Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

thing went away. " Mladin was in second at the time, a nd he got a b ird s -e ye v iew of the crash . "He wa s s o clo se to it [the seam in turn 11 1 every la p ," Mlad in s ai d . "I wa s thinkin g , 'T his is going to get a b it n a sty if h e ju st g ets a little bit wro ng.' Th is tim e I act ua lly saw his fro nt wheel ru n over it, an d I sa id to m ys el f, ' He's going .' and the n e xt m inute it wa s gone . He was really close to it every lap . I try and stay well cle a r of that th ing ." No w it was down to two : Mlad in a nd Yates . Bostro m and Ha y d e n would figh t their own ba tt le for th ird place, but they weren 't close enough to get in vol ve d in th e fracas at the fron t. Mladin led th e wa y until the 16th lap whe n Yate s s lipp ed past. Then the Georg ia n started to pull awa y, until being badly balk ed by lapped ride r Sha ne Clark o n th e 19th la p. That led Mladin ba ck into the pic ture and the pair ran nose to tail for the duration , with Mlad in never finding a way past. At t he line it was Yates by 1.8 sec o nds, but o nly after Mla din co nceded th e vic to ry in the fin al two co rne rs , ne arl y coasting to the finis h line . "I so rt of knew where Aaron was fa st ," Mla d in said . "We ll, Aa ron 's fast all the way aro und thi s place. It's a track wh e re he rea lly excels at very well , and I' m ha ppy just to be as quick as Aa ron wh en I come h ere . That's the truth. I'll struggle at th is place and Aaron's really good , so to do what we did toda y was pretty good for us . Th e re were no moments . I e n jo y riding a rou nd w ith Aar on , because he ke eps things under contr ol. He lo o ks a t b it o u t of co n trol som etimes o n th e exit a nd the e nt ry, but yo u know it's unde r cont ro l, so it' s ne ver a problem ." For Yates is it was the payoff after a s ea s o n of ha rd wo rk . He ' s b e en c lose before , but for once he di d n' t play second fiddle to Mladin and Ha y den. "T his year's been going re all y good fo r m e ." Yates sa id . "Eve rything 's jell ing real good. I go t a good mech ani c , Vic [Fasola ]: he ke eps up with things re al good . We co m m unic a te good, he unde rst ands wha t I'm ta lking about. He rides himself , so he knows what's going on , a nd he builds a pretty good motor , too . S o that helps . Last year I suffered a lot with that. My moto rs weren 't too fast. But it fee ls re ally good to be up here and fin all y win so me ra ces . I'v e be e n cha s ing th e se gu ys all yea r. Like Ma t [Mlad in] says , this pla c e is abou t th e b e st c h a nce I'v e g ot a nyw he re of beating th em - a nd it all wo rked o ut good . I k new Mat was goi ng to be th e re in this race tod ay. He was going re a l good th is morn ing. I thin k th e y m ig ht ha ve fig ured some thing s o ut yesterday after the race o n his bike . I felt like th e race wou ld be a littl e quicker today . I didn 't realize it would be as quick as it was , because it re al ly seem ed to go by pr etty fast. I enjoyed it. It was a good race." Behind the pai r of Yosh Suzuk is, Hayden had m oved around Bostrom , with the la tte r slowing a tad too much on a racetrack that n o w featured some sprinkl e s of rai n in th e back s ection. " We wer e a lot fas ter t oday 28.1," Bostrom said. "We were going nea rly a s e cond faster tha n yeste rday, but wh atev er th ose guys had we did n 't. Wh en it s tarted ra in ing , I s lowed down too m uch a nd tha t defi nite ly cost me a s pot on th e pod ium . That's a bu mmer, bu t I wa nted to win. I cou ld n't b el ie ve tha t t hos e guys we re beat ing u s . I was so mad . I d idn ' t t hi n k we should b e getti ng beat. I was re all y d is a p po int e d and bummed ." Hayden woul d hold o n to the posi tion , working his wa y onto the pod ium for the second -stra ight da y. "We had a good battl e , a good battle for third , I mean: Ha yden said. "I wish we could have been battling for th e le a d. We made some c h a nge s to d ay . Ye sterda y , I didn 't feel tha t good. I wa s jus t kind of up th er e hol d ing o n to the guys . It' s one of them thi ngs - third , fourt h , I was falling back at the beg inning . I c rashed this m ornin g [in th e 600c c S upers port fina l], a nd maybe tha t's why the first lap I was a little b it te nta tive . That's reall y no excuse. I just didn't have it tod a y . I thin k the se tup wa sn 't exactly right, a nd no way could I m atch these g uys ' p a c e th at th ey we re run n ing . Th ey we re a ble to ge t aw ay fro m m e , a nd th en Miguel thr ew it' away , a nd I ju st tr ied to a t le a st get on the box . And I wa s hoping Aaron wo uld be at Mat." T ho ugh di sapp ointed with fou rth , (Ab ove le ft) Larry Pegram (7 2) f inished s eve nth on Sa t u rday , one b etter than Doug Chandler (1 0 ). Pegram ran into m e c hanica l prob lems on Su nday, while Chandler improved one sp ot t o seventh, strugglin g with traction p rob lems. (Above) The Ha rt e y team ran together f o r much of Saturday's race, Pascal Picotte (21) finis hed ninth both days, Russell (4) dropped out on Saturday before an 11 th-place fin ish on Sunday. Bostrom was well clear of Kocin s ki who in turn h a d le ft his t eam mate Ra pp beh ind a ft er a ne ar ra c e -long tussle . Th e fo rme r World S u perb ike Cha m p ion wa s still ha ving fron t -e nd c hatter problems. "We made it wo rse ," Kocinsk i s aid . "Actua lly, I was a lmost goin g to pull in. You c a n ' t ra ce - y o u just r id e a rou nd . Th at's no g ood . I just ke pt go ing . We need to g et this th ing so rted ou t, but it 's hard to do it o n a race weekend. We need to te st, but un fortun ate ly I don't th ink we have the money to te st. It's the same thi ng I've be en sayi ng for the last five ra c e s nothing has gotten b e tt e r . We 've managed to find little band-aids , but noth ing to fix the problem ." Behind the pa ir of Vance [, Hines Duc at is, Chandler got the best of Tomm y Ha yden with Pi cotte and Pridmore round ing out the top 10. Ru s sell was 11 th, coming up ju st sh ort in his battle with Pridmore . CN Hay den (Hon); 3 . Eric Bostrom (Kaw) ; 4. Mat Mlad in (Suz); 5. J oh n Kocin sk i ( Due) ; 6. J ason Pridmore (S uz) ; 7. La rr y Pegr am ( Due) ; 8. Doug Chandl er (K aw) ; 9. Pascal Picotte (H· D) ; 10. J ami e Hack in g ( Yam) ; 1 1. T omm y Ha y d en ( Yam ); 12 . M ig u el DuHamel (Hon) ; 13. Mike Cicccttc (SOl); 14 . Jimmy Moore ( Suz) ; 15 . Sha ne Cla rke (Suz); 16 . A ndy Deatherage (SUl ) ; 17. Dean Mizdal (SOl ); t8. James Doerfler (SOl); 19. J ohn J acobi (Suz); 20. Em anuel Manus uthakis (Suz ) ; 21. Todd Sny de r (Su z) ; 2 2 . Gabriel Henning (Due); 23 . Scott Russell (H-D) . Time: 38 mi n.• 31.198 sec. Distance: 27 laps, 64 .8 miles. Average speed: 100 .936 mph Margin of victory: 3.962 sec. RACE nNO: 1. Aar on Yates (Suz); 2. Mat Mlad in ( SUl ) ; 3 . Ni cky Hayd en (H an ) ; 4 . Er ic Bostro m (Kaw); 5. J ohn Koc insk i (Due); 6. Steve Rapp (Due) ; 7. Doug Chandler (Kaw ); 8 . Tommy Hayd en (Yam): 9 . Pascal Picotte (H· D); 10. Ja son Pridmore (Suz); 11. Scott Russell (H· D); 12. Jamie Hack ing (Yam ) ; 13. Shane Clarke (SUl ); 14. Mik e Ciccotto (Suz); 15. J immy Moo re (Suz); 16. Rich Co nicelli (Suz); 17. A nd rew Deatherage (Suz) ; 18. J ohn Ja cob i (Suz); 19 . Dean Mizdal (Suz); 20 . Br ian Livengood (Suz) ; 21 . James Doerfl er (Suz); 22. Todd Snyder (Suz); 23 . Gabrie l Henning (Suz); 2 4. Ema nuel Manu suthakis (Suz); 25 . Miguel DuHamel (Han) . Time: 38 mi n.• 25 .070 sec. Distance: 27 laps. 64 .8 m iles. Avera ge speed: 97 .455 mp h Margin of vict ory: 1.869 sec. AMA SUPERBIK E NATIONAL C'SHIP POIN T STANDINGS ( A ft er 9 of 12 rou nds) : 1. Mathew Mlad in (300 /4 win s); 2. Nicky Hay den (293/3); 3 . Aa ron Yates (269/2) ; 4 . Eri c Bostr om (247) ; 5. Doug Chandler (215) : 6. Tom my Hayd en (200 ); 7. Miguel DuH am el ( 187); 8 . Pascal Pic ot te ( 186) ; 9 . (TIE) Jo hn Kocin ski/ Steve Rapp (18 3) : 11. Jamie Hacki ng ( 174 ): 12. Ja son Pridmo re ( 163); 13 . Larry Pegram ( 148); 14. J immy Moore ( 130 ): 15. Mik e Cic cott o ( 12 8 ); 16 . Scott Russell ( 10 9 ) ; 17 . And re w Deatherage (l08) ; 18. Dean Mizdal (l06); 19. .Jemie Bowma n (93 ): 20 . Shane Clarke (82). Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington. O hio Results: July 15-16, 2000 SOPERBIKE Q UA UFYING: 1. Migue l DuH am el ( 1:2 7.873 ); 2. N icky Hayd en ( I :2 7. 9 85 ); 3 . Er ic Bost rom ( 1:28.102) ; 4 . Aa ron Yates (1:28.137) ; 5 . Mat Mlad in ( 1:28.55 1); 6. Steve Rapp ( 1:28.709); 7. L arr y Pe g ram (1:28 .7 7 9 ) ; 8 . T omm y Ha y den ( I :28.992 ); 9 . Doug Chandler (1 :29. 040); 10. J ason ' Pridmor e ( 1:29.073 ); 1 1. J a m ie Hack ing (1:29. 203): 12 . John Ko cin sk i (1:29 .585) ; 13 . Pa scal Pic otte ( 1:29 .66 8) ; 14 . Scott Russell (1 :30.723); 15. Da mon Buckma ste r ( 1:31. 653) ; 16 . Gran t Lopez (1:32.92 4) ; 17. Mik e Cicco tto ( 1:32 .928); 18. Roger Lee Hayden ( 1:32 .93 1); 19. Rich Conl cell i ( I :33.0 17); 20. Jimmy Moore ( 1:33.497); 2 1. Shane Clark e ( 1:34 .709 ); 22 . A ndy Deathera ge ( 1:34 .728 ); 23 . J am es Doe rfler (1 :34.772) : 24 . Brian U ven good ( I :35. 142 ) ; 25 . Ga b r iel Henn i n g ( I : 3 5 .5 6 5 ) ; 26 . D ea n M i l d a l ( 1:35 .847 ); 27. J oh n Jacobi (1 :36 .732); 28 . Ma rc Underberg ( 1:37.537 ); 29 . Todd Snyder ( 1:37.958); 30. Jay Do y l e ( 1: 3 8. 0 3 3 ) ; 31. Ch uck A llen ( 1:38.07 1); 32 . Em anuel Man usuthakis ( 1:38.254 ). RACE ONE: 1. Aaron Yate s (S Ul) ; 2 . N icky Upcoming Rounds Round 10 - Brainerd, Minnesota, July 30 Round 11 - Fountain, Colorado , Auqust 13 Aaron Yates (le ft) sprays the bubbly after w inning Saturday's Superbike race, his first Su p erbike win of the year. Ert c Bostrom (right), who finished third, joins in th e c elebrat ion . cue I e n e _ S • JULY 26 .2000 9

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