Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. FIRST PERSON/OPINION From Jim Douglas, a cornerworker at the scene, via e-mail: As the turn marshall, I was calling in that another rider was low-siding to rider’s right, far exit of Turn 6 when it became apparent that Rich was following close enough and slightly to the right behind that rider that he had little or no room for evasive action. I proceeded to call in that a second rider was off track in avoidance. To avoid running over the first rider, Rich stood the bike up but was unfortunately at the outside edge of the track at full speed, having just gotten on the throttle. Still trying to avoid the other downed rider, Rich quickly crossed the dirt/grass run-off area, though he was unable to significantly slow the bike. Rich’s bike impacted the base of the unprotected steep hillside leading up to the ‘esses’ of turn 8 & 8A, At impact, the bike appeared to be essentially vertical and slightly to the right of the other downed rider, striking the embankment at about a 30 degree angle. The force of the impact ejected Rich, both bike and rider were airborne, with the rider appearing to come down head first about 1/3 the way up the hill. (Some observers have said that Rich flew significantly higher than the bike and that his feet appeared to be above the crest of the hill, 15-20 ft vertical estimate.) The first turn worker to arrive was there within seconds, he called for an ambulance immediately, and the race was red-flagged within moments. NMP’s were stationed at the turn 8 box immediately above Rich and they responded, arriving nearly at the same time as the turn workers. I have worked Turn 6 many many times over the past 9 years for both AFM and AMA races. For whatever reason, both Saturday and Sunday seemed unusual in that we had more incidents in our turn than I recall for other occasions. Rich is very well known throughout the AFM and his injuries hit us all pretty hard. We wish him the very best. (The cornerworker also reported that one of the riders who crashed to start the chain of events walked away from the incident.)

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday Morning Practice Times:

MotoGP:

1. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:51.697
2. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:51.985
3. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, 1:52.307
4. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:52.329
5. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:52.682
6. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:52.743
7. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:52.849
8. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 1:52.912
9. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:53.026
10. Colin EDWARDS, Honda, 1:53.056
11. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:53.162
12. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:53.181
13. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, 1:53.238
14. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, 1:53.902
15. Neil HODGSON, Ducati, 1:54.357
16. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:54.572
17. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Aprilia, 1:54.577
18. Shane BYRNE, Aprilia, 1:54.613
19. Ruben XAUS, Ducati, 1:54.976
20. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, 1:55.529
21. Kurtis ROBERTS, Proton, 1:56.872
22. Andrew PITT, Moriwaki, 1:57.196
23. Michel FABRIZIO, Harris WCM, 1:57.351
24. Chris BURNS, Harris WCM, 2:00.963


250cc GP:

1. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, 1:55.072
2. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 1:56.104
3. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 1:56.560
4. Toni ELIAS, Honda, 1:56.589
5. Manuel POGGIALI, Aprilia, 1:56.792
6. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, 1:57.038
7. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 1:57.054
8. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, 1:57.406
9. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, 1:57.415
10. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 1:57.685
11. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, 1:57.941
12. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, 1:58.313
13. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, 1:58.695
14. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, 1:58.704
15. Eric BATAILLE, Honda, 1:58.766
16. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, 1:59.126
17. Erwan NIGON, Yamaha, 1:59.634
18. Alex DEBON, Honda, 1:59.687
19. Arnaud VINCENT, Aprilia, 1:59.886
20. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, 1:59.974


125cc GP:

1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 2:00.263
2. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 2:00.635
3. Pablo NIETO, Aprilia, 2:00.718
4. Hector BARBERA, Aprilia, 2:00.984
5. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 2:01.382
6. Mike DI MEGLIO, Aprilia, 2:01.457
7. Casey STONER, KTM, 2:01.470
8. Mattia PASINI, Aprilia, 2:01.692
9. Gino BORSOI, Aprilia, 2:01.707
10. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 2:01.718
11. Mirko GIANSANTI, Aprilia, 2:01.762
12. Youichi UI, Aprilia, 2:01.918
13. Gioele PELLINO, Aprilia, 2:02.014
14. Angel RODRIGUEZ, Derbi, 2:02.135
15. Jorge LORENZO, Derbi, 2:02.154

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday’s 250cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

1. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, 1:53.691
2. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 1:54.571
3. Manuel POGGIALI, Aprilia, 1:54.855
4. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 1:55.035
5. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, 1:55.143
6. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 1:55.159
7. Toni ELIAS, Honda, 1:55.789
8. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, 1:56.246
9. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, 1:56.292
10. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, 1:56.381
11. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, 1:56.583
12. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, 1:56.969
13. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, 1:57.165
14. Alex DEBON, Honda, 1:57.568
15. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, 1:57.589
16. Eric BATAILLE, Honda, 1:57.604
17. Hector FAUBEL, Aprilia, 1:57.808
18. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, 1:57.853
19. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 1:58.050
20. Arnaud VINCENT, Aprilia, 1:58.223

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. Rich Thorwaldson, who crashed during an AFM race May 30 at Infineon Raceway, has suffered severe brain trauma and is currently in a coma at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, according to a website his family has set up. Thorwaldson’s family is asking that concerned parties visit the website, www.richardthorwaldson.com, rather than attempt to call the hospital or Thorwaldson’s dealership, Big Valley Honda in Reno, Nevada. The family is asking that friends send in stories and photos of Thorwaldson for posting on the website and for Thorwaldson to read during his recovery.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Virginia International Raceway (VIR) co-owner Harvey Siegel and local government officials announced plans for a $100 million motorsports resort in Millville, New Jersey at a press conference held June 1, according to an article appearing on www.thedailyjournal.com.

With partner Lee Brahin and enthusiastic cooperation from local officials, Siegel plans to develop the old Millville municipal airport into a multi-purpose facility, including a 4.1-mile road course dubbed Thunderbolt Raceway. The article says the facility could be in action starting in spring of 2006.

No specific plans to hold large spectator events, such as an AMA Superbike event, have been announced, but Siegel’s VIR current hosts an AMA National, among other spectator events.

AMA Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick has not been contacted by anyone representing New Jersey Motorsports Park but told Roadracingworld.com he would call to get more information on the facility.

To read the original article, go to http://www.thedailyjournal.com/news/stories/20040602/localnews/551611.html

From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

Vincent Phillipe has taken provisional pole position for Suzuki Castrol with a lap time of 1:32.804, 0.877 seconds faster than second placed Gwen Giabanni for Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 on 1:33.681.

Phillipe’s time was set using qualifying tyres. “With these special tyres you must turn in very fast and then pick the bike up quickly to make the most of the rear tyre’s grip. On a fast lap the slow corners are very important – you can pick up a couple of tenths on each one. The fast corners don’t make so much difference.”

Giabanni is not sure that he can match Phillipe’s times. “Maybe if we were on the same bike, but at the moment there is too much difference. It’s one second on qualifying tyres, and also one second on race tyres. They have a full superbike engine, and we are only SuperProduction; we can push them hard in the race though.”

Yamaha GMT94’s David Checa crashed while trying to match Phillipe’s pace, and ended the session 1.898 seconds slower than his rival. “I just turned in to a slow corner, and the front end went away from me. I don’t really know why, but life is life. At least it’s better to do it today than in the race.” GMT94’s third place was secured by Stephane Gimbert, just ahead of Igor Jerman for Yamaha Austria. The top five was rounded out by Phillipe Dobe on the WRT Honda Austria Fireblade.

The final qualifying sessions take place tomorrow morning, beginning at 10:00am.

Provisional Top Ten Qualifying Positions

1st 3: Suzuki Castrol – FRA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – V.Phillipe 1:32.804

2nd 38: Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – G.Giabbani 1:33.681

3rd 94: Yamaha GMT94 – FRA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – S.Gimbert 1:34.370

4th 7: Yamaha Austria Racing Team – AUT– Yamaha YZF-R1 – I.Jerman 1:35.430

5th 5: WRT Honda Austria – AUT – Honda CBR1000RR – P.Dobe 1:35.567

6th 20: Yamaha Folch Endurance – SPA – Yamaha YZF-R1 – D.Tomas 1:35.831

7th 1: Yamaha Phase One Endurance – GBR – Yamaha YZF-R1 – S.Scarnato 1:35.833

8th 44: Suzuki No Limits – ITA – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – R.Ruozi 1:36.929

9th 8: Kawasaki Bolliger Team – SUI – Kawasaki ZX10R – D.Morillon 1:37.185

10th 6: Shell Endurance Academy – GBR – Suzuki GSX-R1000 – M.Rohtlaan 1:37.219

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel took the provisional pole position during qualifying Friday for the AMA Superbike double-header at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Riding a Dunlop-qualifier-fitted CBR1000RR Superbike, Duhamel turned a 2:13.976 to eclipse the one-year-old lap record of Mat Mladin (2:15.159) by some margin.

“The bike’s working really good, and obviously, I’m going to try and make it better tomorrow,” Duhamel told reporters. “I’m hoping it’ll (lap time) stand. I’m hoping I don’t have to go out there and go harder. I know I can go faster. The CBR1000RR is working great, and I’m feeling terrific. I know I can go a little bit faster, but it doesn’t always go your way sometimes. So that would be great if that lap time could stand. I only used one qualifier, so we have two left for tomorrow.

“I’m really stoked. The bike’s working great with race tires and, obviously, with qualifiers. All year, all of the hard work the Honda guys have been doing, we’ve been able to narrow the window and come out of the truck ready to go quicker.”

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke started the qualifying session late, spent most of the period riding his CBR1000RR into and out of the pit lane to make changes and didn’t turn his first flying lap until approximately 28 minutes into the 40-minute session. Zemke was fast, however, eventually turning the second-fastest time, a 2:14.320, after only a handful of laps on a bike he wasn’t completely happy with.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin turned the third-fastest lap time (2:15.364) in spite of having the 13th-fastest bike through the AMA’s speed trap at the start/finish line – his 174.615 mph reading nearly seven mph down to Zemke’s 181.448 mph. In fact, Suzuki privateers Andy Deatherage (176.610 mph), Lee Acree (175.349 mph) and Chris “Opie” Caylor (174.615 mph) recorded faster trap speeds Friday afternoon than Mladin, according to AMA Pro Racing.

Eric Bostrom claimed the final spot on the provisional Superbike front row with a time of 2:15.990 on his Michelin-shod Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999.

Friday’s Provisional AMA Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:13.976
2. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:14.320
3. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:15.364
4. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999F04, 2:15.990
5. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:16.079
6. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:16.273
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:16.726
8. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:17.710
9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.560
10. Steve Crevier, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.688
11. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.949
12. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:18.949
13. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:19.018
14. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.530
15. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.725
16. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:20.200
17. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:20.758
18. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:20.812
19. John Jacobi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:22.246
20. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:22.431
21. Dave Ebben, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:22.579
22. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:22.910
23. David Weber, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:23.011
24. Roger Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:23.043
25. David Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:23.503
26. Mike Sullivan, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:23.828
27. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:24.289
28. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:24.461
29. Reuben Frankenfield, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:24.606
30. Scott Jensen, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:24.617
31. Chris Voelker, Ducati 999R, 2:24.697
32. Jack Pfeifer, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:24.853
33. Brian Boyd, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:25.920
34. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:26.139
35. Lenny Beckman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:26.387
36. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:26.591
37. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:26.879
38. Paul Ducato, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:26.992
39. A.J. Ammann, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.136
40. James Kerker, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:27.388
41. Corey Sarros, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.409
42. Matt Drucker, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.619
43. Kevin Lehman, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:28.431
44. Greg Fryer, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:28.822
45. Darby Brauning, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:32.721

AMA Superbike Trap Speeds (measured at start/finish, as provided by AMA Pro Racing timing and scoring):

1. Jake Zemke, Honda, 181.45 mph
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 180.39 mph
3. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, 180.18 mph
4. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, 178.47 mph
5. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 178.00 mph
6. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki, 176.61 mph
7.
Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki, 175.83 mph
8.
Steve Crevier, Suzuki, 175.75 mph
9. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 175.35 mph
10. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, 174.94 mph
11. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 174.871 mph
12. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, 174.83 mph
13. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 174.615 mph
14. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 174.58 mph
15. TIE, Larry Pegram, Yamaha/Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 174.00 mph
17. Geoff May, Suzuki, 173.31 mph
18. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha, 172.84 mph
19. Roger Bell, Suzuki, 172.41 mph
20. TIE, David Bell, Suzuki/Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 172.09 mph


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin:

MLADIN THIRD FASTEST AT ROAD AMERICA

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, USA (Friday, 4 June) – A top speed deficit may prove to be the telling factor at this weekend’s double header round of the 2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, as defending series champion and current points leader Mat Mladin found himself 1.388-seconds off the fastest time recorded during today’s opening qualifying session at Road America, Wisconsin.

Mladin’s best time of 2:15.364 was the third fastest time recorded in the first of the weekend’s two scheduled Superbike qualifying sessions and leaves the four-times American Superbike champion chasing a sizable gap to his main championship rivals Miguel DuHamel and Jake Zemke, who posted the top two times of the session with a 2:13.976 and 2:14.320 respectively.

The noticeable factor during the session was that Mladin was only able to post the tenth fastest speed trap time aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 as measured by AMA race officials. Taken at the start/finish line, Mladin’s fastest speed was measured at 174.6 mph, leaving him 6.8 mph down on Zemke’s fastest of 181.4 mph.

Mladin attributes to the difference in top speed to the rule changes that were imposed for the 2004 season, that left his Yoshimura Suzuki approximately 10 – 12hp down on last years championship winning machine.

“We knew before we arrived here that we were going to struggle with speed, said Mladin. “I suppose the other thing that you have to take into account with the trap times is that a lot of those were set when someone had drafted by another rider, the reality for us is that on average when we were out there on our own with no draft, we were almost 10 mph down on the fast guys.”

“You can’t beat speed or horsepower, especially around a track like this as far as lap times go, but the races could turn out to be a totally different story. The problem that we have with this track is that we can’t make that time up in the corners because there are three fast straights where you hold top gear for a long time, so all we can do with that is see if we can hang in the draft.”

“Other than having that worry about top speed, our team just went through our normal routine, chasing the best set up we can achieve on race tyres and that’s our goal here. We’ve still got a lot to do tomorrow as we are still about half a second down on the best race time we did here last year, which was set on the last lap of that race where we won.”

With five wins from eight starts this season, Mladin heads into the first of the weekend’s two 16-lap Superbike nationals tomorrow holding a 19-point lead over Zemke, with DuHamel a further four points back in third. Qualifying concludes tomorrow morning, determining the grid positions for both races.

QUALIFYING, Rounds 9 & 10, 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Top 10 / Friday
1. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) 2:13.976 mins
2. Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) 2:14.320
3. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2:15.364
4. Eric Bostrom (Ducati Austin) 2:15.990
5. Josh Hayes (Attack Kawasaki) 2:16.079
6. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) 2:16.273
7. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2:16.726
8. Jake Holden (Suzuki) 2:17.710
9. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 2:18.560
10. Steve Crevier (Suzuki) 2:18.688


2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 8 of 18 rounds)
1. Mat Mladin (268, 5 wins); 2. Jake Zemke (249), 3. Miguel DuHamel (245, 2 wins), 4. Eric Bostrom (184, 1 win), 5. Geoff May (175); 6. Lee Acree (156), 7. John Haner (148), 8. Josh Hayes (136), 9. Ben Bostrom (131), 10. Cory West (122).


More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin:

BOSTROM ON PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW AT ROAD AMERICA

Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin) – Friday June 4, 2004: Eric Bostrom qualified on the provisional front row for this weekend’s AMA Superbike races at Road America, setting a best lap time of 2:15.990 on the Ducati 999R. The Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin rider finished fourth overall in the afternoon qualifying session, which took place in ideal weather conditions at the fabled 4.048-mile (6.51km) Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin track.

“The bike’s really fast. It’s so aerodynamic that it’s different than anything I’ve ridden,” said Bostrom, one of the quickest riders through the trap speed section. “Our time was set with a race tire since we weren’t able to take full advantage of our qualifier, but it looks like we’re going to be right there in the race. Looking at everyone else, our race tire times are close and I know we can get even faster.”

A former pole position and race winner at Elkhart Lake, Eric says Road America is one of the tracks he enjoys most on the AMA circuit. “This is one of my favorite tracks because it’s so fun to ride. The key to racing well here is staying with the lead pack, and then having enough to make your move at the end,” explained last year’s race two winner.

“It’s good to be provisionally on the front row,” commented Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. “We’re right in there on the race tires and that’s good to see. Coming off our win at Pikes Peak, we’re hoping to do well again and I know the guys on the team will come up with something more to try tomorrow to make the bike even better for Eric.”

Final qualifying concludes Saturday morning with race 1 (100km – 16 laps) of the weekend doubleheader scheduled for the afternoon.

TIMES: 1. Duhamel (Honda) 2:13.976; 2. Zemke (Honda) 2:14.320; 3. Mladin (Suzuki) 2:15.364; 4. E. Bostrom (Ducati) 2:15.990; 5. Hayes (Kawasaki) 2:16.080; 6. B. Bostrom (Honda) 2:16.273; etc.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday Morning’s Provisional AMA Superstock Practice Times:

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:17.488
2. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:17.933
3. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:18.050
4. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:18.654
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:18.970
6. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.249
7. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:19.376
8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.376
9. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:19.717
10. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:19.754
11. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:20.568
12. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:20.674
13. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:21.209
14. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:21.969
15. Jesse Janisch, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:23.944
16. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:24.939
17. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:25.741
18. Brian Boyd, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:27.857
19. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:28.895
20. Brian Hall, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:28.935

From a press release issued on behalf of Dunlop:

Dunlop previews Road America race weekend

Elkhart Lake, WI–An invigorating 4.1-mile road course and cool springtime weather greeted America’s top road racers at the sixth stop on the American Motorcyclist Association’s (AMA) 2004 Superbike tour at Road America, June 4-6. Dunlop Motorcycle Tire Company, winner of 18 AMA Superbike titles, including the last 14 in a row, is the dominant brand of tire used in the four series featured here – Superbike, Superstock, Supersport and Formula Extreme. To support the factory teams of Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha – not to mention numerous up-and-coming support riders – Dunlop arrived with over 2000 tires and a brace of seasoned technicians.

The race course at Road America is a favorite of the riders and it places significant demands on the tires. “The two long straightaways here put a lot of heat into the center portion of the tread on the rear tire,” said Jim Allen, U.S. manager of road racing. “The factory Honda and Suzuki Superbike teams will have six rear tires options, ranging from medium compounds to hard.” Allen noted that, although the front tires do not see the same degree of abrasion that was apparent at the Infineon and Barber race courses, the teams will nevertheless have three front tire options from which to select.

For Superstock racing, the AMA’s newly-revised class featuring nearly-stock 1000cc open-class sport motorcycles, the factory teams of Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha will have three compound choices each for front and rear racing tires. Since these machines make almost as much horsepower as the Superbikes, the available compounds fall in the medium to hard range.

Qualifying tires will also be provided to the Superbike and Superstock teams.

Road America is one of the AMA’s approved wet-track venues and Dunlop brought rain tires to cope with the ever-changing weather conditions common to Wisconsin’s late spring weather. Superbike and Superstock riders will be provided “intermediate” tires for damp conditions, which are hand-cut versions of the medium and hard compounds noted above. In the event of a steady rain, teams will have two front and two rear “full rain” tire options, which differ basically in tread pattern.

Coming into the mid-season of the 2004 AMA tour, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin leads the Superbike series with 268 points, followed by Erion Racing’s Jake Zemke with 249 and Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel with 245. In Superstock competition, Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking leads teammate Aaron Gobert 173 to 150 points, respectively, while Kawasaki Road Racing’s Tommy Hayden holds third position with 150.