From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Rounds 4 & 5 – Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California, USA
Race Report


DOUBLE AMERICAN SUPERBIKE RACE VICTORY FOR MLADIN

Sonoma, California, USA – After a two day rain delay, the on-track action finally got underway at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, with three-times American Superbike champion Mat Mladin making full use of the dry conditions to win both of today’s 28-lap AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike Championship races.

Persistent rain forced officials to postpone almost all of the practice and qualifying sessions scheduled for Friday and Saturday, leaving starting grids for today’s races to be determined by the positions in which the riders currently lie in the championship, with Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 sitting on pole position as the current points leader in the Superbike Championship.

Mladin made a steady start in both races, before making his way to the lead and then working on building a solid buffer between himself and his opponents.

At the completion of the opening 28-lap national, Mladin crossed the line 8.295 seconds clear of teammate Aaron Yates, with American Honda rider Miguel DuHamel almost a further eight seconds in arrears. The afternoon’s second race was almost a copy of the first with Mladin taking the race lead on lap two before easing away from the field to take a 7.484 second victory over Yates, with Ben Bostrom (American Honda) third. DuHamel did not make the start of the second Superbike race after crashing heavily during the Supersport race, which was run between the two Superbike races.

“It turned out to be a pretty good day today,” said Mladin. “We only had 27 minutes in this morning’s practice session to get the bike set up to a point where we wanted it and it proved to be very good on the day. We obviously could have made the bike a bit better than what it was, but after having all of our sessions washed out over the past two days we ended up with a very good bike.

“The second race proved to be a lot faster than the first and I guess that pace showed when I reeled off the fastest lap of the day with a 1:37 flat on the second lap. At the end, it all worked out well and we’re leaving here with a 24-point lead in the championship.

“We were happy with the performance that we were able to get from the bike here. This circuit does not have a whole bunch of straights like some others, so it was nice to be able to get the bike handling and steering as well as it was just to show that the bike is great at all types of circuits, including those where you don’t need a whole heap of power, just a good set up.”

Today’s double victory makes it four wins from five starts in this year’s 18-round championship and now gives the Australian a 21-point lead in the series over Yates, with the Suzuki pair a further six points clear of Ben Bostrom.

The American championship heads to the Road Atlanta circuit in Georgia for rounds six and seven of the Superbike championship on May 16 – 18.

RESULTS – Rd’s 4 & 5, 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship

Round 4 (28 laps)
1. Mat Mladin (Team Yoshimura Suzuki), 28 laps
2. Aaron Yates (Team Yoshimura Suzuki), +8.295 secs
3. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda), +16.2
4. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki), +43.3
5. Ben Bostrom (American Honda), +59.1
6. Steve Rapp (Valvoline EMGO Suzuki), +67
7. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda), +85
8. Larry Pegram (Dream Team Ducati), +90
9. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki), +91
10. Lee Acree (Arclight Suzuki), +93

Round 5 (28 laps)
1. Mat Mladin (Team Yoshimura Suzuki), 28 laps
2. Aaron Yates (Team Yoshimura Suzuki), +7.484 secs
3. Ben Bostrom (American Honda), +16.379
4. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda), +25.6
5. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki), +33.6
6. Larry Pegram (Dream Team Ducati), +57.1
7. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki), +74
8. Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki), +79
9. Steve Crevier (Suzuki), +81
10. Shawn Higbee (Suzuki), +83

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 5 of 18
rounds)
1. M Mladin 174; 2. A Yates 153; 3. B Bostrom 147; 4. E Bostrom 138; 5. K Roberts 131; 6. M DuHamel 121; 7. S Higbee / L Pegram 99; 9. V Haskovec 94; 10. J Pridmore 91.


From a press release issued by Infineon Raceway:

Suzuki’s Mladin Sweeps Superbike

Doubleheader at Infineon Raceway

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) — Yoshimura Suzuki rider Mat Mladin continued his early-season roll on Sunday, capturing a doubleheader in the AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge at Infineon Raceway. The event was presented by Honda of Milpitas and Cabo Wabo Tequila.

Mladin has now won four consecutive Superbike main events and seems to be returning to the same form that saw him capture three consecutive U.S. Chevy Trucks Superbike championships from 1999-2001. Mladin holds a 24-point lead over teammate Aaron Yates (174-150) after five events this year and is bidding to become the first-ever four-time AMA Superbike champion.

“Last year really ticked me off because I didn’t feel enough people worked hard enough to get the results (we wanted),” said Mladin, who is riding the new GSX-R1000 this year. “Winning championships isn’t easy. It’s hard work and I think we’re returning to that same form (we had when we won three championships).”

Mladin was followed on the podium in the first 28-lap main event by Yates and third-place finisher Miguel Duhamel (Honda). Mladin and Yates also finished one-two in the second 28-lap feature, with Ben Bostrom (Honda) taking third.

“I’m glad to see Suzuki take first and second but I need to really get out in front if I want to catch Mat,” said Yates, the 1996 Superbike winner at Infineon Raceway.

“Mat is setting the benchmark right now, and Aaron is right there, too,” Bostrom said.

Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking posted his second consecutive victory of the year in Pro Honda Oils Supersport, starting the 17-lap feature race on the pole and never looking back. Teammate Damon Buckmaster was second, with Honda’s Jake Zemke third. Hacking holds a 21-point lead over Buckmaster (106-85) after three events.


From a press release issued by Proforma:

LEE ACREE HAS THREE STRONG FINISHES WITH IRONMAN EFFORT AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Lee Acree finished strong in both Chevy Trucks Superbike finals and the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme final at Infineon Raceway today, starting from the back of the grid on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R750 in each race due to his lack of points in both classes. All of the final events at Round Three of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship were gridded based on championship points, due to weather and track conditions that prevented timed qualifying.

“I got a really good start in the first Superbike race,” said Acree, who finished tenth after working through from the 38th starting spot. “I was able to get past a bunch of guys on the first two laps and then I came up on (Jordan) Szoke, (Vincent) Haskovec and (Steve) Crevier. Once I got clear of Haskovec and Crevier, I looked ahead and saw that there wasn’t any reason to try to get by Jordan right away, let’s just hang out here. Then there were some spritzes of rain here and there, and I thought maybe we should lead a couple of laps just in case they call this thing. Jordan and I went back and forth a couple of laps and I finally got him going into seven, I think I could just keep a tighter line on the 750. After that I started looking for lappers to put between me and him. My Pirellis were hooked up, I didn’t feel like I was pushing it. Everything was pretty consistent and easy.”

In the second Superbike race, it took longer for Acree to move through the pack, where he again started from the 38th grid spot and finished 13th in the 28 lap race. “I got a better start, but I didn’t get a better first lap,” said Acree. “I didn’t get past as many guys, I spent a long time behind Brian Livengood. It’s so hard to pass here, I just kept moving forward. Relentless, regardless.”

In the Formula Xtreme final, Acree had a fairly lonely race towards the front for a 12th place finish. “That one was shorter than the others!,” said Acree after the 17 lap final event. “I made a lot of ground up on the first two laps. I went around everybody in one, two, five, seven, eleven. Once I got around Chris (Ulrich), it was a pretty lonely race, I just kept plugging away.”

Acree’s next race event with the Arclight Suzuki race team will be at Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa, May 23-25.


From another press release issued by Proforma:

HAS/SHOGUN RACING HAS GOOD WEEKEND AT INFINEON RACEWAY

After waiting for two days to ride again after weather and track conditions postponed the action, HAS/Shogun Racing’s John Haner and Heath Small each had good results, leaving with more points in their respective classes. With no timed qualifying for any of the classes over the weekend, all events were gridded based on championship points coming into this round.

John Haner finished tenth in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock final after getting a good start. “I was pretty consistent,” said Haner. “I wanted to run my own race, make sure that I finished. I had something for Jordan Szoke, passed him with two laps to go and he got me on the last lap when I got hung up with some lappers. It’s good because now we’re going to two tracks we know.”

Heath Small finished 22nd today in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport event, after making changes prior to the start of the race. “It let me get on the brakes a lot harder, they made changes to the front end,” said Heath afterwards. “I dropped another second in the race, we just didn’t get a lot of practice time because of the rain. We really tried to put together the most consistent laps we could.”

HAS/Shogun Racing teammates Heath Small and John Haner both look forward to the next AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series event at Road Atlanta, May 16-18, 2003.


From yet another press release issued by Proforma:

JIMMY MOORE FINISHES FIFTH AND SIXTH AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Defending two-time AMA Superstock champion Jimmy Moore finished a fine fifth in Superstock and an excellent sixth in Formula Xtreme today at Infineon Raceway, after waiting for two days to race due to weather and track conditions. All of the races were gridded based on points after timed qualifying was cancelled due to the compressed schedule.

Moore got a good start in the Superstock event on his Corona Extra Suzuki GSX-R750. “The clutch chattered really bad on the start,” said Moore. “I did a couple of practice starts, I might have killed it. On the first lap, (John) Haner, going into the chicane he slid the front end, and I swear I saw a long black mark from his front tire. He held me up a bit and let those other guys get away.” After getting around Haner, Moore set his sights on Josh Hayes, who was a little harder to get around. “He’s very competitive, I got into turn seven pretty deep and I kind of backed it in and I think it may have swung out a bit towards him,” Moore said.

Adam Fergusson finished third on his Corona Extra GSX-R750 in the same event.

In the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme final, Moore worked his way through a strong pack of riders to finish just two seconds behind his Corona Extra Suzuki teammate Adam Fergusson, in Moore’s second Formula Xtreme ride.

“I got an okay start, I was behind Josh for a while,” Moore said. “He was riding well, so it took a while.”

Look for Jimmy Moore and the rest of the Corona Extra Suzuki team at Road Atlanta, May 16-18, 2003


From a press release issued by 1-888-FASTLAP:

1-888-FASTLAP RIDERS 8TH AND 17TH AT SEARS POINT

SONOMA, Calif.- After sitting idle for two days because of rain, 1-888-FASTLAP riders Opie Caylor and Brian Stokes finally got to get on track at Infineon Raceway for the 750 Superstock race. Caylor rode to an eighth place finish while Stokes overcame a recent injury to finish 17th.

Qualifying for the race was rained out on Saturday, so the grid was determined according to points. It was a disappointment for Caylor, who was third quickest in practice.

“I started sixth. The second row was not where I wanted to be,” said Caylor. “Had we qualified, I think I’d have been on the front row. As competitive as the Superstock series is, that’s really where you need to be.”

Caylor had his Team EMGO Suzuki GSX-R750 in seventh during the opening laps. He was eventually passed but held off the rest of the field to finish eighth, despite losing one knee slider on the warm-up lap and the second before the halfway mark of the race.

“It was my first time there, so a maximum amount of track time would have been a huge help. We still ended up going pretty quick, regardless,” commented Caylor. “Rodney Vaughn at Marietta Motorsports (1-888-FASTLAP) built a great motor for me, it’s very fast, and Grant Matsushima has been helping me get it dialed in at the track. We started making changes to the setup and the bike kept getting better. I was feeling really confident going into the race.”

1-888-FASTLAP rider Stokes had to start his Team Embry Suzuki GSX-R750 from 20th. He worked his way up to 14th during the race, but fell back to 17th in the closing laps after a shoulder injury he received at Fontana began to hinder his performance.

“I had horrible arm pump because of my Fontana injury,” explained Stokes. “I did my fastest laps of the weekend in the last couple of laps before it set in. I was battling with Alan Schmidt and Matt Furtek in the last two laps, and I did my best but came up short.”

The next race for Caylor and Stokes will be at their home track of Road Atlanta, May 16-18.

More information about 1-888-FASTLAP and their riders can be found on the web at www.1888FASTLAP.com.


From a massive press release issued by American Honda:

AMA Superbike Series,Round 4: Sonoma, CA
May 4, 2003

Duhamel scores a podium finish on jam-packed Sunday

Under a heavy cloud cover accompanied by strong winds at Infineon Raceway (formerly Sears Point Raceway), the first of two Superbike races to be run on Sunday got off in fine fashion as Red Rider Miguel Duhamel launched to the holeshot. The French Canadian led the race for two laps, then stalked leader Mat Mladin for more than half of the race before getting balked in lapped traffic. Slower riders continued to plague RC51-mounted Duhamel, who was passed for second place by Aaron Yates but still pushed on to an impressive podium finish.

Rainy, wet conditions blanketing Northern California interrupted practice and qualifying most of Friday and all of Saturday at Infineon Raceway, and these recurring delays dictated that grid positions would be determined by points standings. Fortunately, this accommodation placed Team Honda riders Miguel Duhamel and Ben Bostrom right in the middle of the front row, with Honda/Erion rider Kurtis Roberts immediately behind the pair on the second row in sixth place.

Following his impressive launch, Duhamel quickly gapped the entire pack, save Mladin, and by lap 4 the battling duo had pulled out a lead of about 4 seconds over the trailing pack of racers, including Bostrom in fifth place and Roberts in seventh. As Duhamel explained after the race, “I got a good start because I felt like I had to get a really good start; I didn’t want anyone to take off on me, and when you’re in front it’s easer to keep the race in check.”

Duhamel and Mladin continued their duel well into the race, as the pair posted lap times in the 1:37 range, which was significantly faster than anyone else on the track could muster. This blistering pace yielded a gap of about 6 seconds on the trailing pack of riders. “When Mat finally got around me,” Duhamel said later, “I thought he might try to go, but I stayed right there with him; my lap times were as fast as anybody else out there. I felt really comfortable riding with Mat at that pace, and I was trying to take care of my tires and conserve them.”

Then Mother Nature stepped in with a little surprise. “In a while the rain started to come down, so I kind of sat back and watched things,” Duhamel said. “I didn’t want to be the one contributing to a red flag. Mat slowed down a bit too, then the sprinkles let up. When we ran into traffic, Mat was a bit more assertive and he got through a little better than I did, then he got away.

“Towards the end, I tried to keep riding consistently, but maybe because we were going at a slower pace or maybe the tires had gone off, I’m not sure, but it seemed like the bike wasn’t working quite as well. Then Aaron Yates closed on me and he got past. Aaron and Mat may have chosen a different tire than I did, and they got away from me. I knew I had a good gap on fourth so I just tried to keep Aaron honest out there.”

At the close of 28 laps, it was Mladin, Yates and Duhamel, with Ben Bostrom taking fifth place. Nursing a recently separated shoulder that made it painful for him to ride even a few laps, Kurtis Roberts soldiered on and managed a valiant seventh place to collect valuable championship points.

Following the race, Duhamel took a moment to take a good look at the bigger picture. “Now I’ve got a 600 race coming up and another Superbike race today. With this track being so technical and physical for the rider it’s going to be a pretty full day. My goal is to get out of here with as many points as I can. When we get to the midway point in the season, we’ll evaluate how we’re doing, then get more aggressive working toward a championship. Right now it’s only the fourth race of the season with 10 more to go, so a lot of things can happen. My focus is on winning the championship, so we need to just keep working toward that goal.”

Superbike Results:
1. Mat Mladin – Suzuki
2. Aaron Yates – Suzuki
3. Miguel Duhamel – Honda
4. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki
5. Ben Bostrom – Honda
7. Kurtis Roberts – Honda


AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin – Suzuki – 137
2. Miguel Duhamel – Honda – 121
3. Aaron Yates – Suzuki – 118
4. Ben Bostrom – Honda – 113
5. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki – 112
6. Kurtis Roberts – Honda – 104


AMA Superbike Series, Round 5: Sonoma, CA
May 4, 2003

Ben Bostrom on the podium in second Superbike race; Roberts finishes fourth

Oft times, the vicissitudes of competition dictate that the most important changes take place before the race ever begins. Such was the case with the second half of the Superbike doubleheader at Infineon Raceway, where an injured Miguel Duhamel was a non-starter, and fellow Team Honda rider Ben Bostrom and his crew made radical changes in bike set-up to find the solutions they had been seeking and reap a third-place podium appearance. In addition, Kurtis Roberts powered his way to a strong fourth-place finish.

As golden sunlight bathed the rolling hills of Sonoma, the second Superbike race of the day kicked off at the track formerly known as Sears Point. Miguel Duhamel’s second-place starting position on the grid remained empty; he was otherwise occupied at a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken left collarbone after a hard get-off in the 600 Supersport race. As the race got underway, once again it was a Honda RC51 that pulled the holeshot, this time in the hands of Ben Bostrom. But once again, Aaron Yates and Mat Mladin closed to battle for the lead, with Mladin soon setting the pace for the three-rider tussle.

Ben stayed right in touch with the other two riders, and afterwards he described how he had made such a quantum jump forward from the first Superbike race. “Basically, we had no practice here this weekend, and so our settings were way off when we started the first race. So we took a big gamble and changed a lot of things all at once: Front suspension, rear suspension, wheel, tires, gearing and more. And as soon as I got on the bike for the second race, I knew the changes were good; it felt completely different, and it worked incredibly better.”

As Bostrom’s crew chief Merlyn Plumlee explained, “We sat down and studied the data acquisition figures, and we talked about what Ben was feeling the bike do during the first race. Essentially, we made all the changes we would have made over time if the weather had allowed enough practice and qualifying time here this weekend, but instead, we had to make a whole bunch of changes all at once. That kind of leaves you feeling like you’re out on a limb, but the data showed this was the way we needed to go. So we talked it over and we just decided to go for it, and it worked out great.”

In addition, Kurtis Roberts soon advanced to a close fourth place. What brought about his improvement from the previous race’s seventh-place showing? “During the first race I had my shoulder all strapped up,” Roberts said after the race. “That helped brace it up, because it’s still kind of weak; it’s only been about two-and-a-half weeks since I hurt it. However, the brace also restricted my arm movement, so I had a hard time riding the bike. So I figured I’d try riding without the brace, and it felt a lot better and I could ride more aggressively even though the shoulder’s not up to full strength yet.”

Although Mladin pulled out a definite lead, by lap 15 Ben was still searching for a way around Yates-and then the leaders got into lapped traffic. Bostrom got balked, fell behind Yates, and couldn’t make up the differential. Ben later explained, “Among all the changes we made to the bike, I decided to take one tooth off the rear sprocket in order to get more top-end speed. But when we got into traffic, I didn’t have enough pull to take the other guys off the corners with my taller gearing. That was basically rider error, but I was still able to hold onto third place.

And so the race ended with Ben Bostrom in third, and Roberts just off the podium in fourth place. “The best thing is that we made so much progress with the bike,” Bostrom said. “The RC51 is a real stable motorcycle, and now we have it turning a lot better, more in tune with my style of riding. And Infineon is a real demanding track, with lots of turns. Now that we’re moving on to some more higher speed tracks, I think we’re going to be right in the hunt for a race win.”


Superbike Results:
1. Mat Mladin – Suzuki
2. Aaron Yates – Suzuki
3. Ben Bostrom – Honda
4. Kurtis Roberts – Honda
5. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Mat Mladin – Suzuki – 174
2. Aaron Yates – Suzuki – 150
3. Ben Bostrom – Honda – 142
4. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki – 138
5. Kurtis Roberts – Honda – 131
6. Miguel Duhamel – Honda – 121


Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport, Round 3: Sonoma, CA
May 4, 2003

Zemke finishes 3rd, Duhamel crashes out in Sonoma 600

Rain forced Saturday’s Superbike race to be run on Sunday morning, and that race ended barely an hour before the start of the Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport race. The rain also impacted the 600 class grid; with no time for qualifying, riders were gridded by points, which put Miguel Duhamel on the front row and Jake Zemke on row two.

Practice times gave little indication of what would happen in the race because the teams had so little practice time. But one thing was clear: The 600s were amazingly quick around the 2.2-mile Infineon Raceway, with the top 600s lapping the track within a second of the fastest Superbike practice time. Fast Honda men on the new CBR600RR included Bruce Group’s Marty Craggill, Erion’s Zemke, Duhamel and Zemke’s teammate Alex Gobert, followed by Doug Chandler on the No Limits CBR600RR and Ty Howard on the Annandale Honda. Substituting at the Infineon event for the injured Roger Hayden was teen-age Canadian sensation Chris Peris on the Erion team.

In an effort to quicken the CBR600RR steering on the demanding, technical Infinion circuit, the team altered the geometry of Duhamel’s 600 through suspension adjustments, and also fitted taller handlebars from the CBR945RR to give Duhamel more leverage through Infinion’s tight esses. The changes paid off, as Duhamel got a great start, and, together with Jamie Hacking and Damon Buckmaster, pulled a breakaway from the field in the opening laps. The battle for fourth was led by Zemke, with Chandler in ninth and Marty Craggill in tenth.

These positions didn’t change significantly until the closing stages of the 17-lap race when another rider tangled with Craggill in turn one, sending the hard-charging Australian down uninjured on lap 14. One lap later, Zemke made a run at Duhamel. “Miguel had different lines, but I was pretty happy with my lines. I came from pretty far back to catch him, so I figure my lines were working pretty good. Also, the gearing we had chosen was quite a bit different from his. Miguel was shifting in different places than I was, but my drive from turn six to turn seven was really working well for me with my gearing. That was where I was planning to make my pass, but Miguel lost the rear a little coming out of the carousel, so I passed him a lap earlier than I had planned.”

On the next lap, disaster struck Duhamel. Coming out of the chicane, the back end of Duhamel’s 600 suddenly broke loose, triggering a wicked high-side crash that saw Duhamel and his bike tumbling down the racetrack. The crash injured Duhamel’s left shoulder, and prevented him from competing in the second Superbike race of the day.

At the end of the race, it was Zemke with a solid third-place finish, and young Alex Gobert the next top Honda rider with a eighth place finish over Chandler in ninth.

“I’m happy with my finish today,” concluded Zemke. “Honda is counting on me as much as anyone else to win this championship, so I’m going to beat as many guys as I can.”

Infineon Raceway Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport
Race Results:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha
2. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
3. Jake Zemke – Honda
4. Ben Spies – Suzuki
5. Tommy Hayden – Kawasaki
8. Alex Gobert – Honda
9. Doug Chandler – Honda
11. Ty Howard – Honda
14. Chris Peris – Honda
15. Craig Connell – Honda
16. Jason Curtis – Honda
20. Miguel Duhamel – Honda

Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Point Standings:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha – 106
2. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 85
3. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha, 80
4. Jake Zemke – Honda – 77
5. Ben Spies – Suzuki – 75
8. Miguel Duhamel – Honda – 65
9. Doug Chandler – Honda – 59
10. Alex Gobert – Honda – 59


Formula Xtreme Series, Round 2: Sonoma, CA
May 4, 2003

Zemke takes second at Sonoma’s Formula Xtreme

Like all the classes run today at Infineon Raceway, the Formula Xtreme class was gridded by virtue of rider points. That put the mighty CBR954RRs of Erion Racing’s Jake Zemke and Bruce Transportation Group’s Marty Craggill on the front row, with Doug Chandler and Jason Curtis two rows back. Normally, Erion’s Roger Hayden would have also been in the field, but sat out the weekend recovering from hand surgery.

At the start, Zemke, Ben Spies and Marty Craggill jumped to the front of the pack. Within a few laps, Spies and Zemke had gapped the field and were raging a battle of their own out front. Meanwhile, Craggill battled Damon Buckmaster for third, and would eventually settle into fourth position where he stayed for most of the race.

Zemke, meanwhile, found himself in second, unable to mount a charge on the fleeing Spies. “I burned my tires up trying to stay with Ben in the first six laps, and just didn’t have anything left for him.

“We did a lost of suspension testing here months ago, and I think it really showed today. We made a few adjustments this morning after practice and rolled the dice on some pretty big changes on the front and rear, but it really paid off.”

Midway through the race, a rock kicked up by another rider went through the windscreen of Zemke’s CBR954RR, and knocked the gas vent line loose. “I went to pull a tear off and opened my visor by mistake and got a face full of fuel mist before I could get it closed again. My eyes were a bit misty for a while.”

Zemke mounted a late race charge for the lead, but was forced off the track by lappers. “The lappers were really difficult out there, said Zemke. “Normally, they are single file or spread out. Here they were in packs of two, three, four guys and you’d put a wheel in there with them and they would think you were one of them and try to pass you back. It was tough.”

The race for fourth was even tougher, and it all came down to the last lap when Craggill, also trying to get through lapped traffic, crashed in the last turn on the last lap. Ty Howard was the next Honda rider across the line in eighth, followed by Chandler in tenth.

For Zemke and the Erion Racing team, the Xtreme race was a great way to end a busy day of racing. “It was a good ride,” said Jake. “It was kinda lonely out there for me for most of the race. But two podiums this weekend-I’ll take that and move onto Atlanta.”

Infineon Raceway Formula Xtreme Results:
1. Ben Spies – Suzuki
2. Jake Zemke – Honda
3. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
4. Steve Rapp – Suzuki
5. Adam Fergusson – Suzuki
8. Ty Howard – Honda
9. Doug Chandler – Honda

Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Ben Spies – Suzuki – 75
2. Jake Zemke – Honda – 64
3. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 55
4. Steve Rapp – Suzuki – 51
5. Josh Hayes – Suzuki – 51
9. Marty Craggill – Honda – 43




From a press release issued by Dream Team Racing DUCATI:

Race 1: 8th Place For Pegram

Dream Team Racing (DTR) Ducati’s Larry Pegram, brought his bike home in 8th place after what turned out to be a blown head-gasket slowed his advance to the front of the field. A very respectable finish when you consider he had to start from 10th place. The DTR Ducati rider who was second fastest in morning practice behind series leader Mat Mladin was gridded based on his points standing since there was no offical qualifying caused by rain.

Pegram: I had passed Kurtis Roberts for 6th and was preparing to pass B. Bostrom for 5th when the motor started to sputter. The loss of compression robbed me of power so I did my best to stay out ahead of the non factory riders and salvage an 8th place. The Michelin Tires are working really well and I look forward to Race 2.

Race 2: 6th For DTR’s Larry Pegram

DTR Ducati’s Larry Pegram moved up from his 10th place start position to give Ducati it’s highest finish so far in the 2003 AMA Superbike Championship Series. Larry on his Michelin shod 998RS03 had special sponsorship from Pro Italia/Ducati Los Angeles for the Infineon Races. In the race he was able to stay with the Japanese Factory sponsored racers and mixed it up with several of them through most of Race 2. This was in spite of the fact that the AMA Spec. Ducatis’ run on smaller throttle bodies than the World Superbike Ducatis’.

Pegram: I got a good start and followed Eric Bostrom for much of Race 2 until my lack of endurance began to get to me. I was