Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final Qualifying Times:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 1:42.193
2. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:42.504
3. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:42.558
4. Daijiro Katoh, Honda NSR500, 1:42.691
5. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:42.889
6. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, 1:42.921
7. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:42.955
8. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, 1:43.047
9. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:43.077
10. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:43.385
11. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:43.521
12. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, 1:43.627
13. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:43.633
14. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:43.784
15. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, 1:43.878
16. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, 1:43.916
17. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:44.142
18. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500, 1:44.212
19. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:44.597
20. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, 1:45.575

More from a press release from Red Bull Yamaha:

John Hopkins – 16th 1:43.916

“I am really pleased, this is my best grid position of the season and I am getting a better understanding of the bike now. I made an improvement of 2.3 seconds from yesterday and I also improved on my morning time by half a second.

“Last night I really concentrated on the track and thought about where I could make up some time. I knew there was an opportunity for me to do this on Turn 1 and 2 and into the fast right handers and today I have these results. I feel much more stable and comfortable on the bike after a few changes to the braking setup. I will spend tonight focusing on the race, especially the start from my grid position on outside of the 4th row.”

Colin Davies (Race Engineer – John Hopkins)

“Hopper (John) is more comfortable with the front end of the bike now after we made a few chassis modifications overnight and I am pleased with the results this brought today. We will decide on the rear tyre tomorrow but generally we are quite comfortable with the choice Dunlop has provided us with. John is giving the team good feedback and he really knows what is happening underneath him.”

Garry McCoy – 18th 1:44.212

“I am not happy with the dirt on the track and if you go a fraction off line your sliding a lot and there’s no grip in these dusty conditions. Even though I am 1.1 seconds faster than yesterday, it feels like it is going to be one of those weekends.”

Christophe Bourguignon(Race Engineer – Garry McCoy)

“We are not in a good position to start the race but I am confident that if Garry gets a good start that he can stay with the leading group. We now know our race tyres for tomorrow and we have a few more modifications to make in the race-set up. Still, it is hard for Garry as he is not able to move the bike as much around as he likes.”


More from an Aprilia press release:

Régis Laconi moves up the ratings, but starts in row 5.

Another hard day’s work for the team of technicians working on the RS Cube. Inching still further up, Régis improved yesterday’s time by two seconds and carved a further half-second off his fastest lap this morning. The Cube and Laconi are 2.4 seconds from the rider who gave his name to the pole today, Valentino Rossi. Fifth row on the grid is cold comfort after all the team’s hard work. The Cube was once again beset by traction problems today, with difficulties in delivering all the power from the engine down to the ground. The bike is catching up, but still has a long way to go.

# 55 Régis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 19th – 1:44.597

“There sure have been improvements, but not enough to secure a better position for the start tomorrow. We have two tricky snags to overcome: lack of grip means I can’t transfer all the power to the ground, and I’m having trouble getting the bike round the corners. To get things right, we need to work on the settings. I’m having difficulties on the long curves where the bike stays down for a long time, as well as on the high-speed curves. We are doing a lot of work on the set-up, so I haven’t had much time to try out the tyres over the long distance. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be trying out another solution in the hope that we can get the slight extra boost I need to become competitive in the race.”



More, from a Marlboro Yamaha press release:

MARLBORO SPANISH GRAND PRIX, JEREZ
Final Qualifying, Saturday May 4 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA MEN GRAB SECOND-ROW STARTS
Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi proved what hard work and dedication can accomplish at Jerez today, putting their YZR-M1s
fifth and seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s Marlboro Spanish Grand Prix.

The pair had a difficult Friday here, both on the provisional third row, but both were able to dramatically raise their pace this afternoon
following some brilliantly productive work by their crews, who adjusted the on-track attitude of their machines to improve front-end grip.

“From this morning both our guys were able to carry more speed through the high-speed corners here, and that’s a vital part of a good lap time,”
explained M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda. “We adjusted suspension balance, raising the rear and lowering the front, to shift more weight to the front end of the machine. But they still feel that the front is a little too light going into and out of corners, so maybe we will make another small step in this direction for tomorrow morning’s warm-up session.”



BULLISH CHECA JUMPS TO FIFTH

Marlboro Yamaha Team man Carlos Checa rode this afternoon’s session with unflinching dedication, lapping at front-row pace in the closing stages and eventually ending up fifth quickest to lead row two. It was an impressive display by ‘El Toro, who used his second bike to better his Friday times by an incredible 1.922 seconds.

“We found a better compromise today,” smiled Checa, top-placed Spaniard here. “But we are still trying to shift the bike away from its character which is for the rear tyre to grip so much that it pushes the front. We will work to continue improving in this area, which means finding a better compromise between chassis, suspension and tyres. I was riding very hard this afternoon, working to control the front, and it’s not possible to ride a whole race like that. But we’ve done a good tyre endurance test and I
think we can have a good race, though the result will depend on how the other bikes use their tyres.”

Checa surprised many by pitting at the end of what would’ve been his fastest lap near the end of his session. He’d been quickest in the first two sections of the circuit when he stopped for new tyres. “I felt fast but I thought I could go quicker,” he added. “We fitted a softer rear tyre for my last run but it moved around a little too much.”



BIAGGI IMPROVES TO SEVENTH

Overnight set-up changes also helped Max Biaggi to drastically raise his pace this afternoon, the Italian moving up from yesterday’s provisional 11th place to seventh. The Marlboro Yamaha Team rider cut 1.734 seconds from his previous best to ensure a second row start for tomorrow’s race, round three of the 2002 MotoGP World Championship. Like teammate Checa he showed superb commitment to climb towards the front of the grid.

“We’re still having the same problems with the machine,” said Biaggi, who qualified on the front row in South Africa two weeks ago. “I’m having to brake earlier than I used to on the 500, so I’m getting passed by some of the 500s into the corners and that will make the race pretty difficult for me. I’m not happy about where we are, I always want to be near the front, but I’ll try as hard as I can to get the best-possible result in tomorrow’s race.”



ROSSI SCORES THIRD POLE

World Championship leader Valentino Rossi (Honda) today scored his third successive pole position, but his closest rivals here are three 500cc
two-stroke riders, not his RCV four-stroke teammate Tohru Ukawa who beat him in South Africa two weeks ago. Rossi ended qualifying three tenths ahead of Alex Barros, with fellow Honda NSR500 men Loris Capirossi and Daijiro Katoh completing the front row. Ukawa was sixth, behind Checa.

“I did a great lap this morning and think I could’ve gone faster this afternoon but for the wind,” said Rossi, whose morning time was the fastest-ever official Jerez lap. “The bike has come a long way since we tested here last November. We’ve got a great set-up now so I’m looking forward to the race.”

Before the session got under way 1999 500 World Champion Alex Criville tearfully announced his retirement from racing, citing medical reasons.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Superbike Race One Results:
1. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 26 laps
2. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, +2.775 seconds
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, +8.548 seconds
4. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, +17.644 seconds
5. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998RS, +23.432 seconds
6. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, +24.835 seconds
7. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, +24.846 seconds
8. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R750, +41.505 seconds
9. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, +48.191 seconds
10. Brian Parriott, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
11. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
12. Mark Foster, Kawasaki ZX-7R, +1 lap
13. Tom Montano, Ducati 998S, +1 lap
14. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
15. Ed Milhausen, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
16. Brian Livengood, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
17. Robert Mesa, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
18. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
19. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap
20. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R750, +1 lap

Superbike Point Standings (following race one):

1. Hayden, 141 points
2. Gobert, 118 points
3. Bostrom, 87 points
4. Yates, 84 points
5. Hacking, 83 points
6. TIE, Mladin/Picotte/Livengood, 78 points
9. Deatherage, 77 points
10. Chandler, 76 points
11. Parriott, 66 points
12. Conicelli, 63 points
13. Duhamel, 56 points

More, from Mat Mladin’s publicist:

Rounds 4 & 5, 2002 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship
Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, California, USA
Final Qualifying and Round 4 Race Report

HAYDEN TAKES SEARS POINT WIN, MLADIN SEVENTH

Sonoma, California, USA – Defending American AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin has finished in seventh place in the first of the double header races that will make up rounds four and five of the 2002 AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship being held at Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, California.

With another 26-lap Superbike race scheduled for tomorrow, Mladin lies sixth overall in the championship with 78 points and trails today’s race winner and current points leader, American Honda’s Nicky Hayden by 63 points with four rounds of the championship completed.

Hayden took victory in today’s 26-lap Superbike national by 2.775 seconds from teammate Miguel DuHamel, with Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom third. After taking pole position during qualifying Anthony Gobert (Team Yamaha) had to settle for fourth place ahead of Pascal Picotte (Austin/Bieu Bayou Ducati) and the Blimpie Yoshimura Suzukis of Aaron Yates and Mladin.

Mladin had been holding station with the lead group of riders until he and teammate Yates came together on lap ten. The incident cost Mladin valuable time and as he fought to catch the lead group once more he took the best out of his tyres. The latter half of the race saw Mladin involved in a dice with Gobert and Picotte, with Yates slipping by the Australian on the final turn to relegate him to seventh.

“Things are definitely not going the way we hoped,” said Mladin afterwards. “We are trying a lot of things to get the bike up there, but we seem to be losing out everywhere as well. We seem to have stood still with our development of the bikes since last year, while other teams such as Honda and Yamaha have made very good forward progress. I’m not sure what we have to do, but all I know that whatever it is, it will have to be a big improvement if we are to be competitive for the rest of the year.

“As for the race today, things were going well until about lap ten when I was hit by Aaron (Yates) and lost a lot of time as a result,” added Mladin.

“When the Hondas got past Anthony they just checked out and left the rest of us to dice between ourselves. I’m expecting tomorrow’s race to be just as tough, so we’ll have to sit down with the guys and see what we can come up with for the bike.”

Qualifying for the Superbike races concluded earlier in the day with Gobert taking pole position with a new lap record of 1:31.692. Hayden was second fastest with a 1:32.149, followed by Bostrom (1:32.392) and Yates (1:32.724). After being second fastest in the opening qualifier, Mladin slipped to fifth overall with a best lap of 1:32.882.

“My qualifying lap should have been a lot better than it was. It was good early, but then I messed up and destroyed a good lap. We seem to be having a lot of trouble with getting the bike to steer at the moment and that is the case here. It wants to push the front all of the time and it doesn’t want to turn into the corners. We are working on trying to find a solution to it, but we haven’t found it yet.”

And the official track press release:

Honda’s Hayden Claims First Superbike Victory at
Sears Point in Supercuts Superbike Challenge

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Honda’s Nicky Hayden captured his first Superbike victory at Sears Point Raceway on Saturday with a decisive win in the AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge, presented by Honda of Milpitas.

Hayden (Honda), who started in fourth position, passed pole-sitter Anthony Gobert (Yamaha) on lap 8 and maintained the lead for the remainder of the 26-lap main event. Teammate Miguel Duhamel placed second with Petaluma native Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki) third.

It was Hayden’s seventh victory in eight U.S. Chevy Trucks Superbike races dating back to last season. It was also Honda’s first Superbike win at Sears Point Raceway since 1998. Hayden was able to make what turned out to be the winning move entering Turn 7 on lap 8.

“Coming out of the Carousel (Turn 6) I had a good run and was able to get by Miguel and I used the draft to get by (leader) Gobert,” said Hayden. “Our win today shows the improvement of the bike, me and the team over last year. The race was awesome.”

Duhamel, a four-time Superbike winner at Sears Point, was never able to challenge Hayden, who won going away.

“The bike’s working really good and the race went well,” Duhamel said. “I tried to stay close to Nicky, but I just didn’t have enough to get by him. I was able to close on him, but closing is one thing and passing another.”

With his win on Saturday, Hayden maintained the lead in the AMA U.S. Chevy Trucks Superbike championship chase over Gobert (Yamaha), who placed fourth on Saturday. Gobert was the defending champion at Sears Point.

Action resumes at Sears Point Raceway on Sunday with the second AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge feature. This marks the first Superbike doubleheader at Sears Point. In addition, there will also be feature races in three other divisions. For ticket information, call 800-870-RACE or visit www.searspoint.com.

More, from HMC Ducati:

HMC Ducati rider Doug Chandler rode a difficult race to finish in ninth position in the first of Sears Point’s weekend doubleheaders. Suspension problems have plagued the Ducati rider from his first outing at Sears yesterday and his normal smooth riding style was spoiled as he battled to keep his bike stable. But the HMC team is determined to find a solution to get Doug back in the fight with the leaders for tomorrow’s race.

“I think there’s something that we’re missing,” said Doug simply. “The changes we made yesterday didn’t seem to make too much of a difference. The forks just don’t seem to be damping, especially when the tire starts going off. I was doing all my slowing down on the brakes, I couldn’t scrub off any speed through the corners and had to keep dabbing the brakes to slow me down.

“It was a very uneventful race. I thought I could stay close to Hacking and maybe gain another place, but once the tires started dropping off a little, the bike got harder to ride.

“At the moment it feels like we’re chasing something that’s not really there but we’ll dedicate the rest of the day to analyzing the data to try and pinpoint the problem.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

1. Jason DiSalvo, Honda, 1:37.034
2. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:37.079
3. Roland Sands, Yamaha, 1:37.160
4. Simon Turner, Yamaha, 1:38.635
5. Al Salaverria, Aprilia, 1:39.065
6. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:39.664
7. John Davis, Yamaha, 1:40.773
8. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 1:42.367
9. Colin Jensen, Aprilia, 1:42.806
10. Ty Piz, Yamaha, 1:42.972
11. Darren Fulce, Yamaha, 1:43.438
12. Cory West, Yamaha, 1:43.503
13. Ed Sorbo, Yamaha, 1:43.696
14. Jonah Miller, Aprilia, 1:43.950
15. John France, Honda, 1:44.117
16. Richard Snowden, Honda, 1:44.797
17. Joji Tokumoto, Honda, 1:45.827
18. Frank Aragaki, Yamaha, 1:46.368
19. Jason Dave, Yamaha, 1:46.563
20. Philip Snowden, Honda, 1:46.905

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. Damon Buckmaster pitted for a qualifying tire and then took his Graves Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R7/R1 to the top of the time charts in the final moments of Formula Xtreme qualifying at Sears Point on Saturday afternoon. Buckmaster turned a 1:33.505 at an average speed of 97.021 mph. Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Marty Craggill was fastest for most of the session, running race tires with a fastest lap of 1:33.925, 96.587 mph. Cragill ended up third fastest on his GSX-R1000. Right at the end of the session young gun Ben Spies also took on a qualifying tire and blitzed off a 1:33.905, 96.609 mph for second-fastest on his Attack Suzuki GSX-R1000. Jake Zemke was fourth-fastest on a Bruce Transportation Group Honda CBR9545RR, also on a qualifying tire, at 1:34.345. Katja Poensgen, who got a call Tuesday to ride for Corona Extra Suzuki as a replacement for injured Steve Rapp, flew in from Germany on Wednesday, missed Thursday practice and first rolled a wheel on the track on Friday. In Formula Xtreme qualifying, she crashed her GSX-R1000 after bottoming out a footpeg and lifting the rear wheel off the ground in Turn Three. She was 32nd fastest in the session. Times follow: 1. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R7/R1, 1:33.505 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.905 3. Marty Craggill, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.925 4. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR9545RR, 1:34.345 5. Mike Hale, Honda CBR9545RR, 1:34.390 6. Tom Kipp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.873 7. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR954RR, 1:34.972 8. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:35.040 9. Dave Stanton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.340 10. Lance Isaacs, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.851 11. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:38.098 12. James Compton, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.559 13. Robert Mesa, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.570 14. Jason Curtis, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:38.858 15. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:38.873 16. Jeff Bostrom, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:39.269 17. Cory Call, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:39.646 18. John Wilson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:40.06 19. Bob Siebenhaar, Honda CBR929RR, 1:40.028 20. Kevin Pate, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:40.030 32. Katja Poensgen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:42.192

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MBNA 250cc GP Qualifying Times:
1. Roland Sands, Aprilia, 1:36.117
2. Simon Turner, Yamaha, 1:36.673
3. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:36.795
4. Al Salaverria, Aprilia, 1:37.356
5. Jason DiSalvo, Honda, 1:37.359
6. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:37.906
7. Chuck Sorensen, Aprilia, 1:39.269
8. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 1:39.884
9. John Davis, Yamaha, 1:40.201
10. Darren Fulce, Yamaha, 1:40.917

Rich Oliver collided with Rich Snowden late in the qualifying session in the Carousel. Oliver did not return in the qualifying session.

According to Sears Point spokesman John Cardinale, Oliver was conscious and conherent upon the arrival of medical personnel. Oliver was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial hospital with suspected injuries to his left foot and shoulder.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Pressure applied to team managers by AMA Pro Racing Director of Professional Competition Merrill Vanderslice to silence rider criticism of Sears Point International Raceway over safety issues had an effect Saturday at the Sonoma, California racetrack.

Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and Mat Mladin and Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert were all critical of the racetrack in response to a direct question asked by a reporter in a press conference held following the Friday Superbike qualifying session.

In response, an angry Vanderslice complained to the involved teams, telling them to muzzle their riders “or else I’ll do it.”

Don Sakakura, team manager for Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki, said Vanderslice was “disappointed as far as the comments that were made in the press conference. I couldn’t respond because I wasn’t there and didn’t know what the riders said. Speaking to the riders, they were concerned (about track safety). We had gone to see (AMA Race Manager) Ron Barrick on Friday. Several issues were brought up, the big ones being turn one and the speed of the course. They made some improvements with airbags and things at that time.”

Yamaha Racing Division Manager Keith McCarty said he, too, was approached by Vanderslice. “Merrill did talk to us yesterday after the Superbike qualifying press conference. His discussion point was bringing up about the track safety at the press conference. We want to be able to talk to him (Vanderslice) about that, and I’m sure they wanted to be right, but I think they (the AMA) took it as a bit of a surprise because with all the track improvements they really weren’t ready for that. When the racers come off the track after qualifying you can imagine that they were trying to be their best and I think it’s a sensitive weekend for everybody.”

In a press conference held following 600cc Supersport qualifying on Saturday, Gobert said, “I want to apologize to Sears Point Raceway. Obviously, we didn’t mean it to blow up and be such a big deal. We just kind of said a couple of things and, obviously maybe, it wasn’t the best time to say that. But, like everything, you always learn the hard way.”

Copyright 2202, Roadracing world Publishing, Inc.

250cc GP Qualifying Times:
1. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:44.803
2. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:45.268
3. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:45.323
4. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:45.499
5. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:45.580
6. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:45.596
7. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:45.648
8. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:45.694
9. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:45.964
10. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:46.170
11. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:46.293
12. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:46.440
13. Raul Jara, Aprilia, 1:46.502
14. David Checa, Aprilia, 1:46.545
15. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:46.630

More from an Aprilia press release:

Marco Melandri comes third in pole qualifying session. Three Aprilia RSW 250 bikes on the first row of the grid.

It was in the closing stages of today’s qualifying sessions that Marco made his bid to confirm the provisional pole he scored yesterday. Marco Melandri spent most of the session concentrating entirely on working out the best settings for tomorrow’s race. It is going to be a race in which the opening stages could be crucial. Macio thus took the time he needed to prepare everything to make sure he has all the potential he needs to be in top form for the third race in the championship.

Marco Melandri # 3 (MS APRILIA RACING) – 3rd 1’45.323

“I must say I thought it would be easier to improve the bike today. But instead we had a tough time, for I wasn’t as fast as I wanted to be. Then things improved and we worked out some better solutions. What really matters, apart from the start, is to get to the final stages with still something to spare. Some of the tyres we tried out today started sliding after just a few laps. This isn’t going to be a race like Welkom: the start’s going to be hard and it won’t be easy to break out into the lead. I imagine the opening stages are going to be hard-fought and then it’ll be a matter of strategy and determination to win.”

125cc GP Qualifying Times:
1. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:49.018
2. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 1:49.186
3. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:49.227
4. Alex DeAngelis, Aprilia, 1:49.248
5. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:49.287
6. Lucio Cechinello, Aprilia, 1:49.494
7. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:49.786
8. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:49.831
9. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 1:49.936
10. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:50.029