Roberts Earns First Superbike Victory At VIR!

AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series
Rounds 15: Alton, Virginia
August 30, 2003

Miguel and Ben Podium in Roberts' Heart Breaker

If you ask Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts exactly how many times an AMA
Superbike victory has narrowly escaped his grasp, he'll likely just roll
his eyes skyward and sigh. For three years running, Roberts has been
haunted by demons when it comes to striking Superbike gold. And those very
same demons struck once again in the first race of a double-header weekend
at Virginia International Raceway. With the last five laps remaining in the
28-lap race, Roberts held a commanding lead and seemed a shoo-in for his
first-ever Superbike win. But the demons swept down upon him once again,
corrupting the rear tire of his Honda RC51 and forcing a 13th-place finish
instead. It was a disappointing result for the Red Rider camp, somewhat
ameliorated by a second- and third-place showing by Miguel Duhamel and Ben
Bostrom.

A stop on the AMA Superbike schedule since 2001, Virginia International
Raceway (VIR) has traditionally been good to the RC51. Nicky Hayden, the
2002 series champion now contesting MotoGP races for Honda, won twice at
VIR. With Roberts and Duhamel representing Honda on the Superbike front row
at this year's installment, a Red Rider win seemed likely. In fact, during
Saturday's final practice session Duhamel, Roberts and Bostrom recorded the
fastest lap times, which is why it was no surprise when the Red Riders took
charge of the actual race at the start.

For the first 17 laps the running order consisted of Roberts, Bostrom and
Duhamel, a Red Rider train that mirrored their Daytona performance earlier
this year. Roberts eventually broke away from his teammates and put a
nine-second lead on them before his race went south. Meanwhile, Giovanni
Bussei broke the Honda stronghold when he snuck into second place in front
of Duhamel and Bostrom. What occurred between laps 23 and 28 was a race
best described as bizarre by everyone involved.

At the time of Roberts' misfortune, Bussei inherited the lead before
Duhamel assumed the point position a lap later. Duhamel's stint up front
was short-lived as series point leader Mat Mladin moved from fifth to first
almost as quickly as Roberts' lead had dwindled. On the 25th lap, the same
lap that Mladin took over the lead, Bussei also passed Duhamel and allowed
the new race leader to open up a gap between the jumbled chase group.

"I really felt like I had the bike to win on, but I just needed to have
better braking skills in turn one and in turn seven where it counted,"
explained Duhamel about his duel with Bussei, who prevented the #17 RC51
from challenging race leader Mladin.

On the final lap both Duhamel and Bostrom flew by Bussei at the
start-finish straight when the Italian rider mistook the last-lap white
flag for the checkered flag. The Honda duo nailed down second and third,
and Duhamel pulled within 2.09 seconds of Mladin by the finish while
Bostrom, plagued by numb hands, trailed by an additional ten seconds. With
the second VIR Superbike event scheduled to run on Sunday, Roberts planned
to join Duhamel and Bostrom on the podium. More than anyone at VIR, Roberts
has something to prove in race two.



AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki
2. Miguel Duhamel - Honda
3. Ben Bostrom - Honda
4. Giovanni Bussei - Ducati
5. Jordan Szoke - Suzuki
13. Kurtis Roberts - Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 467
2. Aaron Yates - Suzuki - 423
3. Ben Bostrom - Honda - 405
4. Kurtis Roberts - Honda - 368
5. Miguel Duhamel - Honda ? 364



AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series
Rounds 16: Alton, Virginia
September 1, 2003

After the rain, Roberts' drought ends

Heavy rains forced the delay of the second Superbike race at Virginia
International Raceway on Sunday, but that suited Honda Erion Red Rider
Kurtis Roberts just fine as he finally won his first-ever Superbike race on
Monday morning to end his personal three-year drought. As Roberts clearly
demonstrated during the first Superbike race on Saturday, he was the man
with the speed this weekend, and he parlayed that advantage into a
convincing win. "I dedicate this one to the team. They've worked so hard
for three years and we've come close many times," a victorious and happy
Roberts said. Roberts' fellow Honda RC51 riders Miguel Duhamel and Ben
Bostrom finished third and fourth, respectively, in the fast-paced race,
which had been shortened from 28 to 20 laps due to the delays.

Bright, sunny weather graced the Monday morning skies, and as the
Superbikes launched from the starting grid, Duhamel claimed the holeshot
with Roberts hot on his heels. Ben Bostrom was also in the thick of things
during the first lap and when the pack roared past the start/finish line,
it was Roberts, Bostrom and Duhamel forming a one-two-three Honda freight
train.

As Roberts kept a firm grasp on the lead, Aaron Yates closed on the front
runners, snatching third place away from Duhamel on lap five, then sneaking
past Ben Bostrom for second. Yates began to challenge Roberts for the lead.
"The pace was really hot and the last two guys you want to see behind you
in a shortened race like this are Aaron and Miguel," Roberts explained
after the race.

Yates finally claimed the lead, but then Roberts, in turn, applied the
pressure on Yates, who succumbed on lap 11. Behind the #80 RC51, less than
a second separated Yates, Duhamel and Bostrom. As the front-running quartet
pulled up on backmarkers, Roberts adroitly used the traffic to his
advantage, eventually winning with a margin of 0.772 seconds over Aaron
Yates, with Miguel Duhamel third and Ben Bostrom fourth. "I just put my
head down and got past the lappers right," Roberts said. "Coming across the
stripe I was tucked in like you'd be at Daytona. I didn't know where he'd
be coming from or how close they were at the time and kind of just held
them off today."

After the race, Duhamel agreed with Roberts' assessment of the race pace.
"The pace was really hot," Miguel said. "The race was a helluva race. It
was a sprint for 20 laps."

Ben Bostrom's fourth place was a commendable showing, but he was less than
satisfied after the race. "The bike and tires were perfect," he said. "I
had the same tire I had Saturday. My hands fell asleep. Fortunately, they
shortened the race because I was about to get a hell of a lot slower.
Obviously I don't know what it is; I've got to fly back to Dr. Ting to find
out what."


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

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 493
2. Aaron Yates - Suzuki - 455
3. Ben Bostrom - Honda - 432
4. Kurtis Roberts - Honda - 405
5. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 393


Formula Xtreme Series
Round 9: Alton, Virginia
September 1, 2003

Zemke Earns Another Xtreme Podium

Since the Formula Xtreme Series began in April, Erion Honda's Jake Zemke
has finished aboard the podium at all but two of the eight rounds held
prior to the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) event held this weekend.
The dirt tracker-turned road racer has notched four runner-up finishes, a
third place and a race victory as bullet points on his 2003 Formula Xtreme
resume and has gained a reputation for being a hard worker out on the race
track. Even though rain delayed the Formula Xtreme Final until Monday
morning, Zemke proved that he's as reliable during the week as he is on the
weekend. Mr. Consistent notched his seventh Formula Xtreme podium finish on
Labor Day by finishing second once again, just 1.066 seconds behind race
winner Ben Spies.

After a multi-rider incident in turn four involving Erion Honda's Roger
Hayden brought out an early red flag, the shortened 11-lap race was
restarted with the nod going to pole sitter Spies. With Hayden unable to
make the restart, Zemke and Bruce Transportation's Marty Craggill were the
factory-backed Hondas charged with running down Spies' early lead. Zemke
made the best effort, diving into the third position behind second-place
Damon Buckmaster. Meanwhile, Craggill was left in sixth to contend with
fifth-place Jamie Hacking.

Zemke trailed Buckmaster for the first eight laps before he could finally
make a pass in turn seven, which allowed the Red Rider to chase down Spies.
The Honda CBR954RR rider rapidly cut into Spies' lead in the final few
laps, but couldn't make up the deficit to take the race win. Unfortunately,
Spies' victory all but secured his championship as the series heads to the
final round. Had it not been for a fluke 20th place finish earlier in the
year, Zemke would still be contending for the championship as the season
draws to a close. As it stands, the Erion Honda rider has one more podium
appearance than Spies.

While the battle between Spies and Zemke came down to barely more than a
second, Craggill finished a lonely sixth, which still allowed him to
advance from eighth to sixth in the series point standings. Like Zemke,
Craggill started off the series strong with two third-place finishes, but
since then has suffered from a string of bad luck. The Australian should
excel at the season finale at Barber Motorsports Park, a new venue that
suits his aggressive riding style.

Look for Zemke, Craggill and Hayden to be back in Formula Xtreme action on
September 19-21 at the Birmingham, Alabama series finale.

AMA Formula Xtreme Overall Results:
1. Ben Spies - Suzuki
2. Jake Zemke - Honda
3. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha
4. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha
5. Josh Hayes - Suzuki
6. Marty Craggill - Honda
14. Jason Curtis - Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Ben Spies - Suzuki - 288
2. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 258
3. Jake Zemke - Honda - 249
4. Josh Hayes - Suzuki - 241
5. Adam Fergusson - Suzuki - 212
6. Marty Craggill - Honda - 192
10. Roger Hayden - Honda - 135
12. Jason Curtis - Honda - 112
18. Ty Howard - Honda - 61
20. Craig Connell - Honda - 55


AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Series
Round 10: Alton, Virginia
August 31, 2003

VIR Supersport Proves Tough for Red Riders

The skies over Virginia International Raceway (VIR) opened up and began to
pour rain on Saturday afternoon, leaving the 17-turn race track very slick.
For the Honda Red Riders, the rain would have worked to their advantage.
Factory Honda's Miguel Duhamel and the Erion Honda crew of young lions have
all proven to be excellent wet-weather riders. However, the rain did not
start until after the conclusion of the Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport
race, so it proved to be of no advantage at all.

With the exception of Duhamel, Red Riders Jake Zemke, Alex Gobert, Roger
Hayden and Marty Craggill all failed to run lap times in the 1:28-range
during qualifying, which pushed them outside the first two rows when the
final grid was set. Even with a 1:28.811 qualifying lap, Duhamel was the
fastest Red Rider and was slated to start on the third row. He was joined
by Zemke, Hayden and Annandale Honda's Ty Howard, who eventually finished
14th.

With the Honda CBR600RR-mounted riders starting the abbreviated, 12-lap
sprint from so far back on the grid, a podium spot figured to be a long
shot. But leave it to Duhamel, who still managed to pull within an
impressive 2.09 seconds of the third and final podium position, which
eventually went to Tony Meiring. Granted, three riders separated
third-place Meiring from seventh-place Duhamel, but the French-Canadian who
now lives in Las Vegas was confident that a 13th lap could have easily
changed that.

"I really felt that if I had another lap I could have caught that pack of
four guys fighting for third place," said Duhamel, who got off the line
mired in 12th place. "I can't guarantee I would have finished on the
podium, but I'm sure I would have finished in the top five. As a team, we
improved from our performance during qualifying."

Zemke, who has a Supersport race win to his name this year, actually headed
Duhamel in the early laps of the race, but when another rider pushed the
young Californian wide in a turn, Duhamel quickly reacted and passed the
#98 CBR600RR. Zemke went on to finish by himself in ninth, seven seconds
ahead of the tenth place-finisher, Bruce Transportation/Honda's Craggill.
Less than a second back, finishing in 12th and 13th were Gobert and Hayden.

With Round 10 of the Supersport series behind them, the Red Riders are
eager to take to the Barber Motorsports Track in Birmingham, Alabama on
September 19-21. Under wet or dry conditions, Duhamel, Zemke and company
plan to win the first Supersport race at the new track's inaugural AMA
event, which is also the season finale.

600 Supersport Overall Results:
1. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha
2. Tommy Hayden - Kawasaki
3. Tony Meiring - Kawasaki
4. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha
5. Ben Spies - Suzuki
7. Miguel Duhamel - Honda
9. Jake Zemke - Honda
10. Martin Craggill - Honda
12. Alex Gobert - Honda
13. Roger Hayden - Honda
14. Ty Howard - Honda
16. Chris Rankin - Honda
17. Jason Curtis - Honda

AMA 600cc Supersport Points Standings:
1. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha - 308
2. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 293
3. Ben Spies - Suzuki - 228
4. Alex Gobert - Honda - 217
5. Tony Meiring - Kawasaki - 216
6. Jake Zemke - Honda - 215
9. Roger Hayden - Honda - 207
11. (Tie) Miguel Duhamel - Honda/Jason Curtis - Honda - 155
15. Chris Peris - Honda - 93
16. Marty Craggill - Honda - 89
17. Ty Howard - Honda - 82