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/128618
That was it. Win num ber 3 7 was in th e ba g , even th oug h it never loo ked like it was going to happen . Not here, not toda y , "Actua lly the bik e wasn 't working that g ood with new tires ," DuHamel said. "It had q u ite a bit of chatter in some of these corners . It was kind of di fficult. Fo r so me reason my b ike didn 't seem to s qu irt off some of th e corners qu ite a s good a s some of th e o t her b ik e s. On t op the b ik e was good. I wa s just ha ng ing with th os e guys. I wa s k e epi n g an eye o u t be c au s e I think we we re all afra id of t wo g uys h o ok ing up a nd g ett in g awa y from th e pa c k . Th at wa s m y big fe ar . I sta rte d to fee l m or e comfo rt abl e, and it rea lly cou ld have been any of us up here today . I'm just for tunate to pu t m ys elf and th e Honda in a pos ition t ha t was as goo d as it could get. " Roberts was somewha t subd ue d in the po st-ra c e pre s s confere nce. He 'd led the m ajo rity of the ra c e o nly to wa tch h e lp le s s ly as vic to ry wa s s natched away by DuHa mel. " I knew it was going to co me down to tha t ," Robe rts said . "But I didn't really kn ow where Miguel was. I looked back and thought I saw hi m one tim e , but I only looked b a c k on ce. If I woul d have known , it mi ght have changed it a little b it , bu t t he only way I th o ug ht I was goi ng to win today was to lead off th a t last corn er , ge t a good drive and s ta rt s we rv ing . Bu t it di d n 't wo rk - co mpletel y . At le a s t we got seco nd and got the points lead ba ck. I fe lt com fo rt abl e in th e le a d , a n d I fe lt we wer e going th e fa s te st wh en I was in the lea d . Th e la p times seemed to be th e be st wh en I led th e who le la p, so I d idn 't m ind lea di ng , Ma yb e I could ha ve gone thr o ug h that la st la p a littl e b e tt e r afte r I pass ed Hack in g g oin g up th e hill , but y o u n ev er know ." Ha c king 's th ird was his best of the yo ung se a s on , a nd it pr oved that he is fully recovered from the arm injur ies suffered at Daytona in Ma rch . "This is 600 racing , and anyone c a n win," Hacking said. "The re are 10 guys who could be sitting rig ht here righ t now, so I c a n 't sa y that I'm better than anybody . I' m just hap py to be ba c k , coming back fro m my injury at Daytona . I'm ju st glad to be here and racing with these guys ." eN Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Results: June 11, 2000 600 c c SUP ER SPOR T F IN AL : I . M i gu el DuH am el ( Ho n) ; 2. Ku rti s Roberts ( Han); 3 . Jam ie Hacki ng (Yam ); 4 . Tom m y Hayden (Yam); 5. Nicky Ha y den ( Ha n) ; 6 . Er ic Bost rom (Ka w) ; 7 . A a ro n Yates (Suz); 8. Jo sh Hayes (Hen) : 9 . J ason Pridm ore (S UI) ; 10 . Ja ke Ze m ke ( Hon) ; 1 1. Dam o n Buc k master (Suz ); 12. Richa rd Alexande r (Yam); 13 . Ch ris to p her Rank in (Ya m) ; 14. Roger Lee Hayden (Suz); 15. Joseph Temperate (Yam): 16. Clint Bretz ( Yam ) ; 17. Kevin Lehman (Yam): 18 . Aa ron Ris inger (Left) A lthough Kurtis Ro b erts (SO) led the most, it was M igue l D u Hamel (17) who snuck through to take the 600cc Supersport vi c t o ry. (Below) Damon Buckmaster (6 ) w o n h is fi rst 750cc Supersport race o f the se ason after a race-long battle w ith Grant Lopez (15). (Yam) ; 19 . Sha wn Potter ( Yam) ; 20 . Jess Roed er (Yam); 2 1. Kevin Lacomb e (Hon); 22. Scott Gooch (Yam); 23 . Mark Zehelein (Kaw); 24 . David O rtega (Kew}: 25 . Dan iel Urbina ( Hon); 26 . J ohn Wendl (Y am); 27 . Davi d Ebben (Yam) ; 28. Tr avi s Ki ng (Suz) : 29 . Garth Cloyd (Suz): 30 . Frank Cesne (Hon) : 3 1. Mark Mille r (Yam): 32. Mich ael Hanna s II (Yam ); 33 . Dave Rosno (Kaw ); 34 . Mike Mashewske (Kaw) : 35 . J ohn Trautm ann (Yam ): 36 . Sco tt Herme rsman ( Ho n) ; 37 . Derek Sc hoeberle (Y am) : 38. James Prince (Yam) ; 39. Ja son Knup p (Yam ) ; 40 . J effrey Purk (Yam) . Ti me : 23 m in .• 03.690 sec . Distance: 10 taps. 40 m iles A verage speed: 104 .06 6 mph Margin or victory: 0 .054 sec. A MA 600 c c SUPERSPORT C'SH I P S ERI E S . POINTS STA NDI NG S (Aller 3 of 9 ro unds) : I. Kurtis Robert s (95/1 win ); 2. Miguel DuHamel (94/1 ) : 3. Eri c Bostrom (88/1): 4. Tom m y Hay den (80): 5. Jason Pridm ore (7 1); 6. Aaro n Yates (70); 7. (TIE) Rich ard A l ex an der /d ek e Zemke (62 ); 9 . Ja mie Hack ing (56) ; 10. (TIE) Roger Lee Hayd en / Nick y Hayd en ( 49 ); 12 . J o sh Hay e s (45 ); 13 . D am o n Bu ck master ( 4 1) : 14. Mark Mill er (3 8 ): 15. (T IE) Do ug Cha ndler /Ch risto pher Rankin ( 32 ); 17. Clint Brotz (28); 18. Chri s Cayl or (25); 19. Steve Crevier (23) : 20 . Jo hn H c ~~ins (22). Upco ming Rounds: Round 4 - Loudon, New Hampshire , J une 18 Round 5 . Monterey, Californ ia, Jul y 9 A MA/Lockhart P h illip s 7 5 0cc Supersport Ser ies R o und 3 : Road Amer ica BuCkV The Master By H E N N Y R A Y A B RA M S ELKHARTLAKE, WI, JUNE 10 T o rej u ve n a te h is c h a m p io nshi p ho p es , Ch a pa rral Mazda S uzu k i's Dam o n Bu c k m a st e r needed two things to happen at Road America : He needed to win , and he needed championship points leader John Hopkins to falte r. Valvoli ne EMGO Suzuki's Hopkins did his part, crash ing on the first lap , then Buc kma ster did his . holding off Ho pk in s ' teammate Grant Lopez before p ull ing awa y in the final few laps to win his first Loc kh a rt Phillips USA 750cc S upersport ra ce in nearly 1 1 m on th s. "We've come he re being optimistic of getting the poi nts back a nd getti ng the le a d back, " Bu c km a s ter sa id. "I want to win that championship." The season started badly for Buckm a s ter , wit h a b roken valve in the ope ni n g round a t Da yt ona . Ne xt ca me a s e c ond last we e k a t Road Atl anta , a nd now a win, his s e cond ca reer 750c c Supersport win , his first com ing a t Brain erd at the e nd of la st Jul y. In ord er to put him s e lf in th e c ha m pions h ip m ix, he 'll h a ve to get pa st a numb er of riders , in clud in g tod ay ' s th ird p la ce fin ish er Ji m my Mo or e of Ric c i Mot orsports. Moore st uck wit h th e lea de rs fo r h al f t he race before they powere d a way. Even so, he wa s a ble to lead an AMA Championsh ip for the firs t time in his ca reer. After three of nine races , Moore lea ds Hopk ins , win ner of the first two races , 87 -83 , with Lopez one point ba c k. Buckmaster is back in s ixth with 69 points. The ra ce today was between Buck master and Lopez , with Lopez leading the first and fift h laps , Buckm a ster leading all t he ot hers . Moore was close but powerless to move up. There wasn 't a lot betwe e n Buck m aster and Lopez, th o ugh Lopez was able to exploit Bu c km a s te r's weak ne s s go ing thro ug h the tu rn six lefthand er just past the Toy ota Bridge . Twi c e, Lopez passed Bu ckmas te r there, once with incidenta l contact. "I was actu ally a little s lower into that t urn tha n G ra nt was for sure , " Buckmaster said . "He sort of stuck cue I e th e wh ee l in t here, a nd I was ju st com m itted and I couldn 't sit it up a ny qu ick er , and we m ad e co nt a c t. I ca me o ut of th e turn , a nd I loo ked a ro u nd a nd th ere wa s no dust , s o I figured h e was still on." Th e pair sta yed tog ether until t he fi n a l fo u r lap s wh en Bu ckmas ter inc he d a way, opening up a o ne-s econd g a p o n la p e ight that would g row to 2.379 at th e end of th e IO-Ia p , 40 m ile race. "We we re s lowing e ve ryo ne down . that was for s ure," Buc kmaster sa id of the early pa ce he an d Lopez set. "O nce I knew I co uld get past and pu t a co uple of good laps together, I was pretty su re I could pull away and win the race." Buckmaster set a new race record of 105.759 mph , bettering the 1999 mark of 104.590 mph . He c om plete d the race in 22 minutes , 41 .580 s econds , 19 seconds faster than it had taken Lopez to win the 1999 ra c e. "We went back and forth fo r a wh ile there , a nd I th ink I ga ve him a good c hallenge for a littl e whi le ," Lopez sa id. F rom h is perc h in thir d , Mo o re thought th e lea ders we re h o ldin g each other up , but it was a good thing for him . Without the power re s erve s of the le a ders , he needed a draft to hang on . Once it was broken, he was a lone in a secure third . n e _ S • .J U N E 7 ,2000 13