Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

p os it ion cha n g e in th e dr a ft o n the front s t ra ig ht. St ill , Roberts wa s in fro nt e ve ry lap throu gh the ei gh th , d rop ping back to third on the ninth with Lope z getting to the front a nd Ha yes having a b ig moment co mi ng on to th e fron t st raig ht , h is Ho n d a CBR929R R nearl y throwing him o ut of the seat. "That kind of woke me up a little bit and I cha nged a cou ple of things : Ha yes said . Fr om th en on he'd get t he bi ke turned s o on e r a n d do his accele rating on the fat c e nte r part of the tire . Roberts a nd Ha yes s wapped the le a d beck and forth setti ng up what s ho u ld have been an epi c fina l lap . Th en Ha yes ra ised his hand g oing into o ne to signal he was slowing a nd it was up to Rob e rts to hold off Lopez. "It didn 't m a ke any no ises. It just stopped ," Hayes said , " p ro b a b ly something electri cal. " Lopez had a big s lide in turn four and that ga ve Roberts s ome b re ath ing room . But Roberts had a sca re in turn s ix and Lopez was a ble to close back up . "Go ing into six a ll of the s udden th e th in g start e d to hop off the grou nd goi ng in , and the t hi ng j us t c a me co mp letel y a rou nd o n me , " Roberts sa id . "I tho ught the tire migh t ha v e rip pe d th e t re a d o ff o f it or s o met hing wit h the s ho ck o r so me t hi ng happen in g b e c au s e t he thing just loc ked up s ide ways and luc kily. I lo ok ed bac k com ing out a nd I had a bit o f a gap ." S e e ing the open ing, Lopez ma de a run in the fina l corner. "I tr ied it a litt le b it up the ins id e a n d lo c ke d th e fro nt ti re a littl e b it a nd ha d to ease up and settle for s ec ond: he said. Ho p k in s was alon e in fourth, ·a s was Zem ke in fourth . Th en ca me Gra ves Motorsports ' Steve Martin in fro nt of Grigg Electric' s S teve Grigg on th e Muzzy Rap CN to r 850. Brain erd Inte mati onal Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota Results : July 29, 2000 [Round 6 of BJ ESP OR TB IK E. COM FO RM ULA XTR EME: I. Kurt is Rob ert s ( Ha n); 2 . Gran t Lop ez (Suz); 3. Jo hn Hopk in s (Suz) ; 4 . Ja ke Zem ke (Ha n) ; 5 . Steve Ma rti n (Ya m) ; 6 . Ste ve Grigg ( Kew }: 7 . Ke vin Lacombe ( Ho n) ; 8 . Greg Fryer (Yam) ; 9. Chris Voelker ( Hon); 10. Dan Nyg aard (Yam); J 1. Paul Duc etc (Yam); 12. Jo sep h Gill (Ducati) ; 13 . Paul Hein en (D uca ti) ; 14. Br ian Boyd (Yam); 15 . Cecil Myers (Yam); 16 . J am es Mil roy _J r. ( Ka w); 17. J o sh Hay es ( Hon); 18. Wes Pogu e (Y am) : 19 . Eric Erlin g Hau go (S u z) : 20 . Gre go ry Whi te (S uz); 21. Rad Gr eaves (Suz); 22 . Da rren Lenzen (Yam); 23 . Ma rk Mill er (Yam) . lime: 2 1 min.• 26 .8 to sec . Distance : 13 laps. 39 miles. Av er age spee d : 109 . 107 m ph . M.ar gin of vic t ory : 0 .27 2 sec. ES PO RT B IK E.COM FO RMU LA XTR EME C' S HIP PO INT STANDINGS (A ft er 6 of 8 roun ds) : 1. Ku rtis Roberts (222/ 6 wins); 2. Jak e Zemke ( 167); 3. Josh Ha yes ( 164) ; 4. John Hopki ns ( 154 ); 5 . Steve Grigg ( 14 7): 6. Gran. Lopez (1 28) ; 7. Rad Greaves (125); 8 . Chris Voe lke r ( 102); 9 . Mark Mill er (98) ; to. Ceci l Mye rs (9 5 ); II. Kevin Lacom be ( 88) ; 12 . Gregory Wh ite ( 84); 13. Ste ve Martin (77 ); 14 . Cl int B rotz (4 7) ; 15 . Gab rie l H enning (4 4 ); 16. Paul Ducato (4 2) ; 17. Ja mes Doerfler (39) ; 18. Scot Dormier (37) ; 19. Paul Mu mford Jr. (32); 20 . Brian Boyd (30) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Fountain. Colorado, August 12 Round 8 - Rosamond. Calitornia, September 30 AMAlBuell Pro Thunder Series Round 6: Brainerd International Raceway B y HENN Y RAY A B RA M S P HO T O B Y B RIA N J. N E LSO N BRAINERD, MN, JULY 30 n Austra lia n won at Bra iner d o n S unda y and it wa s n 't Mat Mlad in . Instead it wa s Cra ig Conn ell , a 3 2 ye ar-o ld fro m Bris b a ne wh o handil y won the Buell Pro Thunder race in his AMA rac ing debu t on the Advanced Moto rsport's Ducati. Co nne ll wa s right at the front from the start, th en he got a taste of th e attrition that p lagues the Pro Thunder class wit h tw o front - runners , Du e shop / Bea udry Motorspor ts' Mike Smith and Tilley 's H-D/ Bue ll's Shawn Higbee. both retiring with mechan ical problems. Co n nell was battli n g with S mith whe n the vetera n Georg ian retired o n th e nin th of 13 laps - a nd tha t mea nt he could c ruise home . "Mike [Smith] a nd I had a bit of a ra c e tog e the r a nd t ha t wa s so rt of wh en we ju st t rad ed p la c e s a littl e bit," Conne ll sa id . "I don 't know what ha ppened to him . I just ke pt going for a few la p s a nd on c e I got m y le a d sort of be yond th e 10 -se con d ma rk , I jus t shut it down a little bit a nd took it ea sy to th e end." Not t hat ea sy. Conn e ll set a new rac e rec ord with a time of 22 m inutes , 35 .180 seconds for the 13-lap, 39 mile ra c e , averaging 103.603 mph , over four mph fa st er tha n the previous two-yea r o ld record . His marg in of victory was 13 .807 seconds. A Austral ia n Craig Co nnell (10 31 holds off M ike Smith in their battle f o r the Pro Thunder win . Connell took the win with Smith s uffe ring a mechanical f a ilure on the ni nth of 13 laps. Se c on d went to reig ni ng class cha m pio n Sh a wn Co nr ad on the HMC Ra c in g D u cati. C o nr ad ra n t h ird behin d S m ith a nd Co nne ll the en tire race, in he rit ing second wit h S m ith ' s demise , thoug h in no place to mo unt a cha llenge. Ad van c e d Mot or sports ' J eff Nash wa nted to make a run at Conrad unti l he h it som e bad luck as the ra c e wou nd down . "I sta rted closi ng the gap o n him : Nash sa id. "Unfo rtuna te ly, I came up o n a lapped ride r comi ng into turn ten with a waving yell ow so I backed right o ut of it and he a lmos t stopped . s o o nce again th e g ap was there . I got down to five s e c onds behind Shawn [Co nrad ] on the last lap and I fel t I could have c a ught hi m had t his not happened ." Still, it wasn 't a ba d result. Nash has finished on the pod ium at all six rounds a nd lea ve s Bra inerd with a 2 9 -p o int lea d o n Co nr ad , 183 - 154 , wit h two rounds to go . HMC Racing 's Dale Corser, Troy 's yo u nger b rother who wa s ninth today, is third with 138 points . " F o r m e today w a s k in d of a c runc h race , a lot of pr essure o n m e to do we ll so I wen t out the re with the m ind of trying to ride fa st a nd very c o n si ste ntl y a n d b e ge n t le o n t h e motor c ycle if yo u wa nt to ca ll it tha t," Nash said . Connell will be at Pike 's Pe a k . bu t whe ther he 'll be a t th e season fina le a t Wi llow Sp r ings wi ll h in g e o n money. cue I e "J e ff' s t a k in g m e to Pik e ' s a n d o bviously if we can get some sort of sponsorsh ip mon e y , we 'll go to Willow as we ll: Connell s aid . Fourth o n the day was Pogue Ra cing 's Wes Pogue with To m Hull fifth , and th e fifth Ducati at the top . Th e n ca me the first Buell bel ong ing to KMC Tele com 's Rich ie Morris, CN followed by six m ore Du catis . Brainerd Intemational Raceway Brainerd , Minnesota Results: July 3D, 2000 [Round 60t BI Bu a L PRO THUND ER: 1. Craig Connell (Due); 2 . Sha wn Co nrad ( Duc); 3 . Je ffrey Nash ( Due ): 4. Wes Pogue (D ue); 5. T om H ull ( Due); 6 . Ric h i e Morris (Duc); 7 . Bill St. Jo hn ( Due) ; 8 . Mo nte Nichols ( D ue) ; 9 . D al e Co rser ( D uc); 10 . M ike Kr y no c k (Due) ; 11. Mark MJinar ( Duc ); 12. Da vid Roy (Due} ; 13 . T im Mitch ell (S Ul) ; 14 . Mike Co nlin ( Suz ); 15 . Robert Terand o (D uc) ; 16. Rick y Bow ers (D ue); 17. Mike Sm it h ( D uc); 18 . T om C hauncey ( D uc ) ; 19 . M ike C iccotto ( Bue); 20 . Shawn Hi gbee (Bue) ; 2 1. Je ffrey Joh nson ( Bue ). Time: 22 m in .• 35.180 sec. Di stance: 13 laps . 39 m il es. A verag e spee d: 103 .60 3 mph. Marg in of victo ry : 13 .80 7 sec . BUE PRO THUNDE R C'SHIP PO INT STA NDIN GS ( After 6 of 8 ro un ds) : I. Jeffrey Na sh ( 18 3); 2 . Shaw n Conra d ( 153/2 wins); 3 . Dal e Corser ( 138); 4 . M;ke Smith ( 125/3): 5. Tom Hull ( 120) ; 6. Wes Pogue ( 116); 7. David Roy ( 112); 8. Richie Morris (107) ; 9 . B ill St. J ohn ( 106); 10 . Th omas Mo nt ano (87) ; 1 1. J ames Li ckwer (7 4) ; 12 . Mon t e N icho ls (70); 13. Mi ke Kryn ock (65 ); 14, Tom Chauncey (53 ); 15. Scot Dormier ( 5 2 ); 16. Shawn H ig bee ( 5 1); 17 . Ju st in Garvin ( 5 0); 18 . ( T IE) M ike C ic c otto / Thomas Foumier (48 ); 20 . Robert Terando (4 5) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Fountain. Colorado. August 13 Round 8 - Rosamond. Califomia, October 1 n e _ S • A U GUST 9 , 200 0 13

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