Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin took another AMA Superbike race win, his eighth of the season and 23rd of his career, Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The race started the same way as Saturday’s race with Mladin and Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts running nose-to-tail from the start. Roberts led until lap five when Mladin took the lead with a pass into turn one to start lap six.

Roberts stayed close to Mladin for several laps before fading back slightly in the second half. Then, on lap 24 of 26, Roberts suffered a mechanical problem, slowed and retired.

Roberts’ retirement allowed Attack Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore to repeat his second place from Saturday.

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom beat Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates in a late-race fight for third.

Corona Extra Suzuki’s Jordan Szoke raced with Ducati Austin’s Giovanni Bussei flag-to-flag with Szoke fending off Bussei for fifth.

Shawn Higbee, Geoff May, Vincent Haskovec and Mike Ciccotto completed the top 10.

Roberts was credited with four points, for 27th place.

Miguel Duhamel crashed out of the race coming on to the front straightaway at the end of the first lap. Duhamel walked away from the incident.


Provisional AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 26 laps
2. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, -6.668 seconds
3. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -10.071 seconds
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -10.203 seconds
5. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, -35.063 seconds
6. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, -35.280 seconds
7. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, -53.803 seconds
8. Geoff May, Suzuki, -72.562 seconds
9. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -73.150 seconds
10. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, -1 lap
11. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -1 lap
12. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -1 lap
13. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, -1 lap
14. Troy Green, Yamaha, -1 lap
15. John Haner, Suzuki, -1 lap
16. Chris Caylor, Suzuki
17. Chris Voelker, Ducati
18. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki
19. Tom Wertman, Suzuki
20. John Jacobi, Suzuki

27. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, DNF, mechanical



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

DOUBLE AMERICAN SUPERBIKE WIN FOR MLADIN AT MID-OHIO

Lexington, Ohio, USA (Sunday, 27 July) – Mat Mladin emerged from this weekend’s double-header AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with maximum points after scoring his second AMA Superbike national race win in two days at the Ohio circuit.

Mladin’s double victory was his eighth for the season with fourteen races now complete, but more importantly for the Australian, who hails from Camden on the south-east outskirts of Sydney, he has increased his points advantage at the top of the championship table to 33 over Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Aaron Yates, who finished fourth in today’s 26-lap national.

Starting from pole position, Mladin diced closely with Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts in the first half of the race with the pair swapping the race lead on a number of occasions before Mladin got down to business and eased away from his rival in the second half of the race.

The pair were been in close company in both of the weekend’s Superbike races with Roberts crashing out of yesterday’s opening race on the final lap while dicing with Mladin for the lead and today was forced out of the race with two laps remaining. Second place in today’s race went to Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki), finishing 6.668 seconds adrift of Mladin. Followed by Ben Bostrom (American Honda) who claimed the final podium position.

“Everything went fine for us this weekend,” said a very satisfied Mladin. “It was a good weekend where we scored maximum points and that has given us a good points break in the championship before we head to the second last circuit of the year at Virginia.

“Kurtis (Roberts) got into the lead early, but wasn’t setting a real fast pace, so I passed him and picked it up a little, before letting him by again to see what he was able to do out front. I could sense that he wasn’t able to get away from me so I got back past him once more and put some pressure on which worked out well in the end, as I was able to pull away fairly easily in the second half of the race.

“It was quite a bit warmer out there today and it definitely took its toll, it was hard on both the riders and the tyres. It was very hot and humid which made the tyres feel very greasy early in the race, so all I did was spin them up and go for it. Even though we have had a few tyre problems this year, I didn’t worry about taking it easy on them out there and just gave it to them and hoped that they would hang on throughout the race and they did.

“Two more double header rounds remain, so I hope we can repeat these efforts at Virginia before we go to the last round at Alabama.”

Mladin’s maximum points haul at Mid-Ohio included the championship point for pole position, along with points for both Superbike race wins and for leading the most number of laps in each race. The three-times American Superbike champion now has a total of 431 points, 33 clear of Yates (398), while Ben Bostrom (376) has passed brother Eric (350) for third after Eric was forced out of the weekend’s meeting due to injuries he received at the combined AMA / World Superbike round at Laguna Seca two weeks ago.

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to Virginia International Raceway in five weeks time for the penultimate Double-Header round of the season on the weekend of August 30 – 31, before the final round of the championship takes place at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on September 20 – 21.


Rd 14, AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
RACE RESULT, 26 Laps – Top 10

1. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki), 38:29.75 mins

2. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki), +6.668 seconds

3. Ben Bostrom (American Honda), +10.071

4. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki), +10.203

5. Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki), +35.063

6. Giovanni Bussei (Ducati Austin), +35.280

7. Shawn Higbee (KWS Suzuki), +53.803

8. Geoff May Suzuki), +72.562

9. Vincent Haskovec (Hooters Suzuki), +73.150

10. Mike Ciccotto (Hooters Suzuki), -1 lap

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 14 of 18 rounds)
1. M Mladin (431); 2. A Yates (398), 3. B Bostrom (376); 4. E Bostrom (350); 5. K Roberts (349), 6. M DuHamel (332); 7. J Pridmore (315); 8. S Higbee (299), 9. V Haskovec (221), 10. J Szoke (212).




Mat Mladin:

1992 Australian Superbike Champion

1999, 2000, 2001 American AMA Superbike Champion

2000, 2001 Daytona 200 Champion

2000 American AMA Pro Athlete of the Year

Career AMA Superbike Race Wins – 23

Career AMA Superbike Pole Positions – 30 (All time AMA record)

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Supersport:

1. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:29.753
2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 1:30.361
3. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:30.414
4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 1:30.616
5. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:30.863
6. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:30.900
7. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:30.958
8. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:31.001
9. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:31.215
10. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:31.373
11. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki, 1:31.601
12. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha, 1:31.651
13. Chris Rankin, Honda, 1:31.825
14. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:32.059
15. Marty Craggill, Honda, 1:32.094
16. Jason Curtis, Honda, 1:34.343
17. Dirk Sanchez, Kawasaki, 1:34.579
18. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha, 1:35.189
19. Darren Luck, Suzuki, 1:35.536
20. Nathan Dressman, Yamaha, 1:35.573


Formula Xtreme:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:27.418
2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 1:27.679
3. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki, 1:27.903
4. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:28.099
5. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:28.813
6. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:28.873
7. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:29.152
8. Marty Craggill, Honda, 1:29.447
9. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:30.130
10. Jason Curtis, Honda, 1:31.919
11. Mike Scruggs, Suzuki, 1:35.215
12. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki, 1:36.284
13. Rick Narup, Suzuki, 1:37.566
14. Matt Malterer, Suzuki, 1:37.740
15. Michael Kosta, Suzuki, 1:37.893
16. David Bell, Suzuki, 1:38.514
17. James Kerker, Honda, 1:39.057
18. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:43.563


250cc Grand Prix:

1. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:31.667
2. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 1:32.467
3. Simon Turner, TSR Honda, 1:33.517
4. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:34.006
5. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 1:35.797
6. Chris Pyles, Honda, 1:35.803
7. Colin Jensen, Aprilia, 1:35.857
8. Greg Esser, Honda, 1:36.719
9. Barrett Long, Yamaha, 1:37.155
10. Bill Himmelsbach, Yamaha, 1:37.184
11. Sean McNew, Honda, 1:37.214
12. John France, Honda, 1:37.379
13. Geoff Maloney, Yamaha, 1:37.874
14. Sean Wray, Yamaha, 1:38.022
15. Sandy Noce, Yamaha, 1:38.094
16. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 1:38.585
17. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:39.667
18. James Bonner, Yamaha, 1:39.717
19. Keith Floyd, Yamaha, 1:40.460
20. Mark Stiles, Yamaha, 1:41.129


Superbike:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:27.315
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:27.932
3. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:27.964
4. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:28.282
5. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 1:28.469
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:28.825
7. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, 1:29.218
8. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:29.493
9. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, 1:29.695
10. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:29.978
11. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 1:30.252
12. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 1:31.820
13. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:32.246
14. Chris Voelker, Ducati, 1:32.525
15. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:32.576
16. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:32.969
17. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:33.169

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Sunday Morning Practice Times:

MotoGP:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:24.521
2. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:24.676
3. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:24.893
4. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:24.967
5. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:25.013
6. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:25.048
7. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:25.070
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:25.313
9. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:25.324
10. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:25.339
11. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:25.383
12. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:25.644
13. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:25.695
14. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:25.822
15. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:25.879
16. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:25.982
17. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:26.008
18. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:26.034
19. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 1:26.115
20. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:26.152
21. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:26.383
22. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:26.571
23. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 1:26.620
24. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:27.541
25. David De Gea, ROC Yamaha, 1:28.764

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Chambon emphatic at Brands

Stephan Chambon dominated the World Supersport race at Brands Hatch which was shortened by a second-to-last-lap crash involving Stefano Cruciani. Jurgen van den Goorbergh fought off a late charge by Klaffi Honda’s Sebastien Charpentier, but the podium positions could well have changed if the race had gone to full distance.

Karl Muggeridge got the holeshot, but Chambon slid up the inside into Druids on the first lap with van den Goorbergh in third and Championship points leader Chris Vermeulen in fourth. Both Ten Kate Honda riders were suffering with lack of drive after choosing a too-hard rear tire.

Fabien Foret reeled in Vermeulen on lap eight and it was clear that Vermeulen was struggling with drive out of corners.

Charpentier passd Muggeridge and set off after van den Goorbergh, but Cruciani’s crash and the subsequent red flag ended any last-lap attempts.

World Supersport Race Results:

1. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R600, 21 laps, 31:28.121
2. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Yamaha YZF-R6, -7.045 seconds
3. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda CBR600RR, -7.310 seconds
4. Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR600RR
5. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
6. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR600RR
7. Christian Kellner, Yamaha YZF-R6
8. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha YZF-R6
9. Katsuwaki Fujiwara, Suzuki GSX-R600
10. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha YZF-R6
11. Iain MacPherson, Honda CBR600RR
12. Tom Sykes, Yamaha YZF-R6
13. Pere Riba, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
14. Christophe Cogan, Honda CBR600RR
15. Broc Parkes, Honda CBR600RR
16. Stefano Cruciani, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
17. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha YZF-R6
18. Robert Ulm, Honda CBR600RR
19. Barry Veneman, Honda CBR600RR
20. Jamie Robinson, Yamaha YZF-R6

24. Thierry Vd Bosch, Yamaha YZF-R6
25. Werner Daemen, Honda CBR600RR, -10 laps, DNF
26. Simone Sanna, Yamaha YZF-R6, -13 laps, DNF
27. Dean Thomas, Honda CBR600RR, -20 laps, DNF

Fastest Lap: Stephane Chambon, 1:29.149


More, from a press release issued by Chris Vermeulen’s publicist:

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD EXTENDS

A mature Chris Vermeulen has ridden to a conservative 6th placing in round 8 of the World Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch in England.

Starting from 4th on the grid, the young speedster wasn’t able to add to his winning total in 2003, however he did manage to out strip his nearest rival for the world crown.

Katsuaki Fujiwara finished in 9th spot to slip 38 points behind in the race for the title. Jurgen van den Goorbergh’s 2nd saw him move to outright 2nd in the series, 37 points behind the young Aussie.

“It wasn’t a win or the top 5 I was hoping for, but I did manage to extend my lead for the championship so that’s a real positive,” Vermeulen said.

With three rounds remaining, Vermeulen and his Tenkate Honda CBR600RR edged ever so close to the title, after the race was red flagged in the final lap due to a minor crash.

“We had a pretty good race package but just seemed to be a touch off the pace, no matter we get another month off to think about things and then it’s on to Assen. Another solid result there and the championship will be close.”

The series now enjoys a months break before resuming at Assen in the Netherlands on September 7.


More, from a press release issued by Honda racing:

HONDA’S CHARPENTIER SCOOPS FIRST PODIUM

Honda CBR600RR rider Sebastien Charpentier took his first World Supersport championship podium finish with third place in Sunday’s eighth round of the championship at Brands Hatch, GB.

Charpentier finished behind winner Stephane Chambon and runner-up Jurgen van den Goorbergh as he took the Klaffi CBR600RR machine to third place. He said: “I felt I could get a good finish today but you never really know until the race is under way.

“I got into third place and although the race was red-flagged with a lap to go I don’t really think I could have got ahead of van den Goorbergh, he looked smooth and in the end I was happy to take third place for my team.”

Ten Kate Honda’s Karl Muggeridge held second place in the early stages before settling for fourth place and 13 world championship points, the Australian commented: “I chose the wrong rear race tyre and within five laps the rear started spinning. From that moment on I just wanted to finish the race.”

Behind fifth-placed Fabien Foret came championship leader Chris Vermeulen, taking sixth place on his Ten Kate Honda to maintain a 37-point lead in the series with three rounds to go.

“I went for the wrong rear race tyre and I knew early on that the race was going to be a struggle,” said Vermeulen. “The temperature was a lot higher today and it caught us out with tyre choice. It’s disappointing but there are some races when finishing is important–today was one of those.”

The German Yamaha pairing of Christian Kellner and Jorg Teuchert finished seventh and eighth respectively with Suzuki’s Katsuaki Fujiwara ninth and Alessio Corradi 10th.

Iain MacPherson took the Van Zon Honda to 11th place despite brake trouble for the Scotsman, he explained: “My right arm pumped up after about nine laps when the brake was coming back to the handlebar, I was in agony at the end.”

The BKM pairing of Christophe Cogan and Broc Parkes completed the list of points scorers, taking 14th and 15th places respectively, Cogan said: “I found the race very difficult. The suspension didn’t feel quite right and, as soon as I let the brake off, the machine was moving around too much in the corner.”

Parkes commented: “I’ve had one of those weekends to forget. The exhaust developed a crack so I lost a little bit of power but I wanted to finish in the points and I just made it. In the last round I was in with a chance to win with five laps to go and then this weekend I’ve struggled ­ that’s supersport for you.”

Robert Ulm took 18th place on the second of the Klaffi Hondas, the Austrian rider admitted: “The feeling from the machine wasn’t quite right and I found it difficult to push hard. It really was a struggle throughout and that really sums up my weekend here.”

Van Zon Honda’s Werner Daemen escaped injury when he crashed out of the race on the 12th lap, the diminutive Belgian explained: “I was struggling to select third gear and the machine dropped back into second gear on the left-hander after Druids.”


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Vermeulen extends championship lead by two points

Chris Vermeulen increased the gap at the top of the World Supersport Championship with a steady sixth place at Brands Hatch.

The title leader struggled for grip during the race after taking a tyre-choice gamble that didn’t pay off.

“Both myself and Karl chose a hard tyre for the race after the morning warm up,” explained Vermeulen. “Unfortunately morning warm up isn’t the best time to test tyres and the temperatures changed just enough for the race to make our choice the wrong choice.”

It was a similar story for Karl Muggeridge who finished a creditable fourth despite suffering the same grip problems.

“The tyre was awesome this morning so we really thought it would be the right one for the race,” said Karl. “I got a great start and the CBR600RR and the WP suspension were really working well and things felt good. But I soon realised we were in trouble because I just couldn’t match the other guys for drive out of the turns. I worked really hard going into the turns just to try and keep position.”

Although it wasn’t the result he was looking for, with no Ten Kate Honda riders on the podium, Team Manager Ronald ten Kate was satisfied. “Of course I prefer to win races,” he said, “but the main thing is the championship and we are still ahead even after a fourth and a sixth. We have two tests to complete prior to Assen so we’ll be arriving there fully prepared for the biggest race of the year for the team, at home in Holland in front of the fanatical Dutch crowd – we’re all really looking forward to it.”


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Belgarda:

SUPER SECOND FOR JURGEN!
Team Yamaha Belgarda rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh took a superb second place at the eighth round of the Supersport World Championship at Brands Hatch today in front of over 120,000 spectators. Jurgen made a good start and was third at the end of the first lap and then charged past Karl Muggeridge (Honda) and into second on lap seven. But by then, Stephane Chambon (Suzuki) had already built up an advantage and Jurgen was unable to rein him in. The race was red-flagged two laps from the end, but Jurgen was comfortably in second at the time and that’s where he finished. Third went to Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who also overtook Muggeridge, with Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) fifth and series leader Chris Vermeulen (Honda) sixth. But there was disappointment for Team Yamaha Belgarda rider Simone Sanna, who had a gearshift problem and went into the gravel trap at Druids corner and then crashed on lap nine. The Italian had not had a good qualifying and his tip-off was the end to a poor weekend.

JURGEN VD GOORBERGH ­ 2nd
I’m very happy to be on the podium again and I think we’re very close to our first win. This is the third time I’ve been second, so now it’s going to have be a win ­ maybe at my home track at Assen in the next round? My start was good and everything went pretty well except that Chambon got away at the beginning and we all couldn’t catch him. It is my first time here and although it’s a bit dangerous in places, the crowd makes it such a wonderful event. Fortunately the weather was much better today then the last couple of days and that helped us all. Now I am 37 points behind the series leader and it’s probably too difficult to catch him, but if I can’t do that I want to finish second. Now let’s go for a win ­at Assen!

SIMONE SANNA DNF
The crash ended what was a disappointing weekend for me. The track is spectacular but we never got enough good dry time to get to know it very well and find a good set-up. I think I had a gearshift or gearbox problem because I either found a false neutral or the wrong gear, but whatever happened I had to go straight on into the gravel at Druids and down I fell. There’s no more to say. I’d just like to forget about it.

RESULTS
1 Chambon (F-Suzuki), 2 Jurgen vd Goorbergh (NL-Yamaha Belgarda), 3 Charpentier (F-Honda), 4 Muggeridge (AUS-Honda), 5 Foret (F-Kawasaki), 6 Vermeulen (AUS-Honda), 7 Kellner (D-Yamaha), 8 Teuchert (D-Yamaha), 9 Fujiwara (J-Suzuki), 10 Corradi (I-Yamaha), Simone Sanna (I-Yamaha Belgarda) DNF

POINTS
1 Vermeulen 141, 2 Jurgen vd Goorbergh (NL-Yamaha Belgarda), 104, 3 Fujiwara 103, 4 Chambon 100, 5 Kellner 78, 6 Corradi 63, 7 Muggeridge 59, 8 Foret 54, 9 Riba and Teuchert 49, 17 Simone Sanna (I-Yamaha Belgarda) 18

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Afternoon AMA Superbike Practice Times:

1. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:27.651
2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.816
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.965
4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:28.206
5. Ben Bostrom, Honda RC51, 1:28.752
6. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.275
7. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.277
8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.411
9. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.691
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.002
11. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.227
12. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.593
13. Chris Voelker, Ducati 996, 1:32.810
14. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.054
15. Jeff Bostrom, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.431

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Supersport Championship leader Jamie Hacking took pole position for Sunday’s AMA Supersport race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a new lap record time of 1:29.406. Hacking’s time beat the old mark of 1:30.419 set by Tommy Hayden in 2001.

The top six Supersport qualifiers Saturday were all under the old lap record.


Provisional AMA Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 1:29.406
2. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1;29.582
3. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:29.924
4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 1:30.053
5. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:30.105
6. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha, 1:30.342
7. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:30.421
8. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:30.597
9. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 1:30.633
10. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:30.698
11. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:31.055
12. Lance Isaacs, Honda, 1:31.295
13. Marty Craggill, Honda, 1:31.474
14. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:31.518
15. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki, 1:31.594
16. Chris Peris, Honda, 1:32.633
17. Chris Rankin, Honda, 1:32.635
18. Darren Luck, Suzuki, 1:33.263
19. Jason Curtis, Honda, 1:33.560
20. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha, 1:34.308

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Shane Byrne on provisional pole

Wild card and British Superbike Championship leader Shane Byrne heads the grid for the World Superbike Championship races at Brands Hatch. But the regular riders still have the chance to topple the pretender in this afternoon’s Superpole qualifying.

Byrne resisted a strong challenge from fellow wild card Sean Emmett to hang onto the top slot. John Reynolds used his encyclopaedic knowledge of the circuit to take his Rizla Suzuki to third leaving Regis Laconi as the sole World Superbike regular on the provisional front row.

The second row was a little more familiar, with James Toseland heading his HM Plant Ducati team mate James Toseland. Neil Hodgson and Gregorio Lavilla complete the second row. Both Frankie Chili and Ruben Xaus crashed in the session, finishing ninth and tenth respectively.



World Superbike Qualifying Results (before Superpole):

1. Shane Byrne, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.248
2. Sean Emmett, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.420
3. John Reynolds, Suzuki GSX-R 1000, 1:26.648
4. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.697
5. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.900
6. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:26.953
7. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:27.100
8. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.133
9. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.371
10. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:27.504
11. Dean Ellison, Ducati 996, 1:27.542
12. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:27.664
13. Leon Haslam, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.683
14. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.688
15. Michael Rutter, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.798
16. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.858
17. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.892
18. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.312
19. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.499
20. Alex Gramigni, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:28.589
21. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.926
22. James Haydon, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:29.016
23. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.017
24, Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.579
25. Nick Medd, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.862
26. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:30.375
27. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:30.871
28. Luca Pedersoli, Ducati 998RS, 1:31.625
29. Giancarlo De Matteis, Ducati 998RS, 1:32.189

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Pubishing, Inc.

American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel was extremely upset after the second Supersport practice on Friday at Mid-Ohio. Early in the session, Darren Luck crashed his Suzuki GSX-R in turn one and, according to Duhamel, Luck’s bike was left in the impact zone for rest of the session. “It’s just amazing. I can’t believe it,” said an obviously upset Duhamel. “The bike was a maximum 10 feet into the grass and they’re not picking up the bike. It was right in the impact zone. I came in and talked to an AMA official on the pit lane. I had to stop doing my job and tell them how to do their job. They did not move it 1mm the whole session. It kept me from charging the corner. I did charge it once, but I went wide, and I thought, ‘This is bad.’ My set-up and testing for the whole session was thrown away. It’s a safety issue and should never be overlooked. I just wanted the bike out of the impact zone. They were already there helping the rider, why couldn’t they pick up the bike? Here’s a racing organization that ran a whole weekend of racing in one day (at Infineon) and they can’t pick up a bike. That thing could have been picked up and rolled out in 30 seconds, max.”

Honda Team Manager Chuck Miller talked to AMA Race Director Ron Barrick and said, “Ron wasn’t aware of it; he didn’t think it was there. He said that they may have been short some cornerworkers because it was a Friday. This is not the first time this has happened. It’s the AMA’s responsibility to provide a safe track at all times.”

Barrick confirmed that he “Wasn’t aware of it at the time and I’ll be talking to the cornerworkers to see why there wasn’t a stoppage (red flag). I assume it was a roller and they could have gotten it out of there in two or three minutes.”