Strong winds overnight left many canopies twisted and destroyed at Daytona International Speedway.

A walk around the open pit areas revealed many canopies that had been blown over the top of the trucks and trailers they were set up next to, with bent and twisted poles.

Some larger canopies, like one attached to the Annandale Racing trailer, were partially destroyed, with some tied down sections remaining in place and other sections twisting and bending.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The official AMA Pro Racing website, www.amaproracing.com., no longer carries a special section touting the advantages of a proposed new deal with JamSports to promote the 2003 AMA Supercross Series.

Although the proposed deal to replace 28-year Supercross promoters Clear Channel Entertainment Motor Sports with motorsports unknowns JamSports was portrayed as being final in various public statements made by AMA Pro Racing officials, no announcement has been made confirming that a contract has been signed. A Letter of Intent was signed, but has apparently expired without a contract being executed.

Changes in the makeup of the AMA Board of Directors and of the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors may have affected the proposed AMA Pro Racing/JamSports deal.

The proposed JamSports deal, which was apparently originally structured with the belief that CCE would quit the motocross business if it didn’t have AMA sanction, ran into serious trouble when CCE announced it would continue to promote its existing Supercross Series without AMA sanction, in competition with the proposed new AMA/JamSports Series.

CCE then extended its exclusive motorsports event promotion deals with the stadiums current Supercross events are held in, released its 2003 schedule, and negotiated a deal with DORNA and FIM to make the CCE Series a new Supercross World Championship Series.

And despite the fact that AMA Pro Racing officials portrayed FIM sanction of the CCE Series as unlikely, the FIM last week confirmed the sanction and announced the 2003 Supercross World Championship schedule–which basically is the CCE schedule.

The schedule the FIM released includes two races outside the U.S. at To Be Announced locations, then continues with the usual CCE dates. The traditional Daytona Supercross date is listed with a location of TBA, perhaps in anticipation of the AMA/CCE rift being repaired and the Daytona event–the one Supercross race not promoted by CCE–becoming part of the CCE World Championship Series.

The AMA Supercross Series consisted of individual events put on by individual promoters before PACE and SFX started buying up rival promoters, consolidating series promotion. PACE was purchased by SFX, which in turn was purchased by CCE, with little or no change in the actual staffing and operations of the Motor Sports Division. Counting PACE and SFX operations, CCE’s Motor Sports Division has a 28-year history of promoting AMA-sanctioned Supercross races.

The schedule follows:

12/7/2002, TBA
12/14/2002, TBA
1/4/2003, Edison Field, Anaheim, CA
1/11/2003, Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, AZ
1/18/2003, Edison Field, Anaheim, CA
1/25/2003, Pac Bell Stadium, San Francisco, CA
2/1/2003, Edison Field, Anaheim, CA
2/8/2003, Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA
2/15/2003, Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
2/22/2003, Georgia DOme, Atlanta, GA
3/1/2003, RCA Dome, Indianapolis, IN
3/8/2003, TBA
3/22/2003, Dome @ America’s Center, St. Louis, MO
3/29/2003, Reliant Astrodome, Houston, TX
4/5/2003, Silverdome, Pontiac, MI
4/12/2003, Texas Stadium, Dallas, TX
4/26/2003, Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT
5/3/2003, Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Formula USA officials and a group of top series regulars reached an agreement on wet-weather contingency plans for today’s event at Daytona International Speedway, defusing a potential rider boycott.

While Formula USA Director of Road Racing Bill Syfan said that the group of riders, (which included Shawn Higbee, Matt Wait, Lee Acree, Larry Pegram, Michael Barnes, Michael Himmelsbach and Craig Connell) never actually threatened to boycott, Acree told reporters that they were planning a boycott if the race was run in the rain.

Eric Wood was on the other side of the controversy, and planned to race rain or shine.

Acree said that riders on his side of the question asked for Championship points to be removed from the race so they would not be contractually bound to race all-out on a rain-soaked Daytona track.

Riders are concerned about inconsistent wet-conditions traction on the Daytona road course, particularly in the chicane and across painted lines on the banking.

F-USA’s Syfan contemplated the situation Saturday before holding another meeting with riders and team owners Saturday evening, after the end of on-track activities.

Former racer Syfan offered the riders a compromise, saying that if he determined the track to be fully wet Sunday afternoon, he would award eight Championship points to all riders who took to the grid and raced in the Unlimited Superbike, Sportbike and Buell Lightning Series races.

Eight points is in the middle of the points payout schedule.

The blanket points award is designed to give riders something for making the effort to compete at Daytona, and to give them an advantage over racers who didn’t come to Daytona but show up at the second round of the series.

Syfan also added that if the race started in fully dry conditions and then turned wet (as happened in the controversial 2001 Championship-deciding final race), it would be stopped and competitors allowed to change to rain tires. But if the race started in dry conditions or semi-dry conditions, it will pay full Championship points and riders will have to race for those points.

Either way, Formula USA plans to pay the entire $20,000 cash purse.

Riders on both sides of the question agreed to the compromise.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

(Race red-flagged on lap 11 of 12 due to rain, backed up to lap 10)

1. Shawn Higbee, GSX-R750
2. Lee Acree, GSX-R750
3. Eric Wood, GSX-R750
4. Larry Pegram, GSX-R750
5. Matt Wait, CBR929RR
6. Chris Ulrich, GSX-R750
7. Michael Barnes, GSX-R750
8. Craig Connell, GSX-R750
9. Ty Howard, GSX-R750
10. Owen Richey, GSX-R750
11. John Ashmead, GSX-R750
12. Byron Barbour, GSX-R750
13. Chris Rankin, GSX-R750
14. Darryn Wilbur, YZF-R1
15. Jason Smith, GSX-R750
16. Cory Call, GSX-R1000
17. Darin Polach, CBR929RR
18. Scott Greenwood, GSX-R750
19. Eric Spector, GSX-R750
20. Justin Blake, GSX-R750
21. Dave Alley, GSX-R750
22. Rick Shaw, GSX-R750
23. Joe Ribeiro, GSX-R750
24. Michael Hanley, GSX-R750
25. Mike Himmelsbach, RSV Mille R, 9 laps, DNF, crash
26. Steve Keener, GSX-R750, 9 laps
27. James Kerker, CBR929RR, 9 laps
28. Roman Kilgore, GSX-R750, 9 laps
29. Brian Baker, GSX-R750, 9 laps
30. Gene Hall, GSX-R750, 9 laps
31. Tim Bemisderfer, CBR954RR, 8 laps, DNF, crash
32. Steve Fagan, GSX-R750, 6 laps, DNF
33. Robert Presby, ZX-7R, 5 laps, DNF
34. Kiyo Watanabe, RC51, 3 laps, DNF

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Arclight Suzuki’s Lee Acree won two Suzuki Cup contingency races Saturday during CCS competition at Daytona International Speedway.

Acree rode his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000 and GSX-R750 to unchallenged wins in Unlimited Supersport and Heavyweight Supersport, respectively.

Acree battled with teammate Scott Harwell early in the five-lap Unlimited Supersport race before using better runs through the infield portion of the 3.56-mile circuit to lose his pursuer. Harwell slipped back but held on to second place ahead of Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted Fritz Kling, Tim Bemisderfer on his new 2002 Shenandoah Honda CBR954RR, Roadracingworld.com’s Geoff May on a GSX-R1000 and first-year Expert Darren Luck.

In the Heavyweight Supersport five-lapper, Acree came from third at the start to take the win. Acree outbraked 14K The Movie’s Eric Wood in the West Horseshoe on the first lap, then drafted by Harwell on the lowside of the West Banking. Acree pulled away quickly with 1:55 laps on his AMA Superstock bike and won by 12 seconds. Wood and Harwell battled for second until Wood outbraked Harwell into turn one and pulled away on lap three. Harwell finished third with former Daytona 200 winner John Ashmead fourth, young gun Jason DiSalvo fifth and rookie Expert Giovanni Rojas sixth.

CCS Unlimited Supersport Results:
1. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R1000
2. Scott Harwell, Suzuki GSX-R1000
3. Fritz Kling, Suzuki GSX-R1000
4. Tim Bemisderfer, Suzuki GSX-R1000
5. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000
6. Darren Luck, Suzuki GSX-R750

CCS Heavyweight Supersport Results:
1. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R750
2. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750
3. Scott Harwell, Suzuki GSX-R750
4. John Ashmead, Suzuki GSX-R750
5. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki GSX-R750
6. Giovanni Rojas, Suzuki GSX-R750

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Ian MacPherson will replace Pere Riba on Team Ten Kate Honda in the Supersport World Championship Series.

In a deal that was set in motion when Riba announced his intention to abandon Ten Kate to ride the D’Antin Antena 3 YZR500 Yamaha left vacant by Alex Criville, D’Antin has paid off Ten Kate Honda to secure Riba’s contract release, and now Ten Kate Honda is in the process of paying off Klaffenbock Racing to release MacPherson.

Criville was forced to stop racing by unexplained fainting spells.

Unofficial Lap Times:

1. Josh Hayes, 1:59.997
2. Tim Bemisderfer, 2:00.703
3. Owen Weichel, 2:00.923
4. Jeff Wood, 2:01.118
5. Geoff May, 2:01.464
6. Tom Kipp, 2:02.174
7. Scott Harwell, 2:02.176
8. Andrew Nelson, 2:02.721
9. Fritz Kling, 2:03.119
10. James Compton, 2:03.09

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Michael Barnes was leading when the second Unlimited Superbike race at Daytona was red-flagged due to rain after four laps. Lee Acree had already crashed in the chicane (unhurt) after he was hit from behind by Shawn Higbee, who then ran over Acree. Highbee continued on in fifth with his bike’s bubble broken.

After it was stopped, the race was declared a wet race, a slick spot in the chicane was coned off, and the event was restarted for eight laps with riders on DOT-labelled dry-pattern tires, as the track was not wet enough for rain tires. Acree restarted on a spare bike but pitted immediately.

Michael Barnes ran away with the restart, winning by about 12 seconds from the closing-up-at-the-finish group of Eric Wood, Shawn Higbee and Scott Greenwood. Greenwood ran second for much of the race but was caught and passed by Wood and Higbee on the last lap.

1. Michael Barnes, GSX-R750, 12 laps
2. Eric Wood, GSX-R750
3. Shawn Higbee, GSX-R750
4. Scott Greenwood, GSX-R750
5. Mike Himmelsbach, RSV Mille R
6. Owen Richie, GSX-R750
7. Craig Connell, GSX-R750
8. Cory Call, GSX-R1000
9. Darry Wilbur, YZF-R1
10. Chris Rankin, GSX-R750
11. Larry Pegram, GSX-R750
12. Dave Alley, GSX-R750
13. John Ashmead, GSX-R750
14. Geoff May, GSX-R1000
15. James Kerker, CBR929RR
16. Rick Shaw, GSX-R750
17. Steve Fagan, GSX-R750
18. Michael Hanley, GSX-R750
19. Craig Shertzer, Duc 996
20. Gene Hall, GSX-R750
21. Eric Spector, GSX-R750
22. Matt Wait, CBR929RR, 5 laps
23. Ty Howard, GSX-R750, 4 laps
24. Jason Smith, GSX-R750, 4 laps
25. Steve Keener, GSX-R750, 4 laps
26. Nelson Suarez, Ducati 996, 4 laps
27. Justin Blake, GSX-R750, 4 laps
28. Kevin McCrea, GSX-R750, 4 laps
29. Chris Ulrich, GSX-R750, 3 laps
30. Joe Ribeiro, GSX-R750, 3 laps
31. Lee Acree, GSX-R750, 3 laps
32. Robert Presby, ZX-7R, 2 laps
33. Darin Polach, 1 lap

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racing veteran Randy Renfrow, 45, underwent surgery at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday.

Renfrow was injured in a crash on Friday and, according to his longtime tuner John Lassak, was diagnosed with a broken patella plateau in his right leg, two broken bones in his right foot and four broken ribs in his back.

From a Marlboro Yamaha press release:

MARLBORO YAMAHA TEAM TESTS
Mugello, Italy, Saturday March 2, 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA MAKE ‘BIG STEP’ AT MUGELLO

Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi today completed a crucial three-day test session at Mugello with their upgraded YZR-M1s. The successful outing – with a new chassis the major improvement – rejuvenated the squad’s confidence after last month’s tests at Valencia and Estoril.

Checa ended up lapping the challenging Italian track 1.1 seconds faster than he’d ever managed on a 500, while Biaggi was also quicker than ever before, bettering his 500 best by 0.7 seconds. The Italian did tumble at the end of today, after running off the track at turn one. As a precaution the circuit’s medical staff advised him to visit nearby Borgo San Lorenzo hospital for a check up, but he was released without requiring treatment.

Both riders were so satisfied with progress that the team had already opted to leave the track a day earlier than expected when Biaggi fell. They will now prepare for next weekend’s IRTA tests at Catalunya in Spain.

“We’ve made a big step here, though we can still improve,” said Checa. “The work we’ve done with the new frame will probably be more useful to us than all our previous pre-season testing. It fixes the problems I’d been having in the corners; now I can get on the gas earlier and control the bike better. I feel a lot more comfortable, and my goal is always to feel comfortable on a bike, so I can ride as I like to ride.

“We’ve now got a good base set-up on which we can build at Barcelona and Suzuka, and if we keep moving in this direction things should get even better. We could’ve stayed for Sunday and gone even faster but we’ve already done lots of laps and got lots of data, so there was no point in that.”

Biaggi was also in good mood after the session. “On the whole the tests went okay, the new frame is definitely better, it makes the bike more rideable,” he commented after his brief visit to hospital. “I hope that the frame, plus the engine improvements we’re now working on, will make the bike even better. It was a shame I crashed – I ran off the track at turn one and couldn’t keep the bike upright in the gravel.”

Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio shared his riders’ sense of a job well done at Mugello. “It’s been a positive test, we’ve gained a lot of useful information and both riders are happy with what we’ve achieved,” he said. “The new frame is certainly a step in the right direction. Today we confirmed a lot of our expectations and also worked on settings and tyres. For sure, we can improve things some more, that’s always our focus, and we’re now looking forward to the final tests at Barcelona and Suzuka before next month’s first race. Max’s crash was a shame but it was nothing serious, he’s fine.”

The Marlboro Yamaha Team completes its pre-season testing programme at Catalunya (March 9/10) and at Suzuka (March 30/31), where the Japanese GP
opens the new MotoGP season on April 7.

LAP TIMES

Carlos Checa (Marlboro Yamaha Team) 1:52.1, (30 laps today, 130 in total)

Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha Team) 1:52.2, (23 laps today, 127 in total)