Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Castrol Suzuki’s Warwick Nowland, Keiichi Kitagawa and Stephane Chambon won the 27th running of the Le Mans 24-hour at the Bugatti Circuit in France Sunday, April 4.

Castrol Suzuki completed 793 laps of the 2.59-mile, 13-turn circuit, covering 2053.9 miles on their Superproduction-spec, Dunlop-shod GSX-R1000 to win by 11 laps over pole-sitters Yamaha GMT94 (Stephane Gimbert/William Costes/David Checa), which completed 782 laps/2025.4 miles on a new, Pirelli-equipped YZF-R1.

A close race from the start, Castrol Suzuki took the lead from Yamaha GMT94 in the late going when Yamaha GMT94 lost several minutes in the pits making clutch repairs.

Yamaha Endurance Moto38 (Gwen Giabbani/Stephane Duterne/Jean-Michel Louis) finished third on a new, Dunlop-tired YZF-R1 with 769 laps/1991.7 miles.

The race was entered by 59 teams; 37 reached the finish.

The Le Mans 24-hour, together with the Spa 24-hour and the Bol d’Or 24-hour, form the three-race Master of Endurance series and are not part of the FIM-sanctioned, FGSport Group-managed Endurance World Championship.

Le Mans 24-hour Results:

1. Castrol Suzuki (Warwick Nowland/Keiichi Kitagawa/Stephane Chambon), Suz GSX-R1000, 793 laps, 2053.9 miles

2. Yamaha GMT94 (Stephane Gimbert/William Costes/David Checa), Yam YZF-R1, 782 laps, 2025.4 miles

3. Yamaha Endurance Moto38 (Gwen Giabbani/Stephane Duterne/Jean-Michel Louis), Yam YZF-R1, 769 laps, 1991.7 miles

4. Suzuki Junior Team (Guillaume Dietrich/David fouloi/Laurry Fremy), Suz GSX-R1000, 766 laps, 1984.0 miles

5. Bollinger Team Switzerland (Marcel Kellenberger/Roman Stamm/David Morillon), Kaw ZX-10R, 764 laps, 1978.8 miles

6. National Moto Playstation 2 (Philippe Donischal/Bernard Fourcadet/Bruno Bonhuil), Hon CBR1000RR, 761 laps, 1971.0 miles

7. Team 44 Village Moto Nantes (Gerard Jolivet/Michael Amalric/Stephane Neff), Suz GSX-R1000, 755 laps, 1955.4 miles

8. Sarthe Racing Kart (Thomas Metro/Jocelyn Hars/Giovanni Legname), Suz GSX-R1000, 752 laps, 1947.7 miles

9. Team Chalon Motos (Vincent Bocquet/Russell Baker/Phil Giles), Yam YZF-R1, 750 laps, 1942.5 miles

10. Suzuki Castrol Team (Vincent Philippe/Olivier Four/Mathieu Lagrive), Suz GSX-R1000, 750 laps, 1942.5 miles

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Lisa Theobald

Canadian Frank Trombino won the CCS Florida Region’s Expert Unlimited Grand Prix race on his Yamaha YZF-R1 at Jennings GP on Sunday. He also set the CCS lap record at Jennings with a lap time of 1:17.101. All of the Shootout’s podium finishers ran in the 1:17s.

Trombino was gridded on row five and had to work his way through the field to get to the front. He took the lead in the six-lap race just before the white flag, passing Scott Ritchey and his GSX-R1000. Marco Martinez finished third on his CBR600RR.

After the race, Martinez explained why he decided to run the smaller machine. “I was able to handle turn six a lot better, my times were a lot faster, so I figured I’d just park the 1000 and just do the best I can,” he said. “And, I’m very happy just to make the podium.”

Trombino was very noticeably backing his machines into the corners at Jennings GP, providing a spectacular show. Ritchey commented, “I was hoping that he’d maybe slide a little sideways too much and I could stuff it underneath. But he was on the throttle, too, so maybe next time. It was close. It was fun. He’s a good rider, that’s for sure. I didn’t have anything for him.”

Trombino said, “I had a little bit of traffic there, but that’s the fun part, you know, up in Canada we have a lot of that, so it’s just a matter of getting comfortable, and don’t get over your head to pass somebody.”

Trombino won in every class he entered, including the GTO race on his YZF-R1 and the GTU and Middleweight Supersport races on his YZF-R6. At the end of the day he issued an invitation to the Florida racers, saying, “That was great. I mean especially riding with the new crew out here, you know Scott, Marco, that’s great. You guys ought to come up to Canada. It’d be quite interesting.”

This CCS event hosted the USGPRU 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix National Championship Series’s East Coast Region. Stewart Aitken-Cade won the 125cc Grand Prix race after taking over the lead from Brian Kcraget on the last of nine laps. Florida’s Steve Wenner won the USGPRU 250cc Grand Prix race after taking the holeshot and simply running away with that win. Aitkin-Cade finished second.

Wenner had crashed his 250 just two races earlier while competing in the CCS GTU class, but managed to get it back on track and up to speed with the help of Zambrana Performance. Wenner won an additional three CCS races, including the Lightweight Grand Prix, 125cc Grand Prix, and 250cc Grand Prix classes.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies, 19, won the red-flag-interrupted AMA Superstock race Sunday at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Spies was second and pressuring Graves Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster when the race was stopped on lap seven of 17 due to a crash involving Lion Racing Suzuki’s Jake Holden, who crashed exiting turn eight. Holden’s GSX-R1000 was lying in the track, which forced the race to be stopped.

After a short delay, the race was re-started. Spies jumped out to the lead right away, turned the fastest lap of the race (1:26.122) on the first flying lap (lap eight), quickly built a 1.9-second lead and was never challenged. After building a three-second lead, Spies put his Yoshimura Suzuki on cruise control to win by 1.8 seconds.

Buckmaster passed teammate Jamie Hacking halfway through the second segment to earn second place. Hacking held on for third, a few seconds ahead of the other Graves Yamaha riders, Jason DiSalvo, fourth, and Aaron Gobert, fifth.

Roger Lee Hayden beat his factory Kawasaki teammate and older brother Tommy for sixth. Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp finished eighth on a Michelin-shod GSX-R750, just in front of a pack of GSX-R1000s ridden by No Limit Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore, Prieto Racing’s Geoff May, Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner and Millennium Technologies Suzuki’s Shawn Higbee.


Provisional AMA Superstock Race Results:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 17 laps
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1, -1.846 seconds
3. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, -2.026 seconds
4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, -6.942 seconds
5. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, -8.381 seconds
6. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -9.411 seconds
7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -9.976 seconds
8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, -25.496 seconds
9. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -26.918 seconds
10. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -27.155 seconds
11. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -27.601 seconds
12. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -27.716 seconds
13. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750
14. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR
15. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000
16. Anthony Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR
17. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000
18. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000
19. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000
20. Corey Eaton, Suzuki GSX-R1000


Provisional AMA Superstock Point Standings:

1. TIE, Aaron Gobert/Spies, 62 points
3. Hacking, 61 points
4. Buckmaster, 60 points
5. Tommy Hayden, 53 points
6. DiSalvo, 52 points
7. Roger Lee Hayden, 51 points
8. Rapp, 45 points
9. Haner, 41 points
10. TIE, Pridmore/Higbee, 39 points
12. May, 35 points
13. Acree, 34 points
14. Wood, 31 points
15. Holden, 29 points

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Today is Josh Hayes’ 29th birthday.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The start of AMA Superstock practice at California Speedway was delayed approximately 30 minutes due to moisture on the racetrack.

Sunday Morning Provisional AMA Superstock Practice Times:

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.757
2. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.865
3. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:26.897
4. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.907
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:27.575
6. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:27.706
7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:28.043
8. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:28.577
9. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:28.659
10. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.742
11. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.810
12. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.834
13. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.834
14. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.104
15. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.156
16. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.692
17. Corey Eaton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.349
18. Jason Curtis, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.284
19. Anthony Gobert, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:31.502
20. David Sanders, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.745

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional Sunday Morning AMA Supersport Practice Times:

1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:27.732
2. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:27.946
3. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:28.138
4. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:28.330
5. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:28.514
6. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:28.804
7. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:29.756
8. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:29.763
9. Michael Barnes, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:30.406
10. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.418
11. Ben Attard, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.732
12. Chris Peris, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:31.250
13. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:31.289
14. Nate Wait, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:31.354
15. Nicky Moore, Honda CBR600RR, 1:31.406

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies only did “a couple” of laps in Supersport practice, according to his crew.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional AMA Supersport Race Results:

1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 17 laps
2. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -0.437 second
3. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki, -2.342 seconds
4. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, -2.407 seconds
5. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -9.178 seconds
6. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, -10.846 seconds
7. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -15.356 seconds
8. Ben Attard, Suzuki, -20.099 seconds
9. Michael Barnes, Yamaha, -20.660 seconds
10. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, -21.457 seconds
11. Lee Acree, Suzuki, -24.233 seconds
12. Nicky Moore, Honda, -25.261 seconds
13. Chris Peris, Suzuki
14. Craig Connell, Suzuki
15. Darren Luck, Suzuki
16. Jason Perez, Yamaha
17. Danny Eslick, Suzuki
18. Alan Schmidt, Yamaha
19. Grant Riggs, Yamaha
20. Brad Hendry, Yamaha
21. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha
22. Nathan Hester, Yamaha
23. Tyler Jones, Yamaha
24. John-O Bowman, Yamaha
25. Matt Zrubuchen, Yamaha
26. Chris Siebenhaar, Honda
27. Dirk Sanchez, Kawasaki
28. Clint McBain, Suzuki
29. Matt Hartlieb, Suzuki
30. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, DNF, crash


Provisional AMA Supersport Point Standings (after 2 of 11 races):

1. Tommy Hayden, 66 points
2. DiSalvo, 62 points
3. Roger Lee Hayden, 61 points
4. TIE, Aaron Gobert/Hacking, 54 points
6. Barnes, 47 points
7. Rapp, 46 points
8. Meiring, 42 points
9. Acree, 39 points
10. Perez, 35 points
11. Spies, 32 points
12. Eslick, 29 points
13. Luck, 28 points
14. TIE, Aaron Yates/Buckmaster, 24 points

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The AMA Supersport race at California Speedway was red-flagged on lap nine of 17.

At the time the race was stopped, Tommy Hayden was leading, as he had from the start. Hayden was being closely pursued by Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster and Jamie Hacking and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies.

The race was stopped for a crashed bike lying on the track at the exit of the turn seven/eight chicane. The bike belonged to Pedro Valiente, who was seen attempting to ride the bike back to the pits.

The race will be re-started for nine laps.

AMA Supersport Running Order (as of lap 8 of 17):

1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, -0.484 second
3. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, -0.845 second
4. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -1.515 seconds
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki, -3.861 seconds
6. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -8.645 seconds
7. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, -8.776 seconds
8. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, -14.500 seconds
9. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -14.577 seconds
10. Michael Barnes, Yamaha, -17.187 seconds
11. Ben Attard, Suzuki, -17.884 seconds
12. Clint McBain, Suzuki, -22.936 seconds
13. Nicky Moore, Honda
14. Chris Peris, Suzuki
15. Lee Acree, Suzuki

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional AMA Formula Xtreme Race Results:

1. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 17 laps
2. Jake Zemke, Honda, -0.102 second
3. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, -19.943 seconds
4. Alex Gobert, Honda, -26.045 seconds
5. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -27.689 seconds
6. Larry Pegram, Yamaha, -34.173 seconds
7. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -34.265 seconds
8. Marc Palazzo, Yamaha, -48.595 seconds
9. Corey Eaton, Suzuki, -58.042 seconds
10. Danny Eslick, Suzuki, -77.922 seconds
11. Heath Small, Yamaha, -81.724 seconds
12. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, -1 lap
13. Nathan Hester, Yamaha, -1 lap
14. Garth Dillon, Yamaha, -1 lap
15. Jay Tanner, Yamaha, -1 lap
16. Craig McLean, Honda, -1 lap
17. Brian Bartlow, Honda, -1 lap
18. Eric Haugo, Suzuki, -1 lap
19. Ron Northup, Yamaha, -1 lap
20. Kenan Rappuchi, Yamaha, -1 lap
21. Brien Whitlock, Suzuki, -4 laps, DNF
22. Jeff Williams, Suzuki, DNF
23. Steve Crevier, Suzuki, DNS


Provisional AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings (after 2 of 11 races):

1. Duhamel, 74 points
2. Zemke, 62 points
3. Alex Gobert, 54 points
4. Haskovec, 51 points
5. Holden, 48 points
6. Eaton, 44 points
7. Perry Melneciuc, 39 points
8. Nathan Hester, 36 points
9. Ben Bostrom, 33 points
10. Pridmore, 29 points

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Provisional Sunday Morning AMA Superbike Practice Times;

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:25.818
2. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, 1:26.250
3. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 1:26.575
4. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:27.041
5. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:27.461
6. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, 1:28.853
7. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 1:28.932
8. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, 1:29.080
9. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:29.124
10. Larry Pegram, Yamaha, 1:29.195
11. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:29.303
12. Steve Crevier, Suzuki, 1:29.323
13. Clint McBain, Suzuki, 1:29.601
14. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 1:29.775
15. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:30.252
16. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha, 1:30.849
17. Cory West, Suzuki, 1:31.607
18. Jason Curtis, Suzuki, 1:31.907
19. Craig Connell, Suzuki, 1:31.961
20. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:32.191