Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Team lY4 EMGO Suzuki's Michael Elarnes took Hayden on lap five, with teammate Geoft Hay draft-passing Hayden at the start-finish line on the next lap to take third- "l didn't expect the battle for second and third to be such a high pace," Hayden said. May went by Barnes in turn one on lap eight to take over second- Barnes shad- owed his teammate to the finish, coming up short by eight-hundredths of a second. Hayden was less than a second back rn third. "l saw'.4'on the last lap, and lknew I could - he'd catch me in five, drafting, and I'd pass him back, and lfelt like lcould brake him through segment two, and that was enough to hold him off at the line," l'4ay said. "That was the strateg/. I didn't want to get in a drafting war and get beat at the finish line. I felt I had a big enough gap, I didn't even look. ''l really wanted it bad this weekend,'' l'4ay added. "l really wanted to be on the podium after the Superctock race [in which he finished fourth for the fifth race in a row]. I thought that was our ticket, and then, 'Well, I've got to do it in the 600 now' So it turned out like it did. ''l just kept Setting more and more comfortable as the race went on," he continued. "The lap timer went off, so I had no idea what I was doin8. I could just tell I was catching Rog and Barney, so I just kept my head down-" Barnes said that May's late speed sur- prised him. May had been struggling. Barnes said, but he'd found a setup change that allowed him to keep the pressure on. "l was strong in the last segment, but it wesn't enough to get close enough to do somethin8 at the end," Barnes said. "l just needed about another three- or four- tenths on that last segment in order to be able to draft past him at the end. I was kind of close at the end, but not close enough." Hayden was fourth, with 1.2 seconds on lhe slow-staning Ben Spies. Having qualified on the front row on his Yoshimura Suzuki, Spies made it a long race for himself by finrshrng the flrst lap in ninth, lt was the eighth lap before he'd move into fifth, where he'd finish. Next was teenager Josh Herrin, in his first AMA Pro race. The iust-turned- 16- year-old was in the mix, Iighting for fifth the whole race. and he finished behind Spies, but in front of Attack Kawasaki's Damon Buckmaster, Herrin took sixth two laps from the end. Buckmaster wa5 next, and then there was a gap to Danny Eslick, who dropped precipitously after his shon stint at the front. A loose steering damper in the sec- ond half of the race, and a few mistakes. killed his drive. With five of I I mces run, Hacking leads May, 143- I I l. Eslick moved into third with 103 poins, two up on Hayden. Cll lVtY otMr Rnce 244toshHerin 5th Place hdr Flerrin tJm€d l 6 on f'la), 23, ntaking him eligible ftr an AI4A Pro Ra.irE license. Red Arnerira was hb fim race, and he nEde an impresive 6ut. Henin finished araery cornpeotlve sixth, rnakjng it or€ of dre most impresiive Super+ort &16 aqlone coold rernerrbr. Herrin spert tl|e race in |e mix widr Yohimua $ankj's Ben Spies, Atta.k Karesaki's Damon Brck- rna*ei ahd l.lfiushirna Ferforrrance! Danny Eslick Herrin spent the race in six6, se\€fiti or eighfl and he rno/ed irto sixth for good on de penuhirnate bp. "lt was r€alt realb/ good for rry first race" dte erdusialdc Georgian said. "l w?sn\ egecting trat good. E\€rtod/ \rEs perq, cool. I was eryecrirE a little bit l€ss, bu l'm relly happy. I wes og€ctjrE arourd I 0h or ninth, sornethirE aroud therc." l-lerin eil chasirB SFe6 "w6 quite an e+erierrce. I learned a lor Just carryirE comer speed. Fle

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