Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Jerez MotoGP Race Results:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 27 laps, 46:50.345
2. Max Biaggi, Honda, -6.333 seconds
3. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, -12.077 seconds
4. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, -16.183 seconds
5. Alex Barros, Yamaha, -18.630 seconds
6. Makoto Tamada, Honda, -24.153 seconds
7. John Hopkins, Suzuki, -30.959 seconds
8. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, -31.218 seconds
9. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, -36.002 seconds
10. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, -37.566 seconds
11. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, -43.753 seconds
12. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, -43.894 seconds
13. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, -48.891 seconds
14. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, -52.128 seconds
15. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, -68.179 seconds
16. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, -68.372 seconds
17. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, -91.010 seconds
18. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, -1 lap
19. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, -15 laps, DNF, crash
20. Nicky Hayden, Honda, -19 laps, DNF, crash
21. Sete Gibernau, Honda, -21 laps, DNF, crash
22. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, -24 laps, DNF, retired


MotoGP World Championship Point Standings:

1. Rossi, 70 points
2. Biaggi, 56 points
3. Bayliss, 40 points
4. Gibernau/Barros, TIE, 38 points
6. Ukawa, 23 points
7. Nakano, 20 points
8. Hayden, 18 points
9. Capirossi, 16 points
10. Hopkins, 15 points
11. Norick Abe/Checa/Jacque, TIE, 13 points
14. Edwards/Tamada, TIE, 12 points
16. Aoki, 11 points
17. Haga, 9 points
18. Roberts, 6 points
19. McWilliams, 4 points
20. Pitt, 1 point


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

PROBLEMS FOR UNLUCKY CHECA; GRITTY RETURN FOR MELANDRI

Marco Melandri made a gutsy MotoGP race debut aboard the Fortuna Yamaha Team YZR-M1 at the third round of the MotoGP World Championship, held today in Jerez, Spain. The young Italian, who missed the opening two races of the year due to his Suzuka crash where he suffered a double fracture to his ankle and a chipped femur, made an impressive start to the 27 lap race – filtering through the field to feature well within the top ten before fatigue took its toll just after mid-race distance.

Melandri, who was 15th after the first lap, showed maturity that belied his minimal MotoGP experience. The young Italian was in ninth position by the 10th lap, before making a mistake by under braking and running off the circuit. Although the 20-year-old kept the bike upright he had lost seven places before he rejoined the race and eventually finished the day 17th.

Melandri’s team-mate Carlos Checa had a disappointing day at his home MotoGP race when his YZR-M1 suffered electrical problems and stopped on the third lap, only moments after the Spaniard had confidently taken sixth place from John Hopkins (Suzuki) while chasing, at that time, the fifth-placed Max Biaggi (Honda).

The race win initially looked set to be a six way encounter between Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Sete Gibernau (Honda), Troy Bayliss (Ducati), Valentino Rossi (Honda), Max Biaggi (Honda) and Checa. But as fate would have it both Capirossi and Gibernau crashed, following the demise of Checa, leaving Rossi to stamp his authority on the race with a 6.333 second win over Biaggi and third-placed man Bayliss.

“I am quite pleased with today,” said Melandri. “I enjoyed the start of the race for the first few laps, although I did knock my ankle again when I fell in this morning’s practice session. I then got into quite a good position but when I was in ninth place my back started to hurt a bit so I had to slow down slightly. I tried to get in front on the outside corner but I went too wide and went off the track at the first curve. Even though I dropped right back to almost last position I was determined to finish the race. If I can do the next races as I did at the start of this one, I think I can do okay.”

Carlos Checa was understandably disappointed with the day’s outcome, having put in a strong start to the race. The Fortuna Yamaha Team rider hopes to continue that good form at the team’s forthcoming Mugello test (May 14-15) and at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans in two weeks.

“We lost a big opportunity to get a good result today,” lamented the Spaniard. “The race was going pretty well for me. The bike felt good, I had passed a few people and I felt comfortable with the pace. I really believed I had a chance to get a good result and I just could not believe it when the engine just died.

“I feel very sorry for everyone in the team because we had worked very well here. Even though my grid position was not good, the times were very tight and we had worked well to get the bike feeling good. But there is no point talking about what might have been. I have to remain positive and concentrate on carrying on all that good work to Le Mans. We need to keep going in this direction and I believe we can be competitive there. It’s amazing to have a problem again in Jerez. Last year it happened on the last lap and this year I couldn’t believe it happened again. Last year it was the only bike failure we had in the season so I hope that’s true again this year!”

Fortuna Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio said, “We’re very happy to have Marco back and for him to finish his first race. He made a small mistake and lost time when he ran off the track but until then he was fighting with riders who have a lot of MotoGP experience. Of course he is not at his best, physically, but he did a good job.

“It’s a great shame for Carlos and I’m very sorry for him because I think he could have been on the podium. His preparation this weekend has been very good and he got away well. We found a good base for the bike and he’s riding well. So we’re hoping for a good result in Le Mans. We are going to test in Mugello on Wednesday and Thursday. We have a few new things to try as well as preparing for Le Mans and Mugello. We have to check on Marco’s condition during the next couple of days to see if he should test or whether it will be better for him to rest.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI MARLBORO MAN BAYLISS SCORES FIRST MotoGP PODIUM

Troy Bayliss crowned a great weekend for the Ducati Marlboro Team with a brilliant third-place finish in today’s Marlboro Spanish GP, one day after team-mate Loris Capirossi scored the factory’s first-ever pole position in the premier GP class.

Unfortunately Capirossi was less lucky in the race, tumbling out of third place shortly before half distance. The Italian was riding with some difficulty, having collided with Bayliss during the warm-up lap.

Today’s result, plus yesterday’s one-two qualifying performance, with Bayliss second and just one hundredth down, continues an amazing run of results since the Ducati Marlboro Team started its MotoGP GP adventure last month. So far the team has led all three races, scored podiums at two and taken two front-row starts including one pole.

“Overall it’s been a fantastic weekend,” said Ducati Motor Holdings CEO Federico Minoli, who watched the race along with another 130,000 fans. “Maybe we might’ve expected more from today after yesterday’s performance, but we take things day by day, and before we started racing in MotoGP we never dreamed we’d obtain such results so soon. I feel sorry for Loris, but Troy was amazing. His progression of results – fifth in Japan, fourth in South Africa and third here – means we can dream of him winning at Mugello! But really, this year’s goal was always to learn for next year, and so far I think we’re learning okay!”

Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli added: “I think this is our best weekend so far – pole position and a podium. Loris was unlucky, Troy rode a great race – very consistent with the same lap times as Biaggi, even though the race pace was slower than we expected.” The Ducati Marlboro Team stay at Jerez to test the Desmosedici on Tuesday.

BAYLISS LEADS AGAIN, FINISHES THIRD
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss rode a superb race today, scoring his first MotoGP podium in front of a massive and appreciative Spanish crowd. Racing for the first time at Jerez, the former World Superbike champion dived into the lead at the start, then quickly settled into second place behind team-mate Capirossi. Relegated to fourth at one point, he regained third place when Capirossi fell and spent much of the race rather alone.

“It was a long day for everybody, but I was aiming for the podium and that’s what we got, so it’s been a very good weekend,” smiled Bayliss, now third in the points chase. “I got a good start and got into a rhythm, but I just couldn’t go any faster. I was slipping and sliding around the place, so I couldn’t make better progress. We’ll keep working on the bike, doing this and that, and take it from here.”

Bayliss rode in some pain following his warm-up-lap collision with Capirossi, the Italian’s left handlebar making contact with the Australian’s right leg at speed on the back straight. “Everyone in front was suddenly going slower,” he explained. “So I slowed, then all the guys behind came past on my left, except Loris and another guy. I’ve done something to the leg, but nothing too bad.”

CAPIROSSI LEADS THEN TUMBLES
Loris Capirossi had high hopes of another podium finish today after riding the fastest-ever lap of Jerez during yesterday’s qualifying session. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider, who finished third at the season-opening Japanese GP, led the first three laps but then slipped to third, crashing out of the action on lap 13. Capirossi had hurt his left hand on the warm-up lap and bent his bike’s left handlebar, making his machine difficult to control.

“What happened on the warm-up lap was quite scary,” he said. “I was doing maybe 250kmh when two riders just ahead of me suddenly moved apart and I found myself racing towards Troy, who seemed to be going much slower. I tried to brake but it was too late to avoid him – I hurt my arm, bent the ‘bar and damaged the fairing. I got a good start but after a few laps it became difficult to ride the bike, because the riding position was a little strange, so maybe I had some tendon problems. I really hurt the arm in the crash, I thought it was broken but it’s not, it just needs a lot of ice.”


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

Hopkins Takes First Top Ten for New Suzuki at Jerez

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain – Sunday, May 11, 2003: Team Suzuki rider John Hopkins claimed the best result of the year so far in today’s Spanish GP, consolidating a second-row starting position with a fast and determined ride to seventh place on the all-new 2003 Suzuki GSV-R.

Team-mate Kenny Roberts Jr. put a difficult two days or qualifying behind him to move through to 13th place from near the back of the starting grid, putting both Suzukis in the World Championship points again for the third race of the 2003 season.

Hopkins’s result equalled his personal best, achieved last year in his first GP season. More impressive still was that the 19-year-old rider from Ramona, California, rode for all but the first of the 27 laps of the 4.423km Jerez circuit with his left footrest assembly loose. One of the two bolts holding the footpeg and gearshift unit sheared on the second lap, and Hopkins had to find a way to shift gears while also holding the assembly in place with his left foot.

Hopkins qualified seventh, and took a flying start, third in the brawl into the first corner, and was still fourth at the end of that lap. As the capacity crowd of 130,000 basked in baking sunshine, Hopkins dropped a few positions as he came to terms with his loose footrest, putting him at the back of a four-bike group disputing fifth position. Another problem early in the race was a jagged three-inch hole in the exhaust tail pipe, probably caused by contact in the early laps, taking the edge of the powerful V4 990cc engine.

From there to the finish he ably defended his territory, giving no inkling of the difficulties he was experiencing.

Roberts ran into set-up problems in the final practice session, and was condemned to a fifth-row starting position. This left him boxed in from the start, and he finished the first lap 16th, already out of touch with the front runners. Roberts rode fast and consistently for race distance, catching and overtaking old American 250 rival Colin Edwards to lead him over the line by better than three seconds. Roberts was 500cc World Champion in 2000, Edwards won a second World Superbike title in 2002.

The race was won by defending champion Valentino Rossi, with his fellow-Italian Max Biaggi second and Australian Troy Bayliss third. The next race is the French GP, at Le Mans in two weeks.

John Hopkins – Seventh Position
My footpeg came loose on the second lap. Normally I take my foot off the peg to shift up, but I had to keep my heel planted, and it took a few laps to get used to that. Apart from that, everything went pretty much to plan. I wanted to get a good start, and I got a good start. Then I did what I had to do to maintain position. A couple of people came by, but that gave me something to chase. Overall I’m pretty happy with the result. I wanted to improve, and we did.
Finally, happy birthday to my Mom, and also happy Mothers Day to her and to Desiree’s mom.

Kenny Roberts Jr. – 13th Position
I had a tentative start. I wasn’t really sure where I needed to be to stay out of trouble in the first couple of turns, and I slipped the clutch a bit too much off the line, so we were a little bit slow away. Basically I just tried to ride my own race and stay out of everybody’s way, because I still don’t feel comfortable on the bike, especially under braking. The only real interesting part of the race for me was getting up to Colin, and then I was able to get by him. That was about it.

Garry Taylor– Team Manager
John managed to keep his concentration through a difficult weekend – we had far more problems than you could expect. He rode a great race, with very consistent times despite a loose footrest and an exhaust with a three or four-inch hole, probably the result of contact in the early laps. Kenny’s day was messed up by having to start that far down the grid. His race times were very reasonable and consistent, but after getting hung up in the early laps he really had no chance to make a big impression. Now we are going testing in Barcelona, with factory riders Akioshi and Ryo joining Jean Michel Bayle and our two regular riders.


More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

Pitt Claims Kawasaki’s First Points

Jerez, Spain– Sunday, May 11, 2003: Andrew Pitt claimed Kawasaki’s first point of the 2003 season after a tough scrap with fellow ZX-RR rider Alex Hofmann in this afternoon’s sun-drenched Spanish GP. The Australian scored a hard-earned 15th position and beat determined wild card Hofmann by just 0.2s after the pair had been locked together for most of the 27-lap race. It was Hofmann, racing in his first GP for 10 months, who held the upper hand from laps 17 to 25, before Pitt made his decisive move in front of 130,000 fans. Pitt’s result confirms the potential of the ZX-RR and with more intensive development to come in the next few months, starting in Barcelona later this week, Kawasaki is confident of mounting a regular challenge for points. Pitt and Hofmann certainly benefited from a range of new generation Dunlop tyres. Although there is ample scope for improvement, the new rubber meant grip levels were more constant, allowing the riders to run at a consistent pace despite the tough track conditions caused by high temperatures. Garry McCoy endured a long and lonely race to finish 18th.

Andrew Pitt – 15th
“It was good to get some points on the board for Kawasaki for the first time this season. Even though I made a good start I lost three places at the first corner after Jeremy McWilliams T-boned me. Once I got going I tried to stay with the group in front and I probably used the tyres up a bit early in the race. Even so I was able to run consistent lap times throughout the race. I picked a slightly different rear to tyre to Garry and Alex which helped my lap times so we made some progress there. I had a good battle with Alex but when he got past I let him lead some laps and waited until the end of the race and with three laps to go I just put my head down and concentrated on pulling a gap to the finish.”

Alex Hofmann – 16th
I’m almost happy. I really wanted to be in the points today at my first race in such a long time. It wasn’t easy from the start. I lost a lot of time with Nicky Hayden and it took me about ten laps to catch up to Andrew whose bike was running a different throttle body than mine which I think helped him. It makes it more difficult going into the corners under braking. I’m sure if I had tried to pass him for one more time we would have touched. But it was a good racing with Andrew, we came close a couple of times, especially in the final laps. I was able to run consistent lap times with him and it was great to be back racing.

Garry McCoy – 18th
I’m very disappointed, I don’t really want to get used to finishing at the back like this. It was a pretty lonely race, I just couldn’t get any forward speed going. My set-up and style is different from the other guys and as in qualifying I was getting wheelspin which was probably a good show for the crowd. On one bike in the morning warm-up I felt like I had too much engine braking so I switched for the race. Now I’m just looking forward to making some progress at the Barcelona test next week. At the moment for me testing is better than racing.”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
This is our first point and that is a pretty good result for us in terms of development. We’ve made a step forward and come closer to our competitors. Alex had a very good race and a good battle with Andrew. We definitely made an important step with the tyres. We had new front tyres and compared to the last race in South Africa, the loss of grip from the rear was much less. I think we are heading in the right direction and hopefully we can challenge for the points again in Le Mans.


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Barros takes a respectable fifth in tough Jerez MotoGP

Alex Barros (Gauloises Yamaha Team) made up for a poor qualifying performance to finish the third round of the MotoGP World Championship, held in Jerez, Spain (May 11), in a respectable fifth place. The Brazilian, who’d qualified 15th for the 27 lap race, was understandably cautious on the first circuit before cutting through the 22 bike field at a steady pace. He was fifth by lap seven, and then fourth by lap 13th. As the race progressed Barros found himself in a three-way tussle with Tohru Ukawa (Honda) and Makoto Tamada (Honda) before Ukawa made the most of the situation on the final lap and clinched fourth place by 1.5 seconds.



Marco Melandri made it a gritty MotoGP race debut aboard the Fortuna Yamaha Team YZR-M1. The young Italian, who missed the opening two races of the year due his Suzuka crash where he suffered a double fracture to his ankle and a small fracture to the femur, produced an impressive start before filtering through the field to feature well within the top ten. Soon after, however, fatigue took its toll. Melandri, who was 15th after the first lap, showed maturity that belied his minimal MotoGP experience to be ninth by the tenth lap, before making a mistake under brakes and running off the circuit. Although the 19-year-old kept the bike upright he’d lost seven places before he rejoined the race and eventually finished the day 17th.

Shinya Nakano (d’Antin Yamaha Team) finished the day eighth, while Carlos Checa (Fortuna Yamaha Team) had a disappointing home MotoGP when his YZR-M1 suffered an electrical gremlin and stopped on the third lap. Adding insult to injury, the technical problem occurred only moments after the Spaniard had confidently taken sixth place from John Hopkins (Suzuki) while chasing down Italian Max Biaggi (Honda).

The race win initially looked set to be a six way encounter between Loris Capirossi (Ducati), Sete Gibernau (Honda), Troy Bayliss (Ducati), Valentino Rossi (Honda), Max Biaggi (Honda) and Checa. But as fate would have it both Capirossi and Gibernau crashed, following the demise of Checa, leaving Rossi to stamp his authority on the race with a 6.333 second win over Biaggi and third-placed man Bayliss.

Gauloises Yamaha Team
Alex Barros 5th: “I made quite a good start, but then in the second corner some riders touched in front of me, forcing me to brake and lose four or five places. After that everyone settled down and I was able to concentrate on racing back towards the front, eventually getting up to fourth place. For a while I was catching Bayliss but then I started to run into problems with grip. Ukawa and Tamada were able to get past me, though; fortunately for me Tamada made a mistake and I managed to pass him back. Later I tried to take Ukawa back but eventually I had to back off and settle for the points. The last ten laps were really hard. Now we are going testing in Mugello next Wednesday and Thursday, where we will have lots to do. We need to work on grip, power and stability under brakes. Hopefully we’ll find some solutions that will allow us to be more competitive at Le Mans.”

Olivier Jacque 10th: “The start of the race wasn’t too bad and I could fight hard, but our set-up, which worked fine in practice, turned out not to be suited to the race conditions. After a few laps the rear tyre was spinning everywhere and I couldn’t attack for lack of grip. Then towards the end, when I rode less aggressively, my times actually improved as I spun less. It is the same problem as we had at Welkom and we need to sort it out in Mugello this week.”

D’Antin Yamaha Team
Shinya Nakano 8th: “Overall I am happy with this result. My start was pretty good, even though it was very difficult in the beginning to set a good pace with so many riders bunched up. Then as the field thinned out, and my rear tyre settled in, I was able to improve. Once I managed to pass that group I caught up to Hopkins and we had a good race before we touched, and I nearly crashed. Once that had happened I thought it better to finish a safe eighth than end up falling on my rear.”

Fortuna Yamaha Team
Marco Melandri 17th: “I am not too disappointed with today. I enjoyed the start of the race for the first few laps, although I did knock my ankle again when I fell in this morning’s practice session. I then got into quite a good position but when I was in ninth place my back started to hurt a bit so I had to slow down slightly. I tried to get in front on the outside corner but I went too wide and went off the track at the first curve. Even though I dropped right back to almost last position I was determined to finish the race. If I can do the next races as I did at the start of this one, I think I can do okay.”

Carlos Checa DNF: “We lost a big opportunity to get a good result today. The race was going pretty well for me. The bike felt good, I had passed a few people and I felt comfortable with the pace. I really believed I had a chance to get a good result and I just could not believe it when the engine just died. I feel very sorry for everyone in the team because we had worked very well here. Even though my grid position was not good, the times were very tight and we had worked well to get the bike feeling good. But there is no point talking about what might have been. I have to remain positive and concentrate on carrying on all that good work to Le Mans. We need to keep going in this direction and I believe we can be competitive there. It’s amazing to have a problem again in Jerez. Last year it happened on the last lap and this year I couldn’t believe it happened again. Last year it was the only bike failure we had in the season so I hope that’s true again this year!”


More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

BRAVO MAKOTO!

A great day for Makoto Tamada at Jerez The Japanese ace who is making his debut this year in the MotoGP clearly showed today how determined he is to make his mark in the world’s most demanding championship. Slightly slow off the mark after ending the first lap in 17th place, Makoto embarked on a thunderous battle up through the ranks that took him up towards the head of the race. Then he started a struggle against two great “official” riders, Ukawa and Barros, and forced his way through to fourth place, which he kept for three laps.

Loss of grip on his rear tyre forced him to give way to the two riders he had overtaken a short time before. Makoto ended the race in sixth place, an extremely important result that will spur the team on in their most taxing development work.

The Bridgestone team came away with great satisfaction. “We opted for medium-hard front and rear tyres, and it proved to be the ideal choice,” said Hiroshi Yamada, director-general of the Japanese giant’s Motorcycling Division. “The tarmac conditions weren’t easy for anyone today, and Tamada’s loss of grip towards the end of the race was just one part of a day that has been very important for us. Today’s result gives us great encouragement to continue working as we have been doing so far – if anything, we’re even more motivated than before.”

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 6TH – 47:14.498

“A real uphill race, with a fight to reach the head of the pack. When it was time to make my attack, I was no longer able to deliver all the power down to the ground because I was losing grip at the rear. I got past Barros and Ukawa by shutting down the throttle at the very last moment and braking harder. Two fine duels. But then, after three laps in fourth place, I had to let them by. When I’m decelerating, I still get vibrations that make the saddle painful and riding extremely difficult. But if we can solve these little snags, we’ll be able to go even faster. But I’m very satisfied as it is. A day like this really pumps up the motivation. This is what we need to go forwards and get better and better. Now I can look forward to the Le Mans race with real confidence, even though I know we mustn’t overdo things: we’ve got to take one step at a time.”


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

Brilliant Aoki Takes Proton from last to Ninth


Nobuatsu Aoki: Ninth
Jeremy McWilliams: 12th

Proton Team KR rider Nobuatsu Aoki overcame a first-lap shoving match that put him in last place at the first corner to pull the lightweight 500cc two-stroke through the field of more powerful 990cc four-strokes, fighting his way through a pack of factory riders to lead his group over the line by well over a second, in spite of a top speed disadvantage of more than ten mph.

Team-mate Jeremy McWilliams might have done much the same, but for a gearshift problem that meant he lost touch with the same group in the later stages of the race, leaving him little chance to exploit the Proton’s better braking and cornering performance over the faster machines.

Aoki’s ride thrilled the crowd of almost 130,000, enjoying blazing sunshine on the hills and grandstands of the 4.423km circuit outside the sherry capital of Jerez – but it went unnoticed by the millions of worldwide TV viewers. Cameras lingered on long-time race leader and eventual winner Valentino Rossi and the riders following him at regular intervals, ignoring the fine fighting ride by the Japanese star.

He had regained three places by the end of the first lap, and then moved steadily forward to 12th by the mid-point of the 27 lap race. In the heat, all the riders’ tyres were losing grip, and now was his chance to attack, and he set about the factory machines around him with a vengeance, moving through to ninth by lap 20, and then continuing to outpace the pursuit.

McWilliams had been ahead of him, but a false neutral at the hairpin meant he lost contact, and though he did catch Haga’s factory Aprilia, in the end he was just over a tenth of a second behind.

Now both riders hope to test Proton’s own powerful new 990cc V5 four-stroke before the next race, the French GP in two weeks time. The machine is undergoing almost continual bench testing in England, and should be ready for rolling tests and then track tests within days.

Nobuatsu Aoki
I put more than 100 percent effort into the race, but I think we took the wrong tyre for the conditions. I chose a medium-hard front and rear, but they were still too soft, and they didn’t work well. That made it even harder to pass the four-strokes. We have to do it under braking and into the corners, but I lacked the confidence I needed, so I had to wait for my opportunities. After half distance, I could see the others were starting to struggle with grip, and I thought that now was the time to pass them. I was also struggling with tyres, but basically we had such a good race settings for chassis and brakes, so I could get by. I’m really, really happy with that top ten.

Jeremy McWilliams
This is a very difficult way to make a living! Sometimes you ask yourself if it’s worth it. But we beat a lot of guys we were not supposed to beat, and I did my best and got points. I had a problem getting a false neutral beyond first. It happened going into the hairpin, and then there was an almighty crunch, and I thought my race was over. It wasn’t, but that was when I lost touch with the group fighting for ninth. My other problem was tyres … my choice wasn’t what Bridgestone recommended, and they were too soft. Nobu did a great job. He was faster than me all weekend, and he deserved the top ten finish.

Kenny Roberts– Team Owner
Our team did really well today – but you couldn’t tell that from the TV. But there’s nothing we can do about that. Nobu did a fantastic job. We’ll never be able to make the four-stroke go round the corners like this bike, but we will be able to give them some more speed. We hope to test at an airfield in England tomorrow, and then with both riders at a circuit during the weekend – but the plans are day by day. We have a problem with the oil pick-up during acceleration, but we hope to fix that with sump baffles, and if possible bring the bike to Le Mans.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey continued his win streak in the WERA National Challenge Series, taking three victories in round three at Nashville Superspeedway.

Batey put his Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R750 in first place at the start of the 750cc Superstock race. The race was red-flagged just before all of the bikes had completed halfway, but the restarted race was shortened to seven laps. Batey again took the lead, and held it to the end. Greg Moore was second, followed by Vesrah’s John Jacobi. Both riders were on Suzuki GSX-R750s.

Batey’s second win came in Heavyweight Twins, and he pulled away on his Suzuki TL1000R as Bradley Champion and Scott Brown raced for second. Brown got past Champion on the third lap, where he stayed until the finish. Brown was riding a Suzuki TL1000R, and Champion was on an Aprilia RSV Mille.

The final race of the day, Pirelli Formula One, saw Batey take his third win. He put slicks on his Superstock-spec Suzuki GSX-R750 and led from start to finish. Greg Moore, on a Suzuki GSX-R1000, trailed Batey in second, while Mark Crozier followed in third on a Honda CBR954RR.

Robert Jensen won in Open Superstock on his Yamaha YZF-R1. Greg Moore moved into second at the end of the first lap, where he remained until the finish on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Mark Crozier held off Mark Junge for the entire race, taking third on his Honda CBR954RR.

Jensen’s second win came in the 600 Superstock race. He led the entire 12 laps on his Yamaha YZF-R6, while Bradley Champion, also on an R6, worked his way through the field to take second on the final lap. Mark Crozier was third on his Honda CBR600RR, which had never been on a racetrack prior to this weekend.

In 125cc GP, Ryan Andrews immediately took the lead on his Aprilia RS125 and pulled further ahead on each lap while Brian Kcraget tried to catch up on his Honda RS125. David Deggendorf was third, also on a Honda RS125.

Kcraget won the Formula 2 race, again on his Honda RS125. There were only three Experts in the race, non of whom challenged Kcraget for the lead. A Novice took the overall lead briefly when Kcraget ran off the track and lost some ground. Deggendorf was second on his Honda RS125, and Jonathan Wuytack was third on an Aprilia RS250.

Champion won the Lightweight Twins race on his Suzuki SV650, while Martin Musil tried to hold off Chris Normand for second. Normand closed on Musil but crashed on the final lap. Young Jesse Janisch finished third behind Musil, both on Suzuki SV650s.

Greg Moore won both the 600cc and 750cc Superbike races. In 600 Superbike, Moore rode his Suzuki GSX-R600 as the top riders quickly became too separated to challenge each other. James Stroud was second on a Honda CBR600F4i, and Team InfoTech’s Nicky Wimbauer was third on a Yamaha YZF-R6.

Moore’s win in 750cc Superbike came after he worked his way past David Weber’s XT Racing Suzuki GSX-R750 and Aaron Risinger, also on a Suzuki GSX-R750. Moore, who was also riding a GSX-R750, was not able to pull away from Risinger, but maintained his lead until the finish. Risinger took second, while Weber was a short distance behind in third.

Several red flags made the day’s schedule run late, and many riders continued to complain about the track layout. A few racers compared the Nashville road course to motocross tracks they had ridden in the past.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

125cc Grand Prix Race Results:

1. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 23 laps, 41:52.177
2. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, -0.088 second
3. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, -0.378 second
4. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, -1.385 seconds
5. Stefano Perugini, Aprilia, -1.507 seconds
6. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, -11.402 seconds
7. Hector Barbera, Aprilia, -11.496 seconds
8. Youichi Ui, Aprilia, -15.577 seconds
9. Andrea Doviziosa, Honda, -18.604 seconds
10. Mirko Giansanti, Aprilia, -18.897 seconds
11. Masao Azuma, Honda, -23.532 seconds
12. Thomas Luthi, Honda, -23.600 seconds
13. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, -23.810 seconds
14. Marco Simoncelli, Aprilia, -24.208 seconds
15. Jorge Lorenzo, Derbi, -25.139 seconds

18. Emilio Alzamora, Derbi, -28.511 seconds

22. Arnaud Vincent, KTM, -62.545 seconds

24. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, -63.046 seconds

31. Roberto Locatelli, KTM, -11 laps, DNF
32. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, -14 laps, DNF

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Via e-mail, from a soldier we know, who will remain anonymous:

Hello from Uday’s Party Palace. We are employing most of the Mosul area here, it seems. We have guys putting in windows, fixing the AC, putting in showers and toilets. Heck, we might start living like humans again.

Our mission continues to rid this corner of the country of all ammo, a seemingly endless task. Today our chaplain stopped and gave first aid to a civilian who found a stash of Iraqi grenades and decided to play with ’em. Got his leg and arm blown clean off. Oops, should not have pulled the pin…

Seriously, though, you cannot imagine how much ammo is hidden in these cities. We are using between–get this–6000 to 10,000 pounds of C4 (plastic explosives) a day destroying enemy ammo, and we still have stuff piling up in warehouses. It is unbelievable.

The other day I went with my boss on a Blackhawk ride to scout out possible impact areas so we can continue to shoot and keep soldiers proficient. Hell, most of this country could be used as an impact area. We were flying 10m off the deck doors doing 150 knots. I like flying with warrant officers ’cause they always push the limits and try to make it a vomit comet. Officers always do the right thing. What a bore!

Anyways, that was two hours of toe-curling fun. Nothing beats flying off the crest of a mountain and pointing the nose straight down and watching the ground move rapidly towards you. That was about my highlight for the week. Other than that life goes, day-in, day-out, repeat, etc. etc. etc.

Mail is starting to flow in. Thanks to all. I appreciate it. Gotta go.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Top MotoGP Speeds From Final Qualifying:

1. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 278.5 kph, 172.3 mph
2. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 275.2 kph, 170.6 mph
3. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 272.9 kph, 169.2 mph
4. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 272.7 kph, 169.1 mph
5. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 272.7 kph, 169.1 mph
6. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 272.5 kph, 168.9 mph
7. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 271.9 kph, 168.6 mph
8. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 271.2 kph, 168.1 mph
9. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 269.7 kph, 167.2 mph
10. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 269.5 kph, 167.1 mph
11. Max Biaggi, Honda, 269.3 kph, 167.0 mph
12. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 268.4 kph, 166.4 mph
13. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 268.3 kph, 166.4 mph
14. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 266.3 kph, 165.1 mph
15. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 265.8 kph,164.8 mph
16. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 264.8 kph, 164.2 mph
17. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 264.6 kph, 164.0 mph
18. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 264.4 kph, 163.9 mph
19. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 261.6 kph, 162.2 mph
20. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 260.9 kph, 161.8 mph
21. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 257.8 kph, 159.8 mph
22. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 248.2 kph, 153.9 mph

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final MotoGP Qualifying
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
May 10, 2003

1. Loris Capirossi, Italy, Ducati, 1:41.983
2. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 1:41.993
3. Max Biaggi, Italy, Honda, 1:42.124
4. Tohro Ukawa, Japan, Honda, 1:42.258
5. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Honda, 1:42.276
6. Sete Gibernau, Spain, Honda, 1:42.322
7. John Hopkins, USA, Suzuki, 1:42.579
8. Nobuatsu Aoki, Japan, Proton, 1:42.609
9. Olivier Jacque, France, Yamaha, 1:42.643
10. Carlos Checa, Spain, Yamaha, 1:42.711
11. Colin Edwards, USA, Aprila, 1:42.761
12. Makoto Tamada, Japan, Honda, 1:42.827
13. Shinya Nakano, Japan, Yamaha, 1:4.906
14. Jeremy McWilliams, UK, Proton, 1:42.985
15. Alex Barros, Brazil, Yamaha, 1:42.988
16. Marco Melandri, Italy, Yamaha, 1:43.020
17. Kenny Roberts, USA, Suzuki, 1:43.069
18. Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Aprilia, 1:43.269
19. Nicky Hayden, USA, Honda, 1:43.474
20. Andrew Pitt, Australia, Kawasaki, 1:43.889
21. Alex Hofmann, Germany, Kawasaki, 1:44.702
22. Garry McCoy, Australia, Kawasaki, 1:45.461



250cc Final Qualifying Order
1. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:44.723
2. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 1:44.897
3. F. Battaini, Aprilia, 1:44.899
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda,1:45.688
5. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:45.836
6. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:45.968
7. Anthony West, Aprilia, 1:46.119
8. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 1:46.122
9. S. Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:46.246
10. N. Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:46.307
Did Not Qualify: Katja Poensgen, Honda, 1:52.287

125cc Final Qualifying Order
1. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:47.711
2. L. Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:48.059
3. A. De Angelis, Aprilia, 1:48.269
4. D. Pedrosa, Honda, 1:48.319
5. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:48.482
6. Y. Ui, Aprilia, 1:48.655
7. H. Barbera, 1:48.904
8. A. Dovizioso, Honda, 1:48.909
9. M. Giansanti, Aprilia, 1:48.942
10. N. Simoncelli, Aprilia, 1:49.075


Editorial Note: Team press releases are posted in the order they are received.


More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

Hopkins qualifies on second row at Jerez

JEREZ, Spain – John Hopkins turned in his best qualifying run of the young 2003 Motorcycle Grand Prix season Saturday in Jerez, Spain, when he put the factory Suzuki GSV-R on the second row for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Spain. Hopkins clocked in a lap of 1:42.579 on the GSV-R late in Saturday’s session, qualifying him seventh.

The fast run surprised the 19-year-old Californian.

“We ended up making that run on the old chassis,” said Hopkins, the youngest rider in MotoGP. “With about six minutes left in the session we put on a soft tire and I went for it. When I came around and saw the 42.5 on the board I had a big smile on my face. That’s by far the fastest I’ve ever gone around Jerez.”

Hopkins tested a new chassis for the GSV-R and liked it, but the A-bike had a lot of engine and electrical gremlins, so the team decided to concentrate on setting up the B-bike with the old chassis.

“The new chassis is stiffer and it holds a lot better line through the turns,” Hopkins explained. “I like it so the team is going to switch everything over from by B-bike to the new A-chassis for the race.”

The Suzuki team got a great morale boost when Hopkins’ teammate Kenny Roberts, Jr., turned in the fastest time in the first practice session on Friday. The team’s turnaround was so dramatic this weekend that many speculated that Suzuki had flown in special motors for Jerez, but team manager Garry Taylor said that was not the case and gave his explanation of the squad’s sudden improvement.

“People keep asking if we have anything new, but there is nothing radical,” said Taylor. “We’re trying little things all the time, but nothing substantial. This circuit plays to our strengths, and suits our bike in its current state of development better than the previous two. We’re trying hard to maximize that. I think Friday was a good day, because we have a sniff of being competitive, and the change in both riders is remarkable. I’m not saying they weren’t trying hard before, but give the dog a sight of the rabbit and he’ll go after it every time.”

Hopkins is eager for the race, but realistic about his chances.

“Our bike is proving to be pretty strong running sticky qualifying tires,” he explained, “but not as good on harder race tires, especially when they start to wear out late in the race. My plan is to get a good start and stay in the lead group. Hopefully we can gap the rest of the field so that I’ll have enough of a cushion for when the tires start to go off. I’ll need that early cushion to have a good result.”




More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Spanish GP, Jerez
Final Qualifying
Saturday, May 10 2003

BRILLIANT DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM DO THE ONE-TWO AT JEREZ

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss continue to astound the world with the performance of the Desmosedici, the pair taking first and second in this afternoon’s sun-baked final qualifier at Jerez.

The pair dominated the final five minutes of the session, Bayliss moving into pole position first, Capirossi just 0.131 seconds behind, but the Italian went even better on his final run, lapping 0.01 seconds faster than his team-mate to score Ducati’s first-ever pole position in GP racing’s premier class.

This phenomenal performance continues the team’s remarkable run of results during the earliest stages of its MotoGP adventure – the Desmosedici scored its first podium at the season-opening Japanese GP, its first front-row start in South Africa and also led both races.

“It’s difficult to find the proper words for this,” said Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali. “This is our first race in Europe, and getting first and second on the grid is a result for the whole team, for everyone at Ducati. Everyone from the riders to the mechanics to the engineers at the factory has done something very special today. For sure the race is a different story, I think we still need more practice and more knowledge with this bike, we’re still on the learning curve.”

CAPIROSSI SCORES DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM’S FIRST POLE

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi rode a stunning end-of-session lap to demote team-mate Troy Bayliss to second place at Jerez this afternoon, triggering celebrations amongst Ducati fans around the world. The Italian was in typically lightning-quick form as he made the most of his final run in the closing seconds of the one-hour outing.

“This is so great – a special day for Ducati,” grinned Capirossi. “And I’m very proud to give the factory it’s first MotoGP pole position – I’m an Italian rider, my bike is Italian, so this also very special for me. I think this was a good qualifying session because we had to work very hard to do some fine tuning, and finally everything was perfect. We know that racing is very different from qualifying, and that tomorrow’s race is going to be very long and hard, but this afternoon we once again confirmed the performance of our machine.”

BAYLISS SCORES HIS FIRST MotoGP FRONT-ROW START

Former World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss confirmed his status as a major player in MotoGP with a superb ride to second place in today’s final qualifier. Two weeks ago in South Africa the Aussie Ducati Marlboro Team rider thrilled race fans with his aggressive riding while battling with world champ Valentino Rossi (Honda), now he’s proved that he could be a serious front-running threat in tomorrow’s race.

“I didn’t think we’d do that good,” said Bayliss, who slid off at a slow-speed turn this morning. “We spent most of the session messing about with race tyres, and it seemed a lot of the other guys were already throwing in soft tyres, so we went that way too, and as soon as we stuck in a soft rear – bang – we did some good laps. I got to go out one more time with another new rear but made a mistake, so that was it. We’re looking okay on race set-up, but not spectacular.”




More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

Spanish Grand Prix
Saturday, 10 May 2003
Jerez, Spain

A DISAPPOINTING THIRD ROW START FOR FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM

After a strong start to the second day of the Spanish Grand Prix, held in Jerez, southern Spain – where Carlos Checa set the fifth fastest time during morning free practice – the Fortuna Yamaha Team rider completed the final qualifier for his home MotoGP race in a disappointing tenth place. Ironically the time set, a 1:42.711, was a significant improvement over his provisional qualifying performance and was in fact only 0.728 seconds off pole position, but it was not enough to keep Checa on the second row for tomorrow’s race.

Checa initially approached the afternoon session with renewed enthusiasm, after making significant improvements to the chassis balance of his YZR-M1 during the morning session, and was the first rider to better his Friday qualifying time. But with the increasing track temperatures the Spaniard was unable to find the grip needed to take his charge any further up the grid.

In a surprise result Ducati placed both its V-four four-strokes on the front row in only its third MotoGP event, with riders Loris Capirossi (1:41.983) and Troy Bayliss (1:41.993) securing first and second respectively. The pair were the only two to dip into the 41s, with Capirossi claiming a new circuit best lap in the process – 0.937 seconds below Valentino Rossi’s 2002 lap record – while Max Biaggi (Honda, 1:42.124) and Tohru Ukawa (Honda, 1:42.258) completed the front row. Championship points leader Rossi (Honda, 1:42.276) qualified fifth overall.

“I was trying hard but the lap times just didn’t come,” explained Spaniard Carlos Checa. “This morning things went quite well but the change in temperature did seem to have quite a big effect. We had quite a bit of movement from the rear, that we tried to fix during the session. When I put on new tyres and pushed I expected to be faster. Unfortunately on my fastest lap I did have some traffic, otherwise I could have easily moved up a row. When you are not totally comfortable you have to really push and get a perfect lap to get a good time. When things are going well it comes much easier.

“So far we’ve done quite a good job this weekend but we’ve reached a level and it is proving hard to get to the next step. I am confidant that I can keep a good pace for the race but it is hard to think about winning. But it’s a long, hard race here and always very special because of the fans, so you never know what will happen.”

Although still far from racing at his full potential Marco Melandri (Fortuna Yamaha Team) made a solid improvement today to finish day two of the Spanish MotoGP 16th, with a 1:43.020. Although still suffering from a little discomfort – the result of the injuries suffered in his Suzuka crash – Melandri managed to qualify within one second off pole.

“I was not too bad on the bike today,” said Melandri. “It’s still not perfect and there are certain areas where I can’t push as hard as I would like because of my back and ankle. However, the important things for me this weekend are to start my season and to make sure I finish the race. I’m starting from quite a way back on the grid but the distance is not too bad – it’s incredible this year how close the qualifying is. I have been using the new fairing but, for the time being, I have switched to the old seat as it is a little lower and suits me better.

“I’m optimistic for the race. I know it will be tough from half distance but I think I can take some good points. But now I shall head to the Clinica Mobile and just relax and have some more treatment.”

Fortuna Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio has taken some positives from the day: “Carlos was in a pretty good position before all the hot-laps started in the last fifteen minutes. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get in his very last run and I know he would have been in a much better position. The race is very different to qualifying and, if he can get a good start from 10th he should be able to run with the leaders.

“It’s surprising to see Marco set such a quick time given the physical difficulties he has. We know that he is a tough guy and he’ll do his maximum in the race. We’re looking forward to seeing him race for us for the first time. The experience will be important for all of us.”



More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

TAMADA CONFIRMS PLACE ON THIRD ROW TOMORROW

With 12th quickest time in today’s qualifying, Makoto Tamada again made third row for tomorrow’s lineup. Despite a difficult start today – Tamada fell right at the beginning of the free practice in the morning – the tenacious Japanese was quick to react and in the afternoon session he got all his motivation back and achieved a good position on the starting grid tomorrow.

This morning, just a few minutes after the practice began, a sudden deceleration by a competitor forced Nakano and Tamada to act hard on their brakes. As Nakano and Tamada made contact, the Pramac Honda Team rider came out worst and was dragged by his bike for a number of metres along the tarmac. After a check-up at the medical centre of the circuit, the mishap did not prevent Makoto Tamada from getting back onto the track and continuing his work to prepare for the race.

The motorcycle, which has been given a slightly shorter geometry than usual by the technicians, was damaged in the fall but Tamada was able to use it in the qualifying session when he made his fastest lap today. With a rear tyre that was softer than yesterday’s, the expected result was achieved: 1:42.827, 12th place, just over eight tenths from Loris Capirossi’s pole.

Makoto Tamada also posted absolute top speed in the qualifying session: 278.5 kph.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 12TH – 1:42.827
“After the knock I took this morning, I still wasn’t totally concentrated when I started the qualifying session. Then the pain in my right elbow faded away and I was able to put my mind to it again. We used a slightly “shorter” bike, bringing the rear wheel closer, but for the race I’ll go for a less extreme solution. But it was good all the same, even though the problem of this morning’s fall meant we had far less time to prepare for the race. We’re working in the right direction and we’ve made our decisions for the race even though, since we focused our attention on the settings, possibly we didn’t quite complete the tests on the tyres. Even so, I’m confident for tomorrow and I’m looking forward to riding a good race.”



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

HOPKINS TAKES SECOND ROW START AT JEREZ

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Saturday, May 10, 2003

Team Suzuki rider John Hopkins slashed almost seven tenths off his lap time of yesterday to put his Suzuki GSV-R on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s Spanish GP, the first race of the European season.

Hopkins’s brilliant performance – his best qualifying so far since joining the team this year – came in spite of being forced to switch to his spare machine, after technical problems sidelined his preferred bike early in the second and final timed qualifying session for the race.

Team-mate Kenny Roberts Jr. had the opposite experience. After excelling yesterday, placing fastest in free training, and running a close sixth again this morning, he ran into serious grip problems in the heat of the afternoon. He was one of only two riders who failed to find any improvement in the crucial final session. Roberts left the circuit almost directly after the qualifying session, while engineers were able to isolate a set-up glitch in his machine which caused his difficulties.

Hopkins’s seventh place equals Kenny’s best so far this season, and the general performance of both riders in practice is a step forward from the first two races of the year, as the team’s engineers find ways to unleash the potential of the all-new 990cc V4 prototype.

Qualifying times were again very close for the third race of the season. Less than one second covered the top 13 riders; Hopkins was only six tenths slower than pole qualifier Loris Capirossi; and Roberts just 1.043 seconds behind the Italian’s fast time.

Qualifying took place in blazing sunshine, with high track temperatures reducing the surface grip. The Spanish GP is the third of 16 World Championship rounds this year, the second season of the new MotoGP class for 990cc four-stroke machines.

JOHN HOPKINS – Seventh Position, 1:42.579
I went out on my A bike, which has the latest chassis, and even just cruising round it feels a lot better, with more grip, which makes a big difference in the hotter conditions of the afternoon. But then that engine had an electronic problem so it wasn’t running right, and I had to switch to my B machine. I spent the rest of the session working through tyres and trying to improve the grip on used race tyres, where we seem to be struggling. Then we put in a softer-compound tyre and I went out to try and improve on my lap time of yesterday. I found I was about four seconds behind Valentino Rossi, which helped me. I had him in my sights, and I was trying to reel him in. I was surprised to get the 1:42.5, and pretty happy. I went out again with another tyre, but I made a couple of mistakes, so I’ll settle for what I have. But I hope we can get my A bike working for tomorrow.

KENNY ROBERTS – 17th Position, 1:43.026
“Kenny had a major grip problem this afternoon, with not enough grip from the rear. That’s what we need to look into now, because the race conditions will almost certainly be similar to what they were this afternoon,” said Alfred Willeke, race engineer in charge of Kenny’s squad.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
It’s been a strange weekend, and I hope there won’t be too many more surprises in store for us. Kenny went from the top of the page yesterday morning to almost the second page this afternoon. The good news is that the engineers have found a glitch in the set-up, and we are fully confident will improve his situation for tomorrow’s race. John has done a great job – especially since he had to use his second machine.



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

PROTON TWO-STROKE ON SECOND ROW AT JEREZ

Round 3: Spanish GP, Jerez de la Frontera First Qualifying: Friday, May 10, 2003

Nobuatsu Aoki: Eighth, 1:42.609
Jeremy McWilliams: 14th, 1:42.985

Proton Team KR rider Nobuatsu Aoki will start tomorrow’s Spanish GP from the second row of the grid, after a day of almost superhuman effort ended with the Japanese rider slashing his first-day lap time by almost three quarters of a second to put the two-stroke lightweight among the best 990cc four-strokes.

Team-mate Jeremy McWilliams made an even bigger improvement, cutting more than a second off his Friday time. But in yet another set of very close qualifying lap times, the Ulsterman will start the third race of the season from the third row of the grid.

Both are riding last year’s 500cc two-stroke lightweight for another race of exploiting their better handling against with the faster but heavier 990cc four-stroke machines. The Protons reliably run rings around the opposition in the 4.423km Jerez circuit’s corners, only to lose out heavily on the straights. In the afternoon session Aoki’s machine clocked 261.5km/h, 17km/h slower than the best four-stroke.

This situation will not last for much longer. Proton’s own radical V5 990cc four-stroke is nearing completion in England, and the team hope to begin track testing at Jerez next week.

At the same time, the Proton KR3 riders can measure a distinct improvement from last year, both from the refinement of the superb KR3 chassis and from the team’s Bridgestone tyres, now in their second year in the top class of bike racing. Aoki’s time was better than a second faster than his qualifying time of last year, while McWilliams improved by seven tenths of a second.

Today’s qualifying took place in blazing sunshine, with high track temperatures causing grip problems for all riders, and more sunshine expected for tomorrow’s race, the first of the European season. Pole position went to Loris Capirossi, the first time the new Ducatis have been on pole.


NOBUATSU AOKI
Today was pretty hard work, but you can see how close we are. It seems like the chassis setting is better than ever – more than 100 percent right, and I must thank my team for their hard work too. This morning I tried a different setting with a less steep steering head angle, to try and make our braking and corner entry even better than it already is, but that didn’t work, so we went back. The other thing today was how well the Bridgestone qualifying tyres worked. The race tyres are also very good.

JEREMY McWILLIAMS
Nothing’s really gone right this weekend. Even though we had both bikes set up the same, one felt completely different from the other. That made progress a struggle. Usually you can try different settings on one bike to see if they’re working out, then put them onto the other one, but we had to work with just one bike today. It was also difficult somehow to put more than three or four laps together, though by the end I was more or less comfortable with my Number Two bike. Still with the horsepower difference with the four-strokes, I feel like a fish out of water. It’s difficult to do these lap times on race tyres, but the qualifying tyres didn’t work for me today. Still, I should be happy to be in the middle of the pack. It’s really all we can expect, and we probably shouldn’t even be there. Nobu did a great job. I’ll have to try and find out what settings he’s using!

KENNY ROBERTS – Team Owner
As I said yesterday, it’s going better than we expected. A lot better. I have to say the tyres are working extremely well, and our race set-up seems good. It will be a long hard race for our guys tomorrow.

The four-stroke is running back in England at the moment, and we’ll know later on tonight if it will be ready for the first track tests on Monday.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Final Qualifying Spanish Grand Prix, Jerez, Spain Saturday May 10


BIAGGI AND UKAWA SECURE FRONT ROW STARTS

In searing heat and with track temperatures up to 41 degrees at the 4.423km Jerez track in southern Spain Camel Pramac Pons duo Max Biaggi and Tohru Ukawa took the qualifying fight to the Ducati pairing of Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss. Capirossi and Bayliss went one and two on the grid for tomorrow’s 27 lap showdown but with Biaggi and Ukawa in rampaging form in third and fourth, the race is set to be an intense affair.

If any riders thought that Spain would be less punishing than the gruelling South African race two weeks ago, they were soon forced to adjust their thinking. Grip is the major problem and with nearly all riders complaining of being unable to find a set-up that could offer a dependable level of consistency, the man that finds the optimum balance between outright adhesion and tyre longevity for tomorrow will be well placed.

Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) was a changed man from the despondent figure of yesterday who could only manage a provisional 12th in yesterday’s session. With a lot of hard work and methodical shifts in set-up, the team virtually eliminated the front-end problems that dogged the Italian yesterday.

“We changed the front end settings and I felt so much better today,” said the quietly determined Roman. “When a rider feels comfortable with the front end of his bike, everything changes for the better. We put in a softer spring and now the bike rides the bumps well when it’s leant over and I’m much more confident in fast corners. We’re on the front row and that’s important at this track. I give a big thank you to the team, they did a great job and we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow. The morning warm-up will be really important in forecasting what might happen in the race.”

Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211) was equally delighted with his front row start.”I’m happy to be on the front row here and I’m also pleased with the lap times that got me there,” he said. “The race is going to be very tough tomorrow and to get a good start and get away will make things a bit easier. But this is my first front row of the year and I will try my best to take advantage of that. Those 27 laps will be hard and there will be difficult tyre choices to make, the temperature will be critical.”

A fifth place and the second row of the grid was the best Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) could manage but the Italian reigning World Champion was not displeased with his work in qualifying. He knows as well as most that race set-up might well prove to be even more important than a front row start.

“We still have problems but not like yesterday,” said the champ. “On the last lap when it was possible to make a little bit better time I got blocked and lost concentration. I’d obviously like to be on the front row but I’m not too worried about the race. For me it is important to have a good rhythm – and we have that. The suspension is getting better from yesterday and now I can really ‘ride’ the bike. We still have grip problems – but so does everybody else.”

Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) was entirely unconcerned about being the only rider in the top ten not to improve his time from yesterday’s provisional session. The team’s work on race set-up may prove to be the most valuable time any outfit spent in the hour-long session today.

“I’m very happy with the job we’ve done,” said the Spaniard, fresh from his South African victory two weeks ago. “It would have been nice to have been on the front row, especially at a home race, but the second row suits us fine. We were working on race set-up today, tyre endurance will be critical and with the same temperatures expected tomorrow, the only logical time to work on that was this afternoon at 2 o’clock – that’s when the race is tomorrow. It was fun on the bike too and at home tomorrow things are going to be exciting.”

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) starts from row three despite falling in the morning warm-up. He bounced back in the afternoon to qualify 12th. “After the morning crash I still wasn’t fully dialled in for the afternoon session,” said the Japanese MotoGP rookie. “But then the pain in my elbow faded away and I was able to get back into things. We used a slightly ‘shorter’ bike with a reduced wheelbase, but for the race we won’t go so extreme on set-up. I’m looking forward to tomorrow because we’re going in the right direction.”

The steadily improving rookie Nicky Hayden (Respsol Honda RC211V) managed 19th position and wasn’t entirely happy with his lot. “A bit of a frustrating day,” he said. “We went round in circles trying stuff and I didn’t really find anything that worked for me. I thought we had it going in the right direction at one point, but then it warmed up in the afternoon a lot of things changed. We’ll sit down with the engineers tonight and work something out for tomorrow – there are a lot of really experienced guys here and we’ll find something.”

The 250 qualifying session went to Randy De Puniet (Aprilia) with another Aprilia duo, Manuel Poggiali and Franco Battaini in second and third. Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) grabbed a front row slot in fourth and the Italian was upbeat about the team’s performance.

“I think we did a good job today because from yesterday to today the front setting has improved, this is necessary for confidence here,” he said. “It’s a good result in my opinion and I think this is positive, because all the work we did was done in very hot conditions. Now we understand a lot more. I am really happy with the lap time, but because of the heavy traffic, I could not improve on my 1:45.688 time.”

Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) crashed twice in the session but the gritty Argentine is still right in the runing for tomorrow’s race in eighth on the second row. “In the morning we thought we had found the right way to go after the problems we had encountered yesterday,” he said. “But I think we made mistakes with the carburation – the bike was not running well at all and in the afternoon we had a seizure. We are a bit lost, the chassis is improving but at the same time the engine gets worse. In any case I am optimistic and I am sure that in the warm-up we can find the key to the problem and make a good race.”

In the 125 category Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS125R) was the only Honda rider to really get amongst the Aprilias who line across the front with Pablo Nieto, Lucio Cecchinello and Alex De Angelis, one, two and three. Pedrosa crashed but still qualified fourth and knows that he’s right in the running for tomorrow.

“The crash was really strange,” said the home hero. “We were trying out a tyre and after they told me to return to the pit, the bike threw me off. In a thirty minute session an incident like this can make you lose the whole practice time. We repaired a few small problems but the bike was not in perfect condition to be able to improve my times. I think tomorrow’s race will be extremely difficult and run at a very high pace.”

Honda rider quotes Jerez Final qualifying Saturday, May10.

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Pons: 3rd: “To be honest I felt much more comfortable today than yesterday. When I went out on the track on Friday I lacked confidence because I did not feel happy with the front wheel and this made me lost time in the fast corners. Today, however, I had a good feeling and I want to thank the team who have done a good job. I hope to have a good race tomorrow, although I think we can still improve slightly because when I accelerate the front wheel lifts”.

Tohru Ukawa, Camel Pramac Pons 4th: ” I fell at the start if the session when I lost the front wheel in the final corner going onto the straight, but fortunately I did not suffer any injuries and I could go out on the track with my second bike. I am pleased to have improved on yesterday’s time, since it was the fastest I had lapped in Jerez and I am particularly satisfied because this is the first time I have qualified on the front row in Jerez”.

Sito Pons, Team Manager Camel Pramac Pons :” I am happy because we had a long and difficult day of work ahead of us today and we have rounded it off in a very successful way. Max has nit ridden here before on a Honda and this held up his progress yesterday, but we knew that he would improve steadily and I was always sure he would be with the leaders today. With Tohru there was also a lot of work to do to get the best out of his bike at this circuit and the performances of our two riders makes me feel very satisfied. Meanwhile I am very happy with the work of the whole team as we are the first two Hondas. I would also like to congratulate the Ducati team on their excellent result and I am convinced that the race will be wide open which adds to the excitement and interest in our Championship”.

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda 5th :”

From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

NORTH WEST 200 RACE CANCELLED

Organisers cancelled Saturday¹s North West 200 feature race after a combination of heavy rain and a “roads open notice” left officials at the Northern Ireland event with few options, all after an incident-packed day.

With the roads due to reopen at 6.30pm the superbike riders returned to the grid from the warm-up lap, at 6.10pm, to report that conditions for the proposed six-lap race were treacherous.

“That warm-up lap was scary,” said Honda Racing team rider Steve Plater. “We had a wet-weather tyre in the front and a semi-wet weather tyre in the rear but I was sliding everywhere under braking. Nobody in their right mind wanted to go out and race in those conditions ­ it was the right decision to take.”

The cancelled feature race was due to be the sixth and final race of the day. Michael Rutter won the earlier superbike support race ­ the opening race on the programme at the 9-mile public roads circuit near Portstewart, in the north of the country.

Rutter’s race victory, in a five-lap affair held in dry conditions, came after the Leicestershire rider set a new absolute lap record, at an average speed of 121.34mph.

Rutter fought with eventual runner-up, Ulsterman Adrian Archibald for much of the five laps while Honda’s Steve Plater powered the 1000cc SP-2 machine from seventh on the opening lap to eventually grab third with a lap to go.

“The wind was really strong and was my biggest problem,” said Plater. “I struggled to keep the machine upright on the straights but it didn’t really matter, I could make that time up on the coast road, on the run to the finish line.”

Plater’s Honda team-mate for the North West 200, Ian Lougher, made a pit stop after the first lap to adjust his suspension settings then returned to the track to test the machine in readiness for the day¹s ill-fated superbike, feature race.

Lougher said: “I’ve not had much time on the machine and practice here has been wet so I opted to try and get the machine better set up, all really with a view to the Isle of Man TT races in a couple of weeks.”

Lougher continued his domination of the 125cc event at the North West 200 meeting, winning for the fourth year in succession aboard his Mannin Honda. But Lougher was forced to pass Michael Wilcox into the last corner of the 45-mile race to take victory in a ran-soaked five-lap encounter as Hondas filled the top 12 places.

Local ace Ryan Farquhar took a Supersport 600cc double, his first win came in a race stopped after two laps as rain fell on the blustery coastal venue. Farquhar took the lead from Honda-mounted Scotsman Callum Ramsay on the two-mile run along the coast road on lap two.

That move was enough to give Farquhar his first win at the annual North West 200 event while Welshman Ian Lougher took the final podium place with third aboard his CBR600RR Honda.

Farquhar’s second race win came in a four-lap affair when he beat Lougher but an unhappy Lougher explained: “There was a crash on the run into Portrush, oil on the track, marshals stood in the middle of the track and the oil flags waved, there’s no way Farquhar should have passed me there.”

Lougher, riding a Manton CBR600RR Honda, crossed the finish line four seconds ahead of third place finisher, New Zealander Bruce Anstey.

Adrian Archibald scored his debut win at the event with a last lap move to secure the Production race glory. The race was reduced to four laps after a catalogue of incidents. On the second lap of the original race German Friedhelm Beltermann crashed at the 140mph, right-hand Mathers Cross section of the track.

Beltermann escaped serious injury but Lancashire rider Keith Nicholls suffered a broken arm and broken leg when he crashed on the warm-up lap for the re-start. A one-hour delay followed as oil was cleaned from the track.

RESULTS:
(All GB or Ireland unless stated)
DeWallt Superbike race (five laps ­ 44.62 miles):
1 Michael Rutter (Ducati) 22:25.76, ­119.56 mph
2 Adrian Archibald (Suzuki) 22:29.95, ­ 119.19 mph
3 Steve Plater (Honda) 22m 39.21, 118.38 mph
4 Ryan Farquhar (Suzuki) 22:47.09, 117.69 mph
5 David Jefferies (Suzuki) 22:51.08, 117.35 mph
6 Stephen Thomson (Suzuki) 23:00.22, 116.57 mph.

Traks 125cc race (five laps ­ 44.62 miles):
1 Ian Lougher (Honda) 27:23.95, 96.12 mph
2 Michael Wilcox (Honda) 27:54.23, 96.10 mph
3 Paul Robinson (Honda) 27:56.63,­ 95.97 mph
4 David Lemon (Honda) 28:12.14, 95.09 mph
5 Mark Lunney (Honda) 28:19.07, 94.70 mph
6 Mark Curtin (Honda) 28:24.18, 94.41 mph.

Black Horse 600cc race (two laps ­ 17.85 miles):
1 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki) 9:25.52
2 Callum Ramsay (Honda) 9:25.90
3 Ian Lougher (Honda) 9:26.09
4 John McGuinness (Triumph) 9:26.35
5 Michael Rutter (Ducati) 9:26.74
6 Jim Moodie (Triumph) 9:27.09

Regal 600cc race (four laps ­ 35.70 miles):
1 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki)
2 Ian Lougher (Honda)
3 Bruce Anstey, New Zealand (Triumph)
4 Adrian Archibald (Suzuki)
5 John McGuinness (Triumph)
6 Ryan Rainey (Honda)

Production 1000cc (four laps ­ 35.70 miles):
1 Adrian Archibald (Suzuki)
2 Ryan Farquhar (Suzuki)
3 David Jefferies (Suzuki)
4 Bruce Anstey (Suzuki)
5 Stephen Thompson (Suzuki)
6 Richard Britton (Suzuki)




More, from a press release issued by Team Renegade Ducati:

2003 NORTH WEST 200
NORTHERN IRELAND
10TH MAY 2003

A WIN FOR RUTTER AS RAIN STOPS PLAY AT THE NORTH WEST 200

Michael Rutter stormed to victory in the opening Superbike race of the 2003 North West 200, but deteriorating weather conditions at the triangle circuit robbed the Renegade Ducati rider of the opportunity to repeat his winning ways in the feature race of the day.

Taking maximum advantage of his pole position start, Rutter was first away from the line in the Dewalt Superbike race and led the field on the opening two laps around the 9-mile public roads circuit. A hard charging Adrian Archibald managed to squeeze his way past the Renegade Ducati rider and into the lead on lap three, but the Irish roads specialist was relegated back to second place just one lap later as Rutter dived underneath him at the Juniper chicane.

With a clear road in front of him, Rutter put his head down and shattered his own lap record on the final lap, taking the race win by over four seconds from Archibald. Steve Plater finished a further ten seconds back to claim the final podium position.

“It was a close race,” said Rutter. “Archibald came past me on lap three and he was going really well, so I thought I’d bide my time and watch to see where he was strong before making a move. I eventually went past him at the Juniper chicane on lap four and then got my head down on the last lap and pulled out a bit of a gap.”

Sprinting back from the podium, Rutter jumped straight onto the Ducati 748 normally campaigned in the British Championship by Renegade teammate, Leon Haslam, for the first of the day’s Supersport races. After starting from ninth place on the grid, Rutter had just started to close onto the back of the leading quartet when the onset of rain caused the race to be red flagged on the fourth lap.

“I was surprised at how much I enjoyed racing the 748,” commented Rutter. “It doesn’t have anything like the power of the Superbike, which means you have to think about race strategy a lot more and concentrate on carrying the speed through the slower turns. It took me a couple of laps to adjust, but I was laughing inside my helmet once I got going. I was disappointed when the race was red flagged because of the rain, as I’m confident that I could have done better than fifth if it had run full distance.”

The rain was still very much in evidence as Rutter returned to the track for the CP Hire Production race, which was red flagged on the opening lap following a crash at Mathers Cross. Restarted over four laps after a lengthy delay, Rutter was forced to retire from the race on the opening lap when his Ducati 999R developed an electrical fault. An electrical problem with his Ducati 748 also forced the Renegade Ducati rider to sit out the second Supersport race.

Having already racked up one Superbike win, Rutter was confident of another good result as he lined up for the feature race of the day: the Velux Windows North West 200. However, with the heavens opening as the riders formed up on the grid and the cut off time of 6.30pm approaching fast, event organisers made the decision to cancel the final race.

The downpour may have led to a shortened race programme, but it wasn’t enough to dampen Rutter’s enthusiasm for the North West 200, or his enjoyment of the day’s racing.

“The North West is a unique event and one that I look forward to every year,” declared Rutter. “Real road racing and short circuit racing are getting further and further apart every year, with each demanding a very different approach. I just hope that in the future it remains possible for me to combine the two disciplines, because I’ve really enjoyed the racing here today and it provides a welcome respite from the pressure cooker environment of the British Superbike paddock for both myself and the team.”

From a press release issued by the FIM:

Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix
Decision of the Grand Prix Commission

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Claude Danis (FIM), Sito Pons (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), with the presence of Paul Butler (Secretary), has unanimously decided, following the request of the MotoGP riders, to cancel the neutralisation procedure, thus maintaining the interruption procedure, reducing as much as possible the time of interruption and introducing two warm-up laps. The modifications to the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations are the following, for immediate application:

1.18
Start procedure

1.18.2
Approximately 15 minutes (20 minutes for MotoGP only, except in the case of a restarted race) before the start of the race – pit lane exit open for sighting lap(s)…

1.18.3
Approximately 10 minutes (15 minutes for MotoGP only, except in the case of a restarted race) before the start of the race – pit lane exit closes.

1.18.18
Should there be a problem on the grid that might prejudice the safety of the start, then a marshal will wave a yellow flag in front of the starting grid, and the starter will display a flashing yellow light and the board “Start delayed”…

1.19
Stop and Go Procedure
…In the event of a restarted race, the above regulation will also apply.

In the case of a race interrupted prior to the penalty being enforced, and if there is a second part, the rider will be required to stop after the start of the second part of the race.

1.20
“Wet” and “Dry” Races

1.20.2
Dry Races – a race classified as dry will be interrupted by the Race Director, if he considers that climatic conditions affecting the surface of the track makes it likely that riders will wish to change tyres.

1.20.3
Wet Races – a race classified as wet, usually commenced in varying or wet conditions, will not be interrupted for climatic reasons…

1.20.4
In all cases where the first race is interrupted for climatic reasons, then the restart will automatically be a “wet” race.

1.22
Flags and lights

1.22.1
Green flag (to delete “Two green flags waved on the start line…”)

1.22.2
White flag with diagonal red cross (to delete the whole paragraph)

1.25
Interruption of a race

1.25.3
If three laps or more have been completed by the leader of the race and all other riders on the same lap as the leader, but less than two-thirds of the original race distance, rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps, then the race will be restarted according to Art. 1.26. If it is found impossible to restart the race, then the results will count and half points will be awarded in the Championship.

1.25.4
If the results calculated show that two-thirds of the original race distance rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps have been completed by the leader of the race and by all other riders on the same lap as the leader, then for the 125cc and 250cc classes the race will be deemed to have been completed and full Championship points will be awarded. For the MotoGP class, the race will be restarted for a minimum of 3 laps according to Art. 1.26. If it is found impossible to restart the race, then the results will count and full Championship points will be awarded.

1.26
Re-starting a race that has been interrupted

1.26.3
The start procedure will be identical to a normal start with sighting lap(s), warm-up lap (two warm-up laps for the MotoGP class), etc.

1.26.4.ii.
In the case of the situation described in 1.25.3 and 1.25.4 above:…c) The number of laps of the second race will be the number of laps required to complete the original race distance, with a minimum of 3 laps… e) The final race classification will be established according to the position and the consolidated number of laps of each rider at the time he crossed the finish line at the end of the last part of the race. Provisions of Art. 1.23.4 will apply.

– Art. 1.27 (neutralisation of a MotoGP race) and 1.28 (resuming a MotoGP race that has been neutralised) are deleted.

From a press release:

Gary Trachy to debut Avon Tyres’ new production SuperMoto Xtreme race slicks

Gary Trachy, 2002 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb winner in the 250cc Pro Class will be debuting Avon Tyres’ new line of production SuperMoto Xtreme race slicks this weekend.

Gary looks to extend his points lead in the 450X Class during the SB2/Primedia National SuperMoto Championship Series in Colorado this weekend May 10-11th.

Currently Gary is in the lead with 44 points in the 450X Class leading racers like Mike Metzger, Larry Ward, Jason Pridmore and Aaron Howe.

“Gary has proven himself in SuperMoto as a consistant top runner,” ays Avon Tyres’ John Leach “We’re looking forward to Gary takingth championship this year on Avon Tyres”.

Currently Avon Tyres offers their SuperMoto Xtreme race slicks in 120/60R17, 120/70R17 fronts and 160/50R17, 165/60R17 AND 170/55R17 rears in various compounds, as well as the “Race only” and DOT rain tires in 120/70R17 fronts and 160/60R17 rears.

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:
2003 AMA CHEVY TRUCKS U.S. MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP TELEVISION COVERAGE KICKS OFF ON MAY 18

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (May 9, 2003) — ESPN2 will again televise the 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship. Programming is scheduled to begin on Sunday, May 18 at 12:00 P.M. Eastern with coverage of both 125 motos from Glen Helen. Immediately following, both 250 motos from Glen Helen will air at 1:00 P.M. Additionally, several repeats will air. Log on to www.USMotocross.com to keep current with this year’s television schedule.

The Glen Helen show kicks off a summer full of AMA Motocross coverage on the popular sports network. In all, ESPN2 is slated to provide more than 50 hours of broadcasting for the 12 rounds of the world’s leading motocross series.

“We’re pleased to see continued commitment to AMA Motocross on the part of ESPN2,” said Kerry Graeber, AMA Pro Racing Vice President and Director of Communications. “Since giving the nationals better time slots last season, as well as upgrading the production, ratings increased by 23 percent. Plus, we’ve had positive feedback on the improved show presentation. We will continue to look for new ways to provide the best show for our fans.”

The broadcast team for this year is set to include former racing great David Bailey, and experienced TV sports personalities Cameron Steele and Todd Harris.

Harris, the newest member of the team, brings an impressive list of TV credentials to the table. Harris has worked as part of ABC’s college football broadcast team alongside Keith Jackson and Dan Fouts. Harris also spent several years working with ESPN and ESPN2 covering both snowboarding and surfing world tours as well as a variety of extreme sports. He has worked extensively for Fox Sports, TBS, TNT, and the Outdoor Life Network.

Steele begins his second season as ESPN AMA Motocross field reporter. Steele, who has experience as host for extreme sports such as the X Games, will again ride a Suzuki RM250 while wearing the unique “helmet cam”. Performed at each and every round of the series, this popular feature provides fans with a rider’s-eye view of the challenging tracks.

Bailey needs no introduction in the world of motocross. He was a leading AMA Motocross and Supercross racer of the 1980s. He won the AMA 250cc National Motocross Championship and AMA Supercross Championship in 1983 and went on to win the AMA 500cc National Motocross Championship in 1984 and 1986. He tallied 30 AMA national race victories during his eight-year professional career. This will mark Bailey’s 10th anniversary as expert analyst for ESPN.

For immediate post-race results, points, live transponder scoring, in-depth series and rider information, regular columnists and much more, log onto www.USMotocross.com.


About AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the AMA Supercross Championship, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship and the AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship. Nearly 2 million race fans attended AMA Pro Racing events during the 2002 season. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.