Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin took a flag-to-flag victory Saturday in the AMA Superbike race at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. The win is the 21st Superbike win of Mladin’s AMA career (second all-time) but the first career win for the Australian at Laguna Seca.

The victory also puts Mladin back into the AMA Superbike Championship point lead by six points over Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, who finished third today behind Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates.

Yates, Bostrom and Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts fought over second through the second half of the 28-lap event. Yates got away from Bostrom through heavy traffic, and Roberts pitted on lap 24 with problems. Roberts returned to finish 11th, one lap down.

Ducati Austin’s Giovanni Bussei crashed out of the race entering the Corkscrew, and Attack Suzuki’s Josh Hayes fell off in turn three.

Both Bussei and Hayes walked away from their crashes.

AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 28 laps
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -8.132 seconds
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, -10.241 seconds
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda RC51, -14.040 seconds
5. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -24.583 seconds
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, -40.802 seconds
7. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -68.349 seconds
8. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -83.044 second
9. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
10. James Randolph, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
11. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, -1 lap
12. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
13. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
14. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
15. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
16. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
17. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R1000
18. Mike Sullivan, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
19. Ricky Orlando, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
20. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
21. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
22. Tom Montano, Ductai 998S, -1 lap
23. Chris Voelker, Ducati 998RS, -1 lap
24. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
25. Rob Mesa, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
26. Tom Wertman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap
27. Alan Schmidt, Szuuki GSX-R750, -1 lap
28. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, -2 laps
29. Kim Nakashima, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
30. Jeff Bostrom, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
31. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, -2 laps
32. James King, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
33. Jason Knupp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -2 laps
34. Alex McElyea, Honda CBR954RR, -2 laps
35. Robert Christman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -10 laps
36. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -14 laps, DNF, crash
37. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati 998RS, -18 laps, DNF, crash
38. Marco Martinez, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -19 laps, DNF
39. John Scott Wilson, Suzuki GSX-R750, -19 laps, DNF
40. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750, -20 laps, DNF
41. Garry Combs, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -21 laps, DNF
42. Shane Turpin, Yamaha YZF-R1, -23 laps, DNF
43. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, -24 laps, DNF


Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Point Standings:

1. Mladin, 356 points
2. Eric Bostrom, 350 points
3. Yates, 345 points
4. Roberts, 321 points
5. Ben Bostrom, 320 points
6. Duhamel, 303 points
7. Higbee, 252 points
8. Pridmore, 251 points
9. Pegram, 211 points
10. Haskovec, 199 points


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN TAKES AMERICAN AMA SUPERBIKE RACE WIN

Monterey, California, USA (Saturday, 12 July) – Three-times American Superbike champion, Australia’s Mat Mladin stormed away from the field to take a flag to flag victory in today’s twelfth round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at Laguna Seca Raceway, California.

Today’s victory was Mladin’s seventh aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 this year and surprisingly was his first at the 3.610km (2.2miles) Monterey circuit in his eight year AMA career that has seen him extend his win tally to 21.

More importantly, today’s win has moved Mladin back to the head of the AMA Superbike points table where he now has a six-point advantage over Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom (356 – 350).

Mladin had been the dominant rider throughout practice and qualifying, setting pole position for the 28-lap AMA Superbike national and lapped under the existing class record in the final two practice sessions.

Carrying his qualifying form into the race, Mladin quickly jumped to the race lead and held that position till the end. Teammate Aaron Yates, who sat alongside Mladin on the starting grid overcame a race long battle with Eric Bostrom to claim second, 8.132 seconds behind Mladin.

“It’s been a long time coming to get a win here at Laguna (Seca), but more importantly for us it was another win for the season and it puts us back in front on the points table,” said Mladin.

“I pushed it hard throughout the race. It’s been quite warm here today, so it gave us a great opportunity to see what the new Dunlops would do in these conditions as well as giving us an indication as to what we can expect from the World Superbike races tomorrow.

“I think everyone here knows how much importance we have placed on winning this race this weekend. It has been difficult for all of us preparing two machines for the two different championships, so to take that win was fantastic for all of us, so now we can turn our attention to the SWC races and see if we can do the same there.”


More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship
Round 12: Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca

Temperature: 23 degrees
Climate: Sunny
Crowd: 30,000

Honda Riders Maintain Championship Positions

American Honda’s Ben Bostrom closed up on Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts for fourth place in the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, despite tire problems for both in the 12th round of the championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca held in conjunction with the eighth round of the Superbike World Championship. American Honda’s Miguel DuHamel struggled with an unbalanced motorcycle, but maintained sixth in the championship.

The Honda trio ran together for the first seven of 28 laps around the picturesque Monterey, California circuit, close to the Pacific Ocean, with Roberts the first to break rank. Up to third on the 12th lap, he took over second on lap 15 and was closing on the race leader when he felt a vibration in his rear tire. The problem wasn’t structural, but a tire that had spun on the rim, sending ominous vibrations up through the chassis that he interpreted as terminal. Thinking it was going to come apart, Roberts rode it out until the 24th lap when he pitted for a new rear. He re-joined the race to finish 11th.

Ben Bostrom was consistent throughout en route to finishing just off the podium, though he felt he was capable of more. On the sighting lap, Bostrom sensed a problem with his rear tire. Thinking it might have been from a cool patch in his tire warmer, or a sticker on the rear tire, he and the team made the decision not to make a change. Once at racing speed, Bostrom realized it was a mistake. “In hindsight we should have changed it for sure. Instead we started the race with a tire with a bad hop on the left side.”

Miguel DuHamel took a calculated gamble on his suspension set-up that didn’t pan out. “I got the bike into a bad situation,” he said. “I’m a pretty big part of what goes on with the bike, so I take most of the blame.” Normally the most balanced motorcycle on the racetrack, DuHamel’s Honda RC-51 was anything but after he chose wrong on both the front and rear. The veteran French-Canadian ran a lonely sixth for almost the entire race.
“We brought it home, we made some good points. We’re heading to friendlier pastures, Mid-Ohio, and Virginia (VIR), tracks that I like.”

With six rounds remaining in the championship, Kurtis Roberts is in fourth place in front of Ben Bostrom and Miguel DuHamel.

Leading the championship is Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, the winner of today’s race. Mladin beat teammate Aaron Yates with Ben’s brother, Eric, third on the Kawasaki.

On Friday, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke finished a season-best second in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race, using a late race pass to take the runner-up position behind Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking. Teammate Roger Lee Hayden was fifth in front of Ben Bostrom and Miguel DuHamel.

Ben Bostrom, Fourth Place
At the beginning it would do a decent lap time only because it had a lot of grip exiting. As soon as the tire wore out, it wanted to spin all the way out. We just got a bad tire. It doesn’t happen very often, but it’s happened two races in a row to us. Kind of a bummer. Mine had such a bad hop coming over turn one that the thing felt like it was just going to pop right here. I knew it had a hop from the first lap on.

Miguel DuHamel, Sixth Place
My problem was the lack of good input to the team to get a good bike this weekend. I wasn’t able to get a good set-up. We struggled all weekend, so usually we’re able to pull something good right before the race. We thought we had something good coming in here. It was overloading the front and the rear was too stiff and kept kicking up and down. It was moving quite a bit. It was doing this seesaw movement. The more it was overloading the front, the more it was pushing. I was trying to get the rear to slide and by the time I was able to do that, everybody was gone.

Kurtis Roberts, 11th Place
My rear tire was out of balance and it would vibrate. I thought it was coming apart. It would vibrate so bad we thought it chunked. It happened right when I got into second place, that lap when I was closing in on Mat (Mladin). Then, coming out of four, it vibrated all the way down the back straightaway so bad that I thought it was coming apart. I kept going for six, seven, eight laps.

Superbike:
1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
2. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
3. Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki)
4. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
5. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki)
6. Miguel DuHamel (Honda)
7. Jordan Szoke (Suzuki)
8. Shawn Higbee (Suzuki)
9. Michael Barnes (Suzuki)
10. James Randolph (Suzuki)
11. Kurtis Roberts (Honda)

AMA Championship Standings:
1. Mat Mladin (386)
2. Eric Bostrom (350)
3. Aaron Yates (345)
4. Kurtis Roberts (321)
5. Ben Bostrom (320)
6. Miguel DuHamel (303)
7. Shawn Higbee (252)
8. Jason Pridmore (251)
9. Larry Pegram (211)
10. Vincent Haskovec (199)

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Morning MotoGP Practice Times:

1. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:31.218
2. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:31.316
3. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:31.572
4. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:31.592
5. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:31.628
6. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:31.691
7. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:31.782
8. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:31.835
9. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:31.887
10. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:31.960
11. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:32.166
12. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:32.183
13. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:32.215
14. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:32.218
15. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:32.256
16. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 1:32.430
17. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:32.919
18. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:33.823
19. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 1:34.184
20. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:34.267
21. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:34.273
22. Chris Burns, ROC Yamaha, 1:35.742
23. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:35.947
24. David De Gea, Sabre, no time


Saturday Morning 250cc GP Practice Times:

1. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 1:34.452
2. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:34.578
3. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:35.117
4. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:35.138
5. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:35.202
6. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:35.249
7. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:35.335
8. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:35.574
9. Anthony West, Aprilia, 1:35.662
10. Chaz Davies, Aprilia, 1:35.739
11. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 1:36.126
12. Erwan Nigon, Aprilia, 1:36.386
13. Joan Olive, Aprilia, 1:36.408
14. Alex Debon, Honda, 1:36.441
15. Eric Bataille, Honda, 1:36.576

Saturday Morning 125cc GP Practice Times:

1. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, 1:38.156
2. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:38.169
3. Stefano Perugini, Aprilia, 1:38.231
4. Hector Barbera, Aprilia, 1:38.232
5. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 1:38.248
6. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:38.457
7. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:38.497
8. Mika Kallio, Honda, 1:38.656
9. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, 1:38.768
10. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:38.873
11. Simone Corsi, Honda, 1:38.906
12. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:39.124
13. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:39.136
14. Youichi Ui, Aprilia, 1:39.288
15. Alvaro Bautista, Aprilia, 1:39.420

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Now that Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Eric Bostrom have actually been allowed out in a World Superbike session–being the Friday afternoon qualifying session–they aren’t carrying the 86, 87, 88 assigned numbers announced by the World Superbike press office last week.

Instead, Mladin is #66, Yates is #120 and Bostrom is #32.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By John Joss

Thursday is not a high-tension race day and a dozen or so top riders faced the Press with an attitude of relaxation, except for Miguel Duhamel (see below). There were no startling revelations, but at mid-season none is expected. Few questions were asked in the general session with the Press.

Points leader Neil Hodgson was exuberant: “I love this track. This and Brands Hatch are my favorites. It’s not flat and featureless. It has hills and stuff. It has real character. And it has perfect weather for riding. Warm enough, but not too hot. I expect to do well.”

Troy Corser was cool, as usual. His mellowness bespeaks years of this sort of thing. He talked candidly about the Petronas and some of the difficulties he has had. It’s not the frame or suspension, which he called ‘excellent:’ “We can pretty much make any changes we need, and you can feel them immediately. Since we (Petronas, not Corser) haven’t had a bike at Laguna before, we are starting with our Misano set-up, but the bike responds well to any changes we make. The bike handles really well.” It’s not tires, either: “We started this season with tires not as good as the top teams, because they (Michelin) said they didn’t have enough made yet. Now we’re getting the same [top level] tires and you can tell the difference. They’re much better.”

So where’s the rub, beyond being a brand new bike no one expects to see on the box right away? “The biggest problem with the bike is throttle connection. Off a closed throttle, it doesn’t pick up cleanly. There’s this slight hesitation, and it’s very difficult to adapt to even when you know to expect it. It’s not just accelerating out of corners. It has the same hesitation any time you roll off, even for an instant, and then get back into it. It’s not good for the confidence knowing that the throttle connection isn’t quite right. It stops me from riding the bike to its limit.

“The problem is quite complicated and it can’t be fixed just with timing and [fuel injection] mapping changes. We need a new [cylinder] head and that won’t come quickly. The engines are all built in Switzerland and frankly we [riders] don’t have enough direct contact. After every race we send the motors back to Switzerland and they rebuild and dyno them, and send them back to us. The changes we need [will come later] and will involve cutting metal.

“We’re making good progress. Really getting there. You maybe can’t see it in the points but you can in the lap times. We started out 2-3 seconds off the pace in the early races. Now that’s half-a-second.” He grins: “Of course, that’s a critical half-second, vs. all those factory bikes.”

Aaron Yates was his usual easy-going self, very different from the go-for-broke charger on the track: “When the bike’s right, any track and any race is OK. We know enough about [our bike by this stage of the season] and the set-up for Laguna that we can do good here.

“We don’t expect tire trouble here, or anywhere else this season. At Brainerd, you will recall, I got vibration early on, around Lap 13, and I could see that Mat was starting to have a tire problem. My bike started vibrating, and the vibration got worse, lap by lap, but the tire still worked well. Turned out that it had rotated on the rim and gone out of balance. It wasn’t chunking. I had enough of a cushion at the end that I could ease off a little, anyway.

“I ride entirely different from Mat. He likes to square off the corners and whack the throttle on the exit when he gets the bike straight up. I tend to ease into the throttle sooner and smoother, and I guess that’s the difference [vs. tire trouble].

“You might think that my sliding the way I do might be pushing the tire, but I don’t think so. It’s my momentum coming into the corner that pushes the rear out when I turn in, and I manage that with throttle on the exit.” He grins—-you can’t keep this man down: “Looks kinda interesting, though, doesn’t it?” Yes, Aa-Ron. It does. Will he consider emulating his spectacular off-track excursion at Turn 10 on the 600 two years ago. Another big grin: “Nah. I don’t think I wanna do that again.”

Frankie Chili modestly refused to be drawn into a debate on age and experience (he admits to 38) trumping youth and enthusiasm. His spirit of attack is ageless, anyway. But he did comment on the fact that he is racing last year’s machine: “I am very ‘appy on the bike, very comfortable. Here at Laguna it doesn’t matter that we don’t have so much power [because it’s not a power circuit.]” He’s the youngest 38 (?) in the saddle today.

Eric Bostrom put on a fashion show with his new, special-for-Laguna leathers, complete with ‘bow tie.’ “I thought I should show them off to you,” he said, grinning hugely, as the cameras took it all in. Reminiscent of brother Ben’s fashion show at an earlier Laguna race. The Boss seemed unfazed by his 750-vs.-1000 and 798-vs.-1000 displacement disadvantage on his two Kawasakis, either in the AMA or WSB wild-card situations in which he will race this weekend. No one asked him about 2004, and the possibility of a competitive 1000-cc bike. Asked at Brainerd, he just said “That would be nice.”

Miguel DuHamel was one unhappy guy, not just because he wouldn’t get to mix it with the WSB bunch when Honda decided not to have its AMA racers in the wild-card mix (“I was not involved in that decision,” he explained in answer to questions). He was unhappy about not having enough time for practice and set-up: “We’re struggling, I gotta tell you, even though we know a lot about set-up [here at Laguna]. We got the short end of the stick. We didn’t get enough set-up time, and [this race weekend] needs a better format. It’s hard to do testing and qualifying at the same time.”

Miguel reported that his body was still not 100%, which is not reflected in his track performance since his broken collarbone at Sears in May-—this is the man who won the hotly contested 600 race at Brainerd on his 600RR, pursued by a horde of Yamaha R-6s. “This rod [holding my collarbone] sticks out and it’s not comfortable. But I’m pretty much OK.”

Valvoline Suzuki rider Steve Rapp tumbled heavily from his GSX-R1000 on the exit of high-speed Turn 10 on Thursday and limped back to the pits, clearly in pain as he wriggled out of his leathers. X-rays at the track revealed no broken bones, but he had—as his crew pointed out—aggravated an old [right shoulder] injury.

So why are Dunlop tires seemingly so much better at Laguna than Michelin? Listen to Troy Corser, the voice of experience: “Michelin comes here once a year. Dunlop is top of the heap [in AMA Superbike] and comes here much more often. On top of that, the Dunlops seem to give better front-end feel, and they spin up a little easier, so [on a tight track like Laguna] they’re probably a bit easier to ride, more rider friendly.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:32.129
2. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:32.159
3. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:32.466
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:32.512
5. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, 1:32.524
6. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:32.789
7. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:32.899
8. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, 1:32.930
9. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:32.952
10. Alex Barros, Yamaha, 1:32.959
11. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:32.993
12. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:33.078
13. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:33.189
14. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:33.308
15. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:33.428
16. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, 1:34.085
17. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:34.413
18. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, 1:34.610
19. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, 1:35.526
20. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, 1:35.895
21. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:36.115
22. Chris Burns, ROC Yamaha, 1:36.435
23. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, 1:36.675
24. David De Gea, Sabre, 1:46.889


250cc:

1. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:34.584
2. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:35.263
3. Manuel Poggiali, Aprilia, 1:35.345
4. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:35.588
5. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:35.696
6. Randy DePuniet, Aprilia, 1:35.779
7. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:36.094
8. Sebastian Porto, Honda, 1:36.139
9. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:36.545
10. Anthony West, Aprilia, 1:37.151
11. Erwan Nigon, Aprilia, 1:37.262
12. Jay Vincent, Aprilia, 1:37.442
13. Joan Olive, Aprilia, 1:37.558
14. Chaz Davies, Aprilia, 1:37.740
15. Johan Stigefelt, Aprilia, 1:37.906


125cc:

1. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 1:38.761
2. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:39.094
3. Stefano Perugini, Aprilia, 1:39.163
4. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:39.217
5. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:39.611
6. Youichi Ui, Aprilia, 1:39.762
7. Hector Barbera, Aprilia, 1:39.773
8. Mirko Giansanti, Aprilia, 1:39.823
9. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:39.899
10. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:40.165
11. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, 1:40.189
12. Gabor Talmasci, Aprilia, 1:40.201
13. Simone Corsi, Honda, 1:40.252
14. Arnaud Vincent, KTM, 1:40.329
15. Mika Kallio, Honda, 1:40.410

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday Morning AMA 250cc Grand Prix Practice:

1. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:31.011
2. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 1:32.049
3. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:34.671
4. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 1:35.017
5. Colin Jensen, Aprilia, 1:35.302
6. Simon Turner, TSR Honda, 1:35.986
7. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 1:37.825
8. Greg Esser, Honda, 1:37.969
9. Michael Montoya, Yamaha, 1:38.271
10. Mark Watts, Honda, 1:39.418
11. Barrett Long, Yamaha, 1:40.061
12. Wes Totsubo, Honda, 1:40.388
13. John France, Honda, 1:40.438
14. M. Ben Welch, Yamaha, 1:40.872
15. Sean McNew, Honda, 1:41.179
16. Darren Fulce, Yamaha, 1:41.315
17. Richard Snowden, Honda, 1:41.669
18. Chris Pyles, Honda, 1:41.884
19. S. Denman, Honda, 1:42.273
20. Michael Aron, Yamaha, 1:42.509

From a press release issued by FGSport Group:

FGSPORT GROUP ANNOUNCE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA PLANS

FGSPORT GROUP has today reached an important pre-agreement with the Zhuhai New Century International Management Company Ltd to stage a round of the FIM Endurance World Championship in the People’s Republic of China in 2004.

FGSPORT Group, the official worldwide rights holders of the FIM Endurance World Championship and the Zhuhai New Century International Management Company Ltd, will organise the “Zhuhai 6 hours” in the People’s Republic of China on 1st /2nd May 2004.

The “Zhuhai 6 hours” event will be the first time that any FIM Road Racing World Championship will be organised in the People’s Republic of China. It marks an important and historic step in the development of motorcycling and was greatly facilitated by the Zhuhai Municipal Sports Bureau and the CMSA (Chinese Motor Sports Association.) The Zhuhai circuit is situated in the Guangdong Province near to Hong Kong; it was constructed in 1996 and upgraded in 1998 to the highest international standards. The Zhuhai circuit will be easily accessible, by direct flight, from Europe from January 2003, with the completion of the new international airport of the Guangdong Province, New Bayun International Airport of Canton, close to the circuit.

Mayor of ZHUHAI CITY Mr. Wang Shun Sheng, declared: “Zhuhai is one of the most beautiful tourism cities in China. It will be wonderful for Zhuhai to host the 2004 Chinese leg of the World Endurance Championship. Zhuhai Government promises full support on this event. All departments will do their maximum to collaborate and make sure of the success of this event.” FGSPORT Managing Director, Vincenzo Lamaro, said “FGSPORT GROUP are proud to see the growth of the FIM Endurance World Championship confirmed by the staging of the first FIM World Road Racing Championship event in the People’s Republic of China. We have been working closely with the Zhuhai New Century International Management Company, Zhuhai Municipal Sports Bureau, CMSA (Chinese Motor Sports Association) and FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) to reach this exciting result. The official FIM Endurance World Championship 2004 calendar will be announced at the FIM Congress in October. The pre-agreement clearly demonstrates the interest and value of Endurance and will provide a major commercial opportunity to enter the significant Chinese market.”

About FIM Endurance World Championship

The FIM Endurance World Championship is a unique and gruelling test of power and long distance motorcycle racing encapsulated in an outdoor festival. It is one of only three world road racing Championships sanctioned by the FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) the sports official governing body.

The Championship comprises of 8 motorsport weekends in 8 different top circuits and is experiencing the third season of growth since its re-launch by FGSPORT in 2001.

In 2003 the events are being broadcast globally to over 246 million potential homes across 5 continents via some of the world’s leading broadcasters including, Eurosport (Official Championship broadcast partner), ESPN Star Sports (Pan-Asia), Teledeporte (Spain), AB Moteur (France), Fox Sports (Australia), Rai (Italy), Telenova (Italy), RTVCM Castilla La Mancha (Spain) and Viasat (Scandinavia.) In addition, worldwide deals with motorsport magazine programmes, Motorsport Mundial and Max Power via some of the worlds’ primary broadcasters such as Speedvision (USA) and Channel 5 (UK). China Television Broadcasters will also broadcast extensive coverage of the FIM Endurance World Championship including; Guangdong TV, Bejing TV, Fujian TV, Sichuan TV, Hebei TV, Hunan TV and Guangxi TV; and Central Channel Television, CCTV which has been broadcasting regular programs about World Endurance Championship for 3 years, making this event the most popular motorsport event in China.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking extended his AMA Supersport Championship points lead with a come-from-behind race win Friday at Laguna Seca.

Hacking passed both Jake Zemke and teammate Damon Buckmaster on consecutive laps in turn nine to take the lead in the early going. From there, Hacking pulled away to take his fourth win of the season.

Buckmaster and Erion Honda’s Zemke battled for most of the race, which allowed Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies to catch the pair. Buckmaster was passed for second late in the race by Zemke, and Spies demoted Buckmaster to fourth on the final lap.

Zemke’s teammate Roger Lee Hayden fought over fifth with brother Tommy until the elder Hayden’s Kawasaki suffered troubles in the second half of the contest. Roger Lee Hayden finished alone in fifth.

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts dove inside Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo going into turn five on lap five, but Roberts lost the front at the apex, crashed and took DiSalvo out with him. Both riders were seen walking away from the incident.

Provisional AMA Supersport Race Results:

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 17 laps
2. Jake Zemke, Honda, -7.377 seconds
3. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -7.793 seconds
4. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, -8.454 seconds
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, -16.076 seconds
6. Ben Bostrom, Honda, -17.422 seconds
7. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -22.338 seconds
8. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, -22.619 seconds
9. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki, -24.093 seconds
10. Alex Gobert, Honda, -28.329 seconds
11. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -31.535 seconds
12. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -35.473 seconds
13. Lance Isaacs, Honda, -47.353 seconds
14. Jason Perez, Yamaha, -60.038 seconds
15. Chris Peris, Honda, -60.559 seconds
16. Jason Curtis, Honda
17. Marty Craggill, Honda
18. Dirk Sanchez, Kawasaki
19. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha
20. Matt Zurbuchen

33. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, DNF, mechanical

36. Chris Rankin, Honda, DNF, crash

38. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, DNF, crash
39. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, DNF, crash


Provisional AMA Supersport Point Standings:

1. Hacking, 252 points
2. Buckmaster, 226 points
3. Alex Gobert, 178 points
4. Spies, 175 points
5. Roger Lee Hayden/Meiring, TIE, 165 points
7. Aaron Gobert, 162 points
8. Zemke, 161 points
9. Tommy Hayden, 160 points
10. DiSalvo, 155 points


More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing, posted verbatim:

On lap two of the Pro Honda Oils Supersports race rider #41 Shaun Summers of Sacramento, CA and rider of the #185 Matt Hartlieb of Mesa, AZ went down on the front grid.

#41 Shaun Summers was treated by Dr. Gary Zoellner and has been transported to Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP). “Shaun was is stable condition but was complaining of spinal pain” Said Dr. Zoellner. “So he was transported by ground to CHOMP.”

#185 Matt Hartlieb was treated by Dr. Gary Zoellner and has been transported to Salinas Hospital. “He was attended here at the infield center and was transported to the hospital to be treatment of a fractured leg.” Said, Dr. Zollner.

The following press release from FGSport Group was distributed in the media center at Laguna Seca Friday morning.

Ambitious Goals for the FIM Superbike World Championship

On the 9th July, the FIM–Federation Internationale Motorcicliste and FGSPORT decided to adopt a new set of rules for the FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, rules that have been harmonized with the AMA and British Superbike Championships and that are in the course to be adopted by:

–The FIM Superbike World Championship;
–The FIM Endurance World Championship;
–The AMA Superbike Championship;
–The British Superbike Championship;
–The Italian Superbike Champiosnhip

Among the others, most probably, also DMSB will use them for the German National Motorcycle Top Series.

In consideration of all the above, we are glad to communicate the targets that we wish to achieve with those decisions:

–GLOBALIZATION: the great consensus achieved from so many partners of different countries is the best demonstration that the new rules are well designed and will therefore accelerate the development of the SUPERBIKE class, Worldwide. One of the most important advantages generated with this situation is the possibility for the Teams to buy and sell their equipment in a huge market.

–AFFORDABLE COSTS: the current World economic situation suggested to create a regulation which makes easier for the participants to buy the necessary technology at an affordable price and with a high level availability.

This means to obtain “FULLGRID”.

Furthermore, such a regulation will create great opportunities for the “AFTERMARKET”.

–FAIR CONDITIONS FOR EVERYBODY: one of the most important goals of this regulation is to balance the performances among PRIVATE and OFFICAL TEAMS.

The SUPERBIKE CLASS philosphy has been since the beginning: “Great Show and Controlled Costs”, something that offers to everybody the possibility to be competitive.

—LONG TERM VALIDITY OF THE RULES: in order to stabilize the SUPERBIKE CLASS the rules will be valid in the long term.

PS
–The AIR RESTRICTOR RULES: in order to maintain a sufficient level of performances, notwithstanding the limitation of the air-intake, the air-restrictor rules requested from the Manufacturers, need much freedom in the engine tuning.

This gives green light to the use of sophisticated technologies which cause high costs to the participants and diminishes the availability of tuned motorcycles in the market.

It is also important to underline that already during his press conference on the 21st of May, the FIM President, Francesco Zerbi, at the presence of the MSMA Representatives and the Promoters Representatives, announced the need to adopt different rules in order to safeguard the interest of the sport.

The new set of rules that will be adopted, by allowing an easier and wide access to the Superbike class, which will be nearer to the production motorcycles, will certainly represent a major step forward in the development of the motorcycle sport worldwide and in the general interest of all parties involved.

The release was distributed with the FIM’s July 10 release and AMA Pro Racing’s July 9 release.



See related posts:

7/9 Unified Rules For AMA And World Superbike To Be Discussed At Laguna Seca

7/10 It Sounds Like World Superbike Is Considering Spec Tires

7/10 World Superbike Spec Tire Announcement A Surprise To Dunlop, Michelin

7/10 Manufacturers Quit World Superbike Over Spec Tire Plan