Hayden Back On Top!

AMA / Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship Round 11: Brainerd Int'l
Raceway, Brainerd, MN June 28-30, 2002

American Honda's Nicky Hayden won his seventh AMA Superbike race of the
season, this one a thrilling affair on a sweltering day at Brainerd
International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota. Teammate Miguel DuHamel was
fourth, with Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts, in his first race since Daytona
in March, fifth after leading early in the race.


"Definitely, it's nice to get a win," Hayden, 22, of Owensboro, Kentucky,
said. "Kind of needed that. You get used to that. Starting to lose isn't
fun." The win allowed him to stretch his championship points lead to 42
points,


349 to 307, over Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom, a close second today. DuHamel,
who won the previous two Superbike races, moves to third in points with his
fourth place finish today. Hayden led the first lap, then Roberts took
over, something of a surprise. He'd been out of racing for three months,
since injuring his right leg in a practice crash at California Motor
Speedway in April. The leg didn't bother him in the early going and he and
Hayden swapped the lead on the high-speed three-mile course for the first
seven laps. Then Bostrom came by, controlling the pace until Hayden made
his move on the 17th of 21 laps. Using the power of the Honda RC-51, Hayden
moved past on the kilometer long straight to take a lead he would never
cede. Bostrom came at him in the final corner, but Hayden was resolute,
wining by 0.188 seconds. Then came Bostrom, with former GP rider Doug
Chandler third on the Ducati after passing DuHamel and Roberts two laps
from the end.





Nicky Hayden, First Place


When Eric (Bostrom) came by I knew he was going to drop the hammer and go
for it. Right there, kind of midway when he was setting the pace, I was
just holding on but I couldn't charge on him or nothing. Then a few more
laps went by and I started getting more comfortable, maybe both our tires
got greasier. As the race went on I felt better and better and more
comfortable. Just one of those deals that it worked out really good at the
end. I was able to get a win. It was really nice. It was an awesome weekend
right from the start. Me and my bros and my parents and some friends of
ours, we chartered a plane up here and we stayed right here at the track
condos so in the morning I'd be watching the 600 practice brushing my
teeth.





Miguel DuHamel, Fourth Place





On the third lap going into turn one (at over 150 mph) I lost the front end
pretty bad, like I almost got off the bike. Probably for a lot of guys the
same thing happened. For me, since we did a little change to the front end
of the bike, it kind of spooked me pretty good. I just was not comfortable
hanging it out with those guys. That pace was about as quick as I wanted to
go and when Eric (Bostrom) took the lead he took it up a notch and that's
when they split from me. Then after that it was just really trying to keep
those guys behind me, Kurtis (Roberts) and Doug (Chandler). Like I said,
with the set-up change I just couldn't get my lines. And here if you're a
little bit off line you're on the tar patches. I'm pretty happy I didn't
put it on the ground. I had a couple of big moments here and there.





Kurtis Roberts, Fifth Place


Going in, with the heat the humidity and not being on a bike for three
months I was a little skeptical of the physical aspect of it. Mentally, it
was tough. Right after Eric (Bostrom) got around me I started missing some
shifts and backshifts and it started playing with my head and it just
slowly went downhill from there. Kind of not being around, I thought it was
worse than it was. You're all frustrated. Saw Miguel (DuHamel) get around
me and pull away and tried to catch back up. Caught back up to him and got
screwed by some lapper and Doug (Chandler) got around me when I was in
third and kind of put his head down and didn't even drag my leg the last
two laps. It was done.. Right handers, if it hit the ground the last two
laps it felt it. I kept it up the last two laps and it was sore.


Superbike:


1. Nicky Hayden (Honda)


2. Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki)


3. Doug Chandler (Ducati)


4. Miguel DuHamel (Honda)


5. Kurtis Roberts (Honda)


Superbike Points:


1. Nicky Hayden (349)


2. Eric Bostrom (307)


3. Miguel DuHamel (272)


4. Aaron Yates (260)


5. Pascal Picotte (252)





AMA / Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship, Pro Honda Oils 600cc
Supersport Race: Brainerd Int'l Raceway, Brainerd, MN June 28-30, 2002





Honda was equally successful in the ultra-competitive Pro Honda Oils 600cc
Supersport class. The lead changed hands three times on the final with
Bruce Transportation Group's Jake Zemke taking it for the final time and
holding off a persistent Tommy Hayden to win his first Supersport race by
0.243 seconds and give Honda their second win in a row at Brainerd
International Raceway. "I'm so happy," Zemke said after giving Honda their
first win since Miguel DuHamel won here last year. "I've never been on a
600 podium before and for the first one to be a win that's incredible."


Supersport:


1. Jake Zemke(Honda)


2. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki)


3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)


4. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)


5. Jamie Hacking (Suzuki)


7. Roger Hayden (Honda)


10. Mike Hale (Honda)


Supersport Points:


1. Aaron Yates (234)


2. Tommy Hayden (183)


3. Damon Buckmaster (168) tie Jason Pridmore (168)


5. Tom Kipp (160)


6. Mike Hale (156)


8. Jake Zemke (148)


10. Roger Hayden (139)





AMA / Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship, Lockhart Phillips USA Formula
Race: Brainerd Int'l Raceway, Brainerd, MN June 28-30, 2002





In the Formula Xtreme class, Zemke moved into second the championship point
standings, just three points out of first, after a shadow second to Marty
Craggill (Suzuki). Starting from the pole, Zemke led the most laps, but
came up 0.202 short at the checkered flag. The stifling Midwestern heat was
a contributing factor. "The pace definitely dropped, but I think it hurt me
worse than anybody," Zemke said. "Off the time charts all weekend it seemed
like I had maybe half a second on everybody in every session."





Formula Xtreme:


1. Martin Craggill (Suzuki)


2. Jake Zemke (Honda)


3. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)


4. Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha)


5. Lance Isaccs (Yamaha)


Formula Xtreme Points:


1. Jason Pridmore (183)


2. Jake Zemke (180)


3. Damon Buckmaster (175)


4. Mike Hale (158)


5. Ben Spies (153)


Round 12, July 11-14, Laguna Seca Raceway