From a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

RIZLA SUZUKI ON FRONT ROW

One of the closest qualifying sessions in recent years left Rizla Suzuki’s John Reynolds and Gregorio Lavilla fourth and seventh for tomorrow’s sixth round of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton, with both riders less than a quarter of a second off pole position.

Championship leader JR’s front row fourth was a meagre 0.160 seconds behind Ducati’s Dean Thomas on pole position. Team Suzuki factory MotoGP test rider Lavilla – standing in for regular Rizla Suzuki rider Yukio Kagayama who is recuperating from injury in Japan – was a quarter of a second behind the leader.

Thruxton in Hampshire is the home circuit for the Rizla Suzuki team, which is based out of the Crescent Performance Centre in nearby Verwood, Dorset. With the fastest average lap speed of any circuit in the UK at 112mph, it is well-known for producing close-fought racing right down to the last lap, and with qualifying being so tight, a fierce on-track battle is expected tomorrow.

Rizla Suzuki will dedicate its racing endeavours this weekend to Davy Wood, the well-respected race guru from Northern Ireland who sadly passed away last week.

John Reynolds:

“My final qualifying lap was good but I was held up at the chicane and that might have cost me a tenth or two. But I am on the front row and that’s a decent result given how competitive qualifying has been today. To be less than two tenths behind the pole and only be in fourth suggests that it is going to be a proper dogfight in the races tomorrow. I like that. Let’s get it on.

“I couldn’t be happier with my Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000. It is handling just the way I want it to; the engine is strong and we have a tyre that is consistent over race distance. It’ll be tough, but I will be settling for nothing less than wins tomorrow.”

Gregorio Lavilla:

“I must thank my team technicians and John Reynolds for their help today. My team has worked extremely hard to give me a bike that handles and stops as well as any other bike on the track. On top of that, JR allowed me to follow him for a lap and that was when I made my best time.

“When following John, I found the lap time was easy to make as I could use him as my braking and turning marker. That is to be expected as I am still learning this track. It is also good for me because if I can get away with the leaders tomorrow, I think I will be able to stay with them and hopefully make an impression at the end of the race. My bike brakes very well and into the last corner will be good at overtaking.”

Niall Mackenzie – team test rider:

“What a qualifying session! That was close and exciting to watch. To finish a quarter of a second behind pole and only be seventh beggars belief but is a brilliant result for Gregorio on his first visit to this circuit and as a rider for Rizla Suzuki.

“JR was held up on his last fast lap when he might have nicked pole, but to be honest, it hardly matters. The racing around here is always very competitive and it won’t surprise me if there are seven or eight riders still in contention come the last lap in both races. Then it’s down to who wants it the most and if that’s the case, then we all know nobody wants it more than JR. I think the fans are in for a treat tomorrow as the racing is going to be awesome.”

Qualifying Times: 1: Dean Thomas (Ducati) 1:15.592, 2: Sean Emmett (Ducati) +0.086, 3: Michael Rutter (Honda) +0.087, 4: JOHN REYNOLDS (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.160, 5: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +0.178, 6: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +0.201, 7: GREGORIO LAVILLA (RIZLA SUZUKI) +0.250, 8: James Haydon (Yamaha) +0.817, 9: Gary Mason (Yamaha) +0.976, 10: James Ellison (Yamaha) +1.069.


More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki:

MSS DISCOVERY’S RIBA PUTS ZX-6RR ON FRONT ROW FOR THRUXTON BATTLE

MSS Discovery team ace Pere Riba will start from the front row of the grid in Sunday’s sixth round of the British Supersport Championship at Thruxton, Hants aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6RR.

The Spanish rider ­ on his first visit to the 2.4-mile Thruxton track ­ recorded his fastest qualifying lap in Saturday morning’s opening session and is in confident mood for Sunday’s 20-lap race.

“Yesterday’s free practice was a struggle but we’ve worked hard overnight and the machine was fantastic today,” said Riba. “In today’s final qualifying session we ran out of time to record a fast qualifying lap but getting the ZX-6RR in perfect shape for the race was our priority.”

“Thruxton is a really wide circuit so it’s been a little difficult choosing the correct line through some of the corners but I’ve got no worries about a good race pace,” added Riba who finished just 0.4s adrift of pole position.

The MSS Discovery team’s guest rider for Thruxton, journalist Gus Scott, was 23rd fastest and starts from the sixth row of the grid.

“The pace is incredible,” reported Scott. “I’m having a ball on the ZX-6RR though, and the team’s great to work with. I’ll be happy if I can edge into the top 15 and grab a point in tomorrow’s race.”

A frustrated Steve Allan qualified in 13th place for round five of the National Superstock Championship but the gritty Scotsman is confident of challenging for honours on Sunday aboard the MSS Discovery ZX-10R.

“We’ve been struggling in practice but in some ways it’s been worth it,” Allan explained. “We know what the problem is and are confident that a couple of changes to the front forks will sort out the problem for the race tomorrow.”

British Supersport Championship final qualifying times:

1 Karl Harris, Honda, 1:17.614
2 Matt Llewellyn, Ducati, 1:17.877
3 Simon Andrews, Yamaha, 1:17.975
4 Pere Riba, MSS Discovery Kawasaki, 1:18.088
5 Michael Laverty, Ducati, 1:18.115
6 Craig Jones, Triumph, 1:18.124
7 Luke Quigley, Suzuki, 1:18.251
8 Paul Young, Honda, 1:18.256
9 Leon Camier, Honda, 1:18.378
10 Tom Sykes, Suzuki, 1:18.468

23 Gus Scott, MSS Discovery Kawasaki, 1:19.731


National Superstock Championship final qualifying times:

1 Danny Beaumont, Yamaha 1:18.318
2 Andy Tinsley, Suzuki 1:18.560
3 Mark Heckles, Yamaha 1:18.620
4 Dave Johnson, Yamaha 1:18.626
5 John Laverty, Yamaha, 1:18.912
6 John Crockford, Suzuki, 1:19.019
7 Ryan Rainey, Yamaha, 1:19.092
8 Ben Wilson, Suzuki, 1:19.119
9 Stephen Thompson, Suzuki, 1:19.124
10 Tristan Palmer, Suzuki, 1:19.136

13 Steve Allan, MSS Discovery Kawasaki, 1:19.301

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The AMA National at Road America continued a season-long trend, with fewer riders entering the event this year compared to the same event in 2003, despite better weather in 2004.

Entries in the Superbike and Supersport classes were each up by 8 riders, 2003 versus 2004. But Formula Xtreme was down by 6 riders and Superstock was down by 19 riders.

The 250cc Grand Prix class, eliminated at the end of last season, drew 26 riders in 2003.

Entries by class, 2003 versus 2004

AMA Superbike
2003, 40
2004, 48

AMA Supersport
2003, 35
2004, 43

AMA Formula Xtreme
2003, 28
2004, 22

AMA Superstock
2003, 48
2004, 29

AMA 250 Grand Prix
2003, 26
2004, 0

Total 2003, 177
Total 2004, 142

Numerical Difference, 35

Percentage Difference, 19.77%

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel dominated Saturday’s AMA Superbike race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Riding his Dunlop-equipped CBR1000RR, Duhamel came back from a bad start to take the lead from Eric Bostrom on lap seven of 16 and set the pace for the rest of the race.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin ran a very strong string of laps to catch Duhamel, passing lapped riders aggressively, but could not pass the French-Canadian, who turned the fastest lap of the race, a 2:14.404, on lap 15 to win by 3.5 seconds over Mladin.

The win was Duhamel’s third Superbike win of the 2004 season, the 29th Superbike win of his career (tying him for first with Mladin for the all-time lead) and the 74th AMA National road race win of his career (first all-time).

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke came back from a worse start than Duhamel to contend for the lead early-on and was close behind Duhamel when he ran off the track on lap 11. He re-joined the race in fifth and moved up to third before he reached the checkered flag.

After a good start, Duhamel’s teammate Ben Bostrom slipped to a lonely fourth. Ben’s younger brother Eric got an even better start, leaing on his Michelin-shod Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin 999, but faded after the first few laps, just as Duhamel was charging. Eric Bostrom finished fifth.

DXS Diablo Suzuki’s Steve Crevier was some distance back in sixth, one position ahead of Aaron Yates, who pulled off on the second lap to apparently fix a loose and leaking gas cap. Prieto Racing’s Geoff May took eighth on a Pirelli-tired Suzuki GSX-R1000. KWS Millennium Suzuki’s Shawn Higbee was ninth on a Dunlop-shoed GSX-R1000, one position better than similarly-mounted Hooters Suzuki’s Eric Wood.

Jeremy Toye finished 11th on a Lee’s Cycles-prepared Roadracingworld.com Yamaha YZF-R1 rolling on Dunlops.

Jordan Motorsports’ Pascal Picotte was running ninth when he pitted for fuel on lap 14. He continued on to finish 14th.

Provisional AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR1000RR, 16 laps
2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -3.503 seconds
3. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR1000RR, -12.296 seconds
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda CBR1000RR, -18.478 seconds
5. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 999F04, -20.925 seconds
6. Steve Crevier, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -58.780 seconds
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -67.673 seconds
8. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -76.508 seconds
9. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -77.383 seconds
10. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -92.512 seconds
11. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha YZF-R1, -95.008 seconds
12. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -95.404 seconds
13. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000
14. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha YZF-R1, pit stop for fuel
15. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000
16. Roger Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000
17. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000
18. Cory West, Suzuki GSX-R1000
19. John Jacobi, Suzuki GSX-R1000
20. David Bell, Suzuki GSX-R1000
21. Mike Sullivan, Yamaha YZF-R1
22. Reuben Frankenfield, Suzuki GSX-R1000
23. Chris Voelker, Ducati 998R, -1 lap
24. Rib Christman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
25. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
26. Scott Jensen, Honda CBR1000RR, -1 lap
27. Jack Pfeifer, Honda CBR1000RR, -1 lap
28. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
29. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
30. Brian Boyd, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
31. James Kerker, Honda CBR1000RR, -1 lap
32. Lenny Beckman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
33. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
34. Paul Ducato, Yamaha YZF-R1, -1 lap
35. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
36. Dave Ebben, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -4 laps
37. David Weber, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -4 laps
38. Larry Pegram, Yamaha YZF-R1, -6 laps, mechanical
39. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -7 laps, mechanical
40. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -8 laps, DNF
41. Marco Martinez, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -9 laps, DNF



Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Point Standings (9 of 18 rounds):

1. Mladin, 300 points
2. Duhamel, 283 points
3. Zemke, 278 points
4. Eric Bostrom, 210 points
5. May, 198 points
6. Haner, 167 points
7. Ben Bostrom, 158 points
8. Lee Acree, 156 points
9. Eric Wood, 140 points
10. Yates, 138 points
11. Josh Hayes, 136 points
12. Cory West, 135 points
13. Larry Pegram 121 points
14. Chris Caylor, 116 points
15. Higbee, 108 points


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

FIFTH PLACE FINISH FOR BOSTROM IN RACE 1
AT ROAD AMERICA

Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin) – Saturday June 5, 2004: Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin’s Eric Bostrom finished fifth in Saturday’s AMA Superbike race after leading the race at Road America in the early stages. The 27-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada led into turn one and kept the Ducati 999R in the front through most of the first six laps of the 16-lap race.

“The bike is really fast and I got a great start off the line,” said Eric. Unfortunately, Bostrom’s bid for two consecutive Superbike wins fell short. “When the rear tire started to taper off a bit, I started to drop back. Right now our set-up is based on the rear tire; that worked well at the beginning because I’m sure Michelin has the best rear tire out there.

“We put the Ducati 999 up front for the first part of the race, which always feels great, especially since there are a lot of Ducati fans here at the track.”

“Eric had a great start and was running well in the first part of the race,” said Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. “The Ducati power is great for getting off the line. It was good to see Eric outbraking some of the other riders in the beginning.”

Bostrom will look to improve his finishing position tomorrow at the 4.048-mile (6.51km) track. “I think the key is that we have to get through the corners faster,” said Eric, currently fourth in AMA Superbike points. “Tomorrow, we’ll roll the dice in a couple of areas when it comes to the set-up. I’m sure we can make it a little better but we’ll have to take some chances since we’ll only have the morning to test the changes.”

Race two of the doubleheader at Road America is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. (Central Daylight Time).

RACE: 1. Duhamel (Honda); 2. Mladin (Suzuki); 3. Zemke (Honda); 4. B Bostrom (Honda); 5. E Bostrom (Ducati); 6. Crevier (Suzuki); etc.


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN TAKES SECOND AT AMERICAN SUPERBIKE ROUND AT ROAD AMERICA

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, USA (Saturday, 5 June) – Mat Mladin has maintained his position at the front of the 2004 American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship after a hard fought second place finish in the first of this weekend’s two Superbike nationals held at the Road America Circuit at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Starting from the outside of the front row, Mladin pushed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 hard throughout the 16-lap race, at times closing the deficit between himself and eventual race winner Miguel DuHamel (Honda) down to within half a second. DuHamel went on to take the win with a 3.5 second advantage over Mladin, who in turn held a sizable break of over 12-seconds to third placed Jake Zemke (Honda).

With nine rounds of the championship complete, Mladin holds a 17-point break over DuHamel (300 – 283), with Zemke (278) third.

“Even though I got a good start, I still had to work hard in the middle stages of the race to try and shorten the gap to Miguel (DuHamel),” said Mladin. “We actually had a very good race. The bike ran extremely well throughout the race, but it was hard with the speed disadvantage that we have here. As for tomorrow’s race, we’ll more than likely keep the bike in the same set up as we had today as it was essentially faultless and is running as well it possibly can around here.”

Earlier in the day qualifying for the round concluded, with Mladin maintaining his position on the front row of the grid, setting the fourth fastest time overall. A time of 2-min 15.170-secs was faster than the his best time from the opening session yesterday, but was overshadowed by the leading Honda’s. Miguel DuHamel secured pole for the weekend with a time of 2:13.346, just ahead of Zemke (2:13.707) and Ben Bostrom (2:14.704).

“We improved on our time from yesterday, but basically spent our time chasing a race set-up,” added Mladin. “We found a few tenths of a second time wise, but was happy to keep it on the front row of the grid. We knew even by putting in a soft qualifying tyre that we couldn’t make much of an impression on pole.”

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final 125cc GP Qualifying Results:

1. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 1:58.575
2. Casey STONER, KTM, 1:58.877
3. Mattia PASINI, Aprilia, 1:58.941
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 1:58.964
5. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 1:59.132
6. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 1:59.260
7. Hector BARBERA, Aprilia, 1:59.324
8. Jorge LORENZO, Derbi, 1:59.341
9. Mike DI MEGLIO, Aprilia, 1:59.387
10. Fabrizio LAI, Gilera, 1:59.451
11. Mirko GIANSANTI, Aprilia, 1:59.527
12. Pablo NIETO, Aprilia, 1:59.578
13. Lukas PESEK, Honda, 1:59.618
14. Youichi UI, Aprilia, 1:59.623
15. Julian SIMON, Honda, 1:59.899

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

CCS and WERA racer Stacey Berger and wife Heather had a son, Trace William Grant Berger, May 25 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Morning AMA Superstock Practice Times:

1. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:16.765
2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:16.986
3. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:17.057
4. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:17.362
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:17.444
6. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:17.638
7. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.348
8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.984
9. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.217
10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:20.116
11. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:20.219
12. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:20.507
13. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:21.213
14. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:21.287

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Morning Practice Times From Mugello:

MotoGP:

1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 1:51.071
2. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, 1:51.103
3. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:51.166
4. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:51.416
5. Alex BARROS, Honda, 1:51.573
6. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:51.662
7. Colin EDWARDS, Honda, 1:51.798
8. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:51.841
9. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:51.975
10. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, 1:52.069
11. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, 1:52.244
12. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:52.542
13. Ruben XAUS, Ducati, 1:52.645
14. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, 1:52.793
15. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, 1:52.797
16. Neil HODGSON, Ducati, 1:53.073
17. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 1:53.235
18. Shane BYRNE, Aprilia, 1:53.560
19. Kurtis ROBERTS, Proton, 1:53.862
20. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, 1:54.000
21. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Aprilia, 1:54.493
22. Andrew PITT, Moriwaki, 1:55.520
23. Michel FABRIZIO, Harris WCM, 1:56.217
24. Chris BURNS, Harris WCM, 1:58.323


250cc GP:

1. Daniel PEDROSA, Honda, 1:54.738
2. Manuel POGGIALI, Aprilia, 1:55.047
3. Sebastian PORTO, Aprilia, 1:55.240
4. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 1:55.391
5. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 1:55.419
6. Toni ELIAS, Honda, 1:55.516
7. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, 1:55.532
8. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, 1:55.743
9. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, 1:55.925
10. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Honda, 1:56.121
11. Eric BATAILLE, Honda, 1:56.438
12. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, 1:56.667
13. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, 1:57.143
14. Hugo MARCHAND, Aprilia, 1:57.190
15. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 1:57.191
16. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, 1:57.203
17. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, 1:57.336
18. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, 1:57.356
19. Alex DEBON, Honda, 1:57.543
20. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, 1:57.574


125cc GP:

1. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 1:58.714
2. Hector BARBERA, Aprilia, 1:58.945
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 1:58.965
4. Mike DI MEGLIO, Aprilia, 1:59.042
5. Pablo NIETO, Aprilia, 1:59.086
6. Roberto LOCATELLI, Aprilia, 1:59.279
7. Jorge LORENZO, Derbi, 1:59.318
8. Casey STONER, KTM, 1:59.546
9. Youichi UI, Aprilia, 1:59.628
10. Andrea BALLERINI, Aprilia, 1:59.673
11. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 1:59.764
12. Fabrizio LAI, Gilera, 1:59.940
13. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 2:00.080
14. Gino BORSOI, Aprilia, 2:00.126
15. Simone CORSI, Honda, 2:00.280

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional AMA Superstock Qualifying Results:

1. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:15.781
2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:15.980
3. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:16.610
4. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:16.744
5. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:16.860
6. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2:16.972
7. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 2:17.572
8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.101
9. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.202
10. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.612
11. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:18.738
12. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:18.991
13. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 2:19.472
14. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:19.520
15. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.725
16. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:19.836
17. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:21.881
18. Jesse Janisch, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 2:23.844