Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE T he name Formula Xtreme was very late-'90s. The X Games launched in 1995 and from that point onwards in the '90s if it wasn't extreme it wasn't happening. If in the '70s everything was "Super," the '90s were certainly extreme. Oh, and make that Xtreme—the X had to come first to show you just how Xtra Xtreme it was. AMA Pro Rac- ing rolled with the tide and in 1997 launched Formula Xtreme, replacing the old AMA SuperTeams Series. While the name may have been fad- dish, the competition in the series was top-notch. Perhaps the most competitive, controversial and talent- filled FX season came in 2002. Honda owned the Formula Xtreme class for its first four years, but that changed in 2001, when both Suzuki and Yamaha stepped up to halt the Honda juggernaut. John Hopkins and the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team came away with the big prize, winning the 2001 championship in a one-point squeaker over Graves Motorsports Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster. Hopkins went straight from FX to MotoGP, hired by Red Bull Ya- maha leaving the number-one plate vacated. Buckmaster, once again riding for Graves Yamaha, was eager to make up for losing what he felt was win at Pikes Peak in the 2001 AMA 750 Supersport class. Honda brought a new, more powerful CBR954RR to the series in hopes of competing with the powerful Suzuki GSXR1000s and Yamaha's R1. Four-time series champion Erion Honda brought Mike Hale back to AMA Pro Rac- ing fulltime for the first time in sev- en years. Hale was teamed with an 18-year-old Roger Hayden. Erion's satellite squad, Bruce Transportation, featured Jake Zemke and Alex Gobert. Gobert, like Hayden, just 18 and youngest of the three racing brothers. FX did not run at Daytona, so the series opened at California P140 his title that year. But the Australian was faced with an even deeper field in '02. He would also face a rule- book fight with the legality of the Graves Yamaha R7/R1 hybrid a major point of contention much of the season. Perhaps the biggest challenge to pre-season favorite Buckmaster in '02 was 12-year pro Jason Prid- more on the Attack Suzuki. Prid- more, a former AMA 750 Supers- port champ, looked to be the rider to beat in the 2001 championship before he broke his leg while leading round two at Road Atlanta. Pridmore was joined on the Attack Suzuki squad by a 17-year-old Ben Spies. At that point, Spies was considered one of the most prom- ising riders in AMA Pro Racing. He earned the prestigious AMA Horizon Award in 2000 as the AMA's leading amateur racer and went on to record his first national TREME CLIFFHANGER Jason Pridmore celebrates winning the Formula Xtreme Championship in 2002. X