Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Anthony Gobert led the restart of the Daytona 200 at about 1:48 p.m. Sunday, after taking the point from Kurtis Roberts in turn one.

But before the lead pack reached the chicane, Roberts and Nicky Hayden blew past Gobert.

Gobert made up time on the brakes for turn one and started the second lap of the restart in second place.

The lead group is Roberts, Duhamel, Gobert and Hayden at the start of the third lap of the restart.

Miguel Duhamel just sat up and slowed across the finish line to finish lap 10 of the race (lap four of the restart), then coasted to a halt exiting turns one-two.

Duhamel is pushing his Honda back toward the pits, counter-course. Meanwhile, Gobert is back in front on lap 11 of 57.

Roberts, Gobert and Hayden are the lead group, the Hondas faster accelerating up onto the banking and Gobert very quick in the infield and into turn one.

Running order lap 12:
Roberts
Gobert
Hayden
Hacking
Yates
Bostrom
Picotte
Barnes
Mertens
Deatherage

Nicky Hayden ran wide into turn one after drafting past Roberts to lead, to start lap 14, leaving Roberts to lead Gobert.

Larry Pegram and Eric Wood have pitted with machine problems. Dean Mizdal has crashed.

Running order lap 15:
Roberts
Hayden
Gobert
Yates
Bostrom
Hacking
Picotte
Barnes
Mertens
Haskovec
Deatherage
Livengood
Jacobi
Conicelli
Orlando


Picotte pitted after lap 16, with mechanical problems after running off at the chicane. HMC Ducati mechanics worked on the shift linkage/left footpeg; Picotte rejoined the race after losing about two laps.

Gobert has lost touch with Roberts and Hayden, Gobert is visibly sliding, and Gobert has been caught by Hacking. Gobert pits on lap 20 for a tire and fuel, Hacking is now third from Yates, Bostrom and Gobert, back on track after his pit stop.

Picotte is back in the pits on lap 20.

Roberts and Hayden went through turn one side by side to start lap 23 and nearly collided, with Hayden having to stand his bike up and pull in his knee to avoid contact.

Hayden retakes the lead into turn one to start lap 24, riding around and outside Roberts at the entrance.

Kurtis Roberts has just paid the price for spining his tire wildly, his tire has shredded with cords flying, Roberts is riding back to the pits on the grass inside the apron, on lap 24.

Roberts made it to his pit and his crew is refueling the bike and changing the wheel; a mechanic put a tire warmer on the removed wheel to try to hide the tire damage from TV cameras.

Roberts is back on track in seventh, just ahead of Hayden; Hayden pits on lap 26.

Hayden rejoins in third to start lap 27 but has the lead again by the end of the lap, from Yates, Bostrom, Gobert, Hacking and Roberts.

The running order on lap 29, halfway point in the race, is:
Hayden
Yates
Bostrom
Gobert
Hacking
Roberts
Hayden has lapped through seventh place.

Running order on lap 33:
Hayden
Gobert, -25 seconds
Hacking, -26
Yates, -27
Bostrom, -27
Roberts, -74
Barnes, -1 lap
Deatherage
Livengood
Martinez
Orlando
Conicelli
Mertens
Fitzpatrick
Haskovec
Schmidt
Dugan
Krebs
Purk
Mennenga
Rojas
Holden


Hacking/Yates/Bostrom nose-to-tail for third on lap 35, to start lap 36 it’s Yates/Hacking/Bostrom, racing through traffic.

This news just in from pit lane: Pascal Picotte’s problem was an internal shifting problem, with the transmission stuck in third gear.

Gobert is back on pit row on lap 38, for fuel and tires, and is back out, with 19 laps remaining. Gobert should be done with his pit stops.

Running order to start lap 40:
Hayden
Yates
Hacking
Bostrom
Gobert
Roberts
Barnes
Deatherage
Orlando
Livengood

Barnes in for his final pit stop on race lap 40 (his lap 38).

Roberts pits on lap 40 for his final stop.

Yates/Hacking/Bostrom still locked together nose-to-tail on lap 42, before their last pit stop. They are 27 seconds behind Hayden.

Hayden is closing on sixth-place Roberts and may lap him on lap 43; Roberts’ bike may have lost a carbon-fiber muffler, which could have been damaged by his flailing rear tire earlier in the race.

Hacking pits lap 44 for the final time, and rejoins the race in fifth behind Hayden, Yates, Bostrom and Gobert and ahead of Roberts.

Hayden pits lap 45 for the last time. Both wheels and fuel. Hayden back away, still ahead of Yates and Bostrom.

Bostrom pits lap 47, both ends and fuel.

Running order start of lap 49:
Hayden
Yates, -3.3 seconds
Gobert, -19
Hacking, -24
Bostrom, -25
Roberts, -76
Deatherage, -2 laps
Barnes
Orlando
Conicelli

Yates pits on lap 49, both ends, fuel.

New running order on lap 51
Hayden
Gobert, -19
Hacking, -24
Bostrom, -28
Yates, -28
Roberts, -67

Mertens retires.

Hacking is putting on a charge on Gobert, and is pulling away from Bostrom.

Michael Barnes’ Suzuki just blew up in a cloud of smoke.

Hacking less than a second behind Gobert on lap 55 of 57.

White flag is out for Hayden. Hacking is drafting Gobert toward turn one, but may not be close enough. Halfway through the last lap, Goberts till has a second on Hacking.

Nicky Hayden has just won the 61st Daytona 200 by Arai, and Hacking drafted past a weaving Gobert, crossing the line in second.

Hayden wins by 18.225 seconds and turned the fastest lap of the race, 1:49.933.

Unofficial results
Hayden
Hacking
Gobert
Yates
Bostrom
Roberts
Deatherage
Livengood
Conicelli
Orlando
Fitzpatrick
Martinez
Haskovec
Dugan
Jacobi
Schmidt
Holden
Mennenga
Rojas
Krebs
Pearson
Ray

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Mat Mladin looked very stiff as he put on his race leathers Sunday morning in the Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki garage. Mladin declined an offer of help in putting on his leathers.

When asked by a reporter if Mladin would race, Mladin’s Crew Chief Peter Doyle said, “Don’t hold your breath.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Daytona 200 was red-flagged following a series of crashes, one of which involved Greg Fryer and dislodged a section of Air Fence at the exit of turn six. The section of Air Fence moved out onto the racing surface.

Running order at the time of the red flag was as follows:

1. Nicky Hayden
2. Kurtis Roberts
3. Miguel Duhamel
4. Anthony Gobert
5. Aaron Yates
6. Jamie Hacking
7. Eric Bostrom
8. Pascal Picotte
9. Michael Barnes
10. Larry Pegram
11. Eric Wood
12. Andy Deathrage
13. Vince Haskovec
14. Stephane Mertens
15. John Ashmead
16. Rich Conicelli
17. Marco Martinez
18. John Jacobi
19. Ricky Orlando
20. John Dugan

Nicky Hayden had turned the fastest lap of the race, a 1:49.933.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Road Racing Operations Manager Gary Mathers refused Sunday morning to comment on rampant rumors that he is leaving his position with the AMA following next month’s National at Fontana, California.

Asked along pit lane at Daytona if it was true that he was leaving the AMA after Fontana, Mathers said, “Who told you that?”

When told the source, Mathers said, “I never told him that.”

Asked, “Is it true that you’re leaving the AMA or not?” Mathers replied, “I’m not saying anything. You can print anything you want.”

Prior to joining the AMA Pro Racing staff, Mathers was Racing Manager at American Honda. During his days at Honda, he was notorious for telling modified versions of various stories to different people, to see how far the information spread and to thus gauge a person’s “loyalty”.

At post time it is unknown if Mathers planted the rumor as a test of various Pro Racing staffers and/or Pro Racing Board members, or not.

According to the rumor, Mathers is frustrated because AMA Pro Racing has not adopted reforms he has proposed.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Kirk McCarthy won the AMA Pro Thunder race at Daytona, running out to an almost-12-second lead on an AMS Ducati built by Jeff Nash.

Defending Series Champion Tom Montano raced Mike Ciccotto for second before crashing, picking up his Ducati and finishing sixth.

1. Kirk McCarthy, Ducati
2. Mike Ciccotto, Buell
3. Michael Barnes, Buell
4. Carlos Macias, Ducati
5. Tom Fournier, Ducati
6. Tom Montano, Ducati
7. Ricky Lundgren, Ducati
8. Josh Bryan, Buell
9. Paul Vitale, Ducati
10. Charlie Hewett, Ducati
11. C. Freatman, Ducati
12. Bryan Bemisderfer, Buell
13. Al Charles, Ducati
14. Shawn Higbee, Buell
15. S. Keener, Suzuki

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Red flag comes out as Bayliss takes his second win

By Glenn LeSanto

Troy Bayliss got a perfect start to the defense of his World Championship at Valencia with a double win. The second race was red-flagged after 20 laps when Mark Heckles ran off the track between turn eight and turn nine. He remounted and got back on the circuit, leaving gravel all over the racing line. Even without the incident Bayliss looked on for the win and was over a second clear of Noriyuki Haga at the time the race was stopped.

Again there was a fierce battle between Haga and Ben Bostrom, this time both riders were battling for the lead. After some hectic passing manoeuvres Haga got the better of Bostrom, but by this time Bayliss had got into his groove and soon overhauled both of them to race off to his second win of the day and a championship points lead.

Bostrom was by now struggling with his rear tyre and fourth place man Edwards soon reeled his fellow American in to grab third place before the red flag stopped play.

“That race was hard work,” said Bayliss. “We had a little problem with my bike on the grid before the start of the race and had to swap bikes. But it’s a sign of how well the team is working that it felt just like I was racing with my number one bike.

“In the opening stages Noriyuki and Ben were really fast. I got a little flustered as they made a break and started making silly mistakes. Then I realized than Colin Edwards was running up fast behind me and knew I had to get myself together and get past Ben and Nori and get on with it.

“I’m feeling relaxed, the bike works well, things have gone well in testing and today’s results have been great. But I know I can’t be on the top all the time. I know who all the fast guys are and I know it will be a long hard season.”

Haga said, “I changed some settings just a little for the second race. Troy was very fast and I couldn’t catch him–that’s all! I haven’t had much testing yet I need some more, I need to catch up.”

“It’s been a very hard weekend,” said Edwards. “We just didn’t seem able to get the bike to turn in. We fixed the problem a bit between races, but it still wasn’t right. We have some work to do before the next race. We thought after all our testing here that it would be better than it was, but for unforeseen reasons that I can’t reveal it wasn’t working like it should. But we’ve managed to take championship points away with us.

“When I caught Ben we didn’t have much of a battle as he was just going backwards because his tire took a shit.”



Second race result:
1 T Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 32:03.384
2 N Haga, Japan, Aprilia, 32:04.562
3 C Edwards, USA, Honda, 32:05.669
4 B Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 32:08.528
5 N Hodgson, GBR, Ducati, 32:20.766
6 H Izutsu, Japan, Kawasaki, 32:29.194
7 C Walker, GBR, Kawasaki, 32:35.121
8 J Borja, Spain, Ducati, 32:36.591
9 S Martin, Australia, Ducati, 32:41.085
10 J Toseland, GBR, Ducati, 32:41.595



From a Castrol Honda press release:

SPANISH DOUBLE FOR BAYLISS

Troy Bayliss began the defence of his world title by winning both races of Sunday’s opening round of the World Superbike championship at the Valencia circuit in Spain.

The Australian rider was followed home in both races by Noriyuki Haga in both races with Ben Bostrom and Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards taking a third place each. Despite opening race pressure from Bostrom and Haga, Bayliss led every one of the 23 laps to record the ninth victory of his World Superbike career.

Race two was led by Bostrom and Haga before Bayliss hit the front with five laps to go. His victory came three laps early following a red flag after a rider had crashed and spread dirt and gravel onto one corner of the 2.49-mile track.

With four laps to go Edwards grabbed third place from Bostrom and was closing in on Haga when the race was red flagged, Edwards said: “I’m not sure if I would have passed Haga but I was ready to give it a good go.”


Second race result:
1 Bayliss, 32:03.384
2 Haga, 32:04.562
3 Edwards 32:05.669
4 Bostrom 32:08.528
5 Hodgson 32:20.766
6 Izutsu 32:29.194
7 Walker 32:35.121
8 Juan Borja, Spain (Ducati) 32:36.591
9 Steve Martin, Australia (Ducati) 32:41.085
10 James Toseland, GB (Ducati) 32:41.595

World Superbike championship points after one of 13 rounds:
1 Bayliss 50
2 Haga 40
3 Edwards and Bostrom 29
5 Hodgson 21
6 Izutsu 19
7 Walker 15
8 Borja 13
9 Xaus 11
10 Toseland 10

Manufacturers points:
1 Ducati 50
2 Aprilia 40
3 Honda 29
4 Kawasaki 119
5 Suzuki 8

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Saturday, March 9 marked the exit of one three-cylinder motorcycle while another was waiting in the wings. Benelli, beset by financial problems caused by the collapse of the Italian scooter market, threw in the towel at Valencia after a weekend of engine failures. Meanwhile, the Foggy Petronas Racing team swaggered into town insisting that their ambitious project to invent a motorcycle company from scratch was on schedule.

It’s a sad day when the market for 50cc stink-wheels can sink a racing bike as beautiful as the Benelli Tornado. But these are the simple facts of life, money is power, and in the case of racing, money is horsepower.

Benelli enginees took risks to increase the power output from their three-cylinder engine. During the winter they were forced to concentrate their dwindling resources on getting the road version of the Tornado ready and so the racing project lay almost dormant from after Imola to just prior to Valencia. Then, in order to make up for lost time they made a few quick fixes in the last weeks prior to the start of the season. Unfortunately for the Benelli men the new parts weren’t tested properly, and one of them, possibly the camshaft, hadn’t been properly heat-treated and failed after only three laps every time the bike took to the track.

To make the whole situation even more poignant for the little Italian factory, two of the company’s road bikes showed up at Valencia. The bikes had been ridden the 1700 kms from the factory at Pesaro in Italy to Spain in one day, proof at least that the road bike has inherent reliability where the racer doesn’t. One of the machines had more than 10,000 kms on the clock and Benelli’s owner, Andrea Merloni, insisted these had all been covered trouble-free. The company won’t be at any of the fly-away rounds at Australia, South Africa or Japan. A question mark hangs over whether or not they’ll even be back at Monza, where they had originally promised to launch the road bike version of the Tornado. The little David trying to compete with the Goliaths of Honda and Ducati found its sling empty in Valencia.

Enter FPR, or Foggy Petronas Racing, in a whirl of hype. “Our project is right on schedule,” insisted former Superbike rider and four-time World Champion Carl Fogarty.

Fogarty said that the original Sauber-designed engine was a pile of junk that “wouldn’t have lasted more than a few laps,” but insisted that the new bike would race at Laguna. The new engine builders, Suter Racing Technology, were doing a better job with the new 900cc version of the Triple, according to Fogarty, who said the engine had to be engineered from ground up again.

Even the need to produce 75 working bikes to satisfy the FIM homologation rules to compete in the World Superbike series won’t hold them back, insisted Fogarty. “The road bikes will be here soon,” he said. The former racer turned team owner told the gathered press that the project is funded by one of the world’s largest companies and so should be taken seriously. “Don’t believe the crap that you read in some of the press, because they just make it all up,” said Foggy, looking directly at the man from the English weekly paper, Motorcycle News.

The FPR set up looks professional enough, and the crew roll call, both inside the offices and downstairs in the workshop, is impressive. But the press pack had one glaring omission, there were no pictures of the motorcycle in it. So far all are left asking, “where are the bikes?” The team is insisting all will be revealed very soon.

With Benelli out, for the time being at least, and FPR in sometime soon, it’s a case of one down and one up for World Superbike racing.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Test times from Sunday at Catalunya, the second day of IRTA MotoGP testing:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RCV211V, 1:44.280
2. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:44.483
3. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RCV211V, 1:44.611
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:45.229
5. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:45.405
6. Daijiro Katoh, Honda NSR500, 1:45.448
7. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:45.681
8. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:45.870
9. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:46.025
10. Akira Ryo, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:46.069
11. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:46.243
12. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, 1:46.319
13. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, 1:46.366
14. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, 1:46.407
15. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:46.625
16. Jurgen van der Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:46.796
17. Shinichi Itoh, Honda RCV211V, 1:46.808
18. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:46.899
19. John Kocinski, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:47.054
20. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, 1:47.112
21. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, 1:47.345
22. Guintoli, Yamaha YZR500, 1:47.695
23. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:48.565

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Unofficial 250cc Grand Prix Practice Lap Times:
1. Jason DiSalvo, Honda, 1:57.172
2. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 1:57.848
3. Michael Himmelsbach, Aprilia, 1:59.343
4. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 2:01.613
5. Thad Halsmer, Yamaha, 2:01.870
6. Simon Turner, Yamaha, 2:01.968
7. Jeff Wood, Yamaha, 2:02.444
8. Neil Richardson, Yamaha, 2:03.197
9. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 2:04.377
10. Cory West, Yamaha, 2:04.618