From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Troy Corser will start the new World Superbike season wearing a new helmet after signing a two-year deal with top French manufacturer Shark.

The Australian former world champ, who is preparing for the official winter test which starts at Valencia on Friday, is following in the footsteps of Foggy PETRONAS Racing boss Carl Fogarty in joining the Shark camp.

When Troy parted company with previous helmet suppliers Suomy, Shark jumped at the chance to sign one of the major names in the sport.

And he is hoping to be sporting his new helmet design, featuring the trademark croc logo in time for the opening race on March 2.

Troy said: “I am really happy to be with Shark. They are one of the safest helmet manufacturers and they have wanted to sign me for a couple of seasons. As soon as there was a parting of the ways with Suomy I sat down with them and we agreed a deal straight away.

“They are hoping to have a new model on the market by the middle of the season so I will be wearing the same model that Carl still uses for the first few rounds.”

From a pretty-much verbatim press release issued by NCR Ducati:

REGIS LACONI VISITS DUCATI FACTORY

After the formalising of the agreement with Scuderia Caracchi NCR to contest on the Ducati 998RS Nortel Networks 2003 World Superbike, Regis Laconi has been guest of Ducati Factory where he met the manager of Superbike Ducati activities dott.Paolo Ciabatti.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

LRRS Racer Joe Zeno and wife Lisa had a son, Joseph Domenic Zeno, February 14 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

From a press release issued by Frank Angel, for Nate Kern:

KERN TO RUN BMW BOXER CUP AT DAYTONA

Mount Laurel, NJ–February 19, 2003–Nate Kern will join a select group of American riders contesting the opening round of the BMW Boxer Cup at Daytona International Speedway March 9, 2003.

Sponsored by the New Sweeden BMW Riders Group and BMW Motorcycles of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Kern will ride a minimally modified production R1100S.

The one-off ride is truly a grass roots privateer effort supported by BMW enthusiasts from Southern New Jersey and surrounding areas. Wayne Reiss, president of the New Sweeden BMW Riders Group, was instrumental in putting the ride together. In addition to owning the race bike, Wayne has coordinated the effort from its inception and has been working closely with BMW Motorcycles of Cherry Hill to prepare the motorcycle.

In addition to the sponsors mentioned above, Nate’s sponsors include Suomy Helmets, Corsa Leathers, Metzler, Traxxion Dynamics, and Fabri-Tech Designs Racing Graphics.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in, from Morgan Broadhead of American Suzuki, in response to an inquiry from Roadracingworld.com reader Craig Montgomery, who wrote, “I am sure you just post what gets sent to you, but I don’t see a payout for Lightweight Superstock at the regional club level. Was this an oversight on Suzuki’s part?”

And Broadhead’s reply is: Yes. It looks like there was an oversight on the release regarding regional Twins which would also be Lightweight Superstock in some regions. Here is the payout to be added to your information.

Selected CCS, WERA, AFM, CMRA, CRA, LRRS, MRA, OMRRA, WMRRA, WSMC regional event payouts for SV650, TL1000R, SV1000
1. $500
2. $250
3. $125
4. $75
5. $50


(In related news, Broadhead said that the program will pay out riders on 2001-2003 model-year machines. That detail was also missing from the press release.)

From a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

Hayden’s Daytona 200 Win A Dream Come True

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Feb. 19, 2003) — Last March, Nicky Hayden turned Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile road course into his personal playground.

Hayden, riding the No. 69 American Honda RC51, held off an early challenge from Kurtis Roberts and dominated the 61st Daytona 200 By Arai, pulling off an 18.225-second victory.

For Hayden, it was only his third start in the prestigious motorcycle race and at the age of 20, he became the youngest winner of the race since 1976.

“It was huge to be honest with you,” said Hayden when he visited the Speedway last August for a Dunlop tire test. “Being an American kid, this was the race we grew up hearing about. This was the one you use to lay in bed and think about.”

Hayden won’t be defending his Daytona 200 By Arai title after opting to compete overseas for Honda in 2003. But he looks back at his Daytona 200 victory as the spark that led to him to his first AMA U.S. Superbike championship.

“I felt like when we left here we were really in the position,” Hayden said. “We were setting the tone. We were the people to beat for the rest of the year. Mat (Mladin) had trouble. He had been the guy, but he didn’t have a good weekend. It established us as the people to beat.”

Hayden established himself as one of the pre-race favorites during the qualifying session when he blistered a record lap of 1:47.174 (119.581 mph) and captured the pole and the Rolex watch.

Of course, Hayden wanted to post an even faster lap. He ducked into the pits, put on some fresh tires and soared back onto the track only to highside entering the chicane.

He was uninjured, but the incident put a damper on his day.

“The guy (EMT) asked me what day it was and I told him, ‘Up to now it was the best day of my life,'” Hayden said at the time of the accident.

Looking back at the accident, Hayden said the worse thing was that he lost his primary motorcycle for the weekend.

“At first I was pretty lucky to be OK,” Hayden said. “I hit the ground pretty hard. The next day, I didn’t really get much warm up. The first practice was pretty much a throw way. I didn’t feel good at all. But after that, I settled down and felt a lot better. It pretty much eliminated one of our bikes.”

Rounding out the podium was Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking and Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert. Hacking nipped Gobert at the start/finish line for second. With his win in 2002, Hayden earned Honda’s eighth Daytona 200 victory and its first since 1996. Hayden also became the first American to win the Daytona 200 since Scott Russell in 1998.

What will happen at this year’s Daytona 200 By Arai on March 9? How will the Bostrom brothers fare? Will Mat Mladin return to his glory with a third Daytona 200 win? Can Miguel Duhamel win a fourth Daytona 200? Or can Kurtis Roberts tame Daytona for his first triumph?

To purchase tickets for any of the Daytona 200 Week events, go online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call the Speedway ticket office at (386) 253-7223.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts with files from Bob Dragich

Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom recorded the fastest lap time during AMA team testing Wednesday at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. After testing a ZX-6RR Tuesday, Bostrom lapped the rolling 2.2-mile road course at 1:27.16 on his big-bore ZX-7RR Superbike in cold and windy conditions Wednesday afternoon.

Bostrom led all times at the last test session at Laguna Seca, held on January 23, with a 1:26.215 on the 750cc version of his Kawasaki Superbike.

The second day of the multi-day, multi-team test at Laguna Seca started with rain, which limited riders to about 2.5 hours of track time in the afternoon, while other riders and teams packed up and went home without making any laps Wednesday.

Attack Suzuki skipped Tuesday, arrived at the track Wednesday morning, unloaded, then re-loaded their truck and went back to their shop. Defending AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Jason Pridmore told Roadracingworld.com that he felt he could accomplish nothing even if the rain stopped, which it did around noon local time. Pridmore’s teammate Josh Hayes was also in attendance but did not ride, while Attack Suzuki’s newly announced development rider Danny Eslick did not attend the test.

Yoshimura Suzuki planned to finish testing Wednesday, but decided to leave early due to the rain. In better conditions on Tuesday, Mat Mladin recorded a 1:26.4 during his first day with his new GSX-R1000 Superbike at the Laguna circuit. Mladin qualified at 1:26.553 on his GSX-R750 for the 2002 AMA Superbike race at Laguna Seca.

Mladin’s teammates Aaron Yates and Ben Spies weren’t quite as successful, recording a 1:28.1 and 1:28.2, respectively, on their GSX-R1000 Superbikes Tuesday.

Yoshimura Suzuki did not bring Yates’ and Spies’ GSX-R600 Supersport bikes to Laguna.

Yamaha’s factory Supersport truck left after team riders Jamie Hacking, Damon Buckmaster, Aaron Gobert and Jason DiSalvo tested their YZF-R6s at the Monterey track for the second time this off-season on Tuesday. DiSalvo, who will only race a YZF-R6 in 2003, continued to ride his 600 Wednesday and nearly equaled his best lap times in the less-than-ideal conditions.

Meanwhile, DiSalvo’s teammates moved on to testing their Graves Motorsports YZF-R1-based Formula Xtreme machines. Hacking’s 1:28.4 was the fastest Formula Xtreme lap time, the second-fastest overall time for Wednesday and only slightly slower than Jake Zemke’s 1:27.808 from a January test of his CBR954RR FX bike at Laguna.

Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Marty Craggill planned to test his CBR600RR and CBR954RR for two days at Laguna Seca, but a recurring pinched nerve problem in Craggill’s neck sidelined him after just a few laps on Tuesday. The Bruce team left the track Tuesday night.

Annandale Honda’s Ty Howard and Craig Connell were also at Laguna Seca testing their CBR600RRs and trying their CBR954RR Formula Xtreme bikes for the first time away from team headquarters at the Motorsport Ranch racetrack outside of Fort Worth, Texas. Connell spent more time in the pits than on the track Wednesday.

Bostrom’s teammates Tommy Hayden and Tony Meiring continued to test their Kawasaki ZX-6RRs but did not match the testing pace set by Yamaha’s Supersport riders.

Hayden crashed and suffered a concussion during testing at Laguna Seca on January 21 and missed two important days of testing at the challenging track.

So far this off-season, rain and/or wind has inhibited tests at Daytona International Speedway, Laguna Seca and twice at California Speedway.


Wednesday’s Fastest Unofficial Lap Times:

1. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.16
2. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:28.4
3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:28.7
4. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:29.0
5. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:30.5
6. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:30.7
7. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:30.9
8. Ty Howard, Honda CBR600RR, 1:34.8
9. Craig Connell, Honda CBR600RR, no times provided by team

From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

HRC MotoGP winter test Sepang. February 19, 2003.

Kato and Rossi set the Pace at Sepang

The second of the two HRC winter tests scheduled for the Sepang circuit, Malaysia got underway today with all Honda MotoGP teams and riders taking part aboard RC211V five-cylinder Honda four-strokes. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda, and Telefonica MoviStar Honda Gresini rider, Daijiro Kato, set the pace on the first day of the two-day test.

Rossi, and his American teammate, AMA Superbike Champion Nicky Hayden, tested the latest version of the RC211V HRC brought to Sepang and both men were delighted with machine development in the short period between test sessions. Rossi completed 61 laps of the circuit while Hayden put in an astonishing 84 laps!

Valentino Rossi: “Today was the first day on the new 2003 bike and it went well. Our main goal was to set the bike up and not go for the best time. I am happy with the feel of the machine and much of the work we did here at Sepang a month ago testing components has been of good benefit on the new bike. The weather here is good and I’m looking forward to another good day tomorrow.”

Nicky Hayden: “Had another tough day here really doing some laps. We’re on the new bike, which feels good; better than last year’s model we tested last time we were here. Everything feels real tight on it and I’m feeling more comfortable on it as well. I guess things are getting there. I’m just trying real hard to be where I need to be. There are a few corners where I’m struggling a little – I got one more day here, then we’re off to Phillip Island, which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve heard the place is awesome!”

The Telefonica MoviStar Honda Gresini team was very visible at Sepang and it was team leader Daijiro Kato who set the benchmark for the day. The diminutive Japanese rider was in sparkling form circulating the 5.548km circuit in 2:03.08 on the new RCV.

Daijiro Kato: “I’m very happy with what we did here today. We tried different riding solutions and settings with the new bike and I immediately felt the difference, and I was much faster. This has given me a real boost for the remaining tests.”

Spaniard Sete Gibernau was a busy man at Sepang. Gibernau was in and out of the pit box all day as the team tested a host of machine settings on his RC211V. They are now confident tomorrow will be more significant for Gibernau.

Sete Gibernau: “I am very satisfied with today’s results: the lap timing is the same as that of the third day of January’s test here in Malaysia. I do regret having lost plenty of time in the boxes today, but I am very determined to improve my position tomorrow.”

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Honda, worked tirelessly on finding machine settings to match the range of tyres Michelin had brought to Sepang for him to test.

Max Biaggi. “I tested a variety of alternative machine settings today and have some positive feed-back. Michelin had so many tyres for us to test that I put in 70 laps. I was happy with the progress Michelin have made with the tyres since we were testing here a month ago, and I was pleased with the times I set.”

Biaggi’s teammate, Japanese star Tohru Ukawa, made his first acquaintance with the new RCV and spent the day setting the machine to suit his riding style.

Tohru Ukawa: “I’m very satisfied to be back riding again, especially as we have the new RC211V here. Today I concentrated my time on finding a comfortable riding position and testing tyres. Now I feel good on the bike I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

The Pramac Honda team continued their winter tests at Sepang concentrating on Bridgestone tyre development work. Team rider Makoto Tamada, and development rider Shinichi Itoh, put in a combined total of over 120 laps evaluating tyres developed from data gathered at the at the same track one month ago. Both riders confirmed a definite improvement in performance.

Makoto Tamada. “I’m much better at this track now, much more comfortable. I am also starting to understand the bike, and the Bridgestone tyres. Bridgestone have made a lot of progress in the short time they have had to work on development since the last test here at Sepang. Some of the tyres have really improved. I ran a 2:05 lap time on race tyres so we are happy with that.”

Shinichi Itoh. “I was struggling a little to find the best set up today to test the new tyres Bridgestone brought us. But in the end I got close to Tamada Sans time so I’m confident we will improve tomorrow.”

Daijiro Kato, JPN, Telefonica MoviStar Honda Gresini, 2:03.08 (60+ laps)

Valentino Rossi, ITA, Repsol Honda, 2:03.9 (61 laps)

Max Biaggi, ITA, Camel Pramac Honda, 2:04.00 (70 laps)

Tohru Ukawa, JPN, Camel Pramac Honda, 2:04.3 (60+ laps)

Sete Gibernau, SPA, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, 2:04.7

Nicky Hayden, USA, Repsol Honda, 2:05.3 (84 laps)

Makoto Tamada, JPN, Pramac Honda, 2:05.3 (60 laps)

Shinichi Itoh, JPN, Pramac Honda, 2:05.4 (69 laps)

From a press release issued by American Suzuki:

American Suzuki Announces Suzuki Sport Road Racing Teams for 2003

BREA, Calif. February 18, 2003 – American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC) formally announced its official line up of Suzuki Sport road racing teams for ’03. Building on the success of 2002, winning the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship and a second AMA Superstock Championship, Suzuki Sport riders look forward to another winning season of AMA road racing competition in 2003.

Suzuki Sport teams feature an exceptionally talented list of returning Champions like the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship-winning Attack Suzuki team. Attack Suzuki will feature the riding talents of Formula Xtreme Champion Jason Pridmore along with the highly talented Josh Hayes competing in AMA Formula Xtreme and AMA Superstock events. Also joining the Attack Suzuki team for selected races will be Factory Suzuki dirt track sensation Danny Eslick.

Valvoline EMGO Suzuki brings a wealth of experience and speed to the new season with three hugely talented riders for ’03. Leading the team will be Chris Ulrich and Steve Rapp with Ulrich racing in AMA Superstock and AMA Formula Xtreme , while Rapp will compete in AMA Formula Xtreme and selected Superstock races. New to the team is 18-year-old Matt Furtek. Furtek, who caught the attention of Team Valvoline Suzuki while racing in the WERA National Challenge Series, was offered the Suzuki ride after proving himself in three races with Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki at the end of 2002.

The two-time AMA Superstock Champion-winning Corona Extra Suzuki team is back with a talented host of riders contending in three classes of AMA roadracing competition for 2003. AMA Superstock Champion Jimmy Moore is back and primed for battle in an attempt to win a third AMA Superstock Championship as well a Formula Xtreme championship for ’03. Joining Moore will be reigning Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke in AMA Superbike and Superstock events. Adding to the international flavor of the Corona Extra Suzuki Team will be Australian Adam Ferguson. Ferguson had an outstanding year in 2002 with strong performances in Formula Xtreme and Superstock races where he will once again compete for the talented Team Corona Extra Suzuki squad.

Longtime competitors Hooters Suzuki and Arclight Suzuki will also compete for Suzuki Sport in 2003 with talented riders and teams. Hooters Suzuki features both Mike Ciccotto and Vincent Haskovec in AMA Superstock events, while Arclight Suzuki will field Scott Harwell and Michael Hannas in Formula USA Sportbike and 600 Superbike competition.

Finally, the 2002 WERA Endurance Championship winning Team Vesrah Suzuki will try and claim their third WERA National Endurance Series Championship in 2003 featuring the riding talents of Mark Junge, Tray Batey and John Jacobi.