Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Former AMA and World Superbike Champion Scott Russell won the SuperTT Pro class SuperMotard race Saturday at Road Atlanta. Russell came from behind on his Maxxis-equipped KTM World KTM LC4 to pass KTM 525 rider Aaron Howe and go on to take the victory. Howe took second in the 15-lap main event, ahead of Greg Tysor on a Honda CRF450F, Kelley Payne on a Suzuki DR-Z400 and David Sadowski on a Honda CRF450F on Maxxis tires.

Mike Smith fell behind early in the race, ran off the track several times trying to make up time and finished eighth on a Pirelli-equipped Cannondale 440.

The SuperTT course was laid out with low-profile cones, plastic barrels, haybales and tire walls in the AMA/Pro paddock inside the Road Atlanta road course, which is not used for the WERA GNF being held at Road Atlanta this weekend. The three-quarter-mile track ran down hot pit lane and into the gravel area behind the paved paddock. According to GMD Computrack’s Kent Soignier, a competitor in the SuperTT race, deep tire ruts–formed in the gravel by the racebikes–exposed buried electrical cables. During a break in the SuperTT program, track workers piled enough gravel in front of the cables to create a jump, solving the problem.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Mike Smith, Vincent Haskovec, Tray Batey, Bradley Champion and John Haner won races Sunday at the annual Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta.

Vesrah Suzuki’s Batey started the day by running away with the TL1000R Suzuki Cup final. Shawn Stinnett seemed to have second place wrapped up, but Scott Brown was close enough to Stinnett to apply pressure throughout the 10-lap final. On lap eight, Stinnett ran wide at the exit of the turn 10 chicane, got his rear wheel in the dirt and highsided violently. The crash stopped the race, and Stinnett was scored as a DNF as the cause of the red flag. Batey was awarded the win over Brown followed by Fred Faranegan, Tim Brewer, Russell Masecar and Doug Glass.

Stinnett was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center with a suspected concussion.

Only seven riders entered the TL1000R Suzuki Cup Final.

The Suzuki GSX-R750 Final started as a five-rider war at the front involving Smith, Batey, Haner, Chris “Opie” Caylor and Brian Stokes, but on lap seven of 10 Caylor and Haner tangled going into turn 10. A few laps later Stokes slowed due to arm pump. The race came down to a duel between veterans Batey and Smith. Batey took the lead on the last lap but encountered a problem down the back straightaway. Marietta Motorsports’ Smith took the win by less than a bikelength over Batey. Stokes took third, and John Jacobi finished fourth just ahead of Haskovec.

Haskovec started the GSX-R750 final from the 20th row because his bike went over the horsepower limit following his qualifying heat race on Saturday.

As many as six riders raced for the lead in the SV650 Suzuki Cup final. Late in the race, MB Motorsports/Richmond Suzuki’s Champion asserted control of the pace with 1:35 lap times, and only RTM Motorcycles’ John Linder was able to stay close. Linder led down the back straight on the final lap, but Champion beat Linder on the brakes for turn 10 and held on for the win. Linder took second three seconds ahead of first-year Expert Brian Suffridge, Caylor, David Yaakov and Greg Harrison.

Smith, Haskovec, Stokes and Jacobi formed the lead pack in the Suzuki GSX-R600 race. Smith and Haskovec exchanged the lead back-and-forth most of the time with Stokes closing late in the race and Jacobi fading with arm pump. Smith, Stokes and Haskovec went three-wide into the chicane at the end of the back straight on the final lap. Smith took the lead but slid at the exit. SGI’s Haskovec squared off the corner and drove past Smith and Stokes up the hill and to the checkered flag. Haskovec won from Smith, Stokes, Jacobi, Shan Ball and Robert Jensen.

Smith held the early lead in the Suzuki GSX-R1000 final with Mark Junge, Haner and Caylor in close pursuit. As the 10-lap race wore on rain began to fall lightly making turn seven, the tight right-hand turn leading onto the back straight, especially slick. Roadracingworld.com’s Haner wanted the win more than the rest of the field and pulled away even though his lap times slowed. Smith slowed more than Haner to take second, and Caylor admitted he settled for third in the conditions, his first podium of the day. Closing to Caylor’s tailsection across the line, Jensen took advantage of Haskovec’s hesitation due to a dirty faceshield to pass into fourth on the final lap. Haskovec took fifth just in front of Geoff May.

Unofficially, Smith was the biggest money winner of the day, earning $8000 for his win and two second-place finishes. Haskovec earned $5400, Caylor made $4100 from four races, Stokes and Batey each collected $4000, Haner took home $3800, Jensen made $3500 and Jacobi pocketed $3000 in Suzuki Cup purse money Sunday .

RESULTS:

TL1000R Cup Final:

1. Tray Batey, 7 laps
2. Scott Brown, -10.243 seconds
3. Fred Farzanegan, -27.681 seconds
4. Tim Brewer, -28.119 seconds
5. Russell Masecar, -28.409 seconds
6. Doug Glass, -58.893 seconds


GSX-R1000 Cup Final:

1. John Haner, 10 laps
2. Mike Smith, -3.280 seconds
3. Chris “Opie” Caylor, -3.655 seconds
4. Robert Jensen, -3.880 seconds
5. Vincent Haskovec, -4.215 seconds
6. Geoff May, -4.591 seconds


GSX-R750 Cup Final:

1. Mike Smith, 10 laps
2. Tray Batey, -0.134 second
3. Brian Stokes, -4.555 seconds
4. John Jacobi, -8.599 seconds
5. Vincent Haskovec, -10.214 seconds
6. Robert Jensen, -14.226 seconds


GSX-R600 Cup Final:

1. Vincent Haskovec, 10 laps
2. Mike Smith, -0.095 second
3. Brian Stokes, -0.172 second
4. John Jacobi, -5.089 seconds
5. Shan Ball, -5.829 seconds
6. Robert Jensen, -6.039 seconds


SV650 Cup Final:

1. Bradley Champion, 10 laps
2. John Linder, -0.283 second
3. Brian Suffridge, -3.600 seconds
4. Chris “Opie” Caylor, -3.683 seconds
5. David Yaakov, -3.890 seconds
6. Greg Harrison, -5.077 seconds

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Michael Hannas

Greg Moore piloted his Michelin DOT-shod Suzuki GSX-Rs sponsored by Buzz’s Psycles to five wins Friday and Saturday during the WERA GNF at Road Atlanta. Moore won every race he entered, including B Superstock Novice, C Superstock Novice, C Superbike Novice, B Superbike Novice, and Formula 1 Novice.

Jeff Walker kept Moore honest in each race, with the best battle between the two coming in C Superbike Novice, where Moore made the pass for the win on the final lap when Walker was held up by a lapper entering turn 10a.

Moore dropped his lap times into the 1:28 range by the end of the day, which is less than two seconds off the best times done so far this weekend by GSX-R750 Suzuki Cup Final participants.

Walker came home with three second-place finishes and two third-places on a Suzuki GSX-R600 borrowed from Army of Darkness.

Other Novice winners on the weekend included Phillip Chapin, who won the Lightweight Twins Novice Sportsman race on his Suzuki SV650 but was DQ’d from victory in D Superbike Novice for illegal intake modifications. The D Superbike win was given to Martin Musi, who also ran a Suzuki SV650. Lance Pentecost took the win in Clubman Novice on his Ducati 750SS, while Kevin Cesar was the fastest in the Crusty Old Racers Class (a.k.a. CORC, for riders older than age 40), taking the CORC Novice win on his Suzuki GSXR750. Phillip Fortune took his SV650 to victory in Formula 2 Novice. The Lightweight Twins Novice National was won by Sam Snellenberger on a Suzuki SV650, and Snellenberger also took second to Brad Ervin on a Ducati 996 in the Heavyweight Twins Novice Sportsman race.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Superbike Champion Nicky Hayden will attend the final MotoGP race of the season next weekend, in Valencia, Spain.

Hayden is attending the race to get a feel for the MotoGP paddock.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

$80,000 worth of Suzuki Cup purse checks were stolen from American Suzuki at Road Atlanta.

“Unfortunately, I need to call on everyone to give us a hand,” said American Suzuki Sports Promotions On-road Specialist Morgan Broadhead at a rider’s meeting moments ago. “Yesterday (Saturday), someone stole $80,000 worth of Suzuki Cup checks out of our van.

“Unless I find those checks, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people.”

The main result of the checks being stolen is that Broadhead cannot distribute checks to Suzuki Cup racers Sunday night, which is what Suzuki representatives usually do. Broadhead said that the stolen checks cannot be cashed.

Broadhead said no questions would be asked if the checks were returned.

More details as they become available.


Update:

A black computer bag containing $80,000 worth of Suzuki Cup purse checks–which American Suzuki representatives thought were stolen–was found at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time near a Suzuki semi-truck in the Road Atlanta paddock.

“We don’t know where they were or how they got to where we found them; we’re just happy they turned up,” Morgan Broadhead told Roadracingworld.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

2002 AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year Brian Livengood suffered a broken left ankle when he hit a wall after crashing in an unofficial practice session at Road Atlanta Tuesday, October 22, before Air Fence and Alpina Air Module sections were deployed for the start of official practice. Livengood planned to race in the GSX-R750 Suzuki Cup Finals this weekend before traveling to the Macau Grand Prix in November but will now be out at least two to three weeks.

“Basically, I went into turn four, and the front just went,” said Livengood Saturday at Road Atlanta. “(Another racer) told me he saw a knee puck in the corner, and I think I might have hit it. Normally, you can feel the front end go, but this time the front just went.

“I slid on my butt and tried to spin, but I went into the wall feet-first. The bike went in first and cleared out the haybales, and I hit the bare wall.”

Livengood said he broke “a couple of bones” in his left ankle but underwent two hours of successful surgery to screw and plate the ankle back together at the Piedmont Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday.

Livengood pointed out that he will still be training, as best he can, while off his feet and is still looking for a ride for 2003.

Vincent Haskovec will take Livengood’s place on the North American Macau team. Haskovec will ride his SGI-sponsored Suzuki GSX-R750 and will work with mechanic Mike Godin.


Meanwhile, young gun Matt Furtek was taken out of the Suzuki Cup Finals by an aggravated wrist injury; a surgical screw due to be removed after the GNF started backing out, causing Furtek’s hand to go numb. Furtek, 17, was riding for Valvoline EMGO Suzuki in both the GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 Suzuki Cup classes.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

American Suzuki’s Morgan Broadhead turns 32 today.

Broadhead is at Road Atlanta administering the Suzuki Cup Finals.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Michael Hannas

Former WSMC 125cc GP Champion Kevin Murray has returned to racing after suffering life-threatening injuries during a dirt bike accident almost a year and a half ago. Murray raced his Yamaha TZ125 in the WERA 125cc Grand Prix final Saturday at Road Atlanta, marking his first race back since his injury. Murray finished 13th in the race, one lap behind winner Brian Kcraget, but had a good time in his return to racing.

“I just wanted to drive home on I-20 West without a crashed bike!” said Murray. “I felt pretty good out there, my balance is still a little messed up, so I just took it real easy. I was doing a little R&D, tried a longer rod which worked out really well; the thing was like a four-stroke Single it was so torquey. I was just really timid out there. My goal was to survive. I mean, I was on life support 16 months ago, which was actually like a vacation. I didn’t even have to breathe. This is more work, but it’s also more fun.”

Murray wasn’t specific about his future plans, but did say he was planning on getting another 250 sometime soon. He definitely still plans on racing though, saying “Yeah, you know me, I’ll probably be racing 125s till I’m 120 years old!”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Mike Smith, John Haner, Tray Batey and Bradley Champion won Suzuki Cup qualifying heat races Saturday at Road Atlanta.

The GSX-R600 heat race featured a six-rider drafting war for the lead involving Marietta Motorsports’ Smith, John Jacobi, Robert Jensen, Vincent Haskovec, Jeff Tigert and Brian Stokes. Smith came from the fourth row of the grid to take the checkered flag a fraction of a second ahead of Haskovec, Factory Pro’s Tigert, Stokes, Jensen and Jacobi. Shan Ball, Danny Eslick from row 12, Chris “Opie” Caylor from row 15 and Scott Harwell rounded out the top 10.

SGI’s Haskovec will start Sunday’s 10-lap GSX-R600 final from pole position, because he was the highest-finishing regional points leader.

Smith, Haskovec, Batey, Haner and Stokes battled flag-to-flag in the GSX-R750 heat. Haner and Batey diced for the lead early in the six-lap sprint allowing Smith to catch up from the seventh row of the grid. Smith took the lead on the white-flag lap with four pursuers in his draft. On the final lap Haskovec caught a double draft down the back straightaway and passed Batey and Haner for second. Going for the trifecta, Haskovec tried to outbrake Smith at the end of the back straight but ran wide into the chicane. Smith got away cleanly to take the win while Batey, Haskovec and Haner exited the chicane three-wide. Haner nearly highsided coming up the hill leaving 42-year-old Batey and Haskovec to decide second. Haskovec held the inside line and was able to beat Batey through the final corner and to the checkered flag by a wheel. Batey took third ahead of Haner, Stokes, Jensen, Harwell, Caylor, Shawn Conrad and Scott Carpenter.

After the race, Haskovec’s GSX-R750 went over the 135.0-horsepower limit. Haskovec will start from the back of the grid. Haner will start Sunday’s 10-lap GSX-R750 final from pole position based on being the highest-finishing regional points leader.

Roadracingworld.com’s Haner got his moment in the sun when he ran Smith down from behind to take the GSX-R1000 heat race win. Smith held on for a close second with Haskovec third; Mark Junge was fourth with Geoff May, Caylor, Jensen, Harwell, Fritz Kling and Carpenter filling the top 10 slots.

By virtue of being the highest-finishing regional point leader, Junge will start the 10-lap GSX-R1000 Cup final from pole position.

Early in the afternoon race program Vesrah Suzuki’s Batey, the defending TL1000R Suzuki Cup Champion, ran away with the TL1000R heat race win. Lapping as fast as 1:30.2, Batey won by 11 seconds over Shawn Stinnett, Scott Brown, Fred Farzanegan, Tim Brewer, Russell Masecar and Doug Glass in the seven-entry TL1000R class.

Batey will start Sunday’s 10-lap TL1000R Cup Final from pole position.

The battle for the Suzuki SV650 qualifier win whittled down to five riders by lap four of six with Chris Normand, John Linder, Greg Harrison, David Yaakov and Champion in the lead group. MB Motorsports/Richmond Suzuki’s Champion tooek the lead on lap four of six and went on to win by 0.94-second. Yaakov took second while Harrison snuck under Linder in the final corner for third. Normand finished fifth with Brian Suffridge, Stinnett, Kyle Ray, Bernie Huntt and Bradley Duncan not far behind.

Champion will start from pole position for Sunday’s 10-lap SV650 Cup Final.