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/128622
AMA,/Ch e vy T ru c k A MA S upe r b ik e C h a mpionship R o u n d 7 : Lag u na S eca R a c eway unti l th e closi ng la ps . A t tha t p o int, going to have to win . Mat IMladin] has Ha yden was able to gap th e Aust ra li an be en p r etty solid and at Loudon he sli g htl y in traffic, c rossing th e li ne 2.6 p ulled o ut a g ap . I k new if I wa nted a se c o nds a head after M lad in r ea li ze d shot I was going to have to fight b ack . tha t th is wa sn 't h is ra c e to w in . I felt rea lly good about th e rac e today . H a y d en wa s so mew ha t surp rise d Com ing into it, I felt li ke I was go ing t o b e in tro u bl e , but a fte r m orn in g by h is p erform an c e . " It's a littl e b it o f both ," H a y d e n warm -up and qualify ing, I w asn 't feel - sa id . " T he b ike is g etting a little b et - ing too confident. But once the race te r an d I' m getting more comfortable g ot started , it felt pretty good . E a rly on it. But a lot o f it is kn ow ing t hat if I o n , I d idn 't have any rea l good lap s, w ant a shot at the championsh ip , I' m b ut once I got ro ll ing I got up there . You'd think John Kocin sk i woul d have been all sm iles after eam ing the first AMA Superbike pole position of his career, but he wasn't, Kocin ski is a perfectionist and he knew he could do bett er · especi ally at the track he call s hom e, Laguna Seca Raceway. Still, Kocin ski was impressive on the roller coaster-like trac k. Imp ressive enough to lead not only the AMA Superbike men, but also the Worl d Superbike field - at least on Friday when final qual ifyi ng was held for the AMA Series. But it wasn't good enough to make Kocinski com pletely happy. He tum ed a 1:26.026, but he th inks he should be doing 1:24s. All he needs is some parts, he says. Something to m ak e his Ducati exact ly the way he wants it. "Everything seems okay, but I'm jus t trying to get some of the old parts back that I used to use," Kocinski said. "We'v e got some of them back now and you can see the difference it' s made jus t in one week - but we're still far from being ready to race. We're gettin g there and that's the good thing, and I want to thank the team and the mechanics for putting in a lot of effort - but we still have a long way to go. Right now we have to get on the phone and get parts ordered for the next race we don't have 'em here. I would be happ y to do some 24s around here - not 26s. We'r e first and that's better than last week, but we'r e still far from where I want to be. It's j ust some parts that aren't right. Everythi ng is there, it just has to be adjusted right. We need to go somewhere and do some testing and we haven't been able to do that." As for the race, Kocin ski was quietly confident. "I've always been able to pound 'em out here, so I think we'll be close," he grinned. Behind Kocinski was the surprisi ng Tommy Hayden on the factory Yamaha. Hayden j umped to the top of the qualifying list late in the session with his 1:26 .042, putti ng him second on the grid. He'd tailed Kocin ski to get his good lap , but he was honest enough to adm it it. "At Loudon our bike was really good and I got run off the track in the first come r," Hayden explained. "But our lap times were really good and I think we could have been on the podi um there. So we came in here with a little bit of mom entum and a pretty good setup . I really like this place. This moming we had a Iittie bit of a tran smission problem , but I felt really good. I got a good tow from Johnny (Koci nski] which helped get the lap, but I felt really comforta ble. I feel like we have a good setup for the race." If Kocinski had a hard tim e smili ng, the task was even more difficult for Yoshimu ra Suzuki' s Mat Mladin. The Superbike Series points leader lapped at 1:26.289. but he felt he was in tro uble - tro uble that wouldn 't be fixed by race time , he said. It was also the first tim e in the last three races that Mladin wasn't on pole posit ion. "We're ju st not doing any good," Mladin said. "We ju st haven't got the thing sorted out. We're sucking. I don't know if we can get it sorted out. I'll tell you tomorrow after the race. We don't know what we're doing at the moment. We're ju st going around in circles. The > race setu p is even wor se. It Fill ing the front row was Mladin's teammate Aaron Yates, with the Georgian clickin g off a 1:26.332. Vance <, Hines Ducati's Steve Rapp would lead the second row. The Northem Califom ian tumed a 1:26.427 to head Am erican Honda's Nicky Hayden. Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom and Yamaha's Jamie Hack ing. 14 JULv19,2000' cue I. n e vv s J o hn [Kocinsk i] th re w it away and M at [M lad in] m ad e a mi sta k e , a nd I just p ut m y head do wn a nd ran off some pretty consis tent la ps and ju st k ept push in g all th e way to th e en d ." Hayde n k no ws t hat M lad in is a tough customer and he knew that the S u zuki ri de r was fully ca pa ble of making that m o ve in turn 1 1. " He w as wo rry in g me, I a in 't going to lie to you ," Hay d en said. " He was rig ht there an d h e kept getting up th e ins ide o f m e there in t u rn 1 1. Once so m ebody ge ts u p th e insid e , t here's no t a wh ol e lot y o u c an d o about it so I j ust leane d o n h im a li ttl e bit so m aybe he 'd m iss h is apex . Each time he could n 't get it sto p pe d and turned in t ime and I was a ble to g et back under him. The [RC] 5 1 was ru nning really good u p the front straightawa y and I th ink th at was a big reas o n why I was able to get back b y h im. I was bl o c k in g g oing i n t o the Corkscrew b e cau s e I kn ow he l i k es to pass th ere ." eN ~guna Seca Raceway Monterey, California Resulls: Ju ly 8, 2000 SUPERB IK E QUALlFVING: I . Jo hn Kocin sk i (I :26. 0 26): 2. To m my Hoyden (I :26. 042) ; 3 . Mot Mlodin ( I :26. 289 ): 4 . Aaron Vo'es ( I :26. 33 2): 5 . Steve Ropp (1 :26 .427 ): 6. Nicky Hoyden (1 :26 .453 ): 7 . Eric Bostrom ( 1:26 .4 9 2); 8 . J am ie Hac k in g ( 1:26.96 3): 9. Doug Chondle r ( 1:27 .009 ): 10. Mi9 uel (Above) Aaron Yates (20) leads Eric Bostrom (3 2) and Tommy Hayden (2 2) through the Corkscrew. Yates ended up third, w ith B o strom f ou rth and Hayden fifth. (Above left) Do ug Chandler lea ds Scott Russell. Chandler ended up n int h with Russell 11 th. DuHomel (1 :27 .019): II. Kurt is Roberts ( 1:27.690): 12. Ja son Pridm or e ( 1:2 7. 694 ); 13. Larry pegra m ( I :28 .542): 14. Scott Russell ( 1:28.949): 15. Pascal Picotte (1 :29 .802): 16 . Ji mmy Moore ( 1:30 .9 16) : 17. Gra nt L opez ( I :3 1.0 0 2 ) : 18 . .Jerne s Rand o lp h ( 1:3 1.359): 19. J ohn Hopk ins ( 1:3 1.853 ): 20 . Gobriel H enn in g ( 1: 3 1.9 3 8 ); 2 1. A n d rew D eath era g e ( 1:32.9 18) : 22 . Deen Mizdol (1 :34.23 5): 23 . Sebne Clerke ( I :34 .345 ): 24. John Dugo n ( I :34 .76 7): 25. Mik e Cicc ott o ( 1:35 .653 ): 26 . Cory Coli ( I :35.784 ): 27 . Dou g Pitco ck ( 1:3 5 .9 29 ) ; 28 . Car lo s Ma c ia s ( 1:36 .030). AJfIA SUPERBIK E NATIO NA L: I. Nick y Hoyden (Hen}; 2. Mat Mladin (Suz) ; 3. Aaron Yates (SOl); 4. Er ic Bo stro m (Ka...... ); 5 . Tom my Hayd en (Yam): 6. St ev e Rapp ( Du c) : 7 . J ami e Hack in g (Ya m) ; 8 . Miguel Du Hamel (Hon) ; 9. Doug Chandler (Ke....); 10. Larry Peg ra m ( Duc) : 11. Sc ott Russe ll ( H· D): 12 . Pascal Picott e (H· D) : 13 . Jo mes Randol ph (Suz): 14. Sh ane Cla rke (S U1): 15. Mike Ciccotto (S u:); 16 . Gabri el Henning (Sue): 17. Dean Mizda l (S uz) ; 18 . Andy Deatherage (SUI): 19 . Jo hn Dugan (SOl ); 20. Doug Pitcock (Suz); 21. Cory Coli (suz); 22. Cortos ~cia s (Duc) . lime: 40 min., 50.932 sec. Dis ta nc e: 28 laps. 61 .6 miles Average speed: 9 1.7 14 m ph Margin or vict ory: 2.612 sec. AMA S U PER B IK E NATI ONAL C 'S H I P POINT STANDINGS ( Aft er 7 or 12 rou nds ): 1. Mat Mladin (2 4 1/ 4 win s); 2. Nicky Hoyd en (232/3) : 3 . A aron Yat e s ( 195) ; 4 . Eric Bo str o m ( 19 1) ; 5 . Do ug Cha ndler (168): 6. M i 9u el D u Ho me l (16 0): 7 . Tomm y Ho y den (157) : 8 . Steve Rop p (15 1) : 9 . Pascal Picott e (1 42) ; to. Jamie Hac king ( 134) ; II. Jo hn Koc inski (130) : 12. Lor ry Pegrom (120) : 13. J ason Pridmo re ( 1 16 ); 14. M ik e Cicco tto (9 3); 15. Je mie Bow man (93) . Upcoming Rounds Round 819: Lexington, Ohio. July 15 Round 10: Brainerd. Minnesota. July 30