Roberts takes 2nd at Pikes Peak

AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series
Round 8: Fountain, Colorado
June 1, 2003

Roberts romps to second at Pikes Peak

Throughout his young road racing career, Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts has
racked up 14 wins in various classes on the AMA Superbike circuit. Those
wins include nine Formula Xtreme victories, a class once dominated by
Roberts, three 600 Supersport honors and two 250 Grand Prix wins. One of
those wins came at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 1998 in the 250
Grand Prix class aboard a Honda. Roberts had hoped to score his second
victory this weekend, and had it not been for a shortened Superbike final
on Sunday, Roberts may have won his second race at Pikes Peak instead of
finishing runner-up.

Originally scheduled to run 48 laps around the short 1.315 mile Pikes Peak
circuit, the Superbike race was red flagged on lap 40 after a downed rider
could not get himself out from underneath his crashed machine. With eight
scheduled laps remaining, second place Roberts was in position to make a
move on eventual race winner Eric Bostrom. Unfortunately the late race
incident not only required a red flag, it also forced the checkered.
Roberts was credited with second, Honda's Ben Bostrom with fourth and the
injured Miguel Duhamel with seventh.

All three factory Honda RC51 pilots qualified toward the top of the grid at
Pikes Peak. Roberts, who was second fastest in Saturday's practice session,
was the top qualifying Honda rider, and started the Superbike final from
the fourth position on the first row. Ben Bostrom and Duhamel shared the
second row with the sixth and seventh spots on the grid. Neither rider was
shooting for the second row in qualifying, but Bostrom's lack of experience
on the Pikes Peak circuit and Duhamel's injured shoulder (a broken
collarbone that required surgery), kept the two Red Riders off the front
row. The second row starting position obviously didn't affect Bostrom much
because as soon as the race started he found himself racing closely with
front row starter Mat Mladin and pole setter Aaron Yates. Meanwhile Roberts
was part of the hard-starting trio of Anthony Gobert and Eric Bostrom.

Although he celebrated both Superbike and Supersport wins at Pikes Peak in
1997, Duhamel's shoulder was painful enough to keep the tough Canadian out
of the tussle up front on the tight, physically demanding circuit. Duhamel,
who dropped out of the weekend's Supersport competition due to his injury,
rode most of the Superbike race in seventh position, where he finished.

"This is a tough race track to ride when you're injured," said Duhamel of
Pikes Peak, one of the tightest tracks on the Superbike circuit. "That's
not an excuse for my finish, but I'm confident that if I were healthy I'd
be up there in the front with Kurtis and Ben. I've got to thank my crew
chief Al [Ludington] and the rest of the Honda team for sticking by me even
though I'm hobbled a little."

Nothing could keep the #80 Honda RC51 hobbled in the final, as Roberts
moved into second place by the third lap and promptly separated himself
from everyone behind him. He held his position right until the race was
called on lap 40. Roberts' impressive second place finish marked his fourth
podium of the season and helped keep his title chances alive.

"After yesterday's practice there was no doubt in my mind that we were
going to be racing for the lead," said 24-year old Roberts. "The team got
the bike set up perfectly, which isn't easy to do here. I just needed those
last eight laps."

Honda's Ben Bostrom could have used the extra laps to improve his final
results too. The recent World Superbike recruit got into a heated battle
with Yates that lasted a majority of the race. When the event was finally
called, less than a second separated third place Yates from fourth place
Bostrom. The race for third place had nearly ten seconds on
fifth-place-finishing Gobert.

"This isn't my kind of track because it's so different from what I've
ridden in the last three years," said Bostrom, who excels on the longer and
faster tracks due to his World Superbike experience. "The schedule is
coming up to some race tracks more suited to my style, so I can't wait."

Bostrom and the rest of the Red Riders won't have to wait long. Round nine
and ten of the Superbike series picks up next weekend in Elkhart Lake,
Wisconsin at the Road America double-header. The fast four mile road course
has been good to Honda riders in the past, especially Duhamel, who won both
rounds of the Superbike double-header in 2002.


AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Eric Bostrom - Kawasaki
2. Kurtis Roberts - Honda
3. Aaron Yates - Suzuki
4. Ben Bostrom - Honda
5. Anthony Gobert - Ducati
7. Miguel Duhamel - Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Aaron Yates - Suzuki - 244
2. Eric Bostrom - Kawasaki - 239
3. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 234
4. (Tie) Kurtis Roberts - Honda/Ben Bostrom - Honda - 221
6. Miguel Duhamel - Honda ? 187



AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Series
Round 5: Fountain, Colorado
June 1, 2003

Pikes Peak tough on Supersport Red Riders

If Mother Nature had it her way, every round of the AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600
Supersport Series would be held in the rain. Since the opening round in
Daytona, nearly every event has been affected by wet weather in one way or
another. The fifth race on the calendar was no different, as Pikes Peak
International Raceway was drenched with a fast moving rain storm that
forced AMA officials to modify the schedule of the day's events. Gone was
the 29-lap Supersport Final originally slated to go off at noon on Sunday.
Running on a modified schedule the race was shortened to 20 laps and
postponed to the late afternoon after the track had dried out.
Unfortunately for Erion Honda's Jake Zemke, he could have used the extra
laps at Pikes Peak to make up ground for the lost grid positions issued due
to penalties after Saturday's qualifying.

At the completion of Saturday's Supersport qualifying session, AMA Pro
Racing pulled approximately ten bikes from the 600 grid for technical
inspection. At the end of the inspection, the AMA announced that the Honda
CBR600RR's of Miguel Duhamel, Jake Zemke and Marty Craggill were found to
have a "non-standard pressure relief valve." In addition, Craggill's Bruce
Transportation Group machine was also found to have a "non-standard
charging system." As a result, the AMA docked Duhamel and Zemke each 20
points and moved both riders to the back of the grid and fined each rider
$2000. Craggill was disqualified from the event and fined an amount yet to
be determined.

According to Honda Manager of Motorcycle Sports Chuck Miller, the problem
had to do with timing. Honda's Supersport bikes arrived prior to Daytona as
early production units. In the final production models, which arrived
months after the team's early-production bikes, the pressure relief valve
spring had been changed in final production, which made the race bikes
illegal. "We take full responsibility of the situation," said Miller. "We
thought we were so legal that we took a production bike to AMA and said
'let's pull this one apart.' The Honda team was surprised to find that the
parts were different.

Craggill's situation was a little different. The team had a crash early in
the season, and when parts for the damaged charging system weren't
available, they used other components to make repairs. When the production
parts became available, they never replaced the parts with stock pieces.

All of which meant that third fastest qualifier Craggill was out of the
Colorado Supersport race, and Duhamel and Zemke went from second row
qualifying spots to the back row. Because of Duhamel's shoulder injury,
Miller decided that it would be best for the Canadian sit out the race
instead of starting in the chaos of the back row. With the chances of a
sixth Supersport title dwindling due to the Duhamel's crash at Infineon
Raceway that broke his collar bone in three places and the 20 points docked
by the AMA at Colorado, Duhamel instead concentrated on the premier
Superbike event. With Duhamel out, it was up to Erion Honda's Alex Gobert,
Roger Hayden and class favorite Zemke to get the Honda CBR600RR toward the
front of the pack.

When Sunday's rain delayed race finally did go off, Zemke made an amazing
18-lap charge to seventh place. With two laps left, Zemke was unable to
advance any further up the results. His younger teammates Gobert and Hayden
finished the 20-lap sprint in ninth and 13th place, a disappointing finish
for Hayden, who finished third in the Supersport race at Pikes Peak last
year. No Limits Motorsports Honda-mounted Doug Chandler finished twelve,
just ahead of Hayden.

Amazingly Zemke made the best of a bad situation and salvaged as many
points as possible at Pikes Peak. He now trails the series point leader by
28, although he came to round five with a deficit of just 15. With Elkhart
Lake, Wisconsin's Road America road course scheduled for June 6-8, Zemke
and the rest of his Honda CRB600RR teammates plan to quickly make up the
ground they lost at this weekend's tough Pikes Peak event.

600 Supersport Overall Results:
1. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha
2. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha
3. Jason DiSalvo - Yamaha
4. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha
5. Tommy Hayden - Kawasaki
7. Jake Zemke - Honda
9. Alex Gobert - Honda
12. Doug Chandler - Honda
13. Roger Hayden - Honda
14. Chris Peris - Honda
15. Craig Connell - Honda
16. Jason Curtis - Honda

AMA 600cc Supersport Points Standings:
1. Jamie Hacking - Yamaha - 154
2. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 144
3. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha - 142
4. Jason DiSalvo - Yamaha - 128
5. Jake Zemke - Honda - 126
8. Alex Gobert - Honda - 108
9. Doug Chandler - Honda - 99
11. Roger Hayden - Honda - 82
12. Jason Curtis - Honda - 67
13. Ty Howard - Honda - 65
15. Chris Peris - Honda - 59
16. Craig Connell - Honda - 46
17. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 45



AMA/Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series
Round 4: Fountain, Colorado
May 31, 2003

Zemke keeps points lead with another podium finish

Starting from the third position on the front row, Erion Honda's Jake Zemke
maintained his Formula Xtreme points lead by finishing third in the crash
stricken final at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Zemke's third place
performance in Colorado marked his fourth straight podium finish in the
last four 2003 Formula Xtreme starts. Zemke tied for first in the 2002
series championship, but lost out on a tie-breaker. Since then, the 27-year
old has made it his mission in life to gain what he considers his
championship.

"The guys in front of me rode great today, but there were only two of them
ahead of me in the end and that's important as far as the championship
goes," said Zemke, who has the best chance of bringing the Formula Xtreme
title back to Honda; since the inception of the series, Honda has won the
majority of championships. "If I can continue to have consistent finishes
combined with some race wins, I should be able to take it this year."

Zemke, an ex-dirt tracker is no stranger to Formula Xtreme wins. Since his
road racing career took off in 2000 as a member of the Honda-supported
Bruce Transportation Team, the friendly Northern Californian has stood on
top of the Formula Xtreme podium three times. His last win occurred in 2002
at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, a race track more suited for his
dirt-track-rooted riding style. Pikes Peak International Raceway is a tight
1.315-mile race track that favors a stop and go riding style, unlike the
style of a dirt tracker.
"My Erion Honda CBR954RR is the best bike out there," said Zemke. "I may
not be the best rider for this type of track unfortunately. I prefer wide,
fast and sweeping turns instead."

Zemke's words are modest: Although he as never won at Pikes Peak, he has
finished on the podium at the venue three times now.

Erion Honda's Roger Hayden has finished on the Pikes Peak podium too. In
2002 Hayden finished third in 600 Supersport competition and almost made
the box a second time that weekend, but had to settle for fourth in the
Formula Xtreme race. At this year's edition of the Rocky Mountain race,
Hayden qualified 12th and was forced to ride in traffic from the get go.
The two restarts affected him more than any other Honda rider.

"Just as I was beginning to gain ground," explained Hayden, "they'd throw a
flag."

The frustrated youngster was ultimately the lead finisher in a train of
Honda riders that included Hayden, Bruce Transportation Group's Marty
Craggill, No Limits Motorsport's Jason Curtis and Annandale Honda's Craig
Connell. The Honda CBR954RR-mounted group was lucky enough to stay out of
all the tangles on the race track and finished tenth through 13th
respectively.

Zemke and his Honda cohorts return to Formula Xtreme action on June 7 at
Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. With an eight-point championship
advantage over Pikes Peak winner Damon Buckmaster, Zemke hopes to bring
some fellow Red Riders with him next weekend on the Road America podium.

Formula Xtreme Overall Results:
1. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha
2. Adam Fergusson - Suzuki
3. Jake Zemke - Honda
4. Ben Spies - Suzuki
5. Josh Hayes - Suzuki
10. Roger Hayden - Honda
11. Marty Craggill - Honda
12. Jason Curtis - Honda
13. Craig Connell - Honda
21. Alex McElyea - Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Jake Zemke - Honda - 125
2. Ben Spies - Suzuki - 117
3. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 112
4. Adam Fergusson - Suzuki - 105
5. Josh Hayes - Suzuki - 104
7. Marty Craggill - Honda - 92
13. Roger Hayden - Honda - 63
15. Doug Chandler - Honda - 53