Saturday Morning Superbike Practice Times:
1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:26.006
2. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:26.207
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:26.549
4. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:26.683
5. Doug Chandler, Kawasaki, 1:26.696
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:26.778
7. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:26.788
8. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:26.868
9. Steve Rapp, Ducati, 1:26.966
10. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 1:27.389
11. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:27.500
12. Andreas Meklau, Ducati, 1:27.650
13. Pascal Picotte, Harley-Davidson, 1:27.780
14. Jordan Szoke, Harley-Davidson, 1:28.905
15. Mike Smith, Harley-Davidson, 1:29.180
16. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:29.694*
17. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:30.144*
18. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:31,084*
19. Richard Alexander, Suzuki, 1:31.162*
20. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, 1:31.605*

Saturday Qualifying Times From Imola, with Superpole still to run:
1. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, 1:48.462
2. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:48.776
3. Regis Laconi, Aprilia, 1:48.878
4. Ben Bostrom, Ducati, 1:49.218
5. Colin Edwards, Honda, 1:49.475
6. Alessandro Antonello, Aprilia, 1:49.850
7. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:50.150
8. Pierfrancesco Chili, Suzuki, 1:50.173
9. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati, 1:50.235
10. Tadayuki Okada, Honda, 1:50.246
11. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:50.267
12. Troy Corser, Aprilia, 1:50.329
13. James Toseland, Ducati, 1:50.501
14. Broc Parkes, Ducati, 1:50.535
15. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, 1:50.674
16. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki, 1:50.695
17. Juan Borja, Yamaha, 1:50.781
18. Steve Martin, Ducati, 1:50.794
19. Gregorio Lavilla, Kawasaki, 1:51.272
20. Mauro Sanchini, Ducati, 1:52.182

23. Peter Goddard, Benelli, 1:52.445

There will be no on-bike cameras in use for the TV broadcasts from Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this weekend.

Cameras already installed on various bikes at VIR were removed yesterday.

On-bike cameras feed a signal to an aircraft, which bounces the feed to an on-site TV truck.

FAA restrictions will not allow an aircraft to circle VIR during the race weekend.

Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final Results:
1. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1/R7, 17 laps
2. Grant Lopez, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +2.788 seconds
3. Josh Hayes, Honda CBR929RR, +2.833 seconds
4. John Hopkins, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +6.573 seconds
5. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1/R7, +12.207 seconds
6. Tom Kipp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +18.269 seconds
7. Francis Martin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +23.455 seconds
8. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR929RR, +26.173 seconds
9. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, +45.581 seconds
10. Steve Grigg, Muzzy Raptor 835, +46.545 seconds
11. Scott Harwell, Suzuki GSX-R1000
12. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000
13. Mauro Cereda, Suzuki GSX-R750
14. Chris Voelker, Honda CBR900RR, 16 laps
15. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R750, 16 laps
16. Jamie Thompson, Suzuki GSX-R750, 16 laps
17. Mark Miller, Honda CBR929RR, 16 laps
18. Michael McAllister, Yamaha YZF-R1, 16 laps
19. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, 12 laps
20. Tim Bemisderfer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 10 laps
21. Thomas Montano, Ducati 748, 10 laps
22. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR929RR, 2 laps

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s John Hopkins, 18, wins the 2001 Formula Xtreme Championship over Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster by one single point, 256 points to 255 points. Hopkins won the 2000 AMA 750cc Supersport Championship over Buckmaster by three points.

The Formula Xtreme race win is Aaron Gobert’s first AMA National win.

Pole-sitter Jason Pridmore did not race after breaking his left collarbone in Saturday morning practice.

Pro Thunder Heat Race One Results:
1. David Estok, Buell 1200
2. Tripp Nobles, Buell 1200
3. Thomas Montano, Ducati 748
4. Chris Normand, Suzuki SV650
5. Thomas Fournier, Ducati 748

Pro Thunder Heat Race Two Results:
1. Mike Ciccotto, Buell 1200
2. Steve Keener, Suzuki SV650
3. Josh Bryan, Buell 1200
4. Deborah Venega, Ducati 748

Defending AMA Pro Thunder Champion crashed hard in the final corner on lap two of the second Pro Thunder heat race. Nash broke several ribs in the crash and most likely will not ride in the final.

Hal’s Performance Advantage’s Mike Ciccotto earned the pole position for Sunday’s Pro Thunder final by virtue of winning the faster of the two heat races. Ciccotto won the second heat by over 39 seconds over second place.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This news just in from Glenn Le Santo, on-site at Imola for the World Superbike Championship (WSB) season finale:

Eric Bostrom will stay with Kawasaki in 2002 and 2003, riding in the AMA series, and will ride multiple World Superbike rounds in 2003.

Chris Walker will ride in the WSB series for Kawasaki, along with Izutsu. Akira Yanagawa will become a development rider for Kawasaki’s new GP1 four-stroke project.

The Grand Prix Series organizer, Dorna, has developed a GP2 formula, based on 600cc production engines with racing frames and slick tires. The new formula will run as a Spanish Championship in 2002, and is likely to replace 250s in 2003 World GPs. With GP1 and GP2 allowing four-strokes, what will become of 125s is unclear, but some speculation is that the class will be reserved for upcoming youth.

WSB officials have made no announcement on rule changes, but insiders say that there will be no significant rule changes for 2002, despite the fact that manufacturers of four-cylinder machines were desperately hoping for some added displacement to help them compete with the 1000cc V-Twins. An announcement is due in December, too late for manufacturers to actually make many capacity changes anyway.

Suzuki’s intentions in the light of this news are unclear. Harald Eckl, Kawasaki team boss, and Andrea Merloni of Benelli, both looked crestfallen and very depressed at the news, as a displacement increase would have given both the four-cylinder Kawasaki ZX-7RR and the three-cylinder Benelli Tornado cheap horspower gains.

Alessandro Antonello has signed to ride Ducatis for DFX racing in 2002, running works 2001 Ducati, the effort being bankrolled by Pirelli. Steve Martin, who has been doing development work for Pirelli, will still ride for DFX in 2002.

Aprilia’s Superbike program has failed to attract significant sponsorship so will only have one rider in 2002. There is no indication as yet who it will be, but given the souring of the team’s relationship with Troy Corser, and the fact that they are unlikely to be able to afford his wage demands, it looks increasingly unlikely he’ll return with them in 2002.

Chris Vermeulen has signed to ride a CBR600F4i in World Supersport with Werner Daemen, in Daemen’s own team, from Belgium, which will be under the umbrella of Ten Kate Honda. Ten Kate will of
course run Pere Riba and Fabien Foret. All four bikes will feature Ten Kate engines and
logos, but the Daemen bikes will have subtle paintwork differences. No other Honda teams will have access to Ten Kate engines in World Supersport.

There will be no Castrol Honda Supersport team, although Honda Britain is considering running a team in World Supersport due to a collapse of confidence in the British series. Honda Britain has withdrawn from the British series in protest, and so an entry onto the world stage is logical, providing the company can find the funding.

James Whitham and Paolo Casoli are returning to the Belgarda Yamaha for WSS in 2002.

Saturday Morning 600cc Supersport Practice Times:
1. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:28.701
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:29.360
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:29.469
4. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:29.776
5. Josh Hayes, Honda, 1:30.131
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:30.411
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:30.429
8. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:30.430
9. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:30.599
10. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:30.929
11. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:31.172
12. Chris Caylor, Suzuki, 1:31.176
13. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:31.208
14. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:31.406
15. Grant Lopez, Suzuki, 1:31.438
16. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:31.578
17. Robert Jensen, Suzuki, 1:31.805
18. Daigoro Suzuki, Kawasaki, 1:33.421
19. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:34.518
20. Chuck Neighoff, Yamaha, 1:34.530

When Jamie Hacking hit a bare section of steel barrier at VIR Saturday morning, it wasn’t the first time he crashed and hit the same barrier.

Back at the track Saturday afternoon after undergoing X-rays at a local hospital, Hacking said that he crashed in the same location and hit the same barrier during testing at VIR August 13-15.

After the first crash, Hacking said, he warned track officials that the section of steel barrier needed to be padded with Air Fence for the AMA National.

More than a month later, Hacking crashed again in the same location and again hit bare steel barrier, and again miraculously escaped without any broken bones, although his back is extremely sore and he cannot stand up.

“I hit the same Armco in testing, and told them they needed Air Fence there,” said Hacking, speaking while lying on a couch in his motorhome in the VIR paddock.

Asked who he told, Hacking said he spoke to track manager Jack Abbott.

Hacking’s comments contradict claims by AMA officials that no one had ever hit the steel barrier at that location before. AMA officials also said that they had consulted with riders, teams, track officials and WERA officials before deciding where to place Air Fence and before deciding to hold 12 sections of Air Fence in reserve instead of deploying it.

Jamie Hacking crashed on his second lap in this morning’s 600cc Supersport practice session at VIR and slid into bare steel barrier outside the entrance to turn three.

Hacking was helped into an ambulance and taken to the track medical center.

The barrier outside the middle of the turn and the exit of the turn is padded with styrofoam blocks and Air Fence, respectively.

Not all the 38 sections of Air Fence owned by AMA Pro Racing have been deployed at VIR.

AMA Pro Racing is currently considering proposals from potential contractors to handle Air Fence transportation and deployment in 2002, AMA Pro Racing employees apparently finding the task of transporting and deploying Air Fence daunting.

The purchase, transportation and deployment of 35 new sections of Air Fence by AMA Pro Racing this season was funded with $104,000 donated by the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund and another $100,000 in supplemental funds donated by Honda, Suzuki and Harley-Davidson.

According to American Suzuki’s Jeff Wilson, the Yoshimura Suzuki team took Hacking to a local hospital to take X-rays of his lower back. Yoshimura’s Don Sakakura said that Hacking has having supporting his weight on the back.