Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The first World Superbike free practice session was halted with 1:54 remaining as a result of two crashes in turn ten.

HM Plant Ducati’s James Toseland crashed in turn ten and ran away, apparantly uninjured, as his Ducati 998 burst into a ball of fire.

Corner workers were on the scene of Toseland’s crash with fire extinguishers instantly and began to tame the flames when World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss lost the front end of his Ducati and slid into the corner at high speed.

The view on a closed-circuit television feed made it appear as if Bayliss’ bike narrowly missed the corner workers fighting the Toseland fire.

Bayliss appeared uninjured and was seen walking back to pit lane with Toseland.

Noriyuki Haga also crashed, a lowside, in turn 11 early in the session. Haga also escaped his fall without major injury and continued to ride during the practice.

Colin Edwards turned his fastest lap, faster than Eric Bostrom’s AMA Superbike pole time of 1:25.716, in the final seconds of the re-started practice session.

American wild cards did not participate in Friday morning’s World Superbike practice.

Friday Morning’s World Superbike Practice Times:

1. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 1:25.419
2. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 1:25.760
3. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.264
4. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:26.594
5. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.778
6. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 1:26.871
7. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.387
8. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.520
9. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.041
10. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.519
11. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.545
12. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.547
13. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.775
14. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 1:28.893
15. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.965
16. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.346
17. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 1:29.814
18. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998RS, 1:30.437
19. Bertrand Stey, Honda RC51, 1:30.880
20. Mark Miller, Honda RC51, 1:31.191
21. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 1:32.546
22. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:33.308
23. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 996RS, 1:33.539