Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Salminen Works For Loretta's GNCC Win The legendary Loretta Lynn s Ranch hosted (he bes! race of the year in the Suzukr I Grand National Cross Country Series, as four riders put a challenSe to KTM'S defending series champion juha Salminen in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, on APril 23. The challenSe lasted to the last lap. when Am Pro Yamaha's Barry Hawk finally ran out of steam, allowint Salminen to pull away with his fifth straiSht win- "We had the challenSe todayi it was a fun race." Salminen said. "lt felt like a nor_ mal race off the stan, but I made of couple of wrong turns. I didn't know the Suys were that close - it was a different mce, lt was good to have it; it was more enter- tainin8." Early in the rece, Charles l'4ullins, Hawk, and FMF Suzuki's Glenn Kearney and Rodney Smith chased the Finn around the track, and at the halfi^/ay point, Mullins was able to get into the lead. Salminen 8ot it back, but Hawk shadowed him for most of the day, determined not to let Salminen go. "lt was fun; I finally got a start," Hawk said. "l knew I could run with him if I could get a start. I was right there, but on the last lap, I don't know, I didn't lose enerSy, but I iust started gettin8 tingly, and then I went to drink some water, and I felt like I was toinS to throw up. I just hit the wall-" Aft€r the race, as a precautionary measure, he had to be tended to by trackide medics due to dehydration. Kearney was also in the hunt most of the day and ended up third "l'm not sure what the difference was todax" Kearney said "We were able to stay with Juha." KlMHutt.com's Shane Watts finished fourth. and l'lonscer Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Fred Andrer,rs finished fifth. Jason t#eigondt XTMI Juho Solminen won ogoin, but thii time he hod to work ior it d th6 Lorefto Lynn's GNCC. Gorry llc€oy .r.shes out of the 24 Hours of Le Mons, The teqm, however, wor oble to confinue without him. Honda Takes Le Mans 24 Hour The National Motos Honda CBR|oooRR team of Frederic Protat, Olivier Four and Daniel Ribalta won the Le Mans 24 Hour round of the FIM World Endurance Championship on April 23, the trio toppinS the Suzuki Castrol team of PhilipPe, Kitagawa and LaSrive by two laps after 24 hours of racing. Third place went to the Yamaha GMT94 YZF-R I of Sebastian Gimben, David Checa and Garry Mccoy. "what a grear race," Protat said, "lt's my first time at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and it's unbelievable. l'd like to thank my teamrnates Olivier and Daniel and the rest of the team," The No. I Suzuki Castrol bike led the first hour, pursued by the No. 2 Suzuki Castrolteam, with thetwo Yamahas of GMT94 and Yamaha Austria close behind. Shonly after the first fueling $op, Keiichi Kitagawa crashed the No. 2 Suzuki heavily, bringing out the pace car for the fi.3t of many times durint the incident_ packed race. Suzuki No- 2 took the lead while the No. I bike was rePaired. lead- ing the National Motos Honda. Yamaha GMT94, Team Kawasaki France and Yamaha Austria. Suzuki No. I then began its lon8 climb back throuSh the field, YamahaAustria fell behind and then retired from the race with cylinder-head problems shonly afterward, and Team Kawasaki France was also forced to relire after a heag/ crash. The order remained Suzuki No. 2, Yamaha GMT94 and National Motos Honda until late on Saturday night, when GMT94 pitted with an electrical Prob- lem. This let the Honda throuSh to second. Suzuki No. l, meanwhile. had climbed back to third, With four hours to go, any thouShts of a comfortable run to victory were dashed for Suzuki No. 2, a5 they pitted after a crash and eventually retired. While Suzuki No, 2 was in the pits tryin8 to diagnose the problem, Mccoy crashed th€ GMT94 Yamaha. He manaSed to limp lhe bike back to the Pits, but by then the National Motos Honda had taken the lead and Suzuki Castrol No. I had moved into second. "lt'5 great to be on the podium, but I couldn't do my last two rides, so I left Sebastien and David with more work to do," l'4ccoy said- "\ryill I be at the Bol d'Or with GMT94? The team works well, I like the riders, and it's a Sreat Pack- age. lf we can do some more tes(ing,,. it's a Possibility." ln all, only 33 of the 56 of the (eams made it to !fie finish. I ,nll a \if I { I 3 ,I. ) / a } a CYCLE NEWS . MAY 3,2006 9 Z I P o t r' L F E \, i \ t \ rt .tl: 1)

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