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/128625
AMA/Ch e vyTrucks U .S . Supe rbi k e Championship R o u n d 1 0 : Brain e rd In t e r n a tiona l R ace w a y in he re we had a n edge on to p speed. " After com ing out of the saddle in a bid to unseat DuHamel from the lea d in a s print to the flag , where he ca me up two bike len gths s ho rt, Mladin said he "just co uldn't qu ite get it, unfortunat e ly, these things happen . Good jo b for Miguel. It's good to see him win. Like I s aid at the las t ra ce , he is whe re everyone e xpects h im t o be , s o mewhere near the front now and it' s go ing to be that way to the end of the ye ar. "It's just unfortunate toda y th e bike was n' t runn ing qui te a s we ll a s we wanted and , yeah , I'm disappoi nte d ," Mladin added . Th ird on th e da y wa s J am ie Ha c kin g wh o se Ya m a h a , like Mladin ' s Suzuki, wa s down on to p speed to th e Honda of DuHa m e l. Ha c king was a ble to s tick with th e fron t two until jus t p a st th e h alfw a y m a r k , w he n h e dr opp ed s lig htly off t he p a c e aft e r getting caught up in la pped ride rs . He foug ht his way ba c k up , then h it tra ffic aga in, at wh ich point his tires wer e s hagged a n d h e h a d t o sett le for t hi rd, a bo u t seve n seco nds back . Instead of trying to be a he ro, as he 's done in th e pa st, Ha ck ing us ed his head and to o k th e s ec ure t h ird , kno wing that's how good his m achine was on th e day . "Before , whe n I first s ta rted rid ing, By H EN NY R A Y A BRA MS PHOTOS BY B RIAN J. N ELSO N BRAINERD, MN, JULY 30 me ric a n Honda 's Miguel DuHa me l e nded a ne a rly 17 -m on th drought by us ing t he brutish strength of th e RC-51 to power his way to a slender win ov e r a determ ined Mat Mladin of Yosh imura Suzuki in the AMA/Chevy T ru c k s U.S . S upe r b ike ro u n d at Bra ine rd Internatio nal Ra c ewa y. Com ing off a do uble c rash at MidOhio , wh ere DuHamel fel t h e ro d e well, Brainerd, with its mile-l on g front st raight, wa s th e perfect toni c for th e all -time Su pe rb ike win leader. It was plain to see t ha t he could go whe re a n d when h e want ed o n th e fr ont stretch , and had the gr u nt to get off the c rucia l final two 90 -d e gr ee co rne rs , even th ough he hadn 't ra c ed her since 1997 . T h e e n d th e r ace wo ul d co me d o wn t o t he fi na l corne r, a nd DuHa m el e merged victor iou s , but by a sca nt .063 of a second. "I felt g o od c o mi ng in h e r e , b e c au s e I k ne w t he re was a lon g straight a nd m y Hon da bike likes lon g straights - go fast, st ra ig ht, no p roblem, n DuHamel said after his first win since Daytona in Mar ch 1999 and the 23rd win of h is career. "I knew com ing A 6 AUGUST 9 , 2000' c ue I e n e vv s I'd ride around , but no w it' s ki nd of like I've got to keep m yself he a lthy , I've go t to look out for m y ca reer, just s ta rt u sing m y h e a d a li t t le b it , n Hac king said. "I've got to sta rt kn owing whe n th e bik e 's ready to go . Th e bi k e was rea dy to go this wee ke nd and I pr ov ed it." The Honda RC -51 of Nic ky Ha y d e n wa s n ' t rea d y , wh ic h m e ant h e wasn 't e ithe r, a nd afte r a few scare s in t he sup er- fa s t turn o ne, Ha yd e n kn ew h e wo u ld n 't be co nt e stin g fo r the win a nd jus t gu a rd ed his position, (Above) J ohn Kocin ski (4 6 ) tried to break away from the pack during t he opening laps of t he AMA Superbike National at Brainerd International Raceway. M iguel DuHamel (17). Mat M ladin (hidden) and J a m ie Hacking (9 2) had other ide as. (Be low) Nicky Hayden struggled all weekend at Bra inerd and was fortunate to finish fourth in the National. He still lost ground in the championship chase, however, to second-placed Mlad ln . fourth as it would turn out, in a spot wh er e he wou ldn't be c ha llenged. "I'm d is app o inted I le t th e g uy s