Max Biaggi took pole for the Australian 500cc Grand Prix in Saturday’s final qualifying session at Phillip Island, Australia. Not only did Biaggi turn the fastest lap time, his Yamaha YZR500 also recorded the highest top speed on the 4.448-kilometer (2.764-mile) road course, reaching 305.7 kph (189.962 mph). Valentino Rossi’s Honda was second-fastest at 305.6 kph (189.900 mph). Conditions for the second of two qualifying sessions were dry.

500cc Final Qualifying Times
1. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:31.984
2. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:32.408
3. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:32.421
4. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:32.473
5. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:32.477
6. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:32.513
7. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:32.622
8. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:32.768
9. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:32.840
10. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:32.905
11. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:32.934
12. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:32.963
13. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:33.009
14. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:33.049
15. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:33.093
16. Anthony West, Honda, 1:33.714
17. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:33.731
18. Jose Cardoso, Yamaha, 1:34.039
19. Johan Stigefelt, Sabre, 1:35.035
20. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:35.724
21. Barry Veneman, Honda, 1:36.043
22. Brendan Clarke, Honda, 1:36.840

500cc Top Speeds
1. Biaggi, 305.7 kph
2. Rossi, 305.6 kph
3. Ukawa, 305.4 kph
4. Criville, 303.1 kph
5. Abe, 302.4 kph
6. Capirossi, 302.2 kph
7. Nakano, 301.8 kph
8. Jacque, 301.5 kph
9. McCoy, 300.9 kph
10. Haga, 300.3 kph
11. Checa, 300.3 kph
12. Gibernau, 300.0 kph
13. Barros, 299.8 kph
14. Cardoso, 299.8 kph
15. Roberts, 298.4 kph
16. van den Goorbergh, 297.4 kph
17. Stigefelt, 289.1 kph
18. Aoki, 287.2 kph
19. Veneman, 282.5 kph
20. West, 282.1 kph
21. Clarke, 282.0 kph
22. Haslam, 277.3 kph


250cc Final Qualifying Times
1. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:33.625
2. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:34.195
3. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:34.368
4. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:34.405
5. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia. 1:34.642
6. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:34.789
7. Alex Hofmann, Aprilia, 1:34.862
8. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:34.887
9. David Checa, Honda, 1:34.950
10. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:35.023
29. Katja Poensgen, Honda, 1:39.996



125cc Final Qualifying Times
1. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:37.737
2. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:37.938
3. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:37.975
4. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:38.770
5. Noboru Ueda, Honda, 1:38.928
6. Alex de Angelis, Honda, 1:38.936
7. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:38.989
8. Stefano Perugini, Italjet, 1:39.016
9. Arnaud Vincent, Honda, 1:39.062
10. Angel Nieto, Jr., Honda, 1:39.102
17. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:39.395

From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Saturday 13th October 2001

BEN BOSTROM UPDATE

Bologna (Italy) – Ducati Corse wishes to announce that Ben Bostrom has undergone an operation on his shoulder this week in Los Angeles, California.

The 27-year-old Ducati L&M rider crashed out on lap 2 of race 1 of the Italian Round of the World Superbike Championship at Monza on Sunday 13th May and dislocated his right shoulder.

After a period of recovery, Bostrom went on to win five successive races during the middle part of the season, but an end-of-season operation was always on the schedule for the Californian rider in order to set his shoulder bone right and restore 100% articulation.

The arthroplastic operation was carried out by road-racing surgeon, Dr. Ting in his Palo Alto Clinic, Los Angeles.

Bostrom’s total recovery period is expected to be approximately eight weeks, with the shoulder joint healing up over the next six weeks.

His next track appearance will be the scheduled Dunlop tyre tests at Kyalami, South Africa on 4-6 December.



(Editor’s note: Dr. Arthur Ting’s clinic is not anywhere near Los Angeles, and in fact is in the San Francisco Bay area of Northern California.)

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Calgary Motorcycle Roadracing Association (CMRA) has established a fund for the widow and unborn child of racer David Presiloski, who died following a racing accident on Sunday, September 23 at Calgary’s Race City Motorsports Park.

Presiloski, 34, was riding a borrowed Kawasaki ZX-9R in hopes of capturing a class Championship in the 2001 CMRA series’ final event when he got into a tankslapper coming out of turn 10 and hit haybales positioned at the end of a concrete retaining wall on the inside of the track. According to local news reports, Presiloski was thrown from the motorcycle, flew into another concrete wall and later died of head injuries en route to the hospital.

CMRA officials postponed the rest of the event until the following weekend, September 30. The organization also awarded Presiloski first place in the race in which he crashed, making him the Heavyweight Sport Bike Amateur Champion.

Presiloski’s first child is due to be born this month; Presiloski is survived by his wife Jose, his mother, Dell Pruss, and his brother, Dennis Presiloski of San Jose, California, a road racer with the AFM.

Services were held September 26-27 at Park Memorial Funeral Home in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

CMRA has set up a memorial fund for Presiloski’s widow and child. Donations can be made with credit card via Pay Pal at the CMRA’s official website, www.roadracing.org.

Times from Friday’s 500cc qualifying session at Phillip Island, held in wet conditions:

1. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:34.104
2. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:34.199
3. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:34.430
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:34.535
5. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:34.569
6. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:34.814
7. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:34.820
8. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:34.901
9. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:34.987
10. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:35.215
11. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:35.253
12. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:35.458
13. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:35.546
14. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:35.714
15. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:35.969
16. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:35.979
17. Anthony West, Honda, 1:36.400
18. Johan Stigefelt, Sabre, 1:36.669
19. Jose Cardoso, Yamaha, 1:38.080
20. Brendan Clarke, Honda, 1:38.434
21. Barry Veneman, Honda, 1:39.163
22. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:39.170

Times from Friday’s 250cc qualifying session:

1. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:34.739
2. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:35.047
3. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:35.352
4. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:36.017
5. Roberto Rolfo, Aprilia, 1:36.099
6. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:36.333
7. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:36.351
8. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:36.435
9. Alex Hofmann, Aprilia, 1:36.638
10. Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia, 1:36.929
11. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:37.110
12. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:37.191
13. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:37.256
14. David Checa, Honda, 1:37.366
15. Luca Boscoscuro, Aprilia, 1:37.414
DNQ, Katja Poensgen, Honda, 1:41.788

Aprilia’s Marco Melandri will not compete in Australian Grand Prix due to injuries sustained in a crash at Motegi. Melandri will again attempt to ride in next week’s Grand Prix of Malaysia.

Times from Friday’s 125cc qualifying session at Phillip Island, held in wet conditions:

1. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:51.198
2. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:51.316
3. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, 1:51.317
4. Stefano Perugini, Italjet, 1:52.089
5. Arnaud Vincent, Honda, 1:52.103
6. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:52.211
7. Casey Stoner, Honda, 1:52.375
8. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:52.933
9. Alessandro Brannetti, Aprilia, 1:52.940
10. Masao Azuma, Honda, 1:53.207
20. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:55.364

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

AMA Pro Racing organized a test session with five racers to evaluate recent changes made to the new, 2.3-mile infield road course at California Speedway in Fontana, California Thursday, September 11.

Riders involved in the test were Eric Bostrom, Damon Buckmaster, Mike Hale, Aaron Yates and Jake Zemke.

The Speedway will host an AMA National in 2002, replacing Willow Springs on the schedule. Willow Springs officials were told earlier this week that the AMA would not sell them a race sanction for 2002.

California Speedway officials made several course changes following a previous test at the facility. Both tests were closed to the public.

According to California Speedway Operations Manager Craig Hatch, “The main differences between when the AMA tested here last month and now was that we opened up a couple of corners to make them flow better. At the end of the long, infield straightaway there is a left-right section. That right was about 120-degrees coming back on itself. After talking to the Superbike guys and several car guys that have tested the infield course with us, we decided to open that up a little and make that a 90-degree corner, make it a little less sharp so it will flow better.

“We also spent a lot of time in the morning (Thursday) working on a configuration in the transition off the banking. We wanted to provide an area where traffic from the banking and pit lane could safely merge together without it taking away from the race-ability of the area. We took about 100 cones down to an area paved specially for the motorcycles’ use and tried a number of different arrangements. That area will be for the motorcycles only. Cars using the road course will bypass that chicane. The riders didn’t express any concerns about any other areas.”

Hatch said that he could not verify that the speedway will be on the 2002 AMA road racing schedule, but said that things were moving in that direction. Hatch said that California Speedway itself would promote any AMA Superbike race that takes place at the facility. Hatch would not discuss possible scheduling, other than to say that track officials would try to avoid the heat of summer.

Hatch also said that speedway and AMA officials are currently discussing the possibility of holding a double-header Superbike weekend.

Reached by phone October 12, Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster said, “I thought it was a good productive day of track design. All of the officials from the AMA and the track were there. All of the riders–myself, Aaron Yates, Eric Bostrom, Jake Zemke, Mike Hale–worked together. I’ll be very surprised if anyone has a problem with what we’ve worked out.

“For a speedway infield road course, I think it’s really good. It’s right up there with the best places that we go and we won’t have a lot of the problems that we have now with some of the speedway infield road courses that we go to. And as far as the facilities, it’s probably the best we will go to. The whole place is really nice.

“We had a couple of safety issues that needed to be addressed yesterday, but everyone was very open-minded and receptive. The turn-one issue was a concern but we corrected that. Then in turn two, there was one point where if you overshot you could come back across the track in a different spot before you could slow down. They will put some Air Fence or other soft barriers there to prevent that from happening when we come back. The speedway staff were very receptive to all of our suggestions.

“By the end of the day, we were all making laps on the whole thing. It’s going to be good. The track is 45-feet wide, there are lots of places to pass, more than one line, a lot of the run-off areas are paved so that you can make a mistake and recover, they’ve opened up some corners to give it more flow and the main straight is super fast. I had the tallest gearing that we brought on my R6 and I still needed to go up teeth on the front sprocket.

“Jake (Zemke) was there for the original tests last month, and he seemed really upbeat about the changes.”

Buckmaster added that the track still needs added curbing, some infield grass and a cleaned-up surface, but those minor problems did not discourage his enthusiasm.


Meanwhile, a bizarre, semi-literate press-release posting on the AMA website concerning the California Speedway test referred to AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship Operations Manager Gary Mathers–who took the AMA job after retiring from American Honda–as a “racer.” The AMA release also made it difficult to understand Hatch’s reluctance to admit that the racetrack will host an AMA National in 2002, since the AMA site refers to such an event as being the “inaugural AMA Pro Racing event next season.”

The text of the AMA website release follows:


October 12, 2001
Second California Speedway test a success

New road race facility nearing completion for inaugural AMA Pro Racing event next season

California Speedway, Fontana

Proposed 2.3- mile, 21-turn motorcycle course


AMA Pro Racing’s Road Race Operations Manager Gary Mathers and five other racers tested Thursday at California Speedway’s new in-field motorcycle competition course. The all-day test was the second at the facility and was met with positive results.

The track paving is complete as the top coat of asphalt has been installed. Of the racers involved, Aaron Yates, Damon Buckmaster, Eric Bostrom, Jake Zempke and Mike Hale, all were said to be satisfied with the course, Mathers said.

Most of the day’s testing was concentrated on the Turn 1/pit exit area of the race course where the most extensive changes have been made. A large area has now been paved near the pit road exit to allow for multiple configurations. This area is also where riders will be coming off the banking’s front-straightaway to enter the first turn. The track has now installed a chicane before the first turn to bring speeds down to better match the speeds of riders leaving the pits.

“We found the smoothest transition from the oval onto the motorcycle racing surface and put in a chicane to slow them,” said California Speedway Director of Operations Craig Hatch. “Now we can design a pit-out area so that riders are at comparable speeds.”

Mathers is also happy about the test. “The riders were all positive about the track. This was their second time there so there were no surprises for them,” said Mathers. “New riders will have questions; that’s inevitable. But overall, it certainly will be the best infield road courses that we run.” That sentiment is also backed up by Hatch who said no rider has been concerned the important issue of run-off room. “There have been no concerns about run-off room,” said Hatch.

Five riders circulated the track for the better part of Thursday, although the track was not clean enough from recent grass seeding for racing speeds. According to Hatch, the track is in the fine-tuning stages, awaiting some fine grading, grass seeding and curbing. They are awaiting more rider and car racer input for curbing issues can be completely addressed. Mathers said the riders discovered a few bumpy areas that the track said it would fix.

Overall Hatch has been happy with the tests. “We’re very happy with the progress we’ve made,” said Hatch. “These sessions have been very beneficial. The input from the riders has prompted us to make some changes.

“We’re fully committed on working with AMA Pro Racing on an event in 2002. Part of this deal might include another test. If we have a race set, we certainly would have to have another test of some sort.”

The original posting, along with a track map, can be seen at www.amaproracing.com

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Jeff Wilson is leaving American Suzuki’s Sports Promotion Department to become a Suzuki and Kawasaki dealer in his hometown of Yuma, Arizona.

Wilson, 41, was in charge of Suzuki road racing support programs, road racing contingency programs and the Suzuki Cup Finals. Wilson also managed drag racing support and contingency and oversaw Suzuki’s dirt track support programs.

His official title was Sports Promotions Senior Specialist, On-road Manager.

Wilson said that he grew up in a Suzuki-Kawasaki dealership owned by his father in Yuma, and continued to work at the dealership for several years after his father sold the business. Wilson went to work for American Suzuki in January, 1989.

When the shop went out of business in May of this year, Wilson seized the chance to open up an entirely new Suzuki and Kawasaki dealership in Yuma.

Wilson started at American Suzuki as a Technical Service Rep, then became a Quality Research Supervisor in the Technical Department. Wilson moved to the Sports Promotion Department in August of 1998.

Wilson’s new dealership is called Wild West Motorsports, located at 2500 East 16th St.,
Yuma, AZ 85365. The phone number is (928) 783-8282.

Wilson is married and he and his wife, Meredith, have a son, Dylan, 4.

Wilson said October 11 that the highlight of his Sports Promotion career at American Suzuki was “Watching Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki move into the AMA series and win, taking the 750cc Supersport Championship last year and the biggest Championship the Sports Promotion Department competes in, Formula Xtreme this year, both with John Hopkins.”

Wilson is officially leaving his post at American Suzuki at the end of the month and may or may not be at the 2001 Suzuki Cup Finals, scheduled for October 24-28 at Road Atlanta. Wilson will complete Suzuki support deals for 2002 before leaving the company.

“I loved doing what I was doing at American Suzuki, but this was an opportunity that would come up only once in a lifetime,” said Wilson. “It was a great opportunity to come back home where my family is and where a lot of my friends are, and to have my own business.”

From a press release:

AMA SANCTIONED MOTORCYCLE ROADRACE AT ARROYO SECO MOTORPLEX

SANDIA MOTORCYCLE ROADRACING INC. (SMRI), AN AMA CHARTERED ROAD RACING ORGANIZATION, WILL BE STAGING ITS FINAL RACES OF THE 2001 SEASON AT ARROYO SECO MOTORPLEX OCTOBER 27-28.

SMRI has staged five races, made up of 17 classes, in its inaugural year of AMA sanctioned road racing at Sandia Motorsports Park located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Racer turnout has ranged from 30 to 40 riders, with family and pit support, per event weekend representing Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Paying spectators averaged 200 per event.

This is an invitation to all racers interested in participating at our Arroyo Seco event. We will have Michelin-Pirelli tire support provided by Vanmar Racing based in Denver, Colorado. Vanmar supports all MRA events as well as the recent AMA National at PPIR in Colorado Springs where they serviced over 200 wheels during the weekend. They have a considerable amount of expertise and have supported our series this season. For more information concerning Vanmar Racing contact Tamara or Mark at [email protected].

We will also provide our Rider Certification Class on Saturday, October 27 for all unlicensed novices and experts as well as licensed novices and experts from organizations not recognized by SMRI as listed in the rule book (rule book online at WWW.SMRI-RACING.ORG). The class is $125 and required to race in our organization. The class consists of a classroom session and track session taught by SMRI expert riders. Mark Schellinger, former AMA Pro racer and owner of Vanmar Racing, will also be involved with class instruction. For more info concerning the class contact Johnathan Butterman at [email protected] for questions and registration.

Trophies will be awarded to the top three finishers in each class and a cash payout will go to the
top three finishers in the GRANDMA’S MUSIC AND SOUND NEW MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP UNLIMITED GP. Payout is dependent on the number of entries. All entry fees for the Unlimited GP go into the payout.

For more information concerning SMRI visit our website at WWW.SMRI-RACING.ORG. The rule book and registration forms are all online. Pre-registration is highly recommended to speed day of race registration and to avoid a 25.00 day of race registration fee.

Thanks for your attention and I hope to see many of you at our event.

Juan Romero, President
SMRI

Cruise America Grand Prix Racing’s Jason DiSalvo, 17, ended his 2001 European 250cc Championship season with a DNF due to brake problems with his A-kitted 2001 Honda RS250 at the final round October 7 at Cartagena, Spain.

DiSalvo’s weekend started out with a ninth-fastest qualifying position and a good start catapulted him to fourth on the first lap of the race, but the New York teenager’s well-used carbon-fiber brakes began to fade on lap three. Finally, a frustrated DiSalvo pulled in on the 10th lap.

“I tried to hang in there but the brakes were getting worse all the time and it was very frustrating. Everything was going good until then and I was confident of getting a good result,” said young DiSalvo.

Team owner Jim DiSalvo, Jason’s father, later admitted that they had tried to stretch an extra weekend out of the used carbon-fiber brake rotors, resulting in the problems.

Jason DiSalvo has returned to the United States and plans to take part in the CCS Race of Champions weekend October 17-21 at Daytona International Raceway and at the WERA Grand National Finals October 24-28 at Road Atlanta.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

On Wednesday, October 10, American Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Erion Honda’s Roger Lee Hayden both had surgery in both wrists to correct symptoms caused by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Both Haydens traveled straight from the Del Mar dirt track event, held October 6-7 in Southern California, to San Francisco, where orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting performed the relatively simple procedure. Both Haydens were resting in a Bay Area hotel on Thursday, October 11 and planned to travel back home to Owensboro, Kentucky on Friday, October 12.

“It’s been something that has been bothering me for a while,” said Nicky Hayden in a October 11 telephone call to Roadracing World. “You may have seen me on TV shaking my hand out on the straights at Mid-Ohio. (Nicky Hayden won the second Superbike race at Mid-Ohio, the first of his season-ending, four-race winning streak.) I almost thought about not getting it because it was only bad at some tracks and not others. But when it got bad I couldn’t really feel the brake lever and that’s kind of dangerous.

“We have both of our arms in slings. So we won’t be doing much for the next four weeks or so.” Nicky Hayden said that he would most likely miss a Honda test session scheduled to take place in Las Vegas later in October. Nicky Hayden said he still planned to take part in a live, online chat session scheduled for Wednesday, October 17 at 9:00 p.m. EDT on sponsor Joe Rocket’s website, www.joerocket.com.