From HMC Ducati:

Second for Chandler third for HMC

HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler took full advantage of the mayhem of today’s race, riding his factory supported Ducati home for a secure second place finish at Virginia International Raceway. A bad start relegated Chandler to tenth place going into the first turn but it took no time for the veteran rider to round up the pack of Duhamel, Roberts and Picotte to claim seventh. Then a multitude of crashes, mistakes and mechanical problems, from the leading group, handed him his third podium for the year.

After a turbulent start to the season this is a perfect result for the close of the season.

“I knew it was going to be a tough race with the weather getting hotter but it worked out for us,” said Chandler. “My main focus on a race set-up is to be as good at the end as in the beginning; if not better. When you get into a situation where you’ve got to push, you’ve still got a bit in reserve. The tires at this place really drop off so you’ve really got to stay focused. My rear tire started to spin towards the end, which took a little of my charge.

“Nicky had a pretty good lead on me and I wasn’t sure who was behind me, so I was just racing my board. I didn’t want to get too involved in aiming for the lead; my main focus was on maintaining my lap time. I was trying to race myself, which allowed me to set a pace and maintain it.

“The bike was working really well. The team put such a good effort into this result it’s a shame that we couldn’t have done more with it this year. The team worked really hard and the Ducati ran really well for me and hopefully we can do as good again tomorrow, if not better.


From a press release issued by Eric Bostrom’s Manager Norm Viano:

VIR Showdown, Take Two

August 10, 2002 – Alton, VA. Although the first AMA Superbike race of the weekend didn’t quite go to plan, Eric Bostrom is looking forward to tomorrow and the final Superbike race of the season. Qualifying on the front row, Eric got one of his trademark starts and led from the first turn. Eric maintained his quick pace and began pulling a gap on the rest of the field. Eight solid laps later, Eric was looking good to win the race. His closest challenger, Aaron Yates, had just crashed out trying to keep up with him.

“I was pleased that things started going our way during the race. We pushed hard for those 8 laps and we were finally starting to put a dent on the rest of the field and get away from them, and I felt that it could have been a cakewalk from there. We had made some changes to the bike this afternoon and the front end was moving pretty well. The whole bike just seemed to be a good package for the race, so I have to thank the crew for that. I was hitting my lines and everything was going well. By that point, it seemed that I could throw down some fast laps if I wanted to, so I was really just trying to conserve my tires. But then the motor tightened up into turn one. I knew there was a problem, but I tried to push to push through it because I really didn’t know what was going on with it and I thought, ‘I don’t care what’s going to happen to the bike, I’m going to win this race!’ But then it finally locked up into turn four and that was it. I couldn’t keep it on the track after it locked, so I rode into the grass and it tipped over. The bike restarted for me, but it was running so bad, I knew my day was done. I rode it halfway down the straightaway to the bridge so I could catch a ride back to the pits, and just parked it.”

The day’s result meant that his rival, Nicky Hayden, won the race and ultimately the 2001 (sic) AMA Superbike Championship. “I’m obviously disappointed about handing away the championship like that. It’s tough to accept defeat. I would have preferred to make Nicky sleep on it and be nervous for another night and then have to race for it tomorrow. But Nick’s a great competitor. We’ve pushed each other really hard all year long and had some fast race paces. It’s been fun racing against him and he deserves the title.”

Eric’s second place in the championship is locked up, no matter what happens tomorrow. This will ensure that tomorrow’s race will be exciting and a proper shootout, with neither rider’s results affecting his standing in the championship. “It’s just a shame. It’s really tough to let a race win go like that. Maybe tomorrow things will go our way, but chances are we’ll have to fight for it a little harder.”


From a press release issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist:

Rounds 15 & 16, 2002 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia, USA

Final Qualifying Session and Round 15 Race Report

TYRE FAILURE ROBS MLADIN OF PODIUM RESULT AT VIRGINIA

Alton, Virginia, USA (Saturday, 10 August) – A delaminated rear tyre forced Australian Mat Mladin out of today’s fifteenth round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship while he was running in second place at Virginia International Raceway.

The race win went to American Honda’s Nicky Hayden who was also crowned as the new champion after main championship challenger Eric Bostrom (Team Kawasaki) crashed out of the race lead on lap nine.

Mladin took the race lead after Bostrom’s crash and led threw to lap 13 when he ran wide and momentarily off the circuit. The incident dropped him to third on the track, but he was back up to second on lap 16. At this point of the race however, his Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 began to vibrate as his rear tyre began to fail. He was able to hold second until lap 20 when a large piece of the rear tyre delaminated and he was forced to retire.

“The rear of the bike began to vibrate with about 12-laps to go and then eventually it just blew out a large section of the tyre and that was it,” said Mladin. “We’ll use a different tyre in tomorrow’s race as this one looks like it just overheated in the conditions.

“There were some good improvements with the rear shock this weekend, but unfortunately it seems to last for about 15 minutes before it loses its dampening,” added Mladin. “After that it’s just working off the spring. I was already having problems with the shock when I took the race lead and it didn’t last much longer when all of the dampening had gone out of it.”

Earlier in the day, Mladin qualified second fastest for the meeting after his time was beaten by Nicky Hayden in the final minutes of the session. Mladin’s best time of 1-min 24.856-secs was beaten by less than a tenth of a second by Hayden who produced a 1:24.762 lap. The times were well inside Mladin’s own existing lap record of 1:25.428 and significantly faster than the times from yesterday’s opening session where Mladin was fastest with a 1:25.328.

“We were pipped on the last lap by Nicky, but I’m happy with that,” said Mladin. “I’m just happy that we were in a position to mount a serious challenge for pole position, so starting from second on the grid for the two races was just as good.”

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship wraps up tomorrow with the sixteenth and final race of the series. With Hayden already confirmed as the new champion, tomorrow’s race could produce some of the fastest and closest action of the season as all of the top riders will be looking to finish their year off with an all-important race win.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

In an AMA Pro Road Race Advisory Board meeting Friday night at VIR, factory team representatives voted to reverse proposed 2003 Supersport and Superstock rules that would have allowed machining of parts to increase compression.

The proposed rules were designed to give private riders and teams the ability to better compete with factory teams by eliminating the the “fast-enough, legal-enough” guessing game now played out in AMA tech on a race-by-race basis.

Although existing rules ban any machining of parts to raise compression, no competitive machines are actually stock and AMA Pro Racing officials do not publish the deck height specs submitted by manufacturers on AMA homologation forms.

The advantage manufacturers have by virtue of the fact that they supply unpublished deck height figures to AMA Pro Racing can be seen by comparing radar speeds of factory machines versus non-factory machines.

The Kawasaki ZX-6R Supersport racebikes ridden by Tommy Hayden and Tony Meiring have been especially fast when compared to private Kawasakis at most AMA events.

Representatives of the Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha factory teams voted against the proposed rule change.

The Road Race Advisory Board is non-representative of the AMA paddock as a whole, notably lacking any representation of private riders like Brian Livengood, Michael Hannas or Tyler Wadsworth. The majority of riders in the paddock do know not who is on the advisory board; the exact composition of the advisory board has never been published by AMA Pro Racing.

From a press release issued by Monstermob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM

Round 9 – 2002 MCN British Superbike Championship, Thruxton

Saturday 10h/Sunday 11th August 2002

Hislop Increases Championship Lead

Monstermob Ducati rider Steve Hislop increased his MCN British Superbike Championship lead to 19 points after another pair of thrillers around the 2.35 mile Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.

The 40 year old Isle of Man rider scored two second places albeit in differing circumstances, edging out main rival Sean Emmett aboard the 1000cc Virgin Mobile Yamaha, in both races.

A rain interrupted first race saw Hislop running inside the top six before leading the restart and taking the chequered flag only for fellow Ducati rider Michael Rutter to take victory on aggregate with Emmett in 3rd.

Race two saw Hislop in command after the threat of Rutter and defending champion John Reynolds had retired only for Ducati’s Shane Byrne to outsprint Hislop to the flag to take victory by 43/1000ths.

“I can’t believe it, he did the same to me last year. I could have done with the win but all credit to Shane, he rode well” said Hislop.

Supersport rider Stuart Easton’s run of wretched luck continued after his race machine developed an electrical fault prior to the race leaving the 18 year old Hawick rider to start on his spare bike from the back of the grid.

Despite having to pass 34 bikes, Easton clawed his way up to 4th, one place behind championship rival Scott Smart to leave Thruxton 26 points in the lead with 4 races left.

“They say bad luck comes in threes and after this and what happened at Rockingham and Knockhill, I hope that’s it for the season” said Easton.

Team owner Paul Bird remained upbeat despite a challenging weekend.

“That’s racing and we’ve got to be happy with Steve increasing his lead and under the circumstances for Stuart to concede 3 points is also a bonus. Hopefully we can have a better run at Cadwell” said the Penrith businessman.

Results:

MCN British Superbike Race One: 1. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 28m31.896s, 2. Steve Hislop (Monstermob Ducati) 28m32.112s, 3. Sean Emmett (Yamaha) 28m32.678s, 4. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 28m40.046s, 5. Simon Crafar (Yamaha) 28m40.564s, 6. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 28m40.695s, 7. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 28m41.793s, 8. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 28m41.894s, 9. Dean Thomas (Ducati) 28m45.001s, 10. John Crawford (Suzuki) 28m46.478s.

MCN British Superbike Race Two: 1. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 28m15.712s, 2. Steve Hislop (Monstermob Ducati) 28m15.755s, 3. Sean Emmett (Yamaha) 28m17.032s, 4. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 28m18.279s, 5. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 28m21.819s, 6. Karl Harris (Suzuki) 28m30.506s, 7. Simon Crafar (Yamaha) 28m32.417s, 8. Dean Thomas (Ducati) 28m42.730s, 9. John Crawford (Suzuki) 28m44.111s, 10. Mark Burr (Kawasaki) 28m45.781s.

MCN British Superbike Standings: 1. Steve Hislop (320pts), 2. Sean Emmett (301pts), 3. Michael Rutter (253.5 pts), 4. Shane Byrne (201.5 pts), 5. John Reynolds ( 190.5 pts), 6. Steve Plater (180 pts), 7. Paul Brown (159.5 pts), 8. Simon Crafar (131 pts), 9. Glen Richards (121.5 pts), 10. Dean Thomas (98 pts).

Supersport: 1. Michael Laverty (Honda) 23m59.183s, 2. Simon Andrews (Honda) 24m09.728s, 3. Scott Smart (Honda) 24m15.260s, 4. Stuart Easton (Monstermob Ducati) 24m18.874s, 5. Tom Tunstall (Suzuki) 24m23.496s, 6. Pete Jennings (Kawasaki) 24m23.872s, 7. Chris Bishop (Honda) 24m24.000s, 8. Gary May (Yamaha) 24m24.602s, 9. Callum Ramsay (Suzuki) 24m25.859s, 10. Douglas Cowie (Kawasaki) 24m26.117s.

Supersport Championship Standings: 1. Stuart Easton (183pts), 2, Scott Smart (157pts), 3. Tom Tunstall (91pts), 4. Pete Jennings (87pts), 5. Simon Andrews (80pts), 6. Michael Laverty (79pts), 7. Jeremy Goodall (78pts), 8. Ben Wilson (66pts), 9. Chris Bishop (61pts), 10. Callum Ramsay (49pts).

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Sunday Morning AMA Superbike Practice Times:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:25.411
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:25.523
3. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:25.533
4. Eric Bostorm, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:25.711
5. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.053
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:26.163
7. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:26.265
8. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:26.484
9. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.194
10. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.405
11. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.507
12. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.002
13. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.031
14. Brian Livengood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.531
15. Robert Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.552
16. Brian Parriott, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.208
17. Robert Christman, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.449
18. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.612
19. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.780
20. Giovanni Rojas, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.838
21. Thomas Montano, Ducati 996S, 1:32.081
22. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.112
23. Michael Fitzpatrick, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.197
24. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.605
25. Marco Martinez, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.734
26. Justin Blake, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.753
27. Christopher Rankin of Texas, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.971
28. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.053
29. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.071
30. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.596
31. Andrew Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:37.045

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Sunday Morning AMA Formula Xtreme Practice Times:

1. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:26.812
2. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki, 1:27.041
3. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:27.065
4. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:27.190
5. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:27.317
6. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:27.903
7. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:28.169
8. Mike Hale, Honda, 1:28.412
9. Tom Kipp, Suzuki, 1:28.424
10. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:28.496
11. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:29.099
12. Lance Isaacs, Yamaha, 1:29.156
13. Jason Curtis, Yamaha, 1:30.753
14. James Compton, Suzuki, 1:31.785
15. Michael Fitzpatrick, Suzuki, 1:32.929
16. Kenyon Kluge, Suzuki, 1:34.465
17. Marco Martinez, Suzuki, 1:34.874
18. James Kerker, Honda, 1:34.949
19. Rick Narup, Suzuki, 1:35.376
20. Tim Falcone, Suzuki, 1:35.480
21. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 1:35.627
22. Michael McAllister, Yamaha, 1:36.441
23. Geoff May, Suzuki, 1:47.901

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Sunday Morning AMA Supersport Practice Times:

1. Tommy Hayden , Kawasaki, 1:28.509
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:28.737
3. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:28.973
4. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:29.051
5. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:29.182
6. Tom Kipp, Suzuki, 1:29.613
7. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:29.693
8. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 1:30.047
9. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 1:30.158
10. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:30.458
11. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:30.663
12. Mike Hale, Honda, 1:30.748
13. Alex Gobert, Honda, 1:30.776
14. Andrew Nelson, Honda, 1:30.933
15. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:30.991
16. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 1:30.999
17. Ty Howard, Suzuki, 1:31.088
18. Michael Hannas, Suzuki, 1:31.877
19. Matt Furtek, Yamaha, 1:31.891
20. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:31.936
21. Tyler Wadsworth, Yamaha, 1:33.358
22. Andy Caldwell, Suzuki, 1:33.603
23. Michael Garofalo, Suzuki, 1:33.728
24. Chuck Ivey, Suzuki, 1:34.008
25. Jeff Muskopf, Suzuki, 1:34.301
26. Raymond Bowman, Honda, 1:34.538
27. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, 1:35.410
28. Giovanni Rojas, Triumph, 1:36.355
29. Justin Blake, Suzuki, 1:36.511
30. Anthony Cammack, Suzuki, 1:36.864
31. James Kerker, Honda, 1:37.379
32. Marcus Winfree, Suzuki, 1:39.615

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

After 28 laps, four starts and one hour and 34 minutes, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom beat Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin by 0.0001-second in Sunday’s AMA Superbike final at Virginia International Raceway.

The race was stopped after six laps when Nicky Hayden crashed and his American Honda RC51 burst into flames. Hayden actually worked with cornerworkers to put out the fire.

The race was stopped a second time on lap 11 when Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts crashed in between turns four and five, and his RC51 Superbike, which remained on the track, also caught on fire.

Aaron Yates ran off the track to avoid hitting Roberts, fell in the run-off area before hitting inflatable safety barriers, got up, went back to the track and laid down on the racing surface. Yates then returned to pit lane where his crew repaired his GSX-R750 in time to make the re-start.

The race was stopped a third time on lap 20 when Michael Fitzpatrick fell exiting turn six and his Suzuki GSX-R750 caught on fire.

Mladin and Bostrom went straight to the front for the final eight-lap sprint. On the final lap, Bostrom drafted past Mladin to a photo-finish win.

Yates recovered for third. HMC Ducati’s Doug Chandler was fourth, well clear of top privateer Jason DiSalvo in fifth.

After the race, Mladin did not attend the podium celebration or post-race press conference.

Sunday’s AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 28 laps
2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, -0.0001 second
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -4.358 seconds
4. Doug Chandler, Ducati, -9.742 seconds
5. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki, -36.362 seconds
6. Robert Jensen, Suzuki, -41.415 seconds
7. Brian Parriott, Suzuki, -42.978 seconds
8. Brian Livengood, Suzuki, -43.780 seconds
9. Eric Wood, Suzuki, -44.524 seconds
10. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki, -47.936 seconds
11. Thomas Montano, Ducati, -49.579 seconds
12. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki, -49.656 seconds
13. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, -53.107 seconds
14. Justin Blake, Suzuki, -53.138 seconds
15. John Dugan, Suzuki, -53.798 seconds
16. John Jacobi, Suzuki, -54.931 seconds
17. Marco Martinez, Suzuki, -55.022 seconds
18. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki, -58.514 seconds
19. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki, -59.254 seconds
20. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -60.310 seconds
21. Christopher Rankin of Texas, Suzuki, -60.409 seconds
22. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, -61.355 seconds
23. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, -79.061 seconds
24. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -1 lap
25. Pascal Picotte, Ducati, -1 lap
26. Michael Fitzpatrick, Suzuki, -8 laps, DNF, crash
27. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -12 laps, DNF, crash
28. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, -17 laps, DNF, crash
29. Chris Rankin of Maryland, Suzuki, -20 laps, DNF
30. Nicky Hayden, Honda, -22 laps, DNF, crash
31. Giovanni Rojas, Suzuki, -22 laps, DNF, crash
32. Robert Christman, Suzuki, -27 laps, DNF

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden took his second AMA Supersport race win today at VIR, his second win in the class this season.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Josh Hayes held off Attack Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore to take second, the first Supersport podium for both Hayes and Pridmore this season.

The race was full of attrition with Jamie Hacking and Aaron Yates both crashing out of the race while in contention for the lead. Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Tom Kipp and Chris Ulrich also crashed, Ulrich after his bike threw a connecting rod. Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Jake Zemke and Attack Suzuki’s Ben Spies DNF.

AMA Supersport Race Results:

1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 17 laps
2. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, -6.680 seconds
3. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, -7.712 seconds
4. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, -9.768 seconds
5. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, -25.403 seconds
6. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, -28.806 seconds
7. Ty Howard, Suzuki, -28.934 seconds
8. Michael Hannas, Suzuki, -30.473 seconds
9. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, -34.434 seconds
10. Alex Gobert, Honda, -34.955 seconds
11. Andrew Nelson, Honda, -35.021 seconds
12. Mike Hale, Honda, -38.560 seconds
13. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -62.335 seconds
14. Michael Garofalo, Suzuki, -65.422 seconds
15. Ray Bowman, Honda, -71.512 seconds
16. Andy Caldwell, Suzuki, -80.293 seconds
17. Tyler Wadsworth, Yamaha, -83.413 seconds
18. Jeff Muskopf, Suzuki
19. Chuck Ivey, Suzuki
20. Matt Furtek, Yamaha

25. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -5 laps, DNF, crash
26. Tom Kipp, Suzuki, -5 laps, DNF, crash
27. Jake Zemke, Honda, -8 laps, DNF
28. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, -13 laps, DNF, mechanical/crash

30. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, -15 laps, DNF, crash
31. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -17 laps, DNF

From a press release issued by series organizers:

SZOKE TAKES SUPERBIKE POLE

SHUBENACADIE, NS – Jordan Szoke continued his mastery of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship by claiming pole for the sixth round at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Saturday.

The Brantford, ON rider took his Coors Light Racing/Fast Company Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a best lap of 1:08.350 around the 1.6-mile road course to claim his fourth straight MPM Array Pole Award and extend his lead in the Parts Canada Superbike standings.

Frank Trombino of Kleinburg, ON was second quickest on the Orion Motorsports Honda RC51 with a time of 1:08.447 and Szoke’s Coors Light Racing/Fast Company Suzuki teammate Francis Martin of Sherbrooke, QC set the third best time of 1:09.006.

Szoke just failed to beat the record set two years ago by Steve Crevier at 1:08.268.

“It’s great to continue this streak of pole positions,” said Szoke, who receives a Swiss Force Carbon Fiber embellished watch courtesy of MPM Array. “It’s also nice to move another step closer to the championship, which of course is our ultimate goal.”

Szoke earned four points for qualifying fastest and stretched his series lead over Huntington Beach, CA racer Owen Weichel. Weichel was seventh fastest Saturday on the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-7RR and failed to pick up any points.

Szoke now has 266 points in the championship to Weichel’s 177 with 52 points available in Sunday’s race. The season concludes in Shannonville, ON Sept. 1.

Two-time defending series champion Crevier, making his return to competition at AMP, was sixth aboard an Orion Motorsports Honda RC51. The Maple Ridge, BC racer has been out of action since breaking his knee at the season opener.

In other action at Atlantic Motorsport Park, Kevin Lacombe edged Orion Motorsports Honda teammate Crevier for pole in Yoshimura 600 Sport Bike qualifying. Lacombe set a best lap of 1:09.864 on his CBR600F4i to Crevier’s 1:09.911. Joliette, QC rider Jean-Francois Cyr was third on the Brooklin Cycle Yamaha YZF-R6 at 1:10.186.

Toronto’s Michael Taylor came back from a Superbike qualifying crash to grab pole position for the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Open Sport Bike division. Taylor took his Brooklin Cycle Yamaha YZF-R1 to a time of 1:09.478. Trombino was second on the Orion Honda CBR954RR at 1:09.702 and Harrowsmith, ON’s Jeff Williams third aboard the Diablo Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a 1:09.896.

Feature races in all national classes will run Sunday. Practice begins at 9:00 a.m. with the first race scheduled to go at 12:45 p.m.

Starting line-up for Sunday’s fourth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS, showing starting position, rider name, hometown, type of motorcycle and qualifying time:

1.Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:08.350; 2. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON, Honda RC51, 1:08.447; 3. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:09.006; 4. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, QC, Honda RC51, 1:09.072; 5. Michael Taylor, Toronto, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:09.268; 6. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC, Honda RC51, 1:09.531; 7. Owen Weichel, Huntington Beach, CA, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:09.705; 8. Jean-Francois Cyr, Joliette, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:10.060; 9. Benoit Pilon, St-Jerome, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:10.289; 10. Ugo Levert, Lorraine, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:10.405; 11. Jeff Williams, Harrowsmith, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:10.424; 12. Philip Onisto, Bolton, ON, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:11.560; 13. Bruce McDonald, Mt. Albert, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.327; 14. Joel McDonald, North York, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:12.623; 15. Darryn Wilbur, Maple, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:13.704; 16. Gaston Labrie, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:13.714