The GPRA 125cc Grand Prix race that was aborted due to darkness during the Daytona Formula USA weekend will be run at Road America on Saturday, April 28.

According to GPRA’s Chris Wallace, “GPRA will in fact hold a make up race at Road America on Saturday, April 28 to allow those racers who were at Daytona and on the grid for the first start of the race to compete for the full purse and
points. There will be no additional fee for this make-up as fees were paid for Daytona. The normally scheduled round two of the Eastern region will take place on Sunday and is open to all GPRA licensed competitors.”

More information is available from www.gpra.org

American Ben Bostrom won the second World Superbike at Kyalami in South Africa, his first World Superbike race win outside of the United States.

Bostrom was fourth on his Ducati in the first race at Kyalami, and credited set-up changes made between races with his record-setting second-race speed.

Defending World Champion Colin Edwards won the first race on a Honda, but DNF the second race after briefly taking the lead from Bostrom.

Bostrom is now third in series points standings, behind Ducati’s Troy Bayliss and Aprilia’s Troy Corser.

First race results were:
1. Edwards
2. Bayliss
3. Corser
4. Bostrom
5. Akira Yanagawa, Kawasaki
6. Pierfrancesco Chili, Suzuki
7. Gregorio Lavilla, Kawasaki
8. Regis Laconi, Aprilia
9. Ruben Xaus, Ducati
10. Stephane Chambon, Suzuki

Second race results were:
1. Bostrom
2. Bayliss
3. Corser
4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati
5. Xaus
6. Laconi
7. Lavilla
8. Chili
9. G. Bussei, Ducati
10. Chambon

George Bruggenthies, President and General Manager of Road America, has hired Carson Wilkinson as the Wisconsin track’s first full-time Safety Director. Before accepting his new position in charge of Road America’s 75-member- strong emergency response team, Wilkinson worked for the track since 1995 on a part-time basis while also holding the position of Division Chief for Training Safety with the Kenosha Fire Department. Since starting his safety career in 1975, Wilkinson has served in several capacities from firefighter to the Safety and Rescue Chief for the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs in conjunction with the Sports Car Club of America.

Bruggenthies was quoted in the press release issued by Road America as saying the addition of the new Briggs & Stratton Motorplex has doubled Road America’s racing capacity. According to Road America Communications Director Cheryl Barnes, the increase in racing activity and large spectator events from four to five in 2001 led to the need for the new full-time position which in turn led to Wilkinson’s hiring.

Road America is one of America’s premier road racing facilities and is located in east-central Wisconsin, about an hour north of Milwaukee.

Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. and Mind Arrow Systems, Inc. teamed up to produce two multimedia e-mail marketing campaigns, targeting 30,000 computer owners. Targeted consumers received information about either the Kawasaki Good Times Giveaway or the Kawasaki Good Times Sweepstakes. Each message contained video from current Kawasaki TV ad campaigns, a link to register for giveaways (including a Chevy Silverado truck, a ZX-6R sportbike, a Vulcan 1500 cruiser, a KX250 or special financing), and links to Kawasaki’s official motorcycle website and accessory site.

Kawasaki managers liked the ability to combine the flashy video footage with detailed information in a format that allows them to easily track the campaign’s results, in the form of giveaway registrations.

Ducati’s Ben Bostrom and Troy Bayliss topped Superpole qualifying Saturday for today’s Superbike World Championship races at Kyalami, South Africa. Defending Superbike World Champion Colin Edwards was third-fastest in Superpole on a Honda, followed by Aprilia’s Troy Corser.

A Ducati press release from Kyalami quoted American Bostrom as saying “I am really pleased. This is my first Superpole and I hope it’ll be followed by a lot more this season. I saw Troy and Colin set excellent times and when it was my turn I was feeling really good. The bike has been perfect all weekend and so are my Dunlops. All I had to do was keep calm and set a fast time. I want to thank my team, who did a fantastic job. Tomorrow the races are going to be really entertaining.”

The Ducati release quoted Bayliss as saying “We had a few problems in all the sessions. “In the free practice session before Superpole we managed to resolve all our problems and finally find a good set-up and the right Michelins to set a good time. With race tires we’re okay, but doing a Superpole like the one I did today really puts you in the right frame of mind for the race.”


“I felt a slight vibration in the front brake” said Troy Corser, as quoted in an Aprilia press release following Superpole. “I was trying to brake as late as possible and this puts the brakes under stress. But we will be able to resolve the problem. In the Superpole warm-up I worked a lot on the choice of tires and I’ve got some good results for tomorrow. The races are going to be really tough and anyone on the front row can win.”


SUPERPOLE Results:
1. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 1:41.689
2. Troy Bayliss(Ducati) 1:41.918
3. Colin Edwards (Honda) 1:42.199
4. Troy Corser (Aprilia) 1:42.249
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 1:42.606
6. Tadayuki Okada (Honda) 1:42.789
7. Pierfrancesco Chili (Suzuki) 1:42.802
8. Akira Yanagawa (Kawasaki) 1:43.011
9. Regis Laconi (Aprilia) 1:43.065
10. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 1:43.143

Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. recently announced record-setting financial results for the calendar year ending December 31, 2000. Ducati’s net income was up to $9.8 million in 2000 versus $8.3 million in 1999, an increase of 17.5 percent. Ducati’s sales reached $353.1 million in 2000, up 28.9 percent over 1999’s $274.1 million. In turn, Ducati’s debt decreased from $104.5 million in 1999 to $90.6 million as of December 31.

Ducati registrations for the year were up 14 percent in Italy, 24 percent in France, 46 percent in the United States, and 65 percent in Japan, compared to the previous year’s figured.

A press release issued by the company quoted Chief Executive Officer Carlo Di Biagio is quoted as saying, “Ducati’s strong 2000 results show that the World of Ducati is expanding at an impressive rate. We are determined to fuel future Ducati growth with an exciting and challenging program for product innovation. On that note I am extremely pleased to announce that the Ducati 996R–our top-of-the-line model–has just been nominated Sport Motorcycle of the year for 2001 by Germany’s Motorrad magazine, Europe’s best-selling motorcycle publication.”

Roadracing World contacted Edward Jones Investments for more information on Ducati as a stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Our contact at Edward Jones asked not to be named and declined to give a recommendation but pointed out that the Standard & Poor’s rating of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. is “Accumulate.” The S&P ratings from top to bottom are “Buy”, “Accumulate”, “Hold”, “Avoid”, and “Sell”. Trading under the symbol DMH, Ducati was being bought for $16.60 per share and sold for $16.30 a share Wednesday at approximately 11:45 a.m. PST.

Vesrah Suzuki’s Mark Junge, Glenn Szarek and Chris Ulrich rode a Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a four-lap victory in the opening round of the WERA National Endurance Series, a 6-hour held at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas on Saturday.

Vesrah Suzuki led every hour of the event and gained two laps in the final hour with a combination of fast laps by all three riders and fast pit work by the Vesrah crew.

Team Pennzoil finished second with a Suzuki GSX-R750, followed by Racersupply.com with a Suzuki GSX-R1000. Vesrah and Pennzoil ran Metzeler tires while Racersupply.com ran Pirelli tires.

Top 10 results follow:

1. Vesrah Suzuki (Junge/Szarek/Ulrich), GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superbike, 194 laps, 562.6 miles, 93.77 mph average.

2. Pennzoil Racing (Caylor/Harwell/Lane/Buffington/Ethridge), GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superbike, 190 laps, 551 miles, 91.83 mph average.

3. Racersupply.com (Denning/Justice/Stoyko), GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superbike, 188 laps, 545.2 miles, 90.87 mph average.

4. Loudon Motorsports, GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superstock, 186 laps.

5. Army of Darkness, GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superbike, 185 laps.

6. Team Clinton Cycles, YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 183 laps.

7. Bent Racing, GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superstock, 182 laps.

8. Team Chicago, YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 181 laps.

9. Team Chaos, ZX-6R, Mediumweight Superstock, 181 laps.

10. D&D Racing, YZF-R1, Heavyweight Superstock, 181 laps.

WSMC pays cash purses to riders competing in many of its classes, and the Willow Springs Raceway-based organization recently issued a list of the top all-time WSMC purse money winners. Heading the list, which covered the time span between December 1991 through March 2001, is Chuck Graves at $76,155. The top-25 money winners are listed below.

1. Chuck Graves $76,155
2. Curtis Adams $39,335
3. Vincent Haskovec $18,735
4. Paul Harrell $14,015
5. Bryce Gross $13,905
6. Dean Vincent $12,573
7. Frank Aragaki $11,768
8. Bryan Kovarick $11,615
9. Jeremy Toye $11,470
10. Michael Montoya $11,335
11. Lance Holst $10,570
12. Clinton Whitehouse III $9660BR>13. John Hilton $9160
14. Tokey Beck $8565
15. Paul Mumford $8550
16. Andy Milton $8545
17. Peter Christensen $8245
18. Vicky Jackson-Bell $8060
19. Robert Miller $7985
20. Bruce Tebo $7570
21. Jeff Stern $7530
22. Willie Burr $7380
23. John Hopkins $7135
24. Richard Headley $6940
25. Kent Kunitsugu $6740

The WSMC has paid out a total of $617,250in cash to racers since late the organization was established in 1991. The figure does not include contingency money, nor does it include the value of many prizes given away in WSMC drawings like the $28,000 Toyota Tundra truck that Vincent Haskovec won at this year’s WSMC banquet or the Toyota truck, Yamaha YZF-R1, Yamaha YZ125, or Yamaha Home Theater system available as prizes in 2001.

Roadracing World sponsors the WSMC Roadracing World 125cc Grand Prix class, contributing towards the class cash purse, and most WSMC classes have similar sponsorship arrangements.

American Honda Racing Manager Chuck Miller called Roadracing World March 28 with an update on the team’s injured riders.

Kurtis Roberts recently went to see Dr. Arthur Ting to have his left hand, injured in the Pace car incident at Daytona, evaluated. According to Miller, Roberts’ hand was not broken and will be 100% for upcoming tests at Road Atlanta.

Miller said that Nicky Hayden has not made his first post-surgery follow-up visit to Dr. Ting, who operated on Hayden’s left hand to repair a broken scaphoid two days after the Daytona 200. Hayden is scheduled to see Dr. Ting again on Friday, March 30.

It is not known at this point if Hayden will be able to ride in the April 10-12 Road Atlanta tests, but Hayden has told Roadracing World that he will compete in the next AMA Superbike round, scheduled for May 4-6 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California.