Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Red-hot Burns scorches to victory

By Glenn LeSanto

British riders filled all three podium places in a damp European Superstock race at Silverstone. Suzuki rider Chris Burns got the best start, beating pole-man Kieran Murphy away from the lights, and was never headed. Burns raced to a victory margin of over three seconds on the rapidly-drying track.

Kieran Murphy made a break from the pack with what looked to be a comfortable second place, but was reeled in by Steve Brogan who snatched the runner-up spot in the dying laps.

Best of the Championship regulars was Walter Tortoroglio, who ran as high as third on his Fireblade, before being beaten to the line by Murphy. Championship leader Vittorio Iannuzzo finished fifth on his GSX-R1000 and now leads the championship by 17 points.

European Superstock Championship:
Silverstone Results

1. C. Burns, GBR, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 24:42.374

2. S. Brogan, GBR, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 24:45.474

3. K. Murphy, GBR, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 24:45.926

4. W. Tortoroglio, ITA, Honda CBR954RR, 24:45.982

5. V. Iannuzzo, ITA, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 24:46.025

6. O. Four, FRA Suzuki GSX-R1000, 24:46.980

7. L. Alfonso, ITA, Ducati, 24:47.128

8. G. Vizziello, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R1, 24:47.218

9. G. Romanelli, ITA, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 24:52.868

10. D. Vankeymeulen, BEL, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 25:03.143

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Weather wins in Supersport race

The weather was the winner in the World Supersport race at Silverstone today. The race started in rain and the weather just got more severe as the race progressed.

On lap 14 Paolo Casoli, who had been battling and swapping the lead with his team mate James Whitham, crashed out. Whitham inherited the lead but then immediately crashed out himself. Luckily for the two Belgarda Yamaha riders the race control decided the conditions had deteriorated too much to continue racing and out came the red flag. The result was taken back to the last completed lap, lap 13, handing the win to Whitham who had been leading at the end of that lap.

Karl Muggeridge on the Honda UK CBR600 had his best finish of the season, coming in third, over 16 seconds back on the Belgarda Yamaha pair. Behind him Jorg Teuchert got the better of a race-long battle with Iain MacPherson to take fourth place. MacPherson’s fifth was his best of the season, a fitting present to himself on his 34th Birthday.

Chris Vermeulen, who qualified second on the grid, was robbed of a possible good result when his tyre warmers were accidentally left switched off before the race. This meant Vermeulen entered turn one with cold tyres, almost crashing as a result. Because of the heavy rain, Vermeulen was unable to get any heat into his tyres and finished back in 14th as a result.

Pole man Fabien Foret rode home in seventh, a good result for a rider not known for his rain skills. It was also a good result for his title challenge because championship leader Stephane Chambon finished eighth. Foret closed up another point leaving the gap at only three points.

Katsuaki Fujiwara, who took the holeshot, dropped back to finish sixth.

The lead pair, and Teuchert were both riding on Dunlop tyres, while Muggeridge and MacPherson were using Pirelli rubber.

Silverstone World Supersport Results:

1. Jamie Whitham, Yamaha, 13 laps, 28:15.649
2. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha, -0.269
3. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, -16.995
4. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, -21.654
5. Iain MacPherson, Honda, -21.888
6. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, -24.160
7. Fabien Foret, Honda, -31.689
8. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, -39.571
9. Diego Giugovaz, Yamaha, -43.131
10. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, -48.724
11. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, -58.442
12. Stefano Cruciani, Yamaha, -61.111
13. Gianluca Nannelli, Ducati, -68.372
14. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, -71.619
15. John McGuiness, Honda, -74.037
16. Sebastien Charpentier, Honda, -79.209
17. Werner Daemen, Honda, -79.544
18. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, -79.868
19. Kyro Verstraeten, Honda, -80.762
20. Christian Zaiser, Yamaha, -90.227
21. Robert Frost, Yamaha, -92.753
22. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha, -144.526
23. David De Gea, Honda, -149.761
24. Claudio Cipriani, Yamaha, -1 lap
25. Jon Kirkham, Honda, -1 lap
26. Tom Tunstall, Suzuki, -1 lap, DNF
27. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Ducati, -2 laps, DNF
28. Christophe Cogan, Honda, -4 laps, DNF
29. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, -4 laps, DNF
30. Stuart Easton, Ducati, -7 laps, DNF
31. Ben Wilson, Honda, -9 laps, DNF
32. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, -10 laps, DNF
33. James Ellison, Kawasaki, -11 laps, DNF

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Supersport grid stays the same after wet qualifying

The second World Supersport qualifying session at Silverstone was ruined by rain, leaving the grid almost exactly as it had finished on Friday. That left Fabien Foret on pole next to the young Australian Chris Vermeulen.

Karl Muggeridge remains in third on his Honda next to Katsuaki Fujiwara on a Suzuki. Iain MacPherson starts from his best grid position so far this year having qualified in fifth, while Christian Cogan starts from sixth, both on Hondas.

“Obviously I am very pleased to be on pole,” said Foret, “but I would have preferred to have had dry laps and a chance to work more on my set up. For the race I am hoping for either full wet, or full dry, because it is very hard to choose the right tire when the conditions are like this. Some parts are very dry, and yet when you get to the last split the track is extremely wet, it’s difficult!”

Shortly after the start of qualifying the rain came down really hard. Although the track dried a little, mainly due to the strong winds, the surface still had large areas of very wet tarmac. The forecast for Sunday is for an improvement in the weather, but the chance of a wet race remains.

Final World Supersport Qualifying Times:

1. Fabien Foret, Honda, 1:52.259
2. Chris Vermeulen, Honda, 1:52.462
3. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, 1:52.926
4. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Suzuki, 1:53.091
5. Iain MacPherson, Honda, 1:53.135
6. Christophe Cogan, Honda, 1:53.467
7. Paolo Casoli, Yamaha, 1:53.504
8. Christian Kellner, Yamaha, 1:53.556
9. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:53.667
10. Werner Daemen, Honda, 1:53.798
11. Jorg Teuchert, Yamaha, 1:53.861
12. Kevin Curtain, Yamaha, 1:54.212
13. Matthieu Lagrive, Yamaha, 1:54.229
14. Alessio Corradi, Yamaha, 1:54.274
15. James Ellison, Kawasaki, 1:54.446
16. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, 1:54.564
17. James Whitham, Yamaha, 1:54.641
18. Diego Giugovaz, Yamaha, 1:54.714
19. Stefano Ciuciani, Yamaha, 1:54.808
20. Antonio Carlacci, Yamaha, 1:55.037

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Xtreme Stunt Bike Association (XSBA) qualifying during the F-USA event at Summit Point was led by Chauncey Vieira of Driving To Endanger (DTE) with 92.5 points out of a possible 100. Vieira won the qualifying round with a combination of wheelie variations including his trademark “Frog”, where Vieira wheelies while standing on the gas tank. Vieira said that putting his Honda CBR900RR down while in the “Frog” position was as hard as pulling it up.

Other performers who progressed to Sunday’s XSBA finals included:

2. Chris McNeil, 84.5 points
3. Pauly Sherer, 83 points
4. Damien Hunt, 80.5 points
5. Brian Joyce, 71.5 points
6. Johnny Kula, 68 points

XSBA competitors are given a three-minute period to perform and are judged on execution, difficulty, variation, number of tricks and their overall run.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.


By Glenn LeSanto

Bayliss gains last-gasp pole

Troy Bayliss grabbed a last-gasp pole position from Colin Edwards in a dramatic Superpole at Silverstone.

A shower before the start of the session meant that the usual one flying lap format was dropped in favor of a 50-minute session where the riders had a maximum of 12 laps to set their fastest time. It was Bayliss who set the early pace with a lap at 1:48.399. The Infostrada Ducati rider could see the gathering storm clouds and knew that setting the good laps straight away was the key to pole.

Edwards was right behind, though. The 2000 World Champion had grabbed pole in the previous session by getting in a good lap before the heavens opened and was looking to do this again. He was on the pace from the second his garage door went up, pipping Bayliss for pole, before the Aussie bettered his time with a lap of 1:47.991.

This looked like it would be the lap that took pole because, just after the Ducati crossed the line, the rain that had been threatening to engulf the session began to drop. This was bad news for a number of riders, most notably British rivals Neil Hodgson and Chris Walker. Both had been slow getting up to speed in the blustery conditions with Hodgson in eighth and Walker languishing back in 15th place with clutch trouble on his Fuchs Kawasaki.

As the rain splashed onto the circuit, the chances of anyone improving their times seemed to be going down the drain with the water. Luckily, this time Silverstone’s notoriously changeable weather meant the rain passed as quickly as it came. Surely, though, there was no way that the track could dry in time for anyone to improve, right?

Bayliss certainly didn’t think so. The reigning World Champion was so confident, he sheltered in the warmth, behind the closed doors of his garage. Edwards had other ideas and as soon as the track looked like it was drying, he started putting the laps in.

The Texan was in awesome form around the 3.5-mile circuit, spinning up his RC51 out of almost every corner in a bid to carry every last rev onto the track’s long straights. His pace was impressive and Edwards nicked pole back from Bayliss, giving the Aussie a wake-up-call and forcing him out onto the track with only three minutes to go to better his rival’s time.

Bayliss didn’t disappoint. With an uncannily smooth lap, reigning Superbike World Champion Bayliss snatched pole back with a lap at 1:47.991. It was classic Bayliss, not a single mph was wasted as he carried huge speed around Silverstone’s sweepers. Edwards had completed all his laps and couldn’t respond.

Steve Hislop was also on the pace. Hizzy’s Monstermob Ducati–rumored to by down on power by 13 bhp compared to the factory bikes–looked good and the Scot seemed set to break into the top two until a slide at Priory halted his charge.

Aprilia-mounted Noriyuki Haga rounded out the front row, with Michael Rutter in fifth and Frankie Chilli in sixth. Hodgson was unable to improve his position and will start both races from the back of the second row. Shane Byrne will get his first taste of WSB action from 10th on the grid, with Chris Walker and James Toseland just behind in 11th and 12fth.



Silverstone World Superbike Qualifying Results:

1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:47.729
2. Colin Edwards, Honda, 1:47.883
3. Steve Hislop, Ducati, 1:47.902
4. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, 1:48.561
5. Michael Rutter, Ducati, 1:48.567
6. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati, 1:49.001
7. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, 1:49.108
8. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:49.127
9. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati, 1:49.523
10. Shane Byrne, Ducati, 1:49.629
11. Chris Walker, Kawasaki, 1:49.687
12. James Toseland, Ducati, 1:49.732
13. Ben Bostrom, Ducati, 1:49.783
14. Glen Richards, Kawasaki, 1:49.923
15. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki, 1:50.136
16. Steve Martin, Ducati, 1:51.309
17. Eric Bostrom, Kawasai, 1:52.266
18. Dean Ellison, Ducati, 1:52.541
19. Juan Borja, Ducati, 1:52.578
20. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki, 1:52.616
21. Marco Borciani, Ducati, 1:52.890
22. Serafino Foti, Ducati, 1:53.405
23. Peter Goddard, Benelli, 1:53.509
24. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki, 1:53.753
25. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati, 1:53.908
26. Broc Parkes, Ducati, 1:54.249
27. Mark Heckles, Honda, 1:54.370
28. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati, 1:55.529


More, from an Aprilia press release:

HAGA AND THE APRILIA RSV MILLE GRAB FIRST ROW

Silverstone (Great Britain), Saturday 25 May 2002 – Noriyuki Haga and the Aprilia RSV Mille fought their way up the ratings to make first row at the end of the British GP qualifying sessions for the sixth round of the World Superbike Championship to be raced on the historic Silverstone track. Bad weather on Friday rather messed things up but today the Playstation2-FGF Aprilia Team was once again back in the limelight. Haga made fourth quickest time in the Superpole which, threatened by imminent rain, followed the procedure for racing in the wet: fifty minutes, with a total of 12 laps. Yet it was raced on a dry track. Again at Silverstone, the Aprilia RSV Mille registered the fastest top speed: 284 kph. The British Grand Prix is raced in two legs of 20 laps each on the 5,094-metre circuit of Silverstone.

NORIYUKI HAGA (Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team rider) said “I’m really pleased with the work we’ve been doing: the bad weather on Friday did make things difficult but we’ve rapidly gained ground. On the fast lap, I went round the Abbey curve in sixth, instead of fifth, to see if I could slice off a few hundredths: I was real chuffed with myself.”

GIACOMO GUIDOTTI (Technical Manager, Playstation2 – FGF Aprilia Team)commented: “There are some extremely fast British wild card riders racing here at Silverstone, so we’re very happy to be on the front row. In spite of the quirks of the weather, we’re keeping to schedule for the set-up programme and we saw the results right from the race simulation: Noriyuki kept up a fast pace of 1:49 and we think he’s in the running to take on the very best of them. Haga was just fantastic today and made some excellent times in the wet as well.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Foggy Workshop Opens For Business

By Glenn LeSanto

Carl Fogarty officially opened his Burton on Trent based workshop on May 21. The 12,500 square-foot facility looks impressive, and has just about anything you’d want in a fully fitted race shop, bar one important feature – the bikes!

Fogarty insisted that the bikes are on schedule and the team will race at Laguna Seca in July. “It’s incredible what you can do with shit loads of money,” said Fogarty to his assembled guests. But his riders still haven’t actually ridden the FP1 three-cylinder Superbike, although they have sat on a mock up. James Haydon described the bike, designed by Steve Eviritt Automobile Design as ‘beautiful’. The team claimed that the looks haven’t compromised efficiency, saying that the bike proved extremely effective in the wind-tunnel. “I can’t wait for you all to see it,” said Haydon.

Troy Corser has also seen the bike, “It’s come a long way,” said the former World Superbike champion. “I have faith in this team and I can’t wait to get out on the track and ride.” Haydon agreed, saying, “let’s go racing.”

In an official opening ceremony that was heavy on dignitaries and VIPs but light on press men, Foggy showed visitors the fully equipped dyno room, and then the prayer room. Petronas, which is bank-rolling the team, is based in the Muslim state of Malaysia, so a prayer room is a must at any of its facilities. Given the short lead time the project has to get the bikes from nothing to the grid the prayer room might well come in handy, even for the non-Muslims on Foggy’s payroll. Fogarty claimed the prayer room’s toilet cost £3000 (about $4500), and certainly no expense seems to have been spared fitting out the huge workshop, which was an empty shell only a few weeks earlier. The facility also has an extensive office suite for the administrative staff, including Fogarty’s office, which he shares with his wife, Michaela, and which overlooks the factory floor with a picture window. You can easily imagine Foggy’s legendary eyes boring down on the workers toiling below!

The bikes themselves will be shown to the press in London on June 11.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Wet and dry qualifying leaves Edwards on pole.

Colin Edwards has taken provisional pole after a difficult qualifying session held half in the dry and half in torrential rain. Edwards got straight down to work with qualifying tires as soon as the session started, rather than risking waiting. His gamble paid off as the rain soon came and because the session had been announced as wet in advance, qualifying continued despite the rain. The Texan beat the weather, recording his fastest lap on only his third flying lap of the Silverstone circuit. His time of 1:48.913 was enough to secure pole, he only lapped a total of six times in the session.

Edwards demoted yesterday’s pole sitter and local hero Neil Hodgson to fourth. Hodgson did more laps, staying out in the rain to perfect his wet set-up. But his fastest dry lap of 1:50.100 was enough to get him on the provisional front row in fourth.

Troy Bayliss recovered from his crash during Friday’s qualifying to leap up the ladder to provisional second on the grid. His teammate Ruben Xaus continued his return to form by qualifying third.

America’s Eric Bostrom managed to make the most of the dry session, getting himself inside the 107% of fastest time cut-off to qualify 17th on his factory Kawasaki. His brother Ben Bostrom is provisionally ninth on the grid.

The second row features no less than three British riders, with Michael Rutter fifth, Steve Hislop sixth and Chris Walker seventh. Noriyuki Haga took the final provisional second-row place, in eighth.

Saturday’s Qualifying Times:

1. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 1:48.913
2. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 1:49.469
3. Ruben Xaus, Ducati F02, 1:49.977
4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 1:50.100
5. Michael Rutter, Ducati 998RS, 1:50.104
6. Steve Hislop, Ducati 998RS, 1:50.138
7. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:50.573
8. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:50.676
9. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, 1:50.749
10. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 1:50.836
11. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:51.303
12. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati 998RS, 1:51.526
13. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:51.762
14. Glen Richards, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:51.904
15. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 1:52.021
16. Shane Byrne, Ducati 998RS, 1:52.143
17. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:52.266
18. Dean Ellison, Ducati 996RS, 1:52.541
19. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 1:52.578
20. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:52.616
21. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:52.890
22. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 1:53.405
23. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 1:53.509
24. Ivan Clementi, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:53.753
25. Alessandro Antonello, Ducati 998RS, 1:53.908
26. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 1:54.249
27. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 1:54.370
28. Jiri Mrkyvka, Ducati 996RS, 1:55.529
DNQ, Yann Gyger, Honda RC51, 2:06.628
DNQ, Bertrand Stey, Honda RC51, 2:21.107

From an AMA press release:

JAMIE HACKING LOSES POINTS, TEAM BLIMPIE YOSHIMURA SUZUKI FINED FOR EQUIPMENT VIOLATION AT ROAD ATLANTA

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — AMA Pro Racing has deducted 10 championship points from Jamie Hacking and fined his Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki team $2000 for using a non-production rear wheel in the AMA Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport race Sunday, May 20 at the Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship event at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.

The wheel, which was impounded after customary post-race inspection, proved to be lighter than an OEM stock wheel.

(AMA Pro Racing issued revised point standings, showing Aaron Yates leading with 142 points and Hacking in second with 109 points, followed by Damon Buckmaster with 106 points.)


(Editorial comment: The points deduction launched more controversy regarding inconsistencies in AMA rules enforcement. While Hacking lost 10 points for running a lightened wheel at Road Atlanta, and while Ben Spies lost 32 points for running with a disconnected air injection line–designed to reduce emissions–in the Superstock race at Fontana, Damon Buckmaster lost no points for running an illegal frame in Formula Xtreme at Fontana, Sears Point and Road Atlanta. All of which led Jason Pridmore to state, “They took points from Ben, they took points from Jamie, and they didn’t take any points away from Damon for riding an illegal motorcycle. It’s beyond me.”)