Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Annandale Honda’s Ty Howard was transported to Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado for X-rays of his left hip area following a crash in Saturday’s AMA Formula Xtreme final at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

According to Annandale Honda Team Manager Anna Johnston, Howard’s left elbow was abraded “down to the bone” but she said her rider was in “good spirits.”

Howard crashed when he tried to overtake both Jimmy Moore and Jamie Hacking in one pass while braking for turn three on lap 27 of the 29-lap FX race.

According to eyewitness accounts from Moore, Roger Lee Hayden and Steve Rapp, Howard got into the corner too fast, hit Hacking broadside and went flying through the air over the top of Hacking’s motorcycle.

Hacking did not crash in the incident.

Supersport racer Jim Davis, who crashed Saturday during Supersport qualifying, was also transported to Memorial Hospital for X-rays of his left hip area and will be kept overnight.

From a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN HEADS SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING AT PIKES PEAK

In oppressively hot conditions, Australia’s Mat Mladin has set the fastest lap time during today’s opening qualifying session for round eight of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado.

Mladin turned a time of 53.780 seconds around the short but demanding Colorado circuit aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, holding an advantage of almost a full second over fellow Australian Anthony Gobert (Austin Ducati) who posted a best time of 54.711 secs.

With track surface temperature rising above 60 degrees C (135 degrees F) during today’s opening qualifying session, finding a machine set up that would suit the hot conditions and allow for the best possible tyre wear became of paramount importance. Conditions are expected to cool over the weekend, but with Sunday’s Superbike national scheduled for 48 laps, the high altitudes of Pikes Peak mixed with the hot conditions will make for a very demanding race.

“We concentrated a lot on getting a race set up today,” said Mladin. “Yes, it was good to get a fast time in, but with the lap distance being so short around here, it is important to get a comfortable feel with it. Tyre wear is an issue here, so we do need to do a lot of work with matching the chassis to the tyres that will get us through the 48-lap distance. We also tend to get caught behind a lot of backmarkers around here, but today the traffic out on the track was quite good. If it remains like that over the next two days, we should get a good race in on Sunday.”

Third fastest was Mladin’s teammate and current championship points leader Aaron Yates who set a time of 54.913 who held a half second advantage over Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts (55.448) who completes the provisional front row of the grid.

Mladin arrives at this weekend’s round trailing Yates by two points in the championship, but with five wins from seven races completed this season he has proven to be the dominant rider of the series. The only blemish to his season so far has been a tyre failure at round six of the championship at Road Atlanta which forced him out of the race and subsequently lost his points advantage over Yates.

Qualifying continues tomorrow, with a final one-hour session, followed by Sunday’s 48-lap Superbike race.



More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp had a successful first day at Pikes Peak International Raceway Friday, putting his GSX-R1000 on the front row for Saturday’s Formula Xtreme race. Rapp successfully negotiated the venue’s power-sapping altitude and the day’s sweltering conditions to qualify his machine fourth in class with a time of 55.311 .

Rapp is keen to improve upon his current fifth-place standing in the class points race this weekend. The 30-year-old Californian’s hard riding style is well suited to the tight 1.3-mile mountainside circuit, a fact evidenced by a previous top-five Superbike finish at the track to his credit.

“I like the track a lot and have had some good results here in the past. I’m looking forward to the race,” Rapp said of his day in the sweltering heat. “We had a just a little bit trouble at the end of qualifying and never got to use a soft tire,” Rapp said. “Other than that it was really good.”

Rapp is also taking on additional duties this weekend subbing for injured teammate Matt Furtek in the Superstock class. It didn’t take Rapp long to get back into the Superstock groove, running fourth in the morning’s practice session.

Chris Ulrich spent his day dialing in his Valvoline EMGO Suzuki Superstock and Formula Xtreme race machines. The Formula Xtreme rookie was unable to find ideal solutions on Friday but expects to improve throughout the weekend.

“We made forward progress, but we just didn’t move forward as fast as I would like,” Ulrich said after the day’s action had concluded. “We’re just going to keep our heads down, make some changes, and see what we can do.”

Next, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki will contest the Formula Xtreme race on Saturday and the Superstock race on Sunday.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final Supersport Qualifying Results (as of 5:57 p.m. MDT):

1. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 55.547
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 55.706
3. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 55.876
4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 55.968
5. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 56.094
6. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 56.253
7. Alex Gobert, Honda, 56.259
8. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha, 56.502
9. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 56.573
10. Ty Howard, Honda, 56.608
11. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki, 56.855
12. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 56.984
13. Doug Chandler, Honda, 57.026
14. Jason Curtis, Honda, 57.402
15. Thad Halsmer, Yamaha, 57.496
16. Chris Peris, Honda, 57.582
17. Craig Connell, Honda, 57.801
18. Heath Small, Yamaha, 58.342
19. Elton Curry, Yamaha, 59.160
20. Hector Romero, Yamaha, 59.200
21. Martin Sims, Suzuki, 59.276
22. Mark Ledesma, Honda, 59.280
23. Dirk Sanchez, Kawasaki, 59.539
24. Shaun Summers, Suzuki, 59.605
25. Quentin Wilson, Yamaha, 59.948
26. Terry Skogen, Yamaha, 59.967
27. David Lambert, Suzuki, 1:00.147
28. Torsten Zorn, Suzuki, 1:00.482
29. Jason Hobbs, Yamaha, 1:00.309
30. David Guy, Suzuki, 1:00.375
31. Darin Scherer, Yamaha, 1:00.426
32. Chris Lowe, Suzuki, 1:00.482
33. James Davis, Yamaha, 1:00.722
34. Michael Applehans, Suzuki, 1:00.914
35. Adam Scott, Suzuki, 1:00.992
36. Mike McCracken, Suzuki, 1:01.021
37. Jeff Grace, Yamaha, 1:01.263
38. Will Sequino, Yamaha, 1:01.438
39. Jake Zemke, Honda, 56.086*
40. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 56.201*

Qualifying Cutoff Time: 1:02.213

Maximum Grid Size: 40

* Moved to the back of the grid for a technical violation.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA 250cc Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

1. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 55.789
2. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 56.130
3. Simon Turner, TSR Honda, 56.881
4. Colin Jensen, Aprilia, 57.181
5. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 58.162
6. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 58.241
7. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 58.302
8. Chris Pyles, Honda, 58.818
9. Greg Esser, Honda, 58.846
10. Sandy Noce, Yamaha, 59.252
11. Darren Fulce, Yamaha, 59.931
12. T. Russell Strobridge, Yamaha, 1:00.166
13. John France, Honda, 1:00.234
14. Sean McNew, Honda, 1:00.436
15. M. Ben Welch, Yamaha, 1:00.761
16. David Gallant, Yamaha, 1:00.799
17. Stephen Bowline, Honda, 1:00.965
18. Sean Wray, Yamaha, 1:01.000
19. Shawn Murray, Honda, 1:01.066
20. Silbanio Trujillo, Yamaha, 1:01.397
21. Glen Christianson, Yamaha, 1:01.867
22. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:01.961
23. Andrew Edwards, Yamaha, 1:02.436
24. John Burbach, Yamaha, 1:02.695

Qualifying Cutoff Time: 1:03.599

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

World Superbike Superpole Results:

1. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 999F03, 1:26.907
2. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.942
3. James Toseland, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.199
4. Chris Walker, Ducati 998F02, 1:27.574
5. Regis Laconi, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.741
6. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.797
7. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.885
8. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 999F03, 1:28.087
9. Vittorio Iannuzzo, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.111
10. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.352
11. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.352
12. Troy Corser, Foggy Petronas FP1, 1:28.824
13. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:28.850
14. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:28.970
15. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR,1:29.141
16. Giovanni Bussei, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:29.693

17. Nello Russo, Ducati, 1:29.881
18. Serafino Foti, Ducati, 1:30.580
19. Walter Tortoroglio, Honda, 1:31.428
20. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati, 1:31.837
21. Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki, 1:31.950
22. Steinar Sundby Dag, Yamaha, 1:32.388
DNQ. James Haydon, Foggy Petronas, 1:33.726

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Honda CBR600RR Supersport bikes ridden by Marty Craggill, Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke were found to have illegal modifications following qualifying at Pikes Peak, and all three riders were penalized.

According to a statement released by AMA Pro Racing, Craggill’s Honda had a “non-standard oil pressure relief valve and non-standard charging system.”

Duhamel and Zemke’s Hondas had “non-standard oil pressure relief valve.”

Craggill was disqualified, will not be allowed to start the Supersport race at Pikes Peak, and will be fined a yet-to-determined amount.

Duhamel and Zemke were each fined 20 points and $2000, and were moved to the back of the grid.

From a press release:

SILKY WEBSTER CRUISES TO OSCHERLEBEN TRIUMPH

Steve Webster notched up his second win of the Superside World Championship Saturday at Oschersleben in Germany to move to within 11 points of leader Klaus Klaffenböck.

Webster was overtaken at the start by Jörg Steinhausen and Klaffenböck but fought back to retake the lead by the end of lap one. The Yorkshireman never looked back and fired through 22 laps to record a hat-trick of wins at Oschersleben.

“It was all about keeping it smooth and closing the gap in the standings. We managed to achieve both goals,” said a delighted Webster.

Klaffenböck had to deal with oil on his visor following Steinhausen’s blow-up but the Austrian was happy with his machine’s reliability and second place.

Reigning world champion Steve Abbott was involved in a battle royale with Tom Hanks, finally overtaking his fellow countryman on lap 14 and holding on for a gritty third.

Superside World championship race result
(22 laps -80.674km/50.421miles):
1 Steve Webster, GB (Suzuki) 34:45.872
2 Klaus Klaffenböck, Austria (Yamaha) +13.249
3 Steve Abbott, GB (Suzuki) + 17.370
4 Tom Hanks, GB (Yamaha) +18.340
5 Martien van Gils, Holland (Suzuki) +43.897
6 Mike Roscher, Germany (Suzuki) +1m21.507
7 Billy Gallrös, Sweden (Suzuki) +1 lap
8 Gerhard Hauzenberger, Austria (Suzuki) +1lap
9 Bill Philp, GB (Suzuki) +1 lap
10 Sepp Doppler, Austria (Yamaha) +1 lap.

Championship points after three of nine rounds:
1 Klaffenböck 61
2 Webster 50
3 Abbott 38
4 Roscher 34
5 Van Gils 27
6 Hauzenberger 24
7 Jörg Steinhausen, Germany (Suzuki) 20
8 Dan Morrissey, GB (Yamaha) 20
9 Gallrös 18
10 Philp 17

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Supersport:

1. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 55.909
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 56.003
3. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 56.256
4. Jake Zemke, Honda, 56.443
5. Alex Gobert, Honda, 56.556
6. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 56.570
7. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 56.574
8. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 56.580
9. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 56.757
10. Ty Howard, Honda, 56.916
11. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, 57.129
12. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha, 57.244
13. Craig Connell, Honda, 57.260
14. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki, 57.269
15. Doug Chandler, Honda, 57.542
16. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 57.557
17. Marty Craggill, Honda, 57.740
18. Thad Halsmer, Yamaha, 58.183
19. Jason Curtis, Honda, 58.329
20. Heath Small, Yamaha, 59.181


Formula Xtreme:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki, 55.084
2. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 55.315
3. Jake Zemke, Honda, 55.347
4. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 55.520
5. Doug Chandler, Honda, 55.544
6. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 55.626
7. Ty Howard, Honda, 55.815
8. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki, 55.867
9. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, 55.907
10. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 55.937
11. Marty Craggill, Honda, 56.064
12. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 56.281
13. Craig Connell, Honda, 56.500
14. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 56.843
15. Jeff Tigert, Suzuki, 56.945
16. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 56.956
17. Jason Curtis, Honda, 57.202
18. Geoff May, Suzuki, 57.395
19. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 57.483
20. Shane Turpin, Yamaha, 58.046


Superstock:
1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 56.040
2. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki GSX-R750, 56.250
3. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, 56.310
4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha YZF-R6, 56.418
5. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 56.526
6. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600RR, 56.613
7. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R750, 56.620
8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R750, 56.725
9. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R750, 56.795
10. Jamie Stauffer, Suzuki GSX-R600, 56.811
11. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 56.856
12. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, 57.208
13. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, 57.342
14. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, 57.349
15. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, 57.566
16. Marty Craggill, Honda CBR600RR, 57.651
17. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600RR, 57.701
18. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750, 57.756
19. Michael Applehans, Suzuki GSX-R600, 57.905
20. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600F4i, 57.953
21. Thad Halsmer, Yamaha YZF-R6, 58.074
22. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 58.177
23. Hawk Mazzotta, Suzuki GSX-R750, 58.415
24. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750, 58.533
25. Kevin Pate, Suzuki GSX-R750, 58.688
26. Jason Peters, Suzuki GSX-R750, 58.785
27. Christopher Ancien, Suzuki GSX-R750, 59.201
28. Heath Small, Yamaha YZF-R6, 59.276
29. Martin Sims, Suzuki GSX-R600, 59.666
30. Tom Wertman, Suzuki GSX-R750, 59.743


250cc Grand Prix:

1. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 55.545
2. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 57.358
3. Colin Jensen, Aprilia, 58.144
4. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 59.099
5. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 59.160
6. Chris Pyles, Honda, 59.202
7. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 59.242
8. Sandy Noce, Yamaha, 59.631
9. Greg Esser, Honda, 59.777
10. John France, Honda, 1:00.208
11. Darren Fulce, Yamaha, 1:01.113
12. Shawn Murray, Honda, 1:01.495
13. Sean Wray, Yamaha, 1:01.861
14. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:01.897
15. Sean McNew, Honda, 1:02.176
16. Stephen Bowline, Honda, 1:02.242
17. T. Russell Strobridge, Yamaha, 1:02.393
18. M. Ben Welch, Yamaha, 1:02.972
19. Glen Christianson, Yamaha, 1:03.060
20. John Burbach, Yamaha, 1:03.095

Simon Turner did not ride in Saturday morning 250cc Grand Prix practice at PPIR. Turner crashed twice, both highsides, during practice on Friday. Turner suffered a concussion but plans to run in qualifying Saturday afternoon.


Superbike:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 54.739
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 54.843
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 55.054
4. Anthony Gobert, Ducati, 55.089
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 55.139
6. Ben Bostrom, Honda, 55.161
7. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 55.579
8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, 55.686
9. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 55.764
10. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 55.771
11. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki, 55.945
12. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki, 55.981
13. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 56.055
14. Josh Hayes, Suzuki, 56.263
15. Pascal Picotte, Yamaha, 56.491
16. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 56.732
17. Michael Barnes, Suzuki, 56.855
18. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 56.931
19. Geoff May, Suzuki, 56.927
20. Jeff Tigert, Suzuki, 56.998

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Ten Kate dominate Supersport qualifying again

With the morning thunderstorms clearing and the track drying, Karl Muggeridge retained his Friday pole for tomorrow’s Supersport race on his Ten Kate Honda.

“Our set up has worked pretty well so far and I’m really happy to put the Honda CBR600RR on pole again,” said Muggeridge, “But we still have some work to do to find just that little bit extra.”

Final qualifying was a two-part session after being red flagged when Riba, Nannelli and Cogan crashed on the slippery surface. But by the mid-point of the session the track was substantially dry, if a little dirty.

Muggeridge’s team mate Chris Vermeulen, still riding with an injured thumb, improved on his time and almost matched his fellow Australian. He was fast enough at 1:30.285 to take second on the grid.

Stephan Chambon is the first of the Suzukis, with an improved time moving him to third on the grid. A crash from MacPherson marred his good session, as he improved from fifteenth in Friday’s session to ninth.

“That was easier than yesterday,” said Vermeulen, referring to the effort of riding with his badly injured right thumb. “I was just trying to get around the circuit while avoiding mud and water and managed a fast lap! The conditions aren’t as quick as yesterday but we’ve worked really hard with WP Suspension and Pirelli Tyres to come up with a great set up. We still have a little more to find so the work isn’t over yet.”

The new boy of the Supersport paddock, Sebastien Charpentier, now riding as a full timer in the Klaffi Honda team, took the final front row start, ahead of Katsuaki Fujiwara and Pere Riba. Jurgen VD Goorbergh and Iain MacPherson complete the second row.


Final World Supersport Qualifying Results (fastest time):

1. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, (1:30.250), 1:30.479
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:30.469, (1:30.285)
3. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, (1:30.314), 1:31.812
4. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, (1:30.397), 1:31.744
5. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, (1:30.506), 1:30.639
6. Pere Riba, Kawasaki, (1:30.599), 1:31.211
7. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Yamaha, 1:30.637, (1:30.620)
8. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:31.132, (1:30.702)
9. Broc Parkes, Honda, 1:30.891, (1:30.715)
10. Robert Ulm, Honda, 1:30.781, (1:30.769)
11. Werner Daemen, Honda, (1:30.823), 1:31.898
12. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, (1:30.872), 1:32.204
13. Fabien Foret, Kawasaki, (1:30.935), 1:30.960
14. Gianluca Nannelli, Yamaha, (1:31.019), 1:31.591
15. Simone Sanna, Yamaha, (1:31.092), 1:31.662
16. Christien Kellner, Yamaha, 1:31.133, (1:31.111)
17. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, (1:31.137), 1:31.242
18. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, (1:31.161), 1:31.678
19. Thierry vd Bosch, Yamaha, (1:31.174), 1:31.607
20. Kenan Sofuoglu, Yamaha, (1:31.189), 1:31.463


More, from a press release issued by Ten Kate Honda:

Ten Kate Honda shine in Oschersleben storms

Rain storms threatened to ruin the final qualifying of the fifth round of the World Supersport championship in Oschersleben, Germany. But as the Supersport field took to the track for their final qualifying session, the rain held off and the circuit dried fast, allowing Chris Vermeulen to move up into second, behind team mate and pole-sitter Karl Muggeridge.

Karl Muggeridge took the third pole for Ten Kate Honda in only five races, relying on the very quick time set in Friday’s session.

“Our set up has worked pretty well so far and I’m obviously really happy to put the Honda CBR600RR on pole again,” said Muggeridge, “But we still have some work to do to find just that little bit extra.”

Chris Vermeulen ignored the pain from his injured thumb to storm into second on the grid as the session came to an end.

“That was easier than yesterday,” said Vermeulen, referring to the effort of riding with his badly injured right thumb. “I was just trying to get around the circuit while avoiding mud and water and managed a fast lap! The conditions aren’t as quick as Friday but we’ve worked really hard with WP Suspension and Pirelli Tyres to come up with a great set up. We still have a little more to find so the work isn’t over yet.”

Team manager Ronald ten Kate confirmed that despite taking the two top grid positions there was still a busy night ahead for the technicians.

“While I am happy to see both my riders at the top again we aren’t resting,” said ten Kate. “The changing conditions made lots of extra work for us here. This isn’t a quick track like Monza, so no one can accuse us of qualifying on top just because of sheer outright speed. This shows that the CBR600RR is a great race bike anywhere, even at a twisting and technical track like Oschersleben.”

The forecast for Sunday, race-day, is sunny. While wet racing may produce thrills and spills, nearly all the riders would prefer to race in the dry.