From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Round 8 – Pikes Peak International Raceway, Colorado, USA
Race Report

PIKES PEAK FRUSTRATIONS FOR MLADIN

Fountain, Colorado, USA – Mat Mladin faced his most frustrating weekend of the season after a combination of officialdom and tyre wear have seen him slip to third overall after the completion of round eight of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship held at Pikes Peak International Raceway, Colorado.

Mladin’s weekend got off to an uneasy start when his fast lap time from the opening qualifying session on Friday was withdrawn by AMA race officials. Hardware problems with the timing systems over the weekend were the reported reasons for his lap time being withdrawn, but unfortunately for he and his Yoshimura Suzuki team, they were only notified of that decision until the closing minutes of the final qualifying session which did not allow him time to return to the circuit to attempt to post a pole winning lap time. As a result, he was placed second on the grid alongside teammate Aaron Yates.

The timing problems had affected a number of other classes over the weekend including the qualifying sessions for Supersport and Formula Extreme.

Heading into Sunday’s race, Mladin had concerns over the tyre wear he was getting on his powerful Suzuki GSX-R1000 around the tight bowl layout of Pikes Peak, with the concerns becoming reality before the race had reached its mid point.

After holding third place during the opening laps, Mladin began to lose touch with the lead group, He then pitted for a new tyre on lap 36, slipping from sixth to ninth. After returning to the track he consistently turned faster lap times than the leaders, but his charge to regain placings was cut short when the race was red flagged on lap 41 due to an accident on the circuit. The race was then declared by race officials, with the results determined by their finishing order at the end of lap 40, leaving Mladin ninth.

“We sort of expected to have a problem with tyres around here,” said Mladin. “I’m struggling to keep tyres under the bike on these bowl race tracks. It’s the same sort of thing that we had a problem with at Daytona. We sort of thought that we may have to make a stop for a tyre, but were hoping that we didn’t have to, but in the end we had to. I didn’t think the pace of the race was that fast and even though I was lapping quicker late in the race, I think I may only have been able to have picked up another one or two spots if the race had gone the distance.”

“As for the championship, there’s nine points in it, so all we have to do is get back to some proper race tracks.”

Victory today went to Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom who held out Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts by 5.257 seconds when the race was stopped. Third place today allowed Yates to stretch is Championship points advantage out to five points over race winner Bostrom, with Mladin now third, nine points in arrears.

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to Road America next weekend for another double-header round of the championship.


RESULTS
2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship – Round 8
1. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki)40 laps
2. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) +5.257 seconds
3. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +11.599
4. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +12.579
5. Anthony Gobert (Ducati Austin) +21.838
6. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki) +29.945
7. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) +34.621
8. Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki) +38.263
9. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) +40.097
10. Steve Rapp (Valvoline EMGO Suzuki) +50.703

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 8 of 18 rounds) Provisional
1. A Yates 244; 3. E Bostrom 239; 3. M Mladin 234; 4. B Bostrom / K Roberts 221; 6. M DuHamel 187; 7. L Pegram 162; 8. S Higbee 159; 9. J Pridmore 150; 10. V Haskovic 140.


More, from a press release issued by Honda:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Weather: Warm, sunny
Temperature: 24 degrees
Crowd: 15,000

Roberts on Podium at Pike’s Peak

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts finished on the podium for the third race in a row, taking a close second aboard his Honda RC-51 in the red flag-shortened eighth round of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Pike’s Peak International Raceway.

Roberts took over second on the third of 40 laps around the 1.315 mile bull ring, set inside the one-mile PPIR oval, pressing the race leader, but never able to capitalize. Roberts was in a position to make a move in the final stages of the race when a lapped rider crahsed eight laps from the end of the scheduled 48 lap race, and it was declared official. In the end, he finished 5.257 seconds behind race winner Eric Bostrom of Kawasaki.

Eric’s older brother Ben came fourth on the American Honda RC-51. The tight and twisty circuit is particularly hard on rear tires-one rider had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a tire change-and Ben spent the race managing his rear tire wear. He spent much of the race swapping third place with Aaron Yates, with the Suzuki rider and championship leader getting the best of him on the 34th of 40 laps. Bostrom never gave up and finished less than a second behind Yates.

American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel was also hoping to make a late race charge until the race was stopped. DuHamel chose a softer tire, hoping to make it last, but he soon found it was a struggle. Nursing the rear tire, and his still knitting left collarbone, he finished seventh. Next week the series heads to Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where DuHamel won both legs of the Superbike double-header last year.

Roberts leads the trio in the points standings in fourth place, with Bostrom fifth and DuHamel sixth.

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke was able to extend his championship lead in the Formula Xtreme class, riding his Honda CBR-954RR to a third place finish, his fourth consecutive podium. After four of 10 rounds, he holds an eight point lead over the second placed rider, Ben Spies (Suzuki).

Zemke struggled in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport class, coming seventh after being knocked down on the first lap. The race was red flagged and Zemke was able to make the necessary repairs to continue. But his Erion Honda CBR-600RR wasn’t perfect and the 20-lap race was one of endurance.

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, Second Place.
At the very beginning I just wanted to slowly inch up and not put a big charge on and burn the tire off the rim. We just maintained the lap times that we thought we needed to do to win. And Eric (Bostrom) did the same thing. We didn’t get the start we really wanted to, but I was able to get past Aaron [Yates] and Mat [Mladin] in turn one at the very beginning. But Anthony [Gobert] had the most defensive lines at the beginning of the race I’ve ever seen. It took a couple of laps longer than I wanted to get around Anthony and Eric [Bostrom] was pulling away. That was just the gap Eric needed. The whole race was just catch a little bit, lose a little bit. Finally, I got hosed with some lappers. But Eric was riding really good.

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom, Fourth Place
The tire we had to run, I didn’t like. I made a little change to the bike and maybe it was the wrong way to go, but regardless – I learned more this weekend than anywhere. We learned a lot in Atlanta and we learned ever more here. We’re coming up on the halfway point in the season so it’s time to make it happen. We threw so many things at it here. It’s great that the track is so small because you do five laps, 10 laps, whatever, come in and you still have 55 minutes of the session left. I’ve never changed so many things on a bike in such a short time.

American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel, Seventh Place
We picked a softer tire than I think anybody out there . For us it was a pretty big gamble. I tried to do what I needed to do to not chunk the tire and I thought we would be there in the end and maybe be stronger in the end. I was dipping back into the 55s and I would have maybe got Jason [Pridmore]. Who knows what would have happened in those last six laps. Those guys were running pretty hard and maybe somebody would have chunked and I would have moved up three or four positions. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and I’d like to maybe run it harder next time and see if the tire would be fine, but I had no trouble. My shoulder was fine. It hurt a few times, but I’m fine. I’m a little disappointed because I think we had a better bike than we did, but we’ll get ‘em next week.

Superbike Results:
1. Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki)
2. Kurtis Roberts (Honda)
3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
4. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
5. Anthony Gobert (Ducati)
6. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)
7. Miguel DuHamel (Honda)
8. Jordan Szoke (Suzuki)
9. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
10. Steve Rapp (Suzuki)

Championship Points:
1. Aaron Yates (244)
2. Eric Bostrom (239)
3. Mat Mladin (234)
4. Kurtis Roberts (221)
4. Ben Bostrom (221)
6. Miguel DuHamel (187)
7. Larry Pegram (162)
8. Shawn Higbee (159)
9. Jason Pridmore (150)
10. Vincent Haskovec (140)


More, from yet another–and massive–press release issued by Honda:

AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series
Round 8: Fountain, Colorado
June 1, 2003

Roberts romps to second at Pikes Peak

Throughout his young road racing career, Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts has racked up 14 wins in various classes on the AMA Superbike circuit. Those wins include nine Formula Xtreme victories, a class once dominated by Roberts, three 600 Supersport honors and two 250 Grand Prix wins. One of those wins came at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 1998 in the 250 Grand Prix class aboard a Honda. Roberts had hoped to score his second victory this weekend, and had it not been for a shortened Superbike final on Sunday, Roberts may have won his second race at Pikes Peak instead of finishing runner-up.

Originally scheduled to run 48 laps around the short 1.315 mile Pikes Peak circuit, the Superbike race was red flagged on lap 40 after a downed rider could not get himself out from underneath his crashed machine. With eight scheduled laps remaining, second place Roberts was in position to make a move on eventual race winner Eric Bostrom. Unfortunately the late race incident not only required a red flag, it also forced the checkered. Roberts was credited with second, Honda’s Ben Bostrom with fourth and the injured Miguel Duhamel with seventh.

All three factory Honda RC51 pilots qualified toward the top of the grid at Pikes Peak. Roberts, who was second fastest in Saturday’s practice session, was the top qualifying Honda rider, and started the Superbike final from the fourth position on the first row. Ben Bostrom and Duhamel shared the second row with the sixth and seventh spots on the grid. Neither rider was shooting for the second row in qualifying, but Bostrom’s lack of experience on the Pikes Peak circuit and Duhamel’s injured shoulder (a broken collarbone that required surgery), kept the two Red Riders off the front row. The second row starting position obviously didn’t affect Bostrom much because as soon as the race started he found himself racing closely with front row starter Mat Mladin and pole setter Aaron Yates. Meanwhile Roberts was part of the hard-starting trio of Anthony Gobert and Eric Bostrom.

Although he celebrated both Superbike and Supersport wins at Pikes Peak in 1997, Duhamel’s shoulder was painful enough to keep the tough Canadian out of the tussle up front on the tight, physically demanding circuit. Duhamel, who dropped out of the weekend’s Supersport competition due to his injury, rode most of the Superbike race in seventh position, where he finished.

“This is a tough race track to ride when you’re injured,” said Duhamel of Pikes Peak, one of the tightest tracks on the Superbike circuit. “That’s not an excuse for my finish, but I’m confident that if I were healthy I’d be up there in the front with Kurtis and Ben. I’ve got to thank my crew chief Al [Ludington] and the rest of the Honda team for sticking by me even though I’m hobbled a little.”

Nothing could keep the #80 Honda RC51 hobbled in the final, as Roberts moved into second place by the third lap and promptly separated himself from everyone behind him. He held his position right until the race was called on lap 40. Roberts’ impressive second place finish marked his fourth podium of the season and helped keep his title chances alive.

“After yesterday’s practice there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to be racing for the lead,” said 24-year old Roberts. “The team got the bike set up perfectly, which isn’t easy to do here. I just needed those last eight laps.”

Honda’s Ben Bostrom could have used the extra laps to improve his final results too. The recent World Superbike recruit got into a heated battle with Yates that lasted a majority of the race. When the event was finally called, less than a second separated third place Yates from fourth place Bostrom. The race for third place had nearly ten seconds on fifth-place-finishing Gobert.

“This isn’t my kind of track because it’s so different from what I’ve ridden in the last three years,” said Bostrom, who excels on the longer and faster tracks due to his World Superbike experience. “The schedule is coming up to some race tracks more suited to my style, so I can’t wait.”

Bostrom and the rest of the Red Riders won’t have to wait long. Round nine and ten of the Superbike series picks up next weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin at the Road America double-header. The fast four mile road course has been good to Honda riders in the past, especially Duhamel, who won both rounds of the Superbike double-header in 2002.

AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki
2. Kurtis Roberts – Honda
3. Aaron Yates – Suzuki
4. Ben Bostrom – Honda
5. Anthony Gobert – Ducati
7. Miguel Duhamel – Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Aaron Yates – Suzuki – 244
2. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki – 239
3. Mat Mladin – Suzuki – 234
4. (Tie) Kurtis Roberts – Honda/Ben Bostrom – Honda – 221
6. Miguel Duhamel – Honda ? 187

AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Series
Round 5: Fountain, Colorado
June 1, 2003

Pikes Peak tough on Supersport Red Riders

If Mother Nature had it her way, every round of the AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport Series would be held in the rain. Since the opening round in Daytona, nearly every event has been affected by wet weather in one way or another. The fifth race on the calendar was no different, as Pikes Peak International Raceway was drenched with a fast moving rain storm that forced AMA officials to modify the schedule of the day’s events. Gone was the 29-lap Supersport Final originally slated to go off at noon on Sunday. Running on a modified schedule the race was shortened to 20 laps and postponed to the late afternoon after the track had dried out. Unfortunately for Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke, he could have used the extra laps at Pikes Peak to make up ground for the lost grid positions issued due to penalties after Saturday’s qualifying.

At the completion of Saturday’s Supersport qualifying session, AMA Pro Racing pulled approximately ten bikes from the 600 grid for technical inspection. At the end of the inspection, the AMA announced that the Honda CBR600RR’s of Miguel Duhamel, Jake Zemke and Marty Craggill were found to have a “non-standard pressure relief valve.” In addition, Craggill’s Bruce Transportation Group machine was also found to have a “non-standard charging system.” As a result, the AMA docked Duhamel and Zemke each 20 points and moved both riders to the back of the grid and fined each rider $2000. Craggill was disqualified from the event and fined an amount yet to be determined.

According to Honda Manager of Motorcycle Sports Chuck Miller, the problem had to do with timing. Honda’s Supersport bikes arrived prior to Daytona as early production units. In the final production models, which arrived months after the team’s early-production bikes, the pressure relief valve spring had been changed in final production, which made the race bikes illegal. “We take full responsibility of the situation,” said Miller. “We thought we were so legal that we took a production bike to AMA and said ‘let’s pull this one apart.’ The Honda team was surprised to find that the parts were different.

Craggill’s situation was a little different. The team had a crash early in the season, and when parts for the damaged charging system weren’t available, they used other components to make repairs. When the production parts became available, they never replaced the parts with stock pieces.

All of which meant that third fastest qualifier Craggill was out of the Colorado Supersport race, and Duhamel and Zemke went from second row qualifying spots to the back row. Because of Duhamel’s shoulder injury, Miller decided that it would be best for the Canadian sit out the race instead of starting in the chaos of the back row. With the chances of a sixth Supersport title dwindling due to the Duhamel’s crash at Infineon Raceway that broke his collar bone in three places and the 20 points docked by the AMA at Colorado, Duhamel instead concentrated on the premier Superbike event. With Duhamel out, it was up to Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert, Roger Hayden and class favorite Zemke to get the Honda CBR600RR toward the front of the pack.

When Sunday’s rain delayed race finally did go off, Zemke made an amazing 18-lap charge to seventh place. With two laps left, Zemke was unable to advance any further up the results. His younger teammates Gobert and Hayden finished the 20-lap sprint in ninth and 13th place, a disappointing finish for Hayden, who finished third in the Supersport race at Pikes Peak last year. No Limits Motorsports Honda-mounted Doug Chandler finished twelve, just ahead of Hayden.

Amazingly Zemke made the best of a bad situation and salvaged as many points as possible at Pikes Peak. He now trails the series point leader by 28, although he came to round five with a deficit of just 15. With Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s Road America road course scheduled for June 6-8, Zemke and the rest of his Honda CRB600RR teammates plan to quickly make up the ground they lost at this weekend’s tough Pikes Peak event.

600 Supersport Overall Results:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha
2. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha
3. Jason DiSalvo – Yamaha
4. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
5. Tommy Hayden – Kawasaki
7. Jake Zemke – Honda
9. Alex Gobert – Honda
12. Doug Chandler – Honda
13. Roger Hayden – Honda
14. Chris Peris – Honda
15. Craig Connell – Honda
16. Jason Curtis – Honda

AMA 600cc Supersport Points Standings:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha – 154
2. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 144
3. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha – 142
4. Jason DiSalvo – Yamaha – 128
5. Jake Zemke – Honda – 126
8. Alex Gobert – Honda – 108
9. Doug Chandler – Honda – 99
11. Roger Hayden – Honda – 82
12. Jason Curtis – Honda – 67
13. Ty Howard – Honda – 65
15. Chris Peris – Honda – 59
16. Craig Connell – Honda – 46
17. Miguel Duhamel – Honda – 45

AMA/Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series
Round 4: Fountain, Colorado
May 31, 2003

Zemke keeps points lead with another podium finish

Starting from the third position on the front row, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke maintained his Formula Xtreme points lead by finishing third in the crash stricken final at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Zemke’s third place performance in Colorado marked his fourth straight podium finish in the last four 2003 Formula Xtreme starts. Zemke tied for first in the 2002 series championship, but lost out on a tie-breaker. Since then, the 27-year old has made it his mission in life to gain what he considers his championship.

“The guys in front of me rode great today, but there were only two of them ahead of me in the end and that’s important as far as the championship goes,” said Zemke, who has the best chance of bringing the Formula Xtreme title back to Honda; since the inception of the series, Honda has won the majority of championships. “If I can continue to have consistent finishes combined with some race wins, I should be able to take it this year.”

Zemke, an ex-dirt tracker is no stranger to Formula Xtreme wins. Since his road racing career took off in 2000 as a member of the Honda-supported Bruce Transportation Team, the friendly Northern Californian has stood on top of the Formula Xtreme podium three times. His last win occurred in 2002 at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, a race track more suited for his dirt-track-rooted riding style. Pikes Peak International Raceway is a tight 1.315-mile race track that favors a stop and go riding style, unlike the style of a dirt tracker. “My Erion Honda CBR954RR is the best bike out there,” said Zemke. “I may not be the best rider for this type of track unfortunately. I prefer wide, fast and sweeping turns instead.”

Zemke’s words are modest: Although he as never won at Pikes Peak, he has finished on the podium at the venue three times now.

Erion Honda’s Roger Hayden has finished on the Pikes Peak podium too. In 2002 Hayden finished third in 600 Supersport competition and almost made the box a second time that weekend, but had to settle for fourth in the Formula Xtreme race. At this year’s edition of the Rocky Mountain race, Hayden qualified 12th and was forced to ride in traffic from the get go. The two restarts affected him more than any other Honda rider.

“Just as I was beginning to gain ground,” explained Hayden, “they’d throw a flag.”

The frustrated youngster was ultimately the lead finisher in a train of Honda riders that included Hayden, Bruce Transportation Group’s Marty Craggill, No Limits Motorsport’s Jason Curtis and Annandale Honda’s Craig Connell. The Honda CBR954RR-mounted group was lucky enough to stay out of all the tangles on the race track and finished tenth through 13th respectively.

Zemke and his Honda cohorts return to Formula Xtreme action on June 7 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. With an eight-point championship advantage over Pikes Peak winner Damon Buckmaster, Zemke hopes to bring some fellow Red Riders with him next weekend on the Road America podium.

Formula Xtreme Overall Results:
1. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
2. Adam Fergusson – Suzuki
3. Jake Zemke – Honda
4. Ben Spies – Suzuki
5. Josh Hayes – Suzuki
10. Roger Hayden – Honda
11. Marty Craggill – Honda
12. Jason Curtis – Honda
13. Craig Connell – Honda
21. Alex McElyea – Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Jake Zemke – Honda – 125
2. Ben Spies – Suzuki – 117
3. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 112
4. Adam Fergusson – Suzuki – 105
5. Josh Hayes – Suzuki – 104
7. Marty Craggill – Honda – 92
13. Roger Hayden – Honda – 63
15. Doug Chandler – Honda – 53


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

MOORE FINISHES SIXTH AND SEVENTH AT PIKES PEAK

Jimmy Moore finished sixth in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock event at Pikes Peak International Raceway, struggling with traction issues throughout the race. “It was a long race,” said Jimmy. “They were killing me off the corners. We made a geometry change on the bike, and put the rear axle where I ran it last year (when Moore won the race). My tire would just light up, and then I started over-riding the bike to try to compensate. I was trying standing on the pegs, shifting my weight, everything. Too bad it wasn’t a dirt track, I’d have probably won the thing, it slid beautifully!” Moore moves up to seventh in points in the Superstock class.

Moore finished a strong seventh place in the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme class at Pikes Peak on Saturday. With two red flags during the event, Jimmy and the rest of the field ended up doing three starts, and Jimmy nailed all three, getting better with each start. Jimmy was running eighth at the first red flag and was in eighth again at the second red flag. On the third start, Jimmy was third going into turn one, but was soon passed by riders with more horsepower. Jimmy battled with Annandale Honda rider Ty Howard while closing on Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking. The three riders fought over seventh place until Howard tried a pass on Hacking which resulted in a collision, with Howard crashing hard while Moore rode past the incident and held the position to the checkered flag. “Howard tried to out-brake both of us,” said Jimmy. “I saw him come up and I said, ‘He’s never going to make it’, so I broke and created some room, and pow!, he slammed right into the side of Hacking. The bike handled pretty good, I just kept the tire I had on for the third leg, it was working good and was consistent to the end.” This finish moves Moore up to eighth place in Formula Xtreme points.

Look for Jimmy and the rest of the Corona Extra Suzuki team at Road America next weekend, June 6th – 8th.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HAS/SHOGUN RACING HAS LONG WEEKEND AT PIKES PEAK

HAS/Shogun Racing riders John Haner and Heath Small made it through the weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway, with different results. Heath crashed in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport event while running 17th, injuring his left hand in the fall. Teammate John Haner finished 10th in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock event after battling handling gremlins all weekend.

John fought with traction issues starting with Thursday’s promoter practice, but he and the HAS/Shogun Racing crew kept working and found some solutions by race time. After a red flag on lap two, the race was re-started but John didn’t fare as well on the second. “My crew told me I came around the first lap in 14th, and I just started picking guys off,” said Haner. “The bike was the best its been all weekend. I got past Opie (Caylor), I made some points on him. The front tire hung in a little better than the rear. We struggled, we got through it and we got more points, which is what we’ve been trying to do all year.” John moves up to ninth in season points with his finish at Pikes Peak.

Heath and his dad Lance flew back to Houston Sunday night, with an appointment on Monday to have Heath’s hand checked by specialists there.


More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Suzuki:

STORMS STILL DOGGING AMA NATIONALS BUT CORONA EXTRA SUZUKI SUPPLIES THE THUNDER AT PIKES PEAK

Someone associated with the AMA National Superbike Series has definitely upset the weather gods! – severe storm warnings along with high winds, torrential rain, lightning and 100+ temperatures was the norm for the weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway – but on the track Corona Extra Suzuki rider Adam Fergusson supplied the thunder, netting two thrilling second places, both by less than a bike length off first!

In the Lockhart-Phillips Formula Extreme “event” – which was essentially three races with one start and two restarts because of red flags, Adam Fergusson was the class of the field. In a race “1” starting from the front row having qualified in fourth position, Fergusson showed tremendous riding ability to get to the front by lap three and start to pull away until the race was stopped on lap 8. In race “2” Fergusson started on pole by virtue of his leading position but an “OK” start lost him three positions. Two laps later though he was up in front again pulling away until 10 laps later another red flag brought them in! In Race “3”, again starting from pole position, Fergusson did not have any hot tires ready for a third restart so had to take the first few laps easy circulating in fourth. Once his tires came up to temperature though Adam went after the leaders quickly getting up to second but ran out of laps by the finish, netting second less than a half a bike behind the winner at the line. After the race Fergusson said; “We did not have a third set of tires on the warmers so I started on cold tires and had to take it easy for a few laps. The GSXR 1000 was handling great and we had motor on everyone – I just needed another lap – still two out of three isn’t bad!” Jimmy Moore rode a great race in the second pack finishing a strong 7th. Fergusson is now 4th with Moore 8th in the Formula Extreme Championship.

True to form for the season, the heavens opened before the Superbike event delaying the start for nearly an hour. Szoke started from the third row and rode another strong race to finish in eighth position. He is currently 12th in the Superbike Championship.

The Suzuki Genuine Accessories Superstock event was another race marred by the red flag, which came out in the first lap. Fergusson started from the front row in fourth, Szoke and Moore from the second row in fifth and seventh respectively. At the restart, Fergusson settled quickly done to chase the leaders, getting the lead with five laps to go. Those last five laps saw Adam and Tony Meiring swapping the lead back and forth until Meiring got a break for the line with Fergusson less than a bike length behind. After the race Fergusson said; “It seems that second by a hair is my fortune for this weekend! Still I’m happy to put the Corona Extra Suzuki GSXR’s onto the box twice”. Jimmy Moore finished 6th and Szoke 11th. Fergusson is third, only three points behind first. Moore is 7th and Szoke 13th in the Superstock Championship.

Next race: Road America, Elkhart Lake WI., June 6-8, 2003. Look for the Corona Extra Suzuki Team signing autographs at Siebkens Restaurant on Saturday June 7th, 8.00 – 9.00 PM.



More, from a press release issued by Team Stargel Aprilia:

Sorensen Shrugs Off The Pain To Finish Second At Pikes Peak

Team Stargel Aprilia rolled into Pikes Peak International Raceway bruised and battered, but happy to be competing. Rider Chuck Sorensen, injured his right hand during practice at Road Atlanta, and was carrying two surgically implanted pins as a result. Despite the limited strength and obvious pain, Sorensen was determined to ride.

If the team thought that the worst was behind them, Friday morning’s practice would prove them wrong. During practice, Sorensen was highsided from his Aprilia in turn four. The team quickly repaired his motorcycle and sent the limping rider out for afternoon practice. Sorensen responded to his setbacks by setting the fastest practice time of the session. Later in the day, X-rays proved that Sorensen had broken his right foot in the morning session.

After a less than stellar start, Sorensen rode a smart and controlled race. Despite the pain and lack of motion in the hand and foot, Sorensen finished a strong second place, recording a personal fast lap time of 55.8 seconds on lap six.

In light of the inclusion of 250s into the proposed Formula Extreme class for the 2004 season, we would like to compare lap times with some of the other classes at PPIR. In the 600SS or 750SS races, no rider achieved a lap time of under 56 seconds. This was done in the 250GP race by both Sorensen and Rich Oliver. It is a fact that the 250GP machines can be competi