Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Running commentary, results at end:


The field has completed its sighting lap and warm-up lap and is ready for the start of the Daytona 200.

Mat Mladin led Larry Pegram and Kurtis Roberts through the infield the first time, but in the run from the chicane to the line it was Mladin pullng a small gap on Roberts, Aaron Yates, Eric Bostrom and Pegram.

To start lap 4, Roberts passes Mladin in turn one, but Mladin immediately repassed him.

Mladin’s first complete lap was a 1:49.398.

Roberts led Mladin, Yates, Duhamel into the chicane on lap 4.

The pace at the front is 1:51.

To start lap 5 Roberts passed Mladin inside in turn 1, with Mladin diving back inside in the International Horseshoe.

Roberts led at the line to start lap 6, with a 7-rider train at the front, Roberts chased by Duhamel, Yates, Mladin, Eric Bostrom, Ben Bostrom, and Gobert.

Jason Pridmore has pitted and then rejoined the race.

On lap 7, Duhamel challenges Roberts for the lead into the chicane.

Duhamel drafts past Roberts to lead before the line but into turn 1 to start lap 8 it’s Roberts ahead of Yates, Duhamel, Mladin, Gobert, Eric Bostrom, Ben Bostrom.

The leaders are now in traffic and Yates leads into the chicane and across the line. Roberts and Gobert are side-by-side for second, ahead of Duhamel, Mladin, Ben Bostrom and Eric Bostrom. When Mladin ran wide in turn 1, Ben Bostrom passed him.

John Ashmead has lowsided.

Gobert drafts Roberts and Yates to lead across the line to start lap 10. Mladin passes Ben Bostrom into the International Horseshoe. The lead group is Gobert, Yates, Roberts, Duhamel, Mladin, Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom.

Yates challenges for the lead to the chicane but Gobert still leads at the line to start lap 11.

Lap 10
1. Gobert
2. Roberts
3. Duhamel
4. Yates
5. B. Bostrom
6. Mladin
7. E. Bostrom
8. Spies
9. Pegram
10. Higbee

Lead 7 riders are hooked together in a draft-fest, within a spread of 1.5 seconds. The 8th and 9th-place riders are about 15 seconds behind.

Lapped traffic is now a serious problem.

Duhamel could not draft past Gobert in the run to the line to end lap 12.

The pack is slcing through lapped riders in the infield.

Larry Pegram pitted early and rejoined the race.

Again Gobert holds off Duhamel to the line to finish lap 13.

Gobert, Duhamel, Yates and Roberts have gapped the second group of 3 by about 2 seconds, with Mladin battling Ben and Eric Bostrom.

Duhamel drafts around Gobert in heavy traffic to the line.

Order at line, Lap 15
1. Duhamel
2. Gobert
3. Roberts
4. Yates
5. Eric Bostrom
6. Ben Bostrom
7. Mat Mladin
8. Ben Spies
9. Shawn Higbee
10. Michael Barnes
11. Jordan Szoke
12. Brian Livengood
13. Geoff May
14. Larry Pegram
15. Jack Pfeifer

Roberts passed Gobert for third at the start of lap 16 but then ran off at the chicane.

Mladin ran very wide at the start of lap 17 in turn 1, and Roberts repassed him.

Gobert repassed Duhamel into turn 1 to take the lead to start lap 18.

Duhamel leads to the chicane in heavy traffic.

Gobert has pitted for his stop, to start lap 19. Gobert was beaten out of the pits as Ben Bostrom also pits.

Roberts pits on lap 19 and rejoins the race. Mladin is in, Mladin is out.

Duhamel is in to start lap 20, and is back out. Eric Bostrom is also in and out.

After the first round of stops several riders have dropped back into 1:49 lap times, including Duhamel, Ben Bostrom, Yates, Roberts, Mladin.

Brian Livengood crashes out at the kink.

Running order lap 22
1. Duhamel
2. Ben Bostrom
3. Eric Bostrom
4. Yates
5. Roberts
6. Barnes
7. Mladin
8. Spies
9. Pegram
10. Higbee
11. Szoke
12. Deatherage
13. Pfeifer
14. Montano
15. May

Yates and Eric Bostrom are battling hard over third.

Gobert is missing.

Gobert is walking back to his pit area, having abandoned his stricken Ducati.

Higbee is touring back to the pits with some problem. Higbee pits and rejoins the race with what looks to be a tire problem.

Gobert, who rode his back-up bike in a last-minute switch, says his B bike broke because he was “flogging the engine.”

On lap 27, Duhamel, Ben Bostrom and Yates are all in the 1:51s, as are Roberts and Mladin.

But Mladin is well behind the leaders, in 6th.

As Ben Bostrom closes on Duhamel, cutting the gap from 4 to 3.5 seconds, Yates is closing up on Bostrom.

Running order at 1/2-way point:
1. Duhamel
2. Ben Bostrom
3. Yates
4. Eric Bostrom
5. Roberts
6. Mladin
7. Spies
8. Barnes
9. Szoke
10. Pegram
11. Deatherage
12. Pfeifer
13. Pridmore
14. May
15. Higbee



Yates passes Ben Bostrom in traffic for second, Spies passes Mladin for 6th.

Yates and Bostrom are racing for second, about 4.5 seconds behind Duhamel.

At the end of lap 32, Yates is 1.7 seconds ahead of Yates with Ben Bostrom right behind Yates.

Duhamel is visibly struggling with the rear tire, sliding around and getting slightly kicked out of the seat on acceleration. Yates has caught Duhamel with Ben Bostrom and Roberts just behind.

Szoke pulls off the track with a mechanical problem.

Duhamel is now third, Yates leads Bostrom, Duhamel and Roberts.

Yates gets a break in traffic in the chicane, stretching out ahead of Roberts, Ben Bostrom and Duhamel in the run back to turn 1.

Roberts, Ben Bostrom and Duhamel race for second as Yates builds his gap to 1.2 seconds.

Yates loses some of his advantage in traffic in the west horseshoe.

Pegram pits and rejoins in about 10 seconds, on lap 36, one lap down.

Roberts drafts Yates to lead across the line to start lap 38.

Ben Bostrom pits and rejoins, about 12 seconds.

Yates repasses Roberts for the lead, they run nose-to-tail out of the infield. Roberts drafts past to the chicane. Roberts heads for the pits, Yates’ leads again, his GSX-R1000 bucking on worn tires.

Roberts in and out in about 14 seconds, after a relatively slow entry to pit lane.

Yates is sliding everywhere, including the infield dogleg.

Mladin is in the pits, and out again with tires and gas.

Yates is on pit lane, as is Duhamel.

Yates leaves, Duhamel loses some time wiping gas off the tank. Eric Bostrom is in and out.

After the final round of pit stops, Roberts leads Bostrom and Yates.

Running order, end of lap 40:
1. Roberts
2. Ben Bostrom
3. Yates
4. Duhamel
5. Eric Bostrom
6. Spies
7. Mladin
8. Barnes
9. Pegram, -1 lap
10. Pfeifer, -1 lap
11. Pridmore, -1 lap
12. Higbee, -1 lap
13. Deatherage, -1 lap
14. Haskovec, -1 lap
15. Randolph, -1 lap

Spies pits for the final time.

Roberts, Ben Bostrom, Yates, Roberts are at the front, within 2 seconds, with Eric Bostrom about 19 seconds behind in fifth.

In traffic, Roberts gets about 2 seconds head of nose-to-tail Ben Bostrom, Yates, Duhamel. Yates passes Bostrom off the chicane, into second.

With 47 laps done, Roberts leads Yates by about 2 seconds, with Ben Bostrom and Miguel Duhamel another second behind.

To start lap 48 Yates ran off turn 1, trying to outbrake and get around lapped Vincent Haskovec, and rejoins in 4th.

With traffic working for them, Bostrom and Duhamel have caught Roberts.

Roberts gets another break in traffic but the three leading Hondas are all within half-a-second.

Yates in 4th is almost 10 seconds behind despite matching the pace of the leaders.

The pace at the front is 1:51s and 1:52s.

Bostrom passes Roberts in traffic and Roberts and Duhamel race for second around into turn 1.

Roberts uses the apron of the banking to draft back into the lead in the run to the line, then gapped Bostrom in traffic in turn 5.

After 51 laps Roberts leads Ben Bostrom and Duhamel, all within half-a-second.

Yates is about 7 second behind the leaders. Eric Bostrom is in 5th, 22 seconds behind.

Roberts ran wide at the west horseshoe and both Ben Bostrom and Duhamel passed him, with two laps to go.

Last lap, Bostrom leads Roberts and Duhamel in the infield. Traffic is ahead. Out of the chicane Bostrom leads and Duhamel drafts both Roberts and Bostrom to win!

Finishing Order:
1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 57 laps
2. Ben Bostrom, Honda RC51, -0.069 second
3. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, -0.155
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -8.498
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, -24.370
6. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -80.159
7. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -87.763
8. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
11. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
12. Larry Pegram, Ducati 998RS, -2 laps
13. Jack Pfeifer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
14. Sandor Bitter, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -3 laps
15. Ricky Orlando, Suzuki GSX-R750, -3 laps
16. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, -3 laps
17. James Randolph, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -3 laps
18. Warwick Nowland, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -3 laps
19. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, -3 laps
20. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -3 laps
21. Thomas Montano, Suzuki GSX-R750, -4 laps
22. Akiharu Shigeno, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -4 laps
23. Michael Rouleau, Suzuki GSX-R750, -4 laps
24. John Jacobi, Suzuki GSX-R750, -4 laps
25. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -4 laps
26. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -4 laps
27. Brett Ray, Suzuki GSX-R750, -4 laps
28. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, -5 laps
29. Tom Wertman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -5 laps
30. Rick Shaw, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -5 laps
31. Marco Martinez, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -5 laps
32. Oliver Jervis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -5 laps
33. Jacob Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, -5 laps
34. Douglas Duane, Suzuki GSX-R750, -5 laps
35. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, -5 laps
36. Michael Luke, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -5 laps
37. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -6 laps
38. Brian Boyd, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -6 laps
39. Rick Narup, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -7 laps
40. Keith Pinkstaff, Yamaha YZF-R1, -10 laps
41. Dean Osborne, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -14 laps
42. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -14 laps
43. Shane Gonyea, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -22 laps, DNF
44. Justin Blake, Suzuki GSX-R750, -24 laps, DNF
45. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -25 laps, DNF, mechanical
46. Pat Mooney, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -30 laps, DNF
47. Anthony Gobert, Ducati 998RS, -37 laps, DNF, mechanical
48. Brian Livengood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -37 laps, DNF, crash
49. Greg Fryer, Yamaha YZF-R1, -39 laps, DNF
50. Raymond Bowman, Suzuki GSX-R800, -41 laps, DNF
51. James Compton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -45 laps, DNF
52. Anthony Fania, Jr., Suzuki GSX-R750, 46 laps, DNF
53. John Ashmead, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -49 laps, DNF, crash
54. Scott Harwell, Suzuki GSX-R750, -50 laps, DNF
55. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750, -50 laps, DNF
56. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R750, -50 laps, DNF
57. Michael Hannas, Suzuki GSX-R750, -50 laps, DNF
58. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, -55 laps, DNF
59. Andrew Denyer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -55 laps, DNF
60. Doug Chandler, Honda CBR954RR, DNS
61. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
62. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
63. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
64. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
65. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
66. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
67. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, DNS
68. Dario Marchetti, Ducati 998, DNS
69. Thomas Fournier, Ducati 996, DNS

More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist, Steve Reeves:

MLADIN TAKES SIXTH AT DAYTONA 200

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA (Monday, March 10) – After leading the opening laps of today’s rain delayed running of the 62nd Daytona 200, Australian Mat Mladin completed a difficult race to finish sixth overall after encountering tyre problems for much of the race distance.

Victory today went to French Canadian Miguel DuHamel, who slipstreamed past both his American Honda teammate Ben Bostrom and Erion Honda rider Kurtis Roberts on the final lap to take his fourth Daytona 200 win. The lead trio were split by just 0.155 of a second at the completion of the 57-lap classic, with Mladin completing the race on the same lap as the leaders, but 80.159 secs in arrears.

Aiming for a third Daytona 200 victory, Mladin started from the front row of the grid after posting the third fastest time during qualifying and quickly jumped to the race lead aboard his Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. He was involved in an eight-way battle for the lead in the opening sector of the race, before tyre wear began to play a factor in his race.

“The last three or four laps of the first stint I lost about 30 seconds and just had to get far enough around to fit into my pit schedule,” said Mladin, who celebrates his 31st birthday today. “Our strategy for the race was to do whatever lap time we could without spinning up the rear tyre and that’s what we did all they way up to about lap 15 or so in the first stint and from that point we started to go backwards because we had no rubber left on the rear tyre. That proved to be the case each time we went out on a fresh tyre. The pace of the race wasn’t overly fast, it was that I just couldn’t keep a tyre on it.”

As the lead group edged away, Mladin focussed on a strong finish that would give him as many points as possible as the Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to round two at California Speedway on April 6.

“About 15-laps into the race I knew we weren’t going to win so it was time to go into conservation mode and think about the championship as a whole,” added the three times American Superbike champion. “After I figured that I wasn’t going to win this race and finish with no points like I did last year, I just had to go into points mode and do the best we can. That’s how I thought when I won three championships and that’s how I’m going to think this year.”

The race also marked the debut of the team’s new Suzuki GSX-R1000 that it will campaign in this year’s 18-race championship. Rule changes made since last season have allowed the team to switch from their very successful GSX-R750 to the new GSX-R1000. With only a very short period of time to begin development of the new bike before the start of the season this weekend, the team still has a lot of work to do, but does have a good base to start from. The change has also fuelled Mladin’s desire to get the best out of the bike and ensure that it becomes a championship winner.

“We are in a lot better position than we were last year. We have a lot more horsepower on a very under developed bike and knew we were going to have a tough weekend. A lot of people thought that we were going to come here and win because we’ve got a 1000cc 4-cylinder, but there’s a lot more that goes into racing than that. We have to develop the bike some more and get ourselves into the championship over the next few races.”


More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

DAYTONA 200 BY ARAI
POST RACE NOTES & QUOTES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
MARCH 10, 2003

Winner Miguel Duhamel, No. 17 Honda,
“I knew that they were running good, Kurtis and those guys. I knew I could draft past one guy, but I didn’t want to be behind two and I was behind two. So I thought ok I’ve got to do this right. Kurtis came by and he was giving himself a little too much of a run. Obviously he was trying to do it for his own win. But I thought he was a little too far, so I used him, got a draft, got by with Ben. Ben got a draft around a lapped rider. Just when I split Ben came back on me and it was really jarring me. I moved over and I thought ‘oh, no, Kurtis is getting the double draft, watch that guy go around us.’ But it held off. I was really saving my tires and I think that’s what made a difference at the end. This is so sweet. I was thinking the whole race ‘just stay in the race, stay focused, stay out there.’ It was 57 laps of just full on concentration. This has got to be one of my sweetest (wins) because there were three guys on the end. There was nothing decided. There was not just one guy against one guy.

“I was feeling really good out there. My energy obviously was real high. My second stint I had a four second lead at one point. I thought I was going to start pulling away and win like I did in 1991. But couldn’t do it. The tires were coming in a little too hot.

“It looked like I was getting Ben, but I was fearing for Kurtis to come around and get our double draft. When I finally crossed the line and won, ‘I was like holy cow, I just won again.’ I was so happy. It’s so hard to win this race. It’s just so hard and I’m so pleased.”


Second-place finisher Ben Bostrom, No. 155 Honda
“I tried going into the chicane, I thought they were right behind me, so I downshifted into first to try and throw them off a little bit. Then I really tried to accelerate and get a good drive on the exit there. We didn’t have much tire left. It just didn’t pan out. The guys rode really well and set me up perfectly. If I had to take it over I’d just try and get through it the best I could and get a little more engine speed and hope that would give us a couple thousands to win this thing. Miguel has got a lot of tenacity and put it up front. You learn a lot from these kind of things. I’m looking forward to the season.

“We took off on that first tire and I didn’t get through the traffic so good. I saw the boys kind of getting away from me there. Big thanks to my guys, we had great pit stops. Basically it came down to the third tire with the rest of these guys. That was the deal. Kurtis was real strong. He had about the same tire I had on. Miguel was just back there waiting for us ready to pounce. These guys let me lead on the last lap. I just put my head down and tried as hard as I could. I tried to backshift down into first in the chicane and throw these guys off. They just hooked me up and went by.”

Third-place finisher Kurtis Roberts, No. 80 Honda
“Miguel did a great job. So did Ben and so did my team and myself. We put our head down there in the middle stint and really rode as hard as we could. I was really surprised I was leading there right before I pulled back in and we just didn’t have it today for whatever reason. My team did a hell of a job I take my hat off to them. The bike was perfect all weekend. Who knows what I could have done there on the last lap. But it doesn’t really matter right now. It’s a good day for Honda. I thought we would have had it there with a few laps to go. I was kind of surprised with how close they were to me. It worked out. I wanted to get in here and get a podium for the championship run and I think we can do it now.”

Fourth-place finisher Aaron Yates, No. 20 Yoshimura Suzuki
“The race was just a big tire conservation thing. The first session, I really thought the times were pretty slow. We were doing 51s. The second tire seemed to work a bit better. We ran 50s the whole time. That last stint, I ran up on that guy. Braking into Turn 1, he stood it up and went wide and I was on the outside and it made me have to change my line and run wide. It kind of blew the whole deal.”

Anthony Gobert, rider of the No. 16 Ducati Austin
WHAT PUT YOU OUT?
“My brake broke on the start line. I had to start on the backup bike. As soon as we went out, it had a big misfire. I didn’t know for sure it was going to stop. Then it started coming good. It didn’t have any power. It lost a lot of power but it was still going. That’s the main thing. Then the next minute I caught the guys again and passed them and I thought, ‘We’re going to win pretty easy.’ I was doing it super comfortable. Then the next minute, I got a fresh tire and I was taking it easy. Then the next minute the engine stopped. I went into one of the corners and went to (decelerate) and it didn’t pick back up and started smoking. It’s a shame. It’s our backup bike and I think because I rode it hard when it wasn’t warmed up is the reason why that it stopped. It’s one of those things. It’s a shame because I think we would’ve given Ducati its first win here. I was doing it easy and I had come from a long way back even though the engine was being slow. It’s a real disappointment.”