103 .7 9 2 mph , brea k ing the ol d ma rk o f 10 2 .2 7 8 mph set by Tom Kipp in last year's ra ce . Ciccotto finished th ird . The Flo rid ian ha d be en right up with the leaders u nt il the last pa rt of the race when lappers caused h im to lose touch . Though he was better than five seco n ds b e h in d Buck master . h e ha d about seven on fou rth pla ce. "I was getting pulled on the ba ck straightaway with th o s e guys alto gether," Ciccotto sa id. "I was able to ree l th em ba c k in thro ug h th e infield . T he n they started stretching out a little bit of lead with Grant up front , but he went down. Afte r th at, bas ic all y I just k ind of trie d to sta y a s close as I could a nd ma ke a charge a t the e nd ." T he offe r ca me wh en t he lea d e rs ran into lapped traffic lat e in th e fina l lap a nd Ciccotto saw th e o pe ning . C ic c ott o sa id . " I w as t h ink in g , 'O ka y. I go t to a t least stick it in he re and try to race with these g uys,' but it wa s kind of no t worth it. On the ba c k straig htaway the y wou ld've gotten me again anyway , so I just kind of settled for third ." O uts ide of the top three, the race was mostly processional. Cic c o lt o 's tea mmate Jamie Bowman was fourth , over two se c onds in front of Ricci Moto rsports Jimmy Moore . Hop k in s ' win an d Mo o re ' s fifth m e ant that Hopk ins n ow le a ds th e cha m pionsh ip by 15 points , 7 3 -58 , a fte r two of nine rounds . Bowman is th ird a t 54 . S ixth we nt to the se cond Ch apar ral Mazda Suzu ki of Rog er Lee Hayd en , a 10 th of a second in front of Ol a th e S uzuk i's Sh a ne Cla rke. Lo pez c a me n e x t , 16 seco n ds ba c k, with Hon da -S uzuk i of S anford 's Rich Con ic ell i a n d Ban zi' s Randall Menn enga filling out th e to p 10 . C N J oh n Hopkins (21 ) joined Mat Mladln as a consecutive-round winner by b ag ging the Lockhart Phillips USA 7 5 0 c c Supersport event at Road At la nta. said. "Fo rtu na t ely , I do n't thi nk the pace go t a ny hotte r, m a ybe just a few la p s , o ne or two th er e. I felt re a s on ably comforta ble up there thr ough th e race, a nd then I ha d a few tire problems. I m a y ha ve m ad e the wro ng choice." So he settled into th ird , watching the two Su zu kis in fron t, and wai ting for o ne to m a k e a m is t a k e . Lo p e z obliged. "' could see he was pu s h ing pretty ha rd a nd I th o ught if he wa nts to pu sh that ha rd , so be it , I wa sn 't prepa red to go tha t har d ," Buc km a ster sa id. "l kne w the trac k temperature was righ t up the re a nd the tires wou ld eventua lly g o awa y , so I just t rie d to se t a co m fo rt a b le p a c e and I was rea lly happy wit h whate ver th e re sult was ." Hopki ns an d Bu ck mas t er we re right behind Lo pez whe n he tu c k e d th e front e nd in turn s ix on la p J 0 , bu t wer e n' t ca u g h t up in it. Lop e z remounte d and took eighth . Hopk ins s a id, "Fro m that m omen t [whe n Lop e z crashed] I kn ew it was jus t g o ing to be a ru n betwe e n m e a nd Damon [Buckmaster] and [Mike l Ciccotto , so from there on I tr ied to c onse rve tires because th e tra c k te m perature was rea lly ho t. So I'd co m e out of th e corn er s and kind of nurs e th e rac e t ire s co m ing o u t the cor ners ," Th e st rateg y was working , but it did n't s to p Buckmaster fro m m ak ing a run o n the fina l lap , es pec ia lly bec ause th e lea ders ha d e nc ou nte red la pper s on the fina l la p. "Unfo rt una te ly," Buckm a ster said , "I was go ing to ma ke a mov e o n J ohn [Hopk in s ] d own th e b a c k s t rai g ht awa y her e wh e n I hit th e c re st of th e hill in fifth ge a r and sta rte d to wheelie a little too m uch : a nd I fell o ut of th e dr aft a nd that wa s the e nd of m e ." At th e e nd of the da y , Ho pkins had won by 0. 275 seconds . The 17 -yearcue I e Road Atlanta Braselton, &eorgia Results: June 3, ZOUU IRound Z of 91 LOCKHART PHIWPS USA 750 SUPERSPORT: 1. John Hopkins (Suz) ; 2. Damon Buckmaster (Suz); 3 . Mike Ciccotto (Suz); 4 . Jamie Bowman (Suz) ; 5. Jimmy Moore (Suz): 6. Roger Lee Hayden (Suz); 7 . Shane Clarke (Suz); 8 . Grant Lo pez (Suz); 9 . Rich Conicelli (Suz); 10. Randall Menn enga (Suz) ; 11. Jason Smith (Sw) ; 12. Chris Greer (Yam); 13. Chad Simon s (Su z) ; 14 . Rob Bow erman Jr. ( Suz) : 15 . Jason Late (Yam ); 16 . Keith Hoogsta d (Yam) ; 17. Richa rd Shaw (Suz) : 16. Dav id Ortega (Kew} : 19. Ju st in Blake ( Hon) ; 20 . Byr on Barbour (Suz) ; 21. J ohn McGarrity (Suz); 22. Emanuel Ma nu suth ak is (Suz); 23 . Brett Champagne (Hon) . Time: 22 min.. 1.487 sec . Di st ance: 15 laps. 37.8 miles . Av erage speed: 103.79 2 mp h. Margin of victory: 0.275 sec. LOCKHART PH ILLIPS USA 75 0 SUPERSPORT C' SHIP STANDINGS (A ft er 2 of 9 rounds ): 1. J ohn Hopk ins (73 /2 win s): 2. Jimmy Moore (56); 3 . Jamie Bo wm an (5 4 ) ; 4 . (TIE) Gra nt Lo p ez/R o ger Le e Hoy den (50 ) ; 6 . Shon e Cle rke ( 45) ; 7 . Ran dal l Men nenga ( 44) ; 8 . Chad Simons (36 ); 9 . Damon Buckmas ter (32); 10. Byro n Berbc ur (3 1): I I. (TIE) Keith Hooq sted/L ee A cree/ Mike Clccono (29 ); 14. (TIE) Dav id A lle n Je ffries / Ric h Conicelli (24) ; 16 . Jo ck Pfeifer (22 ) ; 17. J oson Smi th (20) : 18. (T IE) B r yce G ros s/C hris Greer ( 19) ; 20 . (T IE ) Ra ile Snover/Rob Bowerman Jr. ( 17). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 10 Round 4 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 17 n e _ s • J UN E 14, 2000 13

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