Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail:

In response to the Barber crash:

I will not take any of the blame for the mishap at Barber. It is obvious on the replays that I didn’t intend to turn in on Ben (Bostrom) nor did I know he was there.

My race is just as important to my team and me as to the factories and their riders. I have all the respect in the world for their riding abilities, but I should not be made out to look like the slow, incompetent rider. I have raced in enough World and National Endurances races to know all about lapped riders and yes, blue flags are part of the solution.

The AMA sets the criteria to be able to compete in Superbike races. Kurtis lapped up to 12th place and every rider from 12th back meets those criteria.

In racing, split-second decisions are made and mistakes do happen. Racing also requires taking responsibility for your actions when you make a mistake.

John Jacobi
AMA Pro #49
Team Vesrah Suzuki
Carmel, Indiana

From a press release issued by series organizers:

WEBSTER EYES UP WORLD TITLE NUMBER NINE

Steve Webster and Paul Woodhead could clinch their second Superside World championship as a pairing in the weekend’s action in the penultimate round at Imola, Italy.

The British duo currently hold a 20-point advantage over second-placed Klaus Klaffenböck and Christian Parzer, and should they finish five points ahead of the Austrian duo at Imola, the title will be theirs.

“The main thing is to win the championship and we have two chances to do it. Imola is a circuit that suits our riding style,” said Webster, aiming for an astounding personal ninth world title.

Klaffenböck realises the importance of a win and a repeat of last year’s success at the Emilia circuit would be welcome. “We have gone better than Webster there, but with 20 points to make up, it is going to be difficult. Imola may be our last chance,” stressed the 2001 world champion.

Jörg Steinhausen and Trevor Hopkinson lie third overall with reigning World champions, Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs a further 20 points adrift in fourth. “It is a power circuit and we should be more on the pace,” revealed Abbott.

The 2002 championship went down to the wire at Imola and the legendary 4.933km (3.08-mile) Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit could be the setting for yet more three-wheeled celebrations.

Superside World championship standings after eight of 10 rounds:
1 Steve Webster, GB (Suzuki) 166, 2 Klaus Klaffenböck, Austria (Yamaha) 146, 3 Jörg Steinhausen, Germany (Suzuki) 111, 4 Steve Abbott, GB (Suzuki) 91, 5 Tom Hanks, GB (Yamaha) 81, 6 Martien van Gils, Holland (Suzuki) 75, 7 Mike Roscher, Germany (Suzuki) 63, 8 Bill Philp, GB (Yamaha) 59, 9 Billy Gällros, Sweden (Suzuki) 39, 10 Gerhard Hauzenberger, Austria (Yamaha) 37.

copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Suzuki: Wants rules based on intake air restrictors as scheduled to take effect in the 2004 Superbike World Championship (before being unilaterally discarded by World Superbike organizers), with no special rules for 1000cc Twins.

Kawasaki: Wants rules based on intake air restrictors as scheduled to take effect in the 2004 Superbike World Championship (before being unilaterally discarded by World Superbike organizers), with no special rules for 1000cc Twins.

Yamaha: No budget for development of Superbike in the U.S., and bikes built for World Endurance races won’t be ready in time for Daytona.


What are they likely to race in the U.S.?

Suzuki: 750cc Superstock with F-USA.

Kawasaki: 1000cc Superstock, 600cc Supersport with AMA Pro Racing.

Yamaha: 1000cc Superstock, 600cc Supersport with AMA Pro Racing.

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

HACKING BREAKS THROUGH TO WIN HIS FIRST AMA CHAMPIONSHIP

Veteran wins Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship presented by Shoei

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Sept. 23, 2003) — September 21, 2003 will be a day Jamie Hacking remembers for the rest of his life. That’s the day the 32-year-old British born South Carolinian earned his first AMA title by winning the 2003 AMA Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship presented by Shoei. The factory Yamaha ace rode to a conservative fifth-place finish Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park to take the series win over teammate Damon Buckmaster by just 8 points. It was the closest finish in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship in three years and marked Yamaha’s return to the Supersport championship for the first time in nine years.

Hacking has been a perennial front runner in AMA road racing competition since winning the pole, setting a track record and leading much of the race in his AMA debut in Phoenix in 1997, but this marks the first time he’s been able to put together a championship-winning season.

“This is a dream,” Hacking said. “Everybody wants to win a Supersport championship. So I’ve completed one goal. I want to hold that No.1 plate again. I want to be back on top. And we’ve got the bike to do it. It’s been a long time for me. It’s been six hard years of this, and I felt like I should’ve done this a while back in my career, but unfortunately I didn’t. But I learned from my mistakes, and here we are today.” Hacking won four rounds of the 11-race series on his Yamaha R6 in a season that saw seven different Supersport winners, the most since 1998.

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden, who was third in the final standings, was the only other multiple race winner. Hacking took over the Supersport points lead after winning round two at California Speedway in April and never lost it, although Buckmaster shared the series lead for one race when Hacking crashed at Road Atlanta.

Hacking ended the 2003 campaign with 10-career victories in AMA Supersport, which ties him with Doug Polen for fourth on the all-time series wins list. Hacking’s championship marked the fourth AMA Supersport title for Yamaha. It last won the series back in 1994 with Jamie James.

Courtesy of www.cdnsuperbike.com:

Calling it a day

After my disaster at the final round of our series, I have reflected on a good career. Severely breaking my pelvis was not how I envisioned closing the book, however, it was much earlier at Mosport that really broke my will. Now, there are several reasons that my ability to compete at the top, has been diminished and it is time to get off the bike.

I really love the sport, and look forward to continuing in some way next year. It is actually very hard to imagine not pushing a bike to its limits, however other priorities are now forefront. With (Tom) Kipp, Pascal (Picotte), Steve (Crevier), and all our fast guys, it was surely my best opportunity to compete. It meant that everything had to be lined up so, and each person on a team had to give 100% to win. For once, I think, my team was better than I was.

Jason Juchau and Gord Bush built and maintained top quality bikes, with no failures, and no loose thing-a-ma-jigs. By Calgary we were jelling very well, and our result helped us within the team. Kevin Graham ran a good ship and my guys got whatever they needed to help me, including suspension assistance from Max McAllister. We had some good runs, however I was generally slower than my teammates on our CBR600. On the new (to me) Pirelli slicks, I made several mistakes on the big 954, resulting in three good highsides this year, each of which broke my HJC helmets. Everyone seemed very understanding, but I started putting even more pressure on myself. By season’s close at Shannonville I was sore, fuzzy headed, and feeling like I had to pull a rabbit out of somewhere.

Well that didn’t happen, and now I’m looking at four more weeks recovering. In my seventeen years at racing, I have encountered so many great people, and gained a wealth of life experience. This ought to continue I guess, however Angie says some part of the ‘people and experience’ has to stop! Gotta cut down on that anyway as my old ‘swivel hips’ have enough metal in them to build a lawnmower now. Rather, I would like to continue to be part of the scene, see all of my friends, and hopefully contribute some of my experience towards someone else’s success. I would also like to be able to kick soccer balls to my kids. Odds at this point are that I have had my three strikes, and then some.

I have maintained that I would like to race until I felt I was getting slow. I can make up a few excuses for some of my season’s results, but if I look at the big picture, next year will only be tougher, will I?

Thank you all who have helped me

Good speed to all the new young guns!

Michael Taylor

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

SPEED Channel on-air personality Greg White married Stephanie Leamon September 13 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

From a press release issued by Willow Springs Raceway:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2003 Qualifying – Session #1
Fri. Sept. 19, 2003
Willow Springs International Raceway
2.5 mile road course

1. Dale Kieffer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:22.875, 108.597

2. Jason Perez, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:23.144, 108.246

3. Stoney Landers, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:23.162, 108.223

4. Jeff Stern, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:23.831, 107.359

5. Robbie Dowie, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:23.893, 107.280

6. Clinton Whitehouse, III, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:24.801, 106.131

7. Marte Cooksey, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:24.888, 106.022

8. Jack Pfiefer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:24.972, 105.917

9. Sam Carnibucci, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:25.121, 105.732

10. Stephen Hewitt, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:25.406, 105.379

11. Ruben Munoz, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:25.759

12. David Sanders, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:25.797

13. Blair Sullinger, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:25.954

14. Skye Girard, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:25.958

15. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:26.395

16. Stuart Smith, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:26.492

17. Cesar Meza, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.570

18. John Chen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:26.695

19. Reno Karimian, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:26.869

20. Dan Lebson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.080

21. Tim Knutson, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:27.139

22. Raul Padilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:27.361

23. Marcel Graeber, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.036

24. Rick Spampinato, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.560

25. Matthias Jezek, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:29.949

26. Rocky Caceres, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.553

27. Jerry Jirkovsky, Honda CBR600RR, 1:33.398


Information on round 2 qualifying (Fri. Oct. 17, 2003) is available for racers online at http://www.race-wsmc.com/prod02.htm

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

An attempt to dissolve the Pro Racing Board of Directors and take direct control of AMA Pro Racing failed today during a meeting of the AMA Board of Directors in Irondale, Alabama.

The proposal, put forth by North West Region Director Dal Smilie and seconded by North Central Region Director Jeff Smith, was defeated by an 8-4 vote.

South West Region Director John Ulrich and Corporate Director Mel Harris of American Suzuki voted with Smilie and Smith in favor of the motion.

South Central Director Jeff Nash, South East Director Carl Reynolds, North East Director Rick Gray and Corporate Directors Ray Blank (American Honda), Mike Buckley (Dunlop Tire), Croft Long (Kawasaki), Ken Sutton (Harley-Davidson) and Davey Coombs (Racer X) voted against the motion.

The vote came after a lengthy discussion of AMA Pro Racing’s relationship with race promoters, race teams and individual racers as well as operations at AMA Pro Racing events.

Proponents of the motion wanted wholesale change in the way AMA Pro Racing conducts business.

AMA Pro Racing is a for-profit subsidiary of the non-profit AMA and is governed by a separate 9-man Board of Directors appointed by the elected 12-man AMA Board.

Six members of the AMA Board are elected by individual members and six are elected by corporate members such as American Honda and Dunlop Tire Company.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert is scheduled to have surgery to correct Compartment Syndrome, which causes “arm pump,” today at the hands of famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting.

“It’s cost me three (AMA Supersport) races this year,” said Gobert Sunday evening before leaving Barber Motorsports Park. “I’ll probably get a screw taken out of my thumb, too.”

The surgery to correct compartment syndrome involves cutting a muscle sheath in the arm to allow the forearm muscles to expand, relieving the problem commonly known as arm pump. Dr. Ting has performed the same surgery on several professional road racers, including Nicky and Roger Lee Hayden, Kurtis Roberts and Larry Pegram.

The symptoms of the syndrome include numbness in the hand and an inability to feel or properly operate the controls.

Gobert says he is only having the surgery performed on his right arm because his left is not afflicted by the symptoms.

Shortly after the surgery, Gobert plans to return to his home near Sydney, Australia.