Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Official Combined Superbike Qualifying Results

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:35.622
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:35.804
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:36.228
4. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:36.348
5. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:36.412
6. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, 1:36.572
7. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 1:36.901
8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:37.447
9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:37.760
10. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, 1:38.706
11. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, 1:38.349
12. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 1:39.360
13. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:39.494
14. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:39.940
15. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, 1:39.943
16. Robert Jensen, Suzuki, 1:40.252
17. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki, 1:40.605
18. Opie Caylor, Suzuki, 1:40.698
19. John Dugan, Suzuki, 1:40.719
20. Brian Stokes, Suzuki, 1:41.130
21. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:41.295
22. Wes Good, Suzuki, 1:42.128
23. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, 1:42.133
24. Tom Wertman, Suzuki, 1:42.161
25. Chris Voelker, Ducati, 1:42.208
26. Rob Christman, Suzuki, 1:42.361
27. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:42.478
28. JJ Roetlin, Suzuki, 1:42.529
29. Jake Holden, Suzuki, 1:42.549
30. David Duprey, Suzuki, 1:42.671
31. Matt Furtek, Suzuki, 1:42.902
32. Jeff Bostrom, Suzuki, 1:43.164
33. Roger Hendricks, Suzuki, 1:43.319
34. Monte Nichols, Suzuki, 1:43.809
35. Brian Boyd, Suzuki, 1:44.418
36. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki, 1:44.633
37. Kevin Lehman, Yamaha, 1:44.793
38. Dr. Jeff Purk, Suzuki, 1:44.869
39. Paul Heinen, Yamaha, 1:44.931
40. Jason Knupp, Suzuki, 1:45.055
41. Eric Dooyema, Suzuki, 1:45.643

DID NOT QUALIFY: 112% of FAST TIME = 1:47.097

42. Jim Bonner, Yamaha, 1:47.565
43. Michael Kosta, Suzuki, 1:51.481


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

Saturday, 28 June 2003

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Round 11 – Brainerd International Raceway, Minnesota, USA
Final Qualifying Session Report

MLADIN TIES FOR AMERICAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AFTER TAKING POLE POSITION AT BRAINERD

Brainerd, Minnesota, USA (Saturday, 28 June) – The value of every championship point was proven today, when Australia’s Mat Mladin moved into a tie for the lead in this year’s AMA Chevy Trucks US superbike Championship after securing his 28th career AMA superbike pole position at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota.

The three-times American Superbike champion now heads into tomorrow’s eleventh round of the championship tied on points with Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, with the pair having accumulated 294 apiece.

Mladin has been the fastest rider at Brainerd during both days of practice and qualifying and confirmed that position with the fastest time of the weekend, a 1-min 35.622 sec lap set in today’s second one-hour qualifying session at the fast 4.828km (3.00mile) Minnesota circuit.

“We did what we had to today to secure pole position, so we’re very happy with that,” said Mladin. “The track was a little bit warmer today, there’s a bit more rubber on the track and it’s getting better each day we’re here. One of the problems you have here during the race is breaking the draft from someone. If you are within a second you can hang on to them, so the plan will be to try and get that early break.”

Second fastest and the only other rider to dip into the 1:35 bracket was American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel who posted a best lap of 1:35.804. He was followed by Eric Bostrom (1:36.228), with Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts completing the front row with a time of 1:36.348. The top six riders were within a second of Mladin’s pole winning time, with teammate Aaron Yates (1:36.412) and series newcomer Giovanni Bussai (Ducati Austin, 1:36.572) completing the group.

Tyres have been a crucial area for Mladin’s campaign in 2003. A number of failures have meant that the team have had to work closely with tyre supplier Dunlop to find a combination that best suits the powerful new Suzuki GSX-R1000 the team is using this year. This weekend, Dunlop has supplied a number of new tyres for the team to test and Mladin has been happy with the tyres supplied.

“Dunlop have brought a few new tyres over for us to try and so far they look quite good. They’re trying to get the safety aspect of the tyres better. At this stage it looks as though we may race on one of the new tyres tomorrow, which is a good positive sign for us and Dunlop.”

The superbike riders take to the Brainerd circuit tomorrow for their
21-lap national which forms round 11 of the 18-round championship.