From a press release:

Scuderia West, America’s #1 Aprilia dealer, is excited to announce that Hawk Mazzotta is once again aboard a Scuderia West Aprilia. Mazzotta, who raced for Scuderia West at Laguna Seca in the Aprilia Cup Challenge in ’99 and finished on the podium behind current Moto GP rookie John Hopkins and current AMA regular Alex Gobert, was the class of the field last weekend in the AFM Open Twins race at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point).

Starting from the back of the grid on the Scuderia West RSV Mille R, Mazzotta took the lead on the second lap and opened up a comfortable advantage, which he held to the finish.

Hawk, who turned 21 this month, is returning to motorcycle road racing after two years racing cars, where he won the Formula Continental Series National Championship.

Scuderia is happy to see Hawk back on two wheels and riding an Aprilia again.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

California Speedway in Fontana, California has announced that it will hold an AMA National on April 4-6, 2003.

The announcement was made to the general interest media on Monday.

The track will also hold CART, IRL, Grand-Am, NASCAR and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events in 2003.

AMA Pro Racing has not announced its 2003 schedule.

From a press release issued by the AMA:

Critics Falsely Claim That Bikers Are A Burden On Society

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — At the height of the riding season is when motorcyclists hear it most — misinformed critics charging that people who ride motorcycles are a burden on society because of their medical costs.

The most recent version of this erroneous theory came in a report that aired Friday night, August 16, on ABC News’ “World News Tonight.”

But the charge that motorcyclists are a social burden is simply untrue, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

“Some lawmakers, members of the news media and others still subscribe to the ‘social burden’ fallacy that motorcyclists use more taxpayer dollars than other members of society to pay their medical bills,” said Edward Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. “Studies have shown that is false. Yet it is brought up time and again by those who want to place restrictions on motorcyclists.”

Moreland pointed to a study done at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle during the 1980s that found 63.4 percent of the injured motorcyclists taken to the trauma center relied on public funds to pay their hospital bills. Critics charged that amounted to taxpayer subsidies for motorcycle injuries, but the director of the trauma center noted that 67 percent of the general patient population relied on public money to pay their hospital bills in the same time period.

Also, a study by the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center showed that 49.5 percent of injured motorcyclists had their medical costs covered by insurance, almost identical to the 50.4 percent of other road trauma victims were similarly insured.

In addition, the North Carolina study found that the average costs of motorcyclists’ injuries are actually slightly lower than the costs for other accident victims. The presence or absence of a helmet was not shown to affect injury costs.

Moreland also pointed out that the cost of treating injured motorcyclists is minuscule compared to the nation’s medical costs as a whole. The costs associated with treating all motorcycling injuries account for less than 0.001 percent of total U.S. health-care costs. And a significant percentage of those costs are paid through private insurance.

All told, about 1.16 percent of U.S. health-care costs are related to motor vehicle accidents, and motorcycles represented only 0.53 percent of the accident-involved vehicles nationwide in 1999.

Motorcycling critics often use the social-burden argument in efforts to get state lawmakers to pass, or retain, mandatory helmet-use laws. And in recent years, some motorcycling organizations have bolstered that argument by striking bargains with lawmakers in which motorcyclists agree to accept medical-insurance requirements in exchange for the right to ride without a helmet. These requirements lend support to the flawed social-burden argument, since the same insurance requirements are not imposed on car drivers.

“Some motorcyclists appear willing to agree to these expensive and dangerous economic tradeoffs,” Moreland said. “Lawmakers subscribing to the social-burden theory, coupled with the willingness of some motorcyclists to accept special insurance requirements, could open the door for lawmakers to impose even more unwarranted requirements on motorcyclists.”

The AMA supports voluntary helmet use for adults as part of a comprehensive approach to motorcycling safety, including wearing proper safety gear, getting rider training and educating motorists to watch for motorcycles on the road.

Motorcyclists who wish to respond to the ABC News report on this issue that appeared Friday night, August 16, can post their comments online on the “World News Tonight Forum” at http://boards.abcnews.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?LIST&room=WorldNewsTonight

From a press release issued by Marlboro Yamaha:

MARLBORO YAMAHA TEAM GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

Czech Republic Grand Prix, Brno
August 23/24/25 2002

BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

The 2002 MotoGP World Championship is re-ignited this weekend at Brno, where the Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 first hit the headlines last summer. During July 2001 Carlos Checa tested the M1 at the Czech track, smashing the 500 lap record, the first indication that the new breed of four-stroke MotoGP bikes would be astonishingly fast.

Now Checa and team-mate Max Biaggi return to Brno, where they aim to score the M1’s first win. Last month in Germany, Biaggi came within 0.7 seconds of taking the bike’s first success, and Checa has also proved that he can run at the front aboard the M1. This weekend a range of revised chassis and aerodynamics parts should get the Italian and the Spaniard, currently third and fifth overall, even closer to victory.

Over the past four weeks both men have been taking some much needed rest and relaxation during the sport’s traditional midseason hiatus, with a brief visit to Zandvoort in Holland for the big Marlboro Masters F3 event their only official duty.

Sunday’s Czech Grand Prix, round ten of this year’s 16-race World Championship, is the penultimate event before the MotoGP circus packs up and heads out of Europe for a gruelling run of ‘flyway’ races in South America and the Pacific Rim region. The season concludes back in Europe, at Valencia in Spain, on November 3.


REVISED CHASSIS & AERODYNAMIC PACKAGE FOR M1
The Marlboro Yamaha Team’s YZR-M1s will benefit from an impressive range of upgrade parts this weekend, proof that Yamaha’s race department hasn’t been quiet during the sport’s midseason recess. A new fairing and modified chassis are available to Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa at Brno, and both men intend to make the best use of the new package around this challenging, high-speed circuit.

Aside from Japan’s one-week summer holiday, Yamaha engineers have been working to maintain the amazing momentum they’ve built up with the ever-improving M1. The machine has benefited from a constant flow of development parts that have made it one of the most competitive machines on the MotoGP grid. Back in June, Biaggi scored the bike’s first pole position at Catalunya, and the Marlboro Yamaha Team currently holds second place in the MotoGP team’s league table. Good results from both riders at Brno would be the best-possible start to the year’s final run of seven GPs.

Riders need plenty of everything at Brno – plenty of horsepower, plenty of chassis performance and plenty of commitment for the circuit’s sweeping turns and esses, many of which feature adverse-camber entries. These are three reasons why the team will stay on to test at the majestic Czech venue after the GP.

“Yamaha have been working very hard to give us many new parts, it’s amazing what they’ve achieved,” says Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio. “Although we’ve had a month’s break from racing, the race department has been as busy as usual, apart from their one-week holiday. We have new parts for Brno. But, as with anything new, we need to wait and see how everything works when we get it to the track. We weren’t able to test these parts because testing has not been allowed in August during the run-up to this race.”

Yamaha’s latest efforts should give the YZR-M1 an all-round boost. “We have a modified chassis, with different rear-shock pivot, to give us the extra suspension movement we’ve been looking for,” reveals project leader Ichiro Yoda. “We also have a new fairing, for less drag and better cooling. We hope the M1 will be good at Brno, the bike’s performance through downhill sections is good, and that’s important at this track.”

Brivio and his entire crew are looking forward to this tenth race of the season. “I think the holidays have been good for all of us,” he adds. “Our riders have been able to relax, clear their minds and thus arrive at Brno with renewed energy for the final seven races. Both have been very fast and consistent at recent Grands Prix and I’m sure we can expect them to continue fighting for the M1’s first win.”


BRNO – BIAGGI’S TOP TRACK
Max Biaggi has enjoyed more success at Brno than at any other racetrack on the World Championship calendar. The Marlboro Yamaha Team ace scored four back-to-back 250 wins at the circuit, from 1994 to ’97 (with Aprilia and Honda machinery), and has taken two premier class victories at the demanding venue, in ’98 with Honda and two years ago with Yamaha. The Italian’s graceful and super-precise riding style is perfectly suited to Brno’s curves.

This weekend he returns for his first four-stroke race at the circuit. Biaggi did briefly ride an early version of the YZR-M1 at Brno during team tests last July, but since he was battling for the last-ever 500 title at the time, he focused his attention on his YZR500.

“Brno is definitely one of my favourite tracks,” he says. “The layout is great, there’s a lot of fairly high-speed chicanes, where changing direction fast is what counts, and there’s some uphill turns and some downhill turns. Brno is also very wide, so you can use a lot of different lines, depending on your situation, so that makes it really interesting to ride. It’s up to the rider to use the best line every lap and you’ve got to be so precise with your lines. Precision gives you a real premium here and I think that’s why I love the track. The four-stroke will be different from the 500, so we’ll work to get it as good as possible, then I’ll try my best in the race.

“We have been performing very well at the last few races, every time we’re in the battle for the podium. After Germany, where the two-strokes were quite fast, the four-strokes should be quick at Brno, there’s several long straights where you need a lot of horsepower.”

Biaggi has been taking things easy since last July’s German GP, where he was a brilliant runner-up. “It’s been good to have some holidays,” he smiles. “I’ve spent some time on the sea, just doing nothing, having fun with my girlfriend and friends.”

Biaggi currently holds third place in the 2002 MotoGP World Championship, just 15 points behind Tohru Ukawa (Honda). He’s finished inside the top four at the last six GPs, scoring three runner-up finishes, one third place and two fourth places.


CHECA: BRNO WILL BE BETTER
Thirteen months ago, Carlos Checa’s pace aboard the brand-new Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 during private Brno tests was the talk of the Grand Prix paddock. The Spaniard shattered race and lap records during the session, and from that moment on everyone knew that the new age of four-stroke MotoGP racing was going to be the fastest ever.

Since then Checa and teammate Biaggi have been developing the M1 into a force capable of challenging for race victories. Back in April Checa gave the bike a third-place debut at the season-opening Japanese GP and he’s been on the pace at several GPs since, qualifying on the front row four times and usually in the race for a podium finish. At last month’s British GP he set the pace, leading more than half the race before a slow-speed spill robbed him of a potential first MotoGP victory. In Germany he was a close-run fourth, just 2.33 seconds down on the winner, and he believes things will be even better at Brno.

“Brno will be better for the four-strokes than the last two tracks,” he reveals. “I’ve already ridden the M1 at Brno, but the bike is very different now, and the tyres too. During those tests we saw the potential of the machine for the first time and since then we’ve all worked very hard to make big improvements. Yamaha have done a great job, they are incredibly committed to this project. We have new parts for Brno, which I’m looking forward to testing during Friday practice.

“Brno is a very nice track, it’s fast and wide, with some long, sweeping corners and some great downhill and uphill sections. I think the circuit should be good for the M1’s character and personally I rate it as one of the best we race at.”

Since last month’s German GP Checa has been touring Scotland and getting to know the area around his new home in North Yorkshire, England. “We all needed a holiday,” he adds. “But now I’m ready to get back to work.”

Checa is currently fifth in the MotoGP World Championship, just two points behind Alex Barros (Honda). He has scored three podium finishes but has also suffered three DNFs.


WHAT THE TEAM SAYS
Fiorenzo Fanali, Max Biaggi’s chief engineer
“There’s a lot of esses at Brno, so it’s important to find the right set-up, so the rider can change direction very fast. We will have a modified chassis here, which is designed to increase manoeuvrability, and getting the chassis just right will be one of our main focuses during the weekend. The other concern at Brno is chatter. There are a lot of downhill corners, through which riders really load up the front tyre, though we’ve had very little chatter from the M1. Overall, I’d say Brno should be good for Max, it’s one of his favourite tracks.”

Antonio Jimenez, Carlos Checa’s chief engineer
“Brno’s a good track, Carlos loves it so much. We were there last summer with the first M1 and the test went really well. Of course, the bike and tyres have changed a lot but we’ll be able to use some of that data to give us a base set-up from which to start the weekend. It’s important to have a fast bike at Brno because there’s some fast straights, some of them uphill. Our main goal for chassis performance will be to find good braking stability, so that Carlos can go into corners with the brake on. If he can do that, he can attack corners properly.”


THE TRACK
Brno is a masterpiece of a motorcycle race circuit. Constructed in the mid-eighties, it eschews the modern fashion of tight turns and hairpins for a mighty mix of fast sweepers and undulating corners that test rider talent and engineering to the limit. Most riders love the place because it’s challenging and also because it’s very fast.

But Brno’s most significant characteristic is its constant changes of elevation – the circuit weaves its way across forested hillsides – which means that many of the turns are steeply cambered. Dealing with negative camber corners requires a perfectly set-up machine, deft riding skills and especially crucial input from tyre engineers. Horsepower is also a major consideration at Brno because this is one racetrack where MotoGP bikes, usually caged in by mostly slower venues, really get moving.

The circuit was built to replace Brno’s treacherous street circuit that had hosted GPs since the mid-sixties; you still pass the old pit complex on the way from the city centre to the current venue. Last year’s 500 GP was won by Valentino Rossi (Honda).


BRNO
5.403km/3.357miles
Lap record: Valentino Rossi (Honda), 2m 01.461s, 160.140kmh/99.506mph


MARLBORO YAMAHA TEAM RIDER DATA LOGS
MAX BIAGGI
Age: 31. Lives: Monaco
Bike: Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1
GP victories: 37 (8 x 500, 29 x 250)
First GP victory: South Africa, 1992 (250)
First GP: France, 1991 (250)
GP starts: 158 (9xMotoGP, 62×500, 87×250)
Pole positions: 49 (1xMotoGP, 15×500, 33×250)
First pole: Europe, 1992 (250)
World Championships: 4 x 250 (’94, ’95, ’96, ’97)
Brno 2001 results. Grid: pole. Race: DNF

CARLOS CHECA
Age: 29. Lives: Yorkshire, England
Bike: Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1
GP victories: 2 (500)
First GP victory: Catalunya, 1996 (500)
First GP: Europe, 1993 (125)
GP starts: 129 (9xMotoGP, 92×500, 27×250, 1×125)
Pole positions: 1 (500)
First pole: Spain, 1998 (500)
Brno 2001 results. Grid: 7th. Race: 7th

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

In a phone call to Roadracingworld.com, Fred Bramblett of OMS Sports released details of the boating accident involving Ben and Eric Bostrom and Ben’s girlfriend Kat, the tall, slender woman serving as Ben’s umbrella girl in many race grid photos.

OMS Sports represents Ben Bostrom.

According to Bramblett, the trio’s boat was run over from behind by a larger, faster boat Monday, August 19 in a bay off Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy.

All three dove into the water before the collision occurred but were caught in the wake and Kat was hit by one of the boats.

Kat is “still in the hospital, stable condition, but gonna be there for a while, you know, undergone surgery to correct the puncture in her lung, but still (is) hooked up to a breathing apparatus. It’s gonna take a while for her to rehabilitate for her to be taken off,” said Bramblett

Kat is a fashion model who travels between Milan, New York and Paris, Bramblett said.

“(Ben) and Eric both got tumbled a little bit, but probably no worse than any given Sunday at a racetrack somewhere,” added Bramblett.

The accident is being investigated by the Italian Coast Guard.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Ben and Eric Bostrom and Ben’s female friend Kat survived a serious boating accident in Europe, according to an August 20 entry in Ben’s online diary.

From Ben’s account, he, Kat and Eric hired a boat in Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean where Ben has been spending his mid-season holiday. A high-performance boat hit the Bostroms’ smaller boat at high speed. The Bostrom brothers dove off the boat just prior to the collision and were uninjured, but Ben’s friend Kat suffered six broken ribs, a punctured lung and a laceration on her head.

To read Ben’s account of the incident, go to www.benbostrom155.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Texas Pacific Group (TPG), a capital investment firm with $10 billion in assets, is looking to sell its 33.5% share of Ducati Motor Holding, S.p.A., the BBC reported on Monday, August 19.

TPG bought into then-cash-strapped Ducati in 1996.

As a capital investment firm, companies like TPG inject financially troubled but otherwise sound companies with working capital in hopes that they will return to profitability. Theoretically, after the troubled company rebounds, the investment company sells off its shares and makes a profit or continues to run the company and makes a profit. If the company fails to rebound, the investment firm could potentially lose money.

TPG bought then-bankrupt Continental Airlines in 1993 and made the company profitable within months, according to the Reuters Business Report, providing investors a “ten fold” return on their investments. In the following year, TPG invested successfully in bankrupt America West. According to an August 15, 2000 USA Today article, TPG recently made an offer to buy 38% of bankrupt U.S. Airways for $200 million. And in July, TPG led a $2.3 billion buyout of Burger King.

On July 16, 2002, Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. reported record revenue gains of 6.7% for the first half of 2002 over the same period of 2001.

Ducati is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DMH.

From a press release issued by Chris Vermeulen’s publicist and manager:

YOUNG AUSSIE GOES NUMBER 1 WITH HONDA

Australian Chris Vermeulen has announced today, that he will be the number one World Supersport Honda rider in 2003, after signing with the highly successful Ten Kate Racing team.

The 20-year-old is making the step up from Ten Kate’s satellite team, Van Zon Honda, to join the European Honda backed set up. Vermeulen is the first rider to sign with the team for next year.

“I am just so excited. I can’t wait to start with the Ten Kate guys. The Van Zon bikes have been great, but I know moving up to the fully factory supported Ten Kate will be a huge opportunity,” Vermeulen said.

Speaking from Belgium, the Queenslander added: “When the offer was made, I was over the moon. Without a doubt it’s the best ride in World Supersport. The bikes are so close you need every advantage and the Ten Kate Hondas are always quick.

“Gerrit Ten Kate (Team Owner) is getting four 2003 CBRs in October, so we’ll start testing in November,” Vermeulen commented.

The talented rising star had some talks with the Castrol Honda Superbike team, but has elected to spend one more year in the 600cc class.

“Castrol Honda are still not sure what is happening for next year. They don’t know who will be riding for them, so I had this contract and I didn’t want to let it go. Gerrit (Ten Kate) has been very good to me and gave me a great chance this year, but next year is going to be big.”

It’s going to be a busy few months for Chris. Three races to finish the 2002 world championship season and then a high profile ride in a Super Moto in Belgium.

“It’s raced on dirt and bitumen. I’ll ride a Honda XR650 with road tyres. It should be fun. I am in training for the race, they say about 50,000 people show up to watch and there’s a couple of world motocross champions in it as well,” an excited Chris said.

Vermeulen will return to Australia for a short break after the Belgium race before beginning testing with his new team.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

From e-mails:


To Dave Sadowski:

Let me start by saying, “WOW!”

I certainly didn’t expect the volume of e-mail and web-board posts that were generated as a result of our emails.

You’ve given me no reason to doubt the sincerity of your apology, so consider it accepted… with one condition.

I plan to race my 250 at Mid-Ohio and VIR next year, and it will be my first time at either of those tracks. How about taking me around in a van to show me the “hot” line? And maybe Yates can join us to show me the best places to pass people. 🙂

Seriously, apology accepted and I too hope that RACERS (as well as TRACK OWNERS and SANCTIONING BODIES and CORNERWORKERS) can all work together to make 2003 the safest road racing season ever.

As for your future…

I know many people are calling for your “broadcasting head,” but I vote that you be kept on. I believe your job is very hard to master and I think you’ve shown improvement each year.

You’ve also had the opportunity to gain valuable insight during these last few days…insight that can give you an advantage over other announcers. I hope you use it wisely.

Good Luck.

Tony Iannarelli
Springfield, MA




I was really happy to see David Sadowski’s apology to Tony Ianarelli. David refers in his letter to “sticking together” and I feel that when someone like Tony takes the time to be a reader of a road race website and then sends in his thoughts for public review, he is obviously very committed to road racing and deserves a spot at the table too. I want to know what guys like Tony feel about the issues.

David, you have accomplished much in your motorcycling career, first on the track, and now in your very important role as the color man on the television coverage of road racing in America. What you don’t want to do is to use your name recognition to intimidate people with less and cause them to quit participating in the process of voicing their views about the sport. I know that wasn’t your intention and it was the right thing to do to clear the air with Tony.

I would like to add my thoughts about the Yates issue and a few other things in the Sadowski’s letter:

I agree 100% that riders need to stick together. Even this old pilot from the brake-shoe days is with the riders of today when it comes to issues that effect them all equally. There are times however when good people do bad things and I don’t think it’s expected that everyone defends someone if they did wrong. For example just a few weeks ago Tony Stewart punched a photographer at the Indy NASCAR event and no one jumped to his defense. Everyone knows you aren’t supposed to do that.

While I am a big Aaron Yates fan and want to see good things happen to him, in the case of his VIR incident what concerns me more is where do we go from there if there is no penalty? If the AMA does not assess some form of reprimand, what happens the next time another rider does exactly the same thing?

Here’s a scenario to chew on: It’s Daytona 2003 and you’ve got a great battle up front with the factory riders going at it. Sadowski and Drebber are at the mic and television viewers around the country are eating it up. The laps are winding down and we’ve got the battle of the century heading for a great photo finish.

On another part of the racetrack, one of the GSX-R750 privateers goes off the track. Could very well be one of the guys that Sadowski refers to in his letter order, the rider runs out on the track and lays down. A couple of riders have to dodge him, but no one gets hurt. So then the red flags come out and the race is stopped. And along with it the live television program comes to a halt and our great showdown is ruined.

Not only is the drama of the event destroyed, this is very bad when the clock is ticking in your TV time slot. So instead of having some time after the event for Victory Lane interviews, David’s show immediately goes off the air and now we’re watching a show about fishing.

And who knows how the restart might go? As we saw last year, every time you bunch the pack up for a restart, there are great risks involved there. Just ask Scott Russell.

If my scenario were to happen, then we would be revisiting the same issues as we are now. I am sure that the cry would go out: “Disqualify him, ban him, fine him, pull his points.” But then someone will ask: Isn’t this just the same thing the factory Suzuki guy did at VIR?” Do we have one set of rules for the factory rider and another for the privateer?

I don¹t know what the AMA will do about VIR, but if we asked NASCAR what they would do now, I’d bet lunch that here¹s what they would say: Make him understand that he did a bad thing. He put others in danger and impacted the television coverage purely in his self interest. It¹s the AMA’s job to decide when the red flag come out, not his. The most severe action would probably have been to disqualify him on the spot, but at this point you should fine him and put the money into more air fence. Then put him on probation for 90 days or so starting with the first race of the season. That way, he rides Daytona, but also know any future lawbreaking will result in being suspended.

One last point I¹d like to weigh in on. The Supersport riders will never get close to making the Superbike event look like a full field. There are clearly two races going on out there and everyone knows that. I¹d keep them all on the track together, but I¹d go with a format like in the American LeMans car racing series where you actually have different classes running at the same time. Let the Superbike riders have their battle, but instead of just mentioning the “Top Privateer” status of the GSX-R750 boys, I say pay OEM. Make it the 750 Supersport race and let the top finisher get credit for the class win, get the points and the cash. And if you did that you¹d have an extra time slot let in the schedule and maybe one of the classes the AMA is dropping could be saved.

Sorry to ramble, but those are my thoughts. Tony, keep your letters coming in. It¹s the American way to have a forum to speak your peace, no matter who disagrees with you. And David keep up the great work on television. You were a great racer and are on track to become just as great in your second career.

Don Emde
Laguna Niguel, CA

(Editorial Note: Emde won the Daytona 200 in 1972.)

From a press release from Daytona International Speedway:

Daytona 200 By Arai Champion Nicky Hayden Returns To DIS For Tire Test

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Aug. 20, 2002) — Nicky Hayden returned to where it all started on Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway.

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Photo by Daytona International Speedway.

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Hayden, who won the season-opening Daytona 200 By Arai on his way to the American Motorcyclist Association U.S. Superbike championship, returned to DIS to kick off the first day of a three-day Dunlop tire test in preparation for next year’s Daytona 200 on March 9.

Honda was the only manufacturer represented in the Dunlop tire test with Hayden, Team Erion’s Kurtis Roberts and development rider Gaku Kamada (subbing for Miguel Duhamel).

The Honda riders turned laps on the 3.56-mile road course before afternoon showers cut the session short. The tire test will continue on Wednesday and Thursday with a section of the Oldfield Grandstand open to the public with free access through DAYTONA USA.

Before the test started, Hayden couldn’t help but think back to March when he delivered a dominating performance in the Daytona 200. The Owensboro, Ky., native shattered the pole record when he clicked off a lap at one minute, 47.174 seconds (119.581 mph) and then dusted off the field with an 18.225-second victory in the Daytona 200.

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Photo by Daytona International Speedway.

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“When I flew in yesterday, I was thinking about how neat it is to come back as the Daytona 200 winner,” said Hayden, who at the age of 20 became the youngest winner of the Daytona 200 since 1976. “It’s a big deal. A lot of great people have won here and to get my name on that list is huge.”

Hayden, who turned 21 on July 30, became the youngest champion in the 27-year history of the AMA a few weeks ago in the season finale at Virginia International Raceway. Even though his plans for next season remain in limbo with a possible move to Europe, Hayden was happy that Honda is already focusing their efforts on 2003.

“I think it’s pretty cool that we’re here testing so soon,” Hayden said. “I still don’t know what I’m doing next year, but I think it’s great that we’re here so soon and so focused on next year. Just because we won this year and had a good year, we’re not slacking off any and taking it easy.”

Motorcycles will return to the “World Center of Racing” on Oct. 17-20 for Fall Cycle Scene. Tickets are available online at
http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling the Speedway ticket office at (386) 253-7223.