Colin McRae, the current World Rally Car Championship point leader, plans to take some laps of Brands Hatch on a factory Suzuki GSX-R750 Superbike August 3 as part of the GSX-R Festival scheduled in conjunction with a round of the F.I.M. World Supersport Championship.

McRae, 32, already owns a GSX-R1000 streetbike, but his demo laps on the Crescent Suzuki GSX-R750 will only be his second time riding a bike on a racetrack. Afterwards, McRae will hold an autograph session for fans.


A number of other activities are scheduled for the GSX-R Festival including:

–The appearance of 1993 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

–The appearance of the Clarion Suzuki factory British Superbike team.

–A stunt show performed by European Stunt Champion Kevin Carmichael.

–A Suzuki Stunt Challenge judged by Carmichael.

–GSX-R owner parade laps of the track.

–A rock concert.

–The DR-Z Sensation for off-road riders.

–Tips from the Team Suzuki Performance Riding School.

–A bike show featuring examples of GSX-Rs from the introduction of the model in 1985 through the current model year.

The eighth annual Honda Hoot drew a record 18,000 participants to the rally’s new location in Knoxville, Tennessee June 20-23. Attendance was up 30% despite the move from Asheville, North Carolina to Knoxville, according to a press release from American Honda.

The Hoot included a Ride For Kids fundraiser for pediatric brain tumor research, with $62,724 raised.

The Honda Riders Club of America-sponsored event injected an estimated $8 million into the Knoxville economy.

Friday 500cc Qualifying Times From Donington Park

1. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:31.964
2. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:32.077
3. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:32.384
4. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:32.593
5. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:32.866
6. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:32.988
7. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:33.059
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:33.066
9. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:33.106
10. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha, 1:33.204
11. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:33.266
12. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:33.487
13. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:33.495
14. Chris Walker, Honda, 1:33.501
15. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:33.662
16. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:33.707
17. Anthony West, Honda, 1:33.752
18. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:33.797
19. Jason Vincent, Yamaha, 1:34.731
20. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:34.732

1. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:38.844
2. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:38.854
3. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:39.124
4. Masao Azuma, Honda, 1:39.268
5. Stefano Perugini, Italjet, 1:39.481
6. Jaroslav Hules, Honda, 1:39.618
7. Pablo Nieto, Derbi, 1:39.636
8. Noboru Ueda, TSR-Honda, 1:39.643
9. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:39.824
10. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:39.828

Hooters Suzuki’s Mike Ciccotto learned June 28 that an action photo of him on his Hooters Suzuki GSX-R750 appears on the official event poster for the Suzuka 8-hours World Endurance race scheduled for August 5 in Suzuka, Japan.

“Steve (DeCamp, Hooters Suzuki team owner) told me last week,” Ciccotto said July 4 in the Laguna Seca paddock. “I haven’t seen it, but Steve says that it also says, ‘American rider Mike Ciccotto’ on the poster. It will be distributed in Japan. I guess there hasn’t ever been an American team in the Suzuka 8-hour.”

(Actually, several American teams have raced in the Suzuka 8-hours over the years, including teams fielded by Yoshimura Suzuki and American Honda as well as Ontario Moto Tech.

Ciccotto and teammate Michael Barnes will ride in the Formula Xtreme open class at Suzuka, on a GSX-R1000.

The sponsor responsible for the Hooters Suzuki Suzuka effort is the team’s exhaust sponsor, Ti Force.

Ciccotto is competing in the Buell Pro Thunder class at Laguna Seca, riding his Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell, but is injured as the result of a crash last Sunday during a Formula USA Unlmited Superbike race at VIR.

“I have a broken right index finger and probably a fracture in my right wrist,” said Ciccotto just before having his hand and wrist taped by Dr. Dave Kieffer, M.D., a fellow Buell Pro Thunder competitor.

By Glenn LeSanto

Regular World Superbike rider Ben Bostrom recorded the fastest time in Friday’s qualifying session at Laguna Seca, just beating his brother Eric Bostrom to the top spot. Eric spent most of the session at the head of the time sheet but as the session drew to a close Ben Bostrom on the L&M Ducati pulled himself up to provisional pole. Then, with only a minute left on the clock, Eric Bostrom put his Kawasaki Motorsports ZX-7R back in front–only to see his brother Ben put in a faster time on his very last lap. Ben Bostrom finished just a few tenths of a second faster than his brother with a fastest lap of 1:25.248 compared to Eric’s 1:25.556. The pair’s lap times
were half-a-second faster than the rest of the pack, with Ben’s time being three-quarters-of-a-second faster than third-fastest Troy Bayliss. Laguna Seca is used as a test track by Dunlop so it was no surprise to see two Dunlop riders on the top of the time sheet and a total of eight Dunlop users in the top 10.

Third-fastest man Bayliss on the Infostrada Ducati had spent much of the session languishing way down the order. But with the clock ticking down the final seconds he got out on the track to put himself onto the provisional front row with a lap at 1:26.075. Colin Edwards was fourth-fastest on the Castrol Honda. Both Bayliss and Edwards run Michelin tyres. British rider Neil Hodgson (GSE Ducati) had spent most of the session on the provisional front row, only to be demoted down to fifth as the session drew to a close.

Troy Corser, the subject of much speculation recently in the Italian press regarding his recent drop-off in form, finished the session sixth-fastest on the Axo Aprilia.

World Superbike Qualifying Session #1 Results:

1. Ben Bostrom, Ducati, 1:25.248
2. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:25.556
3. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:26.075
4. Colin Edwards II, Honda, 1:26.112
5. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:26.163
6. Troy Corser, Aprilia, 1:26.235
7. Doug Chandler, Kawasaki, 1:26.287
8. Pierfrancesco Chili, Suzuki, 1:26.539
9. Regis Laconi, Aprilia, 1:26.605
10. James Toseland, Ducati, 1:26.612
11. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:26.779
12. Gregorio Lavilla, Kawasaki, 1:26.985
13. Tadayuki Okada, Honda, 1:27.031
14. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, 1:27.050
15. Steve Martin, Ducati, 1:27.134
16. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati, 1:27.192
17. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki, 1:27.372
18. Robert Ulm, Ducati, 1:27.415
19. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, 1:27.437
20. Marco Borciani, Ducati, 1:27.507
21. Peter Goddard, Benelli, 1:27.550

Ruben Xaus crashed unhurt in turn two in the second half of the qualifying session.

Ten of the top 12 qualifiers were on Dunlops with only Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss on Michelin.

Troy Corser recorded the highest trap speed (by 7 kph over the next fastest bike) at 246 kph, or 152 mph, on the front straight.

First Free Practice World Superbike Times From Laguna Seca:

1. Ben Bostrom, Ducati, 1:26.583
2. Troy Corser, Aprilia, 1:26.708
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:26.755
4. Colin Edwards II, Honda, 1:26.935
5. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, 1:27.008
6. Pierfrancesco Chili, Suzuki, 1:27.338
7. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 1:27.437
8. Doug Chandler, Kawasaki, 1:27.698
9. Gregorio Lavilla, Kawasaki, 1:27.743
10. James Tosland, Ducati, 1:27.815
11. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki, 1:27.867
12. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki, 1:28.171
13. Giovanni Bussei, Ducati, 1:28.210
14. Marco Borciani, Ducati, 1:28.301
15. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, 1:28.342
16. Tadayuki Okada, Honda, 1:28.355
17. Regis Laconi, Aprilia, 1:28.513
18. Lucio Pedercini, Ducati, 1:28.537

AMA Teams hauled sections of Air Fence from Loudon to Laguna Seca at the request of AMA officials who said they had a transportation problem, but the sections of Air Fence sat in the paddock, unused, as bikes circulated around the track Thursday morning.

According to a spokesman for Speedvision Productions, which promotes the combined World Superbike and AMA Superbike races at Laguna Seca, the company was told by AMA officials that they didn’t have anybody to drive a truck carrying Air Fence sections to Laguna Seca and that the Air Fence sections wouldn’t be there. So Speedvision Productions bought 23,000 haybales along with deploying the $50,000 worth of Air Fence Bike sections Speedvision Productions purchased expressly for use at Laguna Seca.

Reached by cell phone at Laguna Seca and asked why the AMA Air Fence had not been deployed instead of haybales, AMA Pro Racing Media Relations Consultant Larry Lawrence said that the AMA’s sections of Air Fence were not needed because the track had already been FIM homologated with haybales and Speedvision’s Air Fence Bike sections in place.

Lawrence said that AMA officials asked that an additional six sections of AMA Air Fence be positioned in the area where Jamie Bowman hit a concrete wall and was fatally injured last year, and that obtaining permission to deploy the additional Air Fence in that area involved a certain amount of FIM red tape. Lawrence said that the additional six sections of AMA Air Fence would be deployed during the lunch break Thursday.

Buell Pro Thunder Qualifying Times From Laguna Seca

1. Thomas Montano, Ducati 748, 1:32.258
2. David Estok, Buell 1200, 1:33.073
3. Jeffrey Nash, Ducati 748RS, 1:34.492
4. Tripp Nobles, Buell 1200, 1:35.345
5. Nick Ienatsch, Ducati 748, 1:35.530
6. Dean Mizdal, Ducati 748, 1:35.722
7. Mike Ciccotto, Buell 1200, 1:36.253
8. John Dugan, Ducati 748, 1:36.328
9. Mike Sullivan, Ducati 748, 1:36.845
10. David White, Honda Hawk 700, 1:36.968
11. Rich Thorwaldson, Ducati 748, 1:37.211
12. Dr. David Kieffer, M.D., Ducati 748, 1:37.544
13. Tyler Sandell, Suzuki SV650, 1:38.844
14. Ricky Lundgren, Ducati 748, 1:39.546
15. Charlie Hewitt, Ducati 748, 1:39.986

Due to the crowded schedule of the combined AMA and World Superbike weekend, both Buell Pro Thunder and MBNA 250cc Grand Prix will have timed qualifying sessions instead of their normal heat races.

1. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, 1:29.766
2. Mark Miller, Honda, 1:30.195
3. Tom Kipp, Suzuki, 1:30.584
4. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:30.753
5. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:31.076
6. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:31.151
7. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, 1:31.453
8. Josh Hayes, Honda, 1:31.575
9. Grant Lopez, Suzuki, 1:32.410
10. Thomas Montano, Ducati, 1:32.883
11. Andrew Deatherage, Suzuki, 1:33.097
12. David Estok, Buell, 1:33.265
13. Tripp Nobles, Buell, 1:34.198
14. Jeremy Toye, Yamaha, 1:34.700
15. Chris Voelker, Honda, 1:34.858

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Grant Lopez crashed unhurt in the session while fourth-fastest.