South African Lance Isaacs, who has been sporadically racing in the U.S. with Synergy Racing, returned to South Africa following the AMA race at Laguna Seca and finished on the podium at Rounds 9 and 10 of the Dark Dog Superbike Nationals at Kyalami, South Africa, last weekend.

Isaacs qualified ninth for Race One and finished a close third, 0.01-second out of second place.

In Race Two, Isaacs was involved in a four-man battle for the lead and moved into second late in the event, according to his publicist at OMS Ltd.

Round 11 of the Dark Dog Superbike Series takesplace on August 11 in Welkom.

Results

Race 1
1. Greg Dreyer
2. Russell Wood
3. Lance Isaacs

Race 2
1. Russell Wood
2. Lance Isaacs
3. Trevor Crookes

Championship Points Standings

Greg Dryer 159
Russell Wood 153
Lance Isaacs 135

Friday Afternoon 600cc Supersport Practice Times:

1. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:41.375
2. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:41.553
3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:41.951
4. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:41.954
5. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:42.219
6. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:42.304
7. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:42.602
8. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:42.652
9. Josh Hayes, Honda, 1:42.767
10. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:43.362
11. Tom Kipp, Suzuki, 1:43.515
12. Grant Lopez, Suzuki, 1:43.543
13. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:44.840
14. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:44.854
15. David Ortega, Suzuki, 1:46.013

1. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:41.425
2. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:42.133
3. Rich Alexander, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:42.267
4. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:42.521
5. Josh Hayes, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:42.527
6. John Hopkins, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:42.811
7. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:42.872
8. Daigoro Suzuki, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:42.892
9. Robert Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:43.103
10. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:43.225
11. Tony Lupo, Suzuki GSXR-750, 1:43.373
12. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:43.468
13. Tony Meiring, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:43.733
14. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:43.853
15. David Ortega, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:44.146

Aprilia Superbike Press Information
Superbike World Championship 2001
Round 10 – Brands Hatch (GB) – 27/28/29 July

Tenth round of the Superbike World Championship at Brands Hatch on the historical circuit close by London.

A historical track just a few miles from the capital. Here the bends of the circuit are named after the epic personalities of British racing: Jim Clark, John Surtees, Graham Hill. But here at “Brands”, there is also the Paddock Hill Bend, first right after the front straight, where the riders can hear the shouts of the spectators through their helmets and over their engines, as they prepare to ram their power down the slope leading on to the next hill. This is where Troy Corser, the Aprilia-mounted Australian ace, took pole in ’96 and ’98, before going on to win Race 2 at both events. At Laguna Seca, Corser, now third in the ratings, knocked off ten points separating him from points-leader Bayliss. Troy Corser needs to catch up 61 points and Brands Hatch could be the opportunity he needs to reduce the gap separating him from the top of the provisional charts. On the other hand, this will be a “first” for Regis Laconi, who has never yet raced on this track and, as at Laguna Seca, will be spending the day getting the feel of the circuit. His Aprilia RSV Mille will have the backing of all the references acquired during the last two years’ races at Brands Hatch – the skilled Frenchman will thus need to fine-tune the set-up and adapt it to his style of riding while finding out all the secrets of the track, right from the first qualifying sessions on Friday. Watch out for the English wild-cards Reynolds, Hislop, Emmett and Haydon – the chequered flag is up for grabs here at Brands Hatch.

The track:
4221 metres – 3 left curves – 6 right curves + 380-metre finishing straight.

The records:
Fast lap in race: Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 1’26.910 (2000)
Record qualifying lap: Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) 1’26.235 (2000) –
Superpole: Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 1’26.381 (2000).

Paddock Show:
4 Aprilia bikes will be on display this weekend. The public will be able to have a first-hand look at them in the special Paddock Show area at Brands Hatch. The 2001 Aprilia bikes will be on show until the evening of Sunday 29 July.

A Pro Practice held by Team Hammer, Inc. today kicks off this weekend’s road racing activities at The Colonel’s Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, marking the first time a Thursday practice has been held at the track in recent memory.

Present for the day are 48 CRA cornerworkers and medical workers, along with three ambulance crews. AMA’s Hugh Fleming arrived on Wednesday afternoon and deployed AMA Air Fence, setting up the track to meet AMA standards.

The practice is sanctioned by AMA affiliate WERA and riders are covered by secondary medical insurance.

The practice is open to licensed AMA Pro riders who are entered in this weekend’s pro events.

The day is divided into groups for 600cc Supersport/250cc Grand Prix, 750cc Supersport/Pro Thunder, and Superbike/Formula Xtreme. Each group is scheduled to have four on-track sessions, three 30-minute sessions and one 60-minute session.

Team Hammer is providing lunch, dinner and post-event soft drinks and beer for members of the cornerworker crew, and is also paying track camping fees for cornerworkers who camped at the track.

Racer Eric Wood displayed the logo for a new motorcycle road racing movie project, 14K, on one of his GSX-R750 racebikes at Mid-Ohio and will be involved in the shooting of the movie.

According to Executive Producer Tony Morris, much of the movie’s action scenes will be filmed at upcoming Formula USA races. The storyline of the movie script, written by Jim Becket, involves a wild bad-boy teen with natural racing talent, a crashed-up divorced and retired racer, the crashed-up racer’s daughter and a rich sponsor.

Max Kirishima is the producer.

Meanwhile, a group involved with Paul Winters is attempting to put together a syndicated TV show based around road racing. Winters produced the original Formula USA TV shows a decade ago, which marked the first regular TV coverage of a motorcycle road racing series and motivated the AMA to put together a TV package for the AMA Superbike Series.

All is peaches and cream in an AMA press release issued Tuesday afternoon to hype this coming weekend’s Superbike National at The Colonel’s Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota. In the AMA release, Mat Mladin is one of the greatest riders in AMA history, and never mind that AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth has flatly stated that if Mladin doesn’t like the AMA’s position on virtually anything in the series, he can go race someplace else. And never mind that Hollingsworth has stated that Mladin’s right to free speech ended when he joined the AMA Superbike tour and, in Hollingsworth’s view, began to enjoy the benefits of AMA Pro Racing.

But enough of that: On to the press release:

R01089 Contact: Connie Fleming
July 24, 2001 Phone: (614) 856-1900
For Immediate Release Fax: (614) 856-1924



MLADIN AIMS TO GIVE SUZUKI ITS FIRST BRAINERD SUPERBIKE VICTORY

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Suzuki, by any standard, is one of the most successful racing teams in the history of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championships. Yoshimura Suzuki, the official factory racing team of Suzuki, has amassed dozens of race wins, five AMA Superbike championships and earlier this season turned the very rare feat of sweeping the Superbike podium finishes at both Road Atlanta races. Yet for all of the team’s accomplishments, the one thing that Suzuki has not managed to do is win an AMA Superbike race at The Colonel’s Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
That could all change this weekend when the Chevy Trucks Superbikes come to Minnesota’s Central Lakes Region for round 11 of the 14-race series. Suzuki has a not-so-secret weapon up its sleeve this year in the form of Mat Mladin, the Australian sensation, who has become one of the best riders in the 25-year history of the championships.
Brainerd is one of the few circuits on which Mladin has never won. However, the same could be said of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course until last Saturday when Mladin won the first round of a Superbike doubleheader. Mladin’s first and second-place finishes last week in Lexington, Ohio, combined with a bit of bad luck experienced by his nearest rival, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, has left him with a commanding 45-point lead (331-286) over Bostrom.
With such a large points lead it would be easy to assume that Mladin might simply take it easy for the rest of the season and cruise home to his third-straight AMA Superbike championship, but taking it easy is nowhere to be found in Mladin’s nature. He seems to thrive on challenges and winning Brainerd for Suzuki is just the kind of incentive that Mladin needs.
“Brainerd is actually one of my favorite tracks in America,” said Mladin. “I haven’t won there before, but did finish a very close second to Miguel DuHamel last year. The new Suzuki GSXR750 has been running strong and fast and this has given me the confidence of a good result this weekend.”
Mladin is seemingly writing new records at every race this year. Perhaps the most impressive is his string of pole positions. Mladin has put the factory Suzuki GSXR750 on the pole at every event this year – seven straight AMA Superbike poles. That matches a record shared by Doug Polen and Wayne Rainey. Mladin, already the all-time leader in AMA Superbike poles, could make the consecutive pole record his own this weekend and he is getting very close to Mike Baldwin’s record of nine AMA Superbike poles in a single season.
While the Superbike championship, with just four races remaining including Brainerd, seems nearly decided, other riders are hoping to at least put some more wins in the book. Brainerd is one of the longest and fastest tracks in the series and it often produces some of the closest racing of the year.
Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Kawasaki ace Eric Bostrom are both former winners at Brainerd. Duhamel had an emotional comeback win there last year – his third at Brainerd. After a relatively slow first half of the season, Duhamel has looked strong in the second half; earning three podium finishes in the last five races. At Mid-Ohio Duhamel said he was looking forward to coming to Brainerd and hoped to repeat as race winner.
Bostrom shocked the racing world in 1998 when he won Brainerd as a short-term replacement rider for Duhamel, who missed most of that season with a serious leg injury. A year later his older brother Ben won the race so Eric is hoping to uphold a Bostrom tradition of winning Brainerd. A victory there would at least give him some solace after blistering a tire at Mid-Ohio last Sunday. He pitted for new rear rubber, but had to settle for a 13th-place finish.
While Bostrom’s Superbike title hopes are dwindling, he finds himself atop the Pro Honda 600 SuperSport Series. The Californian won at Brainerd last year and at has twice dominated a 600 SuperSport final this season. A group of three challengers, Anthony Gobert (Yamaha), Miguel Duhamel (Honda) and Tommy Hayden (Yamaha), are within six points of one another in a great tussle over second in the series and are ready to trounce if Bostrom falters.
Jimmy Filice, of the Corbin Yamaha team, is the surprise leader of the MBNA 250 Grand Prix Series. The two-time champion of the series came out of semi-retirement and is leading longtime rival Rich Oliver. Filice last won at Brainerd in 1993.
Australian Damon Buckmaster’s move to the Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme Series this year on the Gravesport Yamaha has proven to be a smart one. “Bucky” leads the series over Valvoline EMGO Suzuki riders John Hopkins and Grant Lopez. Buckmaster hopes to give Yamaha its first Formula Xtreme win at Brainerd since local hero Greg Fryer, of Blaine, Minn., was the surprise winner of the race in 1997. Fryer will be competing on a Superbike at Brainerd this year.
Eugene, Oregon’s Jimmy Moore comes into this weekend’s race the leader of the Genuine Suzuki 750 SuperSport Series. Moore, who rides for the Corona Extra Suzuki squad, is getting close to secure his first AMA title after five years on the circuit.
Munroe Motors Racing Ducati rider Thomas Montano has been racing professionally for over decade and like Moore is closing in on his first AMA national championship in the Buell Pro Thunder Series. The class has been very competitive this year with five winners in five races.

DAILY SCHEDULE
The Colonels Truck Accessories AMA Classic
The Colonels Brainerd International Raceway – July 27-29, 2001

Thursday, July 26
Registration: Riders, Crew, Sponsors & Guests 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tech Inspection: 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Friday, July 27
Registration: Riders, Crew, Sponsors & Guests 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Entries close for Formula Xtreme 10:00 AM
Tech Inspection: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Practice (in the following order): 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM
1. Buell Pro Thunder; 2. Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport; 3. MBNA 250 Grand Prix; 4. Genuine Suzuki Accessories
750 SuperSport; 5. Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme
Chevy Trucks Superbike Practice 11:10 AM – 12:10 PM
Lunch Break 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM
Practice (same order as morning session) 1:10 PM – 3:10 PM
Chevy Trucks Superbike Qualifying 3:20 PM – 4:20 PM
Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Qualifying 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Saturday, July 28
Registration: Riders, Crew, Sponsors & Guests 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Entries close for all classes 9:00 AM
Tech Inspection: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Practice (in the following order): 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
11. Buell Pro Thunder; 2. Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport; 3. MBNA 250 Grand Prix; 4. Genuine Suzuki Accessories
750 SuperSport; 5. Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme
Chevy Trucks Superbike Practice 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
Buell Pro Thunder Heat Race #1 (5 laps) 11:10 AM
Buell Pro Thunder Heat Race #2 (5 laps) 11:25 AM
Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Qualifying, Even #s 11:40 AM – 12:00 PM
Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Qualifying, Odd #s 12:10 PM – 12:30 PM
Lunch Break 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Genuine Suzuki Accessories 750 SuperSport Qualifying, Even #s 1:30 PM – 1:50 PM
Genuine Suzuki Accessories 750 SuperSport Qualifying, Odd #s 2:00 PM – 2:20 PM
Chevy Trucks Superbike Qualifying 2:30 PM – 3:20 PM
FINAL EVENTS & Heat Races (in the following order) 3:30 PM
Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme (60k – 13 laps)
MBNA 250 Grand Prix Heat Race #1 (5 laps)
MBNA 250 Grand Prix Heat Race #2 (5 laps)
Genuine Suzuki Accessories 750 SuperSport (60k – 13 laps)
Sunday, July 29
Registration: Crew, Sponsors & Guests 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Tech Inspection Opens: 9:00 AM
Practice (in the following order): 9:00 AM – 10:40 AM
1. Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport; 2. MBNA 250 Grand Prix; 3. Chevy Trucks Superbike; 4. Buell Pro Thunder
Pro Honda Oils 600 SuperSport Final (60k – 13 laps) 11:00 AM
Lunch Break: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Nondenominational Chapel Service 12:30 PM
FINAL EVENTS (in the following order) 1:00 PM
MBNA 250 Grand Prix (60k – 13 laps)
Chevy Trucks Superbike (100k – 21 laps) 2:00 PM
Buell Pro Thunder (60k – 13 laps)

For immediate post-race results, rider information, AMA Pro Racing notes and news, log on to www.amaproracing.com.

This just in from Bryan Norton:

Brian Cox, an Amateur licensed with CMRA/CCS, was the first racer to sample the new Air Fence Bike installed at Texas World Speedway. The Air Fence was supplied by the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund and is used exclusively for motorcycle racing at the track. Cox lowsided his Yamaha YZF-R6 in turn 8a, the same turn in which Ryan Smith lost his life in 1999. The bike and rider contacted the last section of Air Fence and then continued into haybales set up by the CMRA. The bike came to a final rest upside down on the haybales. The rider suffered no injuries and walked away from the incident. The bike didn’t fare as well, and was damaged enough for Cox to park it for the weekend. He returned to racing on Sunday on a bike borrowed from fellow racer Scott Fisher.

The crash occurred during practice on Saturday, July 21 and was the first day the Air Fence was in use.

Cox explained his accident, saying “The front just went away. It tucked at the beginning of the apex and that was all she wrote. I slid all the way into the last section. I slid so long down the track that I actually had thoughts going through my head as I was sliding on my back, ‘I’m getting ready to break bones, I’m getting ready to make impact.'”

Asked about what it feels like to hit the Air Fence he replied, “I couldn’t even hardly feel it. I think I went into it and kind of under it and then I think I impacted some haybales that were beside it. The bike and myself both hit the Air Fence.

“I’m thankful to John Ulrich. I got my $50 worth! I sent in $50 several months ago to the Air Fence Fund.”

Cox was quizzed about how the sight of the Air Fence affected his riding through the turn, “I knew they were going to deploy it, and when I saw it in practice I was like ‘yeah!’ For some reason that corner is my favorite on the track, just the way that corner is designed. It is unfortunate there is Armco there. With the Air Fence I was going through there like I was on a 250 Grand Prix bike. I was full tilt, there wasn’t much space between my bike and the track. I just tucked the front, it just went away.”

CMRA official Robert Brothers commented on how the Air Fence Bike held up to the impact, “It stayed in place, there were no cuts. There are a couple of scuff marks on it but I think it will clean up with some 409. It did its job today. If it does get torn we’ve got a patch kit to take care of it.”

The 20 Air Fence Bike modules took over two hours to set up on Friday before the event, but less than an hour to return to storage on Sunday with the help of a loaned flatbed trailer. It is stored at the track and is shared between both the CMRA and RPM race clubs.