Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA/Che vy T r u c k s U .S . Supe rb ik e S e r ie s R o u n d 4 / 5 : R o a d America two Suzukis had wor ke d agains t each other there at the end. "Just the last half a lap," Mladin said. "I tried to get underneath Nicky [Hayden] com ing out of the Carousel , and I made a little mistake. I didn 't actually see Aaron ne xt to me and that cost us the race . I was trying to get him before t he Kink because he wa s p retty slow the re. I tried to do the jo b there bu t a fter yesterday it's no t too bad." Yate s h a d also g iven it hi s b e st s ho t. but he ca me up s ho rt - finis hing right on Mladin's rear wheel. " I t ried to do what I c ou ld to get unde r Ma t , but I did n't wa nt to mess us up to o ba d ," Yates s aid of th e fina l lap . "I ju st cou ldn't g et a driv e . I was spinn ing up there , and then I got the thing wh eeli eing. I had to let him go. " DuHame l's fo urth pla ce wa s s ome wh at of a rev el ation - at least com pa red to h is 12 th- pl ace fin is h fro m the d ay befor e . "F ro m the fourth row , that' s n ot bad ," DuHamel sa id . "There are ju st so many things that have been go ing not qu ite ou r way. T he list is too long . All week e n d fo r s ome re a s o n there wa s som e m is c o mmu n ic a t io n between o ur suspe ns ion guy a nd our h ea d g uy. The comp ression was screwed in to the max, but th ey were te lling me that the bike was fine and lik e t h e other guy 's . Tod a y th ey fo und o ut what was wrong with it . Mitch [Leo na rd - one of DuHame l's c rew ] th ink s he did th e right th ing , a n d so me bo dy e lse m ight hav e pla yed with it o r someth ing. Anyway , it's too early to m ak e a cons p iracy theo ry , but the b ike wa s s o ba d a ll we e kend . Whe n we fo und the p ro b lem, and the lap t im es ca me. Eve n today I tho ught the tire wa s maybe a littl e o ut o f roun d and wa s co mi ng apart. I had to rele arn how to ride tha t bike in th e race be cause we o nly got th e setup th is m orn ing . It fee ls g reat to make some time o n t he le a d ing . grou p and ride the b ike like it should be ridd e n . We ' re le a rn ing a lot. " As for Ko ci ns k i, b e in g just over two and a half seconds behind wasn 't m uc h consolation. "T wo and a h a lf seco nds is like tomorrow for me, " he sai d . "We have our work cut o ut for us. " S ixth place went to Bost rom , who was suffering from a la c k of grip on the factory Kawasaki. "We just had zero gri p ," he said . "It ne ve r e ven tried to hook up a nd high side me." CN Road America Elkhart lake. Wisconsin Results: June 10-11 , 2000 SU PERB I K E QU ALI FY I N G: 1. M at Mladin (2:09. 425 ): 2. Nic ky Hay den (1 :09 .827); 3 . Aaron Yates (2: 10 .209): 4 . Ku rtis Robert s (2 :10 .225) : 5 . St ev e Ra p p (2 : 10 .248) : 6 . Dou g Ch and l er (2 : 10.554 ); 7. John Kocin sk i (2:10.6 61 ); 8 . Eric Bostrom (2: 10.9 10 ); g . Larry Pegram (2:11.825); 10. Scott Ru s s ell (2: 12 .1 18) ; 11. J a m ie Ha cki n g (2 : 12 . 14 6 ): 12 . J ason Pridmore (2 : 12 . 14 1); 13 . Miguel DuHamel (2 : 12 .3 56) ; 14 . Pasc al Picott e (2 :12.40 1); 15 . Tomm y Ha y den (2 ;1 2 .998 ) : 16 . Dam on Buckma ster (2 : 15.04 4 ); 17. Jimmy Moor e (2: 15.84 5) ; 18. Mik e Ciccotlo (2: 17.356 ): 19. Rog er 12 JUNE 7 .2000' cue • e Le e Ha yd en (2: 17.640 ) : 20 . Ja mie Bo wm an (2 :17.834): 2 1. T ripp Nobles (2:18.287 ); 22 . Shane Clarke (2: 18 .6 54 ): 23 . Sha wn Co nrad (2: 19.5 60 ); 24. Ran da ll Mennenga (2 :20 .296); 25 . Andrew Deatherag e (2:2 0.477 ); 26 . John J acobi (2:2 1.17 1); 27 . Dea n Mildal ( 2 :2 2. 5 4 3 ); 28. Jeffrey Purk (2 :23 .801 ): 29 . Rob Bowerm an Jr. (2:23 .25 3) ; 30 . Mik e Walsh (2 :24 .280). RA CE ONE: 1. Nicky Hayden (Hon ); 2. Aa ron Yates (Suz): 3. Eri c Bostrom (Kaw) ; 4. John Kocinski (Duc); 5. Mat M1adin (Suz); 6. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 7. Steve Rapp (Duc ); 8. Doug Chandler (Kaw); 9. Tommy Hayden (Yam): 10. Scott Russell (H· D) ; I I. Pascal Picotte (H· D); 12. Miguel DuHamel (Hon) ; 13. Jimm y Moore (Suz); 14. Jamie Bowma n (Suz); 15. La rry Pegram (Duc ) ; 16 . Mike Ciccotto (Suz); 17. Andrew Death erage (Suz ) ; lB . John Jacobi (Suz ) ; 19. Dean Mizda l (SUI); 20 . Rob Bowerman Jr. (SUI) ; 2 1. Je ffrey Purk (SUI): 22. Jamie Hack ing (Yam) ; 23 . Mike Walsh (Yam ). lime: 35 mi n.• 07 .713 sec. Distan ce: 16 laps. 64 mi les. Average speed : 109.313 mph Margi n of victory: 1.486 sec. RA CE TWO : I. Nicky Hay den ( Hon ) ; 2. Mat Ml adin (Suz ) ; 3 . A ar on Yat e s (Suz) ; 4 . M ig uel Du Hamel (Ha n ) ; 5. J ohn Kocin ski (Du c ) ; 6 . Eric Bo strom ( Kaw) ; 7. Jaso n Pridmore (Suz); 8. J am ie Hac k in g ( Yam) ; 9 . St ev e Rapp ( Duc) ; 10 . Dou g Chandler (Kaw); I I. Larry Pegram (Due): 12. Pascal Picott e (H ·D); 13. Tom m y Hayden (Yam); 14. Mike Ciccotto (Suz) ; 15. Ja m ie Bowma n (Suz); 6. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 17. A ndrew Deatherage (Suz): 18. J ohn J acobi (Suz); 19. Dean Mizdal (Suz) ; 20. Jeffrey Purk (Suz) ; 21. Rob Bowerman J r. (Suz); 22 . Mik e Walsh ( Yam) ; 2 3 . Randall Me nne nga (Su z) ; 2 4 . Sco tt Russell (H· D). lime : 35 min.• 02 .840 sec. Dist ance: 16 laps. 64 miles Average speed: 109 .567 mph Margin vict ory: 0.457 sec. AMA SUP ERBIKE C 'SH IP S ER I ES POINT S STAND INGS (A Uer 5 of 12 round s): 1. Mat Mladin (171 /3 wins) ; 2. Nicky Hayden ( 170 /2) : 3. Aaron Yates (139) ; 4 . Eric Bostrom ( 13 2) ; 5 . Doug Chandler (124 ); 6 . Mig ue l DuH am el ( 1 16) ; 7 . Tommy Hayden ( 107); 8. J ohn Koc in ski (10 4) ; 9. (T IE) Pascal Picotte/Steve Rapp (1 00) ; 11. Ja son Pridm ore (96 ); 12. Jamie Hack ing (8 1); 13. J immy M oor e (80) ; 14. Larry Pegram (7 9) ; 15 . J am ie Bo wman (7 5); 16. Mike Cic co tto (65); 17. Andrew Death era ge (56); 18 . Dean M ildal (4 9) ; 19 . Sco tt Russell (4 7): 20 . John Jacobi (40) . or Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Loudon. New Hampshire. J une 18 Round 7 - Monterey, California. J uly 9 AMA/Pro Honda O ils BOOcc S u p e r s p o rt S e r ie s Round 3: R o a d Amer ica Miguel! By P A U L CARRUTHER S PH O T O S B Y H E N N Y R A Y A B RA M S g HART LAKE, WI, JaNE I I iven his history in 600cc Su pe rsport ra cin g , we re a lly shouldn' t b e s ur prised a ny mo re when Miguel DuH a m e l ma nages to somehow pull off the impossible. The all -tim e class win leader dis played his m a g ic o ne more time to day , comi ng fr o m seemingly nowhere t o an amaz ing 600cc Supersport final at Road America on his American Honda- backed CBR600. How amazing was the race? Well. the to p five finis he rs were separated by just .4 of a second . But it wa s DuHame l who came out on top . Des p ite ne ver really coming that close to ev e n leading the l Ov la p, 40- mile race , Du Ham el Ie d when it coun ted m o s t - th e la st h an d fu l of ya rds before the finis h line. Bid ing h is t im e for m o s t of t he ra c e - a fro nt -en d c hatter gra dually d issi pa ted when the fue l loa d lig ht en ed and the tires sta rted sliding - the Fr en ch Cana d ian was there o n th e final la p , us in g t he d o u b le d raft of Eri o n Rac ing 's Ku rt is Rob erts an d Yam ah a ' s Tommy Hayde n to s torm pa st righ t at th e line to score the 3 7th 6 00cc Supe rsp o rt v ict o ry of h is n e VIl's career. Roberts, meanwhile, m a na ged to hang on for second place. th ough Yamaha 's Jamie Hack ing was able to jus t scoot past his teammate Hayden at th e finish line for th ird. Tommy Hayden held on for fourth , jus t ahead of his brother Nicky on the American Honda CB R6 0 0 . Kawasa ki's Eric Bostrom was the final ride r to run with the lead g roup, though he was at or near the fron t of it until the la te going when he slipped back to finish an event ual sixth . Yoshim u ra S uzuki ' s Aa ron Yates didn 't ha ve the ho rs epow er to hang with the le ad pa c k, but he hea ded the n e x t g ro u p an d fin ish e d s eve nth . The n c ame th e Erio n Ra ci ng Hond a of J os h Hayes , th e Yoshimura S uzuk i o f J a s on Pridm or e a n d th e Bru c e Tran sportation Group Honda of J a ke Ze mke, rounding out th e top 10 . Altho u g h t he v et er an DuH am el wa s able to s nooker Roberts a nd Co . at the fin ish line , the youngste r lea ds the c ha m pi o n s h ip poin ts sta nding s a fte r three rounds by a si ngl e point o ver DuH am el , 95 -94 . Bo st rom is th ird in the series stand ings with 8 8 poi nt s , e ight po ints clear o f Tommy Ha yde n . Pridm ore hol ds down fifth in the se ries standings with 7 1 points. Though th e races don't get mu ch better than this one. it did ha ve a bit of d ifficult y getting g o in g . Two re d flags s toppe d t he pro c e eding s . but t he th ird t im e p r ov ed t o b e th e charm . Ag a in , the ho le shot wen t to Ha c king (his thi rd s tra ig ht, th ough he was fortunate th a t th e second portio n was red flagge d be ca us e h e ' d alr ea dy r e c e iv ed a s top - and -g o pe na lty from t he AMA for jum p ing t he seco n d s t art ) w ith Bo s tr o m , Ha c kin g a n d Rob er t s s lo t te d in beh ind h im . Two oth e rs had been ra ther fortu nat e for the red flags - DuHa mel a nd Prid more . DuHa m el had run straight in turn six and Pridmore ha d actually dropped his Suzuk i in the gravel trap. Bo th were abl e to restart and both made the most of it. " No t to get too religious , but I th a n k God for taking good care of me - even though I got hurt two ye a rs in a row, it could ha ve been worse ," DuH a m e l said . "Th is week e nd it just happened like that. The red flag rea lly saved my glutiou s m a xim us . I ran s traight for some re a son , s o the second red flag definitely helped a lot. " T he ra c e u p fro n t wa s th rill ing th ro u ghout , with Robe rt s , Ha c k ing , Bostrom an d Tom m y Ha yd en do ing the leading wh ile Du Hame l an d Nicky ' Ha yden lurk ed a t th e rear of the lead p ack . Th e a c t io n rem ain ed hec ti c, with blo ck pa ss e s - m o re c on s ist en t with a motoc ross than a ro ad ra c e tak ing pla c e all ov er the four-m ile cir c u it. It was h ig h- le ve l act ion, but that's to be expected in th is cla ss. "Yo u h av e to b e a ggre s s ive one co rne r to th e n e xt . " Ha c k in g s a id la ter. "If yo u s tart ba c k ing off. yo u s t art d ro pp ing back , a nd t h e ne xt th ing yo u know yo u' re a t th e e nd of the draft a nd yo u're out of the s cen e ." With the first nine laps re ally only proving to sepa rate the me n fro m the boys. t he men went to th e line in a pack of s ix. But it was Du Ham el who got it all right. With Ro berts lead ing the way up th e hill. To m my Hayden pulled ou t of the d raft too early, s etting up a pe rfect double -d raft pass for DuHame l. "I wa s ju st ho ping tha t they would pull out as ear ly as th e y di d ," DuH a m e l said. "T o m m y [Ha y d en] pu lled o ut early com ing up the hill, a nd I got a double dr aft. It wo rked out goo d . My bik e go t mu ch bette r at the end , a nd I felt a lot more comforta ble running tha t pa ce ." Racing at its best. The 600cc Supersport fin a l was scintillating as always as a string of riders contested the lead at the front of the pack.

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