Mat Maldin won the pole for tomorrow’s AMA Superbike race at Loudon, setting a new motorcycle lap record in the final qualifying session Saturday.

Times follow:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:09.561
2. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:09.893
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:10.019
4. Doug Chandler, Kawasaki, 1:10.249
5. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:10.519
6. Steve Rapp, Ducati, 1:10.572
7. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:10.575
8. Pascal Picotte, Harley-Davidson, 1:10.87
9. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:11.026
10. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 1:11.104

Mat Mladin was fastest in the Saturday morning Superbike practice session. Times follow:

1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:10.060
2. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:10.538
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:10.657
4. Doug Chandler, Kawasaki, 1:11.062
5. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:11.067
6. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:11.205
7. Steve Rapp, Ducati, 1:11.544
8. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:11.567
9. Pascal Picotte, Harley-Davidson, 1:11.580
10. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:11.712
11. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 1:11.834
12. Andreas Meklau, Ducati, 1:12.295
13. Jordan Szoke, Harley-Davidson, 1:12.731
14. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, 1:13.433*
15. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:13.8998
16. Mike Smith, Harley-Davidson, 1:14.052
17. Rich Alexander, Suzuki, 1:14.075*
18. Michael Gallagher, Suzuki, 1:14.519*
19. Vince Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:14.742*
20. Rich Neenan, Suzuki, 1:15.300*
21. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, 1:15.976*
22. Mauro Cereda, Suzuki, 1:16.108*
23. Rich Conecelli, Suzuki, 1:16.228*

*Rider on 750cc Supersport bike

Valentino Rossi secured pole position for tomorrow’s 500cc Grand Prix at Catalunya, Spain, during Saturday’s final qualifying session. Times follow:

500cc
1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:45.507
2. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:45.518
3. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:45.630
4. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:45.682
5. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:45.761
6. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:45.833
7. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:45.952
8. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:46.067
9. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:46.159
10. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:46.650
11. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:46.830
12. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:46.834


250cc
1. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:47.261
2. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:47.626
3. Roberto Rolfo, Aprilia, 1:48.092
4. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:48.136
5. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:48.245
6. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:48.319
7. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:48.405
8. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:48.455
9. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:48.761
10. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:48.764


125cc
1. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:51.368
2. Noboru Ueda, Honda, 1:52.091
3. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:52.146
4. Stefano Perugini, Ital Jet, 1:52.410
5. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:52.560
6. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:52.682
7. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:52.705
8. Jarno Mueller, Honda, 1:52.803
9. Jaroslav Hules, Honda, 1:52.938
10. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, 1:53.076

Jimmy Filice is irate at last-minute 250cc Grand Prix grid changes that moved local star Jeff Wood out of the “stacked” second 250cc heat race into the “easier” first 250cc heat race, both heat races scheduled for this afternoon at Loudon.

Wood was originally in the same heat race as Rich Oliver, Chuck Sorensen and 1999 Loudon winner Derek MacKelvie King. Filice was in the first heat with no strong competitors.

But apparently due to a registration error, local Gus Holcomb and several other riders were not assigned grid positions. When registration workers corrected that error, they also gave Randy Renfrow a grid position even though he is not at Loudon. That obvious error bumped Wood from one heat race into the other.

Since the procedure for establishing 250cc heat race grid order is to alternate heat assignments, sending entered riders who are first, third, fifth, etc. in points to one heat race and entered riders who are second, fourth, sixth, etc. in points to the other heat race, Filice was outraged that his protests to AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice resulted in no definite promise of action.

Hooters Suzuki’s Mike Ciccotto won the 750cc Supersport race at Loudon, beating local heroes Chuck Chouinard on his Barry Motorsports/Sparks Steak House Suzuki and Attack Suzuki’s Rich Alexander, Chouinard finishing 8.180 seconds behind Ciccotto and Alexander finishing 12.678 seconds behind.

Chouinard was initially emotional on the podium and had difficulty speaking, but quickly recovered and said he”d been trying to get on the podium at an AMA National since 1992 and finally made it.

Alexander said he was so tired and overheated after the earlier Formula Xtreme race that he required medical attention, and thanked the track medical crew “for putting me back together for this race.”

Roger Lee Hayden on the Bruce Transportation CBR600F4i and points leader Jimmy Moore on the Corona EXTRA Suzuki GSX-R750 collided in turn 3 on lap 6, Hayden trying to make an inside pass and Moore trying to hold him off as they entered the u-turn from the flat infield up the hill outside the track, both crashing. Moore picked up his bike and finished sixth. Hayden came into the pits.

Roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich charged from 11th to 4th but crashed on lap 7, losing the front end in turn 11, shortly after passing Corona EBSCO Suzuki”s Vince Haskovec, with Bruce Transportation”s Josh Hayes right behind.

Hayes passed Haskovec and caught Alexander but couldn”t get past.

Local Hero Eric Wood retired with shifting problems.

Two days after the race, on Monday, Chouinard was disqualified for illegal engine modifications.

AMA 750cc Supersport
On-track Results
1. Mike Ciccotto, GSX-R750
2. Chuck Chouinard, GSX-R750, disqualified
3. Rich Alexander, GSX-R750
4. Josh Hayes, CBR600F4i
5. Vince Haskovec, GSX-R750
6. Jimmy Moore, GSX-R750
7. Daigoro Suzuki, GSX-R750
8. Matthew Silva, GSX-R750
9. Tony Meiring, GSX-R750
10. David Ortega, GSX-R750

Point Standings
1. Moore, 149
2. Alexander, 134
3. Haskovec, 123
4. Ben Spies, 118
5. Meiring, 100
6. Ulrich, 82
7. Rich Conicelli, 80
8. Ortega, 79
9. Ciccotto, 76
10. Brian Parriott, 70

Jeff Wood, brother of racer Eric Wood and son of racer Jerry Wood, was fastest in 250cc Grand Prix practice Saturday morning at New Hampshire International Speedway at Loudon, New Hampshire. Times follow:

1. Jeff Wood, Yamaha, 1:12.948
2. Chuck Sorensen, Yamaha, 1:13.333
3. Jimmy Filice, Yamaha, 1:13.379
4. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:13.813
5. Derek MacKelvie King, Honda, 1:14.471
6. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 1:14.717
7. Michael Hannas, Yamaha, 1:15.063
8. Mike Himmelsbach, Aprilia, 1:15.063
9. Bill Himmelsbach, Yamaha, 1:15.996
10. Ed Marchini, Yamaha, 1:16.297
11. Cory West, Yamaha, 1:16.311
12. Simon Turner, Yamaha, 1:16.482
13. Steve Scott, Yamaha, 1:16.884
14. Chris Pyles, Yamaha, 1:16.891
15. Gus Holcomb, 1:17.225

Loris Capirossi was fastest in the first Catalan Grand Prix 500cc qualifying session at Catalunya, Spain while arch rivals Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi encountered trouble, Rossi crashing but ending up fourth-fastest and Biaggi struggling to 13th-fastest. Times follow:

1. Loris Capirossi, Honda, 1:45.587
2. Norick Abe, Yamaha, 1:46.127
3. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:46.217
4. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 1:46.264
5. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:46.282
6. Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Proton, 1:46.525
7. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki, 1:46.601
8. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, 1:46.760
9. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, 1:46.862
10. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, 1:46.928
11. Alex Criville, Honda, 1:47.121
12. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:47.251
13. Max Biaggi, Yamaha, 1:47.270
14. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, 1:47.316
15. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:47.629


250cc Times, First Qualifying Session
1. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:47.594
2. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:47.800
3. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:47.882
4. Tetsuya Harada, Aprilia, 1:47.915
5. Jeremy McWilliams, Aprilia, 1:47.944
6. Roberto Rolfo, Aprilia, 1:48.225
7. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:48.367
8. Klaus Nohles, Aprilia, 1:48.785
9. Randy de Puniet, Aprilia, 1:48.958
10. Alex Hofmann, Aprilia, 1:49.117


125cc Times, First Qualifying Session
1. Lucio Cecchinello, Aprilia, 1:51.820
2. Toni Elias, Honda, 1:52.785
3. Angel Rodriguez, Aprilia, 1:52.787
4. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:52.914
5. Youichi Ui, Derbi, 1:52.944
6. Max Sabbatani, Aprilia, 1:53.001
7. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:53.019
8. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:53.050
9. Pablo Nieto, Derbi, 1:53.227
10. Mirko Giansanti, Honda, 1:53.481