Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Graves Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking did not ride in AMA Superstock practice Saturday morning at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. According to his team owner Chuck Graves, Hacking, on the advice of Dr. Arthur Ting, chose to sit out the session and save his battered body for the Superstock race later Saturday afternoon.

Hacking is riding with a freshly-plated, 11-day-old broken right collarbone at Laguna Seca. He crashed in turn three during Superstock qualifying Friday, landing on his injured shoulder.

Last night, Dr. Ting X-rayed Hacking’s shoulder to make sure the surgical plate holding his collarbone together was still intact and in place but recommended Hacking sit out the morning practice.

Hacking holds a 14-point lead in the AMA Superstock Championship over teammate Aaron Gobert, and he holds an 18-point advantage over Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden.

If Gobert were to win and collect the bonus point for leading the most laps in the race, Hacking would have to finish seventh or better to hold his lead.

If Hayden, who took pole, were to win and collect the lap-leader point, Hacking would need to finish 10th or better to hold his point lead.

Hacking qualified fifth for the Superstock race.