Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1545842
lldrdo loccwoy l.ogunrl Sr..q ,rlonrcacy. CA DEJA.HACIIER wos on d Serrous I actor), Yamaha's Jamie Hacking had every- ! one seeing double. Not only did he win for I the second time in one weekend... hold I on. make that one ddy at Mazda Raceway I Laguna Seca, taking the AMA Repsol Superstock final ,ust a matter of minutes after domi- nating the AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, but it was also the second-consecutive race that Hacker has gone two for two in both AMA produc- tion races in one weekend. Hacking and teammate Eric Bostrom both got light- ning starts from the froht row of the grid, but it was Mayand Yates both putting a darin8, dualoutside brak- ing move on the youngest Bostrom brother to slot into second and third, respectively, behind Hacking once the field made its way through turn two. Hacking's other factory Yamaha teammate lason Disalvo, Jordan Suzuki riders Steve Rapp and Jake Holden, and the rest ofthe 32-rider field followed suit. But unlike his Supersport win ,ust prior, this was- n't going to be an easy one for Hacking. He made a mistake early in the second lap, quickly dropping behind Yates and May to slot into the third spot. Hacking looked to be fighting his Yamaha Rl much Jomie Hocking more than he had wrestled his R6. and on several occasions was out of the seat. The lead trio of Yates, Hacking and [Yay was able to pull a small gap on the group of three behind them, which consisted of a Steve Rapp sandwiched between a pair of factory Yamahas, with Bostrom at the point. Behind them, Holden and his.lordan Suzuki teammate Jason Pridmore were engaged in a battle with Mat lYladin l'4atorcports' l,larty Craggill, with Erion Honda's Josh Hayes slotting into the final top- l0 position. The action at the front cominued earv on, with Hacking able to remount a charge and work his way past l"lay, getting right back in Yates'wheeltrack by the end of lap five, Hacking looked to have things figured out with this more powerful liter-class machine, and it took everything Yates had to try and keep him at bay. This didn't last long, as Hacking dived up the inside of Yates, going into the final corner on lap seven. Hacking didn't disappear right away, and Yates hung tight for a few laps before Hacking was able to put some clean air between himself and the Suzuki rider Behind them, DiSalvo was able to get by Rapp, while Bostrom had caught and passed May, who aftributed his late-race struggle to a wrong front-tire choice. This set the stage for a teammate battle for the final podium position, with Bostrom in the dri- ver's seat goin8 into the linal laps- Out front Hacking continued to click off fast lap times in traffic, beat Yates by 6.846 seconds at the line- "Superstock was a lot more work - Aaron [Yates] kept me honest," said Hacking, "The track was falling apart with the heat, and the bike was mov- ing a lot- lwas able to get by Aaron, but I only pulled a small gap, maybe, like, 'plus I ' on my board, but when we got into traflic, I was able to put a really good move and get by a few riderc really clean into the Corkscrew and I knew that would be enough.'' "This really isn't a favorite track of mine," Yates said after the race. "lt was a tough race out there. lt was hot, the track roll ot Loguno, lhe Yomoho mon swocping to wins in both Supertp.rl ond Superslock, ' is falling apart, and lamie lHacking] is riding really well. I was able to stay close, but I had a moment out there with the front tire and it allowed him to get away some. And I got killed in traffic. Now we iust need to go to Mid-Ohio add staft winning races to try and make up that gap [in points] to Jamie." Bostrom was happy to hold off his teammate Disalvo for third, as it was only his second time on the Superstock podium this season. "We had struggled with the Superstock bike this yeaq" said Bostrom. ''Coming from riding such mod- ified machines, like Superbikes, for so lonS I think it has been hard for us to get the production machine the way we want it. But we're getting there, and it's really amazing how good this Rl is. We were running times out there today that would have done well in the Superbike race." Mv Owru FLnce mak6 up the Bround," said Rapp. "Here, I had the pace and the bike was good and we wer€ right there- We made some charEes last nitht to the suspension and thangs realty came around. The bike has gotten b€tter every iace, I've totten better errer,. race, and it was niae to run uptront with those guys at l€ast for I loot as I did." Jake Holden Jake Holden struggled early with some front-tire issues, but rebound- ed to take a solid sixth-place linish at Laguna Seca. "The race was all right. I Eot a decent start up there with Rapp, but the first couple laps I had some issues with the front end and the tire gettinS up to temp,'' Holden said. "lt takes a while for that hard front Dunlop to get hor; bu! when it did, I was able to tet b), Uasonl Prid- more and I saw [steve] Rapp and Geoff May up in front. I was able ao get May, but not Rapp. Things are good - I lust wish the races were l0 laps longer The end s€Dms to be where l'rn rhe best." 9E Geoff May 7th Place rider, with the Georgia native riding fast early on, only to have setup troubles drop him back late in the race. "Got a great start, and everlthing about rhe bike was awesome early on, but then things went downhill late there and it was everything I could do ro not crash, l'1ay recalled. "Wkh the lack of time it was hard to find the right tire, and we ended up makang the wrong decision. We didn\ want to run on atire we hadn't tested yer, beang the ha-rder tire, bLrt we should have Sone for it because I tore the thing up after haifway." Jason Pridmore 8th Placrr all over $e place, which is good because it means we have some power. I normally don't have a problem with my arrns, but at the begnning it was doin8 it so much it iust wor€ my arms out- Right after I passed rake I just couldn't hold on, I tried looking ahead and focusint on different thinSs, h.t I iust couldnt hang on. lt's really frurtrating, but the team is coming alont and things are getting a lot better for, hopefully, at Mid-Ohio we'll be riglE there." 5th Place Sth Place .lordan Suzuki's Jason kid- more was on th6 pace early qn, but troubles with arm pump dropped him out of contention. "Wb.hans6d the bike a little bit." Prid- rnore said. "We shonened the wheelbase quite a bit and the bike war wheelying , GeoffMay has been ridkE well all ye6r in the Super- stock clars, but whh $e exception of a colple rounds, he il.rst hasnt quite had dlar extra little bit to hang with the leEd g.oup as the laps wind down. l-a8una S€cav,/:s mor€ ofthe seme for the M4 EMGO Suruki Steve Rapp After running strong at the previous round at l'4iller Motorsports Park, lordan Suzuki s Steve Rapp continued to improve a! Laguna S€ca. 'At Millel at the last race, we had the pace that Eric [Bostrom] was running, but I was a few seconds back and couldn't - CYCLE NEWS. AUGUST2,2006 39 AMA sUP€RSTOCK Round 7 tuly 23, 2006 AMA Rcpsol Superstock Series By SrEvE Afi-as PHoros By RtrEs & NE6oN hmh llr*ing ims it rgrir ir SuDGrstml u "@ \ a .,1 Lt \ , I I I l I I ) \U, Sr ?4t ,D t. :'| t' >...r i1 I ^ .f/ - .r, l'l .}