And for future reference, send press releases to [email protected]. Now the press release:

Press Release from the Central Roadracing Association

April 14, 2002

On April 12-14, 2002, the Central Roadracing Association held its first racing event of the year, which was a huge success, at the new Midamerica Motorplex facility, located in Pacific Junction, Iowa. The CRA hosted 159 racers with a total of 704 race entries. Racers from all over the Midwest, including AMA Superstock Racers Robert Jensen and Eric Dooeyma along with Larry Denning, ventured out to Iowa to race the new track.

The facility, which is located along the state border of Nebraska, provided CRA racers a road course with 2.23 miles for total length and 15 corners. Nestled in between many acres of farmland, the track surprised many racers with both the technical configuration and gripping tire surface, unusual for new tracks.

On Saturday the day was dominated with Supersport races and Trophy Dashes. The competition was tough and close for racers chasing contingency dollars and trophies. AMA Superstock Racer and CRA #1 plate holder, Robert Jensen of Chaffee ND, dominated both the Middleweight (600) and Heavyweight (750) Supersport races, along with strong finishes by Larry Denning of Shawnee, KS, Jeff Kramer of St Louis, MO, and Wes Good of Independence, MN. In late afternoon, a grueling 20 lap Trophy Dash was dominated by Jason Hobbs of Brooklyn Center, MN. Bryan Soberg and Kurt Schuschke dominated the lightweights along with Shane Butts dominating the 250 GP classes.

On Sunday afternoon, Grand Prix and Superbike races pushed the envelope for the newly set track record of 1:33, which was established by Jeff Kramer along with Steve Johnson of Savage, MN, posting a close second fastest time. In the Grand Prix races, Scott Ruehle of St Cloud, MN, and Larry Denning dominated the classes along with Steve Johnson and David Wappler of Onalaska, WI. In the Superbike races, once again Larry Denning and Jeff Kramer cleaned up all the wins, along with strong finishes by Paul Mason of Blue Springs, MO, and Scott Ruehle.

CRA would like to thank all of the racers, workers, and sponsors, who supported the event. CRA another 5 races on the schedule for the remainder of the year and include:

May 3-5, Brainerd Intl Raceway, MN
June 21-23, Brainerd Intl Raceway, MN
July 26-28, Brainerd Intl Raceway, MN
August 16-18, Midamerica Motorplex, IA
September 13-15, Brainerd Intl Raceway, MN

For more information on how to race or become a cornerworker with the CRA, check out www.cra-mn.org or call the CRA Hotline at (612) 332-4070.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Glenn LeSanto

Colin Edwards was just edged out of provisional World Superbike pole by rival Honda rider Makato Tamada at Sugo. The Japanese wild card rider celebrated his fast lap in unusual style–by crashing!

Tamada was one of no less than eight crashers in the first qualifying session. The red flag was out twice, including once when Hitoyasu Izutsu
ruled himself out of the World Superbike competition for perhaps two months. Izutsu broke his left arm when he highsided on the exit of the
chicane, when he was fourth fastest in the session. Other tarmac-tasters included both the Bostrom brothers, Eric and Ben, as well as Lucio
Pedercini, Steve Martin, Alessandro Antonello and Noriyuki Haga.

Despite his crash Haga managed to end up third fastest. Britain’s Neil Hodgson kept his cool–and his Dunlop tyres in contact with the track–
to finish fifth fastest.

Edwards uses Michelin tyres on his Castrol Honda while Tamada uses Dunlop and has tested extensively at Sugo–he’s a Dunlop test rider and
Sugo is a Dunlop test track! Edwards has tested once here since last season but Michelin engineers have tested Superbike tires a total of three times here since last year’s race.

World Superbike, Sugo
First Qualifying
Fastest times:
1. Makoto Tamada, Japan (Honda) 1:29.314
2. Colin Edwards, USA (Honda) 1:29.454
3. Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Aprilia) 1:29.495
4. Hitoyasu Izutsu, Japan (Kawasaki) 1:29.612
5. Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1:29.690
6. Wataru Yoshikawa, Japan (Yamaha) 1:29.723
7. Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1:29.773
8. Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1:29.773
9. Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 1:29.823
10. Yuichi Takeda, Japan (Honda) 1:29.909


Fujiwara fastest in first Supersport qualifying in Japan

Japanese wild card riders traditionally do well in Sugo, and there’s already a Japanese rider at the top of the Supersport timesheet. But this time it isn’t a wild card entry, it’s Suzuki regular Katsuaki Fujiwara.

Fujiwara spent the last minutes of the session locked in a nail-biting battle with Fabien Foret. The pair finished only 0.01-second apart with Foret just losing out to the Japanese rider.

Fujiwara’s time of 1:32.852 is a new Supersport best lap at Sugo.

Paolo Casoli was one of several riders putting in quick laps as the session closed, he was third fastest at 1:32.898. Casoli’s teammate James Whitham was sixth fastest.

Piergiorgio Bontempi again looked promising on the only twin-cylinder machine in the top 10, putting his Ducati 748R into a provisional
fourth on the grid.

The session was littered with crashes, with Karl Muggeridge, Iain MacPherson, Rob Frost, Christophe Cogan and Antonio Carlacci all falling
without substantial injury.


World Supersport, Sugo
April 19, 2002
Qualifying times:
1. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1:32.852
2. Fabien Foret, France (Honda) 1:32.853
3. Paolo Casoli, Italy (Yamaha) 1:32.898
4. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Italy (Ducati) 1:33.265
5. Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:33.329
6. James Whitham, GB (Yamaha) 1:33.333
7. Karl Muggeridge, Australia (Honda) 1:33.356
8. Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda) 1:33.370
9. Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Japan (Honda) 1:33.371
10. Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda) 1:33.402

From a press release:

AMA PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT TRACK RACES TO BE TELEVISED

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Following on the heels of the broadcast of the opening round of the 2002 AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship from Daytona Beach, Fla., Speed Channel will also televise four more rounds of the championship including the mile at Claremore, Okla., the half-mile at Columbus, Ohio, the mile and TT races from Springfield, Ill., and the half-mile races from Charlotte, N.C., will all be shown on Speed Channel.

Televising select AMA Flat Track races is part of AMA Pro Racing”s ongoing plan of maintaining vitality in the oldest and most traditional form of motorcycle racing in America.

“We”re pleased to be able to bring the exciting action of AMA flat-track racing to 50 million households Speed Channel broadcasts to,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. “These races are typically among the closest and most thrilling form of racing in all of motorsports. We hope to bring in a broader audience for the series and these broadcasts should go a long way in making that happen.”
The Claremore race will be the first race shown of this quartet of events. The race, which was held on the mile of Will Rogers Downs, will be part of the Two-Wheeled Tuesday line-up on May 7 and again on May 21.

Joining Claremore as a new event on the AMA Grand National calendar is the return of AMA Flat Track to Columbus, the home race of the AMA. The race on the half-mile at Scioto Downs will be shown on May 14 and rebroadcast on May 28.

When it comes to AMA Flat Track racing, no race is more storied than the Springfield Mile. Springfield”s mile and newer TT event will be shown in June. The Springfield Mile is one of the favorites of both riders and fans. The final usually comes down to a last-lap draft-fest to the checkered flag. The TT race is new to the schedule. Last year Tommy Hayden surprised everyone by riding to his first AMA Grand National victory. The mile will be shown on June 4, 11 and 18 and the TT on June 18.

In addition, the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series will have four half-hour programs of dedicated coverage also airing on Speed Channel”s Two-Wheeled Tuesday programming.
Here”s a schedule of Speed Channel”s coverage through June of the AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship:

SPEED CHANNEL”S 2002 AMA PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(ALL TIMES EASTERN)

Tuesday, May 7, 10-11 p.m.,Grand National, Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, OK

Tuesday, May 7, 3-4 a.m., Grand National, Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, OK

Tuesday, May 21, 3-4 p.m., Grand National, Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, OK

Tuesday, May 7, 11-11:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, OK

Tuesday, May 21, 4-4:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, OK

Tuesday, May 21, 11-11:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, OK

Tuesday, May 14, 10-11 p.m., Grand National, Scioto Downs, Columbus, OH

Tuesday, May 14, 3-4 a.m., Grand National, Scioto Downs, Columbus, OH

Tuesday, May 28, 3-4 p.m., Grand National, Scioto Downs, Columbus, OH

Tuesday, May 14, 11-11:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Scioto Downs, Columbus, OH

Tuesday, May 28, 4-4:30pm., Sportster Performance, Scioto Downs, Columbus, OH

Tuesday, May 28, 11:30-12 p.m., Sportster Performance, Scioto Downs, Columbus, OH

Tuesday, June 4, 10-11 p.m., Grand National, Illinois State Fairgrounds (Mile), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 4, 3-4 a.m., Grand National, Illinois State Fairgrounds (Mile), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 11, 3-4 p.m., Grand National, Illinois State Fairgrounds (Mile), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 4, 11-11:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Illinois State Fairgrounds, (Mile), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 11, 4-4:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Illinois State Fairgrounds (Mile), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 18, 11-11:30 p.m., Sportster Performance, Illinois State Fairgrounds (Mile), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 18, 10-11 p.m., Grand National, Illinois State Fairgrounds (TT), Springfield, IL

Tuesday, June 18, 3-4 a.m., Grand National, Illinois State Fairgrounds (TT),Springfield, IL

TBA, Grand National, Lowe”s Motor Speedway, Charlotte, NC

TBA, Sportster Performance, Lowe”s Motor Speedway, Charlotte, NC

From Honda press releases:

World Superbike
Friday morning free practice
Sugo, Japan

1. Makoto Tamada, Japan, Honda, 1:28.716
2. Colin Edwards, USA, Castrol Honda, 1:29.664
3. Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Aprilia, 1:29.885
4. Yuichi Takeda, Japan, Honda, 1:29.953
5. Ben Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 1:30.239
6. Wataru Yoshikawa, Japan, Yamaha, 1:30.317
7. Neil Hodgson, GB, Ducati, 1:30.507
8. Akira Yanagawa, Japan, Kawasaki, 1:30.623
9. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 1:30.744
10.Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati, 1:30.823


World Supersport
Friday morning free practice
Sugo, Japan

1. Paolo Casoli, Italy, Yamaha, 1:33.532
2. James Whitham, GB, Yamaha, 1:33.787
3. Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan, Suzuki, 1:33.875
4. Fabien Foret, France, Honda, 1:33.975
5. Christian Kellner, Germany, Yamaha, 1:34.181
6. Chris Vermeulen, Australia, Honda, 1:34.498
7. Stephane Chambon, France, Suzuki, 1:34.659
8. Piergiorgio Bontempi, Italy, Ducati, 1:34.760
9. Andrew Pitt, Australia, Kawasaki, 1:34.800
10. Werner Daemen, Belgium Honda, 1:34.851
11. Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Honda, 1:34.893
16. Tatsuya Yamaguchi, Japan, Honda, 1:35.855


And from another Honda press release:

EDWARDS TAKES JUDO LESSONS

Castrol Honda¹s Colin Edwards joined a host of World Superbike and World Supersport stars for judo lessons at a local school to the Sugo circuit in Japan on Thursday.

The riders visited the Murato-cho Taiikukan school in nearby Miyagiken to meet schoolchildren before being fitted out in traditional judo suits to tackle the sport.

“It was great fun,” said Edwards, who provided an additional demonstration by walking on his hands. “We were there to say hello to the kids and learn a bit about the sport. I’m not sure I’ll be taking up judo full time but I don’t mind having a go at anything.

“I ended up in a bit of a battle with Troy (Bayliss), got him in a lock and it was tempting to give him a kick!”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Stephen Barnes, a racer with CMRA and RPM, placed the winning bid of $1825 for an autographed Miguel Duhamel Shoei helmet in an eBay auction to benefit the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund.

“I hadn’t donated to the fund yet, and I thought that this would be a good time plus I got a little something extra,” said Barnes in a telephone call to Roadracingworld.com Friday. “I think Miguel (Duhamel) is the toughest guy out there. When he won both the 600 Supersport and the Daytona 200 with a broken leg a couple of years ago, I just thought that was incredible. Even now that the spotlight isn’t on him as much, you don’t hear him whining about it. He just goes out there and tries his hardest to win.”

Barnes plans to return to racing this season after sitting out the last two years. Barnes will ride a 110-horsepower Suzuki SV650 Superbike, built by MB Motorsports, and a Supersport-spec SV650 in sprint races.

The Roadracingworld.com Action Fund is a non-profit corporation dedicated to improving racetrack safety by obtaining and deploying Air Fence, Air Module and other types of soft barriers. The newly-formed non-profit has taken over the work of the informally-formed Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, and all money raised is used to purchase and deploy soft barriers.

*Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert is irate over what he believes are false claims to the fastest laps turned during the April 16-18 AMA team test at Road Atlanta by his competitors, especially claims made in a press release issued by Steve Reeves, publicist for Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin. Mladin’s post-test press release stated that the three-time AMA Superbike Champion was the quickest, on race tires, with a best lap of 1:23.5.

“Mat’s just always talking shit,” said Gobert via cell phone, as he watched girlfriend Suni’s young son race mini-bikes in Las Vegas Friday. “Mat’s always saying he’s the quickest and talking crap in the press. He said at Fontana (test, February 12-14) that I cut the chicane and made up all this crap that’s just not true. I’m just sick of him talking shit, you know?

“If you’re the quickest, you claim it. If you’re not, you don’t. He was nowhere near quickest in Atlanta. He never even come near the quickest time. So he’s just full of shit.

“I was the quickest at Atlanta. I did 1:23.4. Nicky (Hayden) was second quickest at a 1:23.5.”

Collecting lap time information at an AMA team test session is tricky business. The information collected always needs to be taken with a grain of salt unless obtained from an independent third-party source, such as the AMA timing and scoring system that was in place during the December test at Daytona and the January test at Laguna Seca. The standard method of gathering lap times by reporters is to ask the riders or mechanics how fast they went and what kind of tire, qualifier or race tire, they used to do the lap. Obviously, the team can say anything they want to most reporters.

When asked if he did his fastest time on a qualifying tire, Gobert answered, “Everyone did their quickest times on a Q. It’s a crock of shit that (Mat) reckons he didn’t run a qualifier and he was the quickest on a race tire and that’s all lies. It’s just a load of shit. I was there when he put the qualifier on and went out.

“He’s not cutting it right now, and he’s just trying to make up stories to make himself sound like the best when he’s not. It just annoys the hell out of me. I’m not saying it for me, I’m saying it for Yamaha.

“I represent Yamaha, and when Yamaha’s the quickest, Yamaha should be acknowledged as the quickest. Mladin’s trying to say that Suzuki’s the quickest, and Suzuki’s not. Suzuki’s nowhere near the quickest. It’s been Nicky and I at every single test, and that’s how it was at Atlanta.”

A report on another website quoted Gobert as saying that Nicky Hayden used four qualifiers trying to beat Gobert’s fastest time. When asked if he made such a statement, considering that qualifiers are not routinely used at tests, Gobert said, “Yeah. Dunlop gave each rider two qualifiers. So he (Nicky Hayden) used his two and he used Miguel’s two. And he used one of Kurtis’ that was on the truck on the first day to set the 1:23.9.

“I was quickest on race tires the whole time. I was the quickest on the first day with a 1:24.4, second quickest was Nicky at 1:24.8. Then Nicky right at the end of the day banged in a qualifier and did a 1:23.9. He only did one lap and that was Kurtis’ qualifier from Fontana.

“Obviously, their bike (Honda’s) is way superior to the Yamaha. Obviously, they want to do everything they can to try and beat us because it makes them look bad when we’re quickest on the poor old Yammie.”

“On (another website) it had Gobert saying that I used four qualifiers,” said Nicky Hayden, when reached on his cell phone Friday. “Now he’s saying that I used five? He’s crazy, and you can print I said that. I mean, come on! Why would I waste five qualifiers for a test? I used two qualifiers, but I didn’t even go fast on them. I did 1:23.6 on a race tire and only went 1:23.7-1:23.8 on the qualifier. The only reason we ran ‘em (qualifiers) was because the guys weren’t happy with them at Daytona and Fontana, and Dunlop wanted us to test them.”

Best Superbike Lap Times And Tires Used During Atlanta Team Tests(as claimed by team personnel and reported on Roadracingworld.com April 18):

Mat Mladin, 1:23.4 race tire
Anthony Gobert, 1:23.48 Q tire, 1:24.20 race tire
Nicky Hayden, 1:23.6 race tire
Aaron Yates, 1:23.7 Q tire, 1:24.0 race tire
Jamie Hacking, 1:24.4 race tire
Miguel Duhamel, 1:24.6 race tire

From a press release issued by the FIM:

Superbike & Supersport World Championships
Sugo – JPN: Wild-card riders

The wild-card riders who will race in the Superbike World Championship round scheduled on the circuit of Sugo on April 21 next, are the following:

Start number, Rider, Team

42, Makoto Tamada (JPN-Honda), Team Cabin Honda
43, Wataru Yoshikawa (JPN-Yamaha), YSP Racing & Presto
45, Takeshi Tsujimura (JPN-Yamaha), YSP Racing & Presto
47, Kenichiro Nakamura (JPN-Honda), Blue Helmet MSC
48, Yuichi Takeda (JPN-Honda), Sakurai Honda
49, Akira Yanagawa (JPN-Kawasaki), Kawasaki Racing Team

– A compulsory briefing will be held for all riders who will be participating for the first time in the current Championship, at 17h00 on the day preceding the day scheduled for the first practice session.

From a press release:

Fastrack Riders will host race car driver Max Papis at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California on April 19th.

Max will be riding one of the Fastrack bikes in the Superstreet group.

More information is available about Fastrack Riders track days and FTA racing events at (800) 560-2233 or online at www.fastrackriders.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Mat Mladin rode his GSX-R750 Superbike onto the grass, laid it on its side and then lifted Doug Chandler’s crashed HMC Ducati off the trapped Chandler.

The dramatic incident came late in the final day of AMA team testing at Road Atlanta.

Chandler lowsided entering turn 10, the start of the chicane at the end of the back straightaway, and ended up trapped under the Ducati, close to the edge of the gravel trap, near the right-hand turn that concludes the chicane

Mladin, who had been about five seconds behind Chandler on the course, came upon the scene and rode to the rescue.

“He got stuck under the bike,” said Mladin. “I saw him wave his arms, I pulled over in the right-hander and he started waving pretty frantically. There was only one corner marshall per station and she was busy waving the yellow flag.

“So I turned in there on the grass, rode down there, laid my bike on its side and ran over to him.

“His foot was stuck between the wheel and the exhaust pipe, and his boot was burning on the exhaust pipe. So I got his foot out and dragged the bike off him. It had burned almost through his boot, and if I hadn’t seen him waving he’d probably have still been waving out there for another couple of minutes and had third-degree burns.”

Mladin said Chandler suffered no burns in the incident, and added that he (Mladin) suggested that the next team test include more corner marshalls at key corners.

Best radar trap speeds from the three-day test follow, as caught by Kelly Collopy:

Supersport:
Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 156.4 mph
Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 156.2
Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 155.9
Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 155.6
Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.7
Tom Kipp, Suzuki GSX-R600, 153.9

Superbike:
Doug Chandler, Ducati 998, 175.2 mph
Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 174.0
Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 173.0
Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 170.9
Mat Mladin, GSX-R750, 170.8
Jamie Hacking, GSX-R750, 170.4
Aaron Yates, GSX-R750, 174.0

Formula Xtreme
Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R7/R1, 167.4 mph
Tom Kipp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 166.7

Best Thursday afternoon lap times (times and tires used as claimed by team personnel):

Superbike
Mat Mladin, 1:23.4 race tire
Anthony Gobert, 1:23.48 Q tire, 1:24.20 race tire
Nicky Hayden, 1:23.6 race tire
Aaron Yates, 1:23.7 Q tire, 1:24.0 race tire
Jamie Hacking, 1:24.4 race tire
Miguel Duhamel, 1:24.6 race tire

Formula Xtreme
Damon Buckmaster, 1:24.0 race tire
Tom Kipp, 1:26.2 race tire
Chris Ulrich, 1:29.3 race tire

Supersport
Tommy Hayden, 1:27.8
Tom Kipp, 1:28.1
Tony Meiring, 1:29.8

Superstock
Chris Ulrich, 1:27.7

And now HMC Ducati’s version of the test, from a press release:

The HMC Ducati Racing team finished three successful days of testing at Road Atlanta Raceway today. Doug Chandler clocked an impressive best lap time of 1:24 flat, although a minor crash spoiled his dash to better Nicky Hayden’s fastest time of 1:23.7. The team walked away with set-up information for the race here in mid-May as well as a good base set-up for the next round in Sears Point, which sports a similar track layout.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in the last three days,” said Chandler. “I’m happy with how the bike worked today and I think we’re ready when we come back here for the race. Atlanta is very similar in layout to Sears. When we started here we were out in left field but we’ve gone in the right direction on everything and a lot of this information will help us at Sears as well.”

Doug Chandler received only minor bruising and a small burn from the crash, and a new best friend in Mat Mladin (Suzuki), who stopped to rescue him.

“I moved my focus up the track, trail-braked too much into the turn, tipped it in and tucked the front,” Doug said. “We were trying new brake pads and they were a bit grabbier than what I am used to. It was a combination of grabby brake pads and not remembering to get off the brakes.

“I’m a little bruised and burnt. I got wedged up under the tire and muffler and Mat had to stop on the track, drop his bike and come over and get mine off of me. My boot was smoking from the exhaust pipe!

“It was a successful test. Each day we got better, making progress and running with the top guys. I think we’ve got things right and I’m sure we’ll come up with some stuff to make it even better yet.”

And now a release from Mladin’s publicist, Steve Reeves:

MAT MLADIN Racing – MEDIA INFORMATION
For immediate release
Friday, 19April 2002

MLADIN FAST AT ROAD ATLANTA TEST

Atlanta Georgia, USA: – With the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship in the midst of a month’s break between rounds, a number of teams including Mat Mladin’s Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki team have taken part in a three-day test at Road Atlanta, Georgia this week.

In many ways the test was a success for three time US Superbike Champion Mladin, as he emerged with the fastest lap time on set of ‘race’ tyres at the test. It also showed that the left elbow that he injured at Daytona will still require an amount of time before it is fully healed and strong enough to cope with the demands of riding a superbike.

After being the fastest on day two with a 1:24.1 lap, he bettered that time to end the test with a 1:23.5. A number of other riders were close to that mark at the end but were using softer compound qualifying tyres to set their times.

“I believe that I was the quickest out there on race tyres, so I’m very happy with that,” Mladin said at the conclusion of the test. “A few other guys went out on qualifiers, but I didn’t even bother. I’m not really here for that.”

The injury to his left elbow did however restrict the amount of track time that Mladin could utilise.

“We did a whole day on Tuesday (the first day) but late on Wednesday afternoon I tweaked it a bit and that caused a lot of discomfort. On the last day I only did about two and a half hours on the track and that was due to the arm. I took a few painkillers to get over the problems that I had with it yesterday and rested it for about four hours today. It’s a bit frustrating at the moment as I would have liked to have done more on the bike, but unfortunately I couldn’t.”

Mladin was hopeful of being able to conduct a number of back-to-back tests with his Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750, but these were restricted due to the soreness of his arm.

“We were hoping to try a few different things. We had one bike set up with the settings we used here last year and had planned to set the other up with some completely different settings just to see how they went. In the end we spent most of the time on the bike with new settings and had virtually no opportunity to run the other that had the old settings on it.”

Mladin has won three out of four races at Road Atlanta in the past two years, with the championship heading there on May 18 & 19 for rounds six and seven.

From a press release:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 4 – Sugo (Japan), 21 April 2002

PREVIEW

After Australia and South Africa, the third successive fly-away race in the 2002 World Superbike Championship takes place this coming weekend at the Sugo Sportsland circuit, near Sendai in the north of Japan. All eyes will be on reigning champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) to see whether he can extend his sensational early-season run of six wins on the run and equal the all-time record holder, Doug Polen, who notched up a seven-race winning streak for Ducati back in 1991. The championship leader will be up against two unknown factors around the 3.737 km Sugo track this weekend: Japanese ‘wild-card’ riders, who always go well here, and tyre performance.

Bayliss and Sugo have not exactly had the best of relations in the two years the Australian has raced here. In 2000, he failed to complete a lap after twice being knocked off by Japanese riders at the first corner, while last year he could only manage four points after struggling all weekend with tyre problems. “I’ll certainly be trying to get a couple of wins this weekend to keep my run going, but I know it’s going to be difficult. Every time I come here, I look for a good weekend, but it just hasn’t happened …. yet!” declared Troy. “I really like the Sugo circuit, it’s up and down, not exactly like Kyalami, where I won two weeks ago, but very undulating. I know it’s going to be a lot better this year than it was in 2001, for lots of reasons, not just because of the tyres”.

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) continued his promising early season form at Kyalami with a third and a second place, but is under no illusions about the task ahead this weekend in Japan. “I would like to come away from here with as many points as possible”, he declared. “I like the track but it’s very difficult and the Japanese riders always go well here. We were unlucky last year, but I’m sure things will be different this time around. I’d like to be on the podium, but the most important thing is to work well for the race in practice and qualifying and then do your best on Sunday to score as many points as possible. There are a lot of races to go and the real championship starts in Europe”.

Last year at Sugo Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) out-performed everyone except the Japanese riders and the 27-year-old Californian will be hoping to shine in a race that sees him reunited with his brother Eric for the first time since Laguna Seca. “I’m more excited about this race at Sugo than at any other track. The tyres work really well here and I’ve forgotten what it’s like to stand on top of the box”, said Bostrom. “The wild-card riders will make it interesting as always, because none of the WSBK regulars ever win here. Last year we came very close to getting on the podium, so maybe it’s our turn now. I’m feeling really fit, I’ve been hanging out with my brother for a couple of weeks and just can’t wait to go here”.



THE SUGO CIRCUIT

Sugo was founded in 1975 as a test-track by Yamaha and since then has hosted a series of major sports events, such as All-Japan Roadracing Championship, and other international bike and car meetings. It first held a round of the WSBK championship in 1988 and has continued the tradition every year since. Sugo is located 300 km north-east of Tokyo and the complex also contains a hotel, an athletics track and a motocross circuit. Japanese riders have taken victory in every race held here since 1995 when Corser and Fogarty shared the wins for Ducati.



CIRCUIT RECORDS

Lap Record: Tamada (Honda) 1’29.522 (2001)
Superpole: Tamada (Honda) 1’28.797
Qualifying: Tamada (Honda) 1’28.658 (2001).