Here are the highlights of the fourth major race at Indianapolis for the AMA XR1200 series which is a spec series with identical motorcycles that normally races along with the other AMA divisions at their events.
The first seven races have been very interesting and this is the only two race weekend in the whole season. Three riders have had the upper hand this year. This is a series that has spec bikes, but riders and teams can modify them in certain ways. Tyler O'Hara, Kyle Wyman, and Michael Barnes are the three riders who have won most of the race this year already. P.J. Jacobsen is on pole. But, he is not a regular in the series. The XR1200 bikes come to the grid from a different paddock because the main one is being used for MotoGP, Moto 2, and Moto 3, classes that have already run very good races at Indy today. Check out the previous blog entry for all the details on those races.
The bikes are coming to the grid. At the start, Michael Wyman gets the jump on the field on #33. Benjamin Carlson on bike #45 also goes on strongly as Tyler O'Hara on the #29 takes the lead. P.J. Jacobsen tries passing O'Hara, but can't. Two bikes crash. Josh Dyer on bike #360 and #97 Nicolas Hansen. Also, #88 Gary Signorelli is down. O'Hara, Jacobsen, and Barnes are the top three. Turn four is a very important corner on this track. O'Hara leads and Barnes and others are competing for this race. Many riders fell in MotoGP qualifying and in the race. Will that happen with these XR1200s? There's a yellow flag on a corner. Just a local yellow. No worries.
Michael Corbino almost fell down and thankfully stayed in the saddle! Phew! Tyler O'Hara is the class of the field right now and P.J. Jacobsen is giving chase. O'Hara and Jacobsen are moving away from Michael Barnes. Bobby Fong is also running well, (from the Daytona Sport Bike division). Jacobsen passes O'Hara and Fong also made a move further back. P.J. Jacobsen leads at Indy in race one. There is a second race. Results will be mentioned at the end of this blog entry.
Ten riders will go for the series championship with 1000 points each. Will keep updates coming during regular AMA blog updates in the future. P.J. Jacobson seems to be covering the field but Tyler O'Hara crashes! He's not going to be in contention, or is he? That fall will affect him a little bit. The front end washed out. O'Hara languishes in 13th spot. He's busted a foot peg off his bike and there goes Jacobson, down. Ugh! Kyle Wyman takes the lead and theremore riders down. There's oil on the track. Red flag this race. Bikes and riders are dropping like flies!
Jacobson, Barnes, Michael Wyman and others are involved in this mess. Wyman tries signaling his fellow riders to slow down, but it doesn't work. This race is over. It can't continue because the race track is in such a mess. P.J. Jacobsen might have been the bike dropping the oil. It's unofficial on the results. Lets see what happens. Jacobsen may be the winner.
No one is sure who wins race one. Well, the AMA has looked at the tape and photo. Kyle Wyman wins it.
#33 Kyle Wyman
Wyman didn't even know he'd won until Michael Barnes sent him a text saying, "what's up, winner?" Wow.
Race two is on deck. The bikes are on their warmup lap. The bikes are on the grid. P.J. Jacobsen has pole. At the start, Kyle Wyman takes the lead with P.J. Jacobsen running wide trying for the lead but can't get there. O'Hara and Barnes are third and fourth. The track is very dirty after all the races. Tyler O'Hara tries to pass. Benny Carlson is fourth on bike #45. A rider has crashed. It's the #17 bike of Paul Schwemmer. It's his last race on the Harley Davidson XR1200.
Tyler O'Hara wants by Kyle Wyman and P.J. Jacobsen is running in the lead right now. Benjamin Carlson is fourth on bike #45. O'Hara takes second. Bike #35 crashes. It's Matthew Hydell. Fortunately he's able to walk away. Another rider (#911 Aaron Borello) was involved. Paul James (who works for Harley Davidson) also crashes. Michael Barnes and Bobby Fong battle. P.J. Jacobsen is ahead still but the battle for third and fourth is a big deal.
P.J. Jacobsen crashes again! Two races in a row! He loses the front end. More high side and low side crashes at Indy. Yikes! Benny Carlson is now up to second behind O'Hara passing Kyle Wyman. Kyle Wyman goes for second as Bobby Fong moves past Michael Barnes. Steve Crevier is sixth. Five laps to go. These bikes react to exaggerated movements. They are very loose bikes compared to, say, a MotoGP bike. Bobby Fong came from nowhere on what is his first ride on a Harley Davidson.
These are spec bikes, so they're evenly matched. There are little tweaks that can be done for slightly more power on the front straight. The bikes come towards the Hulman straightaway on the road course. Ben Carlson passes Kyle Wyman again and Bobby Fong might be able to pounce. Fong gets by Wyman. The race continues among the top five.
O'Hara is still leading. But the fight for second, third and fourth is shuffling. Bobby Fong is up to second with Ben Carlson third and Kyle Wyman, fourth. Three wide into turn one! Fong looks at Carlon on the outside! Two laps to go. Wyman has the line but can't get by. Bobby Fong has to make a move and pull away. Go for it, now. This is your only chance. Wyman doesn't want points robbed from him by wildcard riders. There's money on the line. Who will cash the check?
White flag lap. The other thing is the MotoGP teams are watching these guys. Fong can't keep up. He's trying to pass Ben Carlson. It looks like Wyman is going to do the double. Fong goes inside and can't pass. He runs in really deep. You can't take your team mate out. Who gets it coming to the yard of bricks? Who has it? It's Tyler O'Hara winning race two!
#29 Tyler O'Hara
Wow! What a race!
The next race for XR1200 is at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey.
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