From a press release issued by Vreeke & Associates on behalf of Dunlop:
Mladin one step closer to fifth AMA Superbike Championship; Duhamel clinches Formula Xtreme title
Braselton, GA – The 10th stop on the AMA’s (American Motorcyclist Association) 11-venue 2004 Superbike road racing series brought out the best in the four racing series’ competitors at Road Atlanta on September 3-5 in Braselton, Georgia. Early predictions of rain and wind, courtesy of Hurricane Frances, did not materialize and the weekend weather was warm and humid with highs in the mid-80s. When the racing was over, Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel had won the Formula Xtreme Championship, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies continued his late-season surge in the Superstock series, Kawasaki Road Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden snagged his fourth Supersport victory of the season, and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin swept the Superbike doubleheader in his quest for an unprecedented fifth AMA Superbike title.
Road Atlanta is dominated by right-hand turns that generate significant heat in the right side of the motorcycle’s rear tire. This condition adversely affects traction and accelerates tire wear and is most apparent at the end of the back straight approaching turn 10. Notably, this is one place on the track where many passes take place. To cope with the track’s demands, Dunlop brought nearly 1800 tires for the factory teams and support riders in the Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. The factory Superbike teams had five front and five rear tire compound selections from which to choose. Rear tire selections included a new generation multi-compound design intended to maximize turning and straight-line traction and stability.
Saturday’s first race crowned the season’s first champion as Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel wrapped up the Formula Xtreme title on his CBR600RR, crossing the finish line just .210 seconds ahead of Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke. Duhamel’s sixth Formula Xtreme victory of the season and seventh career AMA title came on the last lap, where he passed Zemke at the end of the back straight. Zemke countered as the pair worked through the chicane and the two nearly touched under the Suzuki Bridge coming into the final turn. “We had a really tough battle at the end there,” said Duhamel. “My hat’s off to Jake, he ran a really great race, gave me plenty of room, I tried to do the same.” Of his championship, Duhamel said, “Every race win was earned, it was a really tough championship. I’m just really happy to be a part of the Honda team. The CBR600RR won the championship and my guys worked really hard. We had a tough year against Jake for sure and I’m just really happy to be here.” Following Zemke across the finish line was HMC Ducati’s Doug Chandler followed by Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore. Duhamel captured the title with 358 points; it was his 79th AMA road racing victory. Zemke follows with 307 points and third is held by Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert (254), who pulled over on lap nine with mechanical problems and did not finish the race.
The weekend’s first Superbike race win went to the series leader, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, with a .400-second victory over Miguel Duhamel. Mladin was dominant in practice and qualifying on his GSX-R1000, breaking his own lap record with a qualifying time of 1:22.065. “Dunlop has been working hard,” said Mladin. “They brought a tire here that they’ve been testing for the past few months… they’ve got it to the point where I’ve really started liking the tire. Fortunately, it’s a new generation tire, and it’s a good tire. It’s doing a good job for us.” The race was marred by a red-flag after Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes high-sided on lap seven, forcing a restart. Mladin, who was leading at the time, wasted no time after the restart and passed Duhamel and Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates on lap eight. He never relinquished the lead despite the pursuit of Duhamel on his CBR1000RR, who nearly overtook Mladin on the last turn as the pair worked around lapped riders. “It was a good win, I’ve got to thank all my guys,” said Mladin. “I’ve got to thank Suzuki especially. It was a hard race today, but I think if they hadn’t done their homework, it might not have been possible today.” Third across the line was Honda Racing’s Ben Bostrom, followed by Erion Honda’s Zemke, who entered the weekend second in the points standings. Yates was fifth, followed by Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner. Haner’s teammate Eric Wood took eighth and Suzuki’s Shawn Higbee was ninth as riders using Dunlop tires took eight of the top 10 positions. Entering Sunday’s second Superbike race, Mladin extended his series to 495 points, followed by Zemke with 463 and Duhamel with 445.
The second day of racing opened with a blistering Superstock competition that featured the industry’s up-and-coming road racing stars. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies was the eventual winner with a 2.223-second victory on his GSX-R1000 over Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert, capping an exciting four-way battle for the lead that left no motorsports fan disappointed. Eleven laps of the 15-lap race produced a see-saw battle between Gobert, riding a YZF-R1, teammate Jason Disalvo and Kawasaki Road Racing’s Tommy Lee Hayden aboard a ZX-10R. Spies, coming off a strong finish at Mid-Ohio, seemed destined to remain relegated to fifth position. On lap 11, however, he made his charge to the front, breaking away from the pack with apparent ease. “My whole goal was to get the holeshot and check out, or to sit back and follow and save my tire,” said Spies. “The pace was pretty quick, it was just fast enough where I could stay back there without using my tire up. I was real strong on the brakes into (turn) 10 and I passed everybody for second and the next lap for first and then I put my head down.” Gobert and Hayden have been dueling for the lead in the hotly-contested series as Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking has watched his points lead evaporate following a Mid-Ohio testing injury on June 30. Gobert’s last-lap pass of Hayden for second gives him the series lead with 293 points and just one race remaining, while Hayden is now tied with Hacking (who finished sixth) with 288. Fourth went to Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden, who slipped past Disalvo after the Yamaha rider ran off the track while attempting a last-lap pass on Tommy Hayden in turn 10. Suzuki’s John Haner took seventh as Dunlop-shod competitors took the first seven of the top 10 positions.
If a more exciting race could be had, it occurred in the 600cc Supersport competition as Gobert, both Haydens, Disalvo, and Spies set off on a torrid pace that saw numerous lead changes. On lap 13 of the 15-lap event, Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden took the lead on his ZX-6RR and battled with older brother Tommy to the last, grabbing his third win in as many weeks and his fourth victory of the season by a scant .103 seconds. “The race went pretty good from the start,” said the younger Hayden. “I never really had to work because if I’d lose a little bit here and there I could always just make it up real quick. Once again my bike is the fastest bike out there. No matter how far back I got, I could make it up on the straightaway, I could reel them in.” Yamaha’s Disalvo and Gobert were third and fourth on their YZF-R6s, followed by Suzuki’s Spies on his GSX-R600 in fifth, Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster in sixth, Corona Suzuki’s Ben Attard in seventh and Suzuki’s Danny Eslick in 10th. Overall, Dunlop riders won eight of the top 10 positions. With one race to go, Kawasaki Road Racing is assured of a championship at the hands of a Hayden; Tommy Hayden leads brother Roger Lee, 327 to 316, in series points. Spies and Gobert are tied for third with 255 points apiece.
Superbike race two was a convincing victory for Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin. Mladin started off in third place and methodically worked his way past Honda’s Duhamel and Bostrom, then built an insurmountable lead to finish 3.953 seconds ahead of Duhamel. “The weekend was good for us,” said Mladin. “I wanted to get to the traffic first, because I know what it’s like if you don’t, and I pushed hard to make sure I could get there first. I was able to surprise most of them, we got lucky in that department. It was a good race, we had to work hard all weekend, we’ve done a good job this week.” Honda’s Ben Bostrom finished third and Mladin’s nearest rival in the points chase, Zemke, soldiered home to a fourth place finish as he struggled all weekend to stay at the front with the leaders. Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes took fifth, followed by Suzuki’s John Haner in sixth. Teammate Eric Wood finished ninth and Corona Suzuki’s Marty Craggill was eighth as Dunlop-supported riders took eight of the top 10 positions. By sweeping both races at Road Atlanta, Mladin’s record-setting 31st and 32nd career victories give him a 42-point lead (532 to 490) over Zemke, with just two races remaining. Duhamel is third with 477 points.
The final stop for Dunlop and the 2004 AMA road racing tour will be at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, September 17-19, featuring a doubleheader round of Superbike action.
More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:
TEAM VALVOLINE EMGO SUZUKI WRAPS UP AT ROAD ATLANTA
Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki closed out their Road Atlanta weekend by securing three top-ten finishes. After Vincent Haskovec lost out on a top-five finish in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme final due to an electrical problem, the team was committed to putting in a solid day’s work on Sunday, a goal they accomplished.
After qualifying on the Supersport second row yesterday, Steve Rapp predicted a similar performance in today’s race. He was dead on, finishing in eighth place — exactly where he qualified. For much of the race, the Californian looked set on outdoing his forecast, but electrical problems prevented him from tapping the full potential of his Michelin-shod GSX-R600 the entire 60K distance.
Crew Chief Keith Perry commented, “I felt like we made progress this weekend and the bike was good. Unfortunately, electrical gremlins crept up, and I think Steve proved he was capable of beating all but the top factory guys. We know we still need to make further progress to run with the factory guys on a regular basis, but one thing at a time. We need to learn from it and go forward.”
Canadian up-and-comer Chris Peris also finished exactly where he started from in the Supersport race — thirteenth.
Perry was encouraged by Peris’ performance at an unfamiliar track. “Chris is doing well. He had never raced here before and did a nice job. He’s learning what he needs from the bike, and we’re learning what to give him. It takes some time, but that’s how it works.”
In the Superstock final, Haskovec and Rapp were able to better their qualifying showings aboard their GSX-R750s, just as they had hoped. Despite an abundance of high speed sections that frequently gave riders armed with 1000cc machines an advantage around the 2.54-mile track, Haskovec improved from the twelfth spot on the grid to finish ninth, while Rapp climbed from fifteenth to tenth.
Perry admitted, “It’s a horsepower track. Both guys knew we would be scraping for whatever positions we could get. We made the decision to stick with the 750 early in the year, knowing we would suffer in some places. The guys rode very hard and the race turned out about how we anticipated it would, with Steve and Vincent moving forward.”
The team crew chief continued, reflecting on the weekend and looking ahead to the season finale in Virginia. “Again, we made progress. With the FX bike, we have closed the gap quite a bit on the two factory bikes in the class. We’re not here for third, we want to win. Everybody seems to be conceding this whole thing to the factory bikes in Formula Xtreme, but we look forward to the challenge of taking them on. Our bike has improved over the course of the year and we are looking forward to proving it at Virginia. We’ll go there and give it everything we’ve got.”
Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki will be back in action September 17-19 at Virginia International Raceway.
More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:
Duhamel Clinches Formula Xtreme Title
American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel clinched the inaugural Formula Xtreme Championship, the unprecedented seventh AMA road race title of his illustrious career, in the penultimate round at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. By finishing second, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke guaranteed that Honda would finish the first season of the 600cc based class one-two.
“It was really tight and really hard and every race win was earned for Jake and myself,” Duhamel said after his seventh win of the series. Two others were won by Zemke with American Honda’s Ben Bostrom completing Honda’s so far perfect season. “I believe that we pushed it hard and we just went for it on the last lap and again today. Just it was just a really tough championship. There were two factory guys, obviously Jake and I were riding up front, but still there’s only one place on the podium and it was really hard to get and I feel that this was a tough championship to win this year.”
Duhamel is the career wins leader in AMA road racing, extending that number to 79 with this weekend’s Formula Xtreme success.
In the Superbike class, Zemke and Duhamel remained within striking distance of championship leader Mat Mladin going into the final twin Superbike round of the series in two weeks time. Duhamel came within 0.400 seconds of winning Saturday’s race then came back and finished second again on Sunday. Both races were won by Mladin (Suzuki).
Hondas filled the podium both days with Ben Bostrom taking a pair of thirds. Bostrom led Sunday’s race for the first five laps, but any chance of rejoining the battle for the lead was dulled by lapped traffic. Erion Honda’s Zemke struggled with tire grip on his way to fourth place finishes in both races.
Miguel Duhamel, 2nd Place, Sunday
It was a tough race today. It was hotter and a little bit more tricky on the tire. Everybody was in the same boat. Just tried to do our best. Traffic, it was pretty bad for everybody. That’s how it goes. Who knows how the race the race would’ve turned out. It would have been nice to see what we could have done. Mat (Mladin) was definitely riding really good today. He rode good yesterday. There’s not much we could do. To be honest, with the lapped riders I was hoping he was going to get caught out somewhere do a little mistake, just give me a little more breathing room to latch back on. He didn’t do that.
Ben Bostrom, 3rd Place, Sunday
I really had a great machine. I’ve got to hand it to my guys. The Honda was real fast, it handled really well. It definitely put us in the race. It was fantastic until we came up on the lappers and that pretty much always seem to ruin the race. Other than that it was a fantastic race. These guys rode better than I did and they won. Mat (Mladin) was fantastic all weekend, the man to beat. He definitely deserved to win. Miguel (Duhamel) was right there all weekend pushing hard, he’s a great rider.
Jake Zemke, 4th Place, Sunday
This whole weekend we’ve been struggling quite a bit and we just couldn’t get a handle on it. The biggest problem I had was grip. I just couldn’t get any grip. Same thing as yesterday. We were OK for about five laps and that was it. As soon as the tire started to drop off we were done. I’d be losing both ends just tipping it into the corners, tipping it in easy too. As soon as I’d get the bike to full lean angle I’d just lose both ends.
Miguel Duhamel, 2nd Place Saturday
I was always within a shot of getting him. Lapped traffic was a little bit not going my way. He got those guys. At the end again I had another outside chance coming into the chicane. I went wide hoping that maybe they’d see the blue flag and they’d go in tight because he was going in tight. That didn’t work out. Didn’t want to do nothing too crazy by passing him down the hill because it was too tight anyway. Just anyway just came up a little short. Good race. Lap times were good. The team did a great job.
Ben Bostrom, 3rd Place Saturday
The race it was quite fun actually. I just need to get a little better start so I can race with these guys, but at least we had Jake (Zemke) and Aaron (Yates) out there to race with most of the race. I had a good time. I was really enjoying myself. I was kind of wishing we were up there with the leaders, but these guys were going too fast and we just couldn’t pull them down. No complaints, the bike was fantastic, the tires were great. Can’t complain. It was set up really well. The rider just needs to get a better start and go quicker.
Jake Zemke, 4th Place Saturday
I was really thankful for the re-start. We changed just about everything on the bike. We changed linkage shock, you name it we changed it. The second start it took me a lap or two to feel the thing out to see what it was going to do because the other one was pretty sketchy. The new set-up after the re-start was working quite well. And it worked quite well for five or six laps until the tire was toasted and then after that it was a struggle to get home.
Sunday Superbike:
1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
2. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
3. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
4. Jake Zemke (Honda)
5. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki)
6. John Haner (Suzuki)
7. Larry Pegram (Yamaha)
8. Geoff May (Suzuki)
9. Marty Craggill (Suzuki)
10. Eric Wood (Suzuki)
Saturday Superbike:
1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
2. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
3. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
4. Jake Zemke (Honda)
5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
6. John Haner (Suzuki)
7. Geoff May (Suzuki)
8. Eric Wood (Suzuki)
9. Shawn Higbee (Suzuki)
10. Opie Caylor (Suzuki)
Superbike Points:
1. Mat Mladin (532)
2. Jake Zemke (492)
3. Miguel Duhamel (477)
4. Ben Bostrom (364)
5. Geoff May (344)
6. Eric Bostrom (336)
7. John Haner (312)
8. Aaron Yates (298)
9. Eric Wood (284)
10. Josh Hayes (267)
More, from a press release issued by Team Stargel Yamaha:
Team Stargel Yamaha Shows Progress At Road Atlanta
After suffering a number of teething problems at Mid-Ohio, Team Stargel Yamaha arrived at Road Atlanta with the hope that the team’s second AMA Superbike appearance would go smoother than their first.
As the team’s Yamaha R1 continues to be transformed into a top level superbike, rider Chuck Sorensen finds himself adapting his riding style and physical conditioning to control the sheer power of the bike. Sorensen qualified at 19th position on the grid, but felt that he could go faster just by gaining familiarity with the bike’s new engine modifications. Dave Weaver, of Full Spectrum, assisted the team in making the engine more rider friendly. After a long red flag delay in Saturday’s race, Sorensen rode smart and extremely consistent, finishing a very respectable 13th. Afterwards, Sorensen felt that a top ten finish would be possible in the second race on Sunday. Sorensen turned the 10th quickest time in Sunday morning’s practice and the team’s eagerly awaited the second race. After a good start, Sorensen began race two on a tear, turning faster times on his first seven laps than he had in Saturday’s race.
Unfortunately, he began to experience severe arm pump, and his lap times grew to as much as three full seconds. Not wanting to dampen what had been a very encouraging weekend, he soldiered on the full twenty five laps to finish in 19th position. Afterwards, Team Stargel Yamaha was very proud of their results in what was only their second AMA Superbike event and look forward to making greater strides at the next round September 17th-19th at Virginia International Raceway.
More, from a presss release issued by Corona Extra Suzuki:
UPS AND DOWNS AT ROAD ATLANTA BUT OVERALL SOME GOOD RESULTS FOR CORONA EXTRA SUZUKI
Road Atlanta was the first race after the August lay-off for the AMA Road racing teams. It saw the return to AMA competition and Corona Extra Suzuki of past two-time SuperStock champion Jimmy Moore. Jimmy was quickly up to speed but unfortunately a vicious high side in Saturday morning practice put paid to his weekend. Jimmy said; “I was trying some different compound tires when it spat me off. I was out cold for a short time. The local and track doctors said it was OK to race but everyone thinks its best to sit out the rest of the event. I’m really bummed as I got up to pace really quickly and felt really good! Roll on VIR!”
In SuperBike, Marty Craggill’s fitness benefited from a month focused on training. He qualified on the third row giving him a good starting position. In race one of the double header, he was in 11th on lap two when an electrical glitch brought him in. Soon after however the race was red flagged and his crew was able to get the bike fixed for the 18-lap race restart. He rode really well, getting up to tenth on the track but with a two-lap penalty on the leaders leaving him in 26th overall.
In SuperStock, Scott Greenwood struggled with set-up on his GSX-R 1000, qualifying sixteenth. Come the race, the most unusual occurrence sidelined him when a link pin in the chain snapped in half during the warm-up lap and could not be fixed before the start.
In the most hotly contested event of the weekend, SuperSport, Ben Attard qualified in ninth position. He got a great start and was quickly up to seventh. He dropped a position later in the race but made it up before the finish to post a fine seventh, first non-factory bike and second Suzuki. Ben said, “The guys in front put on a really hot pace. I had some grip issues in a couple of corners. I didn’t want to push too hard and go down. Otherwise the bike worked really great!” Attard is tenth in the SuperSport Championship.
In the second Superbike race, Craggill found himself boxed in at the start and fifteenth after lap one. He put his head down and started reeling in the bikes in front. He picked off bikes lap after lap getting up to eighth by lap nine. He lost the position for a short while but got it back by the finish to equal his best finish of the season, eighth.
More, from a press release issued by Proforma:
HOTBODIES RACING TEAM RESULTS FROM ROAD ATLANTA
The Hotbodies Racing Team participated at round ten of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Road Atlanta over the past weekend, September 3-5. Riders under the big red and white Hotbodies Racing tent at Road Atlanta included Michael Barnes, Geoff May, Giovanni Rojas, Jeremy Toye and Blake Young.
Michael Barnes
Michael had a mechanical DNF in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme final while running fifth, but had a race-long battle with Ben Attard and Steve Rapp to finish ninth in Sunday’s Supersport event.
Geoff May
Geoff was back to finishing in the top ten again at Road Atlanta, with a seventh in Saturday’s Superbike final and tenth in the race on Sunday.
These finishes helped Geoff re-gain fifth place in the 2004 Superbike point standings.
Giovanni Rojas
Giovanni, from nearby Duluth, Georgia, finished 20th in the Supersport race on Sunday on his Yamaha R6.
Jeremy Toye
Riding the Roadracingworld.com project Yamaha R1, Jeremy finished 19th in Saturday’s Superbike race and came back the following day to finish in 20th place.
Blake Young
Blake had a good weekend as a first-timer to Road Atlanta. Blake held off a late-race charge from Heath Small in the Formula Xtreme race to finish eighth. On Sunday, he had a race-long battle with several more experienced riders to finish ahead of them in 14th place.
Two Hotbodies Racing Team riders were scheduled to participate at Road Atlanta, but were unable to attend. Marco Martinez remained in Florida to prepare his home and business for the arrival of hurricane Frances, and John Dugan encountered mechanical difficulties with his race transporter on the way to Georgia.
Look for the big red and white Hotbodies Racing tent at the season finale of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series at Virginia International Raceway, September 17-19.
