From a press release issued by Infineon Raceway:

Duhamel Uses Last-Lap Pass to Win Supercuts Superbike Challenge

SONOMA, Calif. – Honda’s Miguel Duhamel used a thrilling last-lap pass to take the victory on Sunday at Infineon Raceway in the AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge. The event was part of the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown weekend, presented by Cycle Gear.

Duhamel closed a 1.9-second gap on leader Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) over the final lap and passed the rookie AMA Superbike rider on Turn 11 for the victory. Duhamel popped a wheelie on his Honda CBR1000RR in celebration as he took the checkered flag.

It was Duhamel’s first victory of the year and the 27th AMA Chevrolet Superbike victory of his career, second on the all-time list to Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, who placed fourth after starting on the pole. It was also Duhamel’s fifth career Superbike win at Infineon Raceway, a track record. Duhamel doubled his pleasure later in the day with a win in the 17-lap feature for Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme.

“It was an incredible (Superbike) race,” Duhamel said. “Obviously my Honda CBR1000RR was the best bike out there. Jake ran a great race. It did cross my mind that second place isn’t so bad, but then I said, ‘no’ and I wanted to see what the bike could do. I gave it everything I could. I figured the fans thought the race was over, but I wanted to do something exciting for the fans. I just tried to reel him in and I was able to catch him.”

It was a bittersweet finish for Zemke, who led 23 of the 28 laps and was seeking his first career Superbike win. “I thought I had that one. I went by on the white-flag lap and thought he was way back there, but he caught me,” Zemke said.

The win snapped Mladin’s stranglehold on the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, ending his win streak at four. He won Saturday’s 98 Rock Superbike Challenge at Infineon Raceway and still tops the point standings after five rounds on the 2004 season with 177 points. Duhamel is second (153), with Zemke third (150).

“For the first few laps of the race, Mat’s Suzuki GSX-R1000 wasn’t running properly,” said Peter Doyle, Mladin’s crew chief. “When we got the red flag, we tried to fix it the best we could. And I believe that we made it better, but obviously it wasn’t good enough for Mat to go for the win.”

Aaron Yates (Suzuki) took third place with Mladin fourth and Ben Bostrom (Honda) fifth. Other winners on the day included Suzuki’s Ben Spies (Pro Honda Oils Superstock), and Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking (Repsol Superstock Series).

AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge

SONOMA, Calif. (May 2, 2004) – Following are official results from Sunday’s AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge, part of the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown weekend at Infineon Raceway, May 1-2. The race spanned 28 laps:

1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 28.
2. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 28.
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
4. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
5. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR, 28.
6. Steve Crevier, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
7. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 28.
8. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, 28.
9. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
11. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
12. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
13. Ken Hill, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
14. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
15. Robert Christman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28.
16. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
17. David Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
18. Cory Denton West, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
19. Jack Pfeifer, Honda CBR1000RR, 27.
20. Thomas Montano, Ducati 999R, 27.
21. Brien Whitlock, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
22. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
23. Kim Nakashima, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
24. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
25. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
26. J J Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
27. John Wilson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
28. Andrew Nelson, Honda CBR1000RR, 27.
29. Garry Combs, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
30. James King, Yamaha YZF-R1, 27.
31. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
32. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27.
33. Chris Siglin, Yamaha YZF-R1, 19.
34. David Stanton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 17.
35. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999R, 15.
36. James Randolph, Yamaha YZF-R1, 10.
37. Jeff Williams, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 7.
38. Kenyon Kluge, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 7.
39. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha YZF-R1, 6.
40. Mark Foster, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 5.
41. Opie Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, DNS.
42. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, DNS.
43. Rob Mesa, Suzuki GSX-R1000, DNS.
44. Mike Krynock, Ducati 999R, DNS.

RACE TIME: 65:40.81 min.
WINNER’S AVG. SPEED: 59.342 mph
WINNER’S AVG. LAP TIME: 2:20.743
LAP LEADERS: Zemke 23 (2-7, 11-27), Duhamel 4 (8-10, 28), Yates 1 (1)

Red flag on Lap 7.


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship

Rounds 4 & 5 – Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California, USA

Round 5 Race Report

MLADIN MAINTAINS AMERICAN SUPERBIKE POINTS LEAD WITH A WIN AND A FOURTH AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Sonoma, California, USA (Sunday, May 2) – Mat Mladin has maintained his place at the top of the points table after completing this weekend’s double-header round of the American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at California’s Infineon Raceway with a victory and a fourth place finish.

The four times and defending American Superbike champion was in dominating form throughout the weekend continuing his record breaking run with his 35th career pole position and his 28th career AMA Superbike win on Saturday, but a chance to repeat those efforts in today’s second national were thwarted by a problem that his Yoshimura Suzuki team were unable to rectify during the course of the race.

With five rounds of this year’s championship complete, Mladin continues to hold a 24-point advantage over today’s race winner, Honda’s Miguel DuHamel (177 to 153) with Jake Zemke (Honda) third with 150.

After leading the time sheets during the morning warm up session, Suzuki GSX-R1000 mounted Mladin looked set to continue his unbeaten run in the championship, but his machine struck problems early in the race, leaving him unable to challenge the lead group.

Unable to find a cure for the problem, Mladin held third place for much of the race before being passed by teammate Aaron Yates with a handful of laps to run, finishing fourth. After running second for a substantial amount of the race, DuHamel converted a last corner pass on Zemke to snatch the win.

“We had a few things go wrong out there today and basically couldn’t get the job done,” said Mladin. “We tried to get it sorted during the stoppage with the red flag on lap eight, but weren’t able to.

“All in all though, we came here looking for a pair of wins and managed to take one of them and we leave here with a 24-point lead in the championship. It was a frustrating way to finish the weekend as we dominated qualifying and the opening race yesterday.

“Our attention will now focus on the next round at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. We tested there not long ago and felt good with the package, so we’ll be heading there with the same determination and game plan as we did for this weekend.”

The championship now heads to Birmingham, Alabama for rounds 6 and 7 of this years AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at the Barber Motorsports complex on the weekend of May 15 & 16.

RESULTS

Round 5 (Sunday), 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Top 10
1 Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) 28 laps
2. Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) +0.196 seconds
3. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +9.946 secs
4. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) +10.236
5. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +35.948
6. Steve Crevier (DXS Diablo Suzuki) +49.765
7. Josh Hayes (Attack Kawasaki) +52.179
8. Larry Pegram (Yamaha) +1:05.183 mins
9. Geoff May (Prieto Suzuki) +1:07.726
10. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki) +1:08.771

Round 4 (Saturday), 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Top 10
1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 28 laps
2. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) + 6.749 seconds
3. Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) +17.391
4. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +26.824
5. Eric Bostrom (Ducati Austin) +29.736
6. Josh Hayes (Attack Kawasaki) +50.377
7. David Stanton (Suzuki) +1:01.126 mins
8. Larry Pegram (Yamaha) +1:20.043
9. Geoff May (Prieto Suzuki) +1:23.614
10. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +1:26.954

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 5 of 18 rounds)
1. Mat Mladin (177, 4 wins); 2. Miguel DuHamel (153, 1 win), 3. Jake Zemke (150); 4. Geoff May (108); 5. Lee Acree (105), 6. Larry Pegram (97), 7. Eric Bostrom (96), 8. John Haner (84), 9. Ben Bostrom (79), 10. Cory West (77).


More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin:

HARD-CHARGING BOSTROM CRASHES OUT OF RACE 2
AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Sonoma (California) – May 2, 2004: Eric Bostrom crashed out of race 2 of the AMA Superbike Championship round at Infineon Raceway today 16 laps into the race which had already been red flagged for an earlier incident.

In hot conditions (93°F / 34°C), Eric had been running the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999 in sixth position chasing series leader Mat Mladin (Suzuki) when the race was red flagged on lap 8 allowing the team the opportunity to put on fresh tires. After the race restart, Eric was in sixth position and making ground on brother Ben (Honda) when his front end tucked in turn 2 on lap 16. The 27-year-old rider was uninjured in the crash.

“I was pretty happy with the way the bike was entering the turns but I knew we could make it better,” explained Bostrom. “When we came back in for the restart we put on a different front tire. This one behaved a little differently from the one I was using before the restart. I rode hard and kept the guys in sight and I felt that I’d have advantage with grip in the closing stages so I stayed as close as I could in hopes that the race would come back to me. In the end, I just rode too hard. Even after I crashed I wanted to get back on the bike and keep going, but the motor had stalled.”

“Eric was pushing pretty hard in the turn and the front end went out,” said Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. “We ran a different front today and changed a few settings to improve front end handling. From the short practice we had this morning it looked like we had improved things but we didn’t have an endurance run to check things out. During the red flag we changed the tires. What we did was better, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”

Round 4 of the AMA series will be held May 14-16 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.


More, from a press release issued by Vreeke & Associates on behalf of Dunlop:

Dunlop dominates AMA road racing at Infineon; Duhamel posts two thrilling victories

Sonoma, CA–Summer arrived early at the third round of the 2004 AMA road racing series at Infineon Raceway with scorching performances by motorcycling’s elite riders. Dunlop tires were the choice for all of the top finishers as the recently redesigned and repaved race course, simmering in two days of traction-sapping heat, brought higher speeds and close racing action.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin took his 28th record-setting career Superbike victory with a dominating performance in race one of the weekend doubleheader on Saturday. Mladin piloted his GSX-R1000 to a 6.7-second victory over the CBR1000RRs of Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel and Erion Racing’s Jake Zemke. Honda’s Ben Bostrom finished fourth. Tire management was crucial as the hard pace and high track temperatures slowed early race leader Zemke. “Overall it was a solid race and everything went pretty well,” said Mladin. “I wasn’t sure what we were going to have with tires. When we got off at the end, the tire looked brand new, so we know what we’ve got for tomorrow.”

Saturday’s heat returned on Sunday with 125-degree track temperatures for Superbike race two. The Honda and Suzuki factory riders juggled their tire selections to adapt to the demanding conditions and the race started off with a pack of riders battling for the lead. Zemke’s early rush to the front was negated by a red flag that forced a restart on lap seven. But Zemke was not to be denied and forced his way to the front again, only to be run down by Duhamel on the last turn of the last lap. The victory was Duhamel’s 27th career Superbike win, just one back from Mladin. “My Dunlop tires were working great and the bike was absolutely perfect,” said Duhamel. “I want to dedicate this win to those guys over there fighting for us in Iraq.” Suzuki’s Aaron Yates rounded out the top three, with Mladin taking fourth and Ben Bostrom fifth. The Superbike series has Mladin still on top with 177 points, followed by Duhamel with 153 and Zemke with 150.

The hotly-contested Superstock class rewarded Graves Motorsports Yamaha with a podium sweep. Jamie Hacking led teammates Damon Buckmaster and Aaron Gobert to the flag with a well-earned victory aboard his R6, his first win of the year in the series. Kawasaki Road Racing’s Tommy Hayden grabbed fourth, just 2.07 seconds behind Hacking, while Yamaha’s Jason Disalvo finished fifth and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies finished sixth. Overall, Dunlop-supported riders took seven of the top ten positions. Hacking leads the series with 98 points over teammates Buckmaster and Gobert with 93 and 91 points, respectively.

Spies rode his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600 to a commanding victory in the Supersport race. Spies led from the start and was never challenged, leading a top-ten Dunlop sweep that included, in order, Hacking, Tommy Hayden, Disalvo, Aaron Gobert, Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden, Aaron Yates, Corona Extra Suzuki’s Ben Attard, Buckmaster, and Kawasaki’s Tony Meiring. Tommy Hayden leads the series with 95 points, followed closely by Disalvo with 89, Roger Lee Hayden and Jamie Hacking with 86 points each and Aaron Gobert with 80.

The final race of the day established Duhamel as the weekend’s standout. He staged a brilliant finish in the Formula Xtreme class, again edging out fellow Honda rider Zemke on the last lap for the win aboard his highly-modified CBR600RR. Erion Racing’s Alex Gobert finished third, giving Honda a podium sweep in the class. For the series standings, Duhamel leads Zemke 112 to 94 points, followed by Gobert with 83.

Next stop for Dunlop and the AMA road racing tour is the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, May 15-16. Round four features a doubleheader for the Superbike series.