Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

From e-mail:

I was the corner captain on turn 15 on Friday. I live in Pennsylvania about 30 miles from Bill (Himmelsbach) and knew it was he on the track. I could not believe how long it took for medical to show up after I called for them for Bill’s incident. I called almost immediately. The crash started before my station and he slid down the hill coming to a stop almost in front of my flag station, about 10 yards off the track. My runner was with Bill in seconds, turned to me, requested an ambulance and proceeded to attend to Bill to the extent that we are allowed. He left Bill only to turn off his bike, which was still running.

I could see an ambulance outside the fence at turn 16, which was not moving. (No lights, nothing). I questioned control as to the status of medical and why the ambulance in 16 was not responding. I should have requested the practice be stopped but thought I’d provided control with enough information to make that decision.

The practice was stopped after an inexcusable length of time. The end result was that the medics from 16 after a short drive in the infield walked to the incident. After they had arrived an ambulance showed up on the infield side of the fence.

I was the corner captain on turn 4 on Sunday. I hand-signaled the flagger (who had the radio – I had a scanner) to call control to stop the race as soon as I saw the bike on the racing surface. He did so. The flagger could not see Roberts’ bike or Yates on the track because of the triangles that were in the grass. The fire started while I was requesting the stoppage. From the direction I was running I never saw Yates on the track but I was watching traffic, which was getting heavy, so as not to become part of the incident and the flagger to make sure the red flag came out. I was also concerned that Roberts seemed to be wandering around the bike and may have had his bell rung as he was not paying much attention to the traffic. The red flag was out when I got to the bike and Roberts and Yates were off the track. There were fire bottles coming from turn 5, as they were closer to the incident than we were in turn 4. There were only three of us in turn 4. If I had one or two more people I’d have placed them at the end of the Air Fence approximately at the location of the incident. We do the best we can with what we are given.

The flagger is an experienced cornerworker (including com) and racer. He had a leg injury and was not in the best condition to run and pick up riders and bikes. Considering the elapsed time from the start of the incident to the red flag being shown with the “stop the race” communication to control things happened reasonably well. (Approximately 20 seconds) The red flag was coming out before Yates laid on the track. No one else got involved in the incident. When I’m assigned as a captain, I use the people assigned to me at jobs they are best qualified to perform in the interest of race safety. I did this in turn 4 on Sunday.

Jim Simpson
aka “Homer”
PA Posse and others
Reading, PA



More, via e-mail from a racer:

I wholeheartedly agree with Sean Jordan’s sentiments that cornerworkers are the unsung heroes of road racing. Unfortunately, his comments did little to show any competency on the part of the AMA with respect to its cornerworkers. In fact, many of Sean’s comments actually supported my case.

I’m glad he clocked the response time for cornerworkers to get to Nicky’s bike. Nearly two minutes! In that time, one of Nicky’s teammates could have ridden back to the pits, picked up a fire extinguisher and been back around to put out Nicky’s bike! After all, a lap only takes a 1:26 or so, right? Add in some extra time for the weight of the extinguisher and there you go! Can you actually imagine seeing a World Superbike rider or Grand Prix rider being left unattended following a crash for two minutes? It’s unheard of and completely unacceptable.

The AMA should have had cornerworkers situated so that it would never take that long to get to anyone. If cornerworkers are going to be placed so far from where they’ll be needed, then they should at least be conscientious enough to run (not walk, mosey, or saunter) when someone goes down.

Further, Sean’s argument that the cornerworkers at VIR were quick and efficient is completely thrown out the door when we see what happened to Himmelsbach on Friday. 17 minutes unattended! Broken pelvis, broken ribs, collapsed lung. It is beyond all defense. How can Sean stand behind the AMA and the VIR cornerworkers? I’m sorry, but the AMA has some serious answering to do. Aaron Yates is the least of their safety problems.

Stephen Robinson
AFM #756
San Francisco, CA




My blood is boiling when reading about the Bill Himmelsbach incident. I think there needs to be a wave of Safety Vilgilantes take over the racetracks in this country!

Apparently, riders need to police the racetrack for their own safety. From now on, I encourage all riders who see red flag situations that are not being addressed by race officials to simply stop at the start/finish line, pick up the red flag and stop the race themselves.

The most single most assinine thing in motorcycle racing is that someone in a box removed from an incident is in charge of stopping a race. The situation must be explained by a cornerworker, thought about by a remote person, and then acted upon by the same person who can’t even see what has happened.

What if the friggin’ batteries died in a radio? “Oh well, we don’t have permission from race control to stop this race, I guess this guy and the people who are going to run him over will have to die…”

Last spring at Daytona I saw a guy fall in the first horseshoe; he was laying knocked-out cold so close to the track that one of his hands was on it, right in the impact zone. They pulled an ambulance up, right in the impact zone, got out and worked on the guy like there was no danger, and never stopped the race. Gotta keep the day on schedule I guess.

There should be 3 instances where the corner should be able to call red flag WITHOUT EXPLAINING ANYTHING TO ANYBODY:

1. Body on Track
2. Bike on Track
3. Fluid on Track

If the sanctioning bodies can’t be certain that a cornerworker is smart enough to see that one of those three events has taken place and not stop the race unnecessarily, then they are not smart enough to work in a corner. I don’t think there is any cornerworker who is not smart enough to be trained and entrusted with that much authority.

While people are busy explaining and thinking somebody is going to die.


Max McAllister

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Current Formula USA Grand National Championship Standings:

1. Larry Pegram, 45 points

2. Glen Schnabel, Jr., 38 points

3. Michael Barnes, 36 points

4. Craig Connell, 34 points

5. TIE, Matt Wait/Cory West, 33 points

7. Lee Acree, 28 points

8. TIE, Terry Poovey/Joe Kopp, 26 points

10. TIE, Ray Bowman/Rich King, 22 points


Remaining Grand National Schedule:

8/22-25 Pocono Int’l Raceway, Long Pond, PA, road race

9/5-8 Portland Int’l Raceway, Portland, OR, road race

9/14 Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA, mile dirt track

9/21 Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, WA, short dirt track

10/6 Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, CA, mile dirt track

10/16-20 Daytona Int’l Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL, road race

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

From e-mails:

After watching the races at VIR and reading the feedback in the aftermath of the Aaron Yates incident I felt compelled to add my 2 cents.

What Aaron did was the right thing to do.

How he went about it is where he deserves some criticism.

Given the situation on the track with Robert’s RC-51 the race clearly needed to be red flagged for safety and quickly. From Aaron’s point of view that was not happening and it demanded action. Way to go, Aaron!

Laying down on an active racetrack while interesting on TV and somewhat comedic took a bad situation and made it worse by reducing the number of options approaching riders may have to avoiding an already bad situation. Aaron could have easily been hit again by an approaching bike even further worsening the situation.

I sincerely hope that the AMA isn’t too hard on Aaron, he was doing the right thing. I also hope Aaron Yates will continue to do the right thing in the future.

I just hope he does it a little more professionally.

Tom Tracey
Bartlett, IL



As a racer and cornerworker for the past 13 years, I think David Sadowski’s comments are completely out of order. Aaron Yates did a stupid, dangerous and selfish thing by running back out into traffic and laying down on the track. Commending a rider for doing something like that is the wrong thing to do. Aaron should be fined at the very least and other disciplinary actions may well be needed. This should never ever happen again.

If Aaron was really concerned about getting the track safe, run and pick up the bike, don’t lay down on the track. As a cornerworker I would rather have the racer(s) get off of the hot track to have one less thing to deal with. As a racer, I’m going to see the downed bike and look for a way around it. I don’t need another obstacle in the way. Especially one that purposefully put himself there.

Aaron Yates put himself there for whatever reason. I believe it was a selfish act to ensure a red flag was thrown and let him get back in the race. Whether or not he would ever admit that I do not know.

So no, Dave, Tony is not the idiot.

Craig Bibeau
CRA Racer and Corner Captain



Sadowski has been a great commentator for Speed for the past few years and I respect the guy as he has achieved things in motorcycling that I may never. I also believe that what Yates did was called for and was neccesary.

But for Sadowski to go off like he did on Ianelli (sic) was simply uncalled for. If I were a big wig at Speed, I would be more than a little upset that a prominent spokesman for my network was writing such awful things on the internet and those things were being read by my target audience. Sadowski has every right to speak his mind, but getting personal like he did was juvenile and low class. Dave, I respect you as a racer, but you make a third-grader look mature when it comes to arguments.

Colin Walker



I would also have to agree with Tony Iannarelli, Yates was wrong for laying on the track. But as for Dave Sadowski who has been around racing for many years is one of the biggest idiots I have ever heard on television. I constantly hear him make mistakes on television. One example is, the racers just came from their warm-up lap and were pulling into there grid spots, when Mr. Know It All Sadowski says look the racers are checking their front tires for wear. I don’t think so, Dave, it appeared to me they were looking to see if their front wheels were in the start box! And as far as Dave ripping on the guys in 750 Superstock, get a life loser, these guys can run just as fast as the Superbike guys except for the Superbikes being way faster. I watched all the races this year and I noticed a lot of those privateers are going just as fast as the Superbike stars in the corners, they only get pulled down the straights. I am a personal good friend of the top-finishing privateer Brian Parriott and I will tell you get him a factory Superbike and he will run with the best of them. So I don’t buy this crap run with Jimmy Moore first, then step up, all that did was make you look like a total jerk, and I would enroll in a broadcasting school or something if I were you because you really sound like a moron on television, even commentating the sport that you USED to do! So strike 2 on you.

Tim Kamholz
AFM #15
Newark, CA



I don’t really care about Aaron Yates laying on the track, I mean the race was already red-flagged. I think Sadowski was being kind of a dick in his response to Iannarelli, but I can get over that, maybe he was having a bad day.

What I do care about is the seeming agreement that Sadowski and Iannarelli have made about Supersport bikes not belonging in Superbike. It doesn’t matter what 750 you ride or how fast it is, you’re still in the line of fire of the factory guys and it’s your rider skill and experience that’s going to determine how “spooked” you get. For anyone who thinks a Supersport bike doesn’t belong in Superbike, I have just two words for you: Ricky Orlando (check your Daytona 200 results and yes, that was a Supersport bike minus the wheels).

Rafiq Premji
MRA Expert #408



Dear Mr. Sadowski,

As a Road Racer for 14 years, and Fan for 20+ Years I would have to call your response heavy-handed, and hypocritical.

I for one am sick of you putting down privateers with statements like, “Yeah, this wouldn’t be the first time a backmarker changed the outcome of the race.” Having watched you when you were with V&H, I never figured out how you got your ride. Dave, you were a good rider, not great. John Ashmead has won as many Daytona 200s as you have and he did so on REAL privateer equipment. You are the same bonehead that got tangled up with your teammate and almost jeopardized the 600SS Championship for you and your teammate. I watched you get lapped ON FACTORY BIKES. What was your excuse then? The only thing you did well was dominate F-USA in its waning WERA/NASB days.

Dave, I have read your safety comments and suggestions and am impressed, but you need to get the delusional idea out of your head that, “Only the high and mighty” should race Superbike. Get real. You weren’t that good on one (and, yes, I know the year you raced with Yosh, the bike sucked) as you seem to think. Give the privateer guy a break. I won’t also mention the dozens of mistakes you make every broadcast as I know it is part of your job to help the show have some drama, but some of your mistakes are gross at best. I haven’t written Speed to have you taken off the air, because I am not sure if there is anything better. I highly suggest you keep you comments to yourself unless you think 8 bikes on the grid for a Superbike race is better.

In regards to Aaron Yates’ actions, I find it difficult to criticize him, as I have been a fan of his since he won the Future Stars series in the early 1990s. What he did, though, was inexcusable. THE RED FLAG HAD NOT BEEN THROWN, I saw the videotape. I have tremendous respect for him, as do others in the pits, but what he did was stupid and dangerous. Whether you agree with the attitude and level of AMA safety (I don’t) or not, you have to respect the organization’s control and direction during an event. Obviously the Himmelsbach issue that weekend really illustrated the lack of AMA ability, BUT YOU CAN’T create a more dangerous environment because you don’t like something.

Thanks for supporting the Air Fence and other safety related issues, but get real, dude.

Marcus McBain



In regards to the debate on Aaron Yates lying down in the track, and Dave Sadowski’s insulting reply to one opinion, I’ve always thought that maybe it was my hangup that Dave seemed to be a bit of a bragging punk rather than an enthusiast announcer — enthusiast being like the Brit motorbike announcers on Speed are, and the Canadians announcing their Superbike championship, and car road race and rally announcers that I’ve heard, not to mention announcers of the Isle of Man TT and Endurance championships.

Now I know it wasn’t my problem — DS really is a punk.

Ed Light
Former AFM Los Angeles Chapter Vice President/Secretary



Did I just read David Sadowski accuse Tony Iannarelli of speaking before he thinks?

The whole issue is pretty simple to me really. Aaron Yates walked onto a hot track and he LAID DOWN. Regardless of his motivation for doing this, can anyone seriously support his action?

I hope I’m not an idiot for thinking this, but in my opinion laying down on a hot track is dangerous and irresponsible behavior. Yates risked his own safety as well as that of others still on course.

Had a racer at a small club event done this I am certain that they would face serious penalties. In fact, I am willing to bet they would be thrown out of the club for such an action. While I certainly don’t think that Yates should be thrown out of the series, I do think he deserves disciplinary action for what he did.

Erik Astrup
Davis, CA



First off, Dave, let me say I do enjoy your announcing AMA road racing events, and I respect your expertise derived from your years of road racing.

It is way out of line for you or anyone else to resort to name-calling when you offer your opinion on any subject. Respect is something you earn. Respect is something you lose.

Sorry Dave, you squinty-eyed, big-nosed stutterer, you lost a little of mine.

Rick Stratton
CCS Southwest Expert #37



Regarding David Sadowski’s reply to Tony Iannarelli, I think Sadowski needs to learn to read before he writes. The primary topic of concern to Mr. Iannarelli was Yates’ boneheaded stunt of laying on the track in order to generate a red flag condition. His argument that Yates should be heavily penalized or “stripped” was predicated on this act alone and not his reckless passing of backmarkers which was mentioned as an aside.

The fact that Yates has been an active proponent of improving track safety in no way renders him immune from culpability when it comes to such irresponsible acts of stupidity. And it matters not if the race had already been red-flagged. Since Yates was unaware of this so called “fact” when he decided to perform his interpretation of a human speed-bump, one or more other riders could have also missed the red flag and ran over Yates. What happens then “Mr. Know-it-Alldowski”?

I greatly enjoy Mr. Sadowski’s TV work but a racer’s past record of safety consciousness in the past does not indemnify him from dangerously foolish acts made in the present. “Strike one” for you, Dave, although based on your argument, a case could be made that you’ve actually been badly beaned. Idiot indeed.

If Mr. Sadowski can in good conscience justify the behavior of Aaron “Asphalt Angel” Yates, his credibility as an impartial and honest commentator is questionable as best.

Bruce Sessler
Port Washington, NY




I cannot let this stand without comment. First off, like Mr. Iannarelli, Yates is a rider who I follow and root for. Yates won me over with one of the most incredible displays of control and aggression I’ve ever seen in the ’96 Sears Point AMA Superbike race and I’ve been a fan of his ever since. However, by Yates’ own admission, he ran on to a hot racetrack in order to interfer in an ongoing race. In doing so, he blocked the track with his body, endangering himself and the riders in the ongoing race.

If the safety of the riders in the race was really an issue he had in mind, he could have stayed on his feet and run up the track past the downed bikes, warning the oncoming riders. Instead, he layed down on the track where he would have been visible only to the first rider or two of the oncoming pack. This was not about protecting the oncoming riders, this was about stopping the race by outright interference with the other racers or by requiring an ambulance to be called in order to force a red flag and allow him to stay on the lead lap. This is commendable behavior? Something to be expected of other racers in the future?

I’m not sure what the rest of the letter regarding whether or not the rest of the racers should be on the track in a Superbike race at all has to do with the incident at issue. Is this a call for rear view mirrors? Take it up with the AMA off season. Mr. Iannarelli placed his comment on Yates in traffic in his letter as an aside and it has no bearing on the incident at issue and is only a distraction.

Similarly, the good character references for Yates for prior behavior really have nothing to do with the incident at issue. However, they would be useful in determining the penalty, if one is to be applied for this incident. I’d like to note that I’ve defended Yates on a racer’s listserve over this incident in regard to his career record and have been surprised by the depth of feeling out there from people who have been on the track with him. For a reading of what the fans and racers at large think about the issue, check out the poll on Yates Relaxing On The Track at Dean Adams’ site; it don’t look good….

The comment that Race Control had already called for a red flag is gratuitous blather. So if a smoker is shot during a hold up, it ain’t really murder because the victim was in the process of committing suicide and he was as good as dead anyway?

I won’t dispute that you have more facts than I do, and I invite you to call me all the names you feel you need to, in order to bolster your position. But quantity ain’t quality and I think I see what has happened and what needs to be done more clearly than you.

Joseph Facer



What a refreshing change to have someone in Sadowski’s position actually express a controversial opinion. Even if I didn’t agree with him I’d applaud his forthrightness.

Reg Kittrelle
Scotts Valley, CA



Wow, I never liked Sadowski while he was announcing AMA races on Speed Channel because I just thought he seemed like a loud-mouth jerk but now I can see he’s actually an asshole and quite possibly an idiot, too.

Yates was a fool and I hope they give Sadowski’s contract to Greg White.

Gregor Halenda
Team Incomplete Racing
CCS LRRS USCRA #977



I would like to comment on David Sadowski’s response to Tony Iannarelli’s letter on Roadracing World’s website. His calling Mr. Iannarelli an idiot for expressing his opinion was way out of line. He may disagree with Tony on issues stated in his letter, but to resort to name calling to get his point across was truly a “NO CLASS” act.

I happen to agree with Tony, as do many others according to AMASuperbike.com’s recent poll, that Aaron Yate’s put himself and other riders in danger with his little stunt. While I’m no fan of the AMA Pro Racing organization, what ever penalty they bring down on Aaron is well deserved and I’m sure they will have a hard time taking him seriously about safety issues in the future. And David’s comment that Aaron should not be penalized, he should be commended, shows he has little regard for the other riders’ safety as well!

Greg Ruffin
Oklahoma City, OK



First, I am not a racer, just a fan who likes to ride and go to a track day when he can so I have no special information to share. As a fan who watched all the races this year and was able to see a replay of the Speed “long version” Sunday night of VIR Superbike race 2 I have to comment and ask some questions.

I feel that Yates may have been overly dramatic in his charge out onto the track and laying down but perhaps it was necessary. David Sadowski reported in a previous post that the red flag was already called for, (was it out?), why did Yates feel he needed to go out on the track? Did he know that a red flag had been shown? It seemed incredibly dangerous to me to lay down like that. My opinion, and we note what opinions are like, is that he should not be “punished” but I think it should be made clear that going onto a racetrack and laying down is not recommended.

As for the cornerworkers, well I am not one so I don’t know what they have to put up with but no one should be left unattended at any racetrack for more then a few seconds. This is 2002, soon to be 2003 and there’s no excuse for a major venue not having enough well-trained people available. I was sickened to see Yates pinned under his bike then get up bleeding and have to take care of himself after crashing in a previous race to avoid taking someone else out. Heck he could have gone over the top of Roberts at VIR and probably not crashed. I think Yates should get an award for “being the most willing to crash to save someone else” award. Also, what was up with the guy who kept hanging onto the fire extinguisher as Hayden put out the fire? That poses too many questions in itself, that was really weird – on TV at least. My opinion on the whole thing, cornerworkers need to be well-paid, well-trained, and well-represented at our tracks.

I don’t like these big grids, period! It is ridiculous to have guys out there on machines so outclassed that they are rolling roadblocks. I watch and attend races to see racing, not “full” grids. Now if the grids were “filled” with top riders on top machines, OK. There are only so many factory rides, and then there are only so many outside big sponsor, and there’s only so much top talent. If we need another class so be it but let’s trim the field a bit right now. I have nothing against the guys that don’t have top rides but they do nothing for the entertainment value and they endanger themselves and others. For me, my opinion again, 16 riders would be a great field for some serious racing action. If we really wanted everyone in Superbike, or any race for that matter, we could run a top-16 race then a remainder. Just a thought.

For those who will get all wild over what I’ve written, remember it’s just an opinion.

Joe White
Ames, IA

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Roadracingworld.com World Superbike correspondent Glenn LeSanto is reporting “on very reliable information” that Castrol Honda’s “(Colin) Edwards has signed with Infostrada Ducati.” If true, Edwards will join Neil Hodgson on Ducati’s official factory World Superbike team for the 2003 season.

Edwards has admitted negotiating with Ducati as well as Honda.

LeSanto is also reporting that Harald Eckl will run Kawasaki’s MotoGP team in 2003 and has already signed 2001 World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt to a letter of intent to ride the new Ninja ZX-RR. No word on a second rider.

In World Supersport news, Belgarda Yamaha has retained the services of Jamie Whitham and Paolo Casoli, and Christian Kellner and Jorg Teuchert will stay with the Yamaha Motor Germany squad.

Ten Kate Honda has signed Karl Muggeridge and Chris Vermeulen for the 2003 World Supersport season. This leaves current Ten Kate Honda rider Fabien Foret, the current World Supersport point leader, unsigned for next season.

From an AMA press release:

AMA Board appoints Reynolds to represent Southeast Region

Aug. 15 – The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Carl Reynolds of Danville, Virginia to represent the Southeast Region.

Reynolds was appointed to fulfill the term of Kevin Schwantz, who resigned due to relocation outside the Southeast Region. Schwantz began his three-year term in February, 2002.

The AMA Board of Directors accepted Schwantz’s resignation and appointed Reynolds during its quarterly meeting, held this week at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio.

Schwantz retains his seat on the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors.

The AMA Board of Directors consists of twelve members. Six individual Directors are elected by the general membership in their respective regions and serve three-year terms. Six corporate Directors are elected by the corporate membership and serve two-year terms. The AMA Board of Directors meets four times a year.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

The 2003 Honda CBR600F5 will be new from the ground up, lighter, faster, more aggressive and bear more than a resemblance to Valentino Rossi’s RC211V MotoGP bike, say inside sources.

Thanks to a new under-seat exhaust system, angular bodywork and a revised rear suspension, the newest Honda middleweight Supersport bike will look “like the RC211V at 50 paces,” said our source, “and makes the F4i look like a dinosaur.”

“It’s pretty special,” one Honda mechanic told Roadracingworld.com at VIR.

Unlike the CBR600F4i’s angled rear shock, the new bike’s rear suspension will be mounted vertically and fitted to a new, massive swingarm. The new rear suspension set-up is said to allow the use of a lighter/softer spring rate and gives more precise suspension control.

Triple clamps will be reinforced, but the F5 will not get inverted forks. World Supersport race teams have tested the F4i with inverted forks and found them to be too stiff.

No engine details were available, but the new 600cc Honda is said to weigh 163 kilograms, or just under 360 pounds, completely dry. The claimed dry weight of the CBR600F4i is 168 kg, or 370 pounds.

In private testing at the Sugo circuit between the San Marino and Laguna Seca rounds of the World Superbike Championship, a race version of the F5, ridden by Honda test rider Shinichi Itoh on World Supersport-spec Pirelli race tires, lapped under the current World Supersport lap record for the Japanese track.

Our source said that Honda plans to release the CBR600F5 in a worldwide press introduction following the September 6-8 World Superbike/World Supersport round at Assen rather than wait until the Intermot show in Munich the following week. Several new sportbike models are expected to be released at the Munich show, and Honda does not want to share the spotlight.

Early reports indicate that Honda is also considering selling a “softer” version CBR600 alongside the F5 in 2003.

From a press release:

Eric Bostrom wins epic season finale at VIR

August 14, 2002 – Alton, VA. The last AMA Superbike race of the season proved to be one of the most exciting of the year. With the first two championship positions already decided in Saturday’s race, Sunday’s season finale looked to
become a ‘may the best rider win’ scenario. Without the pressures of winning a championship, fans were anticipating an exciting battle and true showdown between Nicky Hayden and Eric Bostrom.

The race began with Eric Bostrom once again charging to the front and setting the early pace. The pace turned out to be too fast for Mat Mladin, as he ran off the track in turn one early in the race. This left Nicky Hayden in second
place, a few seconds behind Eric. But the pace turned out to be too hot for Nicky Hayden as well, and he crashed out a few laps later, trying to keep up with Eric. The crash caused a red flag situation, which gave Mladin a restart and a second chance. And after two more restarts due to red flags and with 20 laps completed, the race winner was decided in an 8 lap sprint to the finish between Mladin and Bostrom. Bostrom nailed down the last top podium spot of the year by taking the battle at the finish line by .004 of a second! After the race, Eric said, “this was obviously a good way to come back after such a
disappointment on Saturday. By the 8th lap Saturday, I felt like the race was in the bag. So to have the motor blow up as it did was a real heartbreaker. But there’s nothing better than to come back and win on Sunday. Especially because it was the last Superbike race of the season. I
really had my goals set on a double victory, though. I really wanted to see that through, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

Sunday’s race win was true vindication for Eric, as he won at one of the most challenging race tracks on the AMA circuit, in difficult conditions. Winning despite Saturday’s heartbreaker and Sunday’s restarts showed Eric’s true heart and determination. The win was the 4th for Eric and the 11th Superbike podium of the season. “It was a hell of a race on Sunday. In the beginning, Mat seemed to be the biggest threat but he ran off the track. So we were off and running and things were looking really good for us until Nick crashed, bringing out the red flag. The following red flag restarts meant more battles with Mladin, and on new tires he was really tough to beat. The guy’s just a great
competitor and you could tell that he was riding at the top of his game. It really was a seesaw battle; we both had strong and weak sections on the track. On the final start, we had gone to school enough on each other to eliminate our
weak sections and the lap times really dropped. The final 8 laps were very intense and went by like they were two. Before I knew it, the white flag was out. We had already gone into turn one side by side several times, basically nudging each other doing 160+ (mph) and hard on the
brakes. It was really tight. On the last lap, coming down the hill I tried to set him up, and managed a little better drive out of the corner than he did. I knew I had won. I had one eye on our handlebars and the other eye on the start/finish stripe. At the stripe, I was convinced I had beaten him, even if only by a half a wheel.”

After the VIR race, Eric immediately flew to Italy to join his brother for a brief vacation, as well as to train and prepare for the upcoming Oschersleben World Superbike race (September 1st). Eric will be campaigning his Kawasaki
Superbike at the German WSB round. “Germany’s going to be good. It looks like the track has a ton of corners. The more turns the better, for us. Ben thinks that I’ll be really good there. I hope that Dunlop will have some new tires for
us and that we can actually race with the leaders there. I’ve got the attitude now that I can race with them, so I’m excited to see if I can actually do that on a track outside the U.S.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Veteran racer Bill Himmelsbach lay unattended with a broken pelvis, broken ribs and a collapsed lung for 17 minutes after he crashed on the opening lap of the first official practice session of the AMA weekend at VIR.

Himmelsbach fell on his out lap when his Yamaha TZ250 puked cooling water, which flowed into the dammed-fairing but escaped through a drain hole that is supposed to be plugged during dry-weather use.

He lay trackside, alone, while riders–who saw the incident and noted that no workers had gone to Himmelsbach–repeatedly came into the pits and asked that the session be red-flagged and Himmelsbach assisted.

The first rider to come into the pits was Ed Sorbo, who told a grid marshall, who radioed race control.

Sorbo came back into the pits after the next lap, and again asked that the session be red-flagged and Himmelsbach assisted. The grid marshall again radioed race control.

Next, rider Andy Edwards came into the pits and asked the starter to red-flag the session; the starter radioed control.

Finally, an irate Rich Oliver came into the pits and demanded that something be done, and this time, race control responded to the radioed-in report of Oliver’s demands by calling for a red flag.

Elapsed time from Himmelsbach’s crash to the red flag was 17 minutes, with some additional time for an ambulance crew to reach Himmelsbach.

AMA officials had a meeting with the ambulance service providers after the incident, and said afterwards that the placement of the nearest ambulance made it impossible for it to go to Himmelsbach’s position without getting too close to the hot racetrack.

The ambulance was repositioned after the meeting.

No explanation was given regarding why Sorbo, Edwards and Oliver had to come into the pits to get a red flag, nor regarding why action was not taken when Sorbo and Edwards first requested it.

Because the session in which Himmelsbach fell was the first on Friday morning, scheduling concerns did not come into play.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Via e-mail:

Watching the race on TV certainly isn’t the same as being there, but as a racer there were a couple of things that really surprised me about the weekend’s action.

When Nicky’s RC-51 burst into flames, it was frustrating to see a cornerworker casually sauntering over to the machine, turn around and get a fire extinguisher, and mosey on back to the bike. Then Speed showed a shot of Nicky trying to put out fires on the bike while fighting the cornerworker for possession of the extinguisher. Where’s the sense of urgency? These teams don’t have money presses in the back of the trucks…salvaging as much of a downed bike as possible is as important to them as it is to me, I’m sure. Plus a fire on the course isn’t a minor occurrence…it was enough to merit a red flag on the course.

As far as Aaron on the track…naturally he would be pretty wound up on adrenaline after getting his bell rung like that, especially after being put on his head by a loose cannon crashing in front of him. But I imagine he was quite shocked that there was a smoking RC-51 on the track and no one was doing anything about it. Like I said, TV doesn’t tell you much…but it looked like the red flag was not thrown until Aaron threw himself. The TV view made it look like the advertising banners were blocking the corner station’s view of the downed bike. And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a horizontal RC-51 burst into flames, so it’s a doubly dangerous possibility.

From a viewer’s point of view Aaron may have overreacted, but maybe he didn’t. I’m not about to condemn the guy for what he did after being run off the track, seeing a smoking bike lying in a visibly obscured part of the track, after having to kick the haybales off himself at Mid-Ohio while trying not to bleed to death only two weeks before. I hope he doesn’t get reprimanded, especially after the determination it took to ride all those events he did this weekend. The red flag would have flown with or without him, but this way it happened before more riders closed in on the downed bike #80.

Of course, there are three sides to every story, but that’s what it looked like in my living room.

Clint Fleckenstein
CRA #87




Wow…did Sadowski get up on the wrong side of the bed or what? Tony’s comments were straight forward and are right on the mark. ..Aaron ran onto an active track and laid down. I can only surmise that Aaron and David must be close. He and Drebber were making excuses for Aaron from the moment he pulled the stunt. They certainly tried to spin the follow-up, rinky-dink track, Greg White interview.

Tony, by the way, has been at the forefront in taking action to make safety happen and has helped improve our racetrack immensely

David’s comment’s are emotionally charged and without merit. He ought to think before he hits the send button. I hope that this knee-jerk reaction is atypical.

Fred Olsen
Pittsfield, Maine



Wow, I check in everyday here for news/gossip… but this takes the cake, Tony Iannarelli seems to make a couple of rational opinions and ole Sadowski rips him a new one!?!? (“you are an idiot”)

Give me a break, while Yates’ acts at VIR are entertaining and somewhat admirable, they should come with some kind of punishment to prevent this WWF thing from happening again.

Additionally, “that’s why they have
superstock….run with Jimmy Moore then move up”…….That is funny chit Dave , now we can watch more 8 rider races…………Dog away, I have a life.

Matt Carlyle





Without getting into the name calling that Mr. Sadowski feels is necessary, I’ll just give a brief background.

I’ve not been around road racing as long as Mr. Sadowski, but I have been racing for almost 9 years. During that time I have always been a strong advocate of safety in road racing. I made both an individual donation to the Roadracing World Action Fund to buy Air Fence/Air Modules, and also organized a group that purchased 2 full sections for my local track. I’ve also pushed for other safety related items over the years, but my point is simply that track safety has always been an important issue to me.

I searched for the Roadracingworld.com post you’re referring to, but the only one I found is the one titled, “A River of Blood: Aaron Yates Talks About His Mid-Ohio Superbike Crash”. If that is the one you meant, then all I can say is that his accident was unfortunate and the fact that he was pinned under the bike must have been horrible. I agree completely that it sucks that we have to race at tracks with little or no run-off room, but that is the current situation of racetracks in America.

Regardless of that unfortunate incident, however, I see nothing in that message that supports laying down on a live track.

Apparently, quite a few people agree with me on that point as you can tell by an AMASuperbike.com poll. At the time I’m writing this, almost 60% of the votes say it was, “Easily the most careless, selfish and blatantly dangerous move I’ve ever seen in a race”.

As far as Yates’ efforts to improve rider safety, that’s great. I applaud his efforts and know full well how hard it is to see something that is potentially dangerous on a track and be unable to get it corrected. It may give us some insight as to WHY he did this, but it still does not justify laying down on a live track.

While Yates’ actions through traffic was a very minor point of my original email. I will respond to your comments above.

As racers, we both know that it is the faster rider’s responsibility to get cleanly around the slower rider. As you have rightly stated many times during broadcasts, those lappers are out there going as fast as they can and often have no idea that they are about to be lapped. The best thing they can do is to maintain their speed and course and be predictable… if they do that, the faster rider will usually get by cleanly.

Having said that, we also know that sometimes you make a pass that was a bit hairy and might have spooked the lapper – possibly even causing them to crash. When that happens, you suck it up and apologize. Nothing I’ve seen on TV, or heard from other racers that have raced with Yates, would indicate that he apologized afterward. This was the reason for my comment.

As for the Blue Flag, I agree the AMA should use it. As a racer, I would rather know ahead of time if someone is going to lap me. Not because I will alter my line, but because it will reduce the “spook factor”.

As for riders running Supersport bikes in Superbike, I agree they should stay in Superstock. I imagine crappy purses in that class are what encourages rider to step up to Superbike (not that those are much better, but that’s a whole different subject). Regardless, blame the AMA for bad rules – not the rider you’re about to lap.

The simple answer is to lower the percentage over the POLE TIME (again?), but that brings up the whole other issue of too few riders on the grid. Contrary to your statement, I don’t think “I know it all” and will go on record to state that I don’t have the answer to this problem.

And lastly, you say Yates should be commended?

I sincerely hope you’re referring to PREVIOUS efforts on his part to improve safety. If you’re saying that laying down on a live race track is a commendable action, then I think you may have bumped your head one too many times over the years.

As far as I could tell, the three riders that went by Yates after he got up, were still racing. They had not seen a Red Flag. This means that Yates intentionally laid down on a HOT TRACK, which put himself and those riders in danger.

I still maintain that this is WRONG… regardless of anything else that might have happened prior, such as Himmelsbach’s incident, which is also inexcusable and something the AMA should have to answer for.

And just to be clear. I am NOT stating that Yates’ actions are what brought out the Red Flag and that is why he should lose the points and finish position. I am saying that he should be stripped of his points and finish because of his actions.

Tony Iannarelli



I was extremely disappointed to read David Sadowski’s immature name-calling antics and reply to Tony Iannarelli, regarding Aaron Yates’ actions at VIR during Race One.

Iannarelli is correct, there is simply no excuse for what Yates did. If any one of those three riders had crushed Yates’ sternum with a front wheel, Yates would be a front-runner for a Darwin Award. Imagine the headline: “Motorcycle Racer Killed After Voluntarily Going Spread-Eagle On Track During VIR Superbike Race.”

As I watched the race, the amount of time that Yates spent lying flat on his back with no regard for oncoming traffic had my jaw on the floor. Stunning, and very dangerous. A live race is not the forum for protesting, people’s lives were put at risk.

Why does a racer of Yates’ immense talent do such a thing? Seeing Kevin Schwantz or Colin Edwards grab an oil flag and start waving after falling in goo is one thing, but you certainly don’t very often see a factory Superbike racer strolling out on the tarmac then dropping flat onto his back in front of a horde of oncoming motorcycles.

Didn’t the World Superbike Championship cancel the last race weekend of the ’93 season in Mexico (handing Scott Russell the title in the process) because people were invading the racetrack during practice/qualifying? VIR ’02 looks like the same old, same old to me.

Regards,
Rick Williams
Sacramento, CA