Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

a nd, toward the end there, I th ink it was four laps to go and I saw that s pace open in turn one and shoved it in there, a nd at that po int I was just concentrat ing on traction and keep ing hoo ked up ." Sore ns e n 's consistent s e aso n wa s in t act. He 's b e e n on t h e p od iu m , eith e r second or th ird , in every race thi s ye ar. T h at co n si s t ency ha s rewarded him with a 10 - point lea d ove r O live r, 244-234 , goi ng into the final race at Willow Sp r in g s . F o r Sorensen to keep his c ro wn , he ha s to finis h third or better, if Oliver wins a nd le a ds th e mos t la ps . Ba rn e s wa s ridi ng wit h a han di ca p. He said that Dunl o p had ru n out of medium fro n t tires an d t he GP T e ch team was fo rced to us e a ha rd front , and one with a diffe rent profile. Th e pro f ile fo rced a geometr y c h anq e , wh ich , in turn , c reated a fron t -suspen s ion c ha tt e r. "T he different pro file m ~de m y fro nt bou nc e a nd I just had too much weig ht on the rea r a nd I was spinn ing the rear too much ," Barnes sa id aft e r fin is h ing a bout two seco nds behi nd S orens en. "I did n 't really hit m y set up a nd I th ought I could sta y awa y fro m Chuc k . Whe n I saw the halfw a y I thoug ht I coul d k eep h im a t b a y , but he m ust ha ve a had a little better set -up a nd re a lly st uck wit h it. " Fou rth was Sorens en ' s te ammate Chris Ulric h , wh o pa s s ed GP Te c h 's De re k King and h is Honda just pa st the halfwa y point, finishi ng about 18 s e c o nd s in ba c k of Ba rne s and nine up on King . Th en ca me m oto g ra n dp rix .c om e d ito r Nick len at s c h in his first ra c e s ince la s t yea r's Willow S prings ra c e . On a De lta Hom e Loa ns Yam ah a , lena tsch ra n down th e third m ember o f t he World Sp o rt s Imp o rt s te am , Pe rr y Meln e ciu c , and pa s s ed him with just o ve r thr ee laps to go . Meln ec iuc was runn ing h is older Honda after a mechanical problem sidelined CN his Yam aha . Pike's Peak International Racewoy Fountain, Colorado Results: August 13, 20 0 [Round 8 of g) MBNA 2SOcc GRAND PRIX: 1. Rich O liver (Vam) ; 2 . Chuck Sorensen (Ya m) ; 3. Michael Ba mes (Ya m) ; 4 . Ch ris Ul rich (Yam ) ; 5. Derek King (Hon) ; 6 . Nick len atsch (Yam) ; 7. Perry Melneciuc (Yam) ; 8. Ty Da vid Piz (Vom ); 9. Tyler Wadsworth (Vom ); 10. Greg Esser (Hon ); 1L Larry Roberts (Vom ); 12. Geoffrey Maloney (Ya m) ; 13. T . Russell Strobri dge (Yam ) ; 14 . Jo hn France (Hon ); 15. John Bur goyn e (Hon ); 16. Andrew Ed wa rds (Yam ); 17 . Jason Da ve (Yam ); 16 . Glen Christianson (Yam); t9 . Silbanio T ruj illo (Yam ); 20. Edward Sorbo (Yem) . TIme: 27 min.• 26.276 sec . Distance: 29 laps, 3B miles . Average speed: 83.392 mph . Margin of victory: 19.6 20 sec . MBNA 250 c c GRAND PR IX C 'SHIP POINT STANDINGS ( Aft er 8 o f 9 round s) ; I. Chu ck Sorensen (244) : 2. Rich Oliver (234 /6 wins); 3. Perry Melneduc ( 195); 4. (TIE) Michael Bernes/Chrls Ulrich (159); 6. Derek King (148 ); 7. Greg Esser ( 139) ; 8. Michael Himm elsbach ( 132); 9 . Edward Sorbo ( 129); 10. Quenn i King (1 11); 11. Jo hn France ( 103); 12. Roland Sands (96); 13. (TIE) Geoffrey Malo ney/Eri c Stephens (90) ; 15. Tyler Wadsworth (88 ); 16. William Him m elsb ach (8 7 ) ; 17. Randy Renfrow (86 ); 18 . Ja mes Bonner (74); 19. Thoma s Dina rdo (6 6) ; 20. Jimm y Filice (63/1) . Upcomi ng Rounds: Round 9 - Rosamond, California. Octobe r 1 eSportbike.com Formula Xtreme Series Round 7: Pikes Peak International Raceway Kurtis Roberts c lenched h is second consecutive Fonnula Xtreme Championship at Pikes Peak. the same place he wrapped It up last year. Kurtis Krowned Bv H ENN V RAV A B RA M S FOUNTMN ,CO, A I2 UG I t' s good to be the king . Kurtis Roberts , th e yo ungest son of King Kenny Roberts , s uccessfully defended his eSportbike.com Formu la Xtr e m e c rown with a controlled ride to second place on a warm and occasio nally we t afte rnoon at Pikes Peak Inte rna tio na l Raceway . Reali s tica lly, Roberts ha d clinched th e title before he got here . Be cause he 'd wo n e ve ryone of the six prev ious ra c es , he need ed to finish 14th or bette r to keep the title . S tarting fro m a re cord po le pos itio n , Ro be rts sai d he thou g ht a bo ut winn ing th is o n e and batt le d wit h Valv oli ne E MGO S uzuki's Grant Lopez for a fe w laps before thinking bett e r of it and wa tch ing Lo pe z race to his first -ever Form ula Xtreme w in . Rob e rt s re li n qu ish ed the lead on the 18 t h of 29 laps , then cruised hom e with his second c ro wn, a certa in springbo ard to bigger and bette r th ings . "I figured , you k n ow, I' d ju s t let Grant [Lopez] ha ve th is on e toda y ," Roberts s aid of Lopez. "He rode good a t some' ra c e s t his yea r a nd he wa s rid ing good today a nd I ju st wa nted to win the cham pions hip a nd not worry abou t it." Of m ore c o nc e rn t o Ro be rts wa s th e Pr o Honda Oil s 6 0 0 c c ch ampi ons h ip to be run th e next da y. "I wa s n' t wo rried about falling off in th is c la ss a nd g iving away some points , but I was worri ed abou t fa lling off and be ing sore tomo rrow for th e 600 ra c e ," Roberts said . Lopez sa w the win as a na tur al progression. "I th in k 1 got th ird bac k th e re a t Mid -Ohio and s econd , a reall y good race there at Bra inerd , rea lly g ood b attle ," Lopez s aid . "I had a re ally g ood battle toda y. I fe lt wh ether he gave it to me o r not it wa s re a lly a good race and a lot of fun ." And he d id it in record t ime. Lopez com p leted the 29 -lap , 38-m ile race in 27 minut es , 7.46 0 sec onds a t a n av e r ag e sp e ed of 84 .35 6 m ph , alm o s t a fu ll mph fa ster t ha n last ye ar's ti me . Th e ma rg in of v icto ry was 6 .109 seconds . Roberts holds a n insurm ounta ble poin ts lead with the fina l ra c e at Willow Springs st ill to be ru n. He leads Bru c e T ra n s port a t ion Grou p 's J a ke Zem k e , th ird tod ay a fter fron t in g a t r io fo r t h e d ura t ion , 254 - 196 . Ro berts ' te a mma te Josh Ha ye s , fifth toda y, is thi rd with 190 po int s . T he re wa s n 't m uc h d ra ma in th e race a nd what there was Roberts prov ide d , some of it unintent ionall y . S ixth on the firs t lap , Rob erts mad e s hort work of the field , wo rking h is way up to s ec ond behind Lopez on the e igh th la p. By then a few th ing s had happened. A light dr izz le had d ev eloped and few rid e rs had a grip on what their tires would do. "We ju st went for something tha t wa s pretty much the hardest th ing th e y had that wouldn 't bli ster up ," Roberts sa id of his re ar Dun lop. "And I d idn 't have much fee l with it , but it wa s okay th ere [in turn two] , beca us e I ju st lea ve it hung out . But throu gh the infie ld I·was strug gling q uite a bit in th e mi ddl e of the corner to ge t th e th ing dri ving off th e corne r. " Zemk e ha d th e o p posi te p robl em with h is tire . He 'd gambled o n a soft Dunl op o n rear o f h is Ho nd a CBR929 RR, a nd lost. "It wa s ok ay th e first few la ps a nd t h e n a ft e r tha t it w a s gr e a s y the cue. e wh ole race ," Ze m ke said . Lo pez wa s the onl y front-runner on Michelins, going with a hard one , and saying that it was "re a lly consistent throughou t t he whole th ing and look ed really good a t th e end of the ra ce." Roberts took th e lead on lap 14 , w ith Lop ez g etting it back , then Roberts g o ing in front again with a harrowing m o ve a la p later o n the front stra ight wh e re he pushed Lopez nearly up a ga inst the wall. He pu t his hand up as a wa y of a c knowledg ing h is m ista k e and s ai d h e th ought a bo ut letti ng Lopez ba c k past. "I was go ing to do it, but I planned o n d oing it a litt le e a rlie r, but the thing was hopping go ing up th e banking a nd it got to whe re I had to do it a t th at p o in t an d it wa s ju st clos er tha n I wou ld've wa nt ed it a nd closer t h a n h e wa nte d it, " Ro bert s s ai d. "J us t too k m y ha nd off o f it made note of it I kne w I messed up." n e vv S • A UGUST 23, 2000 13

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