Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Supersport race at VIR, originally scheduled to start at noon and postponed until 12:30 p.m. to allow for a wet practice session, was further delayed by oil on the track.

Young Canadian Chris Peris crashed during the wet practice session after the drain plug fell out of his Honda CBR600RR. The incident extensively oiled turns three, four and five.

A crew member later said that Fernando Peris, Chris’ father, had forgotten to tighten and wire the drain plug.

Just before the rescheduled 2:00 p.m. start, riders took a warm-up lap and then reported to officials that the track was still too slippery from a slurry-like combination of oil-dry, oil and water to proceed. Riders have been sent back into the pits while crews head out to clean the track again, using a fire hose.


This just in:

Oil was apparently spilled on other parts of the track as the crash truck carried Peris’ leaking Honda back to the pits, and the clean-up has spread. But the major concern remained in the area of turns three, four and five.