Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

m uch and I used it up . W e 're g etting cl o ser , but there 's sti ll a lot m ore that w e had in that thing . Eric [Bostrom ] and I ran the same rears, but h e just had a better setup and he could make it work." Tommy Hayden finished ni nth on the second factory Yamaha , despite having to race without a rear brake. " O n the se cond lap, the rear bra k e w ent out," Ha yden said. " I use them a lot and it took m e a w hile to adjust. I definitely went a lot faster in. the sec- 16. Roger Lee Hayden (57 .682) ; 17. Shane Clarke (57.759); 18. Aaron Clark (57.761) : 19. Jimmy Moore (57.820); 20. Dean M;zdal (58 .022) ; 2 1. Randall Me nnengll (58 .3 12) ; 22 . Andy Deatherage (58 .453): 23. Rob Bowerman Jr. (58 .49 1); 24. .Jemey Harri son (5 9 .320 ) ; 2 5 . Eri c Erling Hau go (59.382); 26. James Doerfler (59.536); 27. Greg Fryer (59.701 ); 28. JacobHolden (1;00.41 7). SUPERBIKE NATIONAL: I. Eric Bostrom (Kaw); 2. Mat Mladin (Suz); 3. Aaron Yates (Suz) ; 4. Jamie Hackin g (Ya m); 5 . Nicky Hayden ( Hon) ; 6. Steve Rapp ( Duc) ; 7. Larry Pegram ( Duc) ; 8. Doug Chand le r (Kaw ) ; 9 . Tom m y Ha yden ( Yam ) ; 10 . Pascal Picotte (Ho ; 11. Damon Buckmaster (Suz); D) 12. Ja son Pridmore (Suz); 13. John Kocinski (Due} : 14 . Shane Clarke (Suz); 15. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 16 . Dean Mizdal (Suz); 17. Andrew Deatherage (Suz); 18. Scott Russell (H-D); 19. Miguel DuHam (Han); el 20 . Aaron Clark (Suz). Time: 44 min.. 5 1.820 sec. Dista nce: 4 8 laps. 6 3.1 miles Average speed: 84 .417 mph Margin of victory: 10.945 sec. AMA SUPEBIKE NATI ONAL C' SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 11 of 12 rounds) : 1. Mat Mladin (365/4 wins); 2. Nicky Hayden (346/3) : 3. Aaron Yates (321/ 2); 4. Eric Bostrom (310/1) ; 5. Doug Chandler (263); 6. Tommy Hayden (243); 7. Miguel DuHamel (237/1 ); 8. Jamie Hacking (230); 9. Pascal Picotte (229); 10. Steve Rapp (224) ; 11. John Kocinski (222): 12. Jason Prid more (205); 13. Larry Pegram ( 191); 14. Jimmy Moore ( 150); 15. Mike Gccottc (146). Upcoming Round Round 12 ' Rosamond . California, October 1 o n d half than in the fi rst half." Pascal Picotte rode the f a c t or y Harley - Davidson home in 10th place, o ne spot b etter t h a n C h apa rra l/Mazd a Suzuki's D a m o n Buckmaster - who fitted sl icks to his 7 SOcc Supersport bike and opted to compete in the Superbike National for the fi rst time all season. Notable non -fin i sh ers i n c l u d e d Yoshimura Suzuki 's Jason Pridmore , Harley-Davidson 's Scott Russell and A merican Honda's Miguel DuHamel. Pridmo re was in ninth at t h e t ime his Suzuk i l et go, but was closing on lated that the team might get a part s shipment after the Suzuka a·Hour race. and they did. but it didn't include a hoped-for rear suspension part . ' W e didn't get the rear suspension link that wo uld get us a little more traction ," Mathers said. ' W e needed that link." Mathers explained that the Castro l Honda W orld Superbike team had experienced spinning problems at the Laguna Seca round of the W orld Superbike Championship and this new link wou ld ameliorate the problem . There'd been talk of titanium rods being sent , but Mathers said they'd only exacerbate the problem. ' As long as it's spinning so much, the ti rods wou ld just make it spin up quicker.' he said. BRIEFLY. •• Terry Vance will not be running the Harley-Davidson road race effo rt next yea r. acco rding to an H ·D spo kes man. "I can confirm there 's absolutely no truth to that rumor. ' H-D's Paul James said in the pits at Pike's Peak Internat ional Raceway during the first Superbike practice session. Vance recently announced that he wouldn't be campaigning Ducatis in 200 1 and spec ulation was that he might be involved with either HarleyDavidson or Aprilia. H-D team manager Steve Scheibe confirmed that the H·D had signed a multi-year deal with Gemini. the independen t race shop which employs mosl of the road race learn . Harley-Davidson moved the team to Gemini years ago partly due to union issues. The Gem ini shop isn't even in Milwaukee County . Scheib e said that the structure of the tea m wo uldn't change . ' I don't see any reason to change what we're doing," Scheibe said. ' We haven't had the time to put in to find more power in the engine." The RC51 motor s have been impressively reliable this year. The only major pro blem came afte r Erion Racing' s Kurt is Roberts cra shed his RC51 at Road America. The motor ran for some time wh ile the bike was on its side and it spun a bearing. Even so, Roberts was able to practice the next morning, making seven or eight laps bef ore it fatally slowe d . "They 're just big old steel rods and pistons like a small block Chevy.' Gary Mathers said of the engine internals. The part s shipment did mean that. after a spate of crashes this year . they'd be well stoc ked 1 the end 0 of the season. the group of three ahead of him . And he wasn 't happy w ith the non-fini sh. " I b u st my ass for 46 and a half laps a nd the thing breaks ." Pridmore sa id . " I' m prett y pissed off. 1 caught those g uys - all for n o thin g . I don't ever get pis sed off a t t h e racetrack , b u t I ' m pissed o ff ri g ht now. It started sputtering - it d id the sa me thing to me yes t erday." Russell was having one o f his better outings on th e fa c t o ry VR 1000 , running well in si de t he t o p 10 w hen the b ik e fai led him a fter 4 1 laps . DuH am e l , meanwhile, had a horrib le day. H e was runnin g p o orl y when h e final ly pulled the RC SI off th e track w ith a n el ectri cal p r o b l em . " I g ot a good sta rt, bu t it was s lid ing reall y b ad , " DuHame l s ai d . " W het he r I tri ed o r didn 't try , I still w ent ba ckw ards . I j us t kept going backw ards . I tri ed to make it t o th e e n d , but th e b ik e w a s c u t t ing o u t. I t ho u g ht I was r un n ing o ut o f g as . I knew it w ou ld b e a struggle c o m ing in h ere , but I did n 't thin k it wou ld be th i s b ad ." CN Pikes Peak International Raceway F ountain. Colorado Results August 13, ZOOO : SUPERBIKE QUALI FYING: 1. Mat Mlad; n (5 4.2 22); 2. Aaron Yates (5 4.331); 3. Eric Bostrom (5 4.535); 4. John Kocinski (5 4.5 55); 5. Steve Rapp (54.664): 6. .J emie Hacking (54.669): 7. Nlcky Hayden (54.719): 8. Larry Pegram (54.825); 9. Doug Chandler (54.839); 10. Pascal Plcotte (54.926): 11. Jason Pridmo re ( 55 .0 2 2) ; 12 . T omm y Ha yden (55.273): 13. Miguel DuHamel (55.474): 14. Scott lAb ove left) Vanc e & Hi ne s Ducati's John Koc ins ki (4 6) couldn't capitalize on his front-row start, and eventually had to call it quits with two laps to go because of a faili ng fuel pump. Teammate Steve Rapp 182) finished sixth. (Above) Both Doug Chandler (10) and Miguel DuHamel (17) had weekends they would rather forget. DuHamel DNFd and Chandler fought to control his blistered rear ti re. Pascal Picotte is comp leting the first year of a multi-year contract with Harley . Wh o will ride the V R1000 next to Picott e has yet to be decided. acco rding to Scheibe. though it' s not likely Scott Russell will be asked back. Russell missed the first Superbike pract ice sessio n at PPIR. - My understanding is that he had some flight problems." James said. Sc heibe added that the team had spoken to Russell and that he was on his way' from Denver to Fountain and should be available for the afternoo n qualifying session. Russell did show up in time for the seco nd session on Friday and he ended up qualifying 14th. After winning the e.Spo rtbike.co m Formula Xtreme title. Erion Raclng's Kurt is Roberts said he'd like to concentrate on the Pro' Honda Oils 600cc Championship and not ride the Honda CBR9 29RR at the final round at W illow Springs. Robert s said being able to concent rate on one class would be an important asset in his fight against Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom. ' It really showed with Tommy Hayden last year." Robert s said. " He only basically rode a 600 . even tho ugh he was riding the 750 class. he was just riding it to get experience on the 600 - and you go there and you concentrate on one bike and it's easy. And that's why [Mall Miadin' s always t here fo r the points in Superbike. Doug [C handlerl usually is. The guys that just ride Superb ikes. usually win Superbike Champio nships . If you just go and concentrate on one bike. you know exactly where to shift. you know exactly where to sto p. you know exactly what the bike' s doing. You can download everything to your team , instead of jumping off one onto the other. You never get the bi kes co mpletely set up because you'r e always giving a litt le bit to each one. Hopefully. I can convince Honda into lettin g me park the t hing. I think I've earned it." A merican Honda's Nicky Hayden opt ed not to ride the Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport class at Pike's Peak Internat ional Raceway . instead concentrating on the AMAIChevy Truck s U.S. Superb ike Championship. ' We all though the main goal wa s to win the Superbike title.' said Hayden, who trailed Yoshimura Suzuki' s Mat M ladin by 12 points going into the final tw o rounds of the season. Hayden said he and the team had discussed it on Thursday night. "The decision was more Honda.' he said. ' They wanted me to concentrate on Superbik e.- PPIR marked the first race where Hayden had two RC 5 1 Superbike s at his disposal. with his 600cc mechanics working full time on the second RC51 . "We can go out in a session and try some prett y far out stuff. " Hayden said. ' We 'lI try anything if it' ll help us." Unfortun ately. Robert s ended up crashing out of the lead in the 600cc race wit h Bostro m taking second . There is now eight point s between them going into Will ow Springs. If Robert s wins. Bostrom has to finish second at W illow . ' I know fo r sure what I have to do.- Roberts said. " I'd say it's pretty much going in there zero-zero . It' s always hard 10 finish seco nd in a 600c c Supersport race and it's hard to win 'ern. I know I have to win. so it's easy on me. I'll go there and it's the last race I have to do. I have all wint er to heal up.- One of the decisive fact ors for not taking part in the 600cc Sup ersport class was the year Hayden has had in that class . Riding as the reigning champion, he sits eighth in points with no wins to date. Both Hayden and teammate Miguel DuHamel have been struggling on Ihe their Honda F4·s. the main culprit being suspensio n. The Erion Racing team of charnpionship second-place man Kurti s Roberts uses Ohlins suspension. while the fact ory team has to use Showa. The Ohlins has proved far more co rnpliant. especially on t he bumpier t racks . Hayd en said no decisio n had been made about whether he'd ride the 600 at W illow. It will depend partly on his Superb rke result here at PPIR. " I'd love to try to win one 600 race before the year's over ." Hayden said. "I'm ju st kind of bummed out that I haven't done bett er.- Hayden also confirmed that he would rather not race the 600 next season. "I'd like to next year focus on the Superbike. give it a go." he said. "W ith the double [SuperbikeJ rounds it's too much to do wit h the schedule. The schedule is too stacked." Though he understands that winning races on a 60 0 . and winning the championship. has furt hered his career. he doesn' t think there's more in it. ' It's gollen me on a Superbike team. but it' s not going to get me any farther .' he said. - I want to go 10 Europe and I don't think that' s going to help." Whi le Kurtis Robert s is hoping to park his Xtreme bike to concentrate on 600cc Supersport at Willow Springs. Eri c Bost ro m says he will contmue to ride his Kawasaki Superbike. ' Obviously. we are looking to get a win on that thing too ." Bostrom said. He also added that he didn't think riding two classes wo uld hurt his 600cc effor t. Alth ough he didn't have a lot 1 lose. Aaron Yates said he was never 0 tempted to run the sinqle-cornpound Duniop 501 that helped propel Eric Bos trom 10 victory in the Superbike National. - I was always going prel ty good this whole wee kend with the dual compound." Yates said. " I just waited too long to Iry and go forward. I was thinking of saving the tire . Toward the end. I just started wicking the thro ttle up like I did in practice and letting it bum all the way around the big turn.Altho ugh Eric Bostro m was able to win using the Dunlop 50 1 si ngle , c ompound ti re. the tire did suffer damage. ' It was bliste red all around the left -hand side." said Dunlop 's Jim Allen . T ractio n problems were the bane of the A merican Honda team at PPIR. the RC 5 1.s spinning too much on the tight circuit which puts a premium on left -side adhesion. American Honda's Gary Mathers had specu - Russell (55 .550 ); 15. Damon Buckmaster (56. 0?3) ; c u e I e n e vv s A UGUST 23. 2000 9

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