Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A “Supplementary Regulation” limiting teams to 10 sets of tires for all of practice and qualifying at the Suzuka 8-Hours was a surprise to regular Endurance World Championship teams and is forcing many to make compromises.

“No, we just found out when we arrived here,” said Zongshen Suzuki’s Stephane Mertens when asked if he knew of the 10-tire limit before coming to Suzuka. “We didn’t know anything about it. It’s very strange because we are competing the World Championship–this is a race part of the World Endurance Championship, and they don’t follow the rules of the World Championship. This is a personal rule of Suzuka.

“It’s a question of agreement between FIM and Suzuka organizer. Of course something is wrong. Like with three riders. In the World Championship, we can compete with three riders. Not at Suzuka. For the first time they, the organizer, agreed that the World Championship teams can race with three riders if they want to. So for that they agree, but for the tires…no, they don’t want to change their personal rules for the FIM one. Sometimes it’s a little bit strange.”

The 10 sets of tires have to last teams for up to eight hours of practice and qualifying Friday, a 20-minute warm-up Sunday morning and the 8-hour race. (Tires used during the Superpole-like “Special Stage” and the “Special Stage” warm-up session are excluding from the 10-tire limit.)

As a result, some teams, even Seven Stars Honda 11’s Nicky Hayden and Ryuichi Kiyonari, have had to share tires. “I got one new set this morning,” said Hayden. “Then I put four laps on a tire and Ryuichi used it. Then I’m about to go out on one of his old ones.”

Zongshen Suzuki 1 only used two sets of tires Friday, but because they will run an 8-stop race, they will also have to re-use one set of tires. Suzuki GB Phase One put a few laps on many tires in practice and plan to re-use several of them in the race.

“Our particular problem is we have no knowledge of which tires work best here,” said Suzuki GB Phase One Team Manager Russell Benney. “We’ve had to compare a few tires while at the same time put a few aside for the race. That’s led us into a situation where we have a whole selection of tires for the race rather than anything that’s pre-planned. We’ve got five tires set aside that we feel are optimum, and we’ve got a pile of tires that are four or five laps old. It should be interesting. Clearly, the teams that have had the opportunity to test here (like Seven Stars Honda and several Japan-based teams) will have an advantage, but for the bulk of the field it just throws another wobbler into the equation.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Suzuka Facts

Official name of the event – 2003 FIM World Endurance Championship Round 6 “Coca-Cola” Suzuka 8-Hours Endurance Race

Coca-Cola has sponsored the race 15 times since 1984. Three other years the race was sponsored by another Coke product, Sprite.

The 2003 Suzuka 8-Hours is the 26th running of the race. The first event was held in 1978.

The 2003 race has an official song, “Lock On Summer” by the female duo Sortita.

Track Length: 3.611 miles (5.824 km)

Rider Entry Requirements: Must have a FIM license and performance visa in order to enter Japan.

Team Entries Closed: May 22, 2003 but exceptions can be made

Entry Fee: 24,000 Yen (about $240 U.S.) plus optional 6000 Yen ($60 U.S.) MFJ rider medical insurance

Classes:

FIM:

Super-bike (SB)
Super-production (SP)
Stock-sport (ST)

Suzuka Endurance/MFJ (do not pay points toward the World Championship):

JSB1000 (JSB)
XX-Formula Division 1 (XF1)
XX-Formula Division 2 (XF2)

JSB1000 is a class of the All-Japan Road Race Series and was added to that series and the Suzuka 8-Hours line-up to allow privateers to better compete against works 1000cc V-Twin and 750cc four-cylinder Superbikes.


Some Class Technical Requirements:

Super-bike:

World Endurance Championship/FIM spec
Minimum weights
750cc four cylinders = 367 pounds (167 kg)
900cc three cylinders = 367 pounds (167 kg)
1000cc two cylinders = 367 pounds (167 kg)
1000cc four cylinders = 387 pounds (176 kg)
Fuel Capacity – 24 liters (6.3 gallons)

Super-production:

World Endurance Championship/FIM spec
Minimum weights – 24 pounds (11 kg) under homologated weight
Fuel Capacity – 24 liters (6.3 gallons)

Stock-sport:

World Endurance Championship/FIM spec
Minimum weights – 24 pounds (11 kg) under homologated weight
Fuel Capacity – 24 liters (6.3 gallons)

JSB1000:

MFJ Championship spec
Minimum weights
1-3 cylinders = 358.6 pounds (163 kg)
4-5 cylinders = 380.6 pounds (173 kg)
6 or more cylinders = 402.6 pounds (183 kg)
Fuel Capacity – 24 liters (6.3 gallons)

XX-Formula (Both divisions):

Suzuka Road Race Supplementary Regulations spec
Minimum weight – 11 pounds (5 kg) over “prescribed weight”
Fuel Capacity: 24 liters (6.3 gallons)


Qualifying Cut-off Time:

115 percent of Friday’s provisional pole time

The top 66 teams will compose the provisional grid. Teams that have scored points in the World Endurance Championship series prior to Suzuka may also be included on the grid even if they have not qualified in the top 66 provided they have met the 115 percent cut-off time requirement.

Teams eligible for this special provision are: Zongshen Suzuki 1, Zongshen Suzuki 2, Suzuki GB Phase One, X-One Mondial and Team 22 & Tsukigi Racing.

Special Stage:

The top 20 teams from Friday’s qualifying are required to participate in the “Special Stage.” The rider with the second-best qualifying lap time from each team will ride in the “Attack Stage.” The rider with the fastest qualifying lap time from each team will ride in the “Jump-up Stage.”

Both riders will proceed as in World Superbike Superpole, one warm-up lap, one timed flying lap and one cool-down lap.

“Special Stage” teams will be gridded based on the fastest time recorded regardless of which rider does the lap time.

The Le Mans Start:

The race must be started by the rider who recorded the fastest qualifying lap (not the fastest “Special Stage” lap time), but the second rider may start the race if the team has applied for and exception and that application has been approved.

There will be one sighting lap. The penalty for missing the sighting lap will be a 20-second stop-and-go penalty.

Two, consecutive warm-up laps will start with a green light and green flag signaling the riders to run across the track to their machines.

Failure to participate in the warm-up laps will be a 40-second stop-and-go penalty.

For the race start, riders will stand on one side of the track with their foot in a white circle drawn on the racetrack. They must face their motorcycle, which is held by one assistant/mechanic on the other side of the racetrack. When the red start light goes out, riders must run across the track, start their motorcycle’s engine with “a mechanical device on the machine” and ride away.

If the motorcycle cannot start on its own, it may be push-started with the assistant’s help after the field leaves the grid at the direction of a race official.

Teams may start from the end of pit lane after the main body of the field takes the Le Mans-style start.

Two Safety Cars (an Acura NSX and a Acura Integra Type R) may be used to “neutralize” the race if “an incident (climatic conditions or any other cause) puts safety at risk and renders impossible the normal progress of the competition,” according to the Supplementary Regulations. After catching up to the Safety Car, riders will form a single-file line and may not pass the Safety Car or each other. Riders may pit during the Safety Car period but will be held at the pit exit until all of the motorcycles behind the Safety Car have passed. With one lap remaining in the Safety Car session, the Safety Cars’ flashing red lights will change to flashing yellow lights. One Safety Car will exit the track at pit in, the second Safety Car will exit the track after Degner Curve. At the time the second Safety Car leaves the track, a green flag will be displayed at turn 14.5, indicating the race may resume.

In the event of a crash, downed riders must follow the direction of corner marshals. “During the race and qualifying practice, no outside assistance of any kind may be provided. Outside assistance refers to contact of any person with the motorcycle, except by mechanics assigned to the particular motorcycle or by officials on duty…The motorcycle must be propelled only by its own power, physical effort of the rider and gravity.”

Pre-determined short-cut roads to return to the pits may be used, but if the short cuts are used the lap that was started and not completed on the track will not count and another lap will be deducted. If a crashed motorcycle is left in one position on the course for more than one hour, the team will be scored as having withdrawn from the race.

Riders may not ride more than three consecutive hours of the race. If a rider rides for three hours, they must rest for at least 90 minutes before riding again. Generally, riders must rest for one-half of the time they ride before riding again.

Motorcycle repairs:

Repairs made with spare parts can only be made in the pits.

The crankcase and gearbox case may not be replaced during the race.

Fuel tanks may be replaced only if the unit on the motorcycle is damaged, and the damaged tank must be presented to officials.

“Pit work” cannot be done “during the neutralization” or Safety Car period.

Each team is allowed a maximum of seven registered pit crew members, but only four mechanics are allowed to work on the motorcycle at one time. Teams cannot share crew members.

Refueling must take place after all other work to the motorcycle has been completed.

Refueling personnel may stand by with the refueling equipment and fire extinguisher waiting while the four mechanics work on the motorcycle. A crew member must stand by with a fire extinguisher during refueling. This crew member will not be counted as one of the four crew members allowed to work on the motorcycle. The motorcycle’s engine must be turned off during refueling.

Electric or air-operated jack stands are prohibited except for contracted World Endurance Championship teams.

Pit stop procedure violations will be penalized with a 20-second stop-and-go penalty.

Event Schedule:

Saturday, August 2:
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 4-Hour Endurance Race (support race)
2:20 – 2:40 p.m. – Free Practice for Special Stage Participants
3:00 – 5:00 p.m. – Special Stage (Superpole, top qualifiers)

Sunday, August 3:
9:00 – 9:45 a.m. – Warm-up
10:45 – 11:00 a.m. Start Procedure
11:00 – 11:20 a.m. Rider Introductions
11:20 – 11:30 a.m. Warm-up Laps
11:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. Suzuka 8 Hours Race
7:45 p.m. Podium Ceremony

Number of entries: 80

Entries by class:

JSB1000 – 28
X-Formula Division One – 24
Super-bike – 13
X-Formula Division Two – 6
Sport-Production – 6
Stock-sport – 3

Entries by brand:

Suzuki – 26
Honda – 24
Kawasaki – 15
Yamaha – 12
Ducati – 1
Mondial – 1
BMW – 1

Entries by model:

Suzuki GSX-R1000 – 25
Honda CBR929/954RR – 14
Yamaha YZF-R1 – 9
Honda RC51 – 8
Kawasaki ZX-9R – 8
Kawasaki ZX-7RR – 5
Yamaha YZF-R1/7 – 3
Honda CB1300SF – 2
BMW R1100S – 1
Ducati Monster S4 – 1
Kawasaki GPZ900 – 1
Kawasaki Z1 – 1
Mondial Piega – 1
Suzuki SV1000S – 1

Past winners in the field: 4 (Tohru Ukawa, Sinichi Itoh, Tadayuki Okada, Doug Polen)

In the last eight races, Ukawa, Itoh and Okada have seven wins and 12 podiums between them.

From a press release issued by Dorna:

Following information published about the future of a MotoGP race in the United States, this is a statement regarding the situation:

Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta explains: “There have been talks about the possibility of having a Grand Prix in the United States in 2004, more specifically in Birmingham, Alabama. Although the feelings were very positive, unfortunately the present situation makes it impossible for it to be included in the MotoGP World Championship calendar from next year. We will keep the discussions open with Barber Motorsports Park in the near future, and hopefully everything can be ready and tied up for 2005.”

Bruno Event Team, a sports marketing company based in Birmingham, Alabama, has been hired to manage spectator events at Barber Motorsports Park.

According to Gene Hallman, Bruno Event Team president, “We have had discussions with MotoGP regarding a 2004 US Grand Prix. While everyone involved clearly believes that the Barber Motorsports Park is the best circuit for a US Grand Prix, we have concluded that this brand new facility will need to first operate through 2004 before hosting an event of this magnitude.

“This additional time will give the Barber Motorsports Park another year of operational experience and allow us to have the park’s landscaping and museum in world class condition prior to hosting this event. We are continuing discussions with MotoGP regarding a 2005 event and anticipate having these discussions concluded by the fall of 2003.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Note: This post orginally credited Tommy Hayden as being fastest in the Supersport class when he actually did his fastest times on a Superstock-class Kawasaki ZX-6R (636). The post has now been corrected.

Mat Mladin used his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike to post the fastest time of the three-day team test at Barber Motorsports Park.

Mladin did a 1:25.054, and ended the test over half-a-second ahead of the field. His Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates ended up second-quickest with a 1:25.749, followed by factory Honda RC-51 pilot Ben Bostrom, who did a 1:25.942. All three riders posted their quick times late this afternoon, and were the only riders to get into the 1:25s.

In FX action, Ben Spies topped the charts on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR1000 with a 1:26.008, set this morning, followed by Damon Buckmaster on his Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 at a 1:26.192, set this afternoon. He is followed by Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke with a 1:26.774, which he did late yesterday afternoon.

In the always tight, 600cc Supersport class Jamie Hacking and his Yamaha YZF-R6 was fastest, with a best time of 1:28.450 set yesterday afternoon. Hayden is closely followed by Damon Buckmaster at a 1:28.535 set yesterday afternoon, and Jason DiSalvo at a 1:28.851 also set yesterday afternoon.

Top 10 overall best times:
Mat Mladin, Superbike, 1:25.054
Aaron Yates, Superbike, 1:25.749
Ben Bostrom, Superbike, 1:25.942
Ben Spies, Formula Xtreme, 1:26.008
Damon Buckmaster, Formula Xtreme, 1:26.192
Jake Zemke, Formula Xtreme, 1:26.774
Giovanni Bussei, Superbike, 1:26.870
Jamie Hacking, Formula Xtreme, 1:26.885
Kurtis Roberts, Superbike, 1:26.984
Roger Lee Hayden, Formula Xtreme, 1:27.540


Best times by class:

Superbike
Mat Mladin, 1:25.054
Aaron Yates, 1:25.749
Ben Bostrom, 1:25.942
Giovanni Bussei, 1:26.870
Kurtis Roberts, 1:26.984
Miguel Duhamel, 1:27.862

Formula Xtreme
Ben Spies, 1:26.008
Damon Buckmaster, 1:26.192
Jake Zemke, 1:26.774
Jamie Hacking, 1:26.885
Roger Lee Hayden, 1:27.540

Superstock
Tommy Hayden, 1:28.360


Supersport
Jamie Hacking, 1:28.450
Damon Buckmaster, 1:28.535
Jason DiSalvo, 1:28.851
Aaron Gobert, 1:29.250
Alex Gobert, 1:29.748

Tommy Hayden, 1:29.860
Tony Meiring, 1:29.914
Jake Zemke, 1:30.269
Roger Lee Hayden, 1:30.807
Miguel Duhamel, 1:30.857

Note: All times compiled from AMA timing and scoring.

From a press release:

Contract negotiations have broken down between Jake Holden and Gary Ricci of Ricci Motorsports.

After finishing 7th at Laguna in 750 Superstock, Jake will finish the rest of the season as a privateer, racing a GSX-R750 competing in the final AMA events.

Jake would like to thank all of his sponsors that helped him through Ricci/Bardahl and would like to thank all that continue to help in his racing career.

Jake can be reached through his manager/father Richard Holden at 253-279-5244

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

(Note to the Canadian BBS denizens who have been cutting and pasting our posts regarding this incident, without permission and without credit: Do not cut and paste our copyrighted original material, instead, post a link.)

AMA Pro Racing officials black-flagged racer Sandy Noce out of the restarted 250cc Grand Prix race at Mid-Ohio despite uncertainty that they had the right rider.

Over their radios, officials discussed the accusation–made by an official working his first weekend as a grid marshall–that Noce had returned to the paddock and switched to a back-up bike during the red-flag period. Before Noce was black-flagged, another grid marshall actually went to Noce’s trailer, found his spare bike inside with rain tires mounted and the engine cold, and reported her findings over the radio.

Officials also ignored statements by a Superbike racer, Mike Walsh, that Noce’s TZ250 had been in his sight on pit lane the entire time.

Despite the uncertainty, officials went ahead and black-flagged Noce, who was running in sixth place and gaining on fifth place at the time.

The error was discovered after Noce pitted and the new grid marshall–who had stood next to Noce’s bike on pit lane during the entire red-flag period and had actually spoken with Noce during that time–realized his error.

“They mistook me for someone else who went back into the pits because my bike was white and his bike was white,” said Noce by telephone Thursday. “They thought I was him.

“In the end they did award me sixth-place points and money, and gave me my entry fees back.

“I did another lap the first time I saw the black flag, because, when you’re racing and you know you’ve f–ked up and you get the black flag, we’ve all done it, you know. In this case, I didn’t know of anything I’d done.

“The first time they black-flagged me I just cruised down the pits at about 40 mph and nobody met me, so I went back out. The second time they black-flagged me, the flagger was just violent with the flag and the number board, like he was shaking with rage. They really wanted me to come in, so I came back in, and they told me to go over there and talk to that official.

“The official who had me black-flagged was guarding the same pit exit where we were, and we were talking (during the red flag). It didn’t take him a second when I pulled in the second time to realize he had made a mistake. He said ‘Oh, shit! Wrong guy! I’m really sorry.’

“I freaked out. ‘You’re sorry!?’ I said.

“I lost it.

“Maybe I would have been eighth, maybe I would have been fifth, maybe I would have crashed. They never gave me the chance to know. It would have made more sense to let me finish the race and then sort it out.”

When not racing, Noce is the Dunlop race tire distributor for Canada.

From a press release issued by Oliver Yamaha:

Rich Oliver has done it, winning his fifth AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship in style, with a final lap victory wheelie across the finish line of the Mid-Ohio racetrack, and a fist in the air for his crew!

Rich said after the race, “I’m really happy to have reached our goal, I’ve wanted to win this title for Robert Ward the last three years, and now we have! We worked all year from the point of view of winning the Championship, and I feel good about our consistent performances.

“The bike has been good, most of the time it’s taken some set-up work, but in the races it’s been good or great each of the nine times. I sure have a fast Yamaha, probably the fastest Yamaha ever built in the U.S., so that makes it easier for me.

“I do things with that bike that you can only do when you’re in the zone–riding from the heart. Some times I’m just blown away by how I can dream up a line around a circuit, and then put it into reality with that Yamaha!

“I have to thank Robert, my Mom Ginny and Dad Bob, my brother John, along with my crack crew of specialists; suspension expert Jim Lindemann has been great all year, and so have the guys on the Factory Dyno. How about that cool blue paint from Greg Sabatini, and a huge thanks to Pat and Gary from Wilson’s Motorcycles for buying me the Yamaha TZ250 that we race. Daniel from Advanced Motion Controls is also a great help to us. And a big thank you to Yamaha USA for all their support over the season, along with all our other great sponsors including Ferodo, Silkolene, Shoei, Micron, Sharkskinz, Dunlop and VP Fuel.

“I have to also give a special thanks to my finacee Karin. She has been at every race supporting me and running the pit board. It’s nice to see her on the wall every lap…keep those plus seconds coming Karin!”

Robert Ward had these comments post race, “I’m thrilled that we won, now the pressure is off and we can pull out all the stops for the last two Nationals. I’m excited about the next two events”

Karin commented, “This has been a wonderful season to share with Rich. I vividly remember the day last winter we spoke about the upcoming season and Rich said one of his main goals in 2003 was to win the Championship and go out on top. What a great accomplishment and statement he made this weekend. The points leader, the 2003 (and final) 250 GP champion, broke his own track record and is currently the winningest AMA pro racer. It’s great to see such determination, persistence, and hard work pay off!”



Rich has won all nine events this season, bringing him to a total of 69 wins. Now that is one more AMA win than Miguel Duhamel so for now Rich is the all time win leader in AMA Pro road racing, however, we’ll see how long that lasts against the talented Duhamel!

Defending 250 Champion Chuck Sorensen has been a strong challenger all year as well as Simon Turner, Colin Jensen and many others. All will be trying to beat Oliver at the next race in Virginia, so with no Championship points to consider, it should be a wild one! Hope to see you there.

Next race, VIR! July 23rd-27th, 2003

Point Standings for the top 10:
339 Oliver (Mystery School, 2003 Champion)
237 Melneciuc (Mystery School Grad.)
233 Turner
225 Sorensen
223 Pyles (Mystery School Grad.)
206 Marchini
166 Jensen (Mystery School Grad.)
164 Sorbo (Mystery School Grad.)
160 Esser
158 Noce

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Group A Free Practice:

1. Yoshimura Suzuki GP1 DAXIM (A. Watanabe/Y. Kagayama), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:07.494

2. Seven Stars Honda 11 (N. Hayden/R. Kiyonari), Honda RC51, SB, 2:08.674

3. Seven Stars Honda 7 (T. Ukawa/H. Izutsu), Honda RC51, SB, 2:08.798

4. Team Cha-llenger (Y. Fujiwara/T. Kayo), Yamaha YZF-R1, JSB, 2:09.294

5. F.C.C. TSR ZIP-FM Racing Team (T. Tsujimura/S. Itoh), Honda CBR954RR, XF1, 2:09.781

6. F.C.C. TSR (Y. Konishi/T. Mori), Honda CBR954RR, JSB, 2:10.058

7. Garfield RSK (H. Kobayashi/H. Goata), Suzuki GSX-R1000, XF1, 2:10.077

8. Masked Rider 555 Honda (T. Yamaguchi/Y. Takahashi), Honda CBR954RR, JSB, 2:10.189

9. Wins Factory & Vega Sports (H. Kawasa/K. Teramoto), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:11.461

10. Moriwaki Motul Racing (M. Okuno/R. Tsuruta), Honda CBR954RR, FX1, 2:12.208

15. Zongshen Suzuki 2 (I. Jerman/B. Bonhuil/P. Bontempi), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:13.175

17. Corona Light TiForce Endurance Team (J. Szoke/P.Young), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:13.449

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Group B practice started at 4:30 p.m. local time and ran until 6:00 p.m., past sunset.

Thursday Evening’s Group B Practice Times:

1. Kenz JTrust Mojo Suzuki (K. Kitagawa/K. Fujiwara, JSB, 2:08.492

2. Team Sakurai Honda 74 (C. Kameya/T. Okada), Honda RC51, SB, 2:09.526

3. YSP & Presto Racing (S. Nakatomi/W. Yoshikawa), Yamaha YZF-R1, JSB, 2:09.946

4. Team Sakurai Honda 71 (Y. Nukumi/G. Kamada), Honda RC51, SB, 2:10.505

5. Alpha OMC Racing Supply (A. Tamitsuji/Y. Konno), Suzuki GSX-R1000, JSB, 2:10.912

6. Weider Honda ATS DDBoys (O. Deguchi/H. Aoki), Honda CBR954RR, JSB, 2:11.179

7. Over Racing Radio-I (Y Hamaguchi/H. Takahashi), Yamaha YZF-R1, JSB, 2:11.253

8. Corona Extra TiForce Endurance (A. Fergusson/A. Gobert), Suzuki GSX-R1000, XF1, 2:11.297

9. Club Yamaha Motorcycle Racing (M. Tokinaga/A. Morita), Yamaha YZF-R1/7, XF1, 2:11.602

10. Team Etching Factory 15 (S. Takemi/K. Hasegawa), Yamaha YZF-R1, XF1, 2:11.783

11. Zongshen Suzuki 1 (W. Nowland/S. Mertens), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:11.964

12. Moto Liberty Arata-EX & Kiss-FM (D. Polen/Y. Sugai), Honda CBR954RR, XF1, 2:13.236


16. Suzuki GB Phase One (J. Pridmore/J. Ellison/J. Lindstrom), Suzuki GSX-R1000, SP, 2:13.669