Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Pole sitter Jason DiSalvo took a flag-to-flag victory in Saturday’s AMA Superstock race at Virginia International Raceway, leading every lap and winning the 17-lap race by seven seconds on his Dunlop-equipped Graves Yamaha YZF-R1.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies and DiSalvo’s teammate Jamie Hacking finished second and third, respectively.

It was another one of DiSalvo’s teammates, fourth-place Aaron Gobert, who won the AMA Superstock Championship, the first AMA Championship of his young career.

Provisional AMA Superstock Race Results:

1. Jason DiSalvo, Yam YZF-R1, 17 laps
2. Ben Spies, Suz GSX-R1000, -7.064 seconds
3. Jamie Hacking, Yam YZF-R1, -10.417 seconds
4. Aaron Gobert, Yam YZF-R1, -21.719 seconds
5. Jake Holden, Suz GSX-R1000, -25.887 seconds
6. Tommy Hayden, Kaw ZX-10R, -26.291 seconds
7. Damon Buckmaster, Yam YZF-R1, -26.704 seconds
8. Josh Hayes, Kaw ZX-10R, -37.126 seconds
9. Steve Rapp, Suz GSX-R750, -37.562 seconds
10. Jason Pridmore, Suz GSX-R1000, -51.491 seconds
11. Scott Greenwood, Suz GSX-R1000, -52.691 seconds
12. Alex Gobert, Hon CBR1000RR, -56.564 seconds
13. James Kerker, Hon CBR1000RR, -1 lap
14. Montez Stewart, Yam YZF-R1, -1 lap
15. Roland Williams, Suz GSX-R1000, -1 lap
16. Sean Wray, Yam YZF-R1, -1 lap
17. Jesse Janisch, Suz GSX-R1000, -4 laps, DNF
18. Vincent Haskovec, Suz GSX-R750, -5 laps, DNF
19. Roger Lee Hayden, Kaw ZX-10R, -13 laps, DNF
20. Jimmy Moore, Suz GSX-R1000, -16 laps, DNF
21. J.J. Roetlin, Suz GSX-R1000, -16 laps, DNF, crash
22. Eric Wood, Suz GSX-R1000, DNS, crash

Provisional AMA Superstock Championship Point Standings:

1. Aaron Gobert, 320 points
2. Jamie Hacking, 317 points
3. Tommy Hayden, 313 points
4. Jason DiSalvo, 312 points
5. Ben Spies, 297 points
6. Roger Lee Hayden, 268 points
7. Steve Rapp, 244 points
8. Josh Hayes, 235 points
9. Jake Holden, 232 points
10. Alex Gobert, 204 points


More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:

HASKOVEC SECOND IN VIRGINA FORMULA EXTREME PRACTICE

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki is aiming to end their 2004 AMA roadracing season on a high note. On Saturday at Virginia International Raceway, the team opened the final American Motorcyclists Association race weekend of the year with some promising performances towards that end.

Over the course of two separate free practice sessions, Vincent Haskovec posted the second fastest Formula Xtreme lap of the day. The charismatic Czech Republic-born rider hustled his GSX-R600-based “mini-Superbike” around the 2.25-mile circuit with a best time of 1:27.663 on Saturday. Haskovec was the fastest man on a 600cc-based machine in the session.

He’ll look to carry that momentum into Sunday with hopes of claiming a front row starting position and a podium finish in the afternoon’s 17-lap season ender.

“Things are going well in Formula Xtreme,” said Haskovec. “The team has given me some more power from the Suzuki GSX-R600 for this weekend as we continue to develop our bike. We qualified the bike on the front row once again, now I’m out to achieve my goal for the year — to win a race. We’ve been on the podium this year and seen a few other chances get away from us. I will be riding hard on Sunday, just like I always do.”

Meanwhile, Steve Rapp and Chris Peris gave the squad even more reason to be optimistic for Sunday, putting in solid qualifying runs aboard their Michelin-shod GSX-R600 Supersport racers.

Rapp picked up a grid position on the second row, qualifying eighth best with a 1:28.091 lap time. His young Canadian teammate will line up directly behind him in twelfth at 1:29.745.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki also concluded their season-long experiment of fielding nimble and tire-friendly 750s in the 1000-dominated Superstock class on Saturday in that championship’s final race.

Rapp picked up another top-ten result for the team, taking the checkered flag in ninth. Meanwhile, Haskovec had an exciting if ultimately unrewarding outing; he fought his way up from twelfth into seventh while scrapping with a number of frontrunners before a crash ruled him out on lap 13 of 17.

“Sometimes when you are in a tight pack like we were, one rider will make a mistake by missing his mark and it will go right down the line to all the other riders,” said Haskovec, who was unhurt in the crash.