Back to the Road Racing results page 1998 MBNA Superbike Tour Results Round 4 of 14 April 24-25, 1998 Willow Springs International Raceway, Rosamond, CA

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Welcome to coverage of the MBNA Superbike Tour. MBNA Superbike Tour events are three-day affairs, with practice and qualifying on Fridays and Saturdays, and racing on Saturdays and Sundays (refer to the tentative Weekend Event Schedule for more details). It is our goal to post various news throughout the weekend in Daily News & Notes. With Daily Results we hope to upload unofficial results as they come in from AMA Pro Racing Timing & Scoring during the weekend. Overall Results will be posted no later than Monday and will include finish positions and updated point standings for each of the Tour's six classes.

NOTE: We'll try to upload this info as quickly as possible, but at this time, the information will not be "live." As the season goes on, we hope to streamline this proccess. Until then, please bear with us, and enjoy the races!

Daily News & Notes

• Sunday, April 19
• Saturday, April 18
• Friday, April 17

Weekend event schedule

Daily results (unofficial)

Overall results (official)

MBNA SUPERBIKE...DUHAMEL BY A NOSE
American Honda rider Miguel Duhamel took his second win of the 1998 MBNA Superbike season today at Willow Springs. The top three finishers -- Duhamel, Vance & Hines Ducati rider Anthony Gobert in second, and Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin in third -- traded the lead throughout the race. Gobert led laps one to five and 17 to 24, Mladin lead laps six through 11, and Duhamel led laps 16 and 17. But Duhamel came out of turn nine on the final lap and draft-passed Gobert at the checkers to take the win. "When your'e behind these guys, you think you're superman, and wonder why they're going so slow," said Duhamel. "Then, when you're in the lead, you're all over the place'.

Pole-sitter Mladin accumulated enough points to move into MBNA Superbike series first-place, displacing Kawasaki's Doug Chandler. Chandler finished in fifth-place today, and now trails Mladin by a three-point margin, with 117 series points.

PRO HONDA OILS 600 SUPERSPORT... QUICK NICK DOES IT AGAIN
Nicky Hayden took his HyperCycle Suzuki to another victory today in what may have been the most exciting Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport race of the season. The 17-year old sensation took the lead on lap 5, lost the lead for a lap in a battle with Erion Racing's Eric Bostrom, then took back the lead when Bostrom crashed in turn three. Hayden is now tied for second-place with Miguel Duhamel in the highly competitive Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport series. When asked if this victory meant more to him than yesterday's Teamline 750 SuperSport win, the softspoken Hayden replied, "Yeah, it means a lot."

During the post-race press conference, third-place finisher Steve Crevier and runner-up Miguel Duhamel had a friendly but very animated discussion about the race while Hayden sat quietly between them. Honda's Duhamel and Yoshimura Suzuki's Crevier passed each other repeatedly throughout the race. Crevier was ahead when the two riders passed the white flag on the front straightaway, but Duhamel then passed Crevier as they went into turn one. "I was kind of just cruising around out there on turn nine and I realized that I better figure out what I was going to do, because there aren't that many places to pass on this track." said Duhamel. "It's definitely a drafting track," said Crevier.

Series leader Doug Chandler took the hole shot but dropped back quickly through the field and finished in sixth-place. Chandler remains as series leader with 136 points, Hayden and Duhamel follow with 118.

PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER...ADAMS TRIUMPHS AGAIN
Orange County Triumph rider Curtis Adams had the pole and took the win at today's Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder race. During the first few laps of the race Adams was tailed by Tilley's H-D pilot Shawn Higbee and another Orange County Triumph rider, current series leader Paul Harrell.

Just prior to the halfway point, Harrell passed Higbee in turn one. The three riders left the rest of the pack behind, and by the halfway point were ahead of the pack by the full length of the front straight. Adams then pulled away from Harrelll and Higbee, winning by a four-second margin of victory. "Curtis just flys around here," said Harrell. "He's pretty hard to catch."

ELF RACE FUELS AND LUBRICANTS GRAND PRIX... ROLLIN' SANDS AT WILLOW SPRINGS
Performance Machine Yamaha rider and series leader Roland Sands took his second win of the season at today's Elf Race Fuels & Lubricants Grand Prix race, and maintined his leadership of the 1998 Elf Race Fuels & Lubricants Grand Prix series. "I've found that I don't have to go as fast as I possibly can through every turn, that sometimes that's not the fastest way around the track," said Sands. "I'm not pushing as hard as I can, but I'm getting more comfortable pushing the edge. If I can lead I'll lead, but I don't need to go out there and run away with the win."

World Sports Imports rider Chuck Sorensen took second-place at today's race, followed by "Geep" Garald Terranova in third. Sorensen is ranked fourth in season points after crashing out at Laguna Seca last weekend, and Terranova moved up four places to seventh, after his podium finish today.

Sunday's Willow Springs MBNA Superbike series race will be televised live on Speedvision at 5pm pacific time. For broadcast times of other race series and repeat broadcast dates, check Racing on TV.

MBNA SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING... BEING FASTEST ISN'T ENOUGH FOR MLADIN
Yoshimura Suzuki pilot Mat Mladin held onto the pole for tomorrow's MBNA Superbike race after setting a track record at Willow Springs yesterday with a time of 1:20.626. "I expected to go a bit faster today," said Mladin. "I never thought that a mid-20 would be good enough to get me on the pole, it must be windier today."

Vance & Hines Ducati rider Anthony Gobert was today's second-fastest qualifier with a time of 1:21.771. Gobert, who sported a fire-engine red hairstyle earlier in the season, showed up at Willow with a color change...to fuchsia.

Miguel Duhamel and the American Honda team will take the number three spot on tomorrow's race grid, and Yamaha's Rich Oliver keeps a spot on the front row, but drops from second-place in yesterday's qualifying session to fourth today.

PRO HONDA OILS 600 SUPERSPORT......QUICK NICK
Is Nicky Hayden the Mozart of Motorcycles? The 17 year-old prodigy won last weekend's Teamline 750 SuperSport race at Laguna Seca aboard a HyperCycle Suzuki, and placed on the podium in the Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport race there. This weekend he took the pole for Sunday's Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport and Teamline 750 SuperSport races. "Everything just seems to be going good," said Hayden. "My bike is working perfectly, and I'm really looking forward to the races." When asked about the windy conditions and the competition in both series, Hayden replied, "The wind is pretty bad, but the more I ride in it the more comfortable I get. And come race time I'm sure those guys will have something for me. I know it's going to be tough out there."

To put things in perspective, consider that Hayden, who is ranked third in the 1998 Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport series, is just five points behind Miguel Duhamel -- a five-time Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Champion.

TEAMLINE 750 SUPERSPORT.....QUICK NICK, PART TWO
Speaking of Nicky Hayden, he went on to win today's Teamline 750 SuperSport race. Hayden took the checkers with a 2.56 margin of victory over San Gabriel Mountain Suzuki rider Steve Rapp. "I wanted to put a lead on them because I knew we'd get into lap traffic later, and I wanted to play it safe," said Hayden.

Rapp led the first three laps of the race, but Hayden took over on lap four and led the remainder. Barnett Tool Suzuki rider and current series leader Rich Alexander took third-place in today's race, after being doggedly pursued during the last few laps by Hayden's HyperCycle Teammate, Jason Pridmore.

PIRELLI FORMULA XTREME...BOSTROM FOR TWO
Erion Honda's Eric Bostrom won today's Pirelli Formula Xtreme race by a 3.18 second Margin of victory over Valvoline Emgo Suzuki's Tray Batey. "I saw my pit board time keep climbing, and I thought, what do the rest of these guys know that I don't," said Bostrom, regarding the field of riders that were disappearing behind him. Bostrom also won the Pirelli Formula Xtreme season opener in Phoenix.

Batey, who placed on the podium last weekend at Laguna Seca, took second-place in today's race and strengthened his series second-place ranking in the 1998 Pirelli Formula Xtreme point standings. Another Valvoline Emgo Suzuki rider, Mike Smith, took third place in today's Pirelli Formula Xtreme race.

PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE PRO THUNDER...TRIUMPHS AGAIN?
Orange County Triumph rider Curtis Adams takes the pole for tomorrow's Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder race. Adams has won the last two rounds of the series, and won heat race number two today. Adams did not enter the season opener in Phoenix, and thus is currently ranked fifth in season points.

Shawn Higbee and his Tilley's H-D Buell are second on the grid for tomorrow's Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder race. Higbee is currently ranked third in season points after winning the Phoenix round and placing second at Daytona. Progressive Insurance Pro Thunder series leader Paul Harrell and his Attack Triumph are third on the grid. Harrell took runner-up honors at the Phoenix and Laguna Seca rounds.

ELF RACE FUELS & LUBRICANTS GRAND PRIX...MONTOYA ON POLE
Team PJ1 Yamaha rider Michael Montoya won the second heat race and took the pole for tomorrow's Elf Race Fuels and Lubricants Grand Prix race. Montoya entered his first 1998 Elf Race Fuels & Lubricants Grand Prix race at Laguna Seca last weekend, and placed sixth.

Laguna Seca winner Roland Sands won the first heat race and put his Performance Machine Yamaha in the number two spot for tomorrow's race grid. The front row is filled out by Honda Racing's Takahito Mori and World Sports Imports rider Chuck Sorensen.

Notes & quotes from Friday's practice and qualifying sessions at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California. Conditions today: partly cloudy and very windy, with temperatures in the mid-seventies.

MLADIN BREAKS TRACK RECORD - TWICE, OLIVER RIGHT BEHIND
Yoshimura Suzuki rider Mat Mladin had this morning's fastest MBNA Superbike practice time, setting a track record with a time of 1:20.968 on the 2.5 mile Willow Springs International Raceway road course. Mladin came back out during this afternoon's MBNA Superbike qualifying session and went even faster, setting a new course record of 1:20.626 with an average speed of 111.627mph. "I've done better here during testing," said Mladin. "I think I can go a second a lap faster, but there's a lot of wind out there today."

Yamaha rider Rich Oliver was right behind Mladin with a time of 1:20.944. Oliver's fans at Willow Springs are happy and hopeful for the four-time Elf Race Fuels Grand Prix champion, who devoted his career soley to MBNA Superbike this year but has managed just one top-10 finish thus far. Oliver placed sixth at last weekend's race at Laguna Seca.

MBNA Superbike qualifying resumes tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. local time.

PRO HONDA OILS 600 SUPERSPORT
HyperCycle Suzuki rider Nicky Hayden has made his presence known in the Teamline 750 SuperSport series, and now he's working on the Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport series as well. The 17-year old rookie was fastest during today's Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport practice with a time of 1:25.091. Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Qualifying begins tomorrow at 11:10 a.m. local time.

PIRELLI FORMULA XTREME
Erion Racing Honda rider Eric Bostrom is today's top Pirelli Formula Xtreme qualifier with a time of 1:22.178 and an average speed of 109.518 mph. Bostrom's teammate and 1998 Pirelli Formula Xtreme series points leader Tripp Nobles followed Bostrom with a time of 1:22.405.

Results from today's MBNA Superbike and Pirelli Formula Xtreme qualifying sessions, and Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport practice follow.

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