Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking set the pace in Thursday morning’s 600cc Supersport practice with a lap time well under the existing class record. Hacking’s 1:53.502 was 0.64-second better than Kurtis Roberts’ pole position-winning time from 2000. When asked about the time, Hacking said, “I think we can go quicker. If the weather holds and the wind stays down, I think we could see some 1:52s. I think the regular guys will be there in the race, though. John Hopkins might come into play. His Suzuki is faster than mine.”

Team Honda’s Nicky Hayden, 19, was second-fastest, and said “My bike is the fastest factory (Supersport) Honda I’ve ever ridden.”

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s John Hopkins, 17, was third-fastest at 1:54.272.

600cc Supersport times from Thursday morning practice follow:

1. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:53.502
2. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:54.272
3. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:54.274
4. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:54. 643
5. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:54.770
6. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:54.784
7. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:55.130
8. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:55.254
9. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki, 1:55. 437
10. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:55.461
11. Josh Hayes, Honda, 1:55.519
12. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:55.853
13. Grant Lopez, Suzuki, 1:56.192
14. Roger Hayden, Honda, 1:56.284
15. Joe Gill, Yamaha, 1:56.241

Once again, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s 16-year old Ben Spies topped 750cc Supersport practice Thursday morning, with a time near the existing class lap record.

750cc Supersport times from Thursday morning practice follow:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:54.085
2. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:54.174
3. Kurtis Roberts, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.306
4. Josh Hayes, Honda CBR600F4i 1:54.306
5. Richard Alexander, Jr., Suzuki GSXR750, 1:54.745
6. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:54.856
7. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:54.943
8. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.187
9. John Hopkins, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:55.606
10. Brian Gibbs, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:55.735
11. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:55.838
12. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:55.949
13. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.980
14. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSXR600, 1:56.512
15. Roland Williams, Suzuki GSXR750, 1:56.616


In 250cc Grand Prix practice Thursday morning, Rich Oliver reasserted his authority, running almost a full second quicker than second-fastest Roland Sands. Times follow:

1. Rich Oliver, 1:55.472
2. Roland Sands, 1:56.417
3. Jason DiSalvo, 1:57.228
4. Randy Renfrow, 1:58.272
5. Simon Turner, 1:58.526
6. Thomas Palander, 1:58.864
7. Perry Melneciuc, 1:59.498
8. Jimmy Filice, 2:00.222
9. Eric Wood, 2:00.660
10. Derek McKelvie King, 2:01.275

Nicky Hayden is riding with his broken left wrist and hand taped.

In the first 600cc Supersport practice session on Wednesday, Doug Chandler and Aaron Yates both highsided while exiting the International Horseshoe, in separate incidents. Yates slightly injured toes on one of his feet and Chandler was “just sore.” Both riders were out and riding in the morning Superbike practice session.

Just prior to coming to Daytona, Kurtis Roberts, Miguel Duhamel, and Nicky Hayden went to Japan for wind-tunnel tests with the RC51 Superbike. “We were learning how to tuck (in),” said Roberts of the test. Roberts’ Crew Chief, former racer David McGrath, added that the team experimented with windscreen shapes.

In Wednesday practice on his RC51, Miguel Duhamel used a Zero Gravity “Double Bubble” screen on his RC51 while Roberts’ had a normal tall windshield on his Superbike. Nicky Hayden had a different windscreen on each of his two RC51s. Hayden’s RC51s also featured a billet, six-piston rear brake caliper.

Tommy Hayden’s works Yamaha YZF-R7 Superbike features new Nissin radial-mount six-piston calipers and a Nissin clutch master cylinder. Hayden said he loved the new brakes and went on to turn his personal fastest-ever lap at Daytona, a 1:50.88, which made him third-fastest on the day.

One of Anthony Gobert’s Superbikes had a cover in place where a Suzuka style headlight would normally go.

Most riders ran with either padding on their fuel tank or in the front of their leathers, to avoid chest bruises caused by banging against the fuel tank on the banking.

In 250cc Grand Prix practice, Rich Oliver was immediately in the low 1:57s, a pace that has won the last several 250cc GP races at Daytona. Oliver was joined in the 1:57 bracket by Performance Machine’s Roland Sands. Corbin Racing’s Jimmy Filice was still going through tech inspection when the first 250cc practice session went out on the track. During that session, defending 250cc Champion Chuck Sorensen’s GP Tech Yamaha suffered a mechanical problem when water leaked into one of this bike’s cylinders, due to a blown head-sealing O-ring.

In the afternoon 250cc practice session, Roland Sands and Rich Oliver both recorded times in the 1:55 range. Oliver’s 1:55.92 was fast, but Sands’ 1:55.896 may be the fastest a 250 rider has ever lapped Daytona since two-time AMA 250cc Champion Jimmy Filice did a mid-1:55 back in 1994. Sands, meanwhile, said that he did his time with used tires, running on a front tire that had about 50 laps it and a rear tire that had two full practice sessions on it.

Anthony Gobert and Mat Mladin have had grip tape applied to the rear of the fuel tank on their racebikes. Gobert said that the material helps him maintain his body position on the bike while leaned over.

At the Wednesday riders’ meeting, AMA Pro Racing Road Race Manager Ron Barrick said that former Superbike racer Dale Quarterley, who now races stock cars, will be driving the official Pontiac Aztec pace vehicle. Miguel Duhamel pointed out that there hadn’t been a pace car situation during a Daytona 200 in a while and that he had forgotten how it worked. Then Duhamel pointed out that many of the Superbike racers were not present to hear the information being given out. This prompted Barrick to do a role call to see who was missing at the meeting. Of the 78 riders pre-entered for the Daytona 200 approximately 28 were present. Riders who missed the meeting included:
Larry Pegam
John Ashmead
Rich Alexander
Eric Bostrom
Mike Smith
Scott Russell
Doug Chandler
Anthony Gobert
John Hopkins
Jason Pridmore
Mike Ciccotto
Pascal Picotte
Jordan Szoke
Chris Ulrich
Brian Stokes
Vincent Haskovec
Aaron Slight
However, many of the missing riders entered Superbike for practice only; most 750cc Supersport riders do so, most with no intention of actually running the Daytona 200.

Attack Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore said, “We’re having a lot of little problems. It’s a new team, new bikes, and it’s Daytona.” Pridmore said that Attack may simplify its program at Daytona with Rich Alexander dropping his entry in 600cc Supersport and Pridmore himself electing to not run in 750cc Supersport. Pridmore and Alexander win the AMA 750cc Supersport Championship in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

Meanwhile, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki had already decided to concentrate on Ben Spies in 750cc Supersport with John Hopkins and Grant Lopez running 600cc Supersport only. The team had orginally planned on running all three riders in 750cc Supersport.

One of Dave Estok’s Tilley Harley-Davidson Buell Pro Thunder racers was sporting an on-board camera in Wednesday afternoon practice. Tuner Don Tilley said that the bike would be used to shoot footage for ESPN with former AMA Superbike Champion-turned-TV-commentator Thomas Stevens riding. Stevens, who won his Championship with Yamaha in 1991, said that Yamaha had declined to provide a photo bike for the filming, so he asked Tilley. According to Stevens, when the footage airs, there will be no mention of make, model or team. Stevens would simply be narrating his lap with a voice over.

SFX Motor Sports Group announced on Wednesday, March 7 that the company has become the majority shareholder in IHRA (International Hot Rod Association), which organizes and sanctions drag races. IHRA was founded 31 years ago, has 13,000 members and sanctions events at over 80 venues across North America, including the 11-event Summit Drag Racing Series.

A press release issued by SFX quoted IHRA President Bill Bader as saying, “We are elated to forge this partnership with SFX Motor Sports Group. We have worked with SFX for many years and are confident that the partnership will enable us to accelerate growth and marketing opportunities for our tracks, race teams, spectators, sponsors and television viewers. Having worked closely with the SFX Motor Sports team we are confident this partnership will enable IHRA to reach new heights.”

SFX has said that the current leadership and management team, led by Bader, will remain in place. Bader retains a minority share of IHRA.

Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts broke his own Daytona 600cc Supersport lap record enroute to qualifying in the pole position for Friday’s Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport final. Roberts circulated in a draft pack that included factory CBR600F4i Hondas ridden by Nicky Hayden and Miguel Duhamel as well as a GSXR600 ridden by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s John Hopkins. As the time ran down in the 20-minute session for odd-numbered machines, Roberts recorded a 1:53.549 on his Honda fitted with a Dunlop D208 qualifying tire to better his record of 1:54.147, set last year. Hopkins used the draft of the leading Hondas to record the second-fastest time–1:53.624–on his 2001 Suzuki GSXR600. While Roberts and other riders sponsored by Dunlop pitted for qualifying tires late in the session, Hopkins set his lap time using the same set of race-compound Michelin Pilot tires that he started the session with. Nicky Hayden was third fastest at 1:53.675 with Duhamel fourth-fastest at 1:53. 736. Eric Bostrom, the fastest qualifier from the even-numbered session, was fifth-fastest overall when the times from the two qualifying sessions were combined. It appeared that Bostrom’s last lap on his Dunlop-shod Kawasaki ZX-6R was his fastest but it was missed by the electronic scoring system. Team watches had Bostrom going faster than the 1:53.773 confirmed by AMA timing and scoring, but the team’s time didn’t count. The top combined 600cc Supersport qualifying times follow: 1. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:53.549 2. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:53.624 3. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:53.675 4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:53.736 5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:53.773 6. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:54.166 7. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki, 1:54.866 8. Josh Hayes, Honda, 1:54.882 9. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:54.893 10. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:54.986 11. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:55.328 12. Grant Lopez, Suzuki, 1:55.505 13. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki, 1:55.771 14. Jake Zemke, Honda, 1:56.162 15. Lee Acree, Suzuki, 1:56.285 16. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki, 1:56.632 17. Brian Parriott, Suzuki, 1:56.692 18. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda, 1:56.888 19. Joe Gill, Yamaha, 1:56.914 20. Richie Alexander, Suzuki, 1:57.012 The Michelin rear tire used by Hopkins in 600cc qualifying was part of a shipment that arrived directly from France on Saturday, March 3. Prior to the arrival of that shipment, Michelin had not shipped any DOT-labeled tires capable of lasting race distance to Daytona.

TG Racing’s Troy Green, K&N Yamaha’s Sam McDonald, and Ronnie Lunsford were the big winners in CCS/CMRA regional action at Texas World Speedway March 3-4.

Green rode his Yamaha YZF-R6 to wins in Middleweight Grand Prix, Middleweight Superbike, and Middleweight Superstock on the 2.9-mile road course.

McDonald used a Yamaha YZF-R1 to take wins in Unlimited Grand Prix and Unlimited Superstock.

Lunsford won Super Twins and Formula 40 on his Ducati 996. Lunsford also teamed up with Rusty Allen and Matt Maschmann on a Honda CBR929RR to take the overall endurance win in the first, six-hour endurance race of the CMRA season. Incredibly, the second place overall team on the fast, flowing course was Suzuki SV650-mounted Faltless Racing with riders Robert Bradlaw, Eric Falt, Laroy Montgomery and Mark Andrews. G-Man Racing’s Harry Tomlinson and Mike Guillot completed the overall podium on their Kawasaki ZX-9R.

Blue Odyssey won in the Middleweight Superstock class, placing sixth overall. TG Racing scored the Middleweight Superbike class victory at seventh overall. Dynatech Endurance grabbed the Unlimited Superstock trophy with ninth place overall in the large field.

The CMRA is the CCS South Central Region affiliate, running races in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Overall Results
CMRA 6-Hour Endurance
March 3, 2001
College Station, Texas

1. Performance Powercoating (Hon CBR 929RR) 125 laps, UGP (Ronnie Lunsford / Rusty Allen / Matt Maschmann

2. Faltless Racing (Suz SV650) 122 laps, LSB (Eric Falt / Laroy Montgomery / Robert Bradlaw / Mark Andrews)

3. GMAN Racing (Kaw ZX-9R) 121 laps, UGP (Harry Tomlinson / Mike Guillot)

4. Team Green Genesis (Kaw ZX-9R) 120 laps, UGP (Don Hawkins / Dalton Hamilton / Jamie Lane)

5. No Homeless (Kaw ZX-9R) 119 laps, UGP (Frank Shacklee / Mark Niemi / Andy Galindo)

6. Blue Odyssey Racing (Suz GSXR600) 118 laps, MSS (Scott Lawson / Charles Ergle / Scott Crawford)

7. TG-Racing (Yam YZF-R6) 118 laps, MSB (Troy Green / Darren Behm / Craig Montgomery)

8. Carpet Dog Racing (Yam YZF-R6) 117 laps, MSS (Scott Stevens / Dale Love / Mark Gifford

9. Dynatech Endurance (Suz GSX-R750) 117 laps, USS (Jason Griffin / Tim Carlson / Bruce Lacy / David Ferris / Bob Dietrich

10. T-Town (Yam YZF-R6) 117 laps, MSS (Jason Hammons / David Sanders / Cody Perkins)

Mat Mladin topped the Superbike time sheets at and Roland Sands was fastest in 250cc Grand Prix during practice at Daytona Wednesday.

The times follow:

AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike
1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 1:49.999
2. Steve Rapp, Ducati, 1:50.385
3. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha, 1:50.883
4. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, 1:51.106
5. Scott Russell, Ducati, 1:51.391
6. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:51.461
7. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha, 1:51.702
8. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki, 1:51.871
9. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:51.935
10. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, 1:51.967
11. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki, 1:52.240
12. Larry Pegram, Ducati, 1:52.304
13. Aaron Slight, Ducati, 1:53.425
14. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, 1:54.006
15. Pascal Picotte, Harley-Davidson, 1:54.412
16. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki, 1:55.081
17. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki, 1:55.094
18. Eric Wood, Suzuki, 1:55.252
19. Rich Alexander, Suzuki, 1:55.519
20. Jordan Szoke, Harley-Davidson, 1:56.031



AMA 250cc Grand Prix
1. Roland Sands, Yamaha, 1:55.895
2. Rich Oliver, Yamaha, 1:55.928
3. Jason DiSalvo, Honda, 1:57.569
4. Randy Renfrow, Honda, 1:58.329
5. T. Palander, Honda, 1:59.071
6. Simon Turner, Yamaha, 1:59.571
7. Derek McKelvie King, Honda, 2:00.678
8. Perry Melneciuc, Yamaha, 2:01.120
9. Andre Castanos, Honda, 2:01.435
10. Jeff Wood, Yamaha, 2:01.656

WERA Operations Director Sean Clarke, who is doubling as an AMA tech official at Daytona, told Roadracing World that the WERA National Challenge Series date scheduled for Portland International Raceway on June 29 – July 1 has been confirmed. The date had been tentativley scheduled by WERA while the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association’s Board of Directors considered the date. Clarke said that he received word on or about March 1st . When asked about the To Be Announced 10th date on the WERA schedule, Clarke said that nothing had been confirmed except that there will definitely be 10 rounds. While it is known that WERA is working on a date at Shannonville near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Clarke would not comment on that possibility.

Fox Racing Shocks showed up at Daytona with a large support truck usually used for snowmobile events and a new technican in the form of Jun Suganuma, who formerly worked in product development for Kayaba and was a suspension specialist for Team Kawasaki during the 2000 season.

Fox was an early leader in developing and selling high-performance aftermarket shocks for sportbikes, but in recent years has concentrated on off-road, mountain bike and snowmobile shocks, letting its sportbike market share drop as Penske and Ohlins made big gains.

We caught up with Suganuma in the Daytona paddock and asked him about the company’s road racing plans.

“Because of our success in other markets like mountain biking and snowmobiling, we want to bring motorcycle racing up to the same level,” said Suganuma. “This year’s efforts will be concentrated at AMA Nationals with a support vehicle at every event and a vehicle at non-AMA-conflicting Formula USA events. We have a whole slate of new products being developed right now. Our sponsored teams like Arclight Suzuki in Formula USA and Ricci Motorsports in AMA Supersport will be testing the new products this year that will be available to the public in 2002.”

The support vehicle Suganuma brought to Daytona was actually a Snowcross support vehicle complete with hoists in its work bay for the sleds, an area for vending Fox merchandise, and a plush rider area complete with leather sofas and every electronic media device available.