Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

World Supersport Race Results From Brands Hatch:

1. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki GSX-R600, 23 laps, 35:09.441
2. Fabien Foret, Honda CBR600F4i, -0.286 seconds
3. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha YZF-R6, -1.442 seconds
4. Iain MacPherson, Honda CBR600F, -4.955 seconds
5. Jörg Teuchert, Yamaha YZF-R6, -6.298 seconds
6. Christian Kellner, Yamaha YZF-R6, -7.741 seconds
7. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha YZF-R6, -12.375 seconds
8. Chris Vermeulen, Honda CBR600F, -14.412 seconds
9. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha YZF-R6, -21.320 seconds
10. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha YZF-R6, -25.491 seconds
11. Stuart Easton, Ducati 748R, -27.837 seconds
12. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha YZF-R6, -29.230 seconds
13. Werner Daemen, Honda CBR600F, -31.523 seconds
14. James Ellison, Kawasaki ZX-6R, -37.655 seconds
15. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda CBR600F, -42.579 seconds
16. John McGuinness, Honda CBR600F, -52.075 seconds
17. Nigel Arnold, Honda CBR600F, -60.432 seconds
18. Claudio Cipriani, Yamaha YZF-R6, -60.952 seconds
19. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki ZX-6R, -66.097 seconds
20. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha YZF-R6, -75.959 seconds
DNF. Scott Smart, Honda CBR600F, -2 laps
DNF. Robert Frost, Yamaha YZF-R6, -3 laps
DNF. Karl Muggeridge, Honda CBR600F, -10 laps
DNF. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati 748R, -14 laps
DNF. Stéphane Chambon, Suzuki GSX-R600, -17 laps
DNF. James Whitham, Yamaha YZF-R6, -17 laps
DNF. Christophe Cogan, Honda CBR600F, -20 laps
DNF. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati 748, -23 laps

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Hodgson delights swelling crowd with Superpole victory

The crowd here at Brands hatch in England already looks like a substantial race day attendance, and yet it’s only Saturday afternoon. Neil Hodgson sent the crowd wild by recording a stunning Superpole lap to secure pole for Sunday’s races.

Another hero of the Superpole session was Troy Bayliss, riding with a cracked rib sustained in a crash in the morning qualifying session. He still managed to get his Ducati onto the front row with a 1:26.801 lap. It was an incredible effort given the amount of pain he must be in from his injuries.

Colin Edwards couldn’t answer Hodgson’s sub-1:26 lap, settling for second on the grid with a time of 1:26.050. Hodgson was one of only three riders improving on his qualifying time in Superpole; the other improvers were Toseland and Borja, who both climbed up the grid as a result.

Wild card rider Michael Rutter did enough to put his privateer Ducati on the front row, lapping at 1:26.771 third fastest. Ruben Xaus had another disappointing Superpole, dropping back to 12th on the grid. The second row starts with Pierfrancesco Chili who lines up alongside James Toseland, Juan Borja and Ben Bostrom.



World Superbike SuperPole Results From Brands Hatch:

1. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:25.752
2. Colin Edwards, Honda, 1:26.050
3. Michael Rutter, Ducati, 1:26.771
4. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:26.801
5. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati, 1:26.871
6. James Toseland, Ducati, 1:26.970
7. Juan Borja, Ducati, 1:26.987
8. Ben Bostrom, Ducati, 1:27.036
9. Shane Byrne, Ducati, 1:27.162
10. Chris Walker, Kawasaki, 1:27.170
11. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:27.246
12. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, 1:27.490
13. Glen Richards, Kawasaki, 1:27.653
14. Steve Martin, Ducati, 1:27.702
15. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki, 1:28.001
16. Dean Ellison, Ducati, 1:28.297

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Foret takes fifth pole position of 2002 at Brands Hatch

Fabien Foret put in a blistering performance to ensure he starts on pole position for tomorrow’s World Superbike race at Brands Hatch. His lap, a new best lap time at the Kent circuit, got him his fourth pole position in a row and his fifth of the season.

Timing his final run perfectly, the French Ten Kate rider crossed the line with just 45 seconds remaining – leaving his rivals no time to respond. His time of 1:29.212 is also a new best lap for Brands Hatch in the World Supersport class.

Iain MacPherson, teammate to Foret in Ten Kate Honda, gave the Frenchman a run for his money by pushing Foret down the order twice. The Scotsman, who joined the Ten Kate squad just five days before the first race of the season, has suffered from a lack of testing time at previous rounds. But he now looks to be in control of his machine and his third place on the grid goes a long way to proving that. However each time the Scotsman improved Foret responded immediately and it was Foret who was fastest when it counted most.

Karl Muggeridge briefly held pole in the dying stages, but he was pushed down to second by Foret to make it a Honda 1-2-3 on the grid.

Stephane Chambon had topped the timing charts for most of the session on the Alstare Suzuki. But when the times started to tumble he was unable to push his Suzuki any further and he ended the session in fourth.

Jamie Whitham had been languishing down the field on his Belgarda Yamaha until a late charge saw the Yorkshireman move up into sixth place. Alongside him for the race will be Jorg Teuchert, Katsuaki Fujiwara and Christian Kellner.

Defending champion Andrew Pitt could only manage 14th position on his Kawasaki just behind his countryman Chris Vermeulen.

Saturday’s World Supersport Qualifying Results:

1. Fabien Foret, Honda, 1:29.212
2. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:29.234
3. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:29.310
4. Stéphane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:29.453
5. Jörg Teuchert, Yamaha, 1:29.470
6. James Whitham, Yamaha, 1:29.491
7. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, 1:29.528
8. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, 1:29.644
9. Christophe Cogan, Honda, 1:29.680
10. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha, 1:29.738
11. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha, 1:29.793
12. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, 1:29.824
13. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:29.879
14. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:30.018
15. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, 1:30.039
16. Werner Daemen, Honda, 1:30.169
17. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, 1:30.206
18. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati, 1:30.302
19. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha, 1:30.306
20. Robert Frost, Yamaha, 1:30.962
21. James Ellison, Kawasaki, 1:31.113
22. John McGuinness, Honda, 1:31.126
23. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, 1:31.169
24. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, 1:31.198
25. Scott Smart, Honda, 1:31.202
26. Stuart Easton, Ducati, 1:31.339
27. Nigel Arnold, Honda, 1:32.261
28. Claudio Cipriani, Yamaha, 1:32.297

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

European Superstock Qualifying Results From Brands Hatch:

1. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.213
2. Chris Burns, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.318
3. Steve Brogan, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.501
4. Kieran Murphy, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.780
5. Ross McCulloch, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.892
6. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda CBR954RR, 1:30.935
7. Andy Notman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.074
8. Giacomo Romanelli, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.415
9. Luke Quigley, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.592
10. Kelvin Reilly, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:31.679
11. Lorenzo Alfonsi, Ducati 998S, 1:31.723
12. Michael Laverty, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.751
13. Ludovic Fourreau, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.860
14. Gianluca Vizziello, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:31.886
15. Alessandro Brannetti, Honda CBR954RR, 1:32.041
16. William De Angelis, Yamaha YZF-R1. 1:32.090
17. Didier Vankeymeulen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.092
18. Fabrizio De Marco, Honda CBR954RR, 1:32.327
19. Lorenzo Mauri, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:32.358
20. Simon Andrews, Honda CBR954RR, 1:32.620
21. Koen Vleugels, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.691
22. Robert De Vries, Ducati 998S, 1:32.741
23. Dennis Hobbs, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.930
24. John Bakker, Ducati 998S, 1:33.311
25. Riccardo Chiarello, Ducati 998S, 1:33.791
26. Nicolas Saelens, Ducati 998S, 1:33.934
27. Marek Cerveny, Honda CBR954RR, 1:34.139
28. Christian Nau, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.429
29. Sergio Ruggiero, Ducati 998S, 1:34.485
30. Ciro Ranieri, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:34.725
31. Geoffrey Naze, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:35.079
32. Christian Dal Corso, Ducati 998S, 1:36.376

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Corbin Racing’s Jimmy Filice was transported from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to a local hospital Saturday morning suffering with neck and back pain.

Filice crashed his Kawasaki ZX-6R in the turn 11-12 area of the Mid-Ohio track during Supersport practice.

Filice, age 39, is a three-time AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion.

More details as they become available.

This just in:

Filice called his team from Mansfield General Hospital at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time to tell them he was OK and to get his bike ready for Supersport qualifying.

From Ducati Corse:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 10 – Brands Hatch (UK), 28 July 2002

SATURDAY QUALIFYING & SUPERPOLE

BAYLISS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) CRASHES OUT IN QUALIFYING BUT GRABS FRONT-ROW GRID POSITION FOR BRANDS SUPERBIKE – BOSTROM (DUCATI L&M) AND XAUS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) START FROM ROWS 2 AND 3 – POLE FOR HODGSON (HM PLANT DUCATI)

Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) produced another extraordinary display of courage at Brands Hatch as he battled back from a nasty qualifying crash to grab a front row starting position for tomorrow’s two World Superbike championship races. The reigning world champion and current points leader set fourth quickest time of 1’26.801 in Superpole, hours after crashing out on the opening lap of the morning’s second and final qualifying session. Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) qualified in eighth position and Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) in twelfth as Britain’s Neil Hodgson set a new circuit best lap on his HM Plant Ducati to grab pole in front of his home fans.

Just seconds after Troy and Ruben had set off from the pits at the start of the session, the two Ducati Infostrada riders had a misunderstanding at the bottom of Paddock Hill Bend which led to contact between the bikes. While Ruben continued up Hailwood Hill, Troy had to take to the grass, where he lost control of his 998 and, after a series of heavy tumbles, ended up against the air-fence. He was taken to the circuit medical centre and was diagnosed as having a cracked twelfth rib in his lower back. After being given the OK to race, the Australian was back out on his Infostrada 998 in the afternoon’s free practice session, where he was third quickest, and in Superpole, where he secured fourth place.

“I was coming round Paddock Hill Bend on my usual line on the outside, Ruben moved over and we touched. When I went onto the grass I thought ‘This is going to be a big one!'” declared Troy about the crash. “We changed the bike a little bit for Superpole but it was worse and I made a couple of slides, which slowed me down a lot. In the end I’m on the front row which I’m pretty happy about but I’m also pretty lucky after what happened today. Free practice wasn’t too bad and we did a good long-run but I missed the morning’s session. Obviously now I’m feeling pretty sore but I’ll be there to race tomorrow. It was just one of those crashes that happen. No one was in the wrong and we were just unlucky.”

“I was just warming up the tyres when Troy came up on me from behind. I didn’t even know he was there” explained Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada). The Spanish rider then set good race times in the afternoon’s free practice session, but missed out on a good starting-grid position by qualifying twelfth, with a time of 1’27.490. “I made the same mistake as last year at the same corner” declared Ruben. “I spin the tyre and loose a little bit of grip and here if you loose grip you go off the line. You need to be perfect here in Brands Superpole, it’s not like using a race tyre where you can go off line. Everything is perfect for the race, I have a good set-up and I went fast on race tyres so I need to do a good start and be in the top 5 and that’s all, because I’m sure some of the guys in front of me won’t last”.


Last year’s double winner Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) moved up one place from ninth after qualifying, to eighth with his Superpole lap of 1’27.036. “I felt like I was on a good lap” commented Ben. “I knew I wasn’t the quickest round a few corners because I was pushing the bike real hard but I thought it would be at least a low 26, no problem. When I came by and saw a 27 flat, I was so disappointed. Like I said before, you think you’re going fast here at Brands but then you find out that it isn’t a quick lap at all. We were fast in the long run during free practice but that’s on race tyres and I needed to be on the front row to be up there in the first laps. You always have to watch out at the first corner because all hell breaks loose and for that you have to be on the front row.”


More, from HM Plant Ducati:

Hodgson signs a note of intent

Neil Hodgson gave the thousands of HM Plant Ducati fans who had made the pilgrimage to Brands Hatch exactly what they wanted when he set the fastest ever lap around the Grand Prix circuit. His inch-perfect 1:25.752 performance was deadly effective in its purpose of placing the British rider on pole position for Sunday’s two Superbike races. His 21-year-old team-mate James Toseland also excelled in his Superpole session and earned himself a sixth-placed start that will see him line up ahead of several established factory riders, including Ben Bostrom and Noriyuki Haga.

Hodgson would never have been satisfied with anything less than the prime starting position and this was clearly evident in the perfectly controlled ferocity of his single flying lap. As well as displaying Superpole supremacy, Hodgson had also been stringing together consistently fast laps throughout practice and regulation qualifying, while he searched for the perfect race set-up and tyre.

“With a crowd like this behind me there was no way that I was going to miss out on pole,” says Hodgson. “The hundreds of HM Plant Ducati banners and the massive cheer that I got as I rode around was the final element that allowed me to find the extra one per cent that I needed to go faster than everyone else. I’m glad that I could give them what they wanted and I’m not about to stop now. I knew that the lap was a good one – it had to be to beat Edwards – but in retrospect, I think that there were one or two corners where I could have opened the throttle a little earlier. Admittedly, it might have been the difference between getting out of the turn and highsiding and if it had let go I’d probably have landed at GSE Group headquarters in Ashford! But the attitude that I have right now is that I’d happily risk my third place in the championship for two race wins tomorrow.”

The heat of competition in 2002 is best illustrated by the fact that Toseland’s time of 1:26.970 would have taken him to second place on the grid in 2001. This year however, it was good enough to pick him up eight places in Superpole, despite a big slide adding valuable fractions of a second to his lap.

“The back end stepped right out on me in the first section and I had to get a move on to try and reclaim some of the time that I lost,” explains Toseland. “When I got back in and saw my time I didn’t think it was that good, but in the end only the top boys were able to beat it. I’d struggled with set-up on Friday and earlier today, so we went back to the drawing board and came up with the goods for Superpole. I’m happy with the way that the bike feels now and everyone has seen what it can do in Neil’s hands. I also have a great Dunlop race tyre, so I’m just going to have to get down to business tomorrow and see if I can’t make it two HM Plant Ducati riders on the podium.”


More, from Playstation2 FGF Aprilia:

HAGA ON THIRD ROW AT BRANDS HATCH

Brands Hatch (Great Britain), Saturday 27 July 2002 – A difficult final qualifying session for Noriyuki Haga at Brands Hatch, the British circuit hosting the tenth round of the Superbike World Championship.

In the morning session, the Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team ride came a bare 484 thousandths from the quickest time, halving the gap which had separated him from the leader in the Friday session. Haga had lapped in 1’26″415 but, in the Superpole, he was unable to repeat this performance, which would have put him in third place and thus on the front row. Noriyuki stopped the clock at 1’27″246, a time which does justice neither to the potential of the Aprilia RSV, nor to the skill of the rider. Haga will thus have to start from the third row, but he still has an excellent chance to put up a good fight for the European GP.

NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team rider) – “I’m very angry: I’ve always gone like a bomb here and I really was hoping to make front row. But unfortunately we had lots of problems today and I wasn’t at my best. In the morning I rode well, but in the afternoon I started feeling the fatigue of my flight from Japan and the jet lag.

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI (Technical Manager of the Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team) – “In the warm-up before the Superpole, we had a problem with the bike we’d chosen to start off with, so we had to transfer all the settings to the second bike, but it just wasn’t the same thing. We’re not at all pleased with this result. Even so, things weren’t that bad at all during the race-tyre laps: Haga kept up a constant pace of 1’27” and there aren’t many riders who can go that fast.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday Afternoon AMA Superbike Practice Times:

1. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:34.172
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:34.455
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:35.183
4. Doug Chandler, Ducati, 1:35.578
5. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:37.609
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:38.084
7. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:38.650
8. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:38.852
9. Pascal Picotte, Ducati, 1:41.617
10. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, 1:44.830
11. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki, 1:45.202
12. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:59.061

Only 12 riders took part in the 20-minute Superbike warm-up session on a damp-but-drying track.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Although he led by as much as 7.6 seconds earlier in the race, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom barely held off American Honda’s Nicky Hayden late in the 26-lap AMA Superbike contest to win at Mid-Ohio.

Bostrom took the lead from the start and pulled out a lead that grew to 7.6 seconds by lap 13 of 26. Meanwhile, Hayden shook off Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and ran Bostrom down through late-race traffic.

Hayden drew close enough to show Bostrom his front wheel on several occassions, but Bostrom had just enough tire left to hold on to take his seventh career AMA Superbike win and close Hayden’s Championship lead from 36 to 32 points.

Yates came under pressure from Austin/Bleu Bayou Ducati’s Pascal Picotte in the closing stages of the final but upped his pace to keep his podium finish.

Provisional AMA Superbike Race Results:

1. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 26 laps
2. Nicky Hayden, Honda, -0.034 second
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -16.083 seconds
4. Pascal Picotte, Ducati, -20.224 seconds
5. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, -28.623 seconds
6. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, -38.739 seconds
7. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -53.499 seconds
8. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, -60.283 seconds
9. Brian Livengood, Suzuki, -1 lap
10. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, -1 lap
11. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki, -1 lap
12. Robert Jensen, Suzuki, -1 lap
13. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki, -1 lap
14. John Jacobi, Suzuki, -1 lap
15. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, -1 lap
16. Brian Parriott, Suzuki, -1 lap
17. John Haner, Suzuki, -1 lap

DNF. Doug Chandler, Ducati, DNF, -20 laps


Provisional AMA Superbike Point Standings:

1. Hayden, 414 points
2. Bostrom, 382 points
3. Duhamel, 322 points
4. Yates, 316 points
5. Picotte, 304 points
6. Parriott, 250 points
7. Mladin, 233 points
8. Hacking, 231 points
9. Livengood, 223 points
10. Chandler, 209 points
11. Deatherage, 192 points
12. TIE, Haskovec/Rich Conicelli, 162 points
14. DiSalvo, 126 points
15. Dean Mizdal, 122 points