Throwback Thursday: Sears Point Supersport Shuffle (2002)

Larry Lawrence | September 29, 2022

Aaron Yates took the victory over Anthony Gobert and Jamie Hacking

In this week’s Throwback we go back 20 years to 2002. This photo shows Valvoline Suzuki’s Tom Kipp (No. 10) leading the charge into turn one at Sears Point (now Sonoma Raceway) at the start of the 2002 AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport race in Sonoma, California. The race was stacked with talent as this Henny Ray Abrams photo shows. Right behind Kipp is Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert (No. 16) and Damon Buckmaster (No. 6). Also in the pack are Jake Zemke (No. 98), Aaron Yates (No. 20), Ben Spies (wearing green HJC helmet directly behind Buckmaster), Tommy Hayden (No. 22), Mike Hale (wearing the orange and blue Shoei behind Zemke), Jamie Hacking (No. 2), Jason Pridmore (behind Hacking), Ty Howard (No. 235), Brian Parriott (No. 46), Tony Meiring (No. 56), Owen Weichel (No. 8), Michael Hannas (green helmet behind Meiring) and Jimmy Filice (at the back of the lead pack with blue helmet, yellow bike). Think about that list for a second. Probably 90 percent of them won AMA Nationals at one point or another – several of them world championship races. Yates (who won the pole on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600) went on to win at Sears that day over Gobert and Hacking. Just as a sidenote, check out how all the Kawasaki riders are railing around the outside of the turn. Probably a coincidence, but interesting.

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