Superbikes: Higbee wins pole for Buell Pro Thunder
11 June 2000
Tilley Harley-Davidson rider Shawn Higbee won the pole for Sunday's Buell Pro Thunder final in the process setting a new qualifying heat race record for the class with his average speed of 103.123 mph. Higbee won the second heat race over Road Atlanta winner Mike Smith. Higbee's margin of victory over Smith was 2.123 seconds. Jeffrey Nash won the first heat race with an average speed of 100.044 mph and will start second on the grid. Higbee has a chance to break a tie with Curtis Adams to top the all-time Pro Thunder win list. MLADIN SETS TRACK RECORD IN SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING Australian Mat Mladin won the pole for the Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Mladin turned a lap of 2:09.425 at a speed of 111.261 mph on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750, setting a new motorcycle track record on the four-mile circuit. The time broke the record set by Anthony Gobert last year of 2:09.602 (111.109 mph). By winning the pole Mladin moved into a tie with Doug Chandler for fifth on the all-time AMA Superbike pole winner's list with Doug Chandler - each with 13 poles during their career. "I turned the fast time on the final lap of qualifying," said Mladin, the defending series champ. "I missed a few corners, but was able to gather it back up well enough to turn a mid-nine (2:09.425). I think the race will be close. There's a lot of drafting a bit like Daytona, so it will come down to the final lap. Whatever happens on the last lap happens. We'll see how it goes." Nicky Hayden continues to play the runner-up roll to Mladin. The 18-year-old Owensboro, Ky., native qualified second on the factory Honda RC51. Aaron Yates and Kurtis Roberts rounded out the top four making it an all Suzuki and Honda front row. Roberts, who is making his Superbike debut, crashed his Honda and may not make the Saturday Superbike round. The grid will remain the same for Sunday's Superbike final. HAYDEN WINS FIRST CHEVY TRUCKS U.S. SUPERBIKE NATIONAL ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- Nicky Hayden, riding a factory Honda RC51, broke through to win his first Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike National Saturday at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's, four-mile Road America road course. Hayden, an 18-year-old rider from Owensboro, Ky., avoided a spectacular first turn pile-up. He came through to pass early leader John Kocinski to win by 1.486 seconds over Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750 rider Aaron Yates of Milledgeville, Ga. Las Vegas resident Eric Bostrom matched his best finish of the year, taking third on his works Kawasaki ZX7. Bostrom made a dramatic last-lap pass on Kocinski to secure the final podium position. The race was stopped on the first lap after a spectacular chain-reaction accident in the turn one that involved five riders. Vance & Hines Ducati rider Steve Rapp hit the rear wheel of his teammate Kocinski's Ducati, then flipped over his bike while running near the front of the 23-rider field. Other riders were forced to swerve violently to miss Rapp and his flipping bike, which shed parts as it catapulted into the air. Besides Rapp, four other riders, Andy Deatherage, Jimmy Moore, Randall Mennenga and Shane Clarke, crashed in the incident. None were seriously injured. Rapp, Deatherage and Moore were able to make the restart. Two-time world champion Kocinski took the lead on the restart. The Arkansas native held first until the sixth lap when Hayden made a late-braking move going into turn five to take over the lead. On lap 10 it was Yates moving up and taking over the lead for one lap before Hayden took back the point for good. Hayden's victory breaks a string of four wins by Ducati at Road America, as well as a three-race winning streak by series leader Mat Mladin, who was fifth on his Yoshimura Suzuki. "It feels great to finally get my first Superbike win," said Hayden, who is riding his first full year in AMA Superbike. "This is the biggest win of my career for sure. I needed it to gain on Mladin in the championship. I was a little tight at first since I knew I had a good chance to win. Then I settled in and got into a good rhythm and moved up to the front. I hope I can carry this momentum on to tomorrow's race." Hayden's victory moved him within four points of series leader Mladin after four rounds of the 12-race series. The Road America Superbike doubleheader continues Sunday. ROBERTS FAST QUALIFIER IN PRO HONDA 600 SUPERSPORT Kurtis Roberts earned his second Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport pole in qualifying action Saturday at Road America. The young Californian rode his Erion Honda F4 to a time of 2:17.564 (104.679 mph). The lap was a new Road America record for the 600cc machines. Jamie Hacking, Eric Bostrom andNicky Hayden will round out a talent-loaded front row. Coming into this Sunday's race Bostrom holds a narrow one-point lead over Roberts in the series standings. ESPORTBIKE.COM FORMULA XTREME GOES TO ROBERTS Shaking off the disappointment of missing his Superbike debut after crashing his factory Honda in qualifying, Kurtis Roberts consoled himself with another win in the eSportbike.com Formula Xtreme final Saturday at Road America. Roberts battled early with Erion Honda teammate Josh Hayes, but pulled away to a comfortable 6.691-second margin of victory at the flag. John Hopkins, who finished second at the series opener in Atlanta, crashed out his Valvoline/Emgo Suzuki on the first lap at the high-speed turn nine carousel. He was uninjured in the accident. With two perfect races Roberts leads the series by 15 points over Hayes. BUCKMASTER IS BACK Australian Damon Buckmaster, one of the pre-season favorites, finally came through with his first win of the season in the Lockhart-Phillips 750cc SuperSport final at Road America. It marked Buckmaster's first win in the class since he was victorious at Brainerd last year. Grant Lopez finished second, while Jimmy was third. John Hopkins, the series leader coming into this race, crashed in the carousel for the second time Saturday. While his red, white and blue leathers are now dusty and ragged, young Hopkins seemed to bounce up unhurt from his second 100+ mph crash of the day. OLIVER TOUGHS IT OUT AND WINS MBNA 250 POLE Rich Oliver crashed hard Friday and thinks he may have broken a finger. No matter, the Fresno, Calif., veteran managed to fight off the pain and win his third-consecutive pole for Sunday's MBNA 250 Grand Prix final. Oliver won the second five-lap heat over Roland Sands and Chris Ulrich with an average speed of 103.241 mph. Oliver's protégé Chuck Sorensen won the first heat at a speed of 101.407 mph ahead of old-timer Randy Renfrow and scrappy Michael Barnes. HAYDEN TAKES LEAD IN CHEVY TRUCKS LIKE A ROCK CHALLENGE With Saturday's Superbike victory, Nicky Hayden took a three-point lead over rival Mat Mladin in the Chevy Trucks Like a rock Challenge. The winner will drive away with a $32,000 Chevrolet Silverado truck. The winner will be presented with the truck at the Superbike doubleheader at Mid-Ohio on July 16.