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

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Speed Channel officials announced during a press conference in Daytona that the cable channel will carry live or same-day coverage of 86 motorcycle events in 2002, along with five hours of motorcycle coverage every Tuesday for a total of 250 hours of Two Wheel Tuesday TV programming this year.

Speed Channel issued a press release which quoted network president Jim Liberatore as saying “Coverage of all forms of motorcycle racing will remain a very significant part of Speed Channel programming. We expect Speed Channel to be a destination for all motorsports fans, and extending this relationship supports Speed Channel’s intention of showcasing many varied aspects of speed.”

Speed Channel is showing 10 hours of live coverage from Daytona this weekend. The AMA Superstock and Supersport races were broadcast live on Friday, March 8. Today, March 9, the AMA Supercross from Daytona will be broadcast live, and tomorrow the Daytona 200 will be broadcast live at 1:00 p.m. EST, following a pre-race show scheduled for 12:30 p.m. EST.

According to the release, this year Speed Channel also plans:

Live or same-day coverage of all 26 World Superbike races.

Coverage of all World Supersport races on Two Wheel Tuesday

Live or same-day coverage of all 16 MotoGP and 250cc Grand Prix World Championship events, with coverage of 125cc GP events on Two Wheel Tuesday

Live coverage of the entire AMA Superbike Series and of the AMA Supersport Series

Coverage of AMA Formula Xtreme races along with highlights of AMA Superstock and AMA 250cc Grand Prix races on Two Wheel Tuesday.

Speed Channel will also continue with its Bike Week and Motorcyclist shows on Two Wheel Tuesday.

The channel is also developing a new program called Ride On, for motorcycle hobbyists.

More information is available from www.speedtv.com or from (704) 455-3500.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Contrary to what a medical update issued by Daytona International Speedway said, three-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin is still at Halifax Medical Center.

According to Mladin’s Crew Chief, Peter Doyle, Mladin was still in the hospital at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and Mladin called Doyle on his cell phone from the hospital as Doyle spoke to a reporter.

Mladin highsided his Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 Friday morning and was taken to the Daytona Infield Care Center for X-rays. The X-rays showed what could have been bone fragments or pavement debris in the open wound on Mladin’s left elbow. Mladin was then transported to Halifax to have an orthopedic surgeon examine the injury further. The physician performed a surgical procedure at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday evening to clean debris out of the wound and found “a couple of bone fragments” and that “the sack of fluid around the elbow” had been ruptured, said Doyle.

According to his Crew Chief, Mladin had good movement in his injured arm and hand following the procedure, but stayed the night in the hospital.

Daytona International Speedway issued a medical report at approximately 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning saying that Mladin had been released from the hospital. But not only has Mladin not been released, Mladin and his team are still working hard to try to get him released, with no guarantee of success.

Doyle said that part of the problem is in actually getting ahold of and convincing the doctor assigned to Mladin to let him go; Mladin has only seen the doctor twice, including the surgery.

Doyle said that when Mladin’s doctor was reached early Saturday, he said that Mladin should stay in the hospital to receive more antibiotics and refused to release him.

Doyle said that he feared Mladin had been lost in the stream of injured street riders that have flooded Halifax during Bike Week.

As Doyle spoke, Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Don Sakakura was asking doctors at the Speedway to contact Mladin’s physician and try to arrange his release. Mladin’s team is also lining up physical therapy sessions and pain-killing injections in case Mladin can ride in Sunday’s Superbike classic.

Doyle said that Mladin’s condition was improving but that Mladin was sore and the fingers on his left hand were swollen.

From a press release issued by Belgarda Yamaha, including the news that Jamie Whitham had to sit out morning practice for missing the riders’ meeting:

Team Yamaha Belgarda news
World Supersport Championship, Round 1, Valencia, Spain
Friday 8th March
Weather: Dry, mostly sunny 21 Deg C

CASOLI HAPPY.
Italian Paolo Casoli posted the day’s eighth fastest man and left the circuit a happy rider. When he rode at Valencia just two weeks ago, he was still in pain due to his injured finger and didn’t push hard. But now the finger is not causing any discomfort and so Casoli was able to ride without any nagging worries. Considering Valencia is his most unfavourite track, eighth quickest today was enough to bring a smile to his face.

Casoli’s teammate Jamie Whitham was forced to sit out the morning untimed session after arriving too late for the technical briefing yesterday afternoon. His connecting flight from England touched down just late enough to make him miss the briefing. The team informed the organisers that Whitham would not be present for the briefing beforehand and then there was a bit of a misunderstanding which led to Whitham not being allowed out for the first session. If the team had not tested at Valencia recently, this might have been a bit of a problem, but the bike’s setting was fresh in the team’s minds and they didn’t feel too disadvantaged.

Paolo Casoli ­ 8th, 1:39.446
“I’m happy because I have almost no pain from my finger and I was able to put in some laps that are OK.This is the first time I’ve ever been happy at Valencia and now I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s practice and getting further up the grid. I wasn’t looking forward to this race before, but now, it doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe one day I’ll get to actually enjoy riding here as well!”

Jamie Whitham ­ 10th, 1:39.608
“The bike was perfect this morning ­ but that’s probably because I never got to swing my leg over it! I’m not too fussed really, but I guess I would’ve been pretty angry if we hadn’t tested here so recently. This afternoon I took it nice and steady and cruised around, though I did feel that grip level was not as good as two weeks ago. We started off with my bike set up more or less how we finish the tests two weeks ago. That was set up more to Paolo’s taste then mine, but it seemed work OK for me, so that’s why we started like that. I am pretty happy with it and we’ll carry on the fine-tuning tomorrow. Tyres will be a factor here, so we’re going to spend quite a lot of time tomorrow trying a few tyres. Valencia is always a problem for tyres, so if I can some that’ll last the race and give good grip, I’ll be chuffed.”

Maio Meregalli ­ Team Manager
“It was a bit disappointing with Jamie not being allowed to ride this morning, but It didn’t really give us too much of a set-back. Just a misunderstanding really ­ nothing else. But I am surprised at how well Paolo went and surprised because he is happy! He has never liked this track before. His injury was causing him a lot of pain in the tests, so maybe he knew he couldn’t make a good result and relaxed and just rode. Now that the finger is much better and he has stayed relaxed, he was able to make some good lap times. Who knows what’ll happen on raceday, but we feel very positive and are hoping for a good result.”

Friday qualifying
1 Foret (F-Honda) 1:38.156
2 Corradi (I-Yamaha) 1:38.730
3 Chambon (F-Suzuki Alstare Corona Extra) 1:38.920
4 Cruciani (I-Yamaha) 1:39.085
5 Kellner (D-Yamaha) 1:39.245
6 Teuchert (D-Yamaha) 1:39.275
7 Vermeulen (AUS-Honda) 1:39.284
8 Casoli (I-Yamaha Belgarda) 1:39.446
9 Daemen (B-Honda) 1:39.585
10 Whitham (GB-Yamaha Belgarda) 1:39.608,

All information provided by Glyn Johnson, Daytona International Speedway Director of Communications.

Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin was released from Halifax Medical Center Saturday morning.

Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert had a puncture wound to his upper chest/neck area that was originally believed to be a compound fracture of his collar bone. No fractures were found and Gobert was released from the hospital Saturday morning.

Aaron Gobert is still in Intensive Care after undergoing surgery to repair his broken lower right leg at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday. The younger Gobert is being closely monitored for complications from multiple broken ribs and a head injury, but his condition is said to be non-life-threatening.

Randy Renfrow was discharged from Halifax Medical Center Saturday morning. Renfrow was injured in a crash during the CCS/Formula USA race weekend.

Speedway officials said that getting detailed medical conditions on racers was very difficult because Halifax Medical Center has been overwhelmed by street rider injuries.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

For the first time in recent memory, not all the enclosed garages at Daytona were rented for this weekend’s AMA events.

According to a printout provided from the track, Garages 7, 23 and 37 are open. In normal years, there are waiting lists for garages.

This year’s garage assignments are:

1. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki, Josh Hayes/Tom Kipp/Chris Ulrich

2. Team America, Jason DiSalvo

3. Hal’s Harley-Davidson, Mike Ciccotto

4. Innovative Motorsports, Michael Barnes

5. Jerry Wood Racing, Eric Wood/Jeff Wood

6. Advanced Motorsports, Kirk McCarthy

7. Open

8. Team Performance Racing

9. Rick Shaw Racing, Rick Shaw

10. Team Corbin, Jimmy Filice

11. Team Kawasaki, Eric Bostrom/Tommy Hayden/Tony Meiring

12. HMC Ducati, Pascal Picotte

13. Team Honda, Miguel Duhamel/Nicky Hayden

14. Team Honda

15. Erion Racing/Bruce Transportation Group, Kurtis Roberts/Mike Hale/Jake Zemke/Alex Gobert

16. Yoshimura Suzuki, Mat Mladin/Jamie Hacking/Aaron Yates

17. Yoshimura Suzuki

18. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki (back side of garage #1)

19. R&R Racing

20. Euro Sports

21. Project Monza

22. Attack Performance, Jason Pridmore/Ben Spies

23. Open

24. Robinson

25. Tilley Buell

26. O’Champ’s “Daytona Weapon”

27. Team Shinji Racing

28. Team Kawasaki (back side of garage #11)

29. Tuff Dog Racing, Alan Schmidt

30. HMC Ducati (back side of garage #12)

31. HMC Ducati

32. Erion Racing/Bruce Transportation Group (back side of garage #15)

33. Yoshimura Suzuki (back side of garage #16)

34. Yoshimura Suzuki (back side of garage #17)

35. Team Trimby/UK

36. Rue Racing

37. Open

38. Michelin

39. Team China, Stephane Mertens

40. 4&6 Cycle, Owen Weichel, Andrew Nelson

41. Team Obsolete, Dave Roper

42. Michelin (back side of 38)

44. Yamaha, Anthony Gobert/Aaron Gobert/Damon Buckmaster

45. Yamaha

48. Yamaha (back side of #45)

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss will start the first World Superbike race of the new season from pole, at Valencia, Spain.

In a Superpole session where several riders bettered their qualifying times Bayliss kept his cool to fire his Ducati onto the top spot on the grid with a lap time of 1:34.814. His fastest lap in qualifying was 1:34.936.

Second on the grid will be last year’s pole-sitter Ben Bostrom. His Superpole lap was just over a tenth of a second behind Bayliss at 1:34.959. Both Ducati riders were riding hard, but smooth, which seemed to be the secret of a good lap in Superpole here today.

Less smooth was fellow factory Ducati man Ruben Xaus. He looked choppy during his lap, had several moments and ended up being pushed down onto the third row. His 1:35.937 lap was just over a second slower than his best qualifying time.

Last year’s runner up in the World Championship, Colin Edwards, was another smooth rider and was rewarded with third on the grid. He lapped at 1:34.982, just a tenth of a second slower than his best qualifying time of 1:34.860.

The irrepressible Noriyuki Haga put his Aprilia on the front row with a Superpole time of 1:35.015. He was another rider to improve on his best qualifying time, having lapped in qualifying at 1:35.142.

Final World Superbike Superpole Qualifying Times:
1. Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1:34.814
2 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1:34.959
3 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 1:34.982
4 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Aprilia) 1:35.015
5 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1:35.065
6 Juan Borja, Spain (Ducati) 1:35.891
7 Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan (Kawasaki) 1:35.904
8 Lucio Pedercini, Italy (Ducati) 1:35.909
9 Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1:35.937
10 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Ducati) 1:35.948



Valencia World Superbike
Post-Superpole rider quotes

Colin Edwards, Castrol Honda VTR SP2, Michelin tires, third in Superpole: “The Honda’s a lot better this year, we’ve done lots of testing and we’ve received some new motor parts in the last two weeks. Now the bike is just asking for traction, it’s not like last year when it just spun and spun, it’s good. We’ve got some good stuff now, but it’s been a long weekend getting it all working. If I told you the full story I’d probably get into trouble!”

Ben Bostrom, L&M Ducati, Dunlop tires, second in Superpole: “The tires are working good, the team’s working good, it’s good all around. The race will be tough and it’s hard to pass at Valencia. I think there will be a group of four or five guys up front all battling it out. It will be a good race. This track tends to burn out the tires on the left side and that means you get to hang the back out in slides a lot, I like that, it’s fun!”

Troy Bayliss, Infostrada Ducati, Michelin tires, first in Superpole: “The problem here at Valencia is that we come here and test and get tires and set up sorted. Then, next time we come back it’s like someone has come along and done something to change the track and all your set-ups and tire information are wrong. But it’s the same for everyone and you just have to work it all out. In the race I’ll be the first into the first corner (laughs) but then these guys know I’m slow for the first three laps and they’ll try to come past me. But I’ll just do my best and go out for the win.”


Flying Frenchman Foret On Supersport Pole

Fabien Foret took the first pole position of the new season for Ten Kate Honda. The flying Frenchman put his Honda CBR600FS (F4i) at the front of the pack with a fastest lap of 1:37.674, nearly a second faster than fellow Frenchman Stephane Chambon.

Fabien was relaxed after the session, “Iím happy with my lap time,” declared Foret. “But the important thing to me is the race. Of course it is great to be on pole but I am not letting it go to my head. I will try to win the race, but the important thing for me is to finish in a good position so I can fight for the Championship.”

Foret’s new teammate Iain MacPherson, who replaced Pere Riba just a few days prior to the race after Riba defected to MotoGP qualified in tenth place on the grid with a best lap of 1:39.121.

Foret was pushed all the way this weekend by last year’s European Supersport Champion Alessio Corradi. The Italian rider will be third on the grid for tomorrow’s race, he set a best time of 1:38.730. Foret, Chambon, Corradi will be joined on the front row of the grid by Stefano Cruciani who recorded a fastest time of 1:38.777 on his R6.

Foret, Corradi and Cruciani are all using Pirelli tyres. Chambon is riding on Dunlops.

Final World Supersport qualifying times:

1 Fabien Foret, France (Honda) 1:37.674
2 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:38.539
3 Alessio Corradi, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.730
4 Stefano Cruciani, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.777
5 Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.833
6 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda) 1:38.877
7 Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.877
8 Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1:39.013
9 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1:39.029
10 Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda) 1:39.121

From press release:

Brave Benelli Battles On

Despite a difficult winter during which the Benelli company struggled with problems in the Italian motorcycle market, Benelli Sport is back contesting the World Superbike championship.

The team’s first day back in the Championship after their debut year in 2001 was not a happy one. Rider Peter Goddard was forced to retire from the free practice and the afternoon’s qualifying session after engine problems.

“We have had to take some risks in order to get more power,” admitted Team Owner Andrea Merloni, “unfortunately this resulted in some unexpected problems with the engine. We are not sure yet if the problems are due to our changes or just down to bad luck. But we’ll be trying our hardest again on Saturday and we shall soon know if we have been heading in the right direction.”

Australian Peter Goddard, who scored points in last year’s Championship on the Benelli Tornado Superbike was obviously very disappointed with his day. “Sadly, I didn’t get much in the way of track time today,” commented Goddard.

On the bright side, Benelli showed a pre-production version of the Tornado road bike. The motorcycle was spotted by the SBK organizers, and Benelli officials were asked to wheel it into the SBK paddock show area, where it wowed the crowds. When asked for comment on the machine, onlookers typically responded with “that is the most beautiful motorcycle in the world,” or a similar comment. Some encouragement at least then for the Benelli Sport team on a difficult day. The road bike will be officially launched at the Monza World Superbike round in May.


Foret Takes Supersport Pole

Fabien Foret took the first pole position of the new season for Ten Kate Honda. The flying Frenchman put his Honda CBR600FS (F4i) at the front of the pack with a fastest lap of 1:37.674, nearly a second faster than fellow Frenchman Stephane Chambon.

The Ten Kate Honda team manager was smiling again after watching Foret take a comfortable pole position in the Spanish sunshine. “I thought Foret’s lap time was very impressive,” declared Ronald ten Kate. “The conditions were quite different today compared to when we tested here just over a week ago. This meant we had to search for a new set up, and despite the less than ideal conditions Foret was still very fast.”

Fabien was relaxed after the session. “I’m happy with my time,” declared Foret. “But the important thing to me is the race. Of course it is great to be on pole but I am not letting it go to my head. I will try to win the race, but the important thing for me is to finish in a good position so I can fight for the championship.”

Ronald ten Kate was also pleased with the progress of his new team member Iain MacPherson. “Iain is settling down in his new job. But we are not putting any pressure on him to go fast immediately. I am confident he will get quicker and quicker as he gets used to the Pirelli tires, the WP suspension and the Honda CBR600FS.”

Iain confirmed his manager’s feelings. “The more I ride the bike the more I like it,” said MacPherson. “The Honda allows me to open the throttle much harder much earlier than I could on the Kawasaki last year. If I’d ridden that the way I can ride this Honda I would have high-sided it for sure. The tires are fantastic and I’m very happy with the WP suspension. I’m really happy in my new job; the team is so friendly and extremely helpful. I know I will go faster as I get more laps under my belt.”

MacPherson qualified in tenth place on the grid with a best lap of 1:39.121

Final World Supersport qualifying times:

1. Fabien Foret, France (Ten Kate Honda), 1:37.674s
2. Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:38.539
3. Alessio Corradi, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.730
4. Stefano Cruciani, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.777
5. Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.833
6. Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Van Zon Ten Kate Honda) 1:38.877
7. Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.877
8. Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1:39.013
9. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1:39.029
10.Iain MacPherson, GB (Ten Kate Honda) 1:39.121

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

According to Yamaha Team Manager/Crew Chief Tom Halverson, Anthony Gobert will race in Sunday’s Daytona 200 and Aaron Gobert will remain in the Intensive Care Center of Halifax Medical Center for “at least a couple more days”.

Fighting a nasty case of food poisoning himself, Halverson admitted that he had not seen Aaron Gobert but had received reports from Gobert’s mother, Sue Gobert, and from Aaron Gobert’s girlfriend, Melanie, who are both by his side at the hospital. At 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, March 9, Halverson said that Anthony Gobert was in Yamaha’s hospitality suite at the Speedway watching the AMA Supercross race.

When asked to clarify the wide range of reports concerning Aaron Gobert’s condition, a pale Halverson took a deep breath before starting the list of injuries.

According to Halverson, Aaron Gobert has a badly broken right leg (both tibia and fibula) which was operated on late Friday night/early Saturday morning by a local doctor; a broken ankle on his left leg that did not require surgery; two broken vertebrae that have not caused paralysis or required him to be fitted with a head-immobilizing device called a “halo”; a broken collarbone, but Halverson did not know which side; and “a lot of bad abrasions”. Halverson said that both of Aaron Gobert’s lungs collapsed from multiple rib fractures but both had been re-inflated.

“This morning he was breathing on his own, conscious and talking a little bit,” said Halverson of Aaron Gobert.

When asked what happened in the crash that took out two of his team’s Supersport riders, Halverson relayed what he had been told by Anthony Gobert. Halverson said that Anthony Gobert told him he knew that Aaron Gobert was going to crash coming out of the chicane. Anthony said that he was set up to pass Aaron on the inside but decided to go around the outside, between Aaron and the wall, at the last moment and didn’t make it.

According to what Halverson said he saw watching a videotaped replay of the race, Tommy Hayden practically crashed trying to avoid hitting Aaron Gobert but unavoidably ran over the 21-year-old Aussie.

Aaron Gobert was unconscious at the scene but regained consciousness and became combative (typical of riders with serious concussions) when he regained consciousness in the emergency room. Doctors then sedated Aaron Gobert brother before diagnosing and treating his more severe injuries.

Meanwhile, Anthony Gobert suffered a deep puncture wound near his neck, which exposed the collarbone. Halverson reported that medical personnel were more concerned about a possible spinal injury and put Anthony Gobert in a neck brace and on a back board before addressing the puncture wound. This resulted in early reports of a suspected compound collarbone fracture. Halverson stated firmly that Gobert did not break his collarbone. While Halverson spoke, the Yamaha crew was practicing pit stops behind the team’s garage.

Of his visit to Halifax Medical Center, Halverson said, “They didn’t have enough staff. As long as you were alive and breathing, they pretty much left you alone. Anthony was alone in a room for a long time before he was seen by a doctor. That’s pretty weak if you ask me.”

Because of so many injured Bike Week streetriders, Halverson likened what he saw at the hospital at 9:30 p.m. Friday night to a scene out of a war movie. “There were two chaplains there from the MRO and another from the Speedway, and they looked really worn out.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Benelli withdraws from Valencia Superbike race

The Benelli Sport team has been forced to withdraw the beautiful Tornado Superbike from racing in Valencia.

Due to repeated failures of a component, thought to be in the engine cylinderhead, the team has decided to withdraw, rather than risk the rider’s safety.

The problem is thought to be down to faulty heat treatment. Benelli engineers have stressed that the faulty part is not used in the road going version of the Tornado.

At this point in time, it is not known if the team will return for the next round in Phillip Island.



Bostrom on provisional pole

American Ben Bostrom will have the luxury of knowing what he has to do to stay on pole for tomorrow’s first races of the new World Superbike season.

The Ducati L&M rider sneaked in to push rival American Colin Edwards off the provisional pole as the session came to an end on Saturday morning. His time of 1:34.649 was just 0.211 up on Edwards’ best time in a close-fought session.

Ruben Xaus had topped the timesheet for much of the session, but slid off his Infostrada Ducati with four minutes to go as Edwards and Bostrom piled on the pressure. Xaus ended the session third fastest.

Reigning champion Troy Bayliss made the last place on the provisional front row as Haga was edged back into fifth on his Aprilia. Hitoyasu Izutsu was again the first man on a four-cylinder bike in the running; he’s a provisional sixth fastest going into Superpole. James Toseland put his HM Plant Ducati into seventh place, just ahead of his teammate Neil Toseland.

World Superbike
Final Qualifying
Saturday morning

1. Ben Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 1:34.649
2. Colin Edwards, USA, Castrol Honda, 1:34.860
3. Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati, 1:34.927
4. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 1:34.936
5. Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Aprilia, 1:35.030
6. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan, Kawasaki, 1:35.385
7. James Toseland, GB, Ducati, 1:35.393
8. Neil Hodgson, GB, Ducati, 1:35.429
9. Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy, Ducati, 1:35.632
10. Lucio Pedercini, Italy, Ducati, 1:35.873



First Person/Opinion:
The State Of World Superbike

By Glenn LeSanto

Friday 8 March marked the start of a new World Superbike season with riders getting out on the track for the first free practice and qualifying sessions of the year.

The organizers are boasting how they have an extended contract with the FIM which takes Superbike racing well into the next decade, but who will be racing with them by then? The series is in very real danger of becoming a Ducati Cup and the 15th World Superbike year could be the last with any real inter-factory battling.

Suzuki almost left the series last year and only plenty of arm-twisting and alleged palm greasing kept them in. Gregorio Lavilla only managed 11th fastest time in Friday’s qualifying. Will the factory want to continue to support such results next year as the MotoGP sucks more and more resources out of their racing budget? The answer is probably not.

Hitoyasu Izutsu fared better on his factory Kawasaki; he was the first four-cylinder motorcycle in the ranking at sixth fastest. But his team manager Harald Eckl is set to defect to the factory GP1 effort next year, so what’s the future of Kawasaki in WSBK? None it would seem, if the rumors that a replacement is being sought but with a new job title; that of Kawasaki Supersport Team Manager. So we can be pretty certain that Kawasaki won’t be back.

Teams with four-cylinder bikes might be tempted to stay a little longer if the rules help them a little more. But with the fudged rule changes slated for 2004, about which I’ve yet to hear anything positive from any teams, it will be a case of too little too late. And I’ve yet to speak to a Superbike rider willing to ride on treaded tyres.

Benelli’s valiant effort looked good last year, with the little factory scoring championship points in their debut year. But this year a drastic downturn in the Italian scooter market, the bread and butter for all the Italian factories bar Ducati, has severely curtailed their advance. They are easy to ignore as they set times that wouldn’t even get them on the front row of Supersport, let alone Superbike, so much so that even official WSBK press releases have often failed to note them as a competing factory! But ignore them at your peril, not because they are about to pull an extra 20 horsepower out of the bag and set the track alight, but instead because without them the series would be a duller, and less pretty, event.

What of Aprilia? They played a trump card this year, let’s call it the Ace of Haga’s. This man can and probably will revitalise the factory’s interest in WSB single-handed. But for how long? He’s very expensive, thought to be costing the factory around US $2 million in wages alone. And with an expensive MotoGP effort underway, how long can Aprilia, also affected by the Italian-market malaise, afford such a luxury?

So who are we left with? Ducati of course! Although even their commitment may reduce to factory support for private teams in the near future as they concentrate on their own MotoGP effort.

The new boys not yet on the block, Fogarty Petronas, already have their troubles. The WSBK and FIM are thought to be taking a hard line over homologation, forcing the team to produce 150 expensive road bikes before they can go racing. These are of course the rules, but last year they were very loosely applied to the Benelli entry. But while Fogarty may be Mr. Superbike, he ain’t Italian. He should expect to see more of the rulebook than Mr. Merloni the Benelli team boss was ever shown during his negotiations to enter the almost entirely Italian managed series.

I almost forgot the Big Red Wing themselves, the mighty Honda. Surely they won’t desert a production based series that marketing logic would suggest is so valuable to bike sales? Oh yeah? Well, how many VTR 1000 SP2 (RC51) road bikes do you think they’ll sell on the back of Colin Edwards’ performance? Not many, actually. I’ve already heard that they intend to farm out their future SBK effort to a factory-supported team, just as they already have done with their World Supersport entry.

Are we looking forward to 15 more years of World Superbikes or a just a Ducati Cup? As the series begins its 15th year the future isn’t entirely clear.