Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Honda’s factory riders – Miguel Duhamel, Ben Bostrom and Jake Zemke – have dominated the AMA Formula Xtreme class, taking all three pole positions and race wins thus far in the 2004 season. Honda’s domination ended Friday at Barber Motorsports Park, however, when Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec (1:27.793) rode a GSX-R600 equipped with a hand-cut, soft-compound Michelin slick to take his first pole position in the revised-for-2004 class.

“We got a late start (to the season). Everybody knows that,” said the likable immigrant from the Czech Republic. “Barry (McMahan, lead mechanic), Keith (Perry, team Crew Chief), everybody trying to catch up on the road. Michelin is trying hard, too, and that is key because the bike hasn’t changed much. I hope the tires keep coming along.”

Honda riders Duhamel (1:28.046), Zemke (1:28.180) and Alex Gobert (1:28.960) also qualified on the provisional Formula Xtreme front row for Saturday’s 17-lap final.


Provisional AMA Formula Xtreme Qualifying Results:

1. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:27.793
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR600RR, 1:28.046
3. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600RR, 1:28.180
4. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600RR, 1:28.960
5. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:29.736
6. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:29.891
7. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.055
8. Mike Ciccotto, Buell XB9R, 1:30.663
9. Mike Smith, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.682
10. Michael Barnes, Buell XB9R, 1:31.798
11. Heath Small, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:31.939
12. Danny Eslicks, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:31.943
13. Darin Eli Edwards, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:33.037
14. Carlo Gagliardo, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:33.162
15. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:33.555
16. Nicky Moore, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:33.675
17. Nathan Hester, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:33.733
18. Derek Keyes, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:35.270
19. Adrian Jones, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:36.759
20. William Johnson, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:36.969
21. Joseph Arico, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:37.234
22. Marcus Winfree, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:38.341
23. Robert Deily, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:39.208
24. James Davis, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:41.295


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

TEAM VALVOLINE EMGO SUZUKI TOPS THE CHARTS

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki opened their weekend at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama in fine fashion. By the end of the day, the team had earned pole position in one class and topped the timing charts in two other free practice sessions.

Vincent Haskovec led the way, claiming the pole position for Saturday’s 17-lap Formula Xtreme final. Haskovec hustled his Michelin slick-shod GSX-R600 around the 14-turn circuit with a best time of 1:27.793, more than a quarter of a second quicker than his closest competition aboard full works machinery.

Vincent remarked, “Pole position is always great because it shows you are the fastest guy around. The lap gave me an amazing feeling; I came in and everybody was cheering. It was great not only for me, but for the team as well. And the tires were great too — I want to say big thanks to Michelin. We were able to test here for two days, and that made a significant difference. This allowed us to be more competitive with the other teams.

“Around here you’re almost always at a lean angle, so the gearing has to be just perfect to put in good laps consistently,” added the Czech-born rider working toward his U.S. citizenship. “We put in a lot of laps on race tires and made a few changes to the bike to get it working right. Our set-up is very, very close. If the conditions don’t change too drastically, I think I have a bike that can win tomorrow.”

Steve Rapp added to the squad’s stunning 600cc success today, heading the charts in both of the day’s Supersport free practices. The Californian clocked a 1:28.520 in the opening session run in ideal conditions and then came back to set the fastest time in the partially-wet afternoon session with a 1:30.684.

“This has to be our best day yet all year,” Rapp said. “Everything is working good. We tested here, and I know that helped. I think the main thing was a combination of getting a good set-up and getting some info for Michelin so they were able to show up with some tires that worked really well, too.”

Chris Peris made waves on Friday as well. The young Canadian ranked third in the afternoon Supersport practice aboard his GSX-R600 at 1:31.846.

In Superstock action, the team continued with their strategy of running GSX-R750s up against a stacked field of immensely powerful one-liter bikes. The decision showed promise again today, with Rapp and Haskovec both claiming solid top ten practice rankings on Friday. Rapp was sixth fastest (1:28.025), with his teammate just one position further behind in seventh (1:28.418).

As strong as those results were, the team expects the Suzuki GSX-R750s to shine even brighter around the tire-eating raceway when the laps start adding up during the latter stages of Sunday’s race.

“We’re proud of what we were able to do on Friday with Vincent getting the pole, Steve at the top of the charts, and Chris getting up to speed, too,” said crew chief Keith Perry. “Getting caught up by racing politics and not being allowed to test at Sears Point like the other teams definitely slowed us down at the last race, so we’re glad to show what we can do on an even playing field. We still have a lot of work ahead of us this weekend and we look forward to the challenge.”

Saturday will be a hectic day for Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki as they hope to build on their Friday momentum in Superstock and Supersport qualifying, as well as the Formula Xtreme race.