Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

The first 10 grid spots for this year’s Suzuki Cup Final races will be reserved for top regional points earners, meaning a qualified rider could win his heat race and still start on row four.

The new gridding system is designed to increase participation in the Suzuki Cup Finals, as is a new payout that will see first place pay only $3000 instead of the traditional $5000 but with the payout for 20th place increased to $500 in the Open, 750cc and 600cc classes for GSX-R riders. In the Heavyweight and Lightweight Twins races for TL1000R and SV650 riders, a win will pay $1500 with $250 for 20th place.

As of August 1, Vesrah Suzuki’s Mark Junge led Suzuki Cup points for the Open Supersport and 600cc Supersport classes while now-injured Glenn Szarek led Heavyweight Twins points. Arclight Suzuki’s Scott Harwell held the lead in 750cc Supersport points, while Loudoun Motorsports’ David Yaakov had the most points in Lightweight Twins.

The standings below include only riders whose paperwork had been filed and whose first contingency checks had been processed by August 1. Notable riders who have qualified for the Suzuki Cup Finals but are not listed include Scott Harwell in Heavyweight Twins and Tony Meiring in 750cc Superstock/Supersport.

Riders earn Suzuki Cup points throughout the year in 10 regions, with a total of 60 Suzuki Cup series events with a total contingency posting of $1,385,000. Suzuki Cup participants with at least 10 points will be invited to come to the 16th annual Suzuki Cup Finals October 24-28 at the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta. $80,000 will be up for grabs at Road Atlanta among the five Suzuki Cup classes, up $20,000 from 2000. The GSX-R classes will run under WERA Superstock rules. The Heavyweight Twins and Lightweight Twins classes will use basic WERA rules but will also require the use of stock forks, wheels, brakes, and DOT-labeled tires.

The last Suzuki Cup points-paying event will be a CCS race scheduled for September 16 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri.

Where the Suzuki Cup system differs the most from the past is in qualifying. As in the past, heat races will be held on Saturday of the race weekend to determine the grid for Sunday’s finals. New for 2001, the top point earner from each region locks in one of the top grid spots. Quoting from an America Suzuki press release, “The fastest ‘top points earner’ from the heat race will get pole position in each of the five classes.” Then the next nine grid spots will be filled with top points earners in the order of their heat race finish. The remaining grid positions will be filled by the best overall finishers in each heat race.

For additional information on Suzuki contingency or Suzuki Cup Finals, call Matt Ellis at (714) 996-7040 ext. 2275, e-mail at [email protected], or visit Suzuki’s website at www.americansuzuki.com.

Suzuki Cup Point Standings As Of August 1, 2001:

Name, Region, Points

Open Superstock/Supersport:
Mark Junge, 6, 112
Ricky Orlando, 7, 60
John Dugan, 8, 60
John Haner, 5, 56
Joseph Temperato, 6, 55
Quentin Mise, 2, 49
Scott Harwell, 3, 49
Dennie Burke, 7, 42
Curry Justice, 3, 41
Rob Mesa, 9, 40
Tim Bemisderfer, 1, 34
Michael Raab, 9, 32
Chris Pate, 9, 16
Donald Pepin, Jr., 4, 11
Anthony Manciu, 6, 9
Troy Vincent, 3, 7

750cc Superstock/Supersport:
Scott Harwell, 3, 82
Glenn Szarek, 2, 66
Brian Gibbs, 3, 66
John Haner, 5, 64
John Dugan, 8, 60
Ken Chase, 10, 60
Dennie Burke, 7, 56
Daniel Dietrich, 10, 56
Brian Stokes, 3, 55
Erik Schnackenberg, 7, 52
Chuck Chouinard, 1, 51
James Randolph, 9, 49
Daigoro Suzuki, 6, 44
Shane Prieto, 4, 40
Mark Junge, 6, 40
David Stanton, 9, 38
Tim Ogles, 9, 36
Clinton Whitehouse, 10, 36
Vincent Haskovec, 10, 36
John Jacobi, 2, 35
Jamie Lane, 5, 35
Andy Deatherage, 2, 34
Travis King, 6, 33
John Carver, 7, 33
Andy Caldwell, 3, 32
Doug Pitcock, 9, 28
Ken Snyder, 1, 25
Larry Denning, 6, 25
Ed Milhausen, 10, 25
Danny Dominguez, 5, 23
Cesar Meza, 10, 23
Richard Slejmar, 9, 22
James Romero III, 10, 22
David Kunzelman, 9, 21
Scott Hermersmann, 6, 20
Graham Howell, 10, 20
Roger Hendricks, 6, 18
Matthew Silva, 1, 17
Curry Justice, 3, 17
Rick Doucette, 1, 16
Ted Cobb, 3, 16
Rory Palmer, 10, 16
Quentin Mise, 2, 15
Kev Burgess, 8, 14
Byron Barbour, 3, 13
Chris Caylor, 3, 13
Rich Conicelli, 3, 13
Alan Schmidt, 8, 13
Kenyon Kluge, 9, 13
James King, 9, 12
Roland Williams, 1, 11
Brett Boyd, 6, 11
Oliver Chami, 9, 11
Scott Jensen, 10, 11
Jacob Holden, 8, 10
Anthony Lupo, 9, 10
Christopher Rankin, 1, 9
Ryan Kuehn, 8, 9
Chris Pate, 9, 8
Michael Niksa, 3, 7
Eric Habermehl, 10, 7
Joseph Dawson, 10, 7
Eric Dooyema, 6, 6
Dan Wilson, 8, 6
Jeff Bostrom, 9, 5
Matthew Lapaglia, 10, 4
Kevin Conroy, 10, 3
Shane Stoyko, 6, 1

600cc Superstock/Supersport:
Mark Junge, 6, 88
Chris Caylor, 3, 73
Scott Greenwood, 1, 60
Joseph Temperato, 6, 55
Ken Snyder, 1, 43
Erik Schnackenberg, 7, 40
Chuck Chouinard, 1, 39
Shannon Ball, 5, 37
Tom Wertman, 6, 36
Dale Kieffer, 10, 36
Brian Stokes, 3, 34
David Yaakov, 1, 32
Vincent Haskovec, 10, 32
Brian Gibbs, 3, 29
Ryan Burke, 7, 29
Scott Brown, 3, 27
Ted Cobb, 3, 25
Robert Richards, 2, 22
Dave Rosno, 6, 21
Quentin Mise, 2, 20
Andy Caldwell, 3, 20
Shane Prieto, 4, 20
Shawn Conrad, 6, 20
Steven Breckenridge, 4, 19
Paul Mason, 6, 17
Scott Lawson, 5, 15
Geoff May, 3, 13
Rick Doucette, 1, 12
Boyd Whiteoak, 6, 11
Roland Williams, 1, 10
Brett Champagne, 5, 10
Michael Niksa, 3, 9
Travis King, 6, 8
Chad Simons, 4, 7
Brian Parriott, 9, 7
John Jewett, 10, 6
Morgan Broadhead, 10, 6
Mark Coop, 1, 4
John Waters, 3, 3
Ed Smalley, 7, 1

Heavyweight Twins:
Glenn Szarek, 2, 60
Steve Johnson, 6, 56
Jim Brewer, 7, 51
Adam Mashike, 6, 27
Ted Cobb, 3, 16
Russell Masecar, 3, 16
Alan Thain, 8, 16
David Stone, 1, 11
Kevin Lafavor, 8, 11

Lightweight Twins:
David Yaakov, 1, 89
Todd Keesee, 4, 61
Jeffrey Wood, 1, 60
Jurgen Wimbauer, 7, 60
Alan Schwen, 8, 60
Zoran Vujasinovic, 9, 59
Bradley Champion, 5, 56
Eric Falt, 5, 56
Chris Normand, 3, 43
Mark Woodward, 9, 41
Mitchell Baghdoian, 2, 40
John Linder, 4, 40
Edward Key, 6, 40
Robby Card, 3, 36
Brian Kent, 1, 32
Todd Frey, 8, 32
Jonathan Forman, 9, 31
John Greer, 8, 28
James Cottrell, 2, 26
Chris Robin, 5, 22
Peter Kolodzie, 1, 21
Ted Temple, 1, 21
Greg Elstad, 3, 19
Daryl Wichern, 8, 19
John Donald, 1, 18
Rodney Mahr, 6, 16
Kurt Schuschke, 6, 16
Joel Crabtree, 8, 16
Rick Doucette, 1, 13
Brian Stokes, 3, 13
Steven Clark, 3, 13
Michael Conlin, 6, 11
Richard Graba, 6, 11
Michael Stahl, 7, 11
Jamie Miller, 3, 10
Mitch Stein, 6, 9
Randy Grein, 8, 7