Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Formula USA Director of Road Racing Bill Syfan announced Friday that Coca-Cola will be the new title sponsor for the Formula USA National Road Race Series. Syfan made the announcement during the riders’ meeting at the start of the F-USA/CCS Summit Point Cycle Fest at Summit Point Raceway, in Summit Point, West Virginia.

Syfan said that the deal had been completed on Tuesday, May 21, adding that he had no details, but expected Coca-Cola to make the first official announcement of the relationship soon.

Later in the day, F-USA NRRS Manager Ken Abbott added, “We are very excited about the possibilities of this multi-year relationship with Coca-Cola. We’re hoping to do some cross-promotional activities, such as offering Coca-Cola product samples at F-USA events and being included in Coca-Cola P.O.P. (point-of-purchase) advertising displays in stores.”

From a press release:

Webster from Abbott and Steinhausen

Steve Webster celebrated his return to Silverstone with a provisional pole in today’s Superside qualifying. But fellow British rider Steve Abbott was breathing down his neck as the Superside Championship thundered around the former aerodrome in Northamptonshire.

“It takes some time to learn the track,” said Webster’s passenger Paul Woodhead. “There’s some fast bits, and there are also some niggly bits, like the chicanes. And there’s also some really fast corners, or ‘big ball corners!’ where you’ve got to be committed to go fast.”

Commenting on the pressure the Liveonscreen.com team were coming under from Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs, Woody said; “Quite frankly I’d rather it was them than Klaffenbock. We’re happy to fight it out with Steve and Jamie, especially with Klaffenbock down in fifth! Klaffi kept trying to get a tow behind us today, but each time I saw him try I tapped on Steve’s shoulder and he slowed down. Then, when Klaffenbock had passed us, we let him get way ahead and that gave us some clear track to put in our fast lap.”

Steve Abbott was especially pleased with his performance, “We’ve come in second today despite using our ‘middle’ sized 1080cc engine. We’re 13 kph down on top speed but only under half-a-second behind Steve. The outfit is handling really well and we’ll be looking for a little more top speed tonight. I think we’re in a good position for a win tomorrow,” predicted Steve.

Third on the time sheet was pairing Steinhausen and Hopkinson, back in full swing after a spot of upside down grasstracking at Monza.

“What people don’t realise,” pointed out Jorg, “was that we were upside-down at well over 200 kph! And even Trevor didn’t realise until afterwards that he’d dislocated his shoulder in the crash.”

“It takes some time to get your confidence back after an incident like that,” admitted Trevor Hopkinson, “but I think that session’s a sign that we’re getting it together again, if we don’t go even faster tomorrow I’ll be really disapointed.”

Hanks and Biggs brought the Halton Fabrications outfit in fourth fastest, continuing their impressive run of form this season. They’ll be looking for results to back up their qualifying progress in Saturday’s race.

Meanwhile, Klaffenbock, winner of the sensational Monza race, was back in fifth, perhaps suffering from a simple lack of cubes around the fast, flowing Silverstone track.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Vesrah Suzuki continued to dominate the 2002 WERA/GMD Computrack National Endurance Series by taking a fourth consecutive victory, in a 4-hour race at Virginia International Raceway held Friday. Vesrah’s Tray Batey and John Jacobi won the red-flag-plagued race on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Army of Darkness (AOD) riders Jim Williams and Mark Crozier wound up second overall, 65 seconds behind the leaders, on a Suzuki GSX-R600. AOD also topped the Mediumweight Superbike class after an early-race battle with Vesrah Suzuki II.

S&S Endurance took third overall and first in Mediumweight Supersport in its first endurance race as a team. Red-flag delays allowed Scott Harwell to ride the entire race on the S&S Suzuki GSX-R600, without breaking series rules regarding the length of on-track riding stints (120 consecutive minutes) and off-track breaks between stints (30 minutes).

Batey pulled a gap on the field of 47 bikes at the start of the race, but the first red flag came out just short of the one-hour mark for a rider down in turn three. Batey took the lead again on the restart, but only rode for seven minutes before the second red flag came out for a bike that left oil through turns two and three before catching fire.

After a long clean-up period, the race was started for the third time just past the halfway point on the official race clock. Batey was still on the Vesrah Suzuki bike and once again took the lead. The third red flag flew with 15 minutes remaining for another bike on fire, and the race was called complete.

In the Heavyweight Supersport class, moto-heaven.com finished first in class and 11th overall. Justin Marm and Phil Caudill shared the riding on a Honda CBR600F4. Team Infotech took first in Lightweight Superbike and 14th overall with Bobby Miosek and Tommy Bauchiero on a Suzuki SV650.

Overall Results

1. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/John Jacobi), Suz GSX-R1000, HSB, 94 laps

2. AOD (Jim Williams/Mark Crozier), Suz GSX-R600, MSB, 94 laps

3. S&S Endurance (Scott Harwell), Suz GSX-R600, MSS, 94 laps

4. Vesrah Suzuki II (Dave Yaakov/Brian Stokes), Suz GSX-R600, MSB, 93 laps

5. Team Outa Sight (Jason Peters/Adam Coco), Suz GSX-R600, MSS, 91 laps

6. Northern Getaway (Mark Morrow/Tim Kephart), Suz GSX-R750, HSB, 91 laps

7. Team Velocity (Paul Aalderks/Chuck Ivey), Suz GSX-R600, MSS, 91 laps

8. Team Life (Joe Milanesi/Kevin Warner/Justin Marm), Yam YZFR6, MSS, 91 laps

9. Cycle Therapy Racing (Neil Mummau/Cole Regal/Ricky Ford), Suz GSX-R1000, HSB, 90 laps

10. Velocity Crew (Kevin Perkins/Paul Youngman), Suz GSX-R600, MSB, 90 laps

From an official FIM press release:

In a meeting held today in Silverstone, the Superbike Commission, composed of Messrs. Claude Danis (FIM), Paolo Alberto Flammini (SBK International), Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA) and Giulio Bardi (Team representative), has
unanimously approved the following proposal:

-To allow 1000cc 4-cylinder motorcycles to take part in the 2003 Superbike World Championship. The 1000cc 4-cylinder motorcycles will compete under the current Superbike World Championship Technical Rules and Specifications except from:

a) The engines will have an air restrictor specified as follows:

-26.3 millimetres by 1

-18.7 millimetres by 2

b) Minimum weight: 168 kg

The above rule will therefore be included in the 2003 Superbike World Championship rulebook. For the sake of clarity, the current FIM Superbike World Championship rules will remain unchanged in 2003, save for the above provision.

FIM Road Racing Commission President Claude Danis will present this modification to the rules to the Managing Council in its session of June 22-23.

From a press release issued by Troy Bayliss publicist:

TROY BAYLISS Racing – Media Information
For immediate release
Friday, 24 May 2002

Round 6, 2002 Superbike World Championship
Silverstone Circuit, England
First Qualifying Session Report

RAIN SLOWS SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING AT SILVERSTONE

Northamptonshire, England – A torrential downpour moments before the start of the opening qualifying session for this weekend’s sixth round of the Superbike World Championship at the Silverstone circuit in England forced a delayed start to the session that saw Britain’s Neil Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) set the fastest time, while defending World Champion Troy Bayliss fell from his Infostrada Ducati in the closing minutes denying him a chance to challenge for the lead position.

With the 5.094km Northamptonshire circuit covered in water at the start of the one-hour long qualifying session, Bayliss was quick to adapt to the conditions consistently setting fast times in less than ideal conditions.

With the track conditions improving in the closing minutes, Bayliss along with a number of other riders switched from using full wet weather tyres and went to a combination of an intermediate front tyre, with a slick rear. The combination allowed the lap times to drop dramatically and saw a number of riders promote themselves well up the leader board.

Unfortunately for Bayliss, he was unable to capitalise on the improving track conditions as he fell from his Ducati 998 F-02 with less than five minutes remaining at the first of the double left-handers before the pit complex. He escaped any injury in the fall, but missed an opportunity to finish higher on the time sheets, finally being credited with the tenth fastest time of 1:56.705.

“With about five minutes to go we put a slick tyre on the rear and we ready to start doing some quick laps, but another rider fell just in front of me and I’m not sure what happened next, but the result was that I lost the front end of the bike and slid off the track,” said Bayliss. “I think it just baulked me a bit at the time and that was enough. There was no time left for me to go back out and do any more laps. For sure I would have liked to be higher, but that’s how it goes. It is only Friday and I was happy that I did the fastest time in the dry during this morning’s free practice session, so I’m just looking forward to tomorrow now.

“While the track was wet we did try a few different combinations with the bike, but didn’t spend too much time trying to work out a set up for totally wet conditions,” Bayliss added. “This track seems to dry quickly and the weather passes over just as quickly also. It’s not looking the best weather wise at the moment, but hopefully it will clear before Sunday.”

Fastest during today’s session was Neil Hodgson with a best lap of 1:54.095, followed by Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda, 1:54.404), Ben Bostrom (L&M Ducati, 1:55.098) and Chris Walker (Fuchs Kawasaki, 1:55.795). Even though the track was drying, the times were well down from Bayliss’ fast time of 1:49.709 set during the morning’s practice session.

Qualifying concludes tomorrow morning before the top sixteen riders take to the circuit later in the afternoon for the all important grid position determining Superpole one-lap dash.

First Qualifying Session, Friday (Top ten)

1. Neil Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati, 1:54.095

2. Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda), 1:54.404

3. Ben Bostrom (L&M Ducati), 1:55.098

4. Chris Walker (Fuchs Kawasaki), 1:55.795

5. Ruben Xaus (Infostrada Ducati), 1:56.146

6. Glen Richards (Hawk Racing Kawasaki), 1:56.216

7. Steve Hislop (Monstermob Ducati), 1:56.216

8. Michael Rutter (Renegade Ducati), 1:56.382

9. James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati), 1:56.643

10. Troy Bayliss (Infostrada Ducati), 1:56.705



2002 World Superbike championship points (after 5 of 13 rounds)
1. T. Bayliss, 224; 2. C. Edwards, 186; 3. N. Hodgson, 131; 4. N. Haga, 103; 5. Ben Bostrom, 102; 6. R. Xaus, 96; 7. J. Toseland, 68; 8. G. Lavilla/C. Walker, 58; 10. Hitoyasu Izutsu (Kawasaki), 47.



More, from an official press release issued by the series organizers:

PRESS RELEASE
Round 6 – Great Britain – Silverstone,
24 May – 26 May 2002

Silverstone, 24 May 2002

Hodgson On Provisional Pole

Changeable weather conditions and high winds made life hard for all riders during the first competitive SBK action at Silverstone.

The downpour that ruined the end of the Supersport session had abated by the time the first Superbike Qualifying Session came around, although the 5,094 metre track was fully wet at the start of the one hour qualifying slot.

Despite some consistent areas of running water and damp patches under the bridges, the track dried rapidly in many places, making for dramatic changes of fortunes as the qualifying order changed with every few seconds that passed.

Ultimately the fastest man was Neil Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) thanks to his mark of 1:54.095.

Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda) almost took pole from the local hero, but could not quite exploit his final opportunity to set the best lap and finished 0.309 seconds down.

Languishing outside the top ten for significant periods, Ben Bostrom (L&M Ducati) shot towards the provisional front row in the last minute, and was joined on the top plateau of times by fourth-fastest qualifier Chris Walker (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) enjoyed his session, finishing fifth fastest and rebuilt some confidence after his recent spells of misfortune and injury.

Glen Richards (Hawk Racing Kawasaki) enjoyed a spectacular result on day one, the privateer wild card putting in a great performance against the big boys as he gambled on slick tyres front and rear and celebrated a big first day payout.

British Superbike Championship leader Steve Hislop (Monstermob Ducati) peaked a little too soon on the rapidly drying circuit, but still held off the Renegade Racing Ducati of Michael Rutter.

Regular SBK competitor James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) took the first position on the third row of the provisional grid, thanks to his ninth-fastest time.

Troy Bayliss (Infostrada Ducati) fell from his machine in the last minutes and injured the ring finger of his left hand. He followed his physical fall with a tumble from his previously high qualifying position down to tenth.

A bumper day for the local entrants saw Shane Byrne (Renegade Ducati) take an excellent 11th.

Pierfrancesco Chili (NCR Ducati) did not have the opportunity to practice during the official test day on Wednesday 22 May, but nonetheless scored 12th place on the opening day of true competition.

Noriyuki Haga had a tough qualifying session scoring 16th and last provisional qualifying place on his FGF Aprilia, just beating factory Benelli rider Peter Goddard to a provisional Superpole start.

The unsettled weather conditions may see the times set today being the ones which are ultimately used for the determination of Superpole qualifying, and final grid positions for all other riders

In the Supersport Championship session, Fabien Foret, the Monza race winner, scored the psychological first blow, taking his Ten Kate Honda to the top of the timesheets.

Teenager Chris Vermeulen rode well to score second overall on his Van Zon Honda, with Karl Muggeridge in third on another Honda. Katsuaki Fujiwara, the third Monza podium finisher in the top four at Silverstone, took the fourth-best time on his Alstare Suzuki. The top finishing local rider was Iain Macpherson (Ten Kate Honda) fifth, with James Ellison (Kawasaki) 15th and James Whitham (Yamaha Belgarda) 17th.

The 45-minute Supersport session was interrupted by the aftermath of an accident, and then effectively lost the last five minutes due to a sudden downpour, causing a slight delay in the running of each subsequent session.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Friday Qualifying Times:

1. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 998F01, 1:54.095
2. Colin Edwards, Honda RC51, 1:54.404
3. Ben Bostrom, Ducati 998F02, 1:55.098
4. Chris Walker, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:55.795
5. Ruben Xaus, Ducati 998F02, 1:56.146
6. Glen Richards, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:56.216
7. Steve Hislop, Ducati 998RS, 1:56.284
8. Michael Rutter, Ducati 998RS, 1:56.382
9. James Toseland, Ducati 998F01, 1:56.643
10. Troy Bayliss, Ducati 998F02, 1:56.705
11. Shane Byrne, Ducati 998RS, 1:56.971
12. Pierfrancesco Chili, Ducati 998RS, 1:57.182
13. Mauro Sanchini, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:58.858
14. Dean Ellison, Ducati 996RS, 1:58.929
15. Marco Borciani, Ducati 998RS, 1:59.267
16. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia RSV1000, 1:59.765
17. Peter Goddard, Benelli Tornado 900, 1:59.917
18. Steve Martin, Ducati 998RS, 2:00.208
19. Gregorio Lavilla, Suzuki GSX-R750, 2:00.390
20. Serafino Foti, Ducati 996RS, 2:01.033
21. Mark Heckles, Honda RC51, 2:01.566
22. Juan Borja, Ducati 998RS, 2:01.648
23. Broc Parkes, Ducati 998RS, 2:02.297
24. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 2:03.185



More, from a press release issued by Ducati:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 6 – Silverstone (Great Britain)
Friday Qualifying

PROVISIONAL FRONT ROW FOR BOSTROM (DUCATI L&M) – FIFTH FOR XAUS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) – BAYLISS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) TENTH AFTER LAST-MINUTE CRASH

Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) powered to third quickest time in Friday’s first qualifying session at Silverstone today, as rainstorms lashed the Grand Prix circuit and made conditions difficult for the WSBK riders on their first visit to the Northamptonshire track. As the track dried out in the last few minutes, championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) had a minor crash at Priory on his final run, ending the session in tenth. Team-mate Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) was always up at the front throughout the hour and finished in provisional fifth place. Ducati HM Plant rider Neil Hodgson continued his recent run of good form to take the overnight pole mark ahead of Colin Edwards (Honda), while Ducati ‘wild-card’ riders Steve Hislop (Monster Mob) and Michael Rutter (Renegade) also put in excellent performances to finish seventh and eighth respectively.

“Basically I just lost the front right at the end in the twisty section”, explained Troy. “I was pushing it a little too hard, we had just put a new tyre on and I was ready to go on the rapidly-drying track but just went down. There was a little bit of a damp spot there and I hurt my finger a little bit, but no dramas. We were at the top the whole session, just the last part let me down. I lost the front on an intermediate, I feel sure it would have been a good lap, but we’ll be up at the front tomorrow”.

“It was a really strange practice, you’re going out and in all the time and the lap times in the last five minutes went crazy” said Ruben. “We decided to put a slick on the back but it wasn’t easy to set a quick time in these conditions, especially when you come up on backmarkers. There’s only one line although it wasn’t dry all the way round, and everyone here is riding at a really high level so it’s difficult to pass because as soon as you make a move here you’re on the wet”.

“We had a really bad middle split on my quick lap when I got caught behind a Kawasaki halfway around” declared Ben, “but I’m happy to be third because if it rains tomorrow, it means I’m in the top four. The bike and the tyres are great, I just didn’t go fast enough. We’ve still got a bit more to learn around Silverstone, but I’m pretty happy with my performance today”.

From a press release issued by Honda UK:

FORET LEADS HONDA TOP THREE AT SILVERSTONE

Honda’s Fabien Foret continued his challenge for the World Supersport championship title by setting the fastest time in Friday’s opening
qualifying session for the British round at Silverstone.

Frenchman Foret ­ second in the championship, just four points off the series lead ­ continued his run of form after winning round five of the
championship at Monza, Italy two weeks ago.

Foret, riding for the Dutch Ten Kate team, led a Honda top three as talented Australian youngster Chris Vermeulen was second quickest on the van Zon
CBR600 with Honda UK team rider Karl Muggeridge third after topping the leaderboard for much of the 45-minute session.

Muggeridge said: “I had a good session. It’s the first time at this circuit for everyone and I really like the place. We¹re getting the machine dialled in and Pirelli are confident about providing the race tyres to win.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara was fourth fastest to complete the provisional front row for Sunday’s 19-lap race. The session ended with two minutes to go as a heavy shower hit the 3.16-mile circuit.

Scotsman Iain MacPherson, riding alongside Foret in the Ten Kate Honda team, was fifth fastest with BKM Honda’s Christophe Cogan sixth.

Friday¹s World Supersport qualifying times: 1. Fabien Foret, France (Honda), 1:52.259; 2. Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda), 1:52.462: 3. Karl
Muggeridge, Australia (Honda), 1:52.926; 4. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan, (Suzuki), 1:53.091; 5. Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda), 1:53.135; 6. Christophe Cogan, France (Honda), 1:53.467; 7. Paolo Casoli, Italy (Yamaha), 1:53.504;
8. Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha), 1:53.556; 9. Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki), 1:53.667; 10. Werner Daemen, Belgium (Honda), 1:53.798.


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

Foret battles through wind and rain to provisional pole

Fabien Foret put his Ten Kate Honda onto provisional pole despite gusting wind and a rain squall that brought the first Supersport qualifying session to a premature end today.

Heavy rain had fallen throughout the night but the track dried before the World Supersport riders took to the Silverstone tarmac for the first timed qualifying session. Although the rain held off until the closing moments, the wind was gusting strongly, making life difficult for the riders around the former aerodrome.

“I’m happy with pole, naturally,” smiled Foret, winner at Monza two weeks ago. “But it was difficult in those conditions. But now if it rains for tomorrow¹s practice, I’ll stay on pole, but if it’s dry, then I know I can
go faster as we’ve some more progress to make in chassis set up. The WP Suspension guys are working really hard to perfect the set up. The problem here is bumps, the F1 cars really ripple up the surface and many of the corner exits are very bumpy. But it’s a challenge that I’m confident our technicians and the WP Suspension guys can rise to.”

His team mate Iain MacPherson finished fifth fastest, continuing to improve as he gets his riding style adapted to the Ten Kate Honda. “I think I could have gone faster still,” said MacPherson, “but I didn’t get a clear lap with
my best qualifying tyre on, then the rain came before I got back out again.”

Team Manager Ronald ten Kate was smiling again, “It seems we have lots to be happy about nowadays,” beamed ten Kate. “Coming straight from a win at the last round, and now here in first qualifying, we have four Ten Kate Honda’s in the top ten, with two on the provisional front row.

“Iain MacPherson has really benefited from the Misano test last week,” continued ten Kate, “he’s made some changes to the bike’s set up to suit his riding style and it’s definitely working. Even if it rains for the race we’ll be strong, Pirelli have provided us with some excellent wet weather tyres.”