Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Morning 125cc GP Practice Times:

1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 1:37.589
2. Jorge LORENZO, Derbi, 1:37.789
3. Simone CORSI, Honda, 1:37.844
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Aprilia, 1:37.899
5. Pablo NIETO, Aprilia, 1:37.995
6. Hector BARBERA, Aprilia, 1:38.011
7. Julian SIMON, Honda, 1:38.239
8. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 1:38.268
9. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 1:38.327
10. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 1:38.459
11. Youichi UI, Aprilia, 1:38.500
12. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 1:38.641
13. Angel RODRIGUEZ, Derbi, 1:38.661
14. Thomas LUTHI, Honda, 1:38.731
15. Mirko GIANSANTI, Aprilia, 1:38.859

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Mario Alvarez, President of Adrenaline Freaks Track Days, and his wife Melissa had a daughter, Olivia, July 21 in Tacoma, Washington.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional Saturday Morning AMA Supersport Practice Times:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:29.944
2. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:30.156
3. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 1:30.365
4. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:30.484
5. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:30.771
6. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:31.248
7. Michael Barnes, Yamaha, 1:31.291
8. Ben Attard, Suzuki, 1:31.561
9. Ty Howard, Yamaha, 1:31.783
10. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:32.119
11. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:32.600
12. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:32.621
13. Jason Perez, Yamaha, 1:32.681
14. Blake Young, Suzuki, 1:32.806
15. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:33.328
16. Danny Eslick, Suzuki, 1:33.454
17. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha, 1:34.043
18. Nick Cummings, Honda, 1:34.771
19. Jonas McCluskey, Yamaha, 1:34.847
20. Nathan Dressman, Yamaha, 1:34.861

From a press release issued by Dorna:

Top Trumps release MotoGP game

Winning Moves (U.K.) Limited and Dorna Sports have reached an agreement to produce a MotoGP World Championship version of ‘Top Trumps’, as well as the first ever online version of the cult card game. ‘Top Trumps Live’ is online now, giving players the chance to take on their motorcycle racing heroes as well as winning unique prizes.

The traditional style ‘Top Trumps’ card set features 30 riders, including all the present MotoGP stars as well as past riders such as Mick Doohan, Ralf Waldmann and John Kocinski. Each card features a profile and action photo of the rider, as well as a short summary of their career and the key statistics which determine their value within the game.

Top Trumps Live is sure to become popular amongst MotoGP fans, who will not only get the chance to compete against other players from around the world, but also against three stars from MotoGP who they will have to beat to get a chance of winning the prizes. All the riders from the MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc classes are included in the game and the stats are updated after each race, meaning the same pack never appears twice.

Players can register online at www.motogptoptrumps.com and pay by debit or credit card, whilst UK residents can also enter via their mobile phones.

From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Shinichi Itoh on the FCC-TSR Zip-FM Honda CBR1000RR has taken pole position for tomorrow’s Suzuka 8 Hours round of the World Endurance Championship after a gripping two stage Superpole competiton.

The first “Attack” stage saw the Seven Stars Hondas ridden by Izutsu (7) and Kamada (11) move up to first and second places, with Yukio Kagayama’s Yoshimura Suzuki in third. Kagayama’s Suzuki was sliding under power out of several fast corners; none of the leading bikes are short of power this year. Tsujimura on the FCC-TSR Honda slipped to fourth place, and the Kenz Motul Suzuki of Kitagawa was fifth.

Police Nationale Tsukigi Honda’s Gwen Giabbani held on to his fifteenth place during the Attack stage, but his team mate Taku Kishida was not so lucky in the second “Jump-Up” part of the Special Stage qualifying. Kishida lost the front end of the Police Nationale Tsukigi Honda Fireblade in Spoon Curve, crashing down to twentieth place.

Kiyonari on the No.11 Seven Stars Honda lost two seconds due to rear wheel slides and front-end chatter on his Jump-Up lap, while Nakatomi on the YSP Presto Yamaha R1 put in a smooth performance to move up several places. Ukawa briefly put the No.7 Seven Stars Honda into first place after Watanabe on the Yoshimura Suzuki was unable to improve on Kagayama’s time.

However, the best performance of Special Stage qualifying came from former Grand Prix star Shinichi Itoh who shaved off tenths of a second through each sector of the circuit to finish his lap over half a second under Izutsu’s time from the Attack Stage, and so “Jump Up” to pole position with a record lap time of 2:09.274.

Special Stage – Top Ten

1st 778 – FCC TSR Zip-FM Racing Team – JPN – Honda CBR1000RR – S.Ito 2:09.274

2nd 7 – Seven Stars Honda – JPN – Honda CBR1000RRW – H.Izutsu 2:09.817

3rd 11 – Seven Stars Honda – JPN – Honda CBR1000RRW – G.Kamada 2:10.176

4th 12 – Yoshimura Suzuki – JPN – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – A.Watanabe 2:10.275

5th 73 – Team Harc-Pro – JPN – Honda CBR1000RR – Y.Konishi 2:10.776

6th 21 – YSP Presto Racing – JPN – Yamaha YZF-R1 – S.Nakatomi 2:10.846

7th 8 – Kenz Motul Suzuki – JPN – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – K.Kitagawa 2:10.896

8th 4 – Masked Rider Blade – JPN – Honda CBR1000RR – K.Tokudome 2:11.082

9th 44 – Weider Honda ATS DDBoys– JPN – Honda CBR1000RR – T.Hamaguchi 2:11.091

10th 72 – FCC TSR Honeybee – JPN – Honda CBR1000RR – K.Eguchi 2:11.645

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday afternoon practice
AMA Supersport
1.Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:29.883
2.Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:30.160
3.Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:30.375
4.Michael Barnes, Yamaha, 1:30.499
5.Roger Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:30.545
6.Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 1:30.658
7.Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:31.471
8.Ben Attard, Suzuki, 1:31.570
9.Chris Peris, Suzuki, 1:31.919
10.Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:32.480
11.Ty Howard, Yamaha, 1:32.553
12.Jason Perez, Yamaha, 1:32.965
13.Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:33.044
14.Blake Young, Suzuki, 1:33.056
15.Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:33.233
16.Darren Luck, Suzuki, 1:33.894
17.Danny Eslick, Suzuki, 1:34.056
18.Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:34.072
19.Gio Rojas, Yamaha, 1:34.589
20.William Meyers, Yamaha, 1:34.742
21.Nathan Dressman, Yamaha, 1:35.051
22.Jason Temme, Yamaha, 1:35.136
23.Nick Cummings, Honda, 1:35.661
24.Jonas McCluskey, Yamaha, 1:35.687
25.Jason Farrell, Kawasaki, 1:35.761
26.Chad Klock, Honda, 1:35.814
27.Dan Ortega, Yamaha, 1:36.665
28.Dan Doty, Yamaha, 1:36.785
29.Scott Beckley, Yamaha, 1:36.850
30.Nathan Hester, Yamaha, 1:37.289
31.Joe Ford, Yamaha, 1:37.572
32.Taylor Knapp, Yamaha, 1:37.725
33.Montez Stewart, Yamaha, 1:37.942
34.Jeremy Haiduk, Yamaha, 1:38.770
35.Jeff Caco, Honda, 1:40.552
36.Michael Morgan, Suzuki, 1:40.859
37.Robert Terando, Kawasaki, 1:41.433
38.Mike Radke, Yamaha, 1:41.805

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Formula Xtreme Qualifying

1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:28.731
2. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:29.383
3. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:30.528
4. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:31.025
5. Doug Chandler, Ducati, 1:31.171
6. Larry Pegram, Yamaha, 1:31.691
7. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:32.048
8. Michael Barnes, Buell, 1:32.162
9. Heath Small, Yamaha, 1:32.182
10. Blake Young, Suzuki, 1:32.543
11. Opie Caylor, Suzuki, 1:33.524
12. Gio Rojas, Yamaha, 1:33.741
13. Derek Keyes, Suzuki, 1:34.492
14. Ben Walters, Yamaha, 1:34.669
15. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:35.211
16. Jason Farrell, Kawasaki, 1:35.466
17. Doug Duane, Suzuki, 1:35.495
18. Jason Mathiason, Yamaha, 1:36.200
19. Mike Shreve, Yamaha, 1:36.303
20. Nathan Hester, Yamaha, 1:37.275
21. Randy Rega, Buell, 1:38.193
22. Robert Deily, Suzuki, 1:38.222
23. Ty Howard, Yamaha, 1:38.597
112% of fast time = 1:39.379
Did Not Qualify
24. Mark Hatten, Ducati, 1:39.510
25. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki, 1:41.783
26. Nathan Dressman, Yamaha, no times


More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:

FRONT ROW START FOR VINCENT HASKOVEC

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki got off to a strong start at Mid-Ohio on Friday. Recent testing at the 2.4-mile circuit had the team and their tire supplier, Michelin, prepared to perform up to their potential at the undulating and demanding road course.

Vincent Haskovec led the charge, qualifying his slick-shod GSX-R600 on the front row for Saturday’s 60k Formula Xtreme final. Despite spending his session concentrating on his race set-up rather than attempting to set one blindingly fast lap, the hard charging Haskovec pleasantly surprised by ending the session fourth quick at 1:31.025.

Crew Chief Keith Perry remarked, “We’re pleased with fourth place today because we worked on our race set-up the whole time. We went into it thinking we were looking at a second row starting position, and from past experience we knew that second row starts aren’t that bad a deal for Vincent. He got his podium at Brainerd starting from the second row. We were just using the session to get the set-up better, so yes, we’ll take a spot on the front row.”

In Supersport action, both Steve Rapp and Chris Peris ranked solidly in the top ten in the day’s single free practice. Aided by an assortment of new tires from Michelin, Rapp was seventh quickest aboard his 600cc Suzuki with a fast time of 1:31.471 while his young teammate was close behind in ninth at 1:31.919.

“Again, we were trying a lot of things in Supersport,” Perry said. “Michelin has worked hard and came here with seven brand-new rear tires that we’re trying to work through based on the test we had before. We’re still sorting through things and trying to find the right set-up for the best tires. So far, so good.”

Early in the morning, Rapp and Haskovec landed in the top ten in the opening Superstock practice, although the session wasn’t very telling since it was held in damp conditions and saw few riders going all out. Nevertheless, the Californian’s seventh-place performance (1:31.995), along with the Czech native’s eighth (1:32.250) aboard their GSX-R750s was a solid way to kick off the weekend.

“Superstock was almost a wasted session this morning,” Perry admitted of the hour that saw some of the top riders in the class not bother taking to the track due to the damp conditions. “None of the riders or teams seemed to want to stick their neck out or try much of anything with the track conditions. We just used it to get the guys warmed up.”

Saturday will see Haskovec fighting for a podium finish in the Formula Xtreme race while Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki will also qualify in preparation for Sunday’s Supersport and Superstock finals.