From a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM PREVIEW

Italian Grand Prix
Mugello
June 6/7/8 2003


ITALY BECKONS MOTOGP CIRCUS TO ITS SCENIC CIRCUIT

MotoGP will head to the Tuscan circuit of Mugello in Italy this weekend for the fifth stage of the World Championship, with eleven more races to be held before the season end in Valencia, Spain in November. The Fortuna Yamaha Team will be aiming high in its home country of Italy after a disappointing end to the wet Le Mans Grand Prix in France two weeks ago.

Despite excellent qualifying results which saw its riders Marco Melandri and Carlos Checa start from the first two rows of the grid in France, the Fortuna Yamaha Team’s chances for a podium finish were marred when the heavens opened during the 28 lap race. Checa was unlucky enough to slip on a wet area of the track, grazing his hand badly and putting him out of the race. His team-mate Melandri was near the front of the pack when the race was red-flagged after 16 laps because of the rain, and then restarted a short time later. Melandri restarted from eighth position having chosen intermediate rear and full wet front tyres. The new rules introduced this season only take into consideration the rider position on the track at the time of the red flag, and not the advantage. Melandri’s tyre choice did not pay off as the track dried very slowly, and he slipped back to fifteenth position by the end of the race.

The Mugello circuit provides the ideal platform for the four-strokes to show off their speed capability, and during last year’s final qualifying session Tohru Ukawa made history when he clocked 322.3kmh on Mugello’s 1.14km uphill
main straight (equivalent of 200.27mph). During last year’s race Yamaha’s YZR-M1 machine set the second fastest speed of the race, with 322.8kmh
(200.6mph).

The Italian crowd is sure to be bigger than ever before to see even more four-stroke bikes than 2002, and no less than eight manufacturers now
participating in the World Championship. Last year saw 93,969 spectators cram into the hills surrounding the action during the weekend with 65,000 attending on race day, and no doubt the figures will be higher in 2003.


FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM RETURN HOME FOR TUSCAN TUSSLE

With four races behind it and a recent test at the Mugello circuit, the Fortuna Yamaha Team will be more motivated than ever to perform to its home crowd and do well. The team has had to work extra hard to remain optimistic after a difficult start to the season. Melandri’s accident at the opening Japanese Grand Prix was the start of the run of bad luck, as the 250cc World Champion was forced to sit out the first two races, replaced by Yamaha test rider and wildcard Norick Abe. Melandri broke his leg in several places and
needed time to convalesce before his return to the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez just one month later.

Melandri’s team-mate Carlos Checa also had a tricky start to the season, not showing his full potential at the first two races. Then when things were looking up at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, and Checa was on fighting form up with the race leaders, his Yamaha YZR-M1 suffered electrical problems and stopped on the third
lap, forcing him out of the running. This combined with the weather factor at the Le Mans Grand Prix two weeks ago, has contributed to one of the toughest season starts that the factory team has faced.

Davide Brivio, director of the Fortuna Yamaha Team, feels sure however that the potential to win is there and he is eager to show off the progress that his riders and team have made until now at his team’s home Grand Prix this weekend.

“After Le Mans we saw an incredible improvement from Marco with his fantastic front row start,” said Brivio. “Then he was unlucky with the
weather because before the race was stopped he was fighting with the best riders and got up to third position for a few laps. It was just the rain that stopped him from getting the position he deserved. Carlos was also in the top group when he had an unlucky tumble.

“We are really looking forward to Mugello to get back to the position that we deserve. We had a test in Mugello a few weeks ago which was quite good but it’s not our bike’s favourite circuit. Nevertheless we will use our testing feedback and our riders’ recently improving performances to aim for the top there. Last year there Carlos fought for the win in the top group, and Marco is getting stronger and stronger, so we can expect a good day. The team is based in Italy, we have an Italian rider and many Italian staff so we feel like it’s one of our home Grands Prix and we want to do well there.”


TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

Located in the beautiful Tuscan hills Mugello boasts a sequence of undulating medium to high-speed corners combined with a straight where even
the former 500cc two-strokes were capable of producing an outright top speed of 315kmh. The factory team YZR-M1 took that benchmark up to 322kmh during the 2002 race.

Although picturesque, the Italian circuit has a reputation as a very demanding venue on chassis set-up and engine performance. In fact Mugello is
a circuit that requires the best from every aspect of a race motorcycle. It is for this reason that the Fortuna Yamaha Team used the chance to test in Mugello prior to the Le Mans Grand Prix, where they evaluated not only the
handling but also the braking and power capabilities of the 2003 YZR-M1.

Mugello is all about finding a balanced geometry that will provide the rider with the ability to change direction quickly through the high-speed
switchbacks, and especially through the tricky right-hander at the end of the main straight. This corner, to some extent, is the key to a fast lap time around Mugello as it influences the next sequence of turns dramatically. In addition to this the chassis will need to provide a front-end with high feedback while trail braking into the numerous downhill Mugello turns. This is especially the case onto the front straight, as it influences corner exit speed and eventual top speed.

Following the team’s recent private two day test, held May 14-15, Checa and Melandri are confident they have found a neutral geometry that will provide the balanced character required to deal with these demanding circuit trademarks. It involves lowering the front of the M1 to improve front-end feel and lighten the handling response through the chicanes. This is also possible as Mugello doesn’t require a front-end to be dialled in as firmly regarding its fork springs as in Le Mans, since the braking needs are not quite as extreme.

To ensure that the M1 will be able to find the necessary drive a medium to high rear spring-rate will be used, along with progressive rear suspension linkage rates. It will also be necessary to prevent squatting as riders wind the power on in the well-banked, high G-force corners. As for the in-line four-cylinder powerplant, it will be tuned to offer a stronger
midrange and top end power delivery, in turn increasing the top speed potential. Yet this will be done without sacrificing the predictability off the turns.


CHECA NEEDS CHANGE OF LUCK AT CRUCIAL STAGE OF SEASON

Having finished last year’s World Championship in sixth position, it has been an inconsistent start to the 2003 season for popular Spanish rider
Carlos Checa, who currently lies in sixteenth position in the championship standings. The Catalan-born racer known in his home country as ‘El Toro’ could not find his usual form at the first two races of the season, finishing in tenth and ninth positions in Japan and Africa respectively.

Checa’s ‘bullish’ form returned at the following two races – his qualifying performances were consistent and his lap times close to those of the top riders. However his luck did not improve, as he was forced to stop after only three laps in Jerez at the Spanish Grand Prix. He was then forced out of the wet French Grand Prix in Le Mans two weeks ago in just the second lap of the race when he slipped on a wet patch.

Checa knows that Mugello will be a crucial chance for him to gain extra points and raise his position in the championship standings, and there is no reason why he should not do so. Last year the now thirty-year-old missed the Mugello podium by a fraction, riding a determined race to fourth
position having started from third place on the front row. He crossed the finish line just a few metres behind third-placed Tohru Ukawa. Also the
Fortuna Yamaha Team tested at the circuit just a few weeks ago so its nature is fresh in Checa’s mind, and he set a lap time of 1:52.1 during the test, beating the circuit lap record (1:52.601) and just off the circuit best lap (1:51.258).

“For sure it was useful to have a test there recently,” said Checa about Mugello. “I felt quite good riding there although I did have some falls. I find it quite difficult to know the limit in Mugello and I pushed a bit too hard. It’s quite a difficult circuit but generally I think the four-strokes are very well suited to it.

“I haven’t had a good start to the season at all but the nature of racing is that you have good times and bad times. I am still completely focussed and know that I am capable of fighting with the top riders. I’ve already proved this in Spain and France, and now it’s just a question of keeping the consistency throughout a race and hopefully not having any more dramas! The team are being great and my mechanics are working so hard that I want to get a podium finish as much for them as for myself. It would be good to do that in Italy where the team is based. All I can say is that I will try to stay calm during the two days of qualifying, get a good grid position, and go for it.”


MELANDRI KEEN TO PERFORM WELL TO HOME CROWD

Twenty-year-old Ravenna born Marco Melandri has impressed everyone with his strength and determination to race no matter what so far this year. After a serious fall at the opening Japanese Grand Prix where he fractured his ankle
in two places and chipped his femur, the Italian was forced to miss the first two races while he received physiotherapy in Italy. It was decided
that Melandri was fit to return for the Spanish Grand Prix just one month later and the young rider put in a determined performance despite some back pain – a side effect of his earlier accident, finishing in seventeenth position.

At the French Grand Prix two weeks ago Melandri incredibly earned himself a front row start and during the wet race fought his way up to third position but an unlucky tyre choice meant he was unable to keep up with the race leaders and he eventually finished in fifteenth position. The youngster has already shown that he is full of promise and is desperate to gain a good result in this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

“I think it will be the most difficult race for me so far this year,” admitted Melandri, “because all the Italian riders will be wanting to make a good race in front of the public. My condition is getting better every
day so that won’t hold me back. I made some good laps in Le Mans but finished in fifteenth position because we made a mistake with our tyre
choice and I’m not totally used to riding my M1 in the rain. Now I want to finish a race in a good position and I will try for this in Mugello. It is my dream to get a podium finish in Mugello on the M1 but it’s very difficult to turn that to reality because this year so many riders are good, every race is different with different people fighting for the victory.”

Melandri is trying not to let the pressure of a home Grand Prix affect him and will aim to keep the same level of concentration that he would for any other race, “My team are good because they won’t put any extra pressure on me in Mugello even though most of them are Italian,” he said. “They will keep me calm but of course I will naturally feel an extra desire to perform
well in front of my people. My fan club will be there which should be nice. When I rode in the 125cc class I had my first ever podium in Mugello in ’98 – I came second. I also rode my first ever race in my life on a 125 in Mugello, and then won the 250cc race there last year. It’s a very difficult circuit because it has every kind of corner; slow, fast, and chicane, as well as a very fast straight. But I love this track! We tested here a few weeks ago and I took things slowly because of my physical condition.”

Melandri also has a treat in store for him before his home Grand Prix because he has been invited to go to meet the President of the Italian
Republic, Mr. Azeglio Ciampi, on Tuesday of the week leading up to the race. Melandri will attend the special occasion alongside current MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi and other MotoGP riders. Both Rossi and Melandri won World Championship titles in 2002, Rossi the MotoGP title and Melandri the 250cc title. Commenting on the event Melandri beamed, “I’m very excited
to meet him and I’m proud to have been asked to go – the only thing I’m not sure about is what I’m going to wear!”


CARLOS CHECA : INFORMATION
Age: 30
Lives: Great Ayton, England
Bike: Fortuna Yamaha Team YZR-M1
GP victories: 2 (500)
First GP victory: Catalunya, 1996 (500)
First GP: Europe, 1993 (125)
GP starts: 140 (20 x MotoGP, 92×500, 27×250, 1×125)
Pole positions: 2 (1 x MotoGP, 1 x 500)
First pole: Spain, 1998 (500)
Mugello 2002 results. Grid: 3rd, Race: 4th

MARCO MELANDRI : INFORMATION
Age: 20
Lives: Derby, England
Bike: Fortuna Yamaha Team YZR-M1
GP victories: 17 (10 x 250, 7 x 125)
First GP victory: Assen, 1998 (125)
First GP: Brno, 1997 (125)
GP starts: 78 (2 x MotoGP, 42 x 250, 34 x 125)
Pole positions: 8
First pole: Sachsenring, 1998 (125)

Mugello MotoGP lap record
Tohru Ukawa 1’52.601 (2002)

Circuit best lap
Valentino Rossi 1’51.258 (2002)

From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Round 8 – Pikes Peak International Raceway, Colorado, USA
Race Report

PIKES PEAK FRUSTRATIONS FOR MLADIN

Fountain, Colorado, USA – Mat Mladin faced his most frustrating weekend of the season after a combination of officialdom and tyre wear have seen him slip to third overall after the completion of round eight of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship held at Pikes Peak International Raceway, Colorado.

Mladin’s weekend got off to an uneasy start when his fast lap time from the opening qualifying session on Friday was withdrawn by AMA race officials. Hardware problems with the timing systems over the weekend were the reported reasons for his lap time being withdrawn, but unfortunately for he and his Yoshimura Suzuki team, they were only notified of that decision until the closing minutes of the final qualifying session which did not allow him time to return to the circuit to attempt to post a pole winning lap time. As a result, he was placed second on the grid alongside teammate Aaron Yates.

The timing problems had affected a number of other classes over the weekend including the qualifying sessions for Supersport and Formula Extreme.

Heading into Sunday’s race, Mladin had concerns over the tyre wear he was getting on his powerful Suzuki GSX-R1000 around the tight bowl layout of Pikes Peak, with the concerns becoming reality before the race had reached its mid point.

After holding third place during the opening laps, Mladin began to lose touch with the lead group, He then pitted for a new tyre on lap 36, slipping from sixth to ninth. After returning to the track he consistently turned faster lap times than the leaders, but his charge to regain placings was cut short when the race was red flagged on lap 41 due to an accident on the circuit. The race was then declared by race officials, with the results determined by their finishing order at the end of lap 40, leaving Mladin ninth.

“We sort of expected to have a problem with tyres around here,” said Mladin. “I’m struggling to keep tyres under the bike on these bowl race tracks. It’s the same sort of thing that we had a problem with at Daytona. We sort of thought that we may have to make a stop for a tyre, but were hoping that we didn’t have to, but in the end we had to. I didn’t think the pace of the race was that fast and even though I was lapping quicker late in the race, I think I may only have been able to have picked up another one or two spots if the race had gone the distance.”

“As for the championship, there’s nine points in it, so all we have to do is get back to some proper race tracks.”

Victory today went to Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom who held out Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts by 5.257 seconds when the race was stopped. Third place today allowed Yates to stretch is Championship points advantage out to five points over race winner Bostrom, with Mladin now third, nine points in arrears.

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to Road America next weekend for another double-header round of the championship.


RESULTS
2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship – Round 8
1. Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki)40 laps
2. Kurtis Roberts (Erion Honda) +5.257 seconds
3. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +11.599
4. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +12.579
5. Anthony Gobert (Ducati Austin) +21.838
6. Jason Pridmore (Attack Suzuki) +29.945
7. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) +34.621
8. Jordan Szoke (Corona Extra Suzuki) +38.263
9. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) +40.097
10. Steve Rapp (Valvoline EMGO Suzuki) +50.703

2003 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship (points after 8 of 18 rounds) Provisional
1. A Yates 244; 3. E Bostrom 239; 3. M Mladin 234; 4. B Bostrom / K Roberts 221; 6. M DuHamel 187; 7. L Pegram 162; 8. S Higbee 159; 9. J Pridmore 150; 10. V Haskovic 140.


More, from a press release issued by Honda:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Weather: Warm, sunny
Temperature: 24 degrees
Crowd: 15,000

Roberts on Podium at Pike’s Peak

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts finished on the podium for the third race in a row, taking a close second aboard his Honda RC-51 in the red flag-shortened eighth round of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Pike’s Peak International Raceway.

Roberts took over second on the third of 40 laps around the 1.315 mile bull ring, set inside the one-mile PPIR oval, pressing the race leader, but never able to capitalize. Roberts was in a position to make a move in the final stages of the race when a lapped rider crahsed eight laps from the end of the scheduled 48 lap race, and it was declared official. In the end, he finished 5.257 seconds behind race winner Eric Bostrom of Kawasaki.

Eric’s older brother Ben came fourth on the American Honda RC-51. The tight and twisty circuit is particularly hard on rear tires-one rider had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a tire change-and Ben spent the race managing his rear tire wear. He spent much of the race swapping third place with Aaron Yates, with the Suzuki rider and championship leader getting the best of him on the 34th of 40 laps. Bostrom never gave up and finished less than a second behind Yates.

American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel was also hoping to make a late race charge until the race was stopped. DuHamel chose a softer tire, hoping to make it last, but he soon found it was a struggle. Nursing the rear tire, and his still knitting left collarbone, he finished seventh. Next week the series heads to Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where DuHamel won both legs of the Superbike double-header last year.

Roberts leads the trio in the points standings in fourth place, with Bostrom fifth and DuHamel sixth.

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke was able to extend his championship lead in the Formula Xtreme class, riding his Honda CBR-954RR to a third place finish, his fourth consecutive podium. After four of 10 rounds, he holds an eight point lead over the second placed rider, Ben Spies (Suzuki).

Zemke struggled in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport class, coming seventh after being knocked down on the first lap. The race was red flagged and Zemke was able to make the necessary repairs to continue. But his Erion Honda CBR-600RR wasn’t perfect and the 20-lap race was one of endurance.

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, Second Place.
At the very beginning I just wanted to slowly inch up and not put a big charge on and burn the tire off the rim. We just maintained the lap times that we thought we needed to do to win. And Eric (Bostrom) did the same thing. We didn’t get the start we really wanted to, but I was able to get past Aaron [Yates] and Mat [Mladin] in turn one at the very beginning. But Anthony [Gobert] had the most defensive lines at the beginning of the race I’ve ever seen. It took a couple of laps longer than I wanted to get around Anthony and Eric [Bostrom] was pulling away. That was just the gap Eric needed. The whole race was just catch a little bit, lose a little bit. Finally, I got hosed with some lappers. But Eric was riding really good.

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom, Fourth Place
The tire we had to run, I didn’t like. I made a little change to the bike and maybe it was the wrong way to go, but regardless – I learned more this weekend than anywhere. We learned a lot in Atlanta and we learned ever more here. We’re coming up on the halfway point in the season so it’s time to make it happen. We threw so many things at it here. It’s great that the track is so small because you do five laps, 10 laps, whatever, come in and you still have 55 minutes of the session left. I’ve never changed so many things on a bike in such a short time.

American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel, Seventh Place
We picked a softer tire than I think anybody out there . For us it was a pretty big gamble. I tried to do what I needed to do to not chunk the tire and I thought we would be there in the end and maybe be stronger in the end. I was dipping back into the 55s and I would have maybe got Jason [Pridmore]. Who knows what would have happened in those last six laps. Those guys were running pretty hard and maybe somebody would have chunked and I would have moved up three or four positions. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and I’d like to maybe run it harder next time and see if the tire would be fine, but I had no trouble. My shoulder was fine. It hurt a few times, but I’m fine. I’m a little disappointed because I think we had a better bike than we did, but we’ll get ‘em next week.

Superbike Results:
1. Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki)
2. Kurtis Roberts (Honda)
3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
4. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
5. Anthony Gobert (Ducati)
6. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)
7. Miguel DuHamel (Honda)
8. Jordan Szoke (Suzuki)
9. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
10. Steve Rapp (Suzuki)

Championship Points:
1. Aaron Yates (244)
2. Eric Bostrom (239)
3. Mat Mladin (234)
4. Kurtis Roberts (221)
4. Ben Bostrom (221)
6. Miguel DuHamel (187)
7. Larry Pegram (162)
8. Shawn Higbee (159)
9. Jason Pridmore (150)
10. Vincent Haskovec (140)


More, from yet another–and massive–press release issued by Honda:

AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series
Round 8: Fountain, Colorado
June 1, 2003

Roberts romps to second at Pikes Peak

Throughout his young road racing career, Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts has racked up 14 wins in various classes on the AMA Superbike circuit. Those wins include nine Formula Xtreme victories, a class once dominated by Roberts, three 600 Supersport honors and two 250 Grand Prix wins. One of those wins came at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 1998 in the 250 Grand Prix class aboard a Honda. Roberts had hoped to score his second victory this weekend, and had it not been for a shortened Superbike final on Sunday, Roberts may have won his second race at Pikes Peak instead of finishing runner-up.

Originally scheduled to run 48 laps around the short 1.315 mile Pikes Peak circuit, the Superbike race was red flagged on lap 40 after a downed rider could not get himself out from underneath his crashed machine. With eight scheduled laps remaining, second place Roberts was in position to make a move on eventual race winner Eric Bostrom. Unfortunately the late race incident not only required a red flag, it also forced the checkered. Roberts was credited with second, Honda’s Ben Bostrom with fourth and the injured Miguel Duhamel with seventh.

All three factory Honda RC51 pilots qualified toward the top of the grid at Pikes Peak. Roberts, who was second fastest in Saturday’s practice session, was the top qualifying Honda rider, and started the Superbike final from the fourth position on the first row. Ben Bostrom and Duhamel shared the second row with the sixth and seventh spots on the grid. Neither rider was shooting for the second row in qualifying, but Bostrom’s lack of experience on the Pikes Peak circuit and Duhamel’s injured shoulder (a broken collarbone that required surgery), kept the two Red Riders off the front row. The second row starting position obviously didn’t affect Bostrom much because as soon as the race started he found himself racing closely with front row starter Mat Mladin and pole setter Aaron Yates. Meanwhile Roberts was part of the hard-starting trio of Anthony Gobert and Eric Bostrom.

Although he celebrated both Superbike and Supersport wins at Pikes Peak in 1997, Duhamel’s shoulder was painful enough to keep the tough Canadian out of the tussle up front on the tight, physically demanding circuit. Duhamel, who dropped out of the weekend’s Supersport competition due to his injury, rode most of the Superbike race in seventh position, where he finished.

“This is a tough race track to ride when you’re injured,” said Duhamel of Pikes Peak, one of the tightest tracks on the Superbike circuit. “That’s not an excuse for my finish, but I’m confident that if I were healthy I’d be up there in the front with Kurtis and Ben. I’ve got to thank my crew chief Al [Ludington] and the rest of the Honda team for sticking by me even though I’m hobbled a little.”

Nothing could keep the #80 Honda RC51 hobbled in the final, as Roberts moved into second place by the third lap and promptly separated himself from everyone behind him. He held his position right until the race was called on lap 40. Roberts’ impressive second place finish marked his fourth podium of the season and helped keep his title chances alive.

“After yesterday’s practice there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to be racing for the lead,” said 24-year old Roberts. “The team got the bike set up perfectly, which isn’t easy to do here. I just needed those last eight laps.”

Honda’s Ben Bostrom could have used the extra laps to improve his final results too. The recent World Superbike recruit got into a heated battle with Yates that lasted a majority of the race. When the event was finally called, less than a second separated third place Yates from fourth place Bostrom. The race for third place had nearly ten seconds on fifth-place-finishing Gobert.

“This isn’t my kind of track because it’s so different from what I’ve ridden in the last three years,” said Bostrom, who excels on the longer and faster tracks due to his World Superbike experience. “The schedule is coming up to some race tracks more suited to my style, so I can’t wait.”

Bostrom and the rest of the Red Riders won’t have to wait long. Round nine and ten of the Superbike series picks up next weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin at the Road America double-header. The fast four mile road course has been good to Honda riders in the past, especially Duhamel, who won both rounds of the Superbike double-header in 2002.

AMA Superbike Overall Results:
1. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki
2. Kurtis Roberts – Honda
3. Aaron Yates – Suzuki
4. Ben Bostrom – Honda
5. Anthony Gobert – Ducati
7. Miguel Duhamel – Honda

AMA Superbike Point Standings:
1. Aaron Yates – Suzuki – 244
2. Eric Bostrom – Kawasaki – 239
3. Mat Mladin – Suzuki – 234
4. (Tie) Kurtis Roberts – Honda/Ben Bostrom – Honda – 221
6. Miguel Duhamel – Honda ? 187

AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Series
Round 5: Fountain, Colorado
June 1, 2003

Pikes Peak tough on Supersport Red Riders

If Mother Nature had it her way, every round of the AMA/Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport Series would be held in the rain. Since the opening round in Daytona, nearly every event has been affected by wet weather in one way or another. The fifth race on the calendar was no different, as Pikes Peak International Raceway was drenched with a fast moving rain storm that forced AMA officials to modify the schedule of the day’s events. Gone was the 29-lap Supersport Final originally slated to go off at noon on Sunday. Running on a modified schedule the race was shortened to 20 laps and postponed to the late afternoon after the track had dried out. Unfortunately for Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke, he could have used the extra laps at Pikes Peak to make up ground for the lost grid positions issued due to penalties after Saturday’s qualifying.

At the completion of Saturday’s Supersport qualifying session, AMA Pro Racing pulled approximately ten bikes from the 600 grid for technical inspection. At the end of the inspection, the AMA announced that the Honda CBR600RR’s of Miguel Duhamel, Jake Zemke and Marty Craggill were found to have a “non-standard pressure relief valve.” In addition, Craggill’s Bruce Transportation Group machine was also found to have a “non-standard charging system.” As a result, the AMA docked Duhamel and Zemke each 20 points and moved both riders to the back of the grid and fined each rider $2000. Craggill was disqualified from the event and fined an amount yet to be determined.

According to Honda Manager of Motorcycle Sports Chuck Miller, the problem had to do with timing. Honda’s Supersport bikes arrived prior to Daytona as early production units. In the final production models, which arrived months after the team’s early-production bikes, the pressure relief valve spring had been changed in final production, which made the race bikes illegal. “We take full responsibility of the situation,” said Miller. “We thought we were so legal that we took a production bike to AMA and said ‘let’s pull this one apart.’ The Honda team was surprised to find that the parts were different.

Craggill’s situation was a little different. The team had a crash early in the season, and when parts for the damaged charging system weren’t available, they used other components to make repairs. When the production parts became available, they never replaced the parts with stock pieces.

All of which meant that third fastest qualifier Craggill was out of the Colorado Supersport race, and Duhamel and Zemke went from second row qualifying spots to the back row. Because of Duhamel’s shoulder injury, Miller decided that it would be best for the Canadian sit out the race instead of starting in the chaos of the back row. With the chances of a sixth Supersport title dwindling due to the Duhamel’s crash at Infineon Raceway that broke his collar bone in three places and the 20 points docked by the AMA at Colorado, Duhamel instead concentrated on the premier Superbike event. With Duhamel out, it was up to Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert, Roger Hayden and class favorite Zemke to get the Honda CBR600RR toward the front of the pack.

When Sunday’s rain delayed race finally did go off, Zemke made an amazing 18-lap charge to seventh place. With two laps left, Zemke was unable to advance any further up the results. His younger teammates Gobert and Hayden finished the 20-lap sprint in ninth and 13th place, a disappointing finish for Hayden, who finished third in the Supersport race at Pikes Peak last year. No Limits Motorsports Honda-mounted Doug Chandler finished twelve, just ahead of Hayden.

Amazingly Zemke made the best of a bad situation and salvaged as many points as possible at Pikes Peak. He now trails the series point leader by 28, although he came to round five with a deficit of just 15. With Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s Road America road course scheduled for June 6-8, Zemke and the rest of his Honda CRB600RR teammates plan to quickly make up the ground they lost at this weekend’s tough Pikes Peak event.

600 Supersport Overall Results:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha
2. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha
3. Jason DiSalvo – Yamaha
4. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
5. Tommy Hayden – Kawasaki
7. Jake Zemke – Honda
9. Alex Gobert – Honda
12. Doug Chandler – Honda
13. Roger Hayden – Honda
14. Chris Peris – Honda
15. Craig Connell – Honda
16. Jason Curtis – Honda

AMA 600cc Supersport Points Standings:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha – 154
2. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 144
3. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha – 142
4. Jason DiSalvo – Yamaha – 128
5. Jake Zemke – Honda – 126
8. Alex Gobert – Honda – 108
9. Doug Chandler – Honda – 99
11. Roger Hayden – Honda – 82
12. Jason Curtis – Honda – 67
13. Ty Howard – Honda – 65
15. Chris Peris – Honda – 59
16. Craig Connell – Honda – 46
17. Miguel Duhamel – Honda – 45

AMA/Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series
Round 4: Fountain, Colorado
May 31, 2003

Zemke keeps points lead with another podium finish

Starting from the third position on the front row, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke maintained his Formula Xtreme points lead by finishing third in the crash stricken final at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Zemke’s third place performance in Colorado marked his fourth straight podium finish in the last four 2003 Formula Xtreme starts. Zemke tied for first in the 2002 series championship, but lost out on a tie-breaker. Since then, the 27-year old has made it his mission in life to gain what he considers his championship.

“The guys in front of me rode great today, but there were only two of them ahead of me in the end and that’s important as far as the championship goes,” said Zemke, who has the best chance of bringing the Formula Xtreme title back to Honda; since the inception of the series, Honda has won the majority of championships. “If I can continue to have consistent finishes combined with some race wins, I should be able to take it this year.”

Zemke, an ex-dirt tracker is no stranger to Formula Xtreme wins. Since his road racing career took off in 2000 as a member of the Honda-supported Bruce Transportation Team, the friendly Northern Californian has stood on top of the Formula Xtreme podium three times. His last win occurred in 2002 at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, a race track more suited for his dirt-track-rooted riding style. Pikes Peak International Raceway is a tight 1.315-mile race track that favors a stop and go riding style, unlike the style of a dirt tracker. “My Erion Honda CBR954RR is the best bike out there,” said Zemke. “I may not be the best rider for this type of track unfortunately. I prefer wide, fast and sweeping turns instead.”

Zemke’s words are modest: Although he as never won at Pikes Peak, he has finished on the podium at the venue three times now.

Erion Honda’s Roger Hayden has finished on the Pikes Peak podium too. In 2002 Hayden finished third in 600 Supersport competition and almost made the box a second time that weekend, but had to settle for fourth in the Formula Xtreme race. At this year’s edition of the Rocky Mountain race, Hayden qualified 12th and was forced to ride in traffic from the get go. The two restarts affected him more than any other Honda rider.

“Just as I was beginning to gain ground,” explained Hayden, “they’d throw a flag.”

The frustrated youngster was ultimately the lead finisher in a train of Honda riders that included Hayden, Bruce Transportation Group’s Marty Craggill, No Limits Motorsport’s Jason Curtis and Annandale Honda’s Craig Connell. The Honda CBR954RR-mounted group was lucky enough to stay out of all the tangles on the race track and finished tenth through 13th respectively.

Zemke and his Honda cohorts return to Formula Xtreme action on June 7 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. With an eight-point championship advantage over Pikes Peak winner Damon Buckmaster, Zemke hopes to bring some fellow Red Riders with him next weekend on the Road America podium.

Formula Xtreme Overall Results:
1. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
2. Adam Fergusson – Suzuki
3. Jake Zemke – Honda
4. Ben Spies – Suzuki
5. Josh Hayes – Suzuki
10. Roger Hayden – Honda
11. Marty Craggill – Honda
12. Jason Curtis – Honda
13. Craig Connell – Honda
21. Alex McElyea – Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Jake Zemke – Honda – 125
2. Ben Spies – Suzuki – 117
3. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 112
4. Adam Fergusson – Suzuki – 105
5. Josh Hayes – Suzuki – 104
7. Marty Craggill – Honda – 92
13. Roger Hayden – Honda – 63
15. Doug Chandler – Honda – 53


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

MOORE FINISHES SIXTH AND SEVENTH AT PIKES PEAK

Jimmy Moore finished sixth in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock event at Pikes Peak International Raceway, struggling with traction issues throughout the race. “It was a long race,” said Jimmy. “They were killing me off the corners. We made a geometry change on the bike, and put the rear axle where I ran it last year (when Moore won the race). My tire would just light up, and then I started over-riding the bike to try to compensate. I was trying standing on the pegs, shifting my weight, everything. Too bad it wasn’t a dirt track, I’d have probably won the thing, it slid beautifully!” Moore moves up to seventh in points in the Superstock class.

Moore finished a strong seventh place in the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme class at Pikes Peak on Saturday. With two red flags during the event, Jimmy and the rest of the field ended up doing three starts, and Jimmy nailed all three, getting better with each start. Jimmy was running eighth at the first red flag and was in eighth again at the second red flag. On the third start, Jimmy was third going into turn one, but was soon passed by riders with more horsepower. Jimmy battled with Annandale Honda rider Ty Howard while closing on Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking. The three riders fought over seventh place until Howard tried a pass on Hacking which resulted in a collision, with Howard crashing hard while Moore rode past the incident and held the position to the checkered flag. “Howard tried to out-brake both of us,” said Jimmy. “I saw him come up and I said, ‘He’s never going to make it’, so I broke and created some room, and pow!, he slammed right into the side of Hacking. The bike handled pretty good, I just kept the tire I had on for the third leg, it was working good and was consistent to the end.” This finish moves Moore up to eighth place in Formula Xtreme points.

Look for Jimmy and the rest of the Corona Extra Suzuki team at Road America next weekend, June 6th – 8th.


More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HAS/SHOGUN RACING HAS LONG WEEKEND AT PIKES PEAK

HAS/Shogun Racing riders John Haner and Heath Small made it through the weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway, with different results. Heath crashed in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport event while running 17th, injuring his left hand in the fall. Teammate John Haner finished 10th in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock event after battling handling gremlins all weekend.

John fought with traction issues starting with Thursday’s promoter practice, but he and the HAS/Shogun Racing crew kept working and found some solutions by race time. After a red flag on lap two, the race was re-started but John didn’t fare as well on the second. “My crew told me I came around the first lap in 14th, and I just started picking guys off,” said Haner. “The bike was the best its been all weekend. I got past Opie (Caylor), I made some points on him. The front tire hung in a little better than the rear. We struggled, we got through it and we got more points, which is what we’ve been trying to do all year.” John moves up to ninth in season points with his finish at Pikes Peak.

Heath and his dad Lance flew back to Houston Sunday night, with an appointment on Monday to have Heath’s hand checked by specialists there.


More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Suzuki:

STORMS STILL DOGGING AMA NATIONALS BUT CORONA EXTRA SUZUKI SUPPLIES THE THUNDER AT PIKES PEAK

Someone associated with the AMA National Superbike Series has definitely upset the weather gods! – severe storm warnings along with high winds, torrential rain, lightning and 100+ temperatures was the norm for the weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway – but on the track Corona Extra Suzuki rider Adam Fergusson supplied the thunder, netting two thrilling second places, both by less than a bike length off first!

In the Lockhart-Phillips Formula Extreme “event” – which was essentially three races with one start and two restarts because of red flags, Adam Fergusson was the class of the field. In a race “1” starting from the front row having qualified in fourth position, Fergusson showed tremendous riding ability to get to the front by lap three and start to pull away until the race was stopped on lap 8. In race “2” Fergusson started on pole by virtue of his leading position but an “OK” start lost him three positions. Two laps later though he was up in front again pulling away until 10 laps later another red flag brought them in! In Race “3”, again starting from pole position, Fergusson did not have any hot tires ready for a third restart so had to take the first few laps easy circulating in fourth. Once his tires came up to temperature though Adam went after the leaders quickly getting up to second but ran out of laps by the finish, netting second less than a half a bike behind the winner at the line. After the race Fergusson said; “We did not have a third set of tires on the warmers so I started on cold tires and had to take it easy for a few laps. The GSXR 1000 was handling great and we had motor on everyone – I just needed another lap – still two out of three isn’t bad!” Jimmy Moore rode a great race in the second pack finishing a strong 7th. Fergusson is now 4th with Moore 8th in the Formula Extreme Championship.

True to form for the season, the heavens opened before the Superbike event delaying the start for nearly an hour. Szoke started from the third row and rode another strong race to finish in eighth position. He is currently 12th in the Superbike Championship.

The Suzuki Genuine Accessories Superstock event was another race marred by the red flag, which came out in the first lap. Fergusson started from the front row in fourth, Szoke and Moore from the second row in fifth and seventh respectively. At the restart, Fergusson settled quickly done to chase the leaders, getting the lead with five laps to go. Those last five laps saw Adam and Tony Meiring swapping the lead back and forth until Meiring got a break for the line with Fergusson less than a bike length behind. After the race Fergusson said; “It seems that second by a hair is my fortune for this weekend! Still I’m happy to put the Corona Extra Suzuki GSXR’s onto the box twice”. Jimmy Moore finished 6th and Szoke 11th. Fergusson is third, only three points behind first. Moore is 7th and Szoke 13th in the Superstock Championship.

Next race: Road America, Elkhart Lake WI., June 6-8, 2003. Look for the Corona Extra Suzuki Team signing autographs at Siebkens Restaurant on Saturday June 7th, 8.00 – 9.00 PM.



More, from a press release issued by Team Stargel Aprilia:

Sorensen Shrugs Off The Pain To Finish Second At Pikes Peak

Team Stargel Aprilia rolled into Pikes Peak International Raceway bruised and battered, but happy to be competing. Rider Chuck Sorensen, injured his right hand during practice at Road Atlanta, and was carrying two surgically implanted pins as a result. Despite the limited strength and obvious pain, Sorensen was determined to ride.

If the team thought that the worst was behind them, Friday morning’s practice would prove them wrong. During practice, Sorensen was highsided from his Aprilia in turn four. The team quickly repaired his motorcycle and sent the limping rider out for afternoon practice. Sorensen responded to his setbacks by setting the fastest practice time of the session. Later in the day, X-rays proved that Sorensen had broken his right foot in the morning session.

After a less than stellar start, Sorensen rode a smart and controlled race. Despite the pain and lack of motion in the hand and foot, Sorensen finished a strong second place, recording a personal fast lap time of 55.8 seconds on lap six.

In light of the inclusion of 250s into the proposed Formula Extreme class for the 2004 season, we would like to compare lap times with some of the other classes at PPIR. In the 600SS or 750SS races, no rider achieved a lap time of under 56 seconds. This was done in the 250GP race by both Sorensen and Rich Oliver. It is a fact that the 250GP machines can be competi

From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

Day two Isle of Man TT Festival
June 2, 2003

Palmer and McGuinness Victorious for Honda

Chris Palmer and Shaun Harris both enjoyed maiden glory as the Isle of Man TT Racing Festival continued on a busy day that also brought a third victory for John McGuinness.

Lancastrian McGuinness was delighted with his performance, especially as he had only clinched the deal to bring his race winning Honda to the Island on the Wednesday of practice week, and clocked only three laps aboard it prior to the race.

That hardly showed as McGuinness set the pace throughout the four lap Lightweight 400TT, always ahead of the action as Ryan Farquhar tried everything he knew to reel him in, but that pursuit was in vain, as he trailed into the pits for the half distance fuelling halt some 22 seconds down.

McGuinness was cruising it, taking the victory from Richard Britton, with Farquhar having to settle for the first of his two third placings of the day.

“That was a fantastic race there were absolutely no problems it was just a case of getting my head down and getting on with it and I had the luxury of being able to turn it down a bit on the last lap.” McGuinness said.

“I only sorted the deal for the bike last week and had no time to work on the settings, but that did not matter after the disappointment of Saturday when I finished third, this was great the bike was absolutely flying.” Concluded the Lancastrian.

Honda RS125R rider Palmer, having shrugged aside the frustrations of a three hour delay to the start of the 125cc Ultralightweight race because of low cloud, was another man in a hurry to romp to victory. First he had to overcome the speedy challenge of Michael Wilcox, but he was ahead of the Lincoln rider just into the second lap, and then powered into the distance.

Now living at Castetown, Palmer had vowed back in 1991 when he twice crashed, never to race at the Island again. He changed his mind last year, and it paid dividends, with the former British champion saying . “I never dreamt that I would win a TT, and now I live here, it would be rude not to ride here wouldn’t it.”

Harris, riding a big Suzuki, was another comfortable winner, leading throughout the three lap 1000 Production TT to head up a Kiwi one-two ahead of Bruce Anstey. He was ahead from the start, though the threat of Saturday’s TT Formula 1 race of Adrian Archibald was growing until the third placed Ulsterman ran out of fuel yards from his scheduled pit-stop after two laps.

He ‘legged’ the bike back, but had lost vital seconds. Harris and Anstey made the most of it as they forged clear with Farquhar taking third, ahead of Richard Britton with Chris Heath fifth after Ian Lougher had retired at Bungalow with machine problems.

“I knew that I would win–the bike was superbly
prepared. That was not a case of being cocky, rather being totally confident. I have been trying to win here for ten years, and knew this would be my race. There will be no celebrations though, there are more races to be won this week,” said Harris while Anstey, having to settle for second best commented: “the bike went well but it was a bit windy out there.”

Hard luck story of the race belonged to McGuinness. He retired after two laps, totally exhausted. His Ducati had run out of fuel and he had pushed it the half mile from Governors to the pits, and was unable to continue.

Results:
125cc TT four laps
1 Chris Palmer, Honda, 1:23:20.56
2 Michael Wilcox, Honda, 1:24:00.46
3 Ian Lougher, Honda, 1:24:21.03
4 Robert Dunlop, Honda, 1:24:47.24
5 Nigel Beattie, Honda, 1:27:15.22
6 Paul Owen, Honda, 1:28:43.71
7 Ted Roebuck, Honda, 1:28:51.06
8 Nigel Moore, Honda, 1:29:12.02
9 Mark Tyrrell, Honda, 1:29:30.66
10 Matt Jackson, 1:29:53.77

Lightweight 400 TT four laps
1 John McGuinness, Honda, 1:22:40.97
2 Richard Britton, Honda, 1:23:07.29
3 Ryan Farquhar, Kawasaki, 1:23:23.21
4 David Madsen-Mygdal, Honda, 1:24:28.95
5 Robert J Price, Yamaha, 1:26:00.41
6 Alan Bennie, Yamaha, 1:27:34.27
7 Craig McLean, Yamaha, 1:27:53.95
8 Michael Hose, Kawasaki, 1:28:05.57
9 Peter Jarmann, Kawasaki, 1:28:21.25
10 Robert A Price, Yamaha, 1:28:32.77

1000cc Production TT three laps
1 Shaun Harris, Suzuki, 55:39.38
2 Bruce Anstey, Suzuki, 55:55.42
3 Ryan Farquhar, Suzuki, 56:10.50
4 Richard Britton, Suzuki, 56:20.87
5 Chris Heath, Suzuki, 56:52.84
6 Jason Griffiths, 57:07.66
7 Paul Hunt, Suzuki, 57:26.07
8 Adrian Archibald, Suzuki, 57:27 51
9 Martin Finnegan, Suzuki, 57:42.87
10 Colin Breeze, Suzuki, 58:31.75

From a press release:

2003 Yamaha Formula Xtreme TT Series
Round 4, Queensland Raceway, Queensland
Race Report

YAMAHA PRIVATEER RIDERS SHINE AT QUEENSLAND XTREME ROUND – TRINDER SEALS
SECOND NAKEDBIKE TITLE

Star riders Daniel Stauffer and Kevin Curtain may have been missing from the penultimate round of this years Yamaha Formula Xtreme TT Series at Queensland Raceway, but that did not slow the flow of race wins for Yamaha riders in the series as Melbourne’s Cameron Donald and Sydney’s Glen Allerton emerged as potential new stars of the series after claiming the overall round win in the Xtreme and Supersport classes respectively.

The results attained by the two up and coming riders were further enhanced as Craig Trinder made it two consecutive NakedBike crowns when he swept his Nikon Yamaha FZ1 to four straight wins over the weekend to build an unassailable lead as the series heads to its final round at Eastern Creek on July 13.

“What can I say about the Yamaha FZ1, it’s just a great bike,” said Trinder. “It is such a good bike for the NakedBike class. It’s got a great combination of power and handling that allows you to go out and enjoy your racing. Even though we were able to wrap up the series title with 14 wins from 16 starts, the competition has been a lot closer providing some great race action at each of the four rounds so far.”

The Queensland round of the Yamaha Formula Xtreme TT Series offered a great number of opportunities for a number of riders to showcase their talents.

Cameron Donald claimed the first overall round win by a privateer for a number of years as he remained consistent in each of the four races to guide his Gary O’Brien Yamaha YZF R1 to the round win courtesy of a pair of seconds and a pair of thirds. It was a great day for the Victorian as he also took the overall points lead in the A Grade privateers battle and gave Pirelli their first overall Xtreme round win as well.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said Donald at the end of a very impressive day. “To win an overall round as a privateer just goes to show how well our small team is working and how good a bike the Yamaha YZF R1 is, it’s fantastic. I’ve put all my energy into the Formula Xtreme series this year and even though it is only our third race meeting with the bike it just gets better and better. Pirelli as well have done a great job with us. It’s nice to have another brand of tyre out there as well and it’s good to be able to repay them for their support. We have a couple of goals still ahead for us as I would like to stay at the top of the A Grade privateer battle, but I would also like to have a good shot at taking out third place overall in the series.”

Nikon Yamaha’s Brendan Clarke scored his maiden win in Xtreme in Saturday’s opener, before backing that up with a second win on Sunday morning. Unfortunately for the Brisbane teenager he became the innocent victim in a fall by guest team rider Tony Rees at the end of the back straight in race three which denied him a continued run of wins. A fourth place finish in race four rewarded the youngster with third place overall for the day.

Another Brisbane rider who stood up to the plate was Aluma-Lite Racings Ben Attard who rode a superb race to take a flag to flag win in the final race of the day to give him second overall on the day to Donald.

Heading to the final round, Stauffer holds a slender 6-point lead over Curtain (251 – 245), with Clarke third with 178, followed by Donald (165) and Attard (133) setting the scene for a great finale.

The very competitive Supersport class saw a new face at the top of the points table as 22-year-old Sydneysider Glen Allerton piloted his privateer Yamaha YZF R6 to an a very well deserved round win.

Allerton kept the pressure on all day and was rewarded with a win in race two, along with two seconds and a third.

“The weekend started out pretty tough for us as we were struggling with tyre tear, but we got the chassis sorted out and solved the early problems,” said Allerton. “We did the best we could with what we had and obviously it was enough this weekend. It was a bit of bad luck for Brendan (Clarke) to have fallen in the third race, but I’ll still take the win. Straight out of the box this Yamaha YZF R6 has been a rocket. It’s very well suited to the Dunlop tyres we’re using and couldn’t be happier with it.”

Nikon Yamaha’s Brendan Clarke took out three race wins over the weekend and has now moved to within 20 points of class leader and teammate Kevin Curtain as the prepare for the final round at the Creek.

Lismore Motorcycles rider Mark Stanley maintains eighth place overall in the class, but his weekend was cut short when he fell from his YZF R6 at Turn Four while within striking distance of the leaders in race two. He finished seventh in the opener, but was unable to have his machine repaired for the final two races.

Taree teenager Alex Cudlin continues to lead the Yamaha Superstock class and completed a busy weekend by taking three wins and a second in the class, to further extend his class points lead. Adding to his Superstock duties, Cudlin also made his first appearance in the big bore class as he rode the YZF R1 formerly ridden by older brother Damien. His natural ability showed as he finished third overall in Formula Oz and took out second place in the Formula X Unlimited C&D Grade feature race.

“Everything went to plan today, three wins and a second, so I don’t think you could ask for much more than that, it was good,” said Cudlin. “I think we’ve got a strong lead going into the final round, but it’s still a long way from being over yet. It’s been great to have had time on the R1 as well and we picked up some pretty good results today which is very encouraging for us.”


YAMAHA XTREME Overall points standings after round 4 of 5:
1. Daniel Stauffer (251); 2. Kevin Curtain (245); 3. Brendan Clarke (178); 4. Cameron Donald (165); 5. Ben Attard (133); 6. David Butler (132); 7. Nicholas Barton (130); 8. Stephen Tozer (110); 9. Robert Bugden (106); 10. Benn Archibald (101).


YAMAHA SUPERSPORT Overall points standings after round 4 of 5:
1. Kevin Curtain (300); 2. Brendan Clarke (280); 3. Russell Holland (225); 4. Glen Allerton (170); 5. Simon Rattenbury (152); 6. Wayne Maxwell (146); 7. Mark Aichison (138); 8. Mark Stanley (82); 9. Christopher Seaton (76); 10. Rory Rock (60).

YAMAHA SUPERSTOCK Overall points standings after round 4 of 5:
1. Alex Cudlin (335); 2. Alex Tomasetti (301); 3. Jarrod Curren (246); 4. Benjamin O’Brien (200); 5. Scott Evans (155).

NAKEDBIKE Overall points standings after round 4 of 5:
1. Craig Trinder (385); 2. John Allen (282); 3. Graeme Wilshaw (262); 4. Matthew Waldren (211); 5. Lee Munro (176).

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The new Road Atlanta chicane was not built to the plans shown to AMA Pro Racing officials, and the final configuration was a surprise.

That shocking revelation was made in the paddock at Pikes Peak International Raceway by AMA Pro Racing Board Member Kevin Schwantz and by AMA Pro Racing Director of Road Racing Ron Barrick.

The chicane was heralded by track officials and in an AMA Pro Racing press release as improving safety by keeping riders away from a concrete wall on the outside of what AMA officials referred to as turn four, a sweeping left-hander prior to the start of the Road Atlanta esses.

No active AMA road racers were consulted prior to the chicane being built, and it has met with almost universal condemnation by riders.

At Pikes Peak, Roadracingworld.com asked riders who had tested at Road Atlanta in April–the first time the chicane was used by AMA teams–if they were consulted prior to the track change being made. All said they had not been consulted, and several said they knew nothing of the change until they saw it on the Internet a few days before the test.

When asked at Pikes Peak why no current riders were contacted before the changes were made, Barrick was quick to point out that former 500cc World Champion Schwantz was consulted.

But Schwantz himself said at Pikes Peak, “I was consulted with regard to the (track) changes beforehand and they looked fine, but what I saw was different than what they actually did. The pictures showed the track going further right into the old turn four before going left. It would have made it less of a straight shot, and more of a chicane.”

Asked if he thought the changes improved safety at Road Atlanta, Schwantz said, “I think the changes help move you away from the wall outside of turn four, but make it more of a straight shot down the hill, and that brings the wall on the inside, at the end of the esses, into play.”

This was clearly shown at Road Atlanta, first when Steve Rapp’s Suzuki hit the inside, and unpadded, wall at the base of the esses during Friday’s Superbike qualifying, and then again when Woody Deatherage crashed into the same, still unpadded, wall during the second Superbike race on Sunday.

Rapp saw the impact coming and bailed out early, avoiding personal contact with the wall. But Deatherage followed his bike into the wall and broke his back.

Like Schwantz, Barrick said that he saw designer Dick Lane’s original design, but that the end result was different. Barrick also said the track didn’t tell him that the chicane design had been changed until after construction was completed, and that the changes to the design were made to keep race cars from tearing up the new chicane’s curbing.

Roadracingworld.com asked some of the riders what they thought of the new section and the general consensus was that it hurt the flow of the track and created new problems.

Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking, the 2002 Road Atlanta 600cc Supersport race winner, said “It’s rinky-dink, flip-flop. All they needed to do was move the outside wall, or just knock it out and add a gravel trap and everything would have been fine.”

Hacking’s teammate Jason DiSalvo said he thought the chicane wasn’t bad, but that it did hurt the flow of the track. He also said he didn’t think it was needed and that all it did was increase the speeds going down the hill.

Austin Ducati’s Anthony Gobert, who in 2002 crashed in the old turn three, breaking his leg, said “I was hurt there but that was a fluke deal, I crashed because of a problem with the bike. They did the same thing at Sears, and I don’t think they are helping anything by just adding some chicane.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Toseland Wins!

James Toseland took his inaugural World Superbike victory in Race Two at Oschersleben, breaking Neil Hodgson’s nine race winning streak for an emotional win. Hodgson was second from Toseland’s HM Plant teammate, Chris Walker, making an all-British podium.

Toseland took the holeshot and led through the Hotel corner from Hodgson, Walker, and Ruben Xaus, with Regis Laconi and Frankie Chili close behind.

Hodgson, looking to lead the race, went deep into the Shell Esses on lap two, passing Toseland by the exit. But his line caused his Ducati 999 to run wide, allowing Toseland back underneath. The two collided heavily, knocking Hodgson from the seat and damaging his fairing, but both riders continued.

“I thought my race was over,” commented Hodgson, “I looked down and couldn’t see my clutch lever! But it’s on a pivot, designed to spring back from just this kind of incident, I pulled it back up, it wasn’t right, but it worked.”

Hodgson had to fight back after Walker took advantage of the collision, and was clearly trying very hard to catch Toseland. But Toseland was smooth and consistent with his Dunlop-shod HM Plant Ducati, breaking both Hodgson’s streak of wins and ending the longstanding Dunlop win-drought in WSB.

“I can hardly believe I’ve won,” said an emotional Toseland after the race. “I want to dedicate this win to my family, without their support I wouldn’t be here.”

Hodgson was obviously gutted to miss an entry in the record books, but was quick to congratulate his former HM Plant Ducati team mate;

“I have to take my hat off to James, I have no excuses, he beat me fair and square.”

The win leap-frogs Toseland into second in the championship from Hodgson, and sets up for an exciting home round at Silverstone in two weeks time.

World Superbike championship
Race 2, Round Five, Oschersleben, Germany
30-31 May – 1 June 2003

1. J. Toseland, GBR, Ducati, 41:20.103
2. N. Hodgson, GBR, Ducati, -7.416 seconds
3. C. Walker, GBR, Ducati, -15.314
4. R. Laconi, FRA, Ducati, -19.277
5. R. Xaus, ESP, Ducati, -24.228
6. S. Martin, AUS, Ducati, -43.648
7. J. Borja, ESP, Ducati, -46.868
8. V. Iannuzzo, ITA, Suzuki, -47.807
9. M. Borciani, ITA, Suzuki, -48.930
10. L. Pedercini, ITA, Ducati, -1:02.514


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI CORSE PRESS INFORMATION

HODGSON (DUCATI FILA) AND TOSELAND (HM PLANT DUCATI) TAKE A WIN APIECE IN GERMANY

Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila) equalled Colin Edwards’ (Honda) nine-race World Superbike winning streak with victory in race 1 at Oschersleben after a superb battle with Pierfrancesco Chili (PSG-1 Ducati) but had to take the runner-up slot in race 2 behind James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) who took his maiden WSBK win.

Hodgson took the lead from Chili on lap 9 and clinched victory despite coming under pressure from the Italian who was never more than a bike’s length behind. “I didn’t get a good start but the Hodgson luck is flying around at the moment because if I had, then I would probably have been taken out in the carnage at the first corner” declared Neil.

After some fairing-bashing with Toseland in the early stages of race 2, Hodgson then had to take second-best to his former GSE team-mate who led an all-British podium with Chris Walker coming home third. “It was a tough race and it’s a tough track for overtaking” added Neil, “so that’s why I made the move on James. We made contact and I thought I had no clutch lever. I glanced down and the lever was facing down so I banged it back. It wasn’t quite right but I could continue the race. I waited for James to make a mistake but it didn’t come. I was trying to stay behind him, but we got the back-markers and it was all over then. I was pleased to match Colin’s record but you can’t win them all! James totally deserved his victory and the best man won on the day.”

Team-mate Ruben Xaus crashed out from third place on lap 10 at the fast right-hander leading onto the back straight in race 1 and then finished fifth after the break. “In the first race I had problems with the front of my bike and unfortunately simply fell off. Then fifth place in race 2 was not so good, because I still had a few problems with the front” declared Ruben. “I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike all weekend. I know I am a fast rider, but at the moment I don’t feel that it is my bike. Tomorrow we’ll be here for a day’s testing and I’m sure we’ll get some good results”.


RACE 1: 1. Hodgson (Ducati Fila)
2. Chili (PSG-1 Ducati)
3. Toseland (HM Plant Ducati)
4. Laconi (NCR Ducati)
5. Walker (HM Plant Ducati)
6. Martin (DFX Ducati)

RACE 2:
1. Toseland (HM Plant Ducati)
2. Hodgson (Ducati Fila)
3. Walker (HM Plant Ducati)
4. Laconi (NCR Ducati)
5. Xaus (Ducati Fila)
6. Martin (DFX Ducati)


POINTS (after 5 of 12 rounds):

Riders:
1. Hodgson 245
2. Toseland 132
3. Xaus 126
4. Laconi 122
5. Lavilla 111
6. Walker 95
7. Chili 84

Manufacturers:
1. Ducati 250
2. Suzuki 127
3. Petronas 52
4.
Kawasaki 46
5. Yamaha 32
6. Honda 21.


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

IANNUZZO GRABS A PAIR OF EIGHTHS

It was a disappointing afternoon for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Gregorio Lavilla at Oschersleben today. A fall at the first corner in the first race left the Spaniard bruised and battered and frustrated at the lack of points. His luck didn’t get any better in race two ­ a suspected electrical problem caused him to pull in after sixteen laps. But there was some joy for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra, their ‘wild card’ rider Vittorio Iannuzzo put in a superb performance and finished eighth in both 28-lappers.

Briton Neil Hodgson (Ducati) won the first race, after a titanic struggle with Frankie Chili (Chili), to take his season’s tally to nine and equal the record for consecutive wins set by Colin Edwards last year. Third was James Toseland, ahead of Regis Laconi, Chris Walker and Steve Martin ­ all on Ducatis. The second race was another two-rider dogfight ­ this time between Hodgson and Toseland. But this time, Hodgson lost out to his younger rival and Toseland recorded his maiden World Superbike win. Third went to Walker ­ completing an all-British 1-2-3 for the first time in World Superbike history.

GREGORIO LAVILLA ­ Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNF
To say that was a disappointing and frustrating day would be an understatement! It all started before the first race even began when I felt some problem with the clutch on my bike on the inspection lap. I pulled in and jumped on to my number two bike and maybe the tyres weren’t up to temperature or something. Going into turn my brakes wouldn’t work properly and I went in a bit hot. I tried not to touch anybody and I can’t say if somebody hit me, but either way I crashed and that was that for the race. I was bruised a lot, but not bad enough to prevent me from starting race two. At the start of the second race, the engine revs dropped. I didn’t make a good start and the rear grip didn’t feel good from the start. After a few laps I felt something wasn’t right, but I carried on. I thought that maybe the bike had dropped a valve, so I pulled in. If there had been two or three laps left, I would’ve risked staying out and getting some points. But, as there were twelve or so laps left, I thought it safer to pull in and completely destroy the engine. The mechanics looked at my bike afterwards and they think the problem was probably electrical, but we will not know for sure until they take the engine apart next week. Obviously, I’m very disappointed and very frustrated.

VITTORIO IANNUZZO ­ Race 1: 8th, Race 2: 8th
I am very happy today, because I wanted a pair of solid top ten finishes and I managed a pair of eights. Every time I ride this Suzuki GSXR1000, I learn a bit more about riding a Superbike and get more experience. I am particularly happy with my second race, because the gap to fifth place was very small.

Results

Race 1:
1 Hodgson (GB-Ducati)
2 Chili (I-Ducati)
3 Toseland (GB-Ducati)
4 Laconi (F-Ducati)
5 Walker (GB-Ducati)
6 Martin (AUS-Ducati)
8 IANNNUZZO (I-ALSTARE CORONA EXTRA)
DNF ­ LAVILLA (E-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA)

Race 2:
1 Toseland
2 Hodgson
3 Walker
4 Laconi
5 Xaus
6 Martin
8 IANNUZZO (I-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA), DNF ­ LAVILLA (E-ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA)

Points
1 Hodgson 245
2 Toseland 132
3 Xaus 126
4 Laconi 122
5 LAVILLA (ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA) 111
6 Walker 95
15 IANNUZZO (ALSTARE SUZUKI CORONA EXTRA) 27,

PODIUMS FOR STEPH AND KATS!

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra riders Stephane Chambon and Katsuaki Fujiwara took second and third places in the fifth round of the Supersport World Championship at Oschersleben today. Both had to work hard for their places, and once in second and third, they fought each other throughout the second half of the race ­ entertaining the 68,000 strong crowd with their close-quarter racing. The race was won by series leader Chris Vermeulen, who made a flyer of a start and was then never challenged, headed on the way to his third win of the season. By the second lap, he had already opened out a small gap on his pursuers and from then on in, the rest had to grind away and try and catch him. At the end, Vermeuelen took the chequered flag nearly two seconds ahead of Chambon.

STEPHANE CHAMBON ­ 2ND
That was good fun! Fighting Kats is always good fun, but safe. It is a shame that Vermeuelen got away from the rest of us so soon and it was impossible to catch him once he had that advantage. Our Suzuki may be the oldest bike out there, but Kats and I showed that it is still very competitive. Today my Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR600 worked very well and I’d like to thank the team for all their good work.

KASTSUAKI FUJIWAR ­ 3RD
I am pretty happy today ­ especially after the problems in practice. Also, my right boot zip split and I spent most of the race with the boot flapping about and it was difficult to use the rear brake. Also, my foot kept slipping on the pegs. But the end result was good and I’m very happy with my bike and all we achieved today.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The rains in Colorado have stopped, the track has been dried and the 48-lap AMA Superbike race is scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. Mountain Time.

From AMA Pro Racing:

“Due to the late start and the possibility of further rain later in the afternoon, all support classes will run 20-lap finals.”


The Supersport, Superstock and 250cc Grand Prix support races were originally scheduled for 29 laps.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

On-track activities at Pikes Peak International Raceway are on hold due to rain and high winds.

The Supersport race scheduled to start at noon, didn’t.

Stay tuned.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom maintained a lead from the second lap to win the red-flag-shortened AMA Superbike race Sunday at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts passed Anthony Gobert, who had gotten the holeshot, on lap three and held second until the race was stopped eight laps short of its scheduled distance.

Gobert finished fifth.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates earned the final podium spot after a race-long battle with fourth-place Ben Bostrom.

Yates’ teammate Mat Mladin was third for most of the race before Mladin started dropping backward on lap 20. Mladin pulled into the pits for a new rear tire on lap 35 and, after a quick pit stop for a new rear tire, managed to salvage a ninth-place finish. According to monitored transmissions on the AMA radio network, Mladin tripped the AMA radar at 68 mph on his way into the pits; prior to the start of the race, an AMA official walked through the grid displaying a sign that read “Penalty For Speeding On Pit Lane During A Race Will Be A Stop & Go.” The pit-lane speed limit is 50 mph. After his stop, Mladin was seen signalling with one finger at an official with a radar gun at the exit of pit lane; Mladin may have been signalling that the official was #1 or that he (Mladin) was complying with the pit-lane speed limit.

The race was stopped on lap 41 for a crash which left Hooters Suzuki’s Mike Ciccotto pinned underneath his GSX-R750 on the racetrack.

Scoring was reverted to the running order of lap 40.

AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 40 laps
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, -5.257 seconds
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -11.599 seconds
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -12.579 seconds
5. Anthony Gobert, Ducati, -21.838 seconds
6. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, -29.945 seconds
7. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -34.621 seconds
8. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, -38.263 seconds
9. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, -40.097 seconds
10. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -50.703 seconds
11. Ricky Orlando, Suzuki, -1 lap
12. Dan Tuner, Yamaha, -1 lap
13. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, -1 lap
14. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha, -1 lap
15. Mike Sullivan, Suzuki, -1 lap
16. Jeff Tigert, Suzuki, -1 lap
17. Larry Pegram, Ducati, -1 lap
18. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -1 lap
19. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, -1 lap
20. Geoff May, Suzuki, -1 lap
21. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -1 lap
22. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -1 lap
23. Tom Wertman, Suzuki, -1 lap
24. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, -1 lap
25. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, -2 laps
26. Brian Stokes, Suzuki, -2 laps
27. Eric Haugo, Suzuki, 2 laps
28. Jeremiah Johnson, Suzuki, -2 laps
29. Jason Knupp, Suzuki, -2 laps
30. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki, -3 laps
31. John Haner, Suzuki, -21 laps
32. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, -27 laps
33. Michael Kosta, Suzuki, -28 laps
34. Greg Glennie, Yamaha, -39 laps


Provisional Superbike Championship Point Standings (After 8 of 18 races):

1. Yates, 244 points
2. Eric Bostrom, 239 points
3. Mladin, 234 points
4. Ben Bostrom/Roberts, TIE, 221 points
6. Duhamel, 187 points
7. Pegram, 162 points
8. Higbee, 159 points
9. Pridmore, 150 points
10. Haskovec, 140 points

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Pikes Peak International Raceway has been the site of a series of controversial penalties in the Supersport class, some of which may have serious Championship implications.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies was fined $2000 and penalized 20 Championship points for a technical violation found following his Supersport race win at Road Atlanta. Parts from Spies’ GSX-R600 were impounded after the Road Atlanta race, and later inspected against control production parts.

The Yoshimura Suzuki team learned of the judgment against Spies on Wednesday, May 28 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, but the final determination of Spies’ violation wasn’t announced by AMA Pro Racing until a little after noon (Mountain Time) Sunday, June 1–in response to a SPEED TV report by Greg White, who broke the news of the penalty.

According to Yoshimura Team Manager Don Sakakura, Spies was found to have an “oil pressure relief valve…different than the production sample.” Asked how the part got into Spies’ Suzuki, Sakakura declined to comment.

“The ruling is fine,” continued Sakakura, “as long as, again, (the AMA is) consistent as far as the way they enforce the rules. I understand the penalty, and we’ll abide by the penalty.”

Then, after Spies was penalized but before Spies’ penalty was announced, AMA Pro Racing pulled “about 10 bikes,” into technical inspection following Supersport qualifying May 31, according to AMA Pro Racing’s Ron Barrick. Mechanics were asked to remove the exhaust systems and oil pans from the racebikes.

During those inspections, bikes ridden by American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke and Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Marty Craggill were found to have “non-standard oil pressure relief valves.” In addition, Craggill’s Honda was found to have a “non-standard charging system,” according to a May 31 AMA Pro Racing release.

The penalties against the Honda riders were immediately announced by AMA Pro Racing, while the penalty against Spies was not announced until after the SPEED TV report aired the next day.

Duhamel and Zemke were each fined $2000, penalized 20 Supersport Championship points and moved to the last grid spots for Sunday’s Supersport final.

That penalty–combined with his still-healing shoulder injury– resulted in Duhamel withdrawing from the Supersport race at PPIR.

For his dual penalties, Craggill was penalized 20 points, disqualified from the Supersport race at Pikes Peak and fined $2500. Craggill did not return to the track Sunday.

“We felt we were legal and in compliance with all rules and production pieces and everything,” Honda Racing Teams Manager Chuck Miller told Roadracingworld.com Sunday in the Pikes Peak paddock. “Even our liaison here (from Japan) expressed that thought. So when we found out that the AMA found inconsistencies in our part versus their part, we suggested to take the production bike down there and pull it apart and see what’s in it. Because we feel ours is the same as that.

“So we did do that, and we did find out it was different. And that there was a change in the vendor (part supplier) from early-production to a production version. And in doing so there was a different tension rate on the spring. So we were found illegal.

“We accept responsibility for that fully. We aren’t going to appeal the process, in that regards. It wasn’t done intentionally, and we are now undergoing a thorough investigation of every other part to make sure there wasn’t any inconsistencies from early production versus production.

“As you know we got these bikes prior to Daytona to race at the Daytona event.”

The part in question was an oil pressure relief valve spring located in the oil sump of the Honda CBR600RR. The two-inch-long spring is visually identical to the production part but had a different spring rate, which was checked by the AMA Pro Racing technical staff with an Intercomp spring tester. According to Miller, the non-standard part could theoretically reduce oil pressure and allow the engine to rev more freely. Miller said that the modification would not increase horsepower or torque and, at best, would provide a “minimal” advantage.

In addition to the same non-standard spring, Craggill’s CBR600RR was found to have what Miller believes was a race kit ignition stator/rotor.

According to Bruce Transportation Group Honda Crew Chief Joey Osowski, the original engine cover and stator/rotor assembly were damaged in a crash earlier this season and the standard Honda parts needed to replace the cover and ignition parts were on back-order from Honda.

Osowski said that during the inspections, the AMA Pro Racing technical inspectors saw that the engine cover was different and then asked to see the entire charging system. “The cover and the winding were aftermarket, just different than the U.S. model,” said Osowski.

As for Osowski’s reasoning for using the aftermarket/kit parts, Miller acknowledged that the parts were back-ordered at the time of Craggill’s crash but added, “That’s not an excuse because the parts are fully available at this point.”

AMA Pro Racing sources did not agree with Miller’s assertions regarding the effect reducing oil pressure relief valve spring pressure would (or would not) have on horsepower production, stating that because it takes horsepower to drive the oil pump, reducing oil pressure also reduces mechanical power losses and increases power reaching the rear wheel.

Attack Suzuki’s Richard Stanboli said, “It should benefit a 600 more than a 750. You can figure one horsepower for every 10 psi you take off the oil pressure. For instance, if your bike makes 60-80 psi at maximum rpm, if you can bypass the pressure relief valve at 30 psi, you gain more than 3 horsepower.”

Kawasaki engine builder Theo Lockwood said that the World Superbike team he used to work for got a different oil pump assembly two years ago, and that it made a 2-3 horsepower gain on a 150-horsepower engine. Lockwood said reducing oil pressure would typically result in a 1-2 percent gain.

As far as Honda claiming the Honda, Erion and Bruce racebikes had a pre-production part, Lockwood said “We had pre-production bikes and parts, too, but we made a concerted effort to make sure we showed up at Daytona with a production bike. Every team starts with pre-production bikes and it’s up to them to make sure it’s legal.”

AMA officials actually tested 9 bikes after Supersport Qualifying at Pikes Peak, specifically taking one from the American Honda team, one from Erion Honda, and one from Bruce Transportation Honda, as well as two Yamahas, two Kawasakis and two Suzukis.

“We’re looking at more things,” said a source in AMA tech. “We’re trying to make a level playing field. Now we have some new equipment that allows us to check more things with confidence. We knew Spies’ oil pump was bad at the track at Road Atlanta, but we wanted to do more testing on it for research.”