Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Thursday practice started at 8:30 a.m. today at Road America. The practice day, organized and run by the racetrack itself, cost riders $200 per bike, per group, with four 20-minute sessions per group.

That’s relatively high, considering that riders got about the same amount of track time at Pikes Peak last Thursday for $50 per rider (not bike) and that the Team Hammer Pro Practice day scheduled on the Thursday before the AMA National at The Colonel’s Brainerd International Raceway later this month will cost $150 per rider (not bike) with five 30-minute sessions per group.

The difference in available track time may be due to how the on-track groups are structured. At Road America, practice is divided into five groups, Supersport, 250 Grand Prix, Superbike/Formula Xtreme, Superstock and Pro Thunder.

At Pikes Peak and Brainerd, practice was/is divided into three groups:

Supersport/250cc Grand Prix
Superbike/Formula Xtreme
Superstock/Pro Thunder

Those groupings seem to work fairly well and nearly double each group’s track time.



This Just In:

The afternoon sessions at Road America will combine Supersport/250cc Grand Prix, Superbike/Formula Xtreme, and Superstock/Pro Thunder.

From a press release issued by the organizers of the Superbike World Championship Series:

Round 7 – Germany – EuroSpeedway
7-9 June 2002
Lausitz, 6 June 2002

Second Time Around

The Eurospeedway Lausitz race facility is truly impressive to behold, and on SBK’s first visit in 2001, which launched the new track to the world at large, all new visitors were impressed by the scope and scale of the entire project.

Designed from the outset as the most impressive new motorsports facility in Europe, Eurospeedway Lausitz is a venue worthy of this respect. The towering grandstands, vast site area, Daytona-style Tri-oval layout and impressive facilities – for fans and the travelling paddock circus alike – put it on the cutting edge of modern circuit design.

Not a natural motorcycle track, due to its almost flat topography, continuous slow turns, and the need for car-racing barriers in some strategic points, the Lausitzring is nonetheless a tricky circuit to get right for even the best competitors on only their second visit.

Despite the many corners, the average speed is somewhere in the region of 150km/h, no slower than most other SBK tracks.

The 4.265 km track, with a 650m front straight, is mostly based on the infield of the huge encircling tri-oval, used by the open wheel racecar fraternity.

The Lausitz tarmac, proved to be highly abrasive in the dry but curiously less than porous in the wet, provided a unique challenge for the competitors and made for some unexpected results in qualifying.

Steve Martin (DFX Ducati) is the current holder of the fastest qualifying lap, with a 1:40.036 (153.480km/h) but in race conditions, the official lap record stands to Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) at 1:40.599.

The same two men who shared race wins at Lausitz in 2001, and battled it out for that year’s championship, are the same two who have been putting so much into their campaigns this year. Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) have been not just fast, but fast every single weekend, in every session, in every possible way.

The other championship challengers may have been dismayed by the consistent brilliance of Bayliss (nine wins from 12 attempts) and the dogged excellence of Edwards, but seldom have the leading duo had their own way throughout an entire half season.

Many have tried, however, and many more will doubtless continue to try.

Neil Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) is using last year’s factory Ducati this season and despite any performance differentials, has been fighting hard throughout to keep his receding hopes of an eventual top two finish alive. Sitting third at present, 74 points behind Edwards, he has had dramatic on-track battles and feuds with those in front and behind him.

Closest chaser is the ebullient Japanese Samurai Noriyuki Haga (Playstation2 Aprilia) who has yet to win this year but has shown it is more than possible, if circumstances would allow. First time at Lausitz for Haga may count against him, but for fifth place man Ruben Xaus, Bayliss’ team-mate, he knows his way round. A mercurial genius on his day and a self-destructive force of nature when it’s not, Xaus is nonetheless one of the most popular men in the paddock. Coming from a podium finish in Silverstone, he may just be a threat in Germany; Ben Bostrom (L&M Ducati) may also challenge, if his Dunlop-shod Ducati can perform at its best – and the rider can rekindle the kind of staggering form that gave him five wins in a row last season.

James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) has been learning the ways of top-level Superbike racing for two years now, and learning pretty quick. Despite a single podium finish, his consistency has been immense, with only one no-score for one so young.

Three Brits in the top eight means that Chris Walker has jumped up the table after his fourth place finish at Silverstone. The Kawasaki Racing Team pilot has had many problems, medical and otherwise this season, but his sheer will to kick-start his career has been a feature of his debut SBK year. It has also made him the top four-cylinder competitor in the SBK Championship, ahead of Spain and Alstare Suzuki’s Gregorio Lavilla, his compatriot Juan Borja (Spaziotel Ducati) and the still-injured Hitoyasu Izutsu. Possibly the most popular man in SBK racing even now is Pierfrancesco Chili. The veteran Italian on the NCR Ducati has been impressive enough but recovery from a broken collarbone has halted aspirations for the podium positions this season.

A whole phalanx of fast Ducati-equipped privateers have made themselves occasional thorns in the sides of the factory-equipped men this year, but for high flier Bayliss, on 260 points, he has only been rivalled by one man, Colin Edwards, on 231.

In the Supersport Championship, the three way fight for the lead has been joined by a few others recently, with James Whitham (Yamaha Belgarda) winning at Silverstone, but it appears that (season-long at least) the title will be decided between Stephane Chambon (Alstare Suzuki), Fabien Foret (Ten Kate Honda) and reigning champion Andrew Pitt (Kawasaki Racing Team).

At Lausitz last year rain-specialist Kevin Curtin won the event for Honda, and he returns this season on an OPCM Yamaha.

From a press release:

GREAT DAY GOES BAD FOR PROTON MEN

Round 5: Italian GP, Mugello Sunday June 2, 2002

Nobuatsu Aoki: DNF
Jeremy McWilliams: DNF

Proton Team KR riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Jeremy McWilliams both retired from the Italian GP – Aoki crashing out of a superb seventh place on the tenth of 23 laps of the 5.245km Mugello circuit in the Tuscan foothills, and McWilliams pulling into the pits with five laps remaining.

Both riders had engine problems, for different reasons. Aoki’s motor seized abruptly, throwing the Japanese rider off, fortunately without injury. McWilliams’s motor suffered from lubrication starvation as an indirect consequence of excessive tyre wear, and also nipped up – though the Ulsterman was able to anticipate the problem and declutch, to coast safely into the pits.

It was a double disappointment for Proton Team KR, after strong qualifying performances at a track where the very long and fast straight is prejudiced against the three-cylinder 500cc lightweight KR3, which finds its advantage through fast corners and in more technical going. In spite of giving away more than 25km/h in top speed to the new powerful heavyweight MotoGP four-strokes, the Proton KR3 riders had qualified on the third row of the grid.

Aoki capitalised best on his good position, finishing the first lap in ninth, and pushing through to a strong seventh when he fell. McWilliams was not so quick off the line, but was well up in a points-scoring 11th before dropping back two places with tyre wear problems. He was 13th before he retired.

The race was run in baking sunshine and 30-degree heat, watched by 68,000 excited Italian fans, who watched defending World Champion Valentino Rossi’s Honda defeat fellow-Italian Max Biaggi’s Yamaha. Tohru Ukawa was third, on another four-stroke Honda.


NOBUATSU AOKI
“Everything was working perfectly – the chassis, the tyres, the suspension and the engine. I was really enjoying the race, and I had even got past Kenny Roberts Jr. on the Suzuki four-stroke when I crashed. I had a little warning that the engine would seize, but I could do nothing about it. It was just before the last right-hand corner off the hill, and when it locked up I hit the ground so fast. Luckily, I am not hurt. It was a very disappointing end to the weekend.”


JEREMY McWILLIAMS
“I had expected to run into some tyre problems because of the heat – it’s normal. But I had a strange problem as a result. Because the rear had gone away so badly, I wasn’t able to give the bike full throttle, and that starved it of lubrication. In the end, it paid the price – it locked up with hardly any warning. I was right in the middle of the fast chicane at the top of the hill, at about 120mph. I managed to get the clutch in quick enough. I was very lucky to get away with it … and I was going so fast I was able to coast from there to the pits.”


KENNY ROBERTS- Team Owner
“A bad day. Obviously we had a crankshaft problem with Nobu’s bike. The heat didn’t help, nor the long straight. We had a bit of a tyre problem as well, that led to Jeremy’s retirement. The whole thing has to be improved to bring it up to the level of the riders.”

From an e-mail:

Over the past two years, I have raced with Daryl on numerous occasions. He is an extremely clean rider. I race a modified Honda CR-500 dirt bike, which allows me to take many shall we say “creative” lines. In passing and (more often) being passed by Daryl there has never been an issue, even with him going around the outside of my somewhat sideways bike. I’ve enjoyed every encounter I’ve had with him on the track.

I sincerely think that this was a “RACING INCIDENT” which should not have a negative effect on our perception of either Yates or Woodward.

Thank you,

Sean Alexander
CCS #11 Expert
Simi Valley, CA

From two press releases, one issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist and one issued by American Honda:

MAT MLADIN Racing – MEDIA INFORMATION
For immediate release
Sunday, 2 June 2002

Round 8, 2002 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado, USA
Race Report

TYRE PROBLEMS FORCE MLADIN OFF PIKES PEAK PODIUM

Fountain, Colorado, USA: After holding down second place for much of the race, defending American Superbike champion, Australian Mat Mladin was forced to ease his race pace to preserve his rear tyre as it blistered badly in the sweltering conditions at Pikes Peak International Raceway to finish fourth at round eight of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship.

The race win went to Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom who led each of the 48-laps finishing 15.28 seconds clear of a trio of Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750s led by Aaron Yates who was followed by Jamie Hacking and Mladin.

Championship point’s leader Nicky Hayden (American Honda) crashed out of the race on lap sixteen and failed to score any additional points. Bostrom’s win, his first of the season, takes him to second on the points table with 211, ahead of Yates (204) and Mladin (181).

With track temperatures soaring to 125ºF tyre selection was always going to be critical around the tight 2.12km (1.315miles) course. Starting from the outside of the front row of the grid, Mladin got away well and was immediately in with the lead group. He held second place behind Bostrom, but on lap 22 began to experience problems with his rear tyre. Easing the pace slightly to preserve the tyre, Mladin was passed initially by teammate Jamie Hacking and then by Aaron Yates who was forced to undergo a stop / start penalty for jumping the race start. Yates passed Hacking on the final lap of the race to take second, while Mladin coasted to a safe fourth.

“Unfortunately it has been another frustrating race for me this year,” said Mladin. “We’ve had a few tyre problems this year and today was another. The tyre has just blistered all the way around one side and there was nothing I could do about it. It was the same tyre as the others were using, but mine just gave way at about mid race distance while the others looked good at the end of the race. The race got off to a good start for us and I was holding second place quite easily. Eric was very fast out front and I don’t think I could have got close to him anyway.

“The team has worked very hard to get on top of the handling problems that we’ve had lately and going by what has happened this weekend I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction now. I’ve moved up to fourth in the championship, but there is still a lot of work to be done if we want to get even closer to the front.”

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship heads to the Road America circuit at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin next weekend (June 8 & 9) for another Double-Header Superbike round for rounds 9 & 10 of the championship.


And now Honda’s release:

HONDA RACING NEWS

Rocky Day in the Rockies

Temperature: Sunny, 32 degrees
Crowd: 5000

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden leaves the Colorado Rockies with a 42 point AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship lead, despite ending the day with a fiery crash early in the Superbike race. Hayden was unhurt, but his Honda RC-51 was too badly damaged to continue and his winning streak of five Superbike races in a row ended in flames at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Teammate Miguel DuHamel had a slightly better day, though he also fell. The resilient French-Canadian crashed out of fourth place in the same slow left hand corner as Hayden, but with less damage. DuHamel picked up his RC-51 and soldiered on to finish fifth. The race was won by Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, Hayden’s nearest championship challenger and the 2001 championship runner-up.

Bruce Transportation Group’s Honda CBR-954-mounted Jake Zemke finished a close second in the Formula Xtreme race, closing to within 0.369 seconds of race winner Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) at the checkered flag. Erion Honda’s Roger Lee Hayden was fourth. Roger Lee, the youngest of the racing Haydens, finished third in the Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport race, won by his oldest brother, Tommy, on a Kawasaki.

Nicky Hayden, 20, of Owensboro, Kentucky, came to Colorado riding a five-race winning streak and looked to match the record of six, held by teammate DuHamel, the winningest rider in AMA Superbike history. Hayden qualified second, but didn’t have a great feel in the front end around the tortuous 1.315-mile PPIR road course, a seven-turn bull ring set in the middle of a one-mile banked oval. As the race began, Hayden gated badly and was back in fourth, soon to move to third. With a race length of 48 laps, and 55 second lap times, Hayden was patient, up to third by the ninth lap and gaining on the leaders. It all went wrong at the end of the back straightaway, a hairpin first-gear left-hander with surface irregularities and concrete patches. Hayden was instantly down and the machine was on fire before it stopped. Corner personnel arrived immediately and doused the flames, but his day was over.

Though he lost significant points in the championship, he still leads race winner Bostrom 253 to 211 after eight of 15 rounds. DuHamel is sixth in points after his crash and re-start.

Having also suffered front end problems in practice, DuHamel, who celebrated his 35th birthday just prior to the race weekend, tried a different set of offsets in the race. The result was less front end traction, which resulted in his turn three spill on the 38th of 48 laps. A quick inventory showed no damaged, and DuHamel brought the scuffed motorcycle home in fifth.

The pair will have a chance to redeem themselves next week at Road America, a high-speed four-mile road course where Hayden earned his first two Superbike wins.

Nicky Hayden, DNF
Got a bad start again, which is bad. And just got in there and was trying to ride hard, trying to catch up. Just kind of tipping it in. I didn’t have my knee down or anything. Just let the front get away from me. I’ve been fighting the front end all weekend pushing the front a lot. No excuse, I just made a mistake and it’s just one of those deals. It’s tough around here to make up time. I was just riding hard to try to catch up. I don’t know what happened, why it caught fire. I was still sliding, trying to get away from the bike and it was on fire. I was kind of hung under the bike and the thing was on fire and I was trying to get out from under it. I’m OK.

Miguel DuHamel, Fifth Place
We kind of took a big gamble before the race and we changed offsets and we made it two or three clicks worse than it was before the race. We hung in there and obviously it would have been interesting to see where we finished if I didn’t tip over in that corner. There’s a lot of tire patches and asphalt patches in that corner, turn three, where everybody’s fallen. I think it’s a corner if you do nothing wrong, and you hit the wrong line, you’re probably going to go down. I tried to save it with my knee and my elbow. There was nothing I could do. The bike didn’t want to get back up. But I kept it running and got back up and came around and caught Pascal Picotte. He was having bigger problems than I was I guess. We got a top five finish, that’s not bad.

Superbike:
1. Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki)
2. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
3. Jamie Hacking (Suzuki)
4. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
5. Miguel DuHamel (Honda)
6. Pascal Picotte (Ducati)
7. Brian Parriott (Suzuki)
8. Ricky Orlando (Suzuki)
9. Vincent Haskovec (Suzuki)
10. Brian Livengood (Suzuki)

AMA Superbike Championship Standings:
1. Nicky Hayden (253)
2. Eric Bostrom (211)
3. Aaron Yates (204)
4. Mat Mladin (181)
5. Pascal Picotte (190)
6. Miguel DuHamel (172)
7. Jamie Hacking (160)
8. Brian Livengood (159)
9. Brian Parriott (151)
10. (TIE) Anthony Gobert/Rich Conicelli (118)

From a press release:

Superbike World Championship
Round seven: EuroSpeedway Lausitz
Wednesday 5 June 2002
Event preview

Mid-season showdown at EuroSpeedway

The seventh round of the 2002 Superbike World Championship takes place at EuroSpeedway, Lausitz this weekend (7-9 June). The HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing team arrives at the German circuit with riders Neil Hodgson and James Toseland currently occupying third and seventh place respectively in the championship.

Hodgson is eager to continue his fine run of form and is hopeful of taking a first World Championship victory outside of the UK.

“Lausitzring was a bit of a lottery last year,” said Hodgson. “The weather was dodgy and it was a new circuit, so we didn’t have any data, let alone a decent wet set-up. I can’t predict the weather for this weekend but I can say that this round should be a very different story. The HM Plant Ducati/GSE Racing team has as much information on the EuroSpeedway as any of the other teams and, thanks to the fantastic British climate, we’ve had some pretty intense wet weather experience. I proved that I can perform at this circuit when I came second in race two and I’ve already shown that I can run at the front this year. I’ve had a much better start to the season this time around and I’m looking forward to tackling this demanding circuit with all the advantages that we as a team now have.”

James Toseland is also in a much stronger position than he was when he visited the Lausitzring for the first time at the mid-point of last season.

“EuroSpeedway is a tremendous facility but it doesn’t exactly hold fond memories for me,” said the 21-year-old Yorkshireman. “I was unlucky in race one and I just remember race two as being really difficult. That said, it all seems a long time ago now and I’ve learned a lot in the meantime. The circuit itself is a bit scrappy, but its definitely one that I’ll enjoy mastering over the weekend. I want a couple of good finishes that will help me defend my championship position and challenge for sixth place.”

Circuit length: 4.265km

Lap record: 1:40.599 T. Bayliss (Ducati) 2001

2001 results
Race one:
1. C. Edwards (Honda) 38:47.683
2. T. Bayliss (Ducati)+0.663
3. T. Okada (Honda) +2.810
8. N. Hodgson (GSE Racing Ducati) +28.008

J. Toseland (GSE Racing Ducati) DNF

Race two:
1. T. Bayliss (Ducati) 45:57.65
2. N. Hodgson (GSE Racing Ducati) +0.229
3. C. Edwards (Honda) +22.922
17. J. Toseland(GSE Racing Ducati) +1:29.399

From a press release:

SuperBikers2 exhibition at RA between AMA racing

Tentative Schedule
Thursday June 6
TBA

Friday June 7
9:00 Race and exhibition
10:30 Race and exhibition
2:30 Race and exhibition
4:10 Race and exhibition

Sat June 8
11:00 Race and exhibition
12:35 Race and exhibition
1:35 Race and exhibition
3:00 Race and exhibition

Sun June 9
9:30 Race and exhibition
11:20 Race and exhibition
12:30 Race and exhibition
3:00 Race and exhibition
Visit www.superbikers2.com

From a Castrol Honda press release:

EDWARDS JOINS TRIBUTE LAP

Castrol Honda World Superbike star Colin Edwards joined the Joey Dunlop Tribute Lap around the TT course on Monday afternoon on the Isle of Man.

The lap was led away by Honda’s Bob McMillan on Dunlop’s 2000 Formula One TT-winning SP-1 Honda – he was joined by long time sponsor John Harris, Isle of Man Minister of Tourism David Cretney and Gary Dunlop, son of the late TT legend Joey.

Immediately behind the “JOEY” tribute quartet came Edwards, riding a road-going VTR1000 superbike ­ the customer version of his World Superbike machine.

Edwards completed the 37.73-mile circuit in a little more than 30 minutes. He said: “That was awesome. I was following the four in front and using them as a gauge. I’ve had a great time over here and I’d like to thank everyone for letting me be a part of the TT and today’s Tribute Lap.”

Honda’s Bob McMillan commented: “That lap was absolutely brilliant. I’ve never, ever seen so many people out waving, it was breathtaking. The sun was shining and we were followed by about 100 race machines from years gone by, it was a real treat for everyone.”

From a Fuchs Kawasaki press release:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 7 – EUROSPEEDWAY LAUSITZ, GERMANY
RIDER ANNOUNCEMENT

ALEX HOFMANN TO SUBSTITUTE FOR INJURED IZUTSU AT LAUSITZ

With Eric Bostrom unavailable due to AMA Championship commitments, Alex Hofmann has been drafted into the Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team for round seven of the World Superbike Championship at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. Hofmann will substitute for the still injured Hitoyasu Izutsu aboard the factory Kawasaki ZX-7RR.

A product of the 250 GP class, Hofmann faces a steep learning curve at Lausitz this weekend. The 22-year-old German rider has never before competed on a four-stroke machine, never mind a factory Superbike and, although he’s looking forward to the challenge of racing against some of the world’s best riders at Lausitz, Hofmann remains realistic about his aims for the weekend ahead.

‘I guess I only have two aims for this weekend; to have fun and to try not to crash,’ declared the former German and European 250 GP Champion. ‘Lausitz will give me an opportunity to get used to everything, see how things work and basically say hello to the people in World Superbike; I think that’s enough for the beginning.

‘Coming from a two-stroke background I expect the engine braking you get with a Superbike will feel a little strange at first, as will the way you have to be prepared to slide the bike more than you would with a two-stroke machine. The four-strokes are now starting to dominate racing, especially in the MotoGP series, so riding the Fuchs Kawasaki ZX-7RR will definitely stand me in good stead for the future,’ continued Hofmann.

Fuchs Kawasaki Team Manager, Harald Eckl: ‘There are very few experienced riders around at this stage of the season, so finding a temporary replacement for Izutsu was never going to be an easy task. However, I’m a firm believer in developing new talent and, as we’re a German team competing in a World Superbike round in Germany, I thought it only right that we gave a young German rider the chance to experience racing in the World Superbike Championship at first hand.

‘Although Alex missed out on a full-time ride this season, I’ve followed his career closely in the past and have always been impressed by both his skill and determination; two qualities that will prove essential as he jumps on a Superbike for the first time this weekend,’ continued Eckl.

While Alex Hofmann prepares to make his World Superbike debut at Lausitz, Fuchs Kawasaki’s regular Superbike pilot, Hitoyasu Izutsu, is currently undergoing an intense course of physiotherapy on his injured wrist; sustained in a qualifying crash at Sugo earlier this year.

Izutsu will test in Japan, before making a decision as to whether his injured wrist has healed sufficiently to allow him to make his return to the World Superbike Championship at Misano on 23 June.

Profile: Alex Hofmann #66
Born in Mindelheim, Germany, Alex Hofmann began his racing career in motocross, winning the German Junior 80cc MX Championship two years in succession. Alex soon transferred his talents to road racing and, under the supervision of Dieter Theis, was crowned European 250 GP Champion in 1998 – a title which brought him instant recognition as Germany’s brightest racing talent. Alex competed in the World 250GP series from 1999 to 2001, with a seventh place finish his best result.

Personal Details
date of birth: 25 May 1980

place of birth: Mindelheim, Germany

home town: Bochum, Germany

marital status: Girlfriend, Romina

height/weight: 180cm/68 kg

hobbies: downhill, BMX, MX, skiing, water sports… all sports!

favourite foods: Italian – pizza, pasta and insalata

favourite drink: Juices

car: VW Golf – not my favourite!

first road race: 1995

first win: 1998 German Championship, 10 races, 10 wins!

favourite circuits: Mugello and Assen

career highlight: winning the 1998 German and European 250 GP Championships

ambition: to win in MotoGP

likes: sun and laughing

dislikes: depressing people and bad weather

favourite rider: Wayne Rainey

management: Dieter Theis

Career Highlights

1984: My first bike, a PW50
1992: German Junior 80cc MX Champion
1993: German Junior 80cc MX Champion
1995: Switch to road racing
1997: 2nd German 125GP Championship
1998: German and European 250GP Champion
1999: 16th World 250GP Championship
2000: 26th World 250GP Championship
Missed 8 races through injury
2001: 12th World 250GP Championship
Best Result 7th