Fountain – Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking won the superstock race Sunday by overcoming leader Aaron Yates in the chicane with 3 laps left in the 29-lap race at Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Yates grabbed the lead from the start when he got a good launch from his Suzuki GSX-R1000 from the outside position on the front row.
“It felt really good from the get-go,” Yates said. “We had a good battle there on the first lap that was a lot of fun. Then I was trying to run an easy pace, but the tires were a handful on the 1000s; I just wanted to make it to the end. Towards the end, I was pushing it and the bike just didn’t want to go. I got a little sideways and Jamie got by me, and I couldn’t catch him.”
During qualifying Saturday, Hacking described his day as a “bag of shambles,” but his crew was able to turn it around on race day.
“My team worked really hard,” Hacking said. “I asked them to give me more grip and they did. But if you asked any of the top riders here we all had just average bikes. I don’t know if I could have passed (Yates) if not for his mistakes.”
With the win, Hacking moved into first in the standings with 156 points. Yates and Jason DiSalvo, who finished fourth, are tied for second with 154 points.
DiSalvo’s front locks up
DiSalvo crashed with 11 laps remaining in the supersport event, giving way to the Hayden brothers, Roger Lee and Tommy, to battle it out for a 1-2 finish, respectively. Hacking rounded out the podium.
“The front tire just locked up and the front turned inwards,” DiSalvo said. “I just couldn’t control it, it happened too quickly.”
“When Jason crashed I think we were coming up on a lapper,” Tommy Hayden said. “His bike chased me a little bit. I barely got around it.”
Roger Lee Hayden moved from fifth to third in the standings, 42 points behind Tommy (173 points) for the lead. Hacking is second with 165 points.
Zemke pads xtreme lead
In the morning formula xtreme race, Honda’s Jake Zemke led from the start to win and pad his points lead over teammate Miguel Duhamel, who finished second. Zemke has 180 points, Duhamel 167 and Danny Eslick stands third at 123. Ben Attard on a Kawasaki moved from 12th to seventh in the standings with a third-place finish.
“The tire wasn’t an issue,” Zemke said after the morning race, when track temperatures were much cooler. “I ran 37 laps on it. I pushed it a little, and everything worked out in the end.”
Footnotes
After his superbike victory, Eric Bostrom dedicated his winnings to the Vincent Haskovec Fund. Haskovec was seriously injured last week in the formula xtreme race in Sonoma, Calif., and is paralyzed from the chest down. “I saw him last Sunday. Vincent was in great spirits,” said Jason Pridmore, who is recovering from surgery to remove his spleen and hopes to return to racing June 3-5 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. …
Duhamel had a stop-and-go penalty in the superbike race for jumping the start. He finished ninth. …
John Haner, who injured his shoulder in an accident Saturday, finished eighth in superbike and eighth in superstock. …
Jessica Zalusky, the only female to compete this weekend, finished 26th in formula xtreme. Ricky Orlando of Erie was 12th in formula xtreme.
