Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I T - E p p I I E R }YC,,} Eli I qo, I Helmet Swap! "lt's pretty simple really, Bubba phobenlwas my childhood hero," Hayden said. "l wanted to do something special. I wanted to do this last yea( and this year I knew exactly what I wanted to do - iust something special for my home race and it is kind of red, white, and blue. And Bubba, this is where his career 8ot ended.lust a bit of a tribute to him. I'm definitely realt proud of this helmet, I mean, when they tave it to me. I loved it. I wamed to sleep in it the first night. Actually, I've got to thank Starline. He really e-mailed back and forth. I had these pictures and str]ff I gave him from my wall, from when I was a kid, to try to get it right. Red Bull w;sn't maybe thrilled about it, but I kind oflike it a lot. lt'll look a lot better if it's up front on Sunday. lr ain'ttoingto look too good midpack, so I'm 8oin8 to have to do some work-" Shob€ft surprised Hayden by showing up in his gaiage arter Friday qudirying, but the timing wasn't great. "Tertible timinS, I iust had a bad r€ssio.r and it was terrible," Hayden said. Shoben had his wife and two boys with him on the trip, the fou.some spefiding time in the Red Bull hospitality area and enioying the races. They were abo planninS on spendin8 a few moae days after the race in the Monterey area. t'len.ry Roy Abrom. HM PlanCs Ryuichi Kiyonari swept both races in the gritish Superbike Championship race at Oulton Park on luly 23, the Japanese rider putting him- self at the top of the championship in the process. Airwaves Ducati s Leon Haslam was flext best, his second- and third-place finishes leaving him just five points behind Kiyonari after the ninth round of the series- Haslam's teammate Gregorio Lavilla, however, fell from his lead in the championship going into Oulton Park, the Spaniard finishinS third in the flrst race but failinS to finish the second. "l am really disappointed with this afternoon." Lavilla said after droppint from first to third in the series stand- ints. "l had a big problem with my bike, and it has really set me back in the championship. This moming's race wes good, and I felt really conlident that I would be able to chall€nge for another podium and possibly a win this after- noon, but when thints like this happen, there is nothing you can do. Now I will have to work even harder in the last few races this season and hope for some better luck." Rizla Suzuki's Shane Byrne finished fourth in race one and fifth in race two, swapping those spots with Red Bull Honda's Jonathan Rea. After nine of 13 rounds, Kiyonari leads Haslam, 274-269, with Lavilla third on 260 points. Byrne is fourth with 174, and Rea is fifth with 153 poinrs. The Red Birll U.S. Grand Prix brought I out its usr.ral assonment of special hel- mets. Kenny Rob€rts Jr- was inspired b), the Peter Fonda's iconic "Ceptain America' from the counterculture clessic Eosy Rrder for his lid. Robefts lr, debuted the U.5- flag's starr-and-srripes motif with rhe fasresr lap in Friday practice. Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden was inspired by .hildhood idol Bubba Shoben, rhe championship-winnint dirt tracker whose Grand Prix career was cut short by an incident on lhe cool-down lap in his first championship year of 1989. Nicky Hoyden ond Bubbo thobart do o helmet swop ot Loguno Seco. Kenny Roberts Jr. rln the Coptoin Amcrico point iob on his Arqi or Logunq. d., Watson, Strank Split White Rose Hillclimb Wins o E j t o Since the 2000 season, Dave Watson and Wdter "Tiger" Strank Jr. have dominated the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series. Watson has six number-one plates and Strank has raken four out of rhe 12 champi- onships. At round lhree of the 2006 series, the duo once again ran away from the com- petition to staSe their own tlvo-man duel. When the dust had cleared in York, Pennsylvania, on July 23, the contest was declared a draw. as they borh carded a win and a loss. Displayin8 the intensiry of their lont rivalry both riders were disappointed at the outcome, "l rode as good as I could do today," said Strank was al5o a little unhappy: "l iust have to concentrate on the 540 title now and hope things turn around in the 800 class." Lost in the race for the top spots was Ryan Thibault's great ride in the 8{l0cc class, as the 2005 540 Rookie Of The Year put totether two solid rides for third in the class. Phil Libhart, perhaps the greatest hillclimb rider who has not won a championship, took third in the 540cc class. The Whjte Rose l'4otorcycle Cl-rb hill is regarded as a finesse-style hill requirint pre- cise speed and throttle control to win. A "to for it" approach doesn't work. "The llrst breaker at 60 feet is the key ro a fast run," Libhard explained. "lf you over- shoot the breaker, ),,ou can't win." Rookie 54o.c-class racer Alex Benner started things off with a smooth pass, cover- ing the 280 feet to the timers in 7.400 sec- onds on his Honda CR500. The hill was very dry and fast, 8ivin8 the four-cylinder bikes a huSe ad\ranta8e. Libhart put together a 5.819 on his Triumph twin and would lead Whtson and ,ohn Hamilton jr's identical 5.8270-sec- ond runs for most of the round, but Strank, on the Dr. Bob Racins,fYamaha Motors USA- backed R6, was the rider to beat. Strank launched the R6 oyer the breaker and then screamed it to the big jump at 255 feet. He then sailed the 35 feet up to the timers and landed at the finish line for a tremendous 5.606-second run. "We just ran our normal setup, becaus€ we didn't know how loose the hill was," Strank said. "The bike really worked great. We want to thank Keith Mccarty of Yamaha for all of his help this last monrh." Strank's run was untouchable. as he nailed his second win of the year. His title rival, Watson, carne back on his second pass to fin- ish second, keeping the points chase close, Stiank was also on fire in the 800ca class. After Ger/ Bennett laid down a 5.893 on the Reiser's Cycle Service Harley-Davidson, Strank raised the bar with an awesome run on the B&B Sales and Service/Donnie Lingle's Travel Controyscott-backed Rl, nailing a 5.602 on his first pass to lead the round, thouth Watson came close on the Troy Lee Designs Honda CBR with a run of 5.651. The hill was very rrltted and dusty for the I2 AUGUST 2,2006 . CYCLE NEt,/r'S I a, ! Kiyonari Takes BSB Double |q- wqll€r "Tiger" Stronk flies his Yomoho lo vi<" tory in the White Rose Hillclimb. 7- /r final round, but the riders still lound a little more speed. Watson moved lo the far left side of the hill, and it paid of( as the Mike Carnelli/Factory Connecrion-backed CBR handled the transition after the first breaker when the hillgoes verticaland was (he fas(est bike of the day near the top of the hill. The Pennsylvania fans cheered as Watson's 5.576 turned it into a race again, "We geared the bike down one tooth on the back because it bogged a little on the lirst run," Watson said. "l watched Tiger over the breaket and I tried to go slower over the breaker to to fa:ter on the rest of the hill, and it worked." Rfan Thibault rafl a 5.876 on his fim run, and a 5,864 effort on his final pass earned him third, ahead of Jeff Thomas. Strank waited untilthe lasr ride ro rry for the comeback win, but it wouldn't go his way. "The wheelie killed me," he said. "l hit the rmnsition, and it came up and that was the end of it. I tried to hold it down and keep the throttle on, but it came up too hard. ' Watson's win moved him another point ahead of Srank in the points chase. with ,eff Thomas haneinS close. "Well, my bikes are working good, and I rode the hell out of them today," watson said. "so it's been a good day." Dovld L. Potton tr.

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