Duhamel Does It Again

AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series
Barber Motorsports Park
Race 1, Round 6: Leeds, AL
May 15, 2004

How long will Erion Racing's Superbike rookie Jake Zemke be subject to
last-lap charges by the veterans in the AMA Superbike series? Judging by
Zemke's stellar performances at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, it is
not a question of if Zemke will win, but only a matter of when.

After beating his teammate Miguel Duhamel at the line in the season opener
at Daytona to finish second in his Superbike debut, Zemke has learned a few
new lessons. Duhamel paid him back at Infinion, beating Jake to the line in
both the Superbike and Xtreme events after Jake led most of these races and
looked certain to be on his way to his first Superbike win. At Barber this
weekend, Zemke saw another win snatched from his grasp by points leader Mat
Mladin. After leading 21 laps of the 28-lap main event, Zemke was overtaken
by Mladin in turn four on the last lap. Zemke charged through lapped
traffic on the final turn and nearly overtook Mladin, but came up short at
the flag by just .011 seconds.

The start of the weekend found the Honda team working hard to find the
right Dunlop tires and suspension settings on their Honda CBR1000RRs to
overcome the abrasiveness of the Barber track's fresh asphalt. By Saturday,
Duhamel, Zemke and Ben Bostrom turned in stellar qualifying laps. Following
Mladin's pole time of 1:25.251, Bostrom was second at 1:25.445, followed by
Zemke at 1:25.518 and Duhamel at 1:25.760.

It was clear the race pace for all the Superbike riders would be dictated
by the front tire's ability to withstand the 'surface sandpaper'. As
Bostrom said, "This is one of the only tracks in the series where you're
pushing the front just about everywhere. Everything that's going to happen
out there will happen after 15 laps." All three Red Riders settled on "hard
plus" compound front tires for the race.

Bostrom rocketed his CBR1000RR into the lead at the start, followed closely
by Mladin, Zemke, Eric Bostrom and Duhamel. Ben's lead grew to .804 seconds
by lap three when he suddenly lost the front end and crashed out of the
race in turn three. Just like that, Zemke was the lead rider, while Duhamel
maintained third.

The early race pace was particularly fast, with Zemke turning in a
1:26.75-second time on lap three, his fastest of the race. But Mladin was
right there. By lap five, he was hot on Zemke's heels and the two riders
swapped positions for the lead, with Zemke staying in front.

Then it was Mladin's turn on lap ten as he took Zemke's front running spot,
holding that position until lap 14. Zemke then went around Mladin and
stayed there for the rest of the race, stretching his lead by as much as
2.14 seconds by lap 22. But Mladin mounted a furious charge and the two
riders were in a dead heat when the white flag came out signaling the last
lap.

"I was really concerned during the race with coming up over the rise from
turn four and driving into five," said Zemke. "The bike gets really light
there. I gave it all I could on the last lap, but I spun up the rear tire
going into the dip after turn four and I could feel the rear suspension
bottoming as I went up the rise. The front end came off the ground as I
topped the crest and I had to roll off to bring it down, and that is where
Mat caught up to me and passed me further down the track."

Zemke had one last chance to overtake Mladin as the pair encountered two
lappers on the last turn before the flag. "I thought I could get a good run
and I saw Mat going to the outside," Zemke said. "But at the last second,
he chopped the throttle and decided to go to the inside. When he did that,
it blocked my drive a little bit and I had to roll out for a split second."
Zemke and Mladin were side-by-side at the finish, with Mladin winning by a
wheel.

How did Zemke rate his almost perfect performance? "I got as big a lead as
I could and held on from there. The rear tire was awesome and I
concentrated on putting as little stress on the front as I could. We're
doing okay. We've had two pretty darn close races that we might have won.
With a new bike, you can have some teething problems. Luckily, we've been
able to get a handle on our bike right away. We'll put our heads together
tonight and see if we can make the bike better in practice tomorrow."

Duhamel finished third, well back of the leaders, having had difficulty
getting around Eric Bostrom in the early stages and later experiencing some
damage from debris. "I felt like l left a little bit out there today. We
had some chatter and then I picked up some debris and it felt like my front
disc was warped after that. We survived the race and tomorrow is a fresh
day. We've got lots of power and were going to work hard to win."

AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki
2. Jake Zemke - Honda
3. Miguel Duhamel - Honda
4. Eric Bostrom - Ducati
5. Josh Hayes - Kawasaki

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 214
2. Jake Zemke - Honda - 183
3. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 182
4. Geoff May - Suzuki - 132
5. Eric Bostrom - Ducati -123
12. Ben Bostrom - Honda - 79




AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series
Barber Motorsports Park
Race 2, Round 6: Leeds, AL
May 16, 2004

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Sunday's Superbike race at the
Barber Motorsports Park Superbike double header was that the ending
surprised people, and it should have been no surprise at all. Why? Because
just as he has done for a decade, Honda racer Miguel Duhamel showed his
uncanny ability to be there at the end, to come from behind and snatch an
improbable victory-in this case on the very last lap.

While other riders struggled to find traction and maintain pace in the
closing stages, Duhamel ate into Jake Zemke's  4-second lead little by
little, finally making the pass on the last lap while posting the fastest
lap of the race. It was the only lap Miguel led, and it was the only lap
that counted.

When the flag dropped for Sunday's Superbike race, it looked as though both
Zemke and Duhamel might not be factors at all. Both riders got terrible
starts, thanks to grabby clutches that saw them both wheelie off the line.
Instead, it was Honda teammate Ben Bostrom who streaked to the lead on the
opening lap, just as he did the day before. Both Bostrom and Duhamel had
elected to run a harder compound front tire for Sunday's race, and it
looked like the right decision judging by Bostrom's charge in the opening
laps. Zemke and Duhamel crossed the line on lap one in six and seventh
respectively, but Jake immediately began to move forward. His charge,
however, ended on lap three when a fallen rider brought out the red flag.

At the restart, Duhamel and Zemke again got mediocre starts, but this time
Zemke wasted no time moving through the pack to take the lead from fellow
CBR1000RR rider Bostrom on lap five. Duhamel, meanwhile, was languishing
back in fourth, and by lap eight was nearly six seconds behind leader
Zemke. Miguel was locked in combat with Mat Mladin, the two riders swapping
third position as they neared the half-way point of the race. On lap 13,
Bostrom made a mistake in the last turn and ran wide, allowing Duhamel and
Mladin to get past. Five laps later, the battling duo of Duhamel and Mladin
had closed to within four seconds of Zemke. On lap 21, Duhamel made the
most of lapped traffic, passing Mladin for second and gapping him
immediately. Duhamel, turning 1:26 second lap times (just a shade slower
than his qualifying times), slashed Zemke's lead to just 2.8 seconds.

Up front, Zemke was having his own trouble with lapped traffic, as he would
later recount. "In the past they've cost me a bit and today they cost me a
lot. You can't go around someone on the outside in two and three because
you'll lose the front; there's no traction out there. I kept hitting guys
through turns two and three and I could see my lead shrinking. Every time I
hit a lapper there it was costing me a second a lap. I set out on a pretty
quick pace in the beginning, the tires felt pretty good, better than
yesterday, actually. We were running almost a second a lap faster through
the beginning parts of the race, we were running 26.3, 26.4. But I just
couldn't get through the traffic."

Duhamel, though balked a number of times by the lapped traffic, steadily
closed the gap on Zemke. When he passed Jake entering the front straight on
the final lap, there was little Zemke could do. Jake fought valiantly to
retake the lead, but Duhamel wasn't having any of it; he crossed the finish
line on the back wheel, nearly half a second ahead of Zemke.

For Jake, Sunday's Superbike race was a heartbreaker. It marked the third
consecutive Superbike race that he scratched out huge leads in the quest
for his first AMA Superbike win only to have his hopes dashed by the
last-lap heroics of Duhamel and Mladin.

In the winner's circle, it was obvious Zemke wasn't happy about being
passed on the last lap two days in a row (Mladin won in the same fashion on
Saturday).  Said Jake from the podium: "Miguel in these last couple of
races has been taking it to me pretty good. It's upsetting to me but at the
same time, this is my first year and I am up here, so it's not too bad. The
Dunlop tires today were so good, the pace I was running almost a second
quicker than yesterday throughout the whole race. It's hats off to those
guys at Dunlop. Thanks also to my crew; they're giving me an awesome bike
and we're going to get a win soon. I've carried my consistency through the
last three or four seasons, that part of it is there. We've just got to get
on the top. Consistency is great but when guys that are in front of you in
the championship are consistently better, that doesn't help you out."

Duhamel, as always, was gracious in victory circle. "These guys were going
so hard that it took all that time to get back up to Jake. Mat was pushing
me. You know, we're both guys that want to win real bad. We were not as
worried about each other as we were about getting up there and getting a
shot at the win. That's what it's all about. My team worked so hard. They
gave me such a great bike. It worked terrific and I was confident I could
push it real hard. Coming on to the last corner before the last lap I
thought maybe if I passed Jake on the inside and pushed it really hard it
would be hard to stay with me. My bike was working so great that once I got
in front, my main thing was to go as hard as I can."

Later, in the press conference, Duhamel added more details. "I put my head
down and worked hard today. I had to get by everybody-Eric (Bostrom), Ben,
Aaron Yates, all the top guys. It was no gimme. Any one of these guys could
easily have won; hat's off to Jake and Mat. I am just ecstatic. I will put
this in my book as one of my really good wins. I gave 100 percent the whole
race. I am very pleased for Honda and the CBR1000RR. My bike worked
terrific; it's an awesome machine. The competition is getting nervous. We
are just starting to tap into the 1000RR's ability right now."

With his 28th career AMA Superbike win, Duhamel moves within one victory of
Mladin for all-time career AMA Superbike wins. The win also moved Duhamel
into second in the championship chase, 25 points out of the lead heading
into next weekend's race in Colorado.

AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Miguel Duhamel-Honda
2. Jake Zemke-Honda
3. Mat Mladin-Suzuki
4. Aaron Yates-Suzuki
5. Ben Bostrom-Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin-Suzuki-243
2. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-218
3. Jake Zemke-Honda-216
4. Geoff May-Suzuki-154
5. Eric Bostrom-Ducati-147
11. Ben Bostrom-Honda-105



AMA Formula Xtreme Series
Barber Motorsports Park
Round 4: Leeds, AL
May 15, 2004

A man's destiny is not to be denied, and so it was for Erion Racing's Jake
Zemke this weekend. Zemke has seen seemingly-certain victory snatched from
his hands on several occasions this season, including a last lap pass by
Mat Mladin in the first Superbike race less than an hour before the start
of the fourth round of the AMA Formula Xtreme series at Barber Motorsports
Park. Not to be deterred, Zemke put his head down and held off a charging
Miguel Duhamel to take his first Formula Xtreme victory of the year and the
fifth of his career. Erion Racing teammate Alex Gobert filled out the
podium for a Honda sweep.

The qualifying session for the AMA's newly-revised Formula Xtreme series
saw Duhamel put down the fastest Honda time of 1:28.046 on his CBR600RR,
followed by Zemke at 1:28.80 and Gobert with 1:28.960. A unexpected pole
position by Vincent Haskovec with a time of 1:27.793 promised for an
entertaining race.

Duhamel rocketed to the lead on lap one and was quickly challenged by Zemke
as the two swapped the lead on lap two. Moments later, Haskovec slipped
inside of Zemke and the running order was Duhamel, Haskovec, Zemke and
Gobert until lap five.

"I was back there thinking, 'I've got to get going and pass these guys if
I'm going to win this race'", said Zemke. He passed Haskovec and dogged
Duhamel on laps six and seven, the pair crossing the line just .046 seconds
apart. Zemke then passed Duhamel in turn three for the lead.

"Once I got up to the lead I tried to put my head down and pick up the
pace," said Zemke. "I had a couple looks over my shoulder and Miguel was
hanging right there." It was an exciting race for the fans, who saw Zemke
turn the fastest race time of 1:28.088 on lap eleven. Miguel countered with
a 1:28.102 on the next lap. Indeed, for the final ten laps, no more than
.301 seconds separated the pair.

Meanwhile, Gobert was closing on Haskovec, whose pace slowed considerably
in the second half of the race. "I started reeling him in for a couple of
laps," said Gobert. "With six to go, I'm thinking, 'I'm going to do one lap
and see if I can pull him in." Gobert passed Haskovec on lap 15, taking
third position. "I caught up to him quicker than I thought, and I just kept
my head down after that."

Up front, Zemke and Duhamel continued to battle each other. "Coming into
those last couple of laps I knew it was going to be tough," said Zemke. "We
came up on some lappers and I just threw it in there." Did he have deja vu
from earlier races this year, when he lost the lead more than once on the
last lap?

"I was definitely thinking about that," said Zemke. "I didn't know if it
was going to work out. I was afraid Miguel would square it up and come
around us but we hung on." Zemke's margin of victory was just .159 seconds,
breaking Duhamel's three-race winning streak. A disappointed Duhamel was
gracious in defeat.

"I give Jake a lot of credit. I had a great bike but we just came up short
at the end. I put pressure on him, especially those last three laps. He's
getting used to the pressure, I think, from me and Mat (Mladin). You can't
win them all, but my guys gave me a great bike. My CBR600RR had a lot of
power, but I came up short today."

Gobert was pleased with his third place finish, assuring a Honda podium
sweep. "I put my head down for the last four laps and it turned out really
well. This one feels really good," he said.

AMA Formula Xtreme results
1. Jake Zemke-Honda
2. Miguel Duhamel-Honda
3. Alex Gobert-Honda
4. Vincent Haskovec -Suzuki
5. Jason Pridmore-Suzuki

AMA Formula Xtreme Points
1. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-143
2. Jake Zemke-Honda-132
3. Alex Gobert-Honda-112
4. Jacob Holden-Suzuki-97
5. Vincent Haskovec-Suzuki-81