Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Pikes Peak International Raceway has repaved the turn two section of the infield road course, eliminating a big bump over the tunnel to the infield which in turn is allowing AMA Supersport racers to go faster than they have in the past.

“It’s definitely better,” said Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden, winner of the 2002 AMA Supersport race at Pikes Peak. “It’s way smoother than it was last year.”

While new rules allowing 2003 Supersport machines to have more compression and power and the evolution of racebikes and tires in general played some part in the lower lap times Friday, some Supersport riders went over 1.5 seconds faster Friday morning than they did in the same practice last year.

Hacking led Supersport practice Friday with a 1:56.050 but only did a 1:57.835 last year. Damon Buckmaster was second fastest Friday with a 1:56.419 after doing a 1:57.221 last season.

Hayden, who only improved one tenth from his time last year, said the difference in lap times was “not drastic, about three or four tenths faster.” But Hayden added that he “felt pretty good on that part of the track last year. For some people it might be a bigger difference. My bike was set up pretty good there last year.”

Most riders who were asked about the new section after practicing Friday morning agreed that the section of track was better and should lead to faster lap times because of higher corner speed in turn two and a better drive down the back straightaway.

Pikes Peak International Raceway went to work on both the turn two section of the infield road course and the turn one section of the speedway oval as soon as this past winter broke. “Both had gotten pretty darn bumpy due to water problems underneath, which will have to be taken care of permanently, eventually,” PPIR Vice President Dan Greenwood told Roadracingworld.com.

Greenwood said the track contracted Colorado Springs, Colorado’s Schmidt Construction, the original pavers of the racetrack, to repair both sections with temporary patches. But as Hayden pointed out, “They definitely did a good job. There’s some places where we ride you can tell they did it the night before.”

According to Greenwood, Schmidt Construction ground approximately 1.5 inches off the top of about a 150-to-200-foot section across the entire width of turn two, laid more of original mix of asphalt, then used a “diamond grinder with a sophisticated leveling system” to grind the final surface level to within 0.01-inch.

“The whole process took about three weeks,” said Greenwood. “Most of it was the diamond grinding because that machine goes really slowly, like a five-foot-wide path at two feet an hour.”

“It wasn’t something mandatory that we did, but we heard so many comments of the harshness of the ride that we went ahead and did it,” said Greenwood. “Last week the MRA riders said they were letting off through there before and now they are pretty much wide open.”