Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin earned the provisional World Superbike pole position Friday at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California with a lap of 1:25.608 on his GSX-R1000. Mladin did his fastest time on his third flying lap and spent the rest of the 60-minute session working on his set up and following Neil Hodgson whenever possible.

Regis Laconi turned a 1:26.017 late in the first qualifying session on his Team Caracchi NCR Nortel Network Ducati 998RS to be second-fastest.

Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates was second-fastest for most of the timed period but ended up third with a 1:26.045.

Ducati Austin’s Giovanni Bussei was not in the top 15 times until the closing minutes when he posted a pair of 1:26 laps. Bussei’s fastest, a 1:26.061, was good enough for the last spot on the provisional front row.

Pierfrancesco Chili ran as high as second before being shuffled back to fifth-fastest.

World Superbike Championship point leader Neil Hodgson was near the top of the order through most of the session, but crashed in turn three with 4:30 remaining and finished with the sixth-fastest time.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom came to life late in the session and came away with a best of 1:26.461 on his Kawasaki ZX-7RR.

Kawasaki’s engine development specialist Theo Lockwood estimates that Bostrom’s 750cc Kawasaki ZX-7RR makes 10 percent less horsepower and 15 percent less torque than his 788cc AMA Superbike. And although the Kawasaki can weigh as little as 350 pounds according to World Superbike rules, Bostrom’s crew cannot get the bike close to the minimum weight limit.

HM Plant Ducati’s James Toseland qualified on the provisional second row with a 1:26.591 on his Ducati 998F02.

Ruben Xaus floundered during the session and finished 11th-fastest.

Toseland’s teammate Chris Walker crashed unhurt in turn three during the session, lost 12 minutes and ended up 12th-fastest with a 1:27.075.

Ten of the top 12 riders in Friday’s World Superbike qualifying session used Dunlop tires.

In addition to having the fastest lap time, Mladin also had the fastest trap speed at 155.62 mph. The next fastest machines of Hodgson and Toseland recorded 151.28 mph.

Friday’s World Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.608
2. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.017
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.045
4. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.061
5. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.138
6. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:26.294
7. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:26.461
8. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.591
9. Lucio Pederchini, Ductai 998RS, 1:26.695
10. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.734
11. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:26.986
12. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.075
13. Steve Martin, Ductai 998RS, 1:27.098
14. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:27.373
15. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.720
16. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.904
17. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.025
18. David Garcia, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.194
19. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.232
20. Walyter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:28.232
21. Luca Pedersoli, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.880
22. James Haydon, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:30.558
23. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:30.569


More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Foggy PETRONAS Racing riders battle against illness and injury in USA

Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s Troy Corser was struck by chronic food poisoning on the first day of action of round eight of the World Superbike championship at Laguna Seca.

And with team-mate James Haydon still struggling with the injuries that had ruled him out of the previous two rounds, it was an uphill battle for the team’s debut in the United States.

Corser, who blamed seafood eaten at a local restaurant the previous night, was placed on a glucose drip after the first hour-long practice session at the physically demanding Californian circuit. Yet he still managed the 10th fastest time of the morning, of 1:28.207, before the local American wild card riders dominated the afternoon qualifying session when they joined the action after their own AMA practice had been held yesterday. Consequently, Corser was pushed down to 14th, despite having shaved 0.9 of a second off his best time.

Troy said: “I was feeling very weak and dehydrated this morning but the doctors gave me 1.5 litres of fluid after the practice session and I felt better in the afternoon. But I was never really feeling right on the bike all day. I didn’t feel strong and wasn’t muscling the bike into the corners. I had a few ground clearance problems, due to the nature of the circuit, and have been changing the suspension setting. The bike is not handling too bad but any set-up changes seem critical to the tyre selection. So I have been concentrating on tyres and have found a front Michelin which felt much better and a rear which felt more stable. I changed the gearing but it is still not right, so I will also be trying another setting tomorrow.”

James, who had limited knowledge of the circuit following a 250cc Grand Prix appearance in 1993 and a World Superbike outing dogged by mechanical failure in 1997, was also forced to feel his way back into action on the FP1 – the Malaysian superbike.

James said: “I am not feeling terrible, but I am not feeling great either. My neck is still sore but I have not been able to do any upper body work for the last few weeks, so I do not feel as strong as normal. I feel stiff and not relaxed on the bike but I knew this would be the case. I have had to get to know the circuit again today but felt I was making good progress this morning and I knew where I could take more time off my laps. But we really lost ourselves during the afternoon, both with set-up work and tyre selection.”


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

MLADIN BLASTS TO WORLD SUPERBIKE PROVISIONAL POLE POSITION AT LAGUNA SECA

Monterey, California, USA (Friday, 11 July) – Australia’s Mat Mladin has made an immediate impact on this weekend’s American round of the Superbike World Championship, by blasting his way to provisional pole position aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Mladin created havoc for the international riders from the start of the one-hour session recording his fastest on only his third full flying lap on the Laguna Seca circuit, in Monterey, California. His time of 1:25.608 stood for the remainder of the session and left his as the only rider to drop into the 1:25 bracket.

His time was made all the more impressive as it was the first time that he had ridden the SWC-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000. The technical rule differences between the two championships means that his Yoshimura Suzuki team have prepared two machines for him to use this weekend.

“We didn’t have any real game plan for when we went out there for that session,” said Mladin. “The bike felt good from the start and the tyres suited the conditions well, so we just rolled off a few quick laps. The SWC spec bike does have some different engine characteristics due to the rule differences, but generally it feels quite similar to the bike that I run in the AMA.”

“It was nice to come away with the fastest time of the session today, but tomorrow is when it will count a lot more with Superpole. We did a lot of laps out there on the same tyre to try and give us some indications of how it will last in the race. There’s still a fair bit to be done with the bike to get it dialled in a bit more, so I think for sure the times will drop lower than today.”

Second fastest in today’s opening qualifying session was Frenchman Regis Laconi (NCR Ducati) who reeled off a 1:26.017 in the final minutes of the session to push Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates to third after he set a best lap of 1:26.045. Italian Giovanni Bussai (Ducati Austin) rounds out the provisional front row after he moved up the leaderboard with a 1:26.061.

Current World Championship points leader Neil Hodgson slipped from third to sixth on the time sheets after he parted company with his Fila Ducati with just under five minutes remaining in the session.

SWC qualifying continues tomorrow morning, before the top sixteen riders prepare for the grid determining Superpole session later in the afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Mladin had posted the quickest time of the AMA Superbike competitors as they prepare for the 12th round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship race which is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Mladin’s time of 1:25.393 was quicker than his pole position winning time set yesterday afternoon (1:25.549) and was under the existing AMA Superbike lap record of 1:25.507.

“This is the race I want to win. This is way more important for the team and myself.”


More, from a press release issued by Scuderia Caracchi NCR Nortel Networks:

Regis Laconi second fastest at Laguna Seca in the first qualifying

Only the local hero Mladin has been able to be faster as Regis Laconi and his Ducati 998RS Caracchi NCR Nortel Network in the debut qualifying day on the 2.24 miles of the twisted Californian track of Laguna Seca. Laconi, who has been the fastest in the morning’s free practice session, made a long work looking for the best set up right for the difficult Californian circuit and looks satisfied at the end of the day, also if a little bit disappointed as a group of slower riders damaged him in a fast lap with soft tyres.

“I’m actually satisfied about the work we have done today.” – confirms Regis at the end of the day – “Laguna Seca is a very difficult circuit and I haven’t been here since 2001’s World Superbike event. Moreover the presence of the AMA Championship riders and their knowledge of the track, with a lot of tests on this circuit, makes everything more and more difficult. Unfortunately in my fastest lap, when at the second split I were a whisker behind Mladin, as I was coming up to approach the Corkscrew a group of slow riders was just parked in front of me, damaging my laptime and so I preferred to join the pit, also if my tyres could allow me a second lap. The final minutes of the session have been ruined by the traffic that didn’t allow to upgrade my time. However I’m satisfied because I ran with a fast rhythm a 15 laps sequence to get good information for the Sunday’s race.”

After a hard recovering work in the last period David Garcia in Laguna Seca look to be in better conditions as the previous events and his confident to be able to finish the race: “This track is very exhausting, with a couple of hard braking points; today I rode for several laps with no stop and I’m satisfied of my result, but the race is long and I’ll have to suffer to end the two legs. Tomorrow we’ll plane with the Clinica Mobile staff a good solution for race day.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus (Ducati Fila) recorded sixth and eleventh quickest times respectively at Laguna Seca as multiple AMA champion Mat Mladin set the pace in first qualifying for the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship.

Hodgson was looking to improve on his third quickest time behind the two American Suzuki riders when he lost the front of his Ducati 999 at turn 3 minutes before the end of the session.

“I just lost the front, it was one of those things,” declared Neil. “I had a too hard front tyre. I need to find more grip, that’s the main problem because I’m a second off the pace I was doing last year. Tomorrow morning I’m going to concentrate on getting the bike set-up well and then in the afternoon I’ll do my long run. I don’t think pole position is going to be possible here so it’s not worth stressing myself over it.”

Ruben Xaus had a crash at turn 3 in the morning’s free practice session, but felt much happier with the set-up of his Ducati 999 later in the afternoon qualifying session.

“This morning I fell off on a new front tyre because I didn’t pay attention on my warm-up lap and crashed,” commented Ruben. “The feeling with the bike came better this afternoon when I put a new softer rear tyre towards the end. I just need more laps and time on the bike, because we lost some time with a technical problem this afternoon. My first split is the best but the first right corner here needs a good feeling in the front and we’re not there yet. We always find a good set-up on Sundays, but I’m not that far away from the guys at the front.”


More, from a press release issued by HM Plant Ducati:

HM Plant Ducatis prepare for race day

James Toseland and Chris Walker have qualified provisionally on the second and third rows of the grid respectively for the eighth round of the Superbike World Championship at Laguna Seca. However, both of the British HM Plant Ducati riders are confident that they can improve on their initial positions after an incident-packed first day at the 3.61km Californian circuit.

“After a break of three weeks since the last round of the series at Misano, I was eager to get back on the bike again,” said 22-year-old Toseland who currently lies third in the championship behind the factory Fila Ducati riders Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus. “I see this as a key race in the championship chase, and with this in mind, I am determined to get the best possible race set-up for Sunday.

“Therefore, I wouldn’t read too much in today’s times as the team has been concentrating on fine-tuning the HM Plant Ducati for one of the most demanding circuits we visit all year. I’m happy with the progress that we made today and there’s just a few things to try out on Saturday morning before we finalise the optimum settings.”

Team-mate Walker fell off in the afternoon session but was able to make it back to the pits to complete the first qualifying period one second in arrears of the provisional front row of Matt Mladin, Regis Laconi, Aaron Yates and Giovanni Bussei. “That was hard work out there, but I’ve only got myself to blame,” said the Nottingham star who is competing at Laguna Seca for the second time after his debut in 2002.

“I made some quite good progress in the free practice session, but managed to slip off in qualifying. Then, to make matters worse my spare HM Plant Ducati developed some technical problems which hampered my progress further still. However, we’ve already had tougher hurdles to overcome this season and therefore I am pretty sure that we’ll be OK for race day – when it matters most!”


More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist:

TROY 14TH DESPITE SICKNESS

Despite suffering the effects of diarrohrea and dehydration, Troy managed to complete 36 laps today and ended up fourteenth quickest. Something Troy had eaten the night before disagreed with Troy and spent most of the night back to and from the toilet. In between today’s two sessions, Troy went to the Clinica Mobile and to aid his recovery. Hopefully, Troy will get a good night’s sleep tonight and will be able to push a lot harder tomorrow.

Today’s qualifying session was dominated by local ‘wild card’ riders Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates. The two Suzuki Yoshimura riders finally ended up in first and third positions, split by Regis Laconi (Ducati) towards the end of the session. Fourth was another ‘wild card’ and former WSBK competitor Giovanni Bussei. Bussei replaced Anthony Gobert on the Austin Ducati and
has made an immediate impact on the AMA championship.

I was up for most of last night and it wasn’t very pleasant! It must have been something I ate, but I’m surprised because I had exactly the same meal in the same restaurant two nights OK and I was OK then. I couldn’t eat any breakfast this morning and I was obviously very dehydrated, so that’s why I went to the Clinica Mobile and was put on a drip today. I feel a bit better now and hopefully I’ll be OK tonight and get some decent sleep. Considering how I felt today, I’m not unhappy with how it’s gone today. We’re having
some ground clearance problems here today because of the nature of the circuit. But we’re pretty much as high as we can go on the bike and now
it’s not so easy to turn. Also, we have to change the gearbox internals because the gearing is not right and we still have to find a good tyre. I
didn’t race here last year of course, so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. Let’s hope I’m back to 100% tomorrow – you need to be here because it
is such a physical track.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday’s MotoGP Qualifying Results:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:31.196
2. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:31.278
3. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:31.527
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:31.562
5. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:31.583
6. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:31.655
7. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:31.711
8. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:31.820
9. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:31.861
10. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:32.039
11. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:32.175
12. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:32.199
13. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:32.283
14. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:32.483
15. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:32.798
16. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 1:32.859
17. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:33.338
18. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:33.386
19. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:34.028
20. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 1:34.220
21. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:34.451
22. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:35.203
23. Chris Burns, ROC Yamaha, 1:35.221
24. David De Gea, Sabre, 1:36.851

Friday’s 250cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

1. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:33.859
2. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 1:34.366
3. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:34.633
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:34.789
5. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:34.814
6. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:35.260
7. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:35.589
8. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:35.670
9. Anthony West, Aprilia, 1:35.725
10. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 1:35.778
11. Erwan Nigon, Aprilia, 1:36.193
12. Johan Stigefelt, Aprilia, 1:36.323
13. Eric Bataille, Honda, 1:36.331
14. Jay Vincent, Aprilia, 1:36.487
15. Alex Debon, Honda, 1:36.553

Friday’s 125cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

1. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 1:38.297
2. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:38.328
3. Stefano Perugini, Aprilia, 1:38.622
4. Hector Barbera, Aprilia, 1:38.675
5. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:38.718
6. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, 1:38.752
7. Youichi Ui, Aprilia, 1:38.889
8. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:39.020
9. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:39.170
10. Masao Azuma, Honda, 1:39.408
11. Arnaud Vincent, KTM, 1:39.460
12. Mika Kallio, Honda, 1:39.465
13. Gabor Talmasci, Aprilia, 1:39.477
14. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:39.664
15. Mirko Giansanti, Aprilia, 1:39.951

More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

CHECA ON PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW AGAIN FOR FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM

Carlos Checa continued his run of strong form today as he put his Fortuna Yamaha Team YZR-M1 on the front row of the provisional grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Donington Park. Checa recorded the fourth fastest time with a 1:31.562, just inside the fastest ever lap of the famous circuit.

MotoGP class rookie Marco Melandri was set for a second row start before slipping to 13th on the provisional grid in the usual end of session reshuffle. Melandri’s time of 1:32.283 was only a fraction over a second slower than the pole time with the top 11 riders separated by only one second.

World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda 1:31.196) made a strong start to his second “home” Grand Prix. The London-based rider was fastest for most of the session and held off a late challenge from Australian Troy Bayliss (Ducati 1:31.278) with a string of flying laps at the end of the hour. Third place on the grid went to Spaniard Sete Gibernau (Honda 1:31.527) just ahead of Checa. All four front row starters were inside the previous circuit best lap (1:31.563) set by Rossi in qualifying last year.

Fortuna Yamaha Team Catalan-born rider Carlos Checa made a strong start to the weekend this morning with fourth place in free practice. Checa, who along with Rossi and team-mate Melandri is a UK resident, waited until the last ten seconds of the session to replicate that fourth place in this afternoon’s qualifier with a flying lap.

“I think for a starting point that’s not too bad,” said Checa. “We did a good job this afternoon. It was quite difficult to find the right tyre and I’m not so clear in this area. We’ll do some more work with the tyres tomorrow morning. Today I wasn’t feeling too good as I had a headache. I may have picked up a cold so I’ll go to the Clinica tonight to perfect my personal ‘set-up’ for tomorrow.

“The team are working well. They have given me a good bike here like at the last race and that helps to give me a new positive feeling that I didn’t have at the start of the season. Now we’re going better we can hopefully score some good results.”

Marco Melandri was a little disappointed with his provisional fourth row start despite feeling happier with his general set-up today. The 20-year-old reigning 250cc World Champion finally qualified thirteenth fastest with his Fortuna Yamaha Team YZR-M1 with 1:32.283, missing the opportunity to put in a faster lap at the end of the session.

“I’m happy, but sad about the last lap,” said Melandri. “On the second to last lap I saw that I had three minutes to go so I thought I could get another lap in. But in the end I was too late. My feeling with the bike is quite good and I never really had a good feeling at this track in previous years. I feel better on the M1 than I did on the 250 here. I think I can improve quite a lot tomorrow. We’ve changed the set up a little bit since Assen. I gave feedback to the crew and they’ve altered the suspension geometry a little and it feels better for me. I’m really happy with the work of the team. They say the weather will be good for the next two days so hopefully I’ll get a better grid position tomorrow afternoon!”

Team Director Davide Brivio welcomed the team’s first qualifying performance, “It’s been a good day,” he explained. “With both riders we have some room for improvement tomorrow. Carlos did well with a fast lap at the end of the session. Unfortunately Marco thought he would still be in time for one more lap and so didn’t get his flying lap. But he seems to have a good feeling on the bike and both riders are quite happy. We’ll keep working methodically to improve our performance throughout the weekend.”

More, from a press release issued by KTM:

Vincent Flies to 11th for KTM-Red Bull

World champion Arnaud Vincent has qualified 11th on the provisional grid at a sunny and warm Donington Park in preparation for Sunday’s British Grand Prix. The race is the halfway point of the championship season with Vincent’s teammate Roberto Locatelli 22nd in first qualifying.

Both riders recorded their fastest laps after the chequered flag had been waved with Vincent’s late dash closing him to within 1.1 second of pole position. And the Frenchman believes he could have been much faster after he was delayed by traffic on his final fast lap. The Donington circuit, which does not rely on outright speed and horsepower, is proving to be KTM-friendly and both Vincent and Locatelli are hopeful of improved performances in final qualifying.

# 1 Arnaud Vincent
11th/1:39.460

On my final lap I had to pass three riders and there was a lot of traffic. The layout of this track suits the KTM engine characteristics and for tomorrow I hope to have my best engine fitted to my preferred chassis. Today the engine in my best handling chassis was a little down on performance.

#10 Roberto Locatelli
22nd /1:40.396

Donington has a lot of little bumps at some corners especially the final hairpin section and I need to work with my technicians for a better set-up over the bumps. Apart from that the motor does fell more suited to this track compared to the faster circuits of recent races.

Harald Bartol
Team Manager

A positive day for us and for sure Donington is a track where we can maximise the performance of the engine with our current level of development. After Assen we did a lot of tests on the gearbox and have eliminated that as the cause of our power loss on the faster circuits. There is another reason and In the coming weeks we will look for the solution with more dyno testing in the workshop.

More, from a press release issued by Alice Aprilia Racing Press Information:

GREAT BRITAIN GP/ 1st QUALIFYING SESSION

Donington – A big quantity of competitive spirit and limited gaps for the first qualifying session on Donington Park circuit or the 8th round of the world championship: 13 riders in one second. So tomorrow and especially on Sunday the challenge will be very hard. The features of the British track which is fast and easy-riding in the first part and slow and “tortuous” in the second one, create some setting problems: in fact, it must decide if it’s better to improve the handling or the stability. So difficult choices for everybody but the show on track is still the same.

COLIN EDWARDS: “I feel fine here because I am well-known by the public and there are a lot of photographers searching for me all the time. But this is not the problem. In the first part of the track I am very fast and enjoy my trajectories. The second part I simply terrible: I must control the bike in acceleration and it’s not so funny. Tomorrow we are going to make new experiments in order to balance the bike”.

NORIYUKI HAGA: “It’s a pity cause my engine switched off at 100 metres to the finishing line. I like the whole track also the second part but I need a perfect setting on order to be more competitive: now the bike is to “nervous” in the final part. Anyway I feel confident: I like this track very much and I absolutely want to get a good result”.

GIGI DALL’IGNA (Project Leader): “We have not been so lucky in the final part of the session: Haga’s engine switched off in the last corner because of a fuel distribution problem. It’s not a serious thing but Nori could easily improve his lap time. Colin found a Proton bike in the middle of the track so he lost too much time. Anyway the info achieved today are very important: the challenge is big and the gap is very low. Tomorrow we will try to improve the performance of our bikes in the second part of the track”.

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda Team Press Information:

Donington Park – (Great Britain) Round 8 – 11/12/13 July 2003

Friday – qualifying sessions

Tough first round of practice sessions for Makoto Tamada at Donington.

First day of apprenticeship at Darlington for Makoto Tamada, who had a tough time getting a feeling for the highly technical British circuit. This is also the first time he has tried out the new frame, which has just been flown in for his RC211V, and that has made his job twice as hard: a new circuit and a new motorcycle configuration that he needs to get to grips with.

As the first quarter of the qualifying session was coming to an end, Makoto Tamada went into a harmless slide on the McLeans corner. Just slight damage to his RC211V, but enough to prevent him from continuing his comparative tests on the two different frames. Makoto carried on with the bike with the latest frame – the one not involved in the fall, and he finished the session with a slight loss of concentration. This means there should be plenty of room for improvement tomorrow when the great Japanese rider will have acquired better knowledge of the English circuit and, of course, of the new alternative configurations of his Honda.

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda Team): 17th – 1:33.338

“A pleasant, technical circuit. The two 180-degree hairpins are absolutely great. Even so, my harmless slide did complicate matters and I found myself having to work only on the new configuration of my bike. I find the bike a bit heavy, what with having the two frames, and it’s rather jerky when I’m braking. We’re going to have to work on the set-up of the suspension, and get the settings just right. We also need to find the right direction to follow in order to improve, but I think we’ll be able to get the details sorted out tomorrow. As far as today is concerned, I must say it’s hard to give a precise idea about the differences between the two different frames.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

SUZUKI TEAM STEP FORWARD AT DONINGTON

Team Suzuki Press Office Friday 11th July 2003
Team Suzuki riders Yukio Kagayama and John Hopkins qualified side by side once again for the provisional starting grid for Sunday’s British GP, setting 15th and 16th-fastest lap times round the swooping 4.023km parkland circuit outside Derby.

Both riders were enjoying the benefit of the latest in a continuing line of improvements and revisions to the new GSV-R MotoGP prototype. New chassis and engine parts were aimed at making the 200-plus horsepower machine more predictable and easier to ride.

The effects were immediately discernible, and though not the final answer in unleashing the full potential of the 990cc V4 racer they are proof that development is moving ahead, and in the right direction. Hopkins set the second-fastest top speed time today, at 268.1km/h, with only Loris Capirossi (Ducati) faster through the speed trap.

The British GP, eighth of 16 rounds, is the home race for the team, based in Kent south of London, and also for Hopkins, who was born in the USA but to an all-English family. As well as his mother and sister from the USA, Hopkins is playing host to a number of home-country relations at the British race. Hopkins is fresh from a first drive in a McLaren Formula One car – a two-lap test at the French GP last weekend. “It was pretty tightly controlled, but I managed to get the back to slide out of the last corner, and gave it a good run up through the first five gears,” he said. “It felt like a big go-kart. A really fast go-kart.”

Kagayama is also a temporary resident of England, where he is contesting the full British Superbike Championship. “Yuki” (29) is fresh from his first double win last weekend at the Rockingham BSB round; while the British GP is the fifth of nine consecutive weekends of top-level racing. He is taking the place of the injured team regular Kenny Roberts, who expects to be fit to return for the next round in Germany.

Today’s practice took place in dry and partially cloudy conditions, with a cool wind keeping temperatures to 21 degrees. There is one more hour-long timed qualifying session tomorrow for Sunday’s race, with good weather predicted for the rest of the weekend.

JOHN HOPKINS – 15th Position, 1:32.798
We got some new parts here, and it definitely seems to be a step in the right direction. The engine changes are the biggest improvement. They don’t make the bike faster or change the limits of performance, but they make it easier to get to the limit and to ride at the limit. This afternoon we messed round with the set-up, but we went the wrong way. This may have interrupted our progress, with changes that weren’t necessary but that’s all part of trying to get the bike the best it can possibly be for Sunday.

YUKIO KAGAYAMA – 17th Position, 1:32.859
After my first ride on the new bike at Assen, we asked for some changes from the factory, and we have them here already. And it is working a bit better. The throttle response is improved, not perfect, but better than before. The chassis is not so bad, here or at Assen. This is my first time at the long circuit here, but the hairpins are not difficult corners, and I like the other part of the circuit, so I am enjoying myself. I was pleased when I got in to the 32s this afternoon, and sure I would be higher up the grid but when I got back to the pit, I found I was in the same position. Everybody else also went faster!

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:

Checa claims provisional front row at Donington
Round: 8 – Donington MotoGP
Circuit: Donington Park
Date: 11 July 2003
Temp: 21°C
Weather: Dry
A late surge from Carlos Checa (Fortuna Yamaha Team) during the opening qualifier for the British MotoGP, held July 11 at Donington Park, produced a valuable provisional front-row start for this weekend’s eighth round of the world championship. The Spaniard, who resides in England, set his best time of 1:31.562 with less than two minutes of the one-hour session remaining – claiming fourth place on a grid that saw the top 13 riders covered by little more than one second. Joining Checa on the front row is reigning world champion Valentino Rossi (Honda), who set the fastest time of the day with a 1:31.196, ahead of Australian Troy Bayliss (Ducati, 1:31.278) and Spain’s Sete Gibernau (Honda, 1:31.527).

Frenchman Oliver Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha Team, 1:31.655) claimed the sixth fastest time, with team-mate Alex Barros also qualifying under the existing lap record –rounding out the top ten with a time of 1:32.039 – despite a less than ideal chassis set-up.

Donington is also the adopted home Grand Prix for Italian rider Marco Melandri (Fortuna Yamaha Team, 1:32.283) who lives in Derby, just a few miles drive from the technically demanding circuit. The MotoGP rookie felt he could have gone faster today, but mistimed his run and was met by the chequered flag as he came round to attempt his flying lap. Melandri finds himself 13th in the overnight standings, just 1.087 seconds behind provisional pole-sitter Rossi.

Shinya Nakano (d’Antin Yamaha Team, 1:32.483) was one of a number of riders to be caught out in the early stages of the session when he slid from his YZR-M1. Despite the fall the Nakano was able to return to the pits and use his spare bike to take a place on the fourth row of the grid.

Fortuna Yamaha Team
Carlos Checa 4th, 1:31.562: “I think for a starting point that’s not too bad. We did a good job this afternoon. It was quite difficult to find the right tyre and I’m not so clear in this area, yet. We’ll do some more work with the tyres tomorrow morning just to make sure. Today I wasn’t feeling too good as I had a headache. I may have picked up a cold so I’ll go to the Clinica tonight to perfect my personal ‘set-up’ for tomorrow.

“The team are working well. They have given me a good bike and that helps to give me a positive feeling that I didn’t have at the start of the season. Now we’re going better we can hopefully score some good results.”

Marco Melandri 13th, 1:32.283: “I’m happy, but at the same time sad about the last lap. On the second to last lap I saw that I had three minutes to go so I thought I could get another lap in. But in the end I was too late. My feeling with the bike is quite good, and I never really had a good feeling at this track in previous years. I feel better here on the M1 than I did on the 250 and I think I can improve quite a lot tomorrow. We’ve changed the set-up a little bit since Assen. I gave feedback to the crew and they’ve altered the suspension geometry a little and it feels better for me. I’m really happy with the work of the team. They say the weather will be good for the next two days so hopefully I’ll get a better grid position tomorrow afternoon!”

Gauloises Yamaha Team
Olivier Jacque 6th, 1:31.655: “We managed to find a good base set-up quite quickly this morning and after that I concentrated on posting fast consistent laps rather than going all out for one quick lap. Consistency over race distance has been our weak point up until now and if we want to put in the kind of performance the bike and I are capable of at this circuit then it’s what we have to focus on.”

Alex Barros 10th, 1:32.039: “I’m not too thrilled about my position but the times are very close and if we manage to make the bike turn a little better I think my time should come down quite a lot. Apart from the bike not turning in fast enough yet, I have no particular set-up problems. Given that I like this circuit and usually go well here I think I should be OK come Sunday.”

D’Antin Yamaha Team
Shinya Nakano 14th, 1:32.483: “Today was a difficult day because I crashed at the beginning of the session when I touched the track kerbing. It meant that I had to finish the session with my second bike. We have been working with the engine response and the chassis set-up, and although the 14th place would be seen as a bad result, overall the day wasn’t too bad for me.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Proton KR:

V5 Home Debut

Jeremy McWilliams: 18th, 1:33.386
Nobuatsu Aoki: 22nd, 1:35.208

Team Proton KR riders placed 18th and 22nd in a hard first day of practice for Sunday’s British GP, home race for the Banbury-based team, and only the fourth race for the radical new V5 four-stroke racer.

But two weeks since the Dutch TT, with two test sessions and gallons of midnight oil burned at the factory, has yielded yet more clear progress. Oil-control problems encountered at Assen have not returned, while the overall package has taken another step forward, as the team tick off the teething problems one by one, and also polish the settings and engineering details to achieve the right balance and feel for the brand new machine.

One problem will take longer to solve – crankshaft failures have dogged the first version of the engine, and the team is still waiting for delivery of redesigned components.

One result is that there only three of the new four-strokes at Donington Park. The team had four bikes at Assen two weeks ago, but a shortage of parts has limited them for this race. Aoki has two of the new machines; McWilliams just one, with one of the old three-cylinder 500cc two-strokes on which they started the season standing by as a spare.

Hopes were also dashed for a first outing for the latest power-up engine that arrived from Rob Muzzy’s workshops in the USA during the break after Assen. This also succumbed to teething troubles. “We always knew it would take time to get the new parts we need,” said team owner Kenny Roberts.

Today’s first practice took place in dry and intermittently sunny conditions, with a cool breeze keeping overall temperatures down. There is one more day of practice before Sunday’s race.

Jeremy McWilliams
I feel as though I am doing everything possible at the minute, but I am limited by how fast the bike can go into the corners. I don’t get on with the slipper clutch yet, and the back wheel tends to lock up. You have to wait until it all comes back into line before you can commit to the corner. I can only brake as late and as hard as the engine will let me. If we can sort that out, there’s another 1.5 seconds, or at least a second, improvement. We’ve improved it already with the tests since the last race, and I think we can get it better for tomorrow.

Nobuatsu Aoki
This morning for the first time I felt really comfortable on the bike. My crew made some geometry changes, with the engine a bit higher, that gives me more confidence. In the afternoon we changed the gearing a little, by changing both front and rear chain sprockets. That obviously changed the chain force, and it felt like anti-squat geometry that wasn’t working right. The whole balance was wrong. Tomorrow we’ll put it back to how it was this morning, then we’ll see.

Kenny Roberts – Team Owner
We only have three bikes because we’re out of parts – though we will get another engine tonight. We had one of the power-up engines here too, but it broke. We’re still having crankshaft problems, and it’s going to be some weeks before we get the redesigned parts. You have to remember that this is still just the first development version of the bike – we never really intended to race it.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Ducati Marlboro Men Make great Start at Donington

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi made a superb start to their weekend at breezy Donington Park this afternoon, placing second and fifth in the opening qualifying session. Bayliss was just 0.082 seconds off provisional pole despite two minor crashes, and even though the Desmosedici has never been here before.

“We’re quite happy with today because now the bike seems to work everywhere, more or less,” said Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “Of course, both our riders know and like this circuit, which obviously helps. Donington is one of the slowest tracks in MotoGP but we don’t ‘turn down’ the engine here, we prefer to leave it the same, so the riders are fully familiar with its behaviour. The only particular set-up feature here is the fork setting – we run a harder front-end here so the forks don’t bottom during braking for the slow hairpins. Troy had a couple of crashes, both going into those slow turns, because he lacked a bit of feeling with the front, so he was finding it difficult to feel the limit. Loris wasn’t able to do as many laps as he wanted this morning because we were making a few changes to the bike, but this afternoon was good for him. He did his fastest laps with potential race tyres, and tomorrow we’ll try to do as many laps as possible on those tyres for Sunday.”

Bayliss bounces back from two spills
Two low-speed spills couldn’t stop Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss from challenging for provisional pole position today. The Aussie, who hasn’t been on the front row since May’s Spanish GP, slid off at Donington’s two slowest turns – the bumpy, off-camber Goddard hairpin this morning and the slightly less bumpy Melbourne hairpin this afternoon. He walked away from both crashes, though he did sustain a minor injury in the second get-off, when his bike’s handlebar struck his left arm.

“They weren’t so much crashes as ballet,” grinned Bayliss after his second graceful fall. “I’d been getting a bit of chatter mid-corner – the bike was trying to tell me something. Both times the bike slid and nearly picked itself up but not quite! You have to be careful to find the right way here – especially at Goddard. The second one happened when I was trying a few different lines at Melbourne. But overall the bike feels good, I feel really comfortable on it. We seem to have a base setting which is pretty good everywhere, and I like this place, even though I’ve never won a race here. The plan for tomorrow is to work some more on grip – this isn’t the grippiest track in the world.”

Capirossi 0.2 seconds off front row
Loris Capirossi, gunning for his seventh consecutive front-row start, ended this afternoon’s opening qualifier in fifth spot, just two hundredths of a second off the provisional front row. And the Ducati Marlboro Team man is in confident mood, because he did his quickest lap on race tyres, not softer qualifying rubber.

“I’m happy with that because we lost some time making adjustments in the morning session,” said the Italian who won his first GP victory here in 1990. “This afternoon was much better and we’re very close to pole, even though I was using quite a hard rear tyre for my best lap. We are still trying to find more feel from the front end but I’m confident we can improve tomorrow when we’ll try some other tyres. We know what we’ve got to do and I’m confident for the weekend.”

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

DIFFICULT DONINGTON CHALLENGE FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI TEAM
Fuchs Kawasaki riders Andrew Pitt and Garry McCoy became the unwilling ‘wheelie-kings’ of Donington Park during today’s first qualifying session for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

Both riders struggled to keep sufficient front wheel contact with the four kilometre East Midlands circuit, which is proving to be another new and difficult challenge in the development of the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machine.

Even so, Pitt and McCoy both sliced more than two seconds from their morning free practice times as they worked closely with Kawasaki technicians to find solutions to the unique challenge of Donington Park.

The compromise is for smoothness under hard acceleration and braking in the stop-go Melbourne Loop, and for confidence-inspiring steering through the fast sweeps of the Craner Curves and Starkey’s Bridge.

For the first time this season McCoy concentrated on evaluating a softer and ‘more flexible’ version of the ZX-RR chassis, which has been adapted to the Australian’s own set-up requirements. McCoy used this frame specification, which has been employed in recent GP outings by wild card rider Alex Hofmann, for his qualifying run today. The Australian hopes to make further progress tomorrow after running a series of back-to-back tests today against his regular race mount, which features a later, stiffer ZX-RR frame.

On the tyre front, Dunlop have lived up to their Donington reputation with an excellent supply of rubber for the ZX-RR, which in today’s conditions, have produced consistent performance and grip levels.

Andrew Pitt – 19th – 1:34.028
‘I’m struggling to keep the front wheel on the track, especially through the tight, stop-go section; that’s the biggest problem we’ve got here and while it’s something that we’ve had at other tracks, the problem seems magnified at Donington. Another problem is finding the balance between good steering through the fast sections and the stop-go part before the pits. On a positive note, the Dunlops feel good with a lot of consistent grip.’

Garry McCoy – 21st – 1:34.451
‘Wheelies are fun, but they are definitely not the fast way around Donington. It is really hard to keep the front wheel down and it feels like you can only use half to three-quarter throttle in every gear. This is not a new problem, but it seems worse here than other tracks; even going to taller gearing didn’t really solve it. I ran the more flexible frame this afternoon and I’m working out how much different it feels; we’ve got some more settings to try tomorrow and still quite a few tyre runs to do for Dunlop.’

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
‘Donington is a very different kind of track and this is our first time here with the ZX-RR. There have been good and bad points about today. The good is that we’re still on a steep learning curve and amassing data and experience for the future, while the bad is our positions on the provisional grid, as both the team and riders want to be closer to the front. The other good news is that our tyre partner, Dunlop, have supplied us with some good tyres which are very consistent and offer an excellent level of grip.’

More, from a press release issued by WCM:

BRITISH GP – DONINGTON

Qualifying – Friday July 11th 2003

WCM DEBUTS AT DONINGTON

CHRIS BURNS: 23rd 1:35.221
“That was alright for my first real go on a 500. I¹ve never ridden a 500cc four-cylinder two-stroke before other then a handful of laps at Rockingham on Wednesday, so I’m pretty happy with coming out and qualifying today.

The bike is light, small, easy to ride and pretty smooth and I am quite surprised at how good it feels for the age of it. It rode sharp and felt strong.

From Free Practice this-morning it was in my mind throughout the session to not drop it, only having one bike was in the back of my mind. So when I ran wide into the gravel on the fifth lap, I was determined to hold onto it and put it down gently in the litter. I lost 20 minutes in that session, getting back into the garage whilst the mechanics re-fitted the exhaust pipe.

Basically, all I’m missing is some horses down the straight, it’s amazing how much you can gain on the four-strokes in the corners, but as soon as you straighten up the four-strokes are gone.

It’s my second official practice session of the season, the first, back in April in Suzuka. I am really l

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Team Caracchi NCR Nortel Network’s Regis Laconi led the first World Superbike practice at Laguna Seca Friday morning, with a 1:26.429 on his Dunlop-equipped Ducati 998RS.

Ducati Fila’s Ruben Xaus crashed in turn 10 with three minutes remaining in the session. Xaus was reported as being “OK.”

AMA regulars/World Superbike wild cards Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Eric Bostrom sat out the one-hour practice per special rules set up for the Laguna Seca. According to the AMA teams, the wild card riders will not be allowed to participate in World Superbike practice sessions and can only ride in World Superbike qualifying sessions. If the wild cards qualify for Superpole, they will be allowed to participate in the short, pre-Superpole qualifying session Saturday afternoon.

Although he is considered a World Superbike regular, Ducati Austin’s Giovanni Bussei was not allowed to participate in World Superbike practice because he is practicing in the AMA Superbike sessions.

The start of the World Superbike practice session was delayed 30 minutes due to fog and reduced visibility.

Friday Morning World Superbike Practice Times:

1. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.429
2. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.679
3. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.807
4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:26.855
5. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.963
6. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:27.360
7. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.578
8. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.771
9. Lucio Pederchini, Ducati 998Rs, 1:27.917
10. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:28.270
11. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.474
12. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.768
13. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.836
14. Maurco Borciani, Ducati 998Rs, 1:28.842
15. David Garcia, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.142
16. James Haydon, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:30.423
17. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:31.281
18. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:31.650
19. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:32.230

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies turns 19 years old today.

Spies was born in Memphis, Tennessee and currently resides in Longview, Texas.

From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

Rd 12 – 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California, USA
Qualifying session Report

AMERICAN SUPERBIKE POLE POSITION FOR MLADIN AT LAGUNA SECA

Monterey, California, USA – Three-times American Superbike champion Mat Mladin was quick to get into stride today, taking pole position for this weekend’s twelfth round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at Laguna Seca, Monterey, this weekend.

In a revised format for the weekend, where the local American AMA Championship runs in conjunction with their round of the Superbike World Championship, qualifying for the AMA Superbike competitors was conducted today, with their 28-lap championship round scheduled to run on Saturday afternoon.

Mladin was fastest in the morning’s opening practice session heading his nearest rival by over a second before confirming his place at the top of the time sheets during the one-hour afternoon qualifying session. On his way to securing his fifth pole position in this year’s championship, Mladin pushed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a best time of 1:25.549 around the 3.610km (2.2miles) Californian circuit.

“Things went pretty well for us out there today,” said Mladin. “We didn’t get a whole lot of time out there, but we have put the bike on pole and that’s what counts. We still have a bit of work to do before Saturday’s race, with two more practice sessions still remaining.”

“It’s always nice to come away from qualifying with a handy buffer over the rest,” added Mladin. “All that we need to do now is convert that to maximum points in the race.”

Buoyed by the presence of Dunlop’s European contingent of personnel and equipment at Laguna, Mladin is hoping that this may be a turning point in a season that has been fraught with tyre problems.

“One good thing about having the World Superbike people here this weekend is they bring all of the right people. As a result, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to have tried a few new tyres and see how they work with the Suzuki. It’s always good to be in a position to try something new, but we will still have to work through the whole package to see what the actual benefits and results are.”

Joining Mladin on the front row of the grid for the AMA Superbike national will be Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts (1:26.228), Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom (1:26.314) and Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates (1:26.591).

Taking pole for the AMA event is the first step of a very busy weekend for the Australian as he is also competing in the World Superbike Championship round as a ‘wild card’ entrant. The one off appearance in this years championship makes for a busy time for Mladin and his team, but still does not detract from his desire to perform at his best all of the time.

“I think we might be in a strong position to challenge for pole in the SWC which would be a great result for us.”

Mladin takes to the track tomorrow for the opening qualifying session for the SWC, as well as a 50-minute AMA Superbike practice session.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday Afternoon AMA Superbike Practice Times:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:25.393
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:26.183
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:26.852
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 1:27.090
5. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, 1:27.370
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:27.584
7. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:27.692
8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:27.856
9. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, 1:28.205
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 1:29.243
11. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, 1:29.349
12. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:30.188
13. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:30.234
14. John Dugan, Suzuki, 1:30.555
15. James Randolph, Suzuki, 1:30.746
16. Jake Holden, Suzuki, 1:30.824
17. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 1:30.975
18. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, 1:31.000
19. Tom Montano, Ducati, 1:31.528
20. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:31.542

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Practice was stopped at approximately 9:30 a.m. local time Friday at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California due to fog.

AMA Superstock riders had just started a practice session when the fog rolled in and reduced visibility enough for officials to red flag the session.

AMA Supersport and 250cc Grand Prix racers had already completed practice sessions earlier Friday morning.

How the delay will affect Friday’s schedule is yet to be determined.

Friday’s schedule at Laguna Seca calls for practice for AMA Superstock, 250cc Grand Prix and Superbike; qualifying for AMA Superstock; the AMA Supersport race; and World Superbike practice and qualifying.


Update: World Superbikes rolled out onto the track at about 11:00 a.m., after the fog burned off.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The July 10 FIM press release announcing that World Superbike Championship promoters FGSport Group have requested a spec tire rule for the 2004 World Superbike season came as a surprise to the top two teams in the 2003 World Superbike Championship.

“I saw it yesterday. Big surprise. We never heard about it,” said Paolo Ciabatti, the head of Ducati Corse’s Superbike racing program. “In principle, I don’t want to comment at the moment, but it’s not something we were expecting.”

Asked if he knew of anyone was consulted before the spec tire deal was announced, Ciabatti said, “The single make of the tire, no, I don’t think they talked to anybody (before they announced it). It was a surprise for everybody including us.”

“I was surprised to hear of the proposal,” said Darrell Healy, Team Principal for HM Plant Ducati, “because the first part of the press release deals with talking about unifying the Superbike rules between the International Championship, the UK and the AMA and Japan.

“Obviously, in those other three National Championships there is no one-tire rule.

“It was a little bit surprising that one hand was talking about unification of rules and then secondly World Superbike’s going to have one tire.

“So, I’m not sure if it’s a suggestion or actually something that’s definitely going to happen for next year. I think what we’re going to do is to see what is actually going to be proposed in terms of technical rules for next year at Brands Hatch. They’re saying that’s when it’s going to be announced.”

Asked if he had heard any talk of the spec tire deal before Thursday, Healy said, “It was the first time I officially heard of it being a possibility. There was talk or rumors at Silverstone of maybe some sort of one tire manufacturer.

“No brand has officially been announced, but there’s a very strong rumor, again, that it’s going to be Pirelli.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Attack Suzuki’s Josh Hayes took his fourth AMA Superstock pole position of the 2003 season with a new Laguna Seca lap record time of 1:28.429.

The previous lap record of 1:29.429 was set by Vincent Haskovec in 2001. Hooters Suzuki’s Haskovec also beat his old record time with a 1:29.293 but qualified sixth in the highly-competitive field.

All of the top six qualifiers went faster than the old lap record.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp, winner of the last two Superstock races, qualified second with a 1:28.706 on his Michelin-shod machine.

Corona Extra Suzuki’s Adam Fergusson and Tommy Hayden, riding the Kawasaki 636cc ZX-6R, also qualified on the front row Friday in Monterey, California.

Provisional AMA Superstock Qualifying Results:

1. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.598
2. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.706
3. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.796
4. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:29.131
5. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:29.169
6. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.293
7. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.683
8. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:29.969
9. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.087
10. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.219
11. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.638
12. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.827
13. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.940
14. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.012
15. Corey Eaton, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.787
16. Jason Perez, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:31.811
17. Hawk Mazzotta, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.961
18. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600RR, 1:32.034
19. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.193
20. Tom Wertman, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.471


More, from a press release issued by 1-888-FASTLAP:

1-888-FASTLAP RIDERS 9TH AND 19TH IN SUPERSTOCK QUALIFYING; CAYLOR IN TOP TEN DESPITE INJURY

MONTEREY, Calif.- 1-888-FASTLAP’s Opie Caylor qualified ninth for AMA Pro Racing’s Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race at Laguna Seca Raceway, despite riding with an injured knee.

Caylor, who has only ridden the challenging road course once before, set a time of 1:30.087 to take the ninth spot in qualifying on the 1-888-FASTLAP/Team EMGO Taiwan Suzuki GSX-R750.

Several days before the event, Caylor injured his left knee while training on his bicycle. A deep cut has caused him discomfort on the racetrack, but it did not stop him from earning a top-ten qualifying position.

“We were a bit off the pace in the last practice,” said Caylor. “My mechanic Grant (Matsushima) had a theory about the gearing, and we changed it for the qualifying session. It was a lot better. We went a second faster in qualifying, on race tires, than we did in practice. Grant made a good call. We’re always trying to go faster, but we should be good for the race.”

Stokes, who also rides under the 1-888-FASTLAP banner, qualified 19th on the Team Embry Suzuki GSX-R750. His quickest time of the qualifying session was a 1:32.193. Stokes is riding at Laguna Seca for the first time.

“It’s a hard track to get a good grasp of,” commented Stokes. “Up until qualifying my gearing was totally wrong. Between finding the right setup and getting acquainted with the track, I wasn’t as quick as I’d hoped to be. From turns five to ten I feel strong, but I need to get through the first five turns better. This is the toughest of all the AMA tracks I’ve ridden this year.”

Caylor and Stokes also qualified for the AMA Superbike race, which will be held on Saturday, July 12. Caylor qualified 16th with a time of 1:30.773 and Stokes will start from the 28th position after qualifying with a time of 1:32.527.

The Superstock race will be held on Sunday, July 13, at 1:30.

1-888-FASTLAP owner Paul Wright is also riding at Laguna Seca for the first time. Wright has been learning the track on his Yamaha TZ250 in preparation for the MBNA 250 GP Series race on Sunday. Qualifying will be held on Saturday.

In addition to learning a new track, Wright faces several additional challenges. He has been off the bike for over a month, and is preparing to undergo knee surgery due to a recent injury.



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

Rapp Second-fastest In Superstock Qualifying At Laguna

Friday at Laguna Seca saw Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki continue a strong midseason charge, qualifying two men on the front three rows for Sunday’s Superstock final. Steve Rapp led the way, claiming the second spot on the grid, while Chris Ulrich continued to show lead-pack speed, qualifying 12th despite a minor crash during practice.

The 30-year-old Rapp led much of the Superstock session, until being bumped a spot late. While the pole position would have been a nice reward for his strong form, Rapp proved last time out at Brainerd International Raceway that he has no problems winning from the second spot on the front row. Running under the old lap record again on Friday, Rapp is firmly in contention to grab his third consecutive Superstock win, despite having a sore shoulder that limited his track time.

“We led much of the session and I think it’s clear we have the speed to run up front again in this race,” Rapp said. “I’m still having some problems with the shoulder and we will have to wait and see how we do in the race. I’ll give it my best effort, of course.” Rapp has won the last two Genuine Suzuki Accessories AMA Superstock races, first at Road America and then at Brainerd.

After the first Supersport practice session was cancelled due to fog, Chris Ulrich fell in Superbike practice but recovered to put himself on the third row of the Superstock grid, then immediately left the track for treatment of his aggravated shoulder by famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Art Ting and his physical therapist, Tuan Nyugen. Ulrich, who won his first Superstock National here at Laguna Seca two years ago, will look for a good start on Sunday to achieve his goal of a top-five finish. Ulrich and his Michelin-shod Suzuki have made considerable progress the past two events and the second-generation racer is returning to form after a slow, injury-hampered start to 2003.

Meanwhile, young Matt Furtek continued to learn the nuances of the tricky 2.2-mile circuit, a task in no way helped by the morning weather. He qualified 22nd. “I’m still figuring out the fast way to get around here,” the teenager remarked. “The morning session got fogged out, so we didn’t get as much track time as we would have liked.”

Saturday will see Rapp on the big Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000, seeking a podium finish in the 17-lap Formula Xtreme final.