Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Troy Bayliss claws his way to the top in a hotly contested qualifying session

By Glenn LeSanto

The provisional front row had a few surprises in it for the first three-quarters of today’s World Superbike timed qualifying at Misano. But it was the irrepressible Troy Bayliss who pushed up to the top of the time sheet with a 1:34.420 lap. The Australian put the time in on his final circulation of the twisting Misano circuit, just as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the session.

For a while though, it was Lucio Pedercini and Steve Martin who got in the limelight. Both lapped fast enough to put themselves on the provisional front row during the session. But as the big guns came out with their special qualifying tyres the pair slipped down the timesheet. Martin managed a 1:35.641 lap on his DFX Racing Ducati to qualify sixth. This made him by far the quickest of the three riders using Pirelli tyres in WSB. Pedercini was seventh.

Neil Hodgson pulled himself up the order in the final moments, going fourth behind Edwards in third and Bostrom who finished second fastest. Noriyuki Haga was fifth fastest despite trashing two bikes in heavy crashes. Haga was unhurt in both incidents. Edwards also crashed during qualifying, but like Haga, he was unhurt.

Friday’s World Superbike qualifying times:

1 Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 1:34.420

2 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 1:35.067

3 Colin Edwards, USA (Honda) 1:35.077

4 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 1:35.136

5 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Aprilia) 1:35.411

6 Steve Martin, Australia (Ducati) 1:35.641

7 Lucio Pedercini, Italy (Ducati) 1:35.689

8 Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 1:35.818

9 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Ducati) 1:36.096

10 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Suzuki) 1:36.272


More, from Bayliss publicist Steve Reeves:

TROY BAYLISS Racing
Media Information
For immediate release
Friday, 21 June 2002

Round 8, 2002 Superbike World Championship

Autodromo di Misano, Misano Adriatica, Italy

First Qualifying Session Report

BAYLISS FASTEST IN FIRST SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING SESSION AT MISANO

Misano, Italy (Friday, June 21) – In a time that was almost one second faster than the existing superbike lap record, defending World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss scorched around the Italian Misano circuit to record the fastest time in the opening qualifying session for round eight of the Superbike World Championship.

Bayliss was at the top of the time sheets for much of the one-hour session, but was momentarily headed by American Ben Bostrom (L&M Ducati) who recorded his best lap of 1-min 35.067-secs with approximately three minutes remaining. Bayliss was already out on the track at the time and pushed his Infostrada Ducati 998F-02 to an amazing 1:34.420 in the closing minutes, eclipsing Neil Hodgson’s current lap record of 1:35.403.

“I was quite happy with the time that I set this afternoon as it matched my fastest time from the test we had here about a month ago and given that it is so hot today, I think it was very good,” said Bayliss. “It’s forecast to stay hot all weekend, but I feel that there is still a bit of time to trim off the one that I did today.

“I’m very happy with how the Infostrada Ducati is working at the moment along with the Michelin tyres,” added Bayliss. “We managed to test a few different tyres today and have narrowed it down to two that I really like. Tomorrow we’ll continue the process of sorting through the tyres to find the combination that will be best suited to Sunday’s races. At the end of today’s session we put on one soft qualifying tyre and that was the one I used for my quick lap. We didn’t get time to try another, but it gives us a bit of an understanding of what we may need tomorrow.”

Bostrom held on for second, pushing fellow American Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda) to third, who after being the early pace setter of the session, crashed mid-way through the session before rejoining the session aboard his spare machine to record a best time of 1:35.077. Completing the provisional front row of the grid is Brit Neil Hodgson (HM Plant Ducati) with a 1:35.136.

Fifth fastest was Japan’s Noriyuki Haga (Playstation2 Aprilia, 1:35.411), just ahead of Steve Martin aboard his Pirelli shod DFX Ducati. The former Australian Superbike Champion had been as high as third fastest for a lengthy period of the session, but slipped down the order in the closing frantic minutes of the session with a 1:35.641. Lucio Pedercini (Pedercini Ducati, 1:35.689) was seventh, followed by Ruben Xaus (Infostrada Ducati, 1:36.818), Pierfrancesco Chili (NCR Ducati, 1:36.096), with Spaniard Gregorio Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki, 1:36.272) rounding out the top ten.

Qualifying concludes tomorrow morning, followed by Superpole in the afternoon. Sunday will see the SWC stars take to the grid for two 25-lap races in front of an expected huge crowd of emphatic superbike fans.


More, from a Ducati press release:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 8
Misano Adriatico, 23 June 2002

SAN MARINO ROUND – FRIDAY QUALIFYING

BAYLISS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA) AND BOSTROM (DUCATI L&M) HEAD THE PACK AT SUN-BAKED MISANO ADRIATICO

PROVISIONAL ROW 2 FOR XAUS (DUCATI INFOSTRADA)

Championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) and Ben Bostrom (Ducati L&M) led the way on the first day of qualifying for Sunday’s San Marino Round of the World Superbike Championship in searing heat at Misano Adriatico.

The Australian, winner of eleven races so far this season, was on terrific form at the 4.060 km Santamonica track and bolted on a qualifying tyre at the end of the session to end with a time of 1:34.420, eight-tenths of a second quicker than the qualifying lap record. Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) finished the day in eighth place on the second Ducati 998 Factory ’02 with a time of 1:35.818, while Californian Bostrom (Ducati L&M) revelled in the hot conditions and powered to second-quickest time of 1:35.067 on a qualifying tyre at the end of the one-hour session. Colin Edwards (Honda) and Ducati-contracted rider Neil Hodgson (HM Plant) make up the provisional front row in third and fourth.

Bayliss (Ducati Infostrada) and Edwards dominated the session until the final quarter when the Texan had a crash and was then overtaken by Bostrom in the timesheets. “Everything’s going really well, I’ve matched the time I did in the test here a month or so ago when it was a bit cooler” commented Troy. “It’s been really hot today but my chief engineer Luca did a good job with my bike and it’s really working well. We’ve got a couple more things to try tomorrow so I’m feeling very confident for Sunday’s two races. Although Ben was right behind me in qualifying, I still feel that Colin is the main man to watch for the weekend. I did my time on a qualifying tyre but I’m happy with my race tyre performance as well because I did a flat 1:35 for quite a few laps”.

Ruben Xaus (Ducati Infostrada) complained about lack of grip around the Santamonica track but was confident he would be further up the grid tomorrow after the second qualifying session. “I was only eighth fastest today but everything is OK. It’s very hot out there but I’m confident I can move up the timesheets tomorrow morning in the second session. The grip is coming better and better all the time, but I feel sure it’s the same for everyone. The good thing is that I did my best lap time ever here around here and I’m sure I can improve even more tomorrow”.

Bostrom (Ducati L&M) was pleased with his bike set-up but declared that he needed more rear grip to put together a quicker lap. “We’re second quickest but I think we should go quicker tomorrow morning” declared Ben. “The bike’s very good but the conditions are really hot and slimy and its really tough to put together a quick lap because when you think you’re on the right line you just slide right off it because the track is so hot. Sunday’s races are going to be very interesting if the conditions stay the way they are now.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Fabien Foret all out for vengeance

By Glenn LeSanto

Coming from a disqualification at Lausitzring after winning the race, you could expect Fabien Foret to be in determined mood. He was! He set the fastest ever Supersport lap time at Misano to take provisional pole in Friday¹s qualifying.

Foret, on the Ten Kate Honda CBR600, set his best time in the final minute of the 45-minute session. Suzuki’s Katsuaki Fujiwara ­ who inherited Foret’s win at Lausitz ­ was second quickest.

Andrew Pitt, the defending World Champion, set the third fastest time of the day in front of Iain MacPherson, who was fourth fastest on the other Ten Kate Honda.

Paolo Casoli on the Yamaha, also disqualified at Lausitz, came in fifth fastest. Stephane Chambon on the Alstare Suzuki, who leads the title chase, was sixth.

With temperatures in the 30s C and on a track that’s known to be abrasive and yet not so grippy, tires are sure to come into the equation in the race on Sunday. So while qualifying and grid positions are important, the result may be more down to tire endurance than grid positions.

Friday’s World Supersport qualifying times:
1 Fabien Foret, France (Honda) 1:37.669

2 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1:37.864

3 Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1:38.278

4 Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda) 1:38.396

5 Paolo Casoli, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.420

6 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:38.471

7 Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.499

8 Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.582

9 Piergiorgio Bontempi, Italy (Ducati) 1:38.590

10 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda) 1:38.624


More, from a press release issued by Honda:

FORET SETS SAN MARINO PACE


Honda’s Fabien Foret recorded the fastest ever Supersport lap in Friday’s opening qualifying practice for Sunday’s eighth round of the World Championship at Misano, San Marino.

Foret, on the Ten Kate CBR600, was in determined mood as he set his best time in the final minute of the 45-minute session. Suzuki’s Katsuaki Fujiwara ­ winner of the last round ­ was second quickest.

Andrew Pitt, the defending World Champion, set the third fastest time of the day with Foret’s teammate Iain MacPherson fourth to complete the provisional front row for Sunday’s 23-lap race.

Italian Paolo Casoli gave a healthy-sized home crowd some cheer as he put his Yamaha in fifth place with Championship leader Stephane Chambon sixth.

German Yamaha teammates Jorg Teuchert and Christian Kellner lie seventh and eighth fastest respectively with Ducati’s Piergiorgio Bontempi ninth and Van Zon Honda rider Chris Vermeulen 10th.

Honda UK’s Karl Muggeridge ended the day in 18th place with teammate John McGuinness 25th. Muggeridge said: “We’ve arrived here with more development work completed so it’s thrown the set-up out a little. I’m sure we can get it right for tomorrow.”

Friday’s World Supersport qualifying times:
1 Fabien Foret, France (Honda) 1:37.669

2 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 1:37.864

3 Andrew Pitt, Australia (Kawasaki) 1:38.278

4 Iain MacPherson, GB (Honda) 1:38.396

5 Paolo Casoli, Italy (Yamaha) 1:38.420

6 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 1:38.471

7 Jorg Teuchert, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.499

8 Christian Kellner, Germany (Yamaha) 1:38.582

9 Piergiorgio Bontempi, Italy (Ducati) 138.590

10 Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Honda) 1:38.624

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in, from racer Leo Venega:

“Just wanted you to know that Debi and I are pregnant, yup, that’s right. Due date is sometime mid-Feb. So she’s going to concentrate on the store and support me in my racing stuff. So that should be cool.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in from AMA Pro Racing’s Hugh Fleming, in response to a June 17 posting of an AMA Pro Racing press release announcing the formation of a Medical Board for supercross racing under the headline “AMA Pro Racing Announces Medical Board without Any Road Racing Representation.” The release did not mention any specific future plans for the inclusion of doctors with road racing experience:

I would like to clarify a point made in your editorial regarding the AMA Pro Racing Medical Advisory Board. As announced back in December at the AMA Awards Banquet, AMA Pro Racing planned on working with a number of doctors specializing in many AMA Pro Racing disciplines to form this AMA Pro Racing Medical Advisory Board. At that time, we announced that the board would consist of doctors Bodnar, Augustine and Ting, who has since become unavailable. The plan then, as it is now, is to have the board include members with experience in many racing disciplines. And as we mentioned in the press release, the progress made in motocross is being used as a template for our other racing disciplines.

We have had contact with road racing doctors Jim Adams, David Kieffer and Ray Rossi and others, and our next meeting is set for the July 12-14 weekend at Laguna Seca where doctors Adams, Kieffer, Rossi, Bodnar and I will meet to focus on road-racing issues. Look for some of those doctors to be added to the advisory board very soon.

Most importantly, the mission of the medical advisory board is to promote the safety of the AMA professional athlete, to improve and elevate the quality of on-site medical care available at professional races, and to promote safety and performance research as it relates to professional motorcycle racing. Currently, the board is also formulating standardized policies on how to best deal with specific types of injuries, notably head injuries, which know no discipline boundaries.

In the future if you have questions about the AMA Pro Racing Advisory Board, please feel free to contact me at any time so we may answer your questions and concerns more directly and completely.

Hugh Fleming, AMA Pro Racing
Safety and Equipment Director

From a press release issued by Monstermob Ducati, and is it just us who notices that Inline Fours are not competitive for race wins in the British Superbike Series, which is being held up as the model for the future of AMA Superbike?

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

Round 7
2002 MCN British Superbike Championship Rockingham
June 22/23

ROCKINGHAM RETURN FOR HISLOP

The MCN 2002 British Superbike Championship hits the halfway stage when the action returns to the purpose-built Rockingham facility on the outskirts of Corby, Northamptonshire this weekend.

MonsterMob Ducati’s Steve Hislop enjoys a 16 point lead going into the two 22 lap races and is keen to get back into his winning ways after a couple of races in the doldrums. But any thoughts of his season-ending accident at the same track towards the end of last season is planted firmly in the back of the 40 year old Scot’s mind:

“That was a racing incident and could have happened anywhere. I never let my big Brands crash affect me so I don’t see this weekend being any different. I left Brands with a good base setting after the few problems we’ve endured recently and I’m confident our bad run is behind us now” said a rejuvenated Hislop.

For team mate Stuart Easton, he is hoping to rack up an unprecedented seventh successive win when he goes for glory in the MB4U.com Supersport race aboard the MonsterMob 748cc Ducati.

The 17-year-old from Hawick has a 59-point lead at the head of the standings and is hopeful of increasing that advantage this weekend, despite not getting a good result there last year:

“I didn’t really like the place in the wet on my 250cc bike last year but this year is a totally different proposition. I’m feeling confident and hope I can continue my good run” said the Scot who has also set five successive pole positions in his domination of the class.

For team owner Paul Bird, it will be his first visit to Rockingham after missing the race whilst away on business last year:

“I hope it’s kinder to us this year than last and I’m looking forward to seeing the place as I’ve heard a lot about it. Ask me after the weekend if I like it or not and that may depend on whether we’ve increased our lead in both championships!” jested the Penrith businessman.


MCN British Superbike Championship

Points after Round 6 (12 races) of 13 rounds (26 races)

1 Steve Hislop MonsterMob Ducati 20 25 25 25 16 10 25 10 13 20 4 20 213

2 Sean Emmett IFC Ducati 25 16 13 20 11 13 16 8 25 25 0 25 197

3 Michael Rutter Renegade Ducati 9 13 9 13 13 25 20 12.5 0 16 16 16 162.5

4 Steve Plater Virgin Mobile Yamaha 16 10 10 10 20 9 10 3 16 13 20 10 147

5 John Reynolds Rizla Suzuki 13 20 20 16 0 0 11 5.5 20 0 25 13 143.5

(Half points awarded in race eight due to abandonment of race after oil spillage)

From a press release:

PIRELLI TO PRESENT FREE TIRE SEMINARS AT LAGUNA SECA RACE WEEKEND IN CONJUNCTION WITH APRILIA

Pirelli has announced that company tech representatives will be conducting free tire seminars during the upcoming Laguna Seca AMA/World Superbike race weekend, July 13 and 14.

The seminars will be held at the infield Aprilia display area as part of a joint activity between the Italian premium-tire maker, and the famed Italian bike manufacturer that features Pirelli’s high-performance street tires as OE on many of its models.

The 45-minute seminars are designed to be both entertaining and highly informative. Subjects will include the tires’ role in transferring power to the ground, in steering, braking and acceleration, in working with the bike’s suspension, and in carrying the bike’s weight. A particularly interesting portion will cover how the increased needs of today’s riders, combined with the rapid advancements in motorcycle technology, require the highest level of tire development in such areas as mileage, wet and dry grip, handling and stability are how these demands are met in tire construction, contour and weight, and tread compound and design.

The seminars will help educate consumers on the different tire constructions, from bias to belted to radial, including, of course, Pirelli’s patented 0 steel-belted radial construction. Other subjects will cover how tread compound affects mileage, how tread pattern design affects mileage and grip, and how to ride safely. A question-and-answer session will follow each seminar.

Alberto Warburg, Pirelli’s North American Marketing Manager explained the rationale behind the seminars. “We want more consumer contact. We don’t want tires to be a mystery. We want people to understand them and how they work through more personal contact directly with our technical people. We want to do more than advertising and PR, we want to share our knowledge, technology and passion with consumers. That is why we are doing these seminars at Laguna and places like Americade and Honda Hoot. At Pirelli, our passion is motorcycle tires. We want to share this with riders who also feel passionate about their bikes and riding. Business does not just get done in big offices high up in big buildings. Good business also means getting out and getting in touch with your consumers.”

Everyone is invited to attend. Check the Pirelli tent in the Aprilia display area for seminar times over the two days.

Pirelli has emerged as a major player in roadracing over the past couple years, mainly on the strength of its Supercorsa DOT radials, and slicks. Pirelli tires dominated the just-completed 2002 Isle of Man TTs, and Supercorsas were chosen by Honda’s World Supersport factory team as the tire of choice for its 2002 assault on the World Supersport championship.

From a press release:

VIR test a success

June 20, 2002 – Alton, VA. After spending two days in the Southeast, piloting his Kawasaki Superbike through the turns at Virginia International Raceway (www.VIRclub.com) and showing off his new wild hairdo, Eric Bostrom came away from the test confident enough to label it a success. “Our pre-test setup was good going into the test and proved to be a winner, so we didn’t really have much to test. Of course, we still went through some suspension pieces and tried a number of things with the front end. The bike still seems a little too harsh on the bumps, but I’m pretty happy with how things went. In fact, I went over a second faster during the test on race tires (running consistent mid-1:25s) than I did last year on a Qualifier. So it’s all positive. Running the extra World Superbike rounds this year has really helped both my confidence and the team’s ability to set up the bike. Our learning curve has really steepened by being over there and our bike set-up is better now than it’s been all year. It’s also helped my riding and been a bit of a catalyst to my season.”

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With the big Laguna Seca weekend approaching, Eric is looking forward to making another strong showing in World Superbike, although he realizes he faces stiff competition at his favorite track. “I know my brother and Neil (Hodgson) were tough last year. And all the World Superbike guys ride hard all the time and then there’s that war between (Troy) Bayliss and (Colin) Edwards; those guys have been tough and incredibly fast this year. It’s basically going to be an all-out battle with those guys. So honestly, it’s going to be really tough to get on the podium, but I’m going to try really hard to make it happen. My fans expect that. It won’t be for a lack of effort if it doesn’t happen, that’s for sure.”

Back in the AMA Superbike Championship, Eric is experiencing a strong surge to his season, finishing on the podium in the last four consecutive Superbike races. In fact, Eric has managed to cut Nicky Hayden’s huge 80 point lead in half, taking it down to a reachable 40 points. But how does he feel about his chances to improve on his 2nd place finish in last year’s Championship and actually win the Superbike title this year? “It’s still a long shot, of course. But honestly, I’m not thinking about that at all right now. I want to see if we can win Brainerd first. That would be a huge confidence boost, and then, of course, I can’t wait for Laguna. I always feel confident about that one. So who knows? I do think that we can go strong in the last six races (4 rounds, 2 doubleheaders).”

If Nicky cracks under the pressure and makes a mistake, Eric might indeed end up surprising everyone for the Championship.

Eric Bostrom continues to be proudly sponsored by:
Kawasaki (www.Kawasaki.com and www.Kawasaki-Eckl.com)
RedBull (www.RedBull.com)
Alpinestars (www.Alpinestars.com)
Arai (www.AraiAmericas.com)
Oakley (www.Oakley.com)
Airtrix (www.Airtrix.com)
Ecko (www.Ecko.com)
Dunlop (www.DunlopMotorcycle.com)
Maxima (www.MaximaUSA.com)
Lockhart Phillips (www.LockhartPhillips.com)
Akrapovic (www.Akrapovic-ai.si)
Ohlins (www.Ohlins.com)

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Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The scoring pylon in the infield at Catalunya, showing John “Hopper” Hopkins #21 on top of the order with about three minutes left in final MotoGP qualifying. Others listed include Valentino Rossi (46), Max Biaggi (3), Loris Capirossi (65) and Tohru Ukawa (11).

When all was said and done, Hopkins qualified 6th fastest. He finished 10th in the race.

Photo by Greg Sachs.

From a press release:

Federal Mogul Corporation, worldwide holder of the Ferodo Friction Products Group has appointed Tucker Rocky Distributing as exclusive importer and distributor of the motorcycle/ATV product range. Clearly the partnership is intended to aggressively move the brand forward with a serious commitment to the expansive U.S. market.

BrakeTech’s Jeff Gehrs, who has been the U.S. master distributor for Ferodo, will continue with the company in a role focused on technical support and racing promotions including handling Ferodo’s highly specialized competition-only products.

In tandem with this fundamental shift in the brake pad aftermarket, is the announcement of the all new SinterGrip XR racing only limited pad range. This is the pad used extensively by the factory teams of Honda, Yamaha and Ducati in the World 600cc Supersport and Superbike Series. Details on this new compound will be forthcoming shortly.

From a press release:

Representatives of Air Fence Safety Systems are completing assembly of 225 feet of Air Fence* Bike to be used at Pacific Raceways by the Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association.

This will be deployed for the WMRRA races this weekend including the Adrenaline Freaks Track Day on Friday. The 225 feet of Air Fence Bike is in addition to the 125 feet of inflatable Air Fence IIs already purchased and used at the first two PR dates. The new safety equipment will be deployed in Turn 8 at PR, where two crashes resulting in transports (and broken bones) have already happened in 2002, and in Turn 7.

Purchase of all 350 feet of Air Fence* has been made possible by private donations, including a large donation from the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund, many individual club members, members of the local motorcycle industry, and supporters of safer racing in the Northwest. WMRRA would like to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to the WMRRA Air Fence* Fund, especially John Ulrich and the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund.

The full amount needed to pay for the equipment has not yet been raised, though. The fund is still several thousand dollars short. However, in one last push to pay the Air Fence* bill, an anonymous donor has stepped forward and pledged to match, dollar for dollar, any donations made between now and the end of June. So far, $1500 has been donated that will be matched.

More information is available from Briggs Willoughby ([email protected]) (425)254-0141.

Donations can be sent to:
WMRRA Air Fence Fund
c/o Briggs Willoughby
12044 SE 76th st
Newcastle, WA 98056

*Air Fence is a trademark of Air Fence Safety Systems.