From a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

Hopkins is on the Web at www.hopperracing.com

RAMONA, Calif. – John Hopkins now has a website designed to keep his fans up to date with what’s going on with the Suzuki MotoGP rider. The new site is www.hopperracing.com.

At the site fans will find Hopper’s bio in the “#21” section, complete with photos of his early racing career. Also featured are Moto Journals written by Hopkins’ girlfriend Desiree Crossman. The journals offer a behind-the-scenes look at John and Desiree’s travels across the globe. Also featured in the Moto Journal section is John’s perspective at each race. He’ll talk about qualifying, the race, and anything else of interest at this year’s MotoGPs.

Another section of the website called “Machine” gives all the details of Suzuki’s awesome GSV-R Grand Prix racing machine. This section gives the history of Suzuki’s four-stroke GP bike, complete with detailed photos. In this section you’ll also find information about the people that make up Suzuki’s MotoGP racing squad.

The “Moto Babes” section features the beauty of the MotoGP umbrella girls. Guys we guarantee you’ll love this part of the website. Check it out.

The “Swag” section will offer John Hopkins products. Pick up some something from this section to show that you’re a Hopper fan.

The “Link” section gives you website links to Hopper’s sponsors websites and other cool motorcycle-related sites on the Web.

Finally the “Contact” section will put you in touch with Hopper, Desiree and Hopper’s manager Doug Gonda. You’ll also have a chance to sign up for regular e-mail updates that will let you be first to know what’s going on with Hopkins at the MotoGPs.

So what are you waiting for? Fire up that Dell dude and surf on over to www.hopperracing.com.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Moriwaki Engineering boss Mamoru Moriwaki is happy with the results earned by test rider Tamaki Serizawa and the MD211VF prototype racer after a 19th-place finish in the MotoGP race at Suzuka April 6.

Moriwaki has been quoted as saying that Serizawa did a great job of riding and his staff did an equally good job of preparing the prototype motorcycle in a short span of time.

Moriwaki told reporters that his staff will take the data collected at Suzuka and use it to construct a new and better chrome-moly-tube chassis for the MotoGP race at Motegi later this season.

Moriwaki entered the SKYY VODKA Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka using one of Harris WCM’s entries and intends to enter as a wild card at the Gauloises Pacific Grand Prix of Motegi October 3-5.

AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUNDS TWO AND THREE, FONTANA, CALIFORNIA
SATURDAY/SUNDAY APRIL 5-6 2003

Duhamel and Bostrom Podium at Fontana Doubleheader

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom and Miguel DuHamel were able to score a pair of third-place finishes during the doubleheader weekend of AMA Superbike racing at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

On Saturday, Bostrom finished third behind the two Yoshimura Suzukis, ridden by Mladin and his teammate Aaron Yates, after inheriting the spot when his younger brother, Eric, was penalized 10 seconds for cutting the track in the turn one-two chicane. The two brothers had raged a bitter battle that went the duration, though Ben was given the spot when the AMA handed down the penalty to Eric and his factory Kawasaki.

DuHamel – the winner of the Daytona 2000, the opening round of the series – ended up fifth, six seconds ahead of Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts. Roberts would have fared better, but his rear tire had spun on its rim during the race, causing a bad vibration that he thought was a chunking rear tire.

Mladin’s win in the first race was his first of the year and it put him in a tie atop the championship point standings with DuHamel, both holding the top spot with 63 points following Saturday’s racing action.

Mladin’s run to victory in the second of the two Superbike races was a bit more hectic and a red flag aided him in scoring the victory. The man who suffered the most from the race stoppage was Roberts, who was leading Eric Bostrom at the time and seemed to be in a good position to score the first AMA Superbike victory of his career – especially since Mladin trailed by nearly eight seconds after undergoing a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start.

Pegram crashed his Ducati and the race was stopped, giving everyone the opportunity to restart on equal footing. The AMA doesn’t score races on aggregate time, so the bikes were gridded in the running order and restarted, with Roberts losing all his advantage on Mladin. On the restart, it was Eric Bostrom on the Kawasaki rocketing into the lead with Roberts second. Kurtis encountered a “racing moment” , when hard acceleration, combined with a rough section of track caused a tank-slapper, and his brake pads were momentarily moved away from the rotors. A quick pump of the brake lever returned his stopping power, but not before he had to run straight through the corner at the end of the back straight and rejoin the pack to finish third on the track. He would later be docked 10 seconds for missing the corner, and that dropped him from a podium finish to fifth.

Mladin, meanwhile, closed in on Eric Bostrom, passed him five laps into the restarted race and pulled away to a 6.373-second victory.

DuHamel moved around Yates on the run to the checkered flag to finish third, despite almost crashing with just two laps to go. Yates would finish fourth, clear of the penalized Roberts with Ben Bostrom garnering a sixth place finish.

The win gives Mladin the lead in the championship after three rounds. He leads American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel, 100-92. American Honda’s Ben Bostrom is third with 87 points with Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts in sixth place in the standings with 80 points.

RESULTS :
First race result: (Laps 28 = 100 km)
1 Mat Mladin, AUS (Suzuki)
2 Aaron Yates, USA (Suzuki)
3 Ben Bostrom, USA (Honda)
4 Eric Bostrom, USA (Kawasaki)
5 Miguel DuHamel, CAN (Honda)
6 Kurtis Roberts, USA (Honda)

Second race result: (Laps 28 = 100 km)
1 Mat Mladin, AUS (Suzuki)
2 Eric Bostrom, USA (Kawasaki)
3 Miguel DuHamel, CAN (Honda)
4 Aaron Yates, USA (Suzuki)
5 Kurtis Roberts, USA (Honda)
6 Ben Bostrom, USA (Honda)

AMA Superbike championship points:
1 Mladin 100, 2 DuHamel 92, 3 Ben Bostrom 87, 4 Aaron Yates 86, 5 Eric Bostrom 85, 6 Roberts 80, 7 Higbee 64, 8 Deatherage 60, 9 Haskovec 55, 10 Pegram 51

Next round: Sonoma, California, 05-04-2003

Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport
Round 2: Fontana, CA
April 6, 2003

Honda Red Riders enter a tussle at Fontana, California.

After chalking up a dominating season-opening performance at Daytona, the Honda Red Riders entered the second round of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship series at California Speedway with high expectations-only to be reintroduced to the often rough-and-tumble side of AMA racing. The Honda contingent missed the podium in the 600 class, but high points still emerged as veteran racer Doug Chandler claimed top position among Honda riders with a solid sixth place on his No Limit Motor Sports Honda CBR600RR. Team Honda’s Miguel Duhamel followed in seventh, garnering enough points to hold onto a solid third place in the points chase. Honda Erion Racing’s Roger Hayden, Jake Zemke and Alex Gobert, plus Bruce Transportation Racing’s Marty Craggill all finished within the top dozen riders.

As a seasoned veteran with a most impressive racing resume, Doug Chandler remains the consummate track-going professional. However, the years of experience have not dulled his enthusiasm and he was beaming after the Supersport race. “We’re feeling pretty good about our finish here at Fontana,” Chandler said after the race. “We have a new team, with new bikes and new tires, so we’re still making a bunch of adjustments and getting used to a lot of different things. But now, everything is starting to come together. During yesterday’s qualifying runs we lost some time when we made a miscue on a tire change, but during this morning’s practice I was right up there at eighth quickest, so I knew we would be in the hunt during today’s race.

“I really like riding the CBR600RR,” Chandler added. “It’s got great handling and really no weak spots to work through. It’s a solid, trustworthy racing platform, and we’ve gotten off to a great start, even though we still have lots of fine-tuning to do. Today’s finish will be a big boost for our team morale, so I’m really glad for all the guys. You know, I started my racing career on Hondas, and now it looks like I’ll finish up my career racing Hondas-and going well!”

Reflecting on a week of frustration, Miguel Duhamel said, “It wasn’t our greatest day of racing today. We needed more time to get the bike dialed in for this track, and so the settings we ended up with for the front end were too soft, not quite where we meant it to be. Besides affecting the handling, that also meant I couldn’t brake as hard as I wanted to into corners. Still, it was a good race, and our time here was very productive for developing a data base for this bike, which is still very new to us.”

Duhamel’s Crew Chief Al Ludington added, “Yeah, this week it seemed like we chased the front end settings around and around. We’re still learning more and more about the bike every time we take it out. Although we had a good amount of practice time and data gathered for the race at Daytona, we really didn’t have much in the way of settings for the track here at Fontana. During the testing session we had here earlier in the year, the weather was so windy we washed out an entire day, and it was real cold too, which prevented the tires from getting up to the proper operating temp. So we ended that test session with no hard data at all for this particular track; no suspension settings, no gearing selections. We started in on all of that work this week, and there just wasn’t enough time to get things dialed in perfectly. But thanks to Miguel, we stayed real consistent, gathered good points and filled in some of our data logs. We’ll be doing more development work, more dyno testing, and we’ll be ready for the next event at Sears Point/Infineon Raceway in May.”

Ever the team player, Duhamel wasn’t about to make any personal excuses for his day’s showing. However, he took hard tumbles during both the Superbike and 600 qualifying sessions on Saturday, and he had to be feeling the physical affects of those two get-offs. When questioned pointedly, he confessed, “Well, I have to admit my muscles are a little tight today and my elbows are definitely sore. During Superbike qualifying yesterday, I had a hot lap going and I could see by my split times that I was on pace to land a front-row position. So I came charging into a corner where I could see a slower rider ahead, and I thought I could just slip past inside him. But the door closed and I had nowhere to go and I ended up T-boning him-not a good deal for either one of us.

“Then in Supersport qualifying, I had slowed going into a corner when I thought a problem was developing, and the rider following me must have thought I was going for it, so he gassed it and hit me from behind. That one hurt; I banged my knee, elbow and head pretty hard. Thank goodness for my Shoei helmet!”

Regarding his transition to two classes once again after racing only the Superbike last year, Duhamel said, “I’ve raced two classes many times before, but now there are more double-header Superbike races than in past years. It’s a mental as well as a physical challenge racing two classes, three main events in a weekend. Here at Fontana, it’s a real physical track, lots of quick left-right transitions that give your legs and arms a hard workout. But I like racing in the 600 class; there’s so much good competition, lots of guys are going really well. It makes for great racing.”

Stay tuned for more great racing featuring Honda’s new CBR600RR, as the series moves to Sears Point/Infineon Raceway.

Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Results:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha
2. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha
3. Tommy Hayden – Kawasaki
4. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
5. Ben Spies – Suzuki
6. Doug Chandler – Honda
7. Miguel Duhamel – Honda

9. Roger Hayden – Honda
10. Jake Zemke – Honda
11. Alex Gobert – Honda
12. Marty Craggill – Honda

14. Chris Peris- Honda

16. Craig Connell – Honda

20. Jason Curtis – Honda

Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Point Standings:
1. Jamie Hacking – Yamaha – 69
2. Aaron Gobert – Yamaha – 55
3. Miguel Duhamel – Honda – 54
4. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 53
5. Jason DiSalvo – Yamaha – 49
6. Jake Zemke – Honda – 48

9. Roger Hayden – Honda – 42
10. Kurtis Roberts – Honda – 37
11. Doug Chandler – Honda – 37
12. Alex Gobert – Honda – 36

14. Ty Howard – Honda – 26
15. Chris Peris – Honda – 25

17. Ben Bostrom – Honda – 21 (tie)
17. Jason Curtis – Honda – 21 (tie)

20. Marty Craggill – Honda – 18

AMA Formula Xtreme Series
Round 1: Fontana, CA
April 6, 2003

Zemke and Craggill have the Formula for Championship Season

Although the rest of the AMA classes kicked off at Daytona International Speedway during Bike Week, Erion Racing’s Jake Zemke had to wait an entire month before getting the chance to throw a leg over his Formula Xtreme bike in competition. In 2002 Zemke came as close to winning the series title as one can get without actually winning the championship. After putting his #98 Honda CBR954RR on the podium at seven of nine races, he tied in Formula Xtreme series points, but because he had one less race win, the championship went to another rider. This year, Zemke plans to win the title outright and he began that process by finishing second at the opening round of the series at California Speedway.

“Finishing second today is a good way to start off the championship,” said Zemke, who bested his 2002 performance at California Speedway by one spot. “That’s how I got to where I was last year, by getting on the podium at every race. As long as I can keep that up and get some wins we’ll be okay.”

No one was surprised when the 17-lap race was complete and Zemke was second across the stripe, but another Honda rider by the name of Marty Craggill shocked road racing fans with his third place showing. The Bruce Transportation rider who also races a CBR954RR turned in some of the best Supersport and Formula Xtreme lap times in off-season testing, but a serious neck injury kept Craggill from competing in the opening round of 600 Supersport competition at Daytona. Luckily, he had an extra month to heal before the Formula Xtreme series began.

“Before Daytona I had a crushed disc in my neck and it would cause my left arm to become paralyzed,” explained Craggill. “I went into surgery six weeks ago to fix the problem and this weekend was my first real outing on the motorcycle. I’m pretty happy with how things turned out and so is my surgeon. I promised him I wouldn’t crash this weekend.”

Both Zemke and Craggill started from the second row, but took different approaches when the 31-man grid cleared the California Speedway paddock. Zemke charged directly to the front behind race leader and ultimate winner Ben Spies. Both Spies and Zemke wasted little time in separating themselves from the rest of the field, but Craggill rode more patiently.

“At the start I waited for everything to settle down and for my tires to warm up,” said Craggill. “After that I picked up the pace. Between laps five and eight quite a few things happened. A lot of guys started running wide in turns so I’d just go in underneath them and make the pass. After Jamie Hacking crashed I moved into third and put my head down for a couple laps and tried to catch Jake (Zemke), but that didn’t happen because he was too far gone.”

While Craggill was settling into third place, Zemke was trying to close a five-second gap on Spies. When lapped riders came into play Zemke wasn’t able to close the gap, but he kept Spies honest all the way to the checkered flag. Meanwhile, Erion Racing’s Roger Hayden was climbing up the results at a steady pace. Hayden started from the 11th position on the third row, and quickly moved into fifth, but slower lapped riders prevented a charge to the front.

“I had to put some aggressive moves on a few guys,” Hayden explained. “At the half way point I was in fifth place, but I got hung up by Steve Rapp. While I was following him I started to get anxious and that was a little hard on my tires. Once I finally got around Rapp, everyone else had already taken off.

“I just need to qualify better,” continued Hayden. “I’ve been off the pace in qualifying and then when the race comes, I pick up the pace but then I’m stuck behind traffic.”

The 19-year old ultimately finished the race in sixth, but Hayden remained optimistic about his chances this year.

“Last year at this race I crashed out so the way I figure it, I’m already further along this year. Plus I always get stronger toward the end of the year and I’m really looking forward to the next round at Infineon Raceway.”

Hayden isn’t the only CBR954RR pilot anxious to get to round two of the Formula Xtreme series. “California Speedway is a cool track and I’m glad to have a track in southern California, but it doesn’t really suit my style of riding,” said Zemke after receiving his second place trophy. “I like really fast flowing European-like tracks and although I wouldn’t label Infineon a European-like track, the layout is a lot less stop and go than it is here at California Speedway.

“I still had a lot of fun,” continued Zemke. “I look forward to racing no matter what track it is. And with the way my bike is working, it’s going to be an awesome season.”

Zemke, Craggill and Hayden’s awesome Formula Xtreme season resumes May 2-4 in Sonoma, California at Infineon Raceway formerly known as Sears Point.

Formula Xtreme Results:
1. Ben Spies – Suzuki
2. Jake Zemke – Honda
3. Marty Craggill – Honda
4. Josh Hayes – Suzuki
5. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha
6. Roger Hayden – Honda

11. Doug Chandler – Honda

13. Jason Curtis – Honda
14. Ty Howard – Honda

21. Alex McElyea – Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Ben Spies – Suzuki – 38
2. Jake Zemke – Honda – 32
3. Marty Craggill – Honda – 29
4. Josh Hayes – Suzuki – 27
5. Damon Buckmaster – Yamaha – 26
6. Roger Hayden – Honda – 25

11. Doug Chandler – Honda – 20

13. Jason Curtis – Honda – 18
14. Ty Howard – Honda – 17

21. Alex McElyea – Honda – 10

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

No contracts have been signed, but Jamie Stauffer says it looks like he will go from being a privateer working on his own bikes to a factory AMA Supersport rider with the Yoshimura Suzuki team.

“It’s not definite yet. I haven’t signed anything, but I’d say that’s what is going to happen,” the 23-year-old Australian told Roadracingworld.com Wednesday. “Hopefully, I’ll be riding for them. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m pretty sure they want me. I speak to them (Yoshimura) tomorrow, but I would say I would be going to (the AMA team test at Road) Atlanta.”

Stauffer hopes to follow the lead of Troy Corser, Mat Mladin, Damon Buckmaster, Marty Craggill, the Gobert brothers and other Australian riders who have traveled across the Pacific Ocean to find good professional rides in America. “I came to Laguna Seca last year (during the AMA Superbike/World Superbike event) and was handing out my resumes to teams, factory-backed teams. But I know at least one of them threw it the garbage can as I was walking away. And that was a team far below the quality of the Yoshimura team.”

No American team rang Stauffer’s phone over the off-season, and he began to look at another year in the Australian National series. “I was supposed to ride for Radar’s Yamaha in Australia,” said Stauffer. “Yamaha pulled out of backing Radar’s Yamaha. That left me without a ride.

“I was talking to Balz (Renggli) one day. Balz and K.C. Cannon (owners of Aprilia-Ducati of Oceanside, California) wanted to get me over here. They said, ‘Come over, we’ll buy you a bike, pay for everything. Show them that you can ride, get a ride and if not we’ll do the whole year and hopefully have a ride for next year.’ Balz and K.C. are the only reason I’m here. If it wasn’t for them I would’ve just been riding for a team in Australia again. I owe it all to them, really.”

Truly a privateer, Stauffer built the Yamaha YZF-R6 he took seventh with in the Daytona Supersport race, beating several factory and factory-supported bikes in the process. “It probably hasn’t got 50 percent of what (parts) some of the other bikes out there have got,” stated Stauffer. “I put an Ohlins rear shock on it, TiForce exhaust system, cartridge kits in the front forks, a Power Commander and I got a quick-shifter, but it’s never worked. There’s been no machining of the cases or the head. I had a valve job done on it by Patrick Racing. I did the cam timing and dyno tuning myself here, and I added race fuel.” Stauffer was even “pulled down”, as he says, at Fontana and found to perfectly legal by the AMA Pro Racing technical officials.

“A lot of people over here don’t think a privateer can run with factory riders, but a lot of riders talk themselves out of beating the factory guys,” said Stauffer, who added he didn’t get much support for his decision to come be a privateer in America. “Everyone who I spoke to over here and at home said I was an idiot for doing it. ‘You’ll wreck your career and blah, blah, blah…’ At this stage it seems to be working out good.

“If you hear of anybody who wants a Yama…well, I probably shouldn’t say that yet because we haven’t done it. But there will hopefully be some R6s up for sale soon.”

From a press release issued by American Suzuki:

Australian Phenom Jamie Stauffer to Race 600 SuperSport for Team Yoshimura Suzuki

BREA, Calif., April 9, 2003 – American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) today announced that Australian road racer Jamie Stauffer will contest the AMA 600 SuperSport Series aboard the 2003 Suzuki GSX-R600 for the factory-supported Yoshimura Suzuki team for the remainder of the 2003 season.

“It’s really great to be a part of a team as good as Yoshimura Suzuki,” said Stauffer. “It’s a team I wouldn’t have expected to get onto yet. I’d have thought I’d have to work my way up to it. But I’m happy to be on the team and riding the Suzuki GSX-R600. Hopefully I can win some races and show them they made the right decision to hire me.”

Originally from Kurri Kurri, New South Wales in Australia, 23-year-old Stauffer currently lives in Oceanside, Calif. Before coming stateside, he successfully campaigned Australia’s national Superbike and Formula Xtreme series. Prior to that he captured a number of regional and national dirt-track titles. Most recently, he raced the AMA 600 SuperSport race at Daytona and finished an impressive seventh.

“Jamie brings a wide variety of racing experience to the team,” said Team Manager Don Sakakura. “From dirt-track to speedway to road racing, he’s done it all. With this breadth of experience, Jamie’s riding talent and the strengths of the Suzuki GSX-R600, we believe that the 2003 AMA 600 SuperSport season will be a successful one.”

Stauffer’s first riding stint with Team Yoshimura Suzuki is scheduled for the upcoming test at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on April 14-16, 2003.

From a press release issued by WERA:

WERA National Series Returns to Carolina Motorsports Park

KERSHAW, S.C.- The WERA National Challenge Series and the Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series return to Carolina Motorsports Park this weekend, April 11-13, for a weekend of motorcycle road racing.

WERA has not held a national-level event at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) in two years, and many riders will be visiting the 2.235-mile road course for the first time.

Friday, April 11 will be a practice day for all of the racers participating in the weekend’s events. On Saturday, April 12, round two of the Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series will get underway with a four-hour race.

The Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 won the first race of the season with a five-lap margin of victory at Jennings GP. CMP, however, is thought to be a track better suited to smaller bikes because of its shorter straights and tighter corners. Army of Darkness hopes to put their Suzuki GSX-R600 at the top of the podium, and Northern Getaway will be combining the agility of their Suzuki GSX-R750 and the home-track advantage of their riders to compete for the win.

The WERA National Challenge Series sprint races will be held on Sunday, April 13. There will be 12 races consisting of 10 laps each. Tray Batey got an early lead in the season with wins in 750 Superstock, Heavyweight Twins and Pirelli Formula One at Jennings GP, but he will face a battle from local riders at CMP. Many of the racers who hail from WERA’s Southeast region have extensive experience at CMP, and will be using their knowledge of the track to head for the front. Greg Moore will be a top contender in 600 and 750 Superbike, and Arclight Racing’s Scott Harwell will be favored for 750 Superstock.

More information about WERA can be found on the Internet at www.WERA.com. Details about CMP, including directions to the track, can be found at www.CarolinaMotorsportsPark.com.

Since 1974, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing has showcased the talents of amateur motorcycle racers. Many of WERA’s former champions have gone on to successful professional careers in AMA Pro Racing, Grand Prix, World Superbike and Formula USA. Close competition and fresh talent are the hallmark of WERA Motorcycle Roadracing.

From a press release:

(Cupertino, California) Ducati North America announced today a nationwide price rollback on all new 2001 and 2002 model year Ducati motorcycles. The price reductions, range from $200 up to $3,200 on some models.

“These price reductions are important first steps towards not only sales growth, but also towards our long term goal of making Ducatis more affordable and price competitive in North America,” said Michael Lock, CEO of Ducati North America. “We want every knowledgeable, bargain-hunting rider in the land to take a second look at Ducati this season.”

Among the more notable models offered in this sale are:

The 2002 Monster 750D – was $7,995, now $6,995

The 2002 900 Sport – was $9,995, now $7,995

The 2002 ST2 – was $12,395, now $10,995

The 2002 998 Superbike Mono/Bip – was $17,695, now $14,495

The other 32 models included in this sale are posted on the company’s web site www.ducatinorthamerica.com.

Copyright 2003, www.mcnews.com.au, used with permission

By Trevor Hedge, www.mcnews.com.au

Australia’s fastest motorcycle racers converge on South Australia’s Mallala Motorsport Park this weekend to kick off the 2003 Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship.

Over 180 competitors will ride this weekend in what is the opening round of Australia’s most exciting form of motorsport.

Shannon Johnson will be fighting through the pain barrier after a recent crash at the Victorian Titles left the young Victorian battered and bruised. But, like the true racer he is, Johnson is still looking forward to this weekend with confidence. “Mallala is a fairly physical circuit and there is absolutely no rest on the superbike around there at all. But if we can reproduce the times we did during testing then I know we will be challenging for the win.”

20 years ago Shannon’s father, the legendary Andrew ‘AJ’ Johnson, put in one of his most famous performances back in what was then the Australian 500 GP Championship. ‘AJ’ remembers the ride like it was yesterday, “The 500 Honda I rode that year was a particularly special factory bike and the way it howled up the Mallala back straight was just awesome, but the kink was always just a little ‘too’ exciting on the tyres we had back then.”

While the wicked two-stroke 500 machines are only a memory, the current crop of 180hp Superbikes are just as awesome around the South Australian circuit.

Young Sydney charger Josh Brookes joins Shannon to form the new Castrol Honda Race Team for 2003. Shannon is the current reigning Australian Supersport Champion while Josh won the Supersport Championship in 2001. Both riders will race the Supersport and Superbike classes this year.

But, like Shannon, Josh is heading to Mallala carrying injuries from last weekend’s round of the Victorian Titles. There he broke his collarbone and underwent surgery this week to plate the break. But the gutsy youngster will still attempt to score some important points in this first round of the Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship.

One young rider with many reasons to be happy is Shepparton’s Craig Coxhell. This year the experienced 20 year old joins reigning Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles in the recently dominant Team Suzuki.

But the all-conquering power of the Phil Tainton tuned GSX-R1000 will have both Coxhell and Giles working hard around the extremely physical Mallala track.

“I aim to try and come away from this opening round unscathed and with as many points as I can, you can’t win a championship in the first round so this year I am aiming for consistency,” commented Coxhell.

His three-time Australian Superbike Championship winning team-mate, Shawn Giles, was due to test at Mallala last week but could not ride due to a chronic bout of food poisoning. The 32 year old is still coming back to full strength from that ailment, but in any shape Giles will always be a threat for the win.

The Suzuki and Honda camps will be under fierce competition from the new factory supported Nikon Yamaha Racing Team. This is the first time a factory Yamaha squad have raced at the South Australian circuit for two years and South Australian fans of the tuning fork brand will be hoping for a win. With Kevin Curtain and Daniel Stauffer in their armoury, the Yamaha boys are odds-on to do just that.

In recent outings the Suzuki has shown a horsepower advantage. But in the tight cut and thrust battles, which are a feature of Australian racing, the Yamaha has recently proven the more nimble machine. Around the tricky 2.6km Mallala track agility is vital for a good lap time, here the Yamaha is sure to shine.

A top field of privateer entries will also battle hard. Riders such as Alistair Maxwell, Stephen Tozer, Jay Normoyle, Nick Henderson, Brent George, Scott Charlton and Robert Bugden all add strength to what is a quality Superbike field.

While Kawasaki has no entry in the premier Superbike class they do field a strong effort in the 600cc Supersport ranks. New South Wales teenager Russell Holland heads the Kawasaki charge and will be backed up by at least half a dozen riders starting the championship on the all new ZX-6RR machine.

But the green machines will have heady competition in the shape of riders such as Kevin Curtain and ex-500 GP competitor Brendan Clarke. These two world class talents form a mighty duo in Yamaha’s quest to take the 2003 Australian Supersport Championship.

Shannon Johnson will be aiming to defend his supersport title for Honda but will have his work cut out for him as the new CBR600RR machines have only just arrived and will be raced in standard trim. Suzuki has no factory entry in the Supersport class but will be well represented by privateers such as Reece Bancell and Ross Cooper.

While the Supersport and Superbike classes are the premier events, a talented supporting cast of 46 Superstock riders includes 14 South Australians, the locals aiming for a home track advantage.

The slideways sidecars always entertain around Mallala and a 16 strong field of the three-wheeled machines is guaranteed to produce some major action.

In 125 Grand Prix a junior motocross star makes his road race debut this weekend at Mallala. Bryan Staring is a 15 year old Western Australian with a string of national and state motocross championships under his belt. He will gain plenty of knowledge in his first tarmac outing from experienced campaigners such as Peter Galvin, Paul Campbell, Cath Thompson, Tim Inkster, Josh Waters and Rudi Muller. 250 GP should also prove exciting and these thoroughbred machines will share the track with a good field of 250 Production bikes.

From a press release issued by American Suzuki:

Team Yoshimura Suzuki Sweeps AMA Superbike Races at California Speedway

BREA, Calif. – American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) congratulates Team Yoshimura Suzuki for sweeping victories at Rounds Two and Three of the AMA Superbike Championship Series at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on April 5-6, 2003.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin qualified on pole for both of the weekend’s races, while teammate Aaron Yates qualified second. In the first Superbike race, Mladin came away the victor and Yates finished an impressive second. In the following day’s race, Mladin again captured the win while Yates finished a healthy fourth.

“It’s great to be winning races again,” said Mladin, a three-time AMA Superbike Champion. “In the off season, the Yoshimura Suzuki team worked extremely hard and it shows. The new 2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000 is running great and I’m not at all surprised to have scored wins so early in the season with such an impressive bike.”

AMA Superbike wasn’t the only arena in which Yoshimura Suzuki and the new 2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000 carded a win. Young gun Ben Spies qualified on pole in Sunday’s Formula Xtreme race and went on to capture the top spot on the podium.

“Obviously, we at Suzuki are thrilled with these race results,” said Mel Harris, vice president of ASMC’s motorcycle/ATV division. “Team Yoshimura Suzuki has the strongest team in the paddock. By combining riders of such high caliber with a competitive racing machine like the new 2003 Suzuki GSX-R1000, we’ll bring home the AMA Superbike and AMA Formula Xtreme Championships for sure. “

Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s next race will be May 4, 2003, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

From an e-mail sent by a reader:

I have been following racing for many years and I still can’t understand why the AMA can’t keep up with the rest of the world’s professional racing organizations in the red flag & aggregate timing rules.

So many times I have watched AMA races get red-flagged at some point during the race, where someone has worked their butt off to secure a really good lead only to be red-flagged and have to start again without their lead taken into consideration (except for being re-gridded on pole).

In effect the AMA is saying that the first part of the race doesn’t count and doesn’t matter. It brings to mind a Superbike race a couple of years ago that was dwindled down to 6 or 7 laps due to a red-flag incident 16 laps into the race. What a joke! Why not delare the first 16 laps as “the race”?

With all the computerized timing systems surely it wouldn’t be that difficult for them to use aggregate timing like the rest of the professional racing world does in the event of a red flag mid-race. I am sure most riders would like to see it that way.

Oh, I forgot, what the riders think doesn’t really matter to AMA Pro Racing.

Frank Nolan
Hollywood, California


And our snappy editorial reply:

AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice has said, many times, that AMA Pro Racing will never use aggregate time as long as he is in charge, because it is confusing to spectators. Of course, we have not heard Mr. Vanderslice explain why assessing a 10-second penalty on many riders at Fontana was less confusing to spectators than using aggregate scoring.

And, as seen at Fontana, AMA Pro Racing is at times incapable of performing the most basic timing & scoring operation, that of producing results in a timely fashion following a race or qualifying session.

So, to answer your question, they don’t want to, and even if they did want to, there’s a good chance that they’d screw it up–and blame it on the racetrack afterwards.