Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Supersport race at Road Atlanta was stopped on lap six when Roger Lee Hayden crashed twice in the new turn three chicane, and his Honda CBR600RR was left lying on the track.

Jamie Hacking had gotten the holeshot and led the first lap. Hayden took the lead from Hacking in turn one on lap two and led until Ben Spies displaced Hayden to second on lap four.

Spies pulled out a 0.6-second lead on lap five, just before Hayden lost the front and crashed in the right-hand portion of the new turn three chicane. Hayden quickly re-mounted and re-fired his Honda, but dropped his CBR600RR on the racetrack while attempting to get out of the wet grass.

The race was re-started according to the lap four running order with Roger Lee Hayden placed at the back of the grid and eleven laps remaining in the race.

The track continued to dry during the start of the Supersport race and the red flag delay, and the delay allowed some riders who chose rain tires, such as Marty Craggill, and intermediate tires, like Matt Wait, to change over to dry-pattern tires.

AMA Supersport Race Running Order (as of lap four):

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki
2. Jake Zemke, Honda
3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha
4. Alex Gobert, Honda
5. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha
6. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha
7. Matt Wait, Yamaha
8. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha
9. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki
10. Ty Howard, Honda
11. Marty Craggill, Honda
12. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha
13. Doug Chandler, Honda
14. Jason Curtis, Honda
15. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki
16. Jason Hobbs, Yamaha
17. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki
18. Darrin Mitchell, Suzuki
19. Darren Luck, Suzuki
20. Steven Breckenridge

Jamie Hacking and Jamie Stauffer both crashed in turn one on the re-start.

Spies jumped out to a 2.2-second lead on the first lap over a four-way battle for second between Buckmaster, Alex Gobert, Aaron Gobert and Jake Zemke.

Spies made no mistakes in the re-started portion of the AMA Supersport final at Road Atlanta, took his first-ever victory in the class and gave Suzuki its first AMA Supersport win of 2003.

Buckmaster pulled clear of a four-way battle for second, made dents in Spies’ lead but could not make significant progress on the leader. Buckmaster came home second, good enough to take a share of the class point lead with Hacking.

Hacking crashed in turn one at the start, re-mounted, got back up to full speed quickly and salvaged 10 points for finishing 21st.

Aaron Gobert scored third after a back-and-forth battle with younger brother Alex.

AMA Supersport Final Results:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 15 laps
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, -2.792 seconds
3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -5.372 seconds
4. Alex Gobert, Honda, -5.517 seconds
5. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, -14.318 seconds
6. Jake Zemke, Honda, -16.720 seconds
7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, -28.564 seconds
8. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, -31.405 seconds
9. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, -31.608 seconds
10. Doug Chandler, Honda, -31.813 seconds
11. Marty Craggill, Honda, -32.282 seconds
12. Ty Howard, Honda, -44.153 seconds
13. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha, -58.976 seconds
14. Darren Luck, Suzuki, -72.869 seconds
15. Jason Curtis, Honda, -73.329 seconds
16. Thad Halsmer, Yamaha, -85.488 seconds
17. Steven Breckenridge, Triumph, -95.986 seconds
18. William Johnson, Suzuki, -1 lap
19. Heath Small, Yamaha, -1 lap
20. Jason Hobbs, Yamaha, -1 lap
21. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, -1 lap, crash
22. Joseph Ford, Yamaha, -1 lap
23. David Guy, Suzuki, -1 lap
24. Quentin Wilson, Yamaha, -1 lap
25. Dirk Sanchez, Kawasaki, -1 lap

AMA Supersport Point Standings:

1. Buckmaster/Hacking, TIE, 117 points
3. Spies, 112 points
4. Aaron Gobert, 109 points
5. Zemke, 102 points
6. DiSalvo, 99 points
7. Tommy Hayden, 97 points
8. Alex Gobert, 86 points
9. Chandler, 80 points
10. Meiring, 76 points