Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Friday’s AMA Superbike qualifying session at Road Atlanta was stopped after 17 minutes of a scheduled 60 minutes due to a fiery crash involving Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp.
Rapp’s crash, as relayed by a team member, started when he lost the front and fell off in right-hand turn four. Rapp’s GSX-R1000 then headed into a wall on rider’s right in the Esses section of Road Atlanta’s 2.52-mile, 12-turn course. Rapp’s machine lost its gas tank, which caught fire and was quickly extinguished by safety workers.
Rapp, who was fifth-fastest at the time of his crash, appeared to be uninjured and caught a ride back to the pits on the back of Lee Acree’s Suzuki GSX-R750.
AMA Superbike Qualifying Times (at the time of the red flag):
1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:24.824
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.071
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:25.901
4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:26.010
5. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.543
6. Ben Bostrom, Honda RC51, 1:26.552
7. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.412
8. Anthony Gobert, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.963
9. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:28.215
10. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.571