Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By David Swarts
Tommy Hayden took the checkered flag first in the AMA Superstock race at California Speedway in Fontana, California Saturday on his 636cc Kawasaki ZX-6RR, but at post time (7:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time), AMA Pro Racing had not produced official results for the Superstock race, which started around 4:00 p.m..
In fact, who finished second and third in the Superstock race was in question at the podium ceremony and in the post-race press conference even though Corona Extra Suzuki’s Adam Fergusson and Hayden’s teammate Tony Meiring clearly crossed the line second and third, respectively.
Unofficially, Meiring got the holeshot and held off Hayden, Fergusson and Team EMGO Taiwan’s Chris Caylor, while a multi-bike pile-up in the turn three-four chicane on the first lap knocked several top riders out of the race for the win.
The cause of the chain-reaction incident was not clear, but it left Mike Ciccotto on the ground, John Haner with a bent rear wheel, Chris Ulrich and Josh Hayes off the track and Jason DiSalvo with minor bike damage. Ciccotto re-mounted to finish 25th, Haner fought a vibration to finish eighth, DiSalvo worked back up to ninth, Hayes unofficially finished 10th and Ulrich came back from 37th to salvage 12 points for 19th-place.
Hayden and Fergusson passed Meiring and battled for the first half of the race, while Meiring raced for third with Caylor for most of the race. Hayden eventually pulled away from Fergusson, and Meiring gapped Caylor in lapped traffic.
At the start of lap 16 of a scheduled 17, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Matt Furtek, who was fighting for 10th with Matt Wait, crashed at the exit of the turn one chicane when his bike’s steering damper failed. The race was stopped for Furtek’s fall.
Official AMA Superstock Race Results (issued at 7:30 p.m. PST):
1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 14 laps
2. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki GSX-R750, -3.604 seconds
3. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, -9.645 seconds
4. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, -9.801 seconds
5. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, -11.235 seconds
6. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750, -11.236 seconds
7. Jamie Stauffer, Yamaha YZF-R6, -20.119 seconds
8. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, -20.498 seconds
9. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R6, -20.542 seconds
10. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R750, -24.618 seconds
11. Matt Wait, Yamaha YZF-R6, -24.643 seconds
12. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki GSX-R750, -27.938 seconds
13. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, -34.309 secondsd
14. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600F4i, -37.278 seconds
15. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, -42.737 seconds
16. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R750, -42.857 seconds
17. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki GSX-R750, -45.654 seconds
18. Jason Perez, Suzuki GSX-R600, -51.831 seconds
19. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, -61.979 seconds
20. Mickey Lane, Suzuki, -70.309 seconds
21. Scott Simpson, Suzuki, -72.374 seconds
22. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, -77.943 seconds
23. Eric Haugo, Suzuki GSX-R750, -78.686 seconds
24. Tom Wertman, Suzuki, -79.462 seconds
25. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, -80.388 seconds (penalized 10 seconds)
26. Jeff Bostrom, Suzuki GSX-R750, -81.004 seconds
27. C. Rolland, Suzuki, -85.603 seconds
28. Danny Eslick, Suzuki GSX-R750, -87.116 (penalized 20 seconds)
29. B. Musselman, Suzuki, -87.947 seconds
30. Matt Furtek, Suzuki GSX-R750, -87.948 (penalized for causing red flag)
31. D. Bell, Suzuki, -1 lap
32. J. Chisum, Suzuki, -1 lap
33. S. Alexander, Kawasaki, -1 lap
34. M. Simon, Suzuki, -1 lap (penalized 10 seconds)
35. Chris Siglin, Suzuki GSX-R600, -1 lap (penalized 10 seconds)
36. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750, -9 laps
37. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, -10 laps, DNF, crash
© , Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.