From a press release issued by Vreeke & Associates, Dunlop’s advertising and public relations agency:
Duhamel makes history at Road America
Elkhart Lake, WI – Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel made history at Road America’s famous 4.1-mile road course June 4-6, winning three American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) road races in one weekend – both Superbike races and the Formula Xtreme event. In the process, he reclaimed the lead in his battle with Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin for the most Superbike career victories, 30 in all. Add two victories by Kawasaki Road Racing’s Tommy Hayden in the Superstock and Supersport classes, and it was a dream weekend for race fans.
For the sixth stop of the AMA’s 2004 Superbike tour, Dunlop arrived with over 2000 tires and a brace of seasoned technicians to support the factory teams of Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha – not to mention numerous up-and-coming support riders. In preparation for the two Superbike races, Dunlop provided the Honda and Suzuki factory teams with six rear tire compound choices and three for the front, built especially for Road America. As the first race approached on Saturday, the teams narrowed their rear tire selections to medium-hard compounds to manage the heat generated by the Superbikes’ tire-spinning power on Road America’s long straightaways.
Superbike race one delivered a convincing victory by Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel on his CBR1000RR, his 29th career Superbike victory. Duhamel started on the pole with a new lap record of 2:13.346, but suffered a poor start. He methodically worked his way to the front, passing Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom for the lead on lap seven. In hot pursuit were Erion Racing’s Jake Zemke on his CBR1000RR and Mladin on his GSX-R1000. Zemke also started poorly but followed Duhamel through the pack, holding second place on laps 8-10 before running wide in turn five of lap 11, slipping to fifth. Meanwhile Mladin soldiered his way from a fourth place start up to second place, briefly closing on Duhamel on lap 12 before finishing second 3.5 seconds behind the race winner.
“I didn’t get a great start, I just tried to be calm,” said Duhamel. “The Dunlop tires were working great and my team did a great job.” Indeed, Duhamel clocked the race’s fastest lap, a 02:14.405, on his last lap of the race. Zemke fought his way back to finish third overall. For Dunlop, it was a 1-2-3-4 finish, with Honda Racing’s Ben Bostrom taking fourth.
Saturday’s second race featured the “600cc Superbikes” of the Formula Xtreme class. Pole-sitter Zemke hoped to capture his third straight victory of the season on his Honda CBR600RR, but Duhamel took the early lead and led laps 1-8, Zemke nipping at his heels. Zemke and Duhamel swapped the lead back and forth on the last two laps, but Duhamel drafted past Zemke each time on the final straight leading to the start-finish line. At the checkered flag, Duhamel’s margin of victory was just .030 seconds.
“I am very pleased, and would have been more pleased if I could have pulled away but Jake rode a great race,” said Duhamel. Of the last pass he said, “I didn’t shift into sixth gear because I was afraid the shift would cost me. Just when I crossed the finish line the bike hit the rev limiter.” Erion Racing’s Alex Gobert finished third to round out the Honda podium sweep. Duhamel leads the series with 213 point to 202 for Zemke and 166 for Gobert.
A wonderful subplot unfolded Sunday as Kawasaki Road Racing’s Tommy Hayden captured his first victory of the season in the 1000cc Superstock class by the narrow margin of .018 seconds on his ZX-10RR, slipping past Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes on the last lap. Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert, who captured the pole with a time of 2:15.781 on his R-1 took third, less than 1.5 seconds behind the leader. “My tire was pretty good the whole way,” said Hayden, who captured his 10th Superstock win. “I was really happy with it, it stayed pretty even. I knew the characteristics of our bike and what it does. It suits this track pretty good, and I knew that I would be able to run up front all week.”
Series point leader Jamie Hacking ran his Yamaha R-1 off the track in turn one of lap two, but managed to get back in the action to salvage a few points. Yamaha’s Jason Disalvo took fourth, Suzuki’s Ben Spies was fifth on a GSX-R1000 and Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden was sixth as Dunlop-supported riders captured eight of the top ten positions. Halfway into the series, Gobert has taken the series lead with 180 points over teammate Hacking with 179 and Tommy Hayden with 173.
Hayden was back on the podium again in the 600cc Supersport class with a slim .030-second victory over Hacking, as Dunlop again took eight of the top ten spots. For Hayden, it was his third Supersport victory this season on his ZX-6RR and the 10th Supersport win of his career. “I felt like, toward the end, I had a little bit better rear tire,” said Hayden. “It seemed like I could drive a little bit harder toward the end. I knew it was going to be tough, in the last corner I squared it up and got the best drive I could, tucked in tight and barely squeaked it out.” Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert, Suzuki’s Disalvo, Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden and Suzuki’s Ben Spies finished 3-6, respectively. In the points chase, Tommy Hayden has 200 points, leading teammate and brother Roger Lee, who has 176. Hacking moved up to third in the standings with 173 points.
The start of the second Superbike race appeared to be a runaway for Zemke on his Honda CBR100)RR, seeking his first victory in the class. But with a 4.2-second lead over Hondas’ Ben Bostrom on lap five, the race was red-flagged. The restart saw Zemke out front once again, but Duhamel was only 1.6 seconds back in fourth and he worked his way forward to pass Zemke in turn one with two laps to go. He quickly pulled away, clocking the fastest lap of the race, a 2:14.001, en route to a 4.017-second win. “It’s incredible, it was one of my hardest races,” said Duhamel. “It feels great about what I pulled off but there is always a bit of luck that goes your way. You need a great team and this weekend is just one of those weekends where everything went well.” Series leader Mladin started off sixth on his GSX-R1000 after the red flag and worked his way forward to finish third overall. Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was fourth and Honda’s Ben Bostrom was fifth. Mladin’s finish helped him maintain the series point lead with 329 points to Duhamel’s 319. Zemke is a close third with 311.
Next stop for Dunlop and the AMA road racing tour will be Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota, June 25-27.
More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:
RAPP NINTH IN ELKART LAKE SUPERSTOCK
Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki suffered a difficult day to conclude the Road America weekend. But despite start line and engine displacement-related troubles, the team still managed to pick up a top ten result at the Wisconsin circuit on Sunday.
After a promising Supersport qualifying performance, Steve Rapp’s race was effectively ruined when he was judged to have jumped the start at the line. While loading his clutch in preparation of a quick launch at the green light, Rapp’s GSX-R600 surged forward ever so slightly. As he was rolling the machine back into place, the race was started, meaning he was effectively penalized twice — once by getting caught off guard by the start, and then a second time by being pulled in for a stop-and-go for nudging out of his starting position.
Rapp’s poor start saw him down in 14th following the opening lap. After fighting back up to a solid top ten position, he came into the pits for his penalty. He then returned to the race outside the top twenty and managed to claw his way back up to 15th by the contest’s conclusion.
Chris Peris had an eventful Supersport race as well, dicing with the factory riders before making a mistake that dropped him well down the order. The Canadian regrouped and picked up several positions to finish twelfth.
“Steve looked really good in the Supersport practices and qualifying and we were really hopeful,” he continued. “Afterwards he was apologetic because of the start; he ended up squeaking through the box and was trying to get back when the green light came on. A rule is the rule. He wasn’t in the box whether he was going backwards or forwards.
“Peris was having a good race,” Perry said of the youngster. “He’s coming along. He had a couple incidents this weekend that were tough on him, but he learned a lot. He made a couple mistakes in the race and had to recover from that and just do the best he could.”
Earlier, Rapp took an encouraging ninth place finish in the Superstock race despite the team’s 750s admittedly being heavily outgunned by the 1000s at one of the fastest circuits on the calendar. Vincent Haskovec put in a gritty performance on his GSX-R750 as well to claim thirteenth.
Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry summed up the day, stating, “In Superstock, we didn’t get the rain we may have been hoping for a little bit. We knew we were coming here with a disadvantage with the 750s, but we had to give it a shot. It was a lot more trouble for us to convert back to the 1000s for a race or two, so we decided to stick it out with the smaller bikes. I’m sure things would have been a lot more favorable in the wet.
“Michelin is doing a good job developing tires for our team and they’re coming along. We were just underpowered for this Superstock race and did the best we could do,” Perry said.
As for the state of the team, he remarked, “All the guys are working well. I couldn’t be prouder of the way they work together and how hard they work. We’ve had a few too many frustrating days lately, but we know it’s going to get better.”
More, from a press release issued by Proforma:
BLAKE YOUNG IMPRESSES AT ROAD AMERICA
Sixteen-year-old Blake Young raced to two impressive finishes at round six of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Road America. Riding the Madison, Wisconsin-based Young America Suzuki GSX-R600s, Blake finished 10th in Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme race. On Sunday, he ran as high as seventh in the fiercely-competitive Pro Honda Oils Supersport class before an off-track excusion set him back. Blake recovered and fought back to 11th place in the 10-lap race, battling with fellow teenagers Danny Eslick and Chris Peris to the finish line.
Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – 10th Place
Blake ran as high as eighth place before being passed by Jason Pridmore and Larry Pegram. Pridmore pulled in and Blake ran in ninth before being passed by Pascal Picotte on the last lap. “We ended up using the blue (compound), the softest Pirelli,” Blake said. “Once we got them up to temp, we didn’t really have any testing on them, they didn’t stay. Pridmore came around me, I was able to follow him, he was riding really well, actually. I was learning a lot from him, that’s gonna help me out a lot tomorrow.”
Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 11th Place
Running wide into turn five on the second lap caused Blake to lose nine positions, and an early battle with Oshkosh, Wisconsin rider Jason Farrell caused Blake to think twice about racing with him as he recovered and began to move forward. “The guy just comes in and expects the line, and I’m like, ‘no dude, you ain’t got one here’,” said Blake. “In Canada Corner, he ran it wide and all three of us went underneath him. I was the last one, and as soon as my front wheel got by him, his bike got all out of shape. I was glad I got with those guys (Eslick and Peris) when I got back in it. That was awsome!”
More, from another press release issued by Proforma:
JASON PRIDMORE HANGS ON AT ROAD AMERICA
Jason Pridmore and his STAR Motorcycle School crew continued to persevere over the weekend at Road America, working hard but being let down with mechanical problems in both the Repsol Superstock and Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme events at round six of the Chevrolet Superbike Series.
Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – DNF
After running as high as eighth place, Jason Pridmore was forced to pull in after his Suzuki GSX-R600 slowed four laps into the ten-lap race.
Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – 8th Place
“The race went good,” said Pridmore. “I got a great start, I got it off the line really well. I just didn’t have any brakes. I had a moment in turn five, I just couldn’t get it stopped. I ran wide and did a u-turn. Then I just got this tremendous arm pump, which I never, ever get, because I never hold on to the bars tight enough to get arm pump. Two laps from the end, I really made a charge to catch those guys, to catch Jake (Holden) and Roger Lee (Hayden), I just didn’t have the brakes to do anything with them. When I got down to the chicane, I tried to get it slowed down, the thing stepped out on me and off the track I went.”
A bunch more press releases issued by Proforma:
HEATH SMALL HAS SOLID FINISHES AT ROAD AMERICA
HAS/Shogun Racing rider Heath Small had a good weekend at Road America, during round six of the Chevrolet Superbike Series. Heath had solid finishes in both the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme and Pro Honda Oils Supersport classes.
Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – 14th Place
“It went good,” said Small. “We qualified with a 2:26.1, ended up running a 2:24.2 in the race. We might have made a poor tire decision, we ran a Pirelli blue. Well, it was a good decision for the first half of the race. In the carousel, I was really having to feather the throttle to keep the bike in line, and I had a few moments in the right-handers. I was behind Danny (Eslick) and Mark Junge for most of the race. All in all, we ran a good race.”
Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 19th Place
“I had a good start, but a guy checked up in front of me in the carousel,” said Heath. “It caused me to check up and I got a terrible drive through there. I got stuffed up the inside, and I faded wide to give the guy a little room. At the same time, I noticed my handlebars weren’t moving. The guy inside of me was pushing me wide, and a guy on the outside of me was leaning on my leg. Got through that, then on the third lap, a guy was just exiting turn one with his hand up, I went to go inside of him and at the last minute he swerved to the inside because another guy was passing him on the outside. I had to grab a handful of brakes and two more guys got past me. After that, I just put my head down and stayed out of trouble.”
ACREE AND CAYLOR HAVE ROUGH WEEKEND AT ROAD AMERICA
Suzuki riders Lee Acree and Opie Caylor had a long weekend at round six of the Chevrolet Superbike Series at Road America. Both riders had engine problems, causing them to have to change motors over the course of the weekend. Lee got the worst of it, carding DNFs in the two Chevrolet Superbike finals.
Lee Acree
Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – DNF
“I got a pretty good start,” said Lee. “I think I got through turn one well enough that no one got around me. I got past (Shawn) Higbee on the first lap, then (Geoff) May and (Pascal) Picotte were going back and forth and that let me close up on them. I went ahead and tried to get past Picotte, and then I just tried to set out after Geoff. I got back up on him, and it just depended on different parts of the lap, where I would close up or he would pull away. I knew we were past halfway, I was going into Canada Corner, making my backshifts, I heard a tone change, and when I came out it was not banging on all four. I pulled on in the pits, and that was that.”
Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 16th Place
“I didn’t cope well with the youthful exuberance,” said Lee, after giving it some thought. “I was struggling with the rowdiness of Nicky Moore and Jason Perez, and I ran off going into the chicane. My intent was to run it in there the way I had been, and everybody kind of stopped sooner than I anticipated, so I went sliding by the outside of them. I lost five or six seconds that lap, going around the barriers. After that, (Steve) Rapp caught me and we closed on Nicky Moore, but there was too much of a gap to catch him.”
Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – DNF
Lee’s bike blew the motor on the fourth lap of the race, dropping oil on the course and causing three riders to crash, all unhurt. The race was red-flagged, and cornerworkers and track crew cleaned the oil off the track in the turn eight area.
Opie Caylor
Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 12th Place
Grant (Matsushima, crew chief) built a little bit of a hot motor for us this weekend,” said Opie. “We made some changes to it this morning, and during the race it just kinda went flat. It just slowed down a little bit. I rode it hard and did my fastest lap like two laps from the end. It’s been a rough weekend.”
Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 14th Place
“Man, the first start was awesome,” said Opie. “I got up in the middle, and that was the problem. I couldn’t go forward, couldn’t go back, couldn’t go left or right. I had to float in the pack, keep my elbows out so I wouldn’t get bumped. Lee had his mishap (a blown engine), and everybody was smart and went to the left. There was 12 more laps, we threw another rear on, stayed with the front. I went back out and tried to get the draft from someone. I lost the draft and tried to make it up in the corners. I made a few mistakes. I just tried to pass as many guys as possible, get out of here with some points.”
ESLICK AND HIGBEE HAVE GOOD FINISHES AT ROAD AMERICA
Millennium Technologies Suzuki teammates Danny Eslick and Shawn Higbee had good results at round six of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Road America. Both riders had race-long battles for position, earning hard-fought points to add to their season-long totals.
Danny Eslick
Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – 12th Place
“That was a lot of fun,” said Danny, who caught and passed Michael Barnes on the last lap of the race, only to be passed back on the run to the finish line. “I got a decent start, I ended up passing (Pascal) Picotte and (Mark) Junge. The last couple of laps, I saw Barney and started hearing the roar of the Buell, that got me fired up. Barney probably had fifteen bikelengths on me and I reeled him in. I ended up passing Barney on the last lap, I was all over him going down into the chicane, then passed him going into Canada Corner. I stuffed it in there, because I knew that was gonna be my only chance, there’s no way to out-motor him. He turned around, coming up out of turn 14, sitting straight up and down just looking at me as he went by me.”
Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 13th Place
“That was good!,” said Danny, who ran as high as 10th place in his race-long battle with fellow young guns Tony Meiring, Chris Peris and Blake Young, the three finishing only .125 seconds apart. “I passed a bunch of guys at the start, I ran right up the inside. Tony started spewing oil before it blew up, it was all over my windscreen. The rest of the race, it was me and Chris and Blake just swapping places all over the track. On the last lap, I came out underneath the (Billy Mitchell) bridge, and I grabbed another gear. I went off in the dirt and the grass, and I fell back a little going into the last turn and on the run to the flag.”
Shawn Higbee
Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 9th Place
“We finished the race in pretty good fashion,” said Shawn. “I got off to a little bit of a slow start, it seems like we’ve been having this issue where the left side of the tire is not getting fully heated. The first few laps I was sketchy in the left-handers, and lost the draft of those guys. I got around Eric Wood and then I started to reel in Geoff May right at the end. We had to swap to a different motor this morning, so I was about a second slower with the new one.”
Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 13th Place
Shawn ran in 10th and 11th place for much of the race, closing on Geoff May towards the end. “I was trying to pass Geoff May on the last lap,” said Higbee. “I ran up on him going through the carousel, and he left enough room that I got up on the inside of him through there. We went through the exit side-by-side, I stood it up on the brakes, and he was on the inside. He ran wide into the left-hander and by the time he turned in there wasn’t time for me to make the turn. I went through the barriers, but three bikes went by.”
JOHN HANER STRUGGLES AT ROAD AMERICA
Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner rode his Superstock-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 to disappointing finishes at round six of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Road America. Haner and his crew fought mechanical problems early in the weekend, putting them behind once they started to find solutions.
Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 15th Place
“We’re just having some bad luck,” said John. “We had some mechanical issues and we’ve been playing catch-up all weekend long. We lost the clutch in qualifying, put a new one in for the race and the adjustment was just a little bit off. My guys, Mike (Goden) and John (Ross) have been working so hard this weekend, it’s tough on everyone when things don’t come together like you want. Now we gotta go back and figure out how to make it better, so we can race tomorrow.”
Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – 12th Place
“I lost the draft on the first lap,” said Haner, who slotted into 12th place early and couldn’t move forward. “But we made progress on the set-up. We did the fastest consistent laps of the weekend. It was okay.”
Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 12th Place
“It was the best race of the weekend for me,” said John. “I was with Eric (Wood, teammate) and (Jeremy) Toye for most of the race. We went into Canada Corner on the last lap, Eric got up inside of me, he tucked the front and almost went down and I was on the outside of him and had to stand it up. Toye was underneath and we ended up right at the wire.”
GEOFF MAY SALVAGES GOOD FINISHES DESPITE PROBLEMS AT ROAD AMERICA
Geoff May had another weekend of mechanical mayhem at round six of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series event at Road America. Geoff blew three engines (two of his own, one borrowed) by Saturday afternoon, causing him to borrow the same bike he borrowed from David Bell at the last event at Pikes Peak.
Saturday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 8th Place
“Lee (Acree) was pushing me, I kept seeing him there, but I didn’t have anything for him,” said May. “This is the same bike I rode at Pikes, I had to borrow it again. My gas light came on about five laps from the end, and I thought, ‘I’m not makin’ it’. Finally I started short-shifting it, and not pinning it anywhere. It ran out on the white-flag lap, I got down out of the carousel and it started sputtering. I started shaking it and keeping it upright. I came up the front straightaway and it quit running, I pulled in the clutch and coasted over the line.”
Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – DNS
Geoff was unable to start the Superstock final after his primary bike suffered an engine failure on Saturday. The bike Geoff borrowed was not Superstock-legal.
Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 9th Place
“That was a good race, it went really well,” said May. “I did run off the track in turn three on about the third lap, I think I lost about four places. After that, I just put my head down and tried to pass back as many guys as possible. I had a challenge from (Shawn) Higbee on the last lap, but he ran wide in the chicane. I can’t say enough about David Bell, he’s been great. I wouldn’t have been able to race without him.” Geoff continues to hold down fifth place in the Chevrolet Superbike point standings.