Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

No Limit Motorsports Honda’s Doug Chandler says he doesn’t know the full story why his Crew Chief Gary Medley left the team.

“I haven’t got an explanation why,” Chandler told Roadracingworld.com Friday. “They (the team) just didn’t give it a chance. Anytime a team terminates someone mid-season you know you can’t replace the guy, and it makes it tough on everybody.”

Chandler said that no one has replaced or taken over Medley’s duties inside the team, leaving him with one mechanic for his Supersport bike and one for his Formula Xtreme bike.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Superstock points leader Vincent Haskovec got what he figures to be the greatest opportunity of his racing career Thursday when he was given a one-day test on the Ducati Austin 998RS Superbike at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

“It was awesome, man!” said Haskovec, a 29-year-old immigrant from the Czech Republic. “I’ve been happy to get that opportunity from those guys and get a ride on a real Superbike. I had experience with the 748 I rode last year at Laguna Seca, so I know little bit what Ducati feels like.

“It was completely shocking for me (how well) that bike handled – going from side-to-side was effortless. It was amazing compared to 748. The bike was really stable. Two guys who I passed were behind me. They told me, ‘Man, you didn’t go sideways or nothing!’ It sounds like I’m spinning, but that thing always roll forward.”

Haskovec said he made small changes to the shock and forks that made him more comfortable and resulted in faster lap times by the end of the day. “Lap time before red flag was my fastest lap, and they decide to call it a day. I was pretty bummered out. Like, I finally feel pretty good, and I couldn’t ride anymore.”

The test was set-up by OMS Sports’ Jimmy Filice, who recently signed Haskovec to “see if we can help him,” according to Filice. “He’s doing real well this year. He’s leading the Superstock class. He’s drawing a lot of attention.

“First of all I’d like to thank Steve DeCamp (Hooters Suzuki Team Owner) for giving (Haskovec) that opportunity and releasing him for that one day. But his focus is on the Superstock Championship for them.

“Ducati Austin is looking for a second rider and wanted to give a rider the opportunity to go out and experience a Superbike for a day. (Ducati Austin Team Owner) Terry Gregoricka is a good guy, and he sees potential in Vincent as well. He just wanted to see how well he rode a Superbike.”

“I was pretty impressed,” said Ducati Austin Crew Chief Vic Fasola. “He did a great job for us. He was real easy to work with. He didn’t tear anything up. He did pretty well.”

So what happens next? “I could do it if up to me,” said Haskovec, when asked if he could race Superstock for Hooters Suzuki and Superbike for Ducati Austin for the rest of the 2003 season. “It’s just a lot of collision with sponsors. I’m running with these guys (Hooters Suzuki) on Pirellis, and they (Ducati Austin) are on Dunlops. I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I’m probably going to hang out and do my job for Hooters what I promised to do.”

“Nothing has been discussed about next year or the end of this year,” said Filice. “We haven’t had a meeting about how yesterday went. We’ll probably discuss that this weekend.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

For the fifth consecutive round of the 2003 series, AMA Pro Racing timing and scoring was not operating correctly at the start of official practice Friday morning at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

At Pikes Peak, timing and scoring monitors along pit lane were blank after bikes started circulated around the track, despite the efforts of crew members to get a timing and scoring signal.

About 20 minutes into the first practice session, pit-side monitors had signal but monitors in the press room were still not displaying timing and scoring data.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Surgeons successfully fused four vertebrae in Brian Livengood’s back Friday, and he is off a respirator.

Livengood broke two vertebrae when he crashed and slid into a concrete wall at Road Atlanta during AMA Superbike Qualifying on Friday, May 17. He also suffered a concussion and bruised lungs in the incident, and was on a respirator through the start of his surgery.

The crash was set off when the rear tire on Livengood’s GSX-R1000 came apart approaching the back-straight kink at Road Atlanta.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Superbike teams are beginning to make plans to run in the World Superbike round held in conjunction with the AMA Superbike event July 10-13 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.

“We plan to run Eric Bostrom for sure,” said Kawasaki Racing Team Manager Michael Preston Friday at Pikes Peak. “The process has basically started, but we probably won’t know until two weeks before the race.”

Preston said that although Eric Bostrom was technically considered a World Superbike regular last season, he would have to enter this year’s Laguna Seca race as a wild card. Preston hopes that the fact Bostrom earned points in last year’s World Superbike Championship would help him get a wild card before other AMA hopefuls.

“Right now all three guys want to ride it,” said American Honda Team Coordinator Ray Plumb. “Honda hasn’t said anything official to me. After this weekend, we’ll make the decisions.”

“We’re looking forward to getting the bike dialed in over the next couple of rounds, because I want to win Laguna,” said Ducati Austin’s Anthony Gobert. “We’re confident if we can get our bike sorted we’ll be able to give them a run. I’ve won at Laguna every time I’ve raced in World Superbike there. I’m hoping to do the same this year.”

“At this point, yes,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura, confirming his team’s intention to enter both Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates in the Laguna Seca World Superbike races. “We’re hoping there will be enough rides. According to Ron Barrick, there’s a minimum of four rides.”

Asked if his team had done any testing with the FIM-mandated air restrictors and unleaded race fuel, Sakakura said the team had not. Sakakura then pointed out that the Yoshimura Suzuki team would have access to all of Alstare Corona Suzuki’s data. Alstare Corona Suzuki runs Gregorio Lavilla on a GSX-R1000 in World Supebike, and like Yoshimura Suzuki, uses Dunlop tires and Elf race fuel.

Sakakura said if both Mladin and Yates get wild-card entries, his team will test with the required air restrictors and unleaded fuel at Virginia International Raceway in June.

According to AMA Pro Racing’s Ron Barrick, the AMA can nominate four wild card entries for Laguna Seca and the FIM can award two more wild cards for a total of six. As it stands right now, there are seven AMA Superbike riders interested in doing the race.

Dream Team Ducati’s Larry Pegram said he did not have any plans to run the World Superbike race.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Jim Moodie was injured after running into debris from David Jeffries’ fatal crash during practice Thursday at the Isle of Man.

According to a statement issued by Moodie’s ValMoto Triumph team, Moodie crashed while attempting to avoid debris in the road following David Jefferies’ fatal accident.

Moodie crashed “after becoming entangled in telephone lines that were strewn across the ultra-fast Crosby section of the circuit,” read the statement. “Moodie received abrasions to his neck and throat when the cable wrapped around his neck as he swerved to avoid other obstacles. Fortunately he was able to stop his bike in time to avoid serious injury.”

Moodie’s injuries were described as being “not serious” by his team; he was treated and released from a local hospital Thursday.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Pikes Peak International Raceway has repaved the turn two section of the infield road course, eliminating a big bump over the tunnel to the infield which in turn is allowing AMA Supersport racers to go faster than they have in the past.

“It’s definitely better,” said Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden, winner of the 2002 AMA Supersport race at Pikes Peak. “It’s way smoother than it was last year.”

While new rules allowing 2003 Supersport machines to have more compression and power and the evolution of racebikes and tires in general played some part in the lower lap times Friday, some Supersport riders went over 1.5 seconds faster Friday morning than they did in the same practice last year.

Hacking led Supersport practice Friday with a 1:56.050 but only did a 1:57.835 last year. Damon Buckmaster was second fastest Friday with a 1:56.419 after doing a 1:57.221 last season.

Hayden, who only improved one tenth from his time last year, said the difference in lap times was “not drastic, about three or four tenths faster.” But Hayden added that he “felt pretty good on that part of the track last year. For some people it might be a bigger difference. My bike was set up pretty good there last year.”

Most riders who were asked about the new section after practicing Friday morning agreed that the section of track was better and should lead to faster lap times because of higher corner speed in turn two and a better drive down the back straightaway.

Pikes Peak International Raceway went to work on both the turn two section of the infield road course and the turn one section of the speedway oval as soon as this past winter broke. “Both had gotten pretty darn bumpy due to water problems underneath, which will have to be taken care of permanently, eventually,” PPIR Vice President Dan Greenwood told Roadracingworld.com.

Greenwood said the track contracted Colorado Springs, Colorado’s Schmidt Construction, the original pavers of the racetrack, to repair both sections with temporary patches. But as Hayden pointed out, “They definitely did a good job. There’s some places where we ride you can tell they did it the night before.”

According to Greenwood, Schmidt Construction ground approximately 1.5 inches off the top of about a 150-to-200-foot section across the entire width of turn two, laid more of original mix of asphalt, then used a “diamond grinder with a sophisticated leveling system” to grind the final surface level to within 0.01-inch.

“The whole process took about three weeks,” said Greenwood. “Most of it was the diamond grinding because that machine goes really slowly, like a five-foot-wide path at two feet an hour.”

“It wasn’t something mandatory that we did, but we heard so many comments of the harshness of the ride that we went ahead and did it,” said Greenwood. “Last week the MRA riders said they were letting off through there before and now they are pretty much wide open.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn Le Santo

Chili fastest in opening qualifying in Oschersleben

Frankie Chili continued his strong showing in the 2003 World Superbike championship by going fastest in the first qualifying session for this weekend’s World Superbike meeting, at Oschersleben in Germany.

The provisional front row is one of opposites again with just about the oldest Superbike rider, Chili, lining up alongside one of the youngest, James Toseland. The young British rider took his HM Plant Ducati into provisional second spot.

Toseland’s teammate Chris Walker is provisional third, now almost fully recovered from his Sugo injuries, Walker is much more at home on his machine and looking for a better result to improve his standings in the championship.

Regis Laconi turned the fourth-fastest time to complete another all-Ducati provisional front row. Gregorio Lavilla was fifth-fastest, while Championship leader Neil Hodgson struggled with set up and came in a lowly seventh-fastest.

Friday World Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.503
2. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.814
3. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.984
4. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.004
5. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.030
6. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:28.099
7. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:28.213
8. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.235
9. Vittorio Ianuzzo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.699
10. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.928
11. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.994
12. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.179
13. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:29.386
14. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:29.500
15. Giovanni Bussei, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:29.760
16. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:29.778
17. Nello Russo, Ducati 998RS, 1:29.881
18. Serafino Foti, Ducati 998RS, 1:30.580
19. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda RC51, 1:31.428
20. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 998RS, 1:31.837
21. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.950
22. Steinar Sundby Dag, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:32.388
23. James Haydon, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:33.726


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

XAUS AND HODGSON (DUCATI FILA) CLAIM PROVISIONAL SIXTH AND SEVENTH IN GERMANY

Ruben Xaus and Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila) claimed provisional sixth and seventh times respectively in the opening qualifying session for Sunday’s Round 5 of the World Superbike Championship at Oschersleben, Germany.

Ruben was the quicker today as both Ducati Fila riders had to get to grips with scorching temperatures. “Qualifying was quite good, it’s a difficult track and you need to find a good set-up to get results here,” declared Ruben. “With my qualifying tyre I found some other guys in the middle of the track and then my second tyre wasn’t as good as the first, so probably I could have been quicker. I also used a race tyre and my lap time was good, the feeling is not so bad, we just need to work with the front a bit more because here it’s a hard track for the front”.

Neil changed his set-up in the afternoon but this didn’t produce the expected results and the championship leader will revert to his previous settings for tomorrow morning’s second and final qualifying session.

“With race times we’re there and no one is faster” commented Neil. “The only problem was that from the morning to the afternoon we went in the wrong direction, trying something that didn’t really work. You’ve only got an hour and in the end we found that the morning set-up was better. The times were more or less the same, it was just that I had to push much harder in the afternoon. We didn’t use ‘qualifiers’ and my time was on a race tyre so I’m pretty satisfied. Tomorrow we’ll go back to the morning set-up and fine-tune that”.


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

Provisional front row for Walker and Toseland

The HM Plant Ducati team got off to a positive start today with both riders qualifying on the provisional front row of the grid.

James Toseland finished the session second fastest behind Frankie Chili. The pair swapped places on the timesheet several times and James finished just a third-of-a-second down on the veteran Italian rider.

“We’re almost there with our race set-up,” said the 22-year-old from Sheffield. “There’s a small amount of chatter we still need to iron out but we’re getting closer with every lap. I’m happy with second considering I made a few small mistakes when I was using my qualifying tyre towards the end of the session.”

Toseland’s team-mate, Chris Walker is still not back to full fitness after crashing twice in Sugo last month.

“I did 28 laps in that session,” said Walker afterwards. “And I have to admit I can really feel it! I can’t wait until I am 100% fit again because the HM Plant Ducati is starting to really feel like my bike. But my riding is improving and I’m really enjoying the weekend so far.”

Regis Laconi finished the session fourth fastest to make it an all-Ducati provisional front row. Neil Hodgson, who is leading the championship by 85 points, struggled with set-up problems of his own and finished down at seventh fastest.


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

Tough German debut for Foggy PETRONAS Racing

Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s first visit to Germany’s Oschersleben circuit for round five of the World Superbike championship proved a testing baptism.
Both Troy Corser and James Haydon struggled to make an impact on the leading times, although both managed improvements during the sweltering afternoon qualifying session.

Troy’s morning practice session was marred by a crash at Triple, the fastest corner of the track. While his FP1 was damaged and unable to use for afternoon qualifying, Troy escaped with bruising to his left thigh.

He said: “I hit a false neutral so didn’t have any engine breaking and had to run wide into the gravel. The rest of the day was really frustrating. I feel I know my way around this circuit and my set-up was not the reason I was
losing time. We need to find more acceleration and improve the mapping, as at the moment I feel I’m almost pushing too hard, but without going any faster.”

The Australian finished the qualifying session in 16th place with a time of 1:29.778, 0.381 seconds up on his morning best but +2.275 down on provisional pole-setter, Frankie Chili.

James was in action at the tight and twisty circuit, 150km west of Berlin, for the first time and improved on his morning time by 1.5seconds during the afternoon’s hour-long session. He said: “I still feel I need more testing time in order to find a set-up that suits me. I do not feel confident and those times are the result of that. But I will be working hard with the team overnight to find a way forward for tomorrow.”

Chief engineer Steve Thompson said: “We will try some aerodynamic modifications overnight to try and improve the cooling system, as well as camshaft modifications to improve performance.”More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist:

FRUSTRATION FOR TROY
It was another day of frustration at Oschersleben today – during the first day of qualifying for the fifth round of the Superbike World Championship. Engine problems blighted progress today and a crash in the morning didn’t help either as Troy struggled to sixteenth position at the end of the first timed session. With a time of 1:29.778 – two seconds slower then pole-setter Pierfrancesco Chili (Ducati) – Troy knows that there will have to be a big improvement tomorrow. Chili’s lap today is nearly a second slower then last year’s pole time, but a lot better then series leader Neil Hodgson (Ducati) who could only manage the seventh quickest time of the day.

TROY – 16th, 1:29.778
What can I say about today, except that it was completely frustrating for me. I had a crash in the morning when the bike got stuck in between third and fourth gear and I ran wide in a fast left-hander. I knew I was going into the gravel and tried to slow the bike down before hand, but I ended up falling on the track before going into the gravel. I gave my left thigh a huge bruise, but this time I think the bike came off worse! So for the most of the day I only had the use of one bike and so making changes became a slower process. I just didn’t feel as if the engine was as strong as it should’ve been today and I was trying hard to make up for it on the brakes and probably riding too hard in the wrong places. The split times show, I’m losing over a second in the second split and that is hard to make up. I hope the team can sort something out for tomorrow, or it’s going to be another frustrating day.


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

Good debut in Germany for Laconi in the first qualifying

Regis Laconi is fourth fastest in the debut qualifying day at Oschersleben. Today has been a hard day for the team, looking for a good set up of the Ducati 998RS Caracchi NCR Nortel Network, and at the end of the first qualifying session the result has been good, also if there’s still something to improve, as confessed at the end of the practices Regis Laconi:

“I’m quite satisfied of today’s job. In the first morning session the bike was absolutely out of setting, but the guys have done a good job and in the afternoon the setting was quite good, allowing me to ride for twenty laps with race tyres and very consistent laptimes. We have to improve the handling during braking, but I’m confident that tomorrow all will be OK. The engine tuned by Marco Mozzone performs very well allowing us to record the highest top speed in the qualifying session, moreover Dunlop gave us here in Germany new tyres that in those conditions did perform very well either in traction as in grip, and I’m very satisfied of that.”

David Garcia will be not able to start. The Spanish rider has done, following the advice of Clinica Mobile staff, some testing lap during the morning free practices, but his hands are still too weak and too much pains driving a Superbike, so David, very disappointed, must renounce to go on.

“I’m really disappointed.” – confessed Garcia – “I was confident to be able to ride, but I’ve still too much pain and I haven’t power enough. Today I spoke for long time with the Clinica Mobile doctors to agree an intense recovering program to allow me to be able to ride in Silverstone next June 15th and just I’ll be back home I’ll start to follow it. I have so much will to ride!”

From a press release issued by the AMA:

Federal Safety Agency Sets Hearings on ATVs

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission — the agency that banned three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles in the 1980s — will hold a new series of public hearings on ATV safety beginning in June, the All-Terrain Vehicle Association reports.

According to a notice published in the Federal Register today, the commission will hold a public hearing June 5 in Morgantown, W.Va. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. at West Virginia University in the Robert C. Byrd Health Science Center.

The commission states that it is “concerned about the dramatic increase in ATV-related injuries and the continued increase in ATV-related deaths, and believes that holding a hearing will provide an opportunity for the interested public to share their concerns about ATVs and ATV safety.”

The commission will take testimony on issues ranging from the availability of safety training to whether there should be “performance standards” set for ATVs. The commission notes that there has been an increase in the number of injuries to riders using ATVs with engine sizes of 400cc and greater.

The commission also will take testimony on a proposal by a coalition of groups made up of the Consumer Federation of America, the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, the Bluewater Network and others seeking a ban on the sale of adult-sized ATVs sold for use by children under 16.

The coalition originally called for a ban on all ATV use by those under the age of 16 but the CPSC said that it could not enforce such a ban. ATVA Director Doug Morris noted that under a longstanding agreement between the ATV industry and the federal agency, only the smallest ATVs — those with engines displacing 90cc or less — have been sold for use by riders in that age group.

In addition, Morris questioned the motivation behind some of the groups involved in this attack on ATVs. He noted that the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition and the Bluewater Network have never had any involvement with, or interest in, ATV safety. Instead, their agenda has been to block access to public lands for ATV riders and others involved in motorized recreation.

“Including these anti-access organizations in this coalition makes for an odd alliance at the very least,” Morris said, “since the interests of two of the coalition partners are in eliminating ATVs, not making them safer.”

To testify before the Consumer Product Safety Commission in West Virginia, contact Rockelle Hammond, Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C., 20207. Tel: (301) 504-6833. Fax: (301) 504-0127. E-mail: [email protected].

You can also send written testimony until July 5 to Attn: ATV Hearing, Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C., 20207.