From a press release issued by Radar’s Team Yamaha:

2002 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State
Event 6, Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW
Qualifying & Supersport Race report

CURTAIN CLAIMS FX SUPERSPORT TITLE AND FORMULA XTREME POLE POSITION AT EASTERN CREEK

Radar’s Team Yamaha rider Kevin Curtain needed just the first of four FX Supersport races for him to wrap up the title at the final round of the 2002 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State series being held at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway this weekend.

Victory in today’s opening Supersport race aboard his Yamaha YZF-R6 gave the Newcastle rider an unassailable lead in the series as he has accumulated a total of 419 points to the 337 of second-placed Jamie Stauffer, with three races remaining. Curtain completed his stunning day’s work with victory in race two ahead of Victorian Shannon Johnson after Stauffer crashed out of contention. There are two more races for the FX Supersport during tomorrow’s schedule.

“I couldn’t believe the last lap of that first race,” said Curtain. “I thought that I had covered my line into Turn Two, but all of a sudden Jamie (Stauffer) was riding around the outside of me and actually got past. He ran wide a little into Turn Four and I was able to get back up the inside and pass him. After that I made sure that I didn’t leave any room for him to get by. It was a great race right to the flag. I’m happy to get the title sorted out so early on in the weekend as it now allows me time to concentrate on the Formula Xtreme title.”

Not to be overawed by his Supersport title victory, Curtain produced the same good form to claim pole position for tomorrow’s four 8-lap Formula Xtreme races. Gusty winds made conditions difficult for the riders, but Curtain was to master the conditions best of all aboard his Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1 by setting the fastest time of the combined qualifying sessions with a 1:33.321, sixth tenths of a second quicker than three times American Superbike Champion Mat Mladin who posted a best time of 1:33.939 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Completing the front row of the grid were the Bio Magnetics Sport Yamahas of Daniel (1:34.005) and Jamie Stauffer (1:34.240). A crash in the opening qualifying session left defending Formula Xtreme champion Robbie Baird in sixth place on the grid, one place ahead of teammate Craig Coxhell on the third of the Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1s.

“The wind definitely knocked things around for us out there,” said Curtain after his Formula Xtreme qualifying sessions. “It got a lot stronger out there in the second session and there was no way we could have gone any faster. In the first session I was able to follow Mat (Mladin) around for a few laps and was able to catch and pass him which was good for us. Aside from that, everything is looking good for tomorrow.”

“Being sixth on the grid is about the worst position I’ve had to start a Formula Xtreme race from, so it’s not good from that point of view,” said Baird. “I was forced off the track in the opening session by another rider and crashed as a result, which meant that I lost valuable track time in that first session. We’ll make a few changes tonight, possibly even go back to the settings that we had when we tested here a couple of weeks ago when I was able to do flat 34s. We’ll just have to see what happens I suppose.”

“Where I went wrong was when we went out early in the first session on old tyres to just get a feel for the bike, with the plan to then come in and put some new tyres in to try and set some faster times later in the session,” said Coxhell. “Little did we know that the wind was to get stronger and that the times that everyone set early in the session would stay as their quick times. I was having a few problems with the front end in the wind and we then hoped that the conditions would change for the second session, but that didn’t happen. I’m disappointed, as I was able to do some good lap times at the test here, but can’t do those times this weekend. We’ve also got a few new tyres to test, but they just seem to change the handling characteristics of the bike that much that it has been hard to try and get a consistent set up.”

Tomorrow’s final round of the Yamaha sponsored Formula Xtreme sees Curtain leading the series points table by 38 from teammate Baird, while Coxhell holds fifth position on the table.

2002 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State
Event 3, Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW, September 28 – 29

FORMULA XTREME
Qualifying

1. Kevin CURTAIN, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:33.321

2. Mat MLADIN, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.939

3. Daniel STAUFFER, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.005

4. Jamie STAUFFER, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.240

5. Josh BROOKES, Honda CBR954RR, 1:34.267

6. Robbie BAIRD, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.624

7. Craig COXHELL, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.953

8. Wayne MAXWELL, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.107

9. Tony REES, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:35.392

10. Robert BUGDEN, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.547

Lap Record: Josh Brookes (Honda CBR929RR) 1:33.365 (08/07/01)


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist, Steve Reeves:

Round 6 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State series
Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW
Formula Xtreme Qualifying Report

MLADIN QUALIFIES SECOND FASTEST AT FORMULA XTREME FINALE

Former Australian Superbike and three times American Superbike Champion Mat Mladin will start from the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s sixth and final round of the 2002 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State series at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway, after setting the second-fastest time during today’s qualifying sessions.

The event marks Mladin’s first race in Australia since leaving our shores to race in the American Superbike Championship in 1996.

Mladin has been busy preparing a Suzuki GSX-R1000 from his Mat Mladin Motorcycles dealership in nearby Narellan, southwest of Sydney, over the past month and has immediately been competitive on a bike that is still in very much stock condition with the exception of a number of Yoshimura performance parts, such as exhaust, cams and pistons.

Strong wind gusts throughout the day made conditions difficult for all of the riders, with the fastest times being recorded during the first session held earlier in the day. Mladin’s time of 1:33.939 was the second-fastest recorded, with current Formula Xtreme points leader Kevin Curtain (Radar’s Team Yamaha) setting the fastest time with a 1:33.321.

“I’m pretty happy with the outcome today,” said Mladin. “If the wind would have stayed down a bit this afternoon I think we could have gone quicker for sure. I’m very pleased with the result that we’ve been able to achieve from a motorcycle that we basically started preparing about a month ago. The guys back at our shop have done a great job in getting the bike here and having it running as well as it is. Three weeks and three ride days is what we had to prepare the bike in.

“We changed the gearing a lot for the second session. We went in a totally different direction and it definitely helped, but it’s hard to test as you can’t have the same line twice as the wind is blowing you around that much. All I can say is how impressed I am with the bike and tomorrow is shaping up as being a good day.”

The Formula Xtreme competitors take to the track tomorrow with four 8-lap races scheduled for the day’s final round of the series. Points leader Kevin Curtain holds a 38-point advantage over teammate and defending champion Robbie Baird, who qualified sixth fastest overall.