Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

ll'lflNroN RacEwaY SoNoMA, CAUFoRNTA R:surr$ MAY 19-21 , 2006 a good run, Mat [Mladin] gave it a good run a couple of times. For sure, I thought he was going to get it, at least tje it. Now it's Ben Spies that did it. lt's just someday it was going to happen. I wish I would have been stronger and I could have fought him, and try at least to change the outcome. We're gefting there, but we're not close enough," Hodgson closed to within a second of Dr-rhamel at the end, but had to settle for fourth, his best fin- ish of the year. Two seconds later came Yosh's Yates, by five sec- onds over Hayden. The Kawasaki rider withstood a final-lap push by Ben Bostrom by about .3 ofa second. 'Another day testing, that's what it is," Bostrom said. "Ever/ time I go out we're on a different bike and a different bike again today. lt's hard because you go out and the first ten laps you don't knowthe bike." Zemke had another off day. This time he had no grip and couldn't get off the corners. He aSain fin- ished eighth. Jordan Suzukis finished nine, 10, ll, with Steve Rapp, after passing teammate Jake Holden five laps from the end..lason Pridmore finished I lth. Cll (l:12.626)i 10. oooschandlg (l:,12.9o1)r I l. Corey Eaton (1r3.022)j 32. Leonardo BaSnis (l:41.041); 13. C.ru Gittere (l:43-3ll): 3{. Martin SzM.c (l:41.521); 15. raark simon (l:4,1.32r): 16. sEno Kirim,an (l:t,1.970)i 17. D.ed Lamb€n (l:45.636):38. l''lar.o l''1aftine, (l r45.651): 19.lame Kerks ( l:49.817). SUPERBIKE nACE l: l. Ben Spier (Suz)r 2. tlath* flladin (suz):3. MisuelDuh d (H6)i4. A,rcn Yat$ (suz);5. NeilHodtson (Dk)i 6. Bei B6trom (D!c): 7. Tommy Hayd.n (Kaw)i 8- late zemke (Hon):9. SlN sapp (su,); 10. L"rrl Pes6m (Hon): I l. Jdon ftidmore (sE): 12.las Clnit (Suz): ll. Eric Wood (Suz); 14. Ken Hill(Hon): 15. Deid BEll(su)i 16. De rlizdal (suz): I7. Akin Tamitsul (tuz)i 18. r1i.h&lEarB! (Suz)i le corey sarrcs (sE)i 20. Ahd, Norrun €uz)r 21. ta.ando Pinanrni (Kaw)r 22. scott letuh (su2); 21. 8rud Hendr/ (suz): 24. tlartii se,c (su)i 2s. JmB F,ndolph (suz)i 26. co.ey E on (tuz)i u. Dolt chandrer (Kaw): 28. reonddo BasnB (Yam)i 29. CR G,(ere (Sui)i 30. Lee A.ree (S@)r I l. tlatt Lynn lsuz)r 12.leob Holden (s@):33. cory west (suz). Time:45 min..25.ll I sec. Dista..e: 28laps. 62.16 mila AY€Bte sp.cdi 82.I mph HarAin o{ Yicto.r: 6.989 sec. SUPERBI(E RACE 2: L Ben Spi6 (Suz)i 2. |,lethew Mladin (Su2)i3. Hig@l Ouhamel (Hon)i 4. Neil HodgM (D!(): 5. Aaron Yater (Suz)i 5. Tommy H.yden (x,w); 7. Ben 86t.om (ouc); 8.lake zemke (Hon): e. st.E R pp (suz): l0.lacob Holden {S!z): ll.l&n Pridmore (Suz): 12. Larry Pesrem (Hon)i ll. l'1a( Lynn (suz): 14. L.e a.ree (S{z): 15 En( w@d (sE): 16. Jaon cunir (s@): 17. cory wat (suz)i 18. Dlvid B€ll (suz): 19. scott len*n (suu): 20. AkiE Tamit$ji (suzJi 21. BEd Hendry (suz): 22. Dean flzdal (suz)j !3. Corey Ssrcs (S!!)i 24 I'lanin S&a.. 6uz): 25. Corer Eaton (Suz)i 26.lamer Randolph (suz): 27. Femedo Ama ini (K ); 28. C.R- Gittere (suz): 29. Andl Notma. (suzlj 10. DouE Chandier (&w): I l. l(en Hill {Hon)i 32 LeoMdo Ban6 (Yim). Tim€. 45 min.. 11.690 *c. Dkt:nEe: 28 laps.62 16 mil* AYer.t. !ped: I L859 mph Marain o( vi.toryr 5.2m r<. AHA SUPEREIXE CHAHPIONSHIP PTOINTS STANDINGS (After 7 of 19 rcun&). L Sen SpiB (25716 wnrr 2. l',1at flladin (227ll win): 3 Mit@i Duhmd (198)1 4. Neil HodSFn (l8l): 5. Aarn Yater (179): 6. Tommy H.yds ( 173): 7. Ben B6Fom ( 168): 8. JaIe zehlc { 156)i 9- jen P.idmore(148): l0.LrryPet6(l3l): I l.5t*Bapp(122): l2.Enc\r.od ( 120); rS.lasoiCuftis(98)i l,l. jake Holden (94r 15. SEd Hendr/OA. rajn had turned the track green and "when we threw that soft tire on there, it had loads ofgrip, but just pushed the front every- where and did some weird things with the bike. But we got it done today, so at's good." Perts UnlimhEd Du.ati's N€il Hodtson was torced onto his backup for qualifyint when he heard ominous noises trom his number-one F06. "lt sounded like a 'tearboxy' thing," he said. "l stayed out there for three laps, because I was trying a different setup on it, and l'm iust thinking, 'This thing's going to lock up on me,'because I could iust hear a metallic noise. lt war a bit scary. actuallx So I thought,'lt's not wor* it.' I did three lapc, 'l'm pushinS it. l'm toint to come in and iust'- I've been riding long enough to know when some- thinS's definitely wronS with the engine." Hodgson added, "That was my better bike, so - i('s either that one or tie scooter. I don't know which one I'm going to go out on in the race." Hodgson also said that, unlike Spies, and also American Honda's Miguel Duhamel, who tot liftle out oftheir qualifyint tires, he war happy with his one- lap wonder, "l went about one and a halfseconds quicker with it on, so l'm like, 'Yeahl' I was jurt thinking l must have the wrong setup, because I put the qualiry- ing tire on and it worked. The bike felt brilliant. So I don't know how this is going to work out there. I think I'm going to do the race on the qualifler. That's my bi8 plan. But don't tell anyone." Though he's not willing to con- cede yet, Hodgson said he knew the Suzukis were the class of the field at the moment, "lt's almosr like - I'm not throwing my towel in yet - but it's almost like there's a battle for the third- place spot, and Mat [Mladin] and Ben lspies] seem to have tot us licked at the moment. So that't whywe keep searching for this optimum setup," ls Ben Spies he.ded lor MotoGP? The admitted white- knuckle flyer said, "lt seems like that's where everybody wants me to go. That's all I'm hearing." But it doesn't sound like a priori- + First is re-sitninS a multiyear deal with Yoshimura Suzuki, which is in the works. Spies knows the Suzuki MotoGP bike hasn't been the best lately, though]ohn Hopkins has had a pair of good runs the last two times out. Spies understands that riding an off bike on tracks he doesn't know and livinS an unfa- miliar life could shatter his confi- dence, "and I'm not really not wanting to do that. So if I get a chance where the bike's good, the team can be good, and I 8et some good testing, where I don't just iump out there and race, you know, it might happen. lt's defi- nitely been talked about. And it's definitely not olt ofthe work and maybe we might do one of the races this year after our championship, if we 8ot to to test the thing. There's been talk, there's been talk ofa whole lot of diff€rent thinSs. lt's delinitely too early to speculate about that kind of nuff But no, it's not a delinite'no' in th€ future." Spies displayed an uncommon knowl€d8e o{ road-race histo- ry after winninS his sixth in a row. "l knew eveq/thing there was to know, pretty much, except how to do it when I was 7 and 8 years old," he said. "l knew exaatly what was going on. I actually went up to Dout Polen, I tiink, when lwas eight, and lsaid,'lf you wouldn't have done this you would've won the raae.'And he was like, 'well, yeah.' Yeah, l've been paln8 attention since I was 7 years old and I know pretty much eveo/thin8 about Miguel's lDuhamel] whole career, Mat's lMladin] career. I was watching Mat when he was crashing a v{hole lot of bikes in '9J on a Cagiva. So I know a whole lot about everybody and about what I've accomplished. lt hasn't quite hit me yet, but you know it will and right now it's good to do that, but I'm really focused on the championship and what we gat to do to get that done." I"lat l{ladin, Spies' teammate, relayed a complaint ofthe six-in- row winner from the lnfineon Raceway winner's circle. "He was iust complaining about having to go and race the 600 lwhich tollowed the Superbike rdc€l , and t said, 'You're 21, wait until you get my age or l4iSuel's age, then ,ou can start complaining about having to ride a motorbike." lnfineon Raceway raised $5125 for Speedway Children's Chariti$ with the third annual Cycle Gear lYotorrycle Charity Auction on Sunday aftemoon. The top seller was a Leo Vince USA exhaust system, which went for $925 . SiSned prints of the Bostrom brothers, Eric and gen, sold for $425 each. SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING: L Ben Sples (l:15.891)i 2- flathew l'lladin (l:16.556): l. Neil Hod€ton (116.8t4); 4. Misoel Duhamel (l 16.955):5.aaronYates(1,17.013)i6.lakezemke(l 37449)17.Tommy Hayden ( I :17.479): 8. Ben Bo$rom ( I 17.588): 9 Stwe Rapp ( i :17.646): 10. ltrry Pesnm (l:38.r10)i ll. lacob Holden (l:3B.830): 12. M,rtin Cr.ssil (l:38.89]): rl. laron Prdm.rE (l:19.019); 14. Enc wood (l:19.142): 15. L€ Ac@ ( l:39.654)i l6.J&nCuftir{l:3r.965)i l7.l''latt L/nn (l:a0 ll2)i 18. Ken Hill(14027S)r l9.lmes Randolph (l:,10.649)i 20. Cory wBt (l:41 028); 21. Corcy Satros (l:41.660): 22. David Bell il:42.148)i11. Brad Hendr/ ( I :42.293): 24. Dea. MEdal ( I :4?.320)i 15. Fem do Amanti.i \t:42.442):26. scott Jenren (l:42.s27): 27. Andi Notman (l:42.603);28. hichel Earn6t (l:42.601); 29. AkiE Tamitsuji Brief [y... have no feel, you can't ride the thing, and that's why l'm strutglinE. I iust have no feel. I w.s iust basically trying to survive and finish the race. lt iust not Sood when you know yor.r have the leaders cominS up behind you and in anotfier couple l+s I would have been lapped. I have never b€€n l+p€d in my life. l'm iust so frustrated because I came in here so positive and I really thought I was toing to do w€ll and l'm not doing well." Sunday was "iust more of the same. l'm out there ridint around iust trying to survive. lt's frus- tratint to come in here feeling so good and end up not living up to what I expected. lt's touSh for the whole team, but they are really tryinS hard and hopefully thints turn around 5oon." first lap Corona Extra's Akira TamiBuji in the turn I I hairpin hit him from behind. "l 8ot up into two and leaned it ovEr, and heard all this noise dragtiry and the thing was kind of wallowing," Chandler said. "l thought I had a little puncture, and the tire was going low, or he khocked my rear caliper off. I didn't know what was going on, So I iust kind of cruised back an. The tire, I thought, was Soing low - come in and had a look at everything and it looked all right. So I thought: Well. go do some more laps, make sure it's all okay.' lt seemed to be all ritht." Chandler said he got up to speed and was happy to be towed alohS when race leaders Ben Spies and Mat Mladin passed him. The problem in qual- irying was that thel tried a diff€rent ignition and the mapping w:s wrong. "lt wes reall),. realty rich ahd it quit charting so dre battery was going dead, so get a lap in, get a l+ in, barely made it back in." Chandler retired from Sunday's ra.e iust past the halfway mark, I dl -Q*. pA c I' it. I ran the last of the race by mysell We are going to try and make a change with a new tir€ Ior the raae tomorrow." PeSram said Sunday wa9 the same as Sat- urday, "The tire iust wasn't working for rne, lt's iust not quite there yet, We iust need to work on some things to get the right setup. We tried some things to the bike and we went the wrong way and the bike was worce today than yesterday." time with the rain just like everyone else is, but it .eal- ly seems like that hurt' us a lot because it always seems like we are really late getting a setup on the 72 lanry eegram lOth,/l2th Place ing me up a little bit at the betinning, and then my tire went off and he pulled away from me. That was about t rry Pegrem said he was "good at the betinnint and crapPy at the end" after finish- int a lonely loth on Saturday. "l was I oth nSht from the get go with [Steve] Rapp and he was hold- lO OougChandler 27thlDNF Doug Chandler completed only one full l+ in qualifyinS, his time Putting him back on row eight. lt wasn't long beforc trouble struck in the race. On the CYCLE NEWS MAY 3r, 2006 33 , UPCOMING ROUNDS Rounds 8/9 - Elkhort Loke, Wisconsin, June 3-4 Rounds l0/l I -Soh Loke Ciry, Ubh, June l7-18 ) \ -/ I

• Cover