Ben Spies, 16, was fastest in Wednesday afternoon practice for the 750cc Supersport class at Daytona. Riding with a broken bone in his left hand, Spies turned his fastest lap at 1:53.301 on a Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R750 tuned by former racer Shane Clark.

Spies’ time was 0.6-second faster than the Daytona 750cc Supersport record, set in qualifying by Damon Buckmaster last year.

The fastest times, taken off a transponder display on pit lane, follow:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:53.301
2. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.945
3. Brian Parriott, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:55.418
4. Kurtis Roberts, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.565
5. John Hopkins, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:55.584
6. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:55.894
7. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:56.759
8. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:56.770
9. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:56.831
10. Roland Williams, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:56.910
11. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:56.913
12. Grant Lopez, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:57.105
13. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:57.749
14. Joe Gill, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:57.687
15. Rich Alexander, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:57.912

Ducati Motor SpA will introduce the new 996R model to the world press in Valencia, Spain tomorrow.
Representatives from magazines around the globe are gathering in Spain to sample the limited edition machine: just 500 of the new bikes will be built.

The Ducati 996R is the homologated basis for 996RS used in World Superbike competition. Only 14 996RS versions will be built.

Roadracing World is being represented by Website editor and racer Melissa Berkoff at the event.

Four-time Superbike World Champion Carl Fogarty said at Daytona that he hasn’t seen any new up-and-coming talent. Interviewed in the paddock area at Daytona March 5th and asked “Who do you think is the most talented, up and coming, young racer?”, Fogarty said:

“I really don’t know who is the most talented guy coming up right now. There’s not too many fast guys coming up right now. The fast guys tend to be in their mid-to-late 20s. There’s not many young riders anymore I can think of. I don’t know of any in America. Well, there’s one name I’ve heard of – Nicky Hayden. I don’t know. Is he a young guy? So I’m interested in seeing how he gets on this year. There seems to be a bit of a shortage really around the world of young 500cc Grand Prix riders coming through. There’s a few out there now like Rossi doing the business. It always seems like an Italian/Spanish dominated thing for bringing young riders. America’s struggling and Britain’s struggling as well.”

Fogarty is in the United States to film a video.

For more from Fogarty, including how he’s dealing with injury-forced retirement and what he thinks of John Kocinski and Anthony Gobert, see the May issue of Roadracing World.

AMA Pro Racing has hired Dan Lance to oversee safety at all professional venues. Lance, who worked part time last season handling the AMA’s Pro Marshalls training program, had resigned and taken a job with Motion Pro because he wasn’t being paid enough money to even cover his expenses going to races.

But now the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors has approved the budget needed to hire Lance. His official title will be Safety and Logistics Officer.

In a related move the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors is expected this week to approve a proposal to buy 30 sections of Air Fence inflatable air barriers to be used at AMA Pro Racing events. Each Air Fence unit is approximately 27 feet long and is specifically designed for motorcycle racing use.

Several Buell racers at Daytona talked about changes AMA officials made to Pro Thunder rules in the off season.

“The plan is to run both (F-USA Buell Lightning and AMA/WERA Pro Thunder) series,” said Harley-Davidson/Buell of Fredricktown’s Bryan Bemisderfer. “We’re at a disadvantage at Daytona in Pro Thunder versus the Ducatis, but I think at tighter tracks we can do well. The rule change (limiting Ducatis to 750cc) is gonna help us. Now we can keep the Buell in a horsepower range where they can live.”

“There will be no Pro Thunder for us. The AMA turned that into a Superbike class,” disagreed Hal’s Performance Advantage/ Daytona Harley-Davidson/ Buell’s Richie Morris. “Whoever has a $100,000 motorcycle will win. I’m not gonna do that for a $1400 purse. There were a few of us chasing the Ducati 748RSs on standard 748s with 800cc kits, but now the AMA has made that impossible.”

“It’s (the Buell) really not too competitive at the Pro Thunder level,” said Steve Luxem in his return to Buell racing after a year layoff. “I’ve never run Pro Thunder, but you can just see what the 748s can do out on the track. I saw how much work (Shawn) Higbee had to put into his bike, and it made it a time bomb.”

Jeff Johnson raced the Harley-Davidson Twins Sports series and then moved on to Buells when that series ended. Johnson said, “I’m not doing Pro Thunder on my Buell due to a lack of sponsorship for a separate effort and the whole break up of the Pro Thunder series with some races going to WERA. We wanted to go to Road America at least, our home track, but now we can’t due to it being dropped from their double header Superbike program.”

Buell racer Greg Avello echoed Johnson’s thoughts saying, “I would’ve hit two or three Pro Thunder rounds with my Buell, but the ones I wanted to do were Road America and Mid-Ohio. I think the AMA should re-think not having Buells at Road America. The Buell Lightning series seems to pay off better. Plus when it’s Buells against Buells, it’s more fun.”

AMA officials did listen to the concerns of some Pro Thunder racers when they reversed themselves and eliminated a new minimum weight limit for all machines that would have outlawed anything but Ducatis and Buells. The weight limit would have seen single-cylinder machines and Suzuki SV650s add 70-100 pounds of ballast.

And a day after RoadracingWorld.com published quotes from a Ducati official pointing out that Ducati is at a disadvantage because it has no representation with the AMA, AMA Road Race Manager Ron Barrick called Ducati North America Race Manager David Roy and offered him a place on the AMA Road Racing Advisory Board.

Derek Mc Kelvie King, who finished second in the 1999 AMA 250cc GP series but struggled in 2000 with GP Tech, has formed his own team, Formula 2 Motorsports. King purchased a TSR Honda chassis from England’s Paul Bird Racing, as well as purchasing the complete 007 ridden by Kurtis Roberts in 1998.

King is also competing in the Formula USA Aprilia Cup Challenge Series on an Aprilia RS250.

King’s sponsors include Champion Honda and a company owned by his father, Pro-Pac.

Jeff Nash of Advanced Motorsports (AMS) has put together a Ducati support deal and plans to run Craig Connell in the complete Formula USA series. Connell finished second to Grant Lopez in Sunday’s Formula USA Unlimited Superbike race. Nash admits that details of the deal have not been finalized with Ducati.

Meanwhile, Lopez and both his Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki teammates are fighting injuries. Lopez broke the thumb on his right hand when he highsided out of the International Horseshoe during practice last Thursday. Ben Spies broke a bone in his left hand when he highsided in the identical spot shortly after Lopez fell. John Hopkins did not crash, but severely tweaked his right knee during a subsequent practice session when he lost both ends and slid at the same spot on the track where Lopez and Spies crashed, with Hopkins’ bike slamming down on to his right knee, which was about a foot off the ground before the slide started. Spies missed the Formula USA weekend races altogether and Hopkins elected to ride in the 600cc class only. Lopez toughed it out and rode in the Unlimited Superbike class.

Young gun Jason DiSalvo missed Sunday’s GPRA 250cc Grand Prix race at Daytona when the clutch push rod in his Honda RS250 broke Saturday. DiSalvo did not have a spare, and could not obtain a replacement in time for the race. Jeff Wood won the race on a TZ250 and the racer now known simply as Jocelin finished second on her TZ250 tuned by fiance Rich Oliver.

Former racer Jeff Haney is at Daytona to serve as DiSalvo’s personal riding coach. Haney is on the staff of Freddie Spencer’s High Performance Riding School, which is based in Las Vegas and is an associate sponsor of DiSalvo’s Cruise America Grand Prix Racing.

By David Swarts

Synergy Racing Technologies’ Matt Wait was injured in a one-bike incident in Daytona’s high-speed chicane during Sunday morning’s warm-up for the Formula USA Unlimited Superbike final. Wait was on his out lap on his Honda CBR929RR when he crashed and suffered a broken left upper arm and concussion. The crash caused the session to be red-flagged and it began to rain heavily as riders waited to restart the session. Officials delayed the restart, declared the lunch break, held a riders’ meeting and then restarted the session more than an hour after the red flag.

Several riders saw Wait and his motorcycle laying close to the wall on the riders’ left leading them to belive that Wait had hit an unprotected wall in the accident. According to Roger Lyle, Formula USA’s National Safety Director, those beliefs were false.

“From eye witness reports of corner workers at the scene,” started Lyle, “Wait clipped the inside grass and curbing on the right entering the Chicane. He got out of shape and crashed on the track and slid off. Wait never came in contact with any wall at any time. He was transported directly to Halifax hospital with a broken arm and concussion.”

In response to rider concerns raised by the incident, F-USA officials immediately relocated over 150 extra haybales to the chicane area. The bales came from the front straight infield Supercross course. Officials told riders at the riders’ meeting that the entire area was covered with haybales.

Just prior to the crash, in dry Sportbike practice, Wait had bettered his Sportbike qualifying time by nearly one full second.

Wait has suffered several severe injuries in recent years.

Erion Honda’s Mark Miller underwent surgery by Dr. Art Ting to repair damage to his left hand, which Miller broke while training on his motocross bike at Elsinore MX Park in Lake Elsinore, California on February 20.

Called at his home on March 3, a reluctant-to-talk Miller said “I got into another guy” while going over a jump. “It’s already been taken care of. I’m just gonna lay low for a few days. The next thing that I have to do is a test at Road Atlanta in mid-April.”

Miller was not planning to race at Daytona because he is competing in the AMA Formula Xtreme class, which does not run at Daytona.

KWS Motorsports’ Shawn Higbee mounted a rear Dunlop DOT-labeled qualifying tire and grabbed the pole position for the opening round of the Lockhart-Phillips USA Unlimited Superbike final at Daytona International Speedway. Higbee pitted with less than 5 minutes remaining the session, went back out onto the track as the brisk winds began to die down, caught a tow from Brian Parriott, and recorded a 1:52.94 for a new lap record for the class.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s 17-year-old John Hopkins used a new, race-compound rear Michelin to earn the second spot on the grid with a 1:53. 36. Hopkins did his time without the aid of another rider’s draft and into a stiffer headwind through Daytona’s tri-oval.

Hooters Suzuki’s Mike Ciccotto will line up third for Sunday’s feature race, recording a 1:53.91 on a GSX-R750 with Pirelli’s Blue or Super Soft compound.

The outside of row one will see Synergy Racing Technologies’ Matt Wait on his Dunlop-equipped Honda CBR929RR. Wait used a single set of race-compound Dunlop D208s to record a 1:53.93.

Eighth-fastest Michael Barnes lost his grid spot when his Zlock Racing Kawasaki ZX-9R hit 145.2 horsepower in the 145-horsepower class. Barnes was stripped of a F-USA Unlimited Superbike win last March for the same reason. Barnes will start Sunday’s race from the back of the 81-rider grid.

In Sportbike qualifying, Hopkins went one better by capturing the pole with a new lap record for the class of 1:57.14. Hopkins again worked alone against the wind with one set of race-compound Michelin Pilots to record his time.

Again using only one set of Dunlops, Wait put in another good session on his SRT Honda CBR600F4, lapping at 1:57.519 for the second grid spot.

Defending F-USA Sportbike Champion Lee Acree and his Metzeler-sponsored Arclight Suzuki GSX-R600 ran third fastest with a 1:57.61.

Starting fourth in Sunday’s 112-horsepower class will be Joseph Gill on the Starnet/ 4&6 Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 with a time of 1:57.81 on Dunlop tires.

The second, even-numbered Sportbike qualifying session saw more severe winds, and that session’s fastest rider, Arclight’s Brian Parriott, was sixth fastest overall.

Fifth-fastest qualifier, Shogun Motorsports’ 18-year-old Ryan Landers lost his grid spot when his Chuck Giachetto-tuned Yamaha YZF-R6 recorded 112.4 horsepower, 0.4 horsepower over the class limit. Landers will start Sunday’s race from the back of a very large grid.

Formula 2/ Mototek Imports’ Derek M. King took the pole position for Sunday’s Aprilia Cup Challenge race with a 2:12.04 lap time despite being comfortablly within the class’ 63-horsepower limit.

The Libasci Racing Aprilia ridden by second-fastest qualifier Andre Castanos broke a piston, destroying the cylinder and cases, during the qualifying session. Castanos didn’t have to wonder long what would happen to his time of 2:12.81 if he could not complete the mandated dyno run: Dan Fischer protested Castanos for using a non-standard windscreen made by former Aprilia Cup Challenge sponsor Zero Gravity, and Castanos’ time was disallowed.

Second on the Aprilia Challenge grid went to Shannon Silva with a time of 2:13.91 and Fischer’s 2:14.12 on his Copier1.com/ Pro Italia Aprilia earned him the third spot on the front row. Castanos’ disqualification and her 2:14.17 put Cruise America Grand Prix Racing’s Vicky Jackson-Bell on the front row.

In Buell Lightning qualifying, Michael Barnes turned a 2:06.29 on his second lap out of the pits, and the time held up for the pole position. With his Innovative Motorcycle Research Buell well within the 95-horsepower limit, Barnes was over 1.5 seconds faster than the next qualifier.

Tripp Nobles rode his Tilley Harley-Davidson Buell to record a 2:07.74, good for the second spot on the grid.

Hoban Brothers Racing’s Jeff Johnson’s was the third-fastest Buell racer, at 2:08.07..

Hal’s Performance Advantage/ Daytona H-D/ Buell’s Richie Morris recorded the fourth fastest time at 2:08.29, but lost his front row spot when his Buell’s motor broke during the session and couldn’t be re-fired for the dyno testing.

Smith Brothers Harley-Davidson/ Buell’s Jason Smith cured a problem with his bike mid-session then circulated the 3.56-mile track in 2:10.98 to sit on the front row.