Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA racers testing today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio have reported that the recent surface work to smooth the transitions between the asphalt and concrete patches in the corners has left troublesome grooves.

The transition smoothing was done with a grinder, which has left grooves in the surface that are causing the AMA racebikes to move around quite a bit, according to several riders at the test.

Present at the test are Michelin-sponsored Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom and Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp and Vincent Haskovec.

Among the Dunlop-supported teams, American Honda has brought Ben Bostrom and Miguel Duhamel; Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke is on track but Alex Gobert is not at the test; Yoshimura Suzuki has Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Ben Spies riding; Kawasaki’s Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden are in action; Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes and Tony Meiring are circulating; and Yamaha/Graves Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking, Aaron Gobert and Jason DiSalvo are testing without the company of still-recovering-from-injury Damon Buckmaster.

DiSalvo crashed Wednesday morning in the Keyhole section. His condition was not known at post time. The weather, however, is reported to be very good with ambient temperatures near 80 degrees.

Scheduled to end Thursday, the shared tire test contradicts public statements issued by Dunlop–which bought up a slew of test dates for the express purpose of excluding Michelin teams–that said closed, one-brand tire tests were required to protect data and technology.

Late in 2003, Dunlop Vice President Mike Buckley, then a member of the AMA Board of Directors and the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors, bought out test dates scheduled by a co-op of AMA teams and specifically excluded Michelin-sponsored squads, which had shared the tests with Dunlop-sponsored teams many times over the last seven years.

The Mid-Ohio test now going on was originally set up by Michelin, which issued statements that any AMA teams could participate in any of its tests, regardless of tire brand used, on a shared-cost basis. Dunlop-sponsored Honda teams also tested with Michelin teams at Pikes Peak earlier this year.