Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin earned the provisional pole position for this weekend’s AMA Superbike double-header at Road Atlanta with a lap time of 1:23.520 on his GSX-R1000.
Ducati Austin’s Anthony Gobert recorded the second-fastest qualifying time of 1:24.304 late in the session on his Ducati 998RS.
Gobert recently switched back to older, conventional Ohlins forks in place of the pressurized Ohlins units that came with his Ducati customer Superbike. Gobert said he had been struggling with the new forks so far in the 2003 season.
Aaron Yates qualified third-fastest with a time of 1:24.368 on the second Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Ben Bostrom took the final spot on the provisional front row with a 1:24.474 on his factory Honda RC51. Ben Bostrom’s flier came late in the session and displaced younger brother Eric from the provisional front row.
Friday’s AMA Superbike qualifying sessions was stopped twice during the 60-minute period. First, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp crashed in turn four, and his GSX-R1000 ghost rode into a wall before bursting into flames.
The second stoppage was caused by a high-speed crash in turn nine, a kink at the end of the back straightaway, involving HSA Racing/Kaufman Trailers’ Brian Livengood. Livengood was flown to a local hospital, but his condition was not known at post time.
Friday AMA Superbike Qualifying Results:
1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:23.520
2. Anthony Gobert, Ducati 998RS, 1:24.304
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:24.368
4. Ben Bostrom, Honda RC51, 1:24.474
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:24.512
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:24.645
7. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:24.825
8. Larry Pegram, Ducati 998RS, 1:25.905
9. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.414
10. Steve Rapp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.543
11. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.858
12. Jason Prdimore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:26.962
13. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:27.098
14. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.412
15. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:27.708
16. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:27.932
17. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.068
18. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.082
19. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.235
20. Adam Fergusson, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.345
21. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.507
22. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.555
23. Matt Furtek, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.565
24. Andy Deatherage, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.571
25. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:28.837
26. Greg Moore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:28.948
27. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.036
28. Jack Pfeifer, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:29.113
29. John Haner, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.198
30. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.368
31. Brian Livengood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.608
32. Jacob Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.013
33. Scott Harwell, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.364
34. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.652
35. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.819
36. Tom Wertman, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:30.837
37. Doug Duane, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.119
38. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.148
39. Chuck Allen, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.191
40. Chuck Ivey, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.643
41. Kevin Hanson, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:31.760
42. Chris Voelker, Ducati, 1:31.821
43. Jason Knupp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.495
44. Jeff Muskopf, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.985
45. Rick Narup, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:32.999
46. Mike Johnston, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:33.321
47. Anthony Fania, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.707
48. Rick Shaw, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:34.292
49. Michael Hanley, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:36.563
50. James Bonner, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:37.344
51. R. Todd Keesee, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:37.613
More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:
MLADIN TOPS SUPERBIKE QUALIFYING TIMESHEETS AT ROAD ATLANTA
Braselton, Georgia, USA -– Mat Mladin has set the fastest time during the opening qualifying session for this weekend’s double header AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship round at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia.
The Yoshimura Suzuki rider set a time of 1-min 23.520-secs to head an Australian one – two at the top of the timesheets as Anthony Gobert posted his best qualifying result of the season with a 1:24.304 aboard his Ducati.
Rain threatened throughout the day, but held out long enough for the days practice and qualifying sessions be completed, but the one-hour afternoon qualifying session was disrupted by two serious incidents that forced the officials to stop proceedings on each occasion before the session was finally completed.
Mladin continues to be the form rider of the championship having won four of the opening five races of the season and arrived at the round holding the points advantage over his rivals before taking to the circuit and dominating both the free practice session in the morning, then the important afternoon qualifier.
“It was important to get in a good lap time today as no-one is real sure as to what the weather will do tomorrow,” said the three-times American Superbike champion. “We managed to get a pretty good set up early on with the bikes, but as usual we are always trying to make them better. This afternoon it was a bit difficult to get a clear lap in. There was a lot of traffic out there and you had to plan it as best you could to get a clear break to allow a good shot at a fast lap. Itt all worked out well at the end, so we’ll just and see what tomorrow brings.”
Third fastest was Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates with a time of 1:24.368, followed by American Honda’s Ben Bostrom who completes the front row of the grid with a time of 1:24.474.
Updated Post: Mladin, Gobert, Yates, Ben Bostrom On Provisional AMA Superbike Front Row At Road Atlanta
Updated Post: Mladin, Gobert, Yates, Ben Bostrom On Provisional AMA Superbike Front Row At Road Atlanta
© 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
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