From a press release issued by Clear Channel Entertainment Motor Sports:

K&N Filters Del Mar Mile Youth Demo Ride

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is offering the MSF DirtBike School during the K&N Del Mar Mile Weekend of races and activities. The Youth Demo is an opportunity for children to ride a dirtbike in a safe and controlled environment inside the Horse Barn Arena at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, California on Sunday, October 5th.

Using Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki motorcycles and suiting up in Thor motocross gear, participants will receive riding instructions from certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation DirtBike School Coaches. Participants must be between the ages of 6 and 12 and know how to ride a motorcycle. A parent or legal guardian must be present. All safety gear will be provided.

Participation is FREE between the hours of 9am-2pm. Each participant will receive a *FREE general admission ticket to the K&N Filters Mile National Championship a Polaroid photo of themselves riding along with a MSF DirtBike School Brochure.

*Must be accompanied by a paid adult.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Clear Channel Entertainment Motor Sports SuperBikers race at Del Mar, California (Not AMA Sanctioned)

Purse Payout
(No Rider Entry Fee)
1. $4000
2. $2500
3. $1250
4. $1000
5. $750
6. $650
7. $525
8. $450
9. $425
10. $400
11. $380
12. $360
13. $340
14. $320
15. $300
16. $290
17. $280
18. $270
19. $260
20. $250

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Tommy Hayden finished fourth in the AMA U.S. Flat Track Championship Grand National short track event held September 27 at Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois, but fifth place in the penultimate race of the 17-round series earned Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford’s Chris Carr his fifth AMA Grand National Championship.

Listed in official results as riding a Yamaha, Hayden won his pre-qualifying heat and qualifying heat race, which transferred him straight to the 25-lap main event. The oldest Hayden brother was fourth after the first lap of the main, where he remained to the finish.

Carr had a tougher time in the main event, coming from 10th on the first lap to finish fifth on his Rotax. Carr’s fifth, combined with Championship rival Johnny Murphree’s eighth, allowed Carr to clinch the 2003 Grand National Championship.

The Springfield short track was won by J.R. Schnabel with Joe Kopp second and Henry Wiles third.

Part-time AMA road racer Danny Eslick finished 13th on a Suzuki in the 16-rider main event.

A total of 103 riders tried to qualify for one of the 16 starting spots in the short track, including Roger Lee Hayden and Larry Pegram. Roger Lee Hayden, who rode a Honda, was second in his pre-qualifying heat race, fifth in his heat race and ended his night with sixth in the semi. Pegram, who rode a KTM, won his pre-qualifying heat race, finished third in his qualifying heat race and finished the night with a fifth in the semi.

Pegram also rode an Aprilia-powered dirt tracker in the Mile event at Springfield September 28. He finished second in his pre-qualifying heat behind Carr, took 12th in the heat race and ended his day with sixth in the semi.

Rich King won the Mile. Carr was fourth but led the most laps of the race.

Suzuki-contracted Eslick finished fifth in the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance main event at Springfield, riding, of course, a Sportster.

From a press release issued by the Parts Canada Superbike Championship Series:

PAUL FOURNIER NAMED TUNER OF THE YEAR

TORONTO, ON – Picotte Racing Yamaha’s Paul Fournier was selected Inside Motorcycles Tuner of the Year at the final round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Shannonville Motorsport Park Aug. 31.

Fournier was recognized for his work on Pascal Picotte’s Yamaha YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 equipment, which carried Picotte to both the Parts Canada Superbike and Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike titles.

Picotte became the first racer since Steve Crevier in 2001 to claim two national Pro titles.

“I consider this an award for the team,” said the 57-year-old Fournier, who lives near Granby, QC. “A lot of people expected us to win everything but we had a lot of work. This was a brand new team and we didn’t know the bikes at all.”

The Inside Motorcycles Tuner of the Year award is designed to recognize the individuals who toil behind the scenes for teams participating in the Pro classes of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. The winner is chosen by a panel of Parts Canada Superbike series officials following the completion of the final round.

“The Picotte Racing Yamahas were impeccably prepared throughout the season,” explained Inside Motorcycles editor John Hopkins, who presented Fournier with the Tuner of the Year trophy and a melton leather jacket as his prize.

“They never suffered from mechanical problems or other technical issues. Picotte went into every race with very solid motorcycles underneath him and that no doubt contributed to his success.”

In addition to his two national class championships, Picotte won two rounds of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and three pole positions. He enjoyed an incredible run of success in the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike series. In seven races he never finished lower than second and won three times.

Inside Motorcycles is published by Toronto-based Inside Track Communications, Inc. Inside Track also produces Inside Track Motorsport News, Inside Karting, Sport Compact National and IMX magazines.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Roadracingworld.com sat down with AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth at the end of the race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama and followed up with a phone interview a few days later to talk about the current status of the AMA Superbike series with regards to the 2004 rules package and class structure.


Roadracingworld.com: Where are we at right now on the rules for 2004?

Scott Hollingsworth: We’ve announced a set of technical rules for Superbike. There are a couple of detail issues that still need to be worked out on that. We’re well on our way. I spent some time this weekend trying to finalize those issues. For the most part, the makeup of Superbike is set, and has been for a little while.

Our other classes, the class structures have already been set. Most of the technical issues have been put out for 30-day comment. That comment period is closed.

We’ve got a couple of issues that seem to be at the tip of everyone’s tongues. One is the rider restriction possibility in Superstock. The other is the use of slick tires in Superstock also.

Most of the other technical issues that we’ve been discussing – there’s no big change in Supersport, so that’s not a real big issue. The move from large-displacement bikes to 600s and the twin 750s and the like in Formula Xtreme is met with general favor. So that’s pretty much set. There’s always some small issues to deal with there, but that’s pretty good. Those other two issues seem to be the ones that are really on everybody’s…that everybody’s got an opinion about.


RW: What is the debate on the use of slick tires in Superstock?

SH: There have just been some discussion about it. Everybody has a perspective on it, and they shared their thoughts. We’re just going to make a decision based upon on all the input as to which way we’re going to go. We proposed [to] put the Superstock class on slicks, and that had gone out for a 30-day comment. There have been comments. We’ll assess those and make a decision.


RW: We talked to all the tire manufacturers in the paddock. Representatives from Pirelli, Michelin and Bridgestone all said they hadn’t been consulted by AMA Pro Racing before the proposal for slicks in Superstock was announced. Is that true?

SH: No. I think there have been conversations with some or all of those. The fact of the matter is when we put it out for a comment period they’re all welcome to submit comments. I don’t know that any have, formally, but we still had conversations with other tire manufacturers, Dunlop and other tire manufacturers, about this.


RW: Formula Xtreme, where do two-strokes stand as far as 2004?

SH: They’re out, and that came from the input from the 30-day period and other places. Just general input since we’ve announced that class structure. Even many of the 250 GP riders said they didn’t even want to pursue that. There were a couple of teams that could have pursued it and made a reasonable go out of it, but for the most part the feedback was we’d rather not even try it. So we took them out.


RW: What about ex-Pro Thunder Buells in Formula Xtreme?

SH: Pro Thunder Buells are going to stay in. They were in. There are some people who want us to take them out. Some of the feedback is to take them out. We’re not predisposed to take them out. It hasn’t been finalized, frankly. But some of the comments have been for us to take them out, but we feel they should be in there.


RW: Suzuki’s Mel Harris says he would rather see the Superstock class remain a 750cc class. What are your thoughts on that?

SH: We talked to the manufacturers going back even two years or more about where are they going with sportbikes in the future, and the clear answer was 600s and 1000s. So you’ve seen our rules evolve over the past two seasons now towards focusing on marketing 600c and 1000s. If you look at it, you have a class that still allows a 750 to still be run in Superstock but has 1000s in it without a lot of modifications.

We’ve got 1000cc-based Superbikes. You’ve got 600cc Supersport, which is a great class. Now you’ve got Formula Xtreme based on 600s for the most part. Going backwards, we’ve focused on those two classes.

He’s got a platform. Suzuki has a platform to market their 750cc, that’s Superstock. They have a platform to market their 1000cc, that’s Superbike. They’ve got a platform to market their 600cc. So they can market their whole line of product with us.


RW: Isn’t there a little repetition there? Two classes for 1000cc bikes, two classes for 600cc bikes?

SH: There is, but that’s what the sportbike market in America is, too. So we have to reflect what the marketing trends, what they are. And that’s what they are. Suzuki is the only major manufacturer making a 750. We’ve consistently tried to pare down the number of classes we’re running so we can focus more on our operations, running them better, safety, all those kinds of things. You can’t just develop classes for one brand or one displacement category.


RW: The entry restrictions for Superstock, what’s your intent there?

SH: We’re trying to accomplish a couple of things. One, we have to address this ongoing issue of people using other classes for practice, using the qualifying time but then not taking the grid spot. We’ve got to find a way to stop that practice.

Second one is, we believe, and we proposed this, that there needs to be a place for independent teams, private teams to come race where they don’t have to face the full onslaught of the factory rider competition. And it’s not a place for beginning riders, but for developing riders, an Opie Caylor type, if you want to pick a name, to showcase his talent and see if he can’t move his career forward. And he needs to be able to do that in a manner in which he can showcase his talent.

Those were the two principal reasons we put that out there for comment, and there has been a lot of comment on it. I think some of the independent teams really like it, and some of the factory teams really don’t like it. We’re going to have more discussions on that before we make a final decision.


RW: So you would restrict guys like Aaron Yates and Eric Bostrom from running in Superstock but allow guys like Jamie Hacking and Damon Buckmaster in Superstock?

SH: That was the basic proposal that we put out. We would restrict a few of the current top Superbike riders from competing in Superstock.


RW: What are the rule details that are still being worked out in Superbike?

SH: They principally revolve around the very minute details of what you can and can’t do to stock airboxes or stock throttle bodies. There’s all kinds of little issues that have got to be finalized, but we’re going to be announcing those very soon. So it’s nothing overly significant; it’s detail.


RW: Superbike technical regulations, they are basically set, but still seem to be a hot topic of conversation. Particularly, Mat Mladin points out that the bikes are pretty competitive right now and that the new rules [restricting 1000cc Fours to stock airboxes and throttle bodies] would put him at a disadvantage to the 1000cc V-twins. What are your thoughts on that?

SH: I understand where Mat’s coming from. If you look at it right now, you could say it is fairly well balanced. Most people believe that this next generation of 1000cc Multis is going to be a step ahead of where we are today. And certainly they’re earlier in their development curve than they are for Twins. Over the course of time you’re going to find that the Multis will be very competitive. Suzuki, in particular, may not have a bike for ’04 that’s a lot different than their ’03 bike. But I suspect in ’05, when their normal cycle of updating their models, it will take a dramatic step forward. I suspect the brand new Yamaha, Kawasaki and Hondas will be a step forward from where we are today.

There’s a couple of things we said as objectives. One is we didn’t want Superbikes to get faster than they are today. It’s possible to take the opportunity to reign them in a little bit. We’ve got racetracks that we could out grow if these Superbikes just keep getting faster and faster and faster. So we need to see what we can do today to make this 1000cc platform last as long as it can into the future without obsoleting our racetracks. So that was a principal objective.

The other one was to keep costs contained. So anybody with the capability could put together a competitive Superbike. I think we’ve done that. It’s up to us now that if the Twin is overly competitive it’s up to us to make sure we continue to balance the competition just like we have this year.

If you recall a year ago, there was outcry about the rules we imposed for ’03 too, and it’s turned out to be very good rules. The Kawasaki won a race and was leading the points halfway through the Championship. The Suzuki 1000 won the Championship. And the [Honda] RC51 has won races throughout the year. It was a great rules package this year. I think we’ll show over time that this will be a very good rules package too.


RW: If the V-Twins do show a dominance next year, will it be a wait-until-2005 situation or will there be any type of provision to modify the rules mid-season?

SH: I really can’t even answer that. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s on the racetrack next year. I mean, this year we took a really cautious approach. We told everybody we were going to take a look a few races into the season. We did. We didn’t make any changes. I suspect we’ll take a very cautious approach in the future. You’ve got to remember, the 1000cc multis are at the beginning of a development curve, and the Twins are at a latter stage of development curve. The multis are going to get quicker. When we complete the final set of rules, we think they’re going to be a solid set package that allows both platforms to be competitive.


RW: When I asked about Mel Harris’ wish to keep the Superstock class a 750cc class, you talked about the sportbike market going to 1000cc and 600cc machines but you also said you can’t develop a class for one brand or one displacement category. But it seems that the Superbike rules have been carefully structured to keep 1000cc V-Twins competitive on the racetrack when they are not sold in great numbers to the streetbike market. Why is that?

SH: We’re trying to create rules that allow the greatest number of manufacturers to come in and participate or the greatest number of models of bikes to come in and participate. We want to keep it as level of a playing field as we can in our premier classes.

Every class has a slightly different set of objectives than another class. You can’t say we’re going to apply the exact same philosophy to Superbike racing that we would apply to Superstock racing. In Superbike, we would like as many of the global manufacturers of motorcycles to be able to participate as we can. And it’s important for the prestige of our Championship that we have all of the major Japanese manufacturers and as many of European manufacturers and others as we can get in and make it all on a fair basis. So that’s what we’re trying to do in Superbike.

In Superstock, we have some different objectives, and we’re not as concerned there with mixing a 750 in with a 1000 and what those implications are or whether there’s Twins or Multis or whatever. It’s a different set of objectives for Superstock.

So you can’t approach it in that manner. We’ve got a different philosophy that we’re applying to 600 Supersport than the one we’re applying toward Superbike. The objective is to grow road racing in America and make it a very effective platform to market sportbikes in the biggest market in the world. That’s one of the primary objectives. Then from there you have other objectives for each class.


RW: What does it mean to you when manufacturers like Yamaha and Kawasaki say they may not race in AMA Superbike because of the technical rules?

SH: At the moment, I think you have to ask why are they not running. It’s our understanding that perhaps production schedules are behind and they might not have bikes available to run. So regardless of what the rules are they may not be able to start the year off in the Superbike class. So it’s a function of maybe why they can’t run as much as it is they’re not running. I think for the most part we’ve shown an ability to manage through this transition period certainly this year and keep competitive balance in Superbikes. There’s no reason to think we won’t keep a competitive balance going forward. I think the question needs to be why wouldn’t they run.


RW: You said one of the goals of the Superbike series was to cut costs to the teams. One team, Yamaha, said that’s fine, but the Daytona 200 (with the one-off quick-change equipment it requires) takes one-quarter of their season budget. Shawn Higbee’s team said the Daytona weekend alone ate their tire allotment for the entire season. Will the Daytona 200 continue to be that length?

SH: Yamaha’s position is a legitimate position. If you spend money to put quick-change equipment on and you only get to use that equipment one time it is difficult to amortize that cost. No doubt about it. There is some legitimacy about that position.

There is no discussion underway to change the Daytona 200 from any other length. It’s an institution that’s not only an important part of our series but an important part of global motorsports. We don’t have any intent at the moment to change the length.


RW: There seems to be a paddock belief that Honda has a stronger influence over AMA Pro Racing than any other manufacturer. Do you want to address that?

SH: It’s a shame people think that because you don’t have to look any further than the 2003 season to see that that’s just not an accurate assumption. If we had maintained the 2002 Superbike rules coming into 2003 most people would have agreed that Honda would have been in a dominant position for the 2003 Superbike season. The fact is we allowed 750cc to go up to 2mm overbore and we included 1000cc Multis, which eventually won the Championship. If Honda, who had the probably best platform going into ’03 under the ’02 rules, lobbied not to make any changes then some of the rumor may have had some merit. But the fact of the matter is they didn’t. We created a set of rules that put a very competitive mix of equipment on the racetrack for 2003 because it was in the best interest of the sport to do so and not Honda’s best interest to do so. So I think you don’t have to look any farther than the 2003 Superbike example to say that is nothing more than an urban legend.


RW: I’m sure everyone appreciates the time spent investigating, researching and getting feedback on the rules, but I’ve heard teams say they would like the rules sooner. Have you heard that and what are your thoughts?

SH: Yeah, sure. And we’d like them sooner, too. If the manufacturers would come to us with their five-year product plans, we could build rules three or four years ahead of time, but the fact is they don’t. We have to investigate and wait and scratch around and see what we can find out about what’s coming down the pipe before we can make a reasonable set of rules. It’s kind of an unfortunate side effect of them not sharing their future plans with us. That’s the way it is, unfortunately. We do the best we can to make good rules that we can keep stable for a while, but in the midst of a product change over from 750s to 1000s and we don’t have the details of what’s coming, it’s tough to make rules.


RW: With only four classes now, how will race weekends be structured differently?

SH: We’re working on that right now at the advisory board. We haven’t finalized what the new race schedule will look like. But we’re looking at practice times, trying to find opportunities to do more things for fans. So we’ll finalize the kind of proposed race schedule here in the next, oh, I don’t know, 30 to 60 days, with help from the advisory board and things like that.


RW: The current TV deal between AMA Pro Racing, the AMA Superbike series and SPEED Channel. What is the status of that deal? Is it up for renewal? Is it in the middle of a long-term deal?

SH: We’re in a longer term deal. It is not up for renewal at the moment.


RW: When things go right, people expect them to go right. When things go wrong, there’s hell to pay. How tough is the job of running a sanctioning body at this level?

SH: Everyone’s got a tough job. Running a team is a tough job. Running a television network is a tough job. Promoting a motorcycle race is a tough job. Yes, we have a tough job, too, but I guess what we would ask is if you’re trying to measure the performance of a sanctioning body look at a few basic things. Is it becoming more financially lucrative for either teams or riders or promoters? Is your television product growing? Do you have more viewers? Is the Championship more marketable, all the things that are important commercially? And then the other aspect of operations, are your racetracks getting better? Are they getting safer? So those are the ways you measure a sanctioning body. If you put AMA Superbike racing on those measurements over the past three or four years, a lot of great strides have been made. There’s plenty of work to be done. There’s plenty of growth to be accomplished. There’s improvements coming on the safety front. Everyone’s got a tough job in this business, and this one’s ours.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Dennis Noyes

Rubén Xaus, after winning both races at Imola from Neil Hodgson, who ran off the track battling the Spaniard in both races, said that, while it is true that Ducati wants him to race in the United States in 2004, he has now received assurances that he can stay in World Superbike as a Ducati works rider if he wants.

“I know Ducati want me in the AMA series and that they have even talked about signing other riders to replace me here, but my lawyer was here on Saturday and sorted a few things out. We both adjusted our positions a little. I have been told that if I want to stay here I can and I shouldn’t have said that I would not ride here on Pirelli. Of course I am a Michelin rider and want to stay with them, but I also think racing can still be good with a one-band tire supplier and we might even go faster than this year. Competition always makes you go faster,” said Xaus. “I’ll ride wherever Ducati wants me as long as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a Desmosedici in MotoGP. If not I have other options, here in SBK and also in MotoGP. But I will only take a ride on a competitive bike. I’m 25 and need to be World Champion when I’m 28 or 29–that’s the right age, the age of guys like Rainey and Lawson and Doohan when they hit their prime.

“My goal is to go to MotoGP and I want to continue with Ducati. They fired me last year because they thought they had Edwards and then when Edwards went to Aprilia they made me a good offer and I went back, but it was more like Hodgson’s team. What I want from Ducati is a good two-year deal that will get me eventually where I want to go. It was been a rough three years, but, in spite of some troubles, I still feel like a Ducati rider and want to eventually ride in the works Ducati team in MotoGP. If they offer me a route to where I want to go and that route takes me through the AMA series then I’ll do it. I like the United States and I love Laguna, but the deal has to make sense for me because it will not be easy to learn new tracks and beat the American riders at home, especially if we go with Michelin because Dunlop knows what they are doing and has tested so much everywhere. It could be fun, but first there are a lot of details to work out and I’ve got to try and beat Neil a couple more times at Magny Cours at the French round to end the season right.”

Xaus has won 6 of the last 10 races, but this was his best weekend ever. He even took the Superpole for the first time in three years.

From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

Round 12 – 2003 British Superbike Championship powered by HALLS, Donington Park

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September 2003

DOUBLE VICTORY FOR SHAKEY

2003 British Superbike Champion Shane Byrne celebrated in the best possible fashion when he posted his fourth double win of the season this afternoon in the last round of the series at Donington Park.

The 26 year old MonsterMob Ducati rider from the Isle of Sheppey fought off stiff competition from John Reynolds and Sean Emmett in race one and went on to take a start to finish victory in race two to claim his fourth double victory of the year on his way to a total of twelve wins.

“What better way to round off the season than a pair of wins and I’m delighted. I wanted to show everyone why I’m champion and this was the way to do it. The team and the whole package has been fantastic and now we can party in style” said ‘Shakey’

Meanwhile team mate Supersport rider Stuart Easton managed to secure 7th place in the Supersport race after an incident packed race aboard the MonsterMob 748 Ducati.

The 20-year-old Hawick rider made a mistake and passed fellow competitor Michael Laverty before the green flag on a safety car lap and was penalised one position for his error.

“When the two Hondas came past me I knew I wasn’t going to gain anything. I knew I would be in fourth place at best. I didn’t give in though, I just brought it home as the Championship was already settled and I had nothing to gain. I’m just disappointed”, said Easton.

Team owner Paul Bird was pleased with the team’s performance.

“Shakey showed them why he is British Champion. They were both excellent races. I hope we can thrash a deal out with Ducati very shortly for next year so we can get sorted. I was a little disappointed with Stuart making a mistake early on and I think it played on his mind throughout the whole race, but he brought it home and finished second in the Championship so all in all an excellent weekend.”

Superbike Race Results

Race One
1, Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 31:35.018, 2, Sean Emmett (Ducati) +0.488s, 3, John Reynolds (Suzuki) +2.222s, 4, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +10.455s, 5, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +12.615s, 6, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +12.888s, 7, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +13.544s, 8, Gary Mason (Yamaha) +17.634s, 9, Dean Ellison (Ducati) +21.944s, 10, John Kirkham (Yamaha) +22.100s

Race Two
1, Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 31:24.167, 2, John Reynolds (Suzuki) +2.823s, 3, Sean Emmett (Ducati) +5.313s, 4, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +5.780s, 5, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +16.321s, 6, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +18.100s, 7, Gary Mason (Yamaha) +25.645s, 8, Jon Kirkham (Yamaha) +41.125s, 9, Mark Heckles (Honda) +57.156s, 10, Dennis Hobbs (Suzuki) +58.363s

Superbike Championship Points:
1, Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 488pts

2, John Reynolds (SuzukI) 358pts

3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 289pts

4, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 255pts

5, Sean Emmett (Ducati) 247pts

6, Steve Plater (Honda) 246pts

7, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 214pts

8, Gary Mason (Yamaha) 208pts

9, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 154pts

10, Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 122pts

Supersport Race Results:
1, Michael Laverty (Honda) 30m31.390s, 2, Karl Harris (Honda) +0.405s, 3, Craig Jones (Triumph) +10.653s, 4, Dean Thomas (Honda) +10.864s, 5, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +11.134s, 6, Tom Sykes (Yamaha) +16.126s, 7, Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) +16.212s, 8, Jamie Robinson (Yamaha) +16.430s, 9, Kim Ashkenazi (Yamaha) +22.060s, 10, Tom Tunstall (Yamaha) +26.049s


Supersport Championship Points:
1, Karl Harris 235pts

2, Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 192pts

3, Simon Andrews 146pts

4, Michael Laverty 127pts

5, Dean Thomas 116pts

6, John Crockford 95pts

7, Craig Jones 91pts

8, Tom Sykes 90pts

9, Adrian Coates 79pts

10, Rob Frost 78pts

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

WSMC and USGPRU 125cc Grand Prix racer Erik Dadej married Jaime Fischer Saturday, September 27 in San Ramon, California.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Xaus Takes Race One At Imola

By Dennis Noyes

Fila Ducati’s Ruben Xaus took race one at Imola after a full-race duel with Neil Hodgson. Xaus is out to run the table over the final four races of the season and new Superbike World Champion Hodgson is determined to add a little sparkle to his crown with a few late-season wins.

The two riders on Michelin-shod factory 999s kept a comfortable lead over Frenchman Regis Laconi and his NCR Ducati 998, and it all went down to the final lap after the pair had exchanged the lead several times. Xaus made his move on the inside at the Piratella right-hander and pulled several bikelengths. The outcome was somewhat inconclusive because the two Ducati factory riders came up on a couple of backmarkers going into Rivazza 1. Xaus got through but Hodgson was balked. The Englishman bulled past at Rivazza 2 but was off line and ran wide, over the curb and into the dirt.

Xaus had no idea that Hodgson had dropped back and went very deep into the final chicane, only to realize after crossing the line that Hodgson was nearly three seconds back.

Alstare Suzuki’s Gregorio Lavilla was fourth after catching and dicing with HM Plant Ducati’s Chris Walker. Walker touched Lavilla and crashed at half distance. Lavilla complained of lack of lateral grip with his Dunlop rear tire.

Popular Pierfrancesco Chili had to start last–from pit lane–when his Ducati stalled on the grid. Chili came though to finish fifth just ahead of Steve Martin on another Ducati, the first of the Pirelli runners.

Results:

1. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 21 laps, 38:30.586

2. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 38:33.379

3. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 38:39.364

4. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 39:02.930

5. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 39:07.968

6. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 39:10.162

7. Troy Corser, Petronas FP1, 39:21.426

8. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 39:31.202

9. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 39:31.892

10. Marco Borciani Marco, Ducati 998RS, 39:40.111

11. Juan Bautista Borja, Ducati 998RS, 39:41.430

12. David Garcia, Ducati 998RS, 39:51.601

13. Alex Gramigni, Yamaha YZF-R1, 40:00.561

14. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 40:04.470

15. Luca Pini, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 40:14.600


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

Tough first race for HM Plant Ducati at Imola

The first race at Imola didn’t go to plan for both HM Plant Ducati riders, who both failed to finish despite showing real promise throughout qualifying. In overcast conditions, it was Chris Walker who made a fantastic start to the first race. From the third row of the grid, the Nottingham rider burst through from tenth to fifth place by the first corner and slotted in behind his team mate, James Toseland.

Unfortunately for 22-year-old Toseland, his luck deserted him on the first lap as he was forced to pull out of the race with a broken gear lever, leaving it down to Walker to fly the flag for HM Plant Ducati. Walker then set off after the two factory Ducatis of Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus, with Regis Laconi in third place.

As pole sitter Ruben Xaus proceeded to set the early pace in his attempts to stay in front of newly-crowned Superbike World Champion, Neil Hodgson, Chris Walker was fighting off passing manoeuvres from Steve Martin and Gregorio Lavilla.

By half race distance, Walker was still running in fourth place and holding off all challenges but his race came to an abrupt end when he was taken off the track by Gregorio Lavilla on lap 12, putting an end to his hopes of progressing further up the championship leaderboard. The race was finally won by Ruben Xaus from Neil Hodgson, with Regis Laconi completing the podium.

“I was pushing really hard out there and couldn’t believe it when Lavilla tried to pass coming out of the chicane,” said Walker. “Our handlebars got tangled up and unfortunately I came out of it worse than he did. I’ll just have to put this incident behind me now and concentrate on making sure I stay well in front of him during race two.”

“To have to pull out of the first race when I had my sights set on closing the gap between myself and Ruben is desperately disappointing,” said Toseland. “However, these things happen from time to time and it was just bad luck that it happened to me here at Imola. I’ve nothing to lose now, so I’ll be going all out to win the second race for the team.”

Race one result: 1. R. Xaus (Ducati); 2. N. Hodgson (Ducati) + 2.793; 3. R. Laconi (Ducati) + 8.778; 4. G. Lavilla (Suzuki) + 32.344; 5. P. Chili (Ducati) + 37.382; 6. S. Martin (Ducati)+ 39.576; 7. T. Corser (Petronas) + 50.840; 8. M. Sanchini (Kawasaki) + 1:00.616; 9. I. Clementi (Kawasaki) + 1:01.306; 10. M. Borciani (Ducati) + 1:09.525; DNF Chris Walker and James Toseland


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

Corser seventh in Imola opener for Foggy PETRONAS Racing

Troy Corser maintained Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s recent consistent run with seventh place in the first World Superbike race at Imola today.

Starting from sixth on the grid, Troy made the most of a good start to achieve his third consecutive top ten finish in a race won by Spaniard Ruben Xaus. Team-mate James Haydon, however, suffered more misfortune with a retirement on the sixth lap with engine failure.

Troy said: “I got a great start so I tried to run at the front for as long as possible. I knew that Frankie Chili, who had to start from pit-lane after stalling on the line, was going to catch me. So I just made sure that nobody else did as other bikes were a little faster on the straights. My rear tyre was not spinning consistently, and that might have affected the consistency of my lap times.”

James said: “I was really struggling with my hand injury yesterday and I thought that this would be my biggest problem today. But I was having problems with my brake lever early on, which resulted in me running wide on lap four and left me in 25th. I just got my head down and the bike started to have a few ‘moments’ so I thought it best to save the engine and my hand for race two. It was only when I pulled in that I realised there was a problem with the engine and that oil was everywhere. I’m just thankful I pulled in because it could have been nasty. It is another big disappointment but there was nothing I could do about it.”