Amid complaints that AMA Pro Racing hasn’t notified riders regarding the status of their entries for next weekend’s races at Laguna Seca, the professional competition arm of the American Motorcyclist Association finds time to issue a trio of chatty press releases written by contractor Larry Lawrence:

HAYDEN HOPING TO JOIN DUHAMEL AND SMITH AS THREE-TIME LAGUNA SECA PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT WINNERS

PICKERINGTON, Ohio – On May 2, 1999, Tommy Hayden turned in one of the most impressive victories in the history of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship. That day on a rainy Laguna Seca Raceway (now called Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) Hayden decimated the rest of the field winning the Supersport final by 17 seconds – one of the largest margins of victory in ever in the 16 years of AMA Supersport racing. The eldest of the three racing Hayden brothers returns to Monterey, Calif., this Friday, July 12, attempting to join Miguel Duhamel and Mike Smith as three-time winners of the AMA Supersport race at Laguna Seca.

Hayden comes into this race, which is round eight of the 10-race AMA U.S. Supersport Championship, ranked second behind Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki rider Aaron Yates. He’s been playing catch up in the championship since getting caught up in a multi-bike accident in the opening round at Daytona Beach, Fla., in March.

“The accident at Daytona really put us in a tough situation as far as the championship is concerned,” said Hayden, who rides for Kawasaki. “Now all I can do is go out there and give it my all and hope for the best. Another win at Laguna would be great. I’ve done well there in the past and it would be nice to get a third victory there.”

Whoever wins the Supersport race this week will have pulled off a major accomplishment. Suzuki teammates Yates and Jamie Hacking have both won the race before and will line up for Friday’s event, as will Hayden. Also expected to race is Duhamel. It will be a special appearance in the series by the five-time AMA Supersport champ. Duhamel is hoping to be the first four-time winner of the race.

Also on Friday at Laguna Seca will be a round of the Buell Pro Thunder Series. Australian Kirk McCarthy is trying to become the first rider to clean sweep the series. He’s won all of the series races coming into this Friday’s contest riding an AMS Ducati. Hal’s Performance Buell rider Mike Ciccotto is the only rider with a chance to catch McCarthy in the championship. Ciccotto has finished on the podium at every round, but has yet to find a way to finish in front McCarthy.

The Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme final will be held Saturday. The series is a tossup this year between the top three riders. Jason Pridmore, of Attack Suzuki, holds a slim three-point lead over Bruce Transportation Honda’s Jake Zemke. Graves Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster is still very much in the hunt; ranked third just eight points out of first. Buckmaster is the defending race winner.

On Sunday the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock and MBNA 250 Grand Prix finals will be held in between the two legs of the World Superbike Series.

Defending Superstock champ Jimmy Moore and Lee Acree are locked in a great duel for that championship. Moore, who rides for Corona Extra Suzuki, is looking for his first win at Laguna Seca. Tommy Hayden is third in the series riding a Kawasaki ZX6R against the field of 750cc machines. Last year’s winner Chris Ulrich, of Valvoline EMGO Suzuki, has suffered a tough season so far, but defending his Superstock win a Laguna Seca would go a long way in easing some of his disappointment.

Chuck Sorensen, 29, of Sunnyvale, Calif., comes into Laguna Seca leading the MBNA 250 Grand Prix Series. Sorensen has tasted victory at many of the circuits on the tour, but Laguna Seca isn’t one of them. He will have to overcome the resurgent Rich Oliver, who has lost part of a finger and toes in separate accidents this year, but has twice come back to race competitively. Oliver won the last round in Brainerd, Minn., and is a five-time AMA 250GP winner at Laguna.

Live coverage of the AMA Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport final begins at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Speed Channel, with a repeat on Sunday, July 14 at 4 p.m. Eastern. Speed Channel’s coverage of the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series from Monterey will air Tuesday, July 23 at 8 p.m. and again at 1 a.m. (July 24) Eastern.

For additional ticket information contact Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at (800) 327-SECA or visit www.laguna-seca.com.



HAYDEN ON A QUEST TO SET NEW AMA SUPERBIKE RECORDS

PICKERINGTON, Ohio – Nicky Hayden comes into round 12 of the 16-race AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship this Saturday, July 13, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., having one of the best seasons any AMA Superbike rider could ever experience. The 20-year-old factory Honda rider from Owensboro, Ky., has not only won seven of the 11 races leading up to this weekend’s event, but he also holds a 42-point lead in the championship over Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom. If Hayden continues on this pace he could become the youngest AMA Superbike champion in the history of the championship. There’s also a strong possibility that Hayden could better a long-standing AMA Superbike record that many thought could never be beaten. With five rounds of the series remaining Hayden has a real shot of matching or even breaking Fred Merkel’s 1984 record of 10 AMA Superbike wins in a single season.

This weekend’s AMA Superbike event is part of the annual Honda International Superbike Classic, which features the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship as well as a full slate of AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship events.

Hayden’s year thus far has been simply phenomenal. He opened the season in March with a victory in the prestigious Daytona 200. He then went on to win six of the following 10 races, including a five-race winning streak – the second longest winning streak in AMA Superbike history. To top it all off Hayden spends his vacation weekends racing in select AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship races. In his spare time Hayden has picked up two wins in that series, becoming the first two-time winner in that championship this year. He and his brothers Tommy and Roger Lee also became the first brother combination to finish one-two-three at an AMA national in May in Springfield, Ill.
“My goal all along was to win the AMA Superbike Championship,” said Hayden. “Honda’s been good about letting me go out and do some of these other races and it’s been fun, but I’m still focused on winning the Superbike title. I’d love to win at Laguna again this year. It’s such a big event and a win there would go a long way in helping me get this championship wrapped up. There’s still a long way to go.”

Eric Bostrom still has hopes of catching Hayden. “I’ll probably need for him to make a mistake or have a mechanical problem,” admitted Bostrom, who is the defending winning at Laguna Seca. “But I’m going to do everything I can to be in a position to win the championship if at all possible.”

Miguel Duhamel is having one of his better seasons in AMA Superbike. The veteran rider, who is a native of Montreal and now lives in Las Vegas, has earned six podium finishes this year including two wins. Duhamel is another past winner at Laguna Seca. He won there on a Honda in 1998.

Other past winners of the AMA Superbike event at Laguna Seca who will race Saturday include Doug Chandler, Anthony Gobert and Pascal Picotte. This is Chandler’s home track and he would love nothing better than to ride his HMC Ducati to victory. Chandler is seeking his third win in the event – he previously won in 1996 and 1997. Gobert is expected to return to action at Laguna Seca after suffering a broken right leg in Superbike qualifying for Road Atlanta in May. Gobert is hoping to give Yamaha its first AMA Superbike victory at Laguna Seca. Picotte won at Laguna Seca in 1994 on a Ferracci Ducati. The Canadian is hoping to earn his first AMA Superbike win in over six years.

Tune into Speed Channel for live coverage of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship on Saturday, July 13, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. Additional broadcasts will be July 16 at 8 p.m. & 1 a.m., and July 23 at 2 p.m. Eastern on Speed Channel.

For additional ticket information contact Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at (800) 327-SECA or visit www.laguna-seca.com.



THE WORLD COMES TO MONTEREY

PICKERINGTON, Ohio – Monterey, California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will host the annual Honda International Superbike Classic on July 12 – 14. The esteemed event features both the SBK World Superbike Championship and America’s most important road racing series, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, in what has become the largest motorcycle-racing event in America – last year over 90,000 fans attended the four-day festival of racing. This marks the eighth year that Laguna Seca has hosted the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship. Past winners include many of the top riders in the history of World Superbike including Troy Corser, Anthony Gobert, John Kocinski, Nori Haga and Ben Bostrom.

Australian Troy Bayliss has dominated the World Superbike Championship coming into this weekend’s races, winning 13 of the 16 rounds so far on his factory Infostrada Ducati 998R. While Bayliss has turned in a record-setting performance, Americans Colin Edwards and Ben Bostrom are acquitting themselves quit well in World Superbike this season.

Edwards, the Castrol Honda rider from Conroe, Texas, has finished on the podium in all but one round of the series and has earned victories in Japan and Great Britain. Edwards is ranked second in the world championship standings coming into Laguna Seca.

Ben Bostrom, the defending winner at Laguna Seca, is ranked fifth in the championship coming into this Sunday’s races. Bostrom, who rides for L&M Ducati, is looking for his first victory on the circuit this year and coming home to California may just be the boost to help him get back on track.

Bostrom’s younger brother Eric is focusing on the AMA Superbike title, but has turned in a few solid performances in his limited appearances this year in World Superbike. Eric raced in Japan, Italy and Great Britain, with his best result being a seventh in the second race at Italy on May 12. The Kawasaki ace is ranked 19th in the series despite only competing in six of the 16 rounds this year. He is expected to be a top contender at Laguna Seca.

Bringing added excitement to this year’s U.S. round is the fact that seven of America’s top domestic Superbike riders will be racing against the best in the world on Sunday. Doug Chandler, Miguel Duhamel, Anthony Gobert, Nicky Hayden, Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates as well as Eric Bostrom are expected to compete in the World Superbike rounds. In addition Mark Miller, a former top AMA Formula Xtreme rider, is slated to ride as a replacement rider for a Swiss team.

While both Chandler and Gobert are both former winners in the World Superbike Championship, undoubtedly Nicky Hayden’s debut in the series is one of the most highly anticipated unveilings in motorcycle racing this year. Hayden is clearly the fastest rider in AMA Superbike this season and many think he has a strong chance of winning in his first World Superbike appearance.

“I’m just looking forward to getting out there and racing with the World Superbike guys,” said Hayden, 20-year-old from Owensboro, Ky. “I’d like to think that our AMA riders are among the best there is, so I think we’re all ready to go out and see how we stack up. It’s going to be an awesome race that’s for sure.”

This will also be a great opportunity for three-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin to earn a solid highlight in what has otherwise been a sub-par season for the 30-year-old Aussie. Mladin seriously injured his left elbow during practice for the Daytona 200 in March and never seemed to fully recover. After dominating the AMA series for three years, Mladin has yet to earn a victory on the circuit this season.