From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM

Round 6 – 2003 British Superbike Championship powered by HALLS, Brands Hatch

Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June 2003

BYRNE INCREASES LEAD AT BRANDS

MonsterMob Ducati rider Shane Byrne battled through the pain barrier to increase his lead in the British Superbike Championship with another superb performance at his home track at Brands Hatch today.

Suffering from injuries sustained in a crash on Friday, the 26 year old from Minster, Isle of Sheppey kept up his winning streak with his eighth successive victory in the opening race of the day after a race long battle with Suzuki’s John Reynolds.

But his hopes of going into the record books with a history making ‘quadruple double’ were dashed when Reynolds claimed victory with a last corner manoeuvre to outdrag ‘Shakey’ to the flag.

“Those have been the hardest races of my career and I really struggled but to increase my lead when it looked as if I may not be racing is a bonus. It’s disappointing not to get the record but I’ll just have to make sure I win more races than anyone else for the rest of the year.”

Byrne’s lead now stands at 133 points at the half distance stage of the season.

For team mate Stuart Easton, it was also a visit to the rostrum aboard the 748 Ducati.

The 18 year old Scot posted third place after a race long Supersport battle to consolidate his second place in the championship.

“A five week lay off didn’t help as I was a little race rusty but I clawed my way back. I felt good in the early stages but struggled for grip later on, but it could have been worse.”

Team boss Paul Bird commented “On Friday we didn’t think Shakey would be racing today, so to come away with a win and a second place is fantastic, all credit to him and the team. Stuart rode well but we need him to start winning soon if we want to hold onto that particular title”.


Superbike Results

Race One
1. Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 30:54.420
2. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 30:54.597
3. Steve Plater (Honda) 30:58.526
4. Gary Mason (Yamaha) 30:58.585
5. Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 31:01.359
6. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 31:01.811
7. Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 31:02.136
8. John McGuinness (Ducati) 31:06.353
9. John Crawford (Ducati) 31:11.581
10. Lee Jackson (Kawasaki) 31:13.146

Race Two
1. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 29:08.941
2. Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 29:09.063
3. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 29:24.710
4. Sean Emmett (Ducati) 29:26.996
5. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 29:27.661
6. Gary Mason (Yamaha) 29:27.826
7. Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 29:34.923
8. Steve Plater (Honda) 29:42.531
9. Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 29:44.873
10. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 29:45.420

Superbike Championship Standings after Round 6
1: Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 285pts
2: Michael Rutter (Ducati) 152pts
3: John Reynolds (Suzuki) 145pts
4: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 131pts
5: Steve Plater (Honda) 117pts
5: Gary Mason (Yamaha) 117pts
7: Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 111pts
8: Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 103pts
9: John Crawford (Ducati) 74pts
10: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 72pts

Supersport Results

1. Dean Thomas (Honda) 27:18.358
2. Karl Harris (Honda) 27:18.379
3. Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 27:18.952
4. Leon Haslam (Ducati) 27:26.512
5. Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 27:26.966
6. Tom Sykes (Yamaha) 27:31.198
7. Takeshi Tsujimura (Honda) 27:33.813
8. Jamie Robinson (Yamaha) 27:34.079
9. Rob Frost (Kawasaki) 27:44.675
10. Craig Jones (Triumph) 27:47.677

Supersport Championship Standings After Round 6
1: Karl Harris 135pts
2: Stuart Easton 80pts
3: Simon Andrews 61pts
4: Leon Haslam 60pts
5: Adrian Coates 53pts
6: Dean Thomas 52pts
7: Rob Frost 48pts
8: Michael Laverty 47pts
9: John Crockford 45pts
10: Craig Jones 39pts
10: Tom Sykes 39pts


More, from a press release issued by Scott Smart Racing:

Brands Hatch – Race Report

FACTORY BRITISH Superbike racer Scott Smart secured a brace of good points finishes at his home circuit of Brands Hatch today, crossing the line in seventh after race one and ninth in race two.

The 27-year-old, who now lives in Yorkshire, was happy with his results and was pleased to beat Rizla Suzuki rider Yukio Kagayama in both races.

Commenting on race one, Smart said: “I got a pretty good start but Paul Young got a better one from behind me. We got up into Druids and there were a couple of small gaps so I made some places. I took a long time to get past John McGuinness and then, after I went by Yukio, I was running up with Hizzy.

“Then the pace car came out and everyone closed up. I just couldn’t get past Steve at all. He was really fast everywhere. I could have probably got him through Clearways near the end but I went to the inside and he got the run on me. I think if I’d stayed on the left, I might have got past him. I slowed up on the last lap to let Glen by because he needs the points more than I do and he had a nightmare of a race.

“In race two,” said Smart, “I got another reasonable start and basically had to try and hang on to Steve Plater and Yukio for the whole race. I didn’t have quite as much grip, so it was difficult to try and stay with Steve but I managed to get by Yukio again and finished in ninth.

“We made a load of changes to the Hawk Kawasaki over the course of the weekend and I’m happy with the set-up now. We go to Rockingham next and I’ve won there before, so I’m really looking forward to that weekend.”

Today was also an emotional day for Scott and his family because a corner at the Kent circuit was renamed Sheene Curve, in memory of Scott’s uncle, Barry Sheene, who tragically passed away earlier this year. Scott did a parade lap on an ex-Sheene Yamaha TZ750 racebike and said that it was more nerve wracking than racing as if he fell off Barry’s bike, he’d never hear the end of it.

From a press release issued by FGSPORT GROUP:

11 of the top 15 were Suzuki !

Strategy and speed win the Brno race…and now the long night of the Albacete 12 Hours !

Suzuki Zongshen’s race win came out of a combination of fast consistent laps by Warwick Nowland and Stephane Mertens, and a refuelling strategy that began with Nowland almost running dry on the last lap of his first session but ended with the team making fewer stops than any of their rivals. It’s a long push up that last straight at Brno but the gamble paid off. Second place for Yamaha GMT94 shows that determination and experience will always win through in endurance, and that in the right hands the R1 can come up with the goods. Suzuki GB Phase One’s third place came at the end of a bad weekend for the team, and they will be happy to settle for the last step on the podium.

Top Ten

Ducati DRE’s fourth place earns them their first points of the year; Brno seems to be kind to the Italian team and their French riders. Suzuki Trackdaze 11 finished fifth, with good rides by the Junior riders sealed by Mike Edwards’ excellent performance. Suzuki Police Nationale scored sixth overall but were front runners for the whole of the second leg of the race and continue to improve race by race. Kawasaki Bolliger put in their usual calm and measured performance to finish seventh, while PS Schlesinger, Jet Endurance and Phase One Juniors round out the top ten. All three finished on the same lap of the race and were fighting for the maximum championship points.

In the Points, In the Pits

Two laps behind, Rookie Endurance and Hofmann Racing finished 11th and 12th and KFM Herber were 14th, the three German permanent teams locked in their own battle. Less fortunate were the remaining Yamaha teams; Maco Moto Slovakia and Fagersjo-el.se finished outside the points, Yamaha Austria blew another motor and Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 had gearbox and fuelling problems which plagued them for the whole race.

The long night of the “Albacete 12 Hours” is waiting for Endurance riders. Eleven of the top fifteen finishers were Suzuki GSX-R1000s, with only one bike from each of Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki and Honda scoring any points.

The 12 Hour Albacete race is twice as long as the Brno round, and run through the night in a single non-stop session. It will be a tougher and more challenging event, but with GSX-R1000s (Zongshen 1, Suzuki GB Phase One and Jet Team the only bikes to have scored points in all three rounds) remain favourites to dominate in Spain.

2003, June 19
2003 Championship Standing (after 3 races):

1. Zongshen 1, CHN, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 66 points

2. Suzuki GB – Phase One, GBR, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 56 points

3. 22 Police Nationale, FRA, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 33 points

4. Yamaha GMT94, FRA, Yamaha YZF-R1, 30 points

5. Zongshen 2, CHN, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 25 points

6. Bolliger Team, SUI, Kawasaki ZX-9R, 20 points

6. Trackdaze 11, GBR, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 20 points

8. Fabi Corse, ITA, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 16 points

8. Yamaha Austria Rac. Team, AUT, Yamaha YZF-R1, 16 points

10. Ducati DRE 5, ITA, Ducati 998, 13 points

10. Phase One Junior, GBR, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 13 points

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Chili fastest as crash halts qualifying

Frankie Chili took provisional pole at the Autodromo Santa Monica in qualifying for Sunday’s World Superbike races in tough conditions.

Chili’s best lap came while Giovanni Bussei’s bike was laying in the track, although Chili is understood to have passed the Variante Arena before Bussei actually crashed there. Chili emphasised his point by going even faster on his very last lap of the session, recording a time of 1:35.058.

Steve Martin remained in good form and happy with second fastest after deciding not to take to the circuit again after the stoppage, “There was only nine minutes left and we wanted to preserve our qualifiers for Superpole,” said the Australian, who rides for DFX Ducati.

Neil Hodgson is the sole full-factory rider on the provisional front row, ahead of Regis Laconi. Xaus went fifth fastest despite crashing on his final qualifying lap. James Toseland, Lucio Pedercini and Vittorio Iannuzzo completing the provisional second row. Iannuzzo out-qualified his teammate Gregorio Lavilla after Lavilla crashed his Suzuki early in the session, lost time and failed to climb higher than thirteenth.

World Superbike championship
Round seven, San Marino (Circuit Santa Monica, Misano, Italy)
June 20-21-22

Final timed qualifying, best lap times:

1. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.058
2. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.276
3. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:35.310
4. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.365
5. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:35.422
6. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:35.477
7. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:35.571
8. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.992
9. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:36.050
10. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:36.066
11. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.069
12. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:36.094
13. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.177
14. Giovanni Bussei, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:36.340
15. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:36.514
16. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.562
17. Paolo Blora, Ducati 996RS, 1:36.623
18. David Garcia, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.780
19. Nello Russo, Ducati 998RS, 1:36.796
20. Alex Gramigni, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.291
21. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:37.675
22. Serafino Foti, Ducati 998RS, 1:37.843
23. Luca Pini, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.164
24. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:38.228
25. Christian Zaiser, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:38.350
26. Giuseppe Zannini, Ducati 998RS, 1:38.796
27. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:39.099
28. Redamo Assirelli, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:39.936

From a press release:

STEINHAUSEN GRABS FIRST ‘GENUINE’ WIN

Jörg Steinhausen and passenger Trevor Hopkinson recorded their first win of the season at round five of the World Superside championship at Misano Adriatico, San Marino, Saturday.

Steinhausen got off to his customary flying start before pole-setter Steve Webster took over the lead on lap three. But the German, who rode a steady race with the aim of conserving tyres, retook the lead on lap 15 and never looked back.

“We have been working very hard and it’s satisfying when it all comes together. I was a bit surprised to see Webster’s rear tyre go but we kept plugging away,” said the 2002 runner-up, who now moves up to fourth in the overall standings.

Passenger Trevor Hopkinson echoed his driver’s words: “This is our first genuine win bearing in mind our luck at Lausitz last year. It was a long time coming.”

Tom Hanks and passenger Phil Biggs rode a brilliant race, working their way up from sixth at the end of lap one to second and only 0.422s behind Steinhausen.

Hanks said: “It is not in my nature to conserve my tyres but that’s what they told me to do and it has paid off. I actually thought there was another lap to go!”

Steve Webster had to settle for third while reigning world champion Steve Abbott retired on lap four with an ignition problem. Klaus Klaffenböck finished fourth but stays in top spot.

Superside World championship result (20 laps – 81.20km/50.75miles):
1 Jörg Steinhausen, Germany (Suzuki) 33:50.862, 2 Tom Hanks, GB (Yamaha) +0.422-second, 3 Steve Webster, GB (Suzuki) +4.730, 4 Klaus Klaffenböck, Austria (Yamaha) +5.283, 5 Martien van Gils, Holland (Suzuki) +45.569, 6 Mike Roscher, Germany (Suzuki) +1:06.329, 7 Bill Philp, GB (Yamaha) +1:13.830, 8 Jean-Noël Minguet, France (Suzuki) + 1:20.380 9 Richard Gatt, GB (Yamaha) +1:20.394, 10 Gerhard Hauzenberger, Austria (Yamaha) +1:23.219.

Championship points after five of 10 rounds: 1 Klaffenböck 94, 2 Webster 91, 3 Steinhausen 61, 4 Roscher 53, 5 Abbott 49, 6 Van Gils 48, 7 Hanks 46, 8 Philp 34, 9 Hauzenberger 30, 10 Morrissey 26.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Trevor Hedge (www.mcnews.com.au)

2003 Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship
Round 3, Winton Motor Raceway
June 21, 2003

Australia’s fastest motorcycle racers converged on Victoria’s Winton Motor Raceway today for the opening bout in this weekend’s third round of the Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship.

The premier Superbike war starts tomorrow but the first salvo was fired across the bows of the opposition by Nikon Yamaha’s Daniel Stauffer in final qualifying today when he went under the previous Production Superbike lap record to clinch pole position. The Newcastle based rider will start tomorrow’s three races at the front of the grid flanked by Joshua Brookes (Honda), Kevin Curtain (Yamaha). Reigning Shell Advance Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles (Suzuki) rounds out the front row on the all new ‘K3’ model GSX-R1000.

This weekend marks the first time Stauffer had ridden a motorcycle since his incredible 250kph crash at Phillip Island last month when he came together with Shawn Giles but he quickly showed he has lost no speed since breaking his wrist, ankle and ribs only a matter of weeks ago.

“The injuries are still hampering me a little so I did not too much time on the bike today to try and save myself for tomorrow’s races, I only did about 3 laps in that qualifying session with that thought in mind.”

Stauffer continued, “It is all very close but I am pretty sure I can keep that pace up so unless the others really pick their pace up we are definitely looking good for tomorrow.”

Honda’s Joshua Brookes put the new CBR600RR on pole position for the opening Supersport race of the weekend and took the early lead before being overcome by the irrepressible force that is Yamaha’s Kevin Curtain. The two Sydneysiders battled briefly in the early laps but eventually Curtain pulled an advantage.

A thrilling battle was fought for third place between Brendan Clarke (Yamaha) and Shannon Johnson (Honda). But ex-500cc Grand Prix competitor Clarke pulled away from Johnson in the final laps. Clarke nearly managed to get Brookes for 2nd place on the run to the chequered flag but Brookes held on to take that 2nd position.

The Supersport war continues on Sunday with another two battles on the schedule. Curtain now has a healthy lead overall in the points standings and is well on his way in his quest to take the Australian Supersport crown off reigning Champion Shannon Johnson (Honda).

Pole position for the 250 Grand Prix class was fought out between Mark Stanley and Western Australia’s Peter Taplin but it was Stanley who got the nod for pole.

The Lismore (NSW) rider took advantage of that grid position to lead the first laps but eventually succumbed to Taplin. Stanley tried to come back at Taplin but unfortunately fell while pushing hard, thankfully he was unhurt in the incident. That left Taplin to take a clear win over Geoff Hardcastle to further extend his unbeaten run in the 250 Grand Prix Championship to seven wins in succession.

Mildura teenager Joshua Waters started from pole in the 125 GP initial encounter and blitzed the field from the outset to take a clear win. An exciting battle waged for 2nd place with Sydney teenager Jason ‘O’Halloran in the thick of the action with a pair of experienced campaigners in the shape of Peter Galvin and Mick Kelly hot on his heels. Galvin and Kelly are both previous Australian champions so the fact that the teenage duo of Waters and O’Halloran managed to put one over them today is a great advertisement for the future of Australian racing.

Taree teenager Alex Cudlin took pole for the Superstock class by a slender five-hundredths of a second over Melbourne’s Leigh McKenzie and used it to his advantage to take the race win. The race distance was reduced due to fading light. The South Australian pairing of Neville Lush and Martin Scott took first blood in the battle for sidecar honours.

The remainder of the race programme wraps up on Sunday with three Superbike races and two more races for each of the other classes.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

From an Army Captain we know in Iraq, who will remain nameless:

Hello to all from Mosul, Iraq:

The Army has decided to wipe out our ability to access our Yahoo accounts so from here on out please e-mail this address. Also, as a result my distro list is not complete, so if someone you know wants this please send me their address. I did not intentionally leave someone off this.

The unemployment business shapes up every day to look more and more like an episode of the Sopranos. Last Thursday there was a riot downtown. I did not know it ’cause I was in a meeting in my office with a bunch of Iraqi COLs right across the river from the riots. The General who is my Iraqi counterpart was speaking at an engagement that morning. Then I hear a crash at the front gates and a pickup–loaded with 15 Hajis dressed in green all with AK-47s and yelling at the top of their lungs–comes to a screeching halt.

I run to the window, chamber a round, move my safety off and am one second from wasting these lunatics when one of the Iraqi COLs grabs my arm and says that it is OK, they are with us. Well, out of the back comes none other than my General–he is yelling “Captain! Captain!” Then he starts yelling at me in Arabic.

So I grab him and shake him and yell “English, speak freaking English.” Well, whatever he said has everyone in an uproar and my translator is yelling in Arabic, finally he snaps out of it and starts yelling in English that people are coming to attack us at the building. So I go outside to grab my SGT, when I see the guys in the truck dump a guy out the back. He has a nice entry and exit wound in his chest, by his shoulder. He doesn’t move or make a sound. It sucked to be him.

I find my SGT who thought that since they were yelling CPT CPT, that I was shot. I explain to him what’s going on, and we request air support and MP support ASAP. That’s when my boss calls me and says–good luck, shit hit the fan downtown, do what you can because all U.S. forces are engaged. Nice! It’s only 10:00 o’clock and there is a dead guy in my driveway, just me with a 9mm and a SGT with a rifle, and an angry mob across the river wants to attack us.

Well, the mob stayed across the river, thankfully. Come to find out the riot started where the General was (Coincidence? I think not!) but they stayed over the river to riot in front of the government building.

Great day!

Then I have to kick the Kurdish Islamic Unionist Party out of my building. We are setting up a U.S.-style government where political parties are not sponsored by the government and they cannot occupy government buildings. So it takes me an hour to kick them out. I got them a building to move to, and when I move them there, there is a security guard watching the building. So I ask him who he is. He informs me he was ordered by Jaboori not to move. OK, trying to avoid an incident–let’s go see Jaboori. Now I have heard the name several times, but have no clue who he is.

I drive to his palace on the river, enter the gates, and drive down a quarter-mile driveway. In the back there are 30 cats in fatigues doing Kung-Fu, being filmed by an Australian TV station as an American (or at least he appeared to be) kicked their butts.

I go to the front door and this guy answers the door with enough metal on him to take down a small fort.

“What do you want?” he asks.

I wanna see Jaboori.

“Come and sit down.” So he seats me in a room easily the size of an average American home. It has a huge fireplace, bamboo roof, and gold (yes, I said gold) furniture. So now I think, hmmmmm… Then he comes in and offers us lunch. No thanks, I want to talk about the house. Blah Blah Blah Blah. He finally gave me another building.

So I dump the kurds into the other building, but then they don’t wanna go…man, what a pain. But then I tell everyone I went to Jaboori’s house and they all freak out ’cause he is off-limits. Oh, well, he was cool with me.

So then the other night a sheik shows up at our front doorstep and asks for me by name. He wants a job. So the COL meets him and we invite him to dinner. Needless to say, Army chow did not fare well.

So he invited me and the COL to his house.

Sorry this e-mail is not humorous, but I am tired as all sin. Just wanted to let you know what’s up.

Later.



The following missive is from a U.S. Army Lieutenant in Baghdad with an armored division, who elaborates on the perspective of a female soldier in Iraq:

Hi everyone–

Once again I apologize for the mass e-mail. However, with the wacky computer connectivity we have here it is the only way I can assure that my messages get out.

Anyway, a few more details on life here. First of all, it is damn hot. I thought Texas was hot but this is horrible. It’s about 115 degrees every day, and if you are outside in body armor it is even hotter.

For all of you who have been to Turkey and seen how poor it is there, this is far, far, far worse. These people live in utter filth and devastation. Even the “nice” parts of the city aren’t so nice. The only parts that are nice are the palaces. Anyone who has ever complained about the gap between the rich and the poor in the States needs to come here. It is no wonder they hated Saddam–he had golden chandeliers and most of these people are lucky if they even have a roof.

Anyway, most people are pretty glad we are here. However, they are impatient. The educated people here, like the doctors and lawyers, understand change doesn’t happen overnight. The normal person though is just pissed because they don’t have consistent power or they haven’t been paid in a while (evidenced by the super overhyped riot coverage from a couple of days ago). And yes, there is violence. We have had two soldiers in our unit killed already. The thing is the whole culture here revolves around guns. EVERYONE has one. We have had plenty of people lead us to caches or turn in weapons but for every one they turn in there are a gazillion more–and it is cheap to buy guns and grenades. Still, while it seems bad, you also have to remember there are 150,000 Americans over here right now. Per capita, it isn’t a very high death/injury rate.

The best way to think of Baghdad is like LA (which by the way had 653 murders last year). There is a lot of crime and illegal activity, but not a lot of evidence of former regimists plotting in basement places.

Being a woman over here is weird, though. The Iraqi men either stare at you like they can’t believe what they are seeing or refuse to look at you at all. Iraqi women who work for U.S. forces are ostracized, threatened and attacked–one of our infantry battalions had a 15-year-old cleaning lady shot in the head and killed a couple of days ago. That is the crazy thing about here–it is a potentially super-wealthy country and it has some modern technology, but the people’s way of thinking is stuck in a couple of centuries ago. They honestly think our NVGs and sunglasses are X-ray and we use them to look through Iraqi women’s clothing. They think our flak vests are air-conditioned. They believe every rumor on the street. And they constantly rat on each other–we get a zillion sources a day saying they know where Saddam is or whatever.

As for me, I am currently living in the Martyr’s monument (I spent the first couple of weeks in the Ministry of the Interior). There isn’t as much damage to the city as I thought it would be. There were some buildings that were completely destroyed (I visited the former IIS headquarters and you could tell they used a couple of bunker-busters on it) but most of the city is fine. The ministry buildings were totally trashed by U.S. forces, though–the Marines went to the bathroom in every available corner and just generally created havoc for no reason whatsoever.

Anyway, I am not sleeping out of doors and I have a cot and a mosquito net. We have hot dinner every other night (though it isn’t the best quality food) and I take a camp shower every other morning. I try not to go out in sector unless it is absolutely necessary because I don’t want to take unneccessary risks, but sometimes it can’t be helped.

I have to run for now but I will try to keep you all updated when I can. Love to you all.

From a press release issued by Fieldsheer:

Fieldsheer Inc. has hired Kipp McGowan as National Sales Manager. Kipp is a native of Southern California and a motorcycle road racer himself!

He was previously employed with Lockhart Phillips USA as Sales Manager and brings years of experience in the motorcycle industry to Fieldsheer. He comes aboard just in time to launch Fieldsheer’s 2004 collection and its new parts and accessories division. He started his new position on June 10, 2003.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Fieldsheer Inc.
211 Calle Pintoresco, Unit A
San Clemente, CA 92672
949.488.8353
[email protected]

A press release issued by FGF Corse, which ran the Aprilia World Superbike program last season:

Hereto we’re advicing you that FGF corse s.n.c. seated in Campi Bisenzio (Italia), via Castronella n° 166, will stop its work.

Therefore, from that date also our e.mails and telephone numbers, will be not useful anymore.

From a press release:

SUPERSIDE SNIPS

MISANO ADRIATICO, SAN MARINO – ROUND FIVE

Steve Webster has 54 race wins to his name from 166 starts and is looking for a 21st successive pole position.

Steve Abbott recorded the fastest speed in Friday’s qualifying, his Suzuki GSX-R1000 machine reaching a top speed of 249.2km/h.

The heat is an obvious problem at Misano and Steve Abbott suffered severe blistering on Friday from the burning-hot clutch lever.

Sepp Doppler of the Austrian Gemini Racing team is a former 500cc world championship racer.

Jock Skene has altered his suspension settings for Saturday’s qualifying.

Chris Founds qualified well inside the limit following Friday’s disastrous session in which a brand new tyre punctured.

Gerhard Hauzenberger ran with a new engine on Saturday.

Richard Gatt goes into the race with the 9th fastest time, his best qualifying performance to date.

Jean-Nöel Minguet also tightened his suspension and went more than two seconds quicker in Saturday’s qualifying.

Superside World Championship
Misano Adriatico, San Marino
Saturday final qualifying

1. Steve Webster, GB, Suzuki, 1:39.374

2. Jörg Steinhausen, Germany, Suzuki, 1:39.815

3. Steve Abbott, GB, Suzuki, 1:40.310

4. Tom Hanks, GB, Yamaha, 1:40.980

5. Klaus Klaffenböck, Austria, Yamaha, 1:41.156

6. Martien van Gils, Holland, Suzuki, 1:42.160

7. Dan Morrissey, GB, Yamaha, 1:43.833

8. Mike Roscher, Germany, Suzuki, 1:43.873

9. Richard Gatt, GB, Yamaha, 1:44.406

10. Bill Philp, GB, Yamaha, 1:44.469

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Via e-mail

I would like to confirm that the articles you published in Breaking News on June 20th, 2003 are all true. But, I would like to respond to these articles.

The situation between Larry Pegram and DTR could have been avoided; he is a dear friend of mine, and I can assure everyone that Larry would agree. Because, I am still trying to resolve the problems listed in your articles.

This is including Mr. Mitch Hansen; he has been the force behind DTR from day one, he has done more for DTR than I can ever have expected. In fact, Mr. Hansen still would assist me if I asked. Our friendship remains unchanged.

The reason behind my response is to stop the unnecessary escalation of the disputes between all parties, because none of us need our dirty laundry to be discussed or judged by the general public. What good will it do for resolving these problems? It will only do more harm than good. Therefore, I will do my very best to consult with my partner DeVeaux Hill to put these disputes behind us in the near future.

In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the good PR your publication has done for DTR this season, and also your trackside advice. Much appreciated.

You are most welcome to call me anytime for updates. There will be no “Spin Zone” between you and I.

Yours truly,

Kaming Ko
Co-owner of DTR