Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA 250cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

1. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:28.959
2. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 1:30.032
3. Simon Turner, TSR Honda, 1:30.548
4. Colin Jensen, Aprilia, 1:33.995
5. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:34.127
6. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 1:34.163
7. Chris Pyles, Honda, 1:34.754
8. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 1:35.046
9. Michael Montoya, Yamaha, 1:35.732
10. Greg Esser, Honda, 1:35.863
11. Darren Fulce, Yamaha, 1:35.878
12. Sean Crane, Yamaha, 1:35.928
13. Sandy Noce, Yamaha, 1:36.383
14. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:38.100
15. Sean McNew, Honda, 1:38.102
16. John France, Honda, 1:38.680
17. M. Ben Welch, Yamaha, 1:38.776
18. Mark Watts, Honda, 1:38.948
19. Stephen Bowline, Honda, 1:39.704
20. Leonard Mellgren, Yamaha, 1:39.892
21. Sean Wray, Yamaha, 1:40.363
22. Shawn Murray, Honda, 1:40.384
23. Richard Denman, Honda, 1:40.849
24. Michael Janzen, Honda, 1:40.935

Qualifying Cut-off Time: 1:41.413

25. Joji Tokumoto, Honda, 1:41.573
26. Michael Aron, Yamaha, 1:41.644
27. Paul Wright, Yamaha, 1:42.558
28. Andrew Edwards, Yamaha, 1:44.731
29. David Hawks, Yamaha, 1:47.431

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts with files from Bob Dragich

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin threatened Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts with violence during an AMA Superbike practice session Friday at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

“He (Roberts) blocked me in the morning session. He blocked me at Daytona, too. But I never said a word about it,” Mladin told Roadracingworld.com. “After he blocked me again (at Fontana), I had to go have a word with him.”

“Mat came over to our pits and said he was going to knock Kurtis’ head off, lots of expletives, lots of threats,” said David McGrath, Roberts’ Crew Chief. McGrath added that several people overheard and witnessed the incident, and said “I stood between them and told Mat, ‘No, you’re not.’ I can’t believe a rider of that caliber making threats like that.”

When asked about Mladin’s allegations of blocking, Roberts said, “Mat’s full of shit, and you can put that in the paper. Mat is in his own world. If it’s not me, it’s somebody else. The guy just ain’t right in the head. He’s so bored he’s looking for somebody to complain about. I didn’t block him at all.”

Later, during the post-qualifying press conference, Mladin, the fastest qualifier, had finished his interview and Roberts was asked his first question by the California Speedway representative running the press conference. Before Roberts could answer, Mladin spoke into his microphone and asked if he had to stay and listen to “this crap.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final 125cc Qualifying Results (Friday and Saturday Times Combined):

1. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, 2:15.417
2. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 2:15.881
3. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 2:16.732
4. Mirko Giansanti, Aprilia, 2:16.884
5. Stefano Perugini, Aprilia, 2:16.918
6. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, 2:16.959
7. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 2:16.961
8. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 2:16.975
9. Hector Barbera, Aprilia, 2:17.224
10. Stefano Bianco, Gilera, 2:17.308
11. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 2:17.569

13. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 2:17.990
14. Emilio Alzamora, Derbi, 2:18.126

16. Arnaud Vincent, KTM, 2:18.710

18. Youichi Ui, Aprilia, 2:19.308

27. Roberto Locatelli, KTM, 2:20.572

30. Masao Azuma, Honda, 2:21.446

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The high-tech AMA Pro Racing timing & scoring system melted down Saturday afternoon at California Speedway.

As of 7:00 p.m., no provisional results had been issued by AMA Pro Racing for the Superstock race, which started at 4:00 p.m., nor for 250cc GP qualifying, which preceeded the Superstock race.

AMA Pro Racing Timing & Scoring has been plagued with problems throughout the weekend, and the system was not working correctly when official practice started Friday morning. The problems continued and built up on Saturday.

As an example, the system was not picking up all the transponder signals on Friday and Saturday.

During Superstock qualifying Friday, Vincent Haskovec was shown as doing a single 7:50 lap when in fact the system combined several of his laps.

The situation frustrated reporters from the area general media; they were supposed to file stories on the day’s races but said they were first told that Eric Bostrom was third in Saturday’s Superbike race, then were told he was fourth, then were told he was third again. Finally, Eric Bostrom was declared to be fourth again, due to a penalty for cutting a chicane to, as Bostrom tells it, avoid hitting a lapped rider, with no on-track time advantage gained.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Morning AMA Superbike Qualifying Times:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:25.504
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:25.566
3. Anthony Gobert, Ducati, 1:25.970
4. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:26.045
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:26.364
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:26.578
7. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 1:26.717
8. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 1:26.750
9. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:28.717
10. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 1:28.752
11. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:28.970
12. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, 1:29.206
13. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:29.430
14. Jacob Holden, Suzuki, 1:29.717
15. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:29.722
16. John Dugan, Suzuki, 1:30.098
17. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:30.125
18. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki, 1:30.255
19. Steve Crevier, Suzuki, 1:30.288
20. James Randolph, Suzuki, 1:30.354
21. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki, 1:30.381
22. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 1:30.547
23. Matt Furtek, Suzuki, 1:30.640
24. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, 1:30.721
25. Robert Christman, Suzuki, 1:30.823
26. Francis Martin, Suzuki, 1:30.824
27. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, 1:30.824
28. Jack Pfeifer, Suzuki, 1:30.824
29. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki, 1:31.034
30. Clint McBain, Suzuki, 1:31.233

AMA Superbike Combined Qualifying Results:

1. Mladin, 1:25.123
2. Yates, 1:25.566
3. Gobert, 1:25.970
4. Roberts, 1:26.045
5. Eric Bostrom, 1:26.259
6. Pegram, 1:26.308
7. Duhamel, 1:26.405
8. Ben Bostrom, 1:26.496
9. Moore, 1:28.717
10. Higbee, 1:28.738
11. Caylor, 1:28.752
12. Pridmore, 1:28.970
13. Barnes, 1:29.041
14. Szoke, 1:29.206
15. May, 1:29.430
16. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:29.688
17. Holden, 1:29.717
18. Haskovec, 1:29.722
19. John Haner, Suzuki, 1:30.058
20. Dugan, 1:30.098
21. Ulrich, 1:30.125
22. Deatherage, 1:30.255
23. Crevier, 1:30.288
24. Randolph, 1:30.354
25. Toye, 1:30.381
26. Furtek, 1:30.640
27. Mark Ledesma, Honda CBR954RR, 1:30.666
28. Christman, 1:30.823
29. Scott Jensen, 1:30.824
30. Pfeifer, 1:30.824
31. Martin, 1:30.824
32. Ciccotto, 1:30.916
33. Schmidt, 1:31.034
34. McBain, 1:31.233
35. Brian Livengood, Suzuki, 1:31.359
36. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki, 1:31.432
37. Jeff Williams, Suzuki, 1:31.866
38. Brian Stokes, Suzuki, 1:32.118
39. James Compton, Suzuki, 1:32.130
40. Rob Mesa, Suzuki, 1:32.172
41. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, 1:32.246
42. Marco Martinez, Suzuki, 1:32.344
43. Troy Green, Yamaha, 1:32.405
44. Tom Montano, 1:32.438

Qualifying Cut-off Time: 1:35.338

Aaron Yates knocked Shawn Higbee down in turn three early in Saturday’s qualifying session. Higbee, who was uninjured, said, “He berm-shotted me. He ran right into me and took the tires right out from under me.”

Yates hardly came off line in the incident and continued on his lap.

Miguel Duhamel ran into Clint McBain coming into the chicane at the end of the infield straightaway late in the qualifying session. Both riders crashed, but Duhamel was able to ride his Honda RC51 back to the pits and later rode in Supersport qualifying on his CBR600RR.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday 250cc GP Qualifying Times:

1. Yuki Takahashi, Honda, 2:25.787
2. Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Yamaha, 2:25.797
3. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 2:26.748
4. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Yamaha, 2:26.879
5. Hiroshi Aoyama, Honda, 2:27.336
6. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 2:27.588
7. Tekkyu Kayo, Yamaha, 2:28.073
8. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia ,2:28.659
9. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 2:29.111
10. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 2:29.803
11. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 2:30.003
12. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 2:30.012
13. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 2:30.084
14. Anthony West, Aprilia, 2:30.697
15. Eric Bataille, Honda, 2:31.048
16. Jakub Smrz, Honda, 2:31.055
17. Erwan Nigon, Aprilia, 2:31.150
18. Johan Stigefelt, Aprilia, 2:31.274
19. Christian Gemmel, Honda, 2:32.756
20. Chaz Davies, Aprilia, 2:32.767
21. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 2:33.875

250cc GP Final Qualifying Results (Friday and Saturday times combined):

1. Hiroshi Aoyama , Honda, 2:17.930
2. Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Yamaha, 2:18.105
3. Alex Debon, Honda, 2:18.274
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 2:19.990
5. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 2:20.018
6. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 2:20.285
7. Yuki Takahashi, Honda, 2:20.998
8. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 2:22.111
9. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 2:22.457
10. Jakub Smrz, Honda, 2:22.464
11. Alex Baldolini, Aprilia, 2:22.811
12. Tekkyu Kayo, Yamaha, 2:22.869
13. Johan Stigefelt, Aprilia, 2:23.476
14. Hugo Marchand, Aprilia, 2:23.717
15. Jaroslav Hules, Yamaha, 2:24.348
16. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 2:24.692
17. Anthony West, Aprilia, 2:25.134
18. Hector Faubel, Aprilia, 2:25.496
19. Dirk Heidolf, Aprilia, 2:26.008
20. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 2:26.560
21. Erwan Nigon, Aprilia, 2:26.613
22. Tomoyoshi Koyama, Yamaha, 2:26.730
23. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 2:27.281
24. Christian Gemmel, Honda, 2:27.509

107 percent of fastest time: 2:27.585

DNQ. Henk vd Lagemaat, Honda, 2:28.804
DNQ. Katja Poensgen, Honda, 2:28.988
DNQ. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 2:29.312
DNQ. Eric Bataille, Honda, 2:31.048
DNQ. Chaz Davies, Aprilia, 2:32.767
DNQ. Joan Olive, Aprilia, 2:33.222

From a press release issued by Norm Viano, Lawdog Sports Management:

BOSS NEWS – 4/5/03

After a disappointing 5th place finish at Daytona, Eric Bostrom is ready for this weekend’s Superbike race at California Speedway where he’s qualified the Kawasaki ZX-7RR just off the front row.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to racing again. Especially after a bad race like Daytona. It just never feels good to leave on a poor finish. Then you have to sit around and wait another month before you get another shot at winning. It’s not sat real well with me this last month and it’s given me a little extra fire and intensity in my training, so I’m looking forward to the race. I’ve been training pretty hard and riding bikes quite a bit. I know we’re ready and hoping that the Kawasaki is up to the challenge because Fontana requires a lot of motor.”

In between the races, Eric did get the opportunity to catch the Phillip Island World Superbike race on Speed Channel. “The race at Phillip Island was actually really exciting. I didn’t think the series would be as fun as it was to watch. And it is also good news to see Dunlop trying to get back on track there. It looks like they might have made lots of improvement over the winter time, and that’s especially good for us going into Laguna Seca here in a couple months to have a good tire to try and win a world championship race on.

“I just want to wish all the troops that are fighting over in Iraq right now all the best in returning home as quickly and safely as possible.”