From three press releases issued by AMA Pro Racing:

NICKY HAYDEN HAS SECOND CHANCE TO TIE DUHAMEL’S WIN STREAK AT PIKES PEAK

PICKERINGTON, Ohio – Honda Racing’s Nicky Hayden is fresh off two wins at Road Atlanta and a five-race win streak, and will arrive at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo., May 31-June 2 for round eight of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited. The 20-year-old from Owensboro, Ky., has a strong hold on the championship with 253 points and while it’s still a little early to say, the 80-point advantage he has on second place factory Kawasaki rider, Eric Bostrom, makes him a favorite for his first AMA Superbike Championship.

Pikes Peak also marks Hayden’s second chance to tie his teammate Miguel Duhamel’s six-consecutive win streak. The first chance came at rounds two and three at California Speedway but Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert took the first win of the double-header event. Hayden is the defending Pikes Peak Superbike winner and with the season he’s having, it’s likely that he will defend his title as well as matching Duhamel’s win streak.

Speaking of Hayden’s teammate, Duhamel had two superbike podiums at Road Atlanta with a second and third for the double-header weekend. Duhamel and his crew appear to have figured out a powerful combination in setup and tires and it wouldn’t surprise many if he is the first rider in five races to stop Hayden’s win streak.

Bostrom, currently residing in Las Vegas, is second in points and in a nail-biting, last-lap thriller at Road Atlanta, he too is showing to be a serious threat to Hayden’s win streak. Bostrom’s season didn’t start out the way he had hoped but as evidenced at Atlanta, things are definitely turning around. Bostrom will arrive at Pikes Peak from England after his third showing in World Superbike at the Silverstone round with the Kawasaki World Superbike team.

The 2002 season has been no friend to three-time defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin of the Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki team. While the injury to his elbow at the opening round in Daytona Beach, Fla., didn’t help, he is past that and now the 30-year-old Australian has been fighting set-up and handling gremlins with his Suzuki GSX-R750. Sitting fifth in the point standings, the No. 1 Suzuki rider is still hopeful that a win is right around the corner.

Doug Chandler was last year’s third place finisher at PPIR on a Kawasaki. He will return to the 1.32-mile race track looking for a repeat of last years podium, but this time it will be on a HMC Ducati 998. Chandler wasn’t able to race the last two rounds at Road Atlanta after a crash in qualifying put him on the sidelines for the weekend.

Yamaha’s Gobert will be out of racing action for at least five weeks after a fall in Superbike qualifying in Atlanta left him with a broken right fibula. Also still on the injured list is Erion Racing’s Kurtis Roberts. Roberts is still recovering from an injury to his knee after falling at California Speedway. At his doctors have advised him to sit out the PPIR round.

Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates still leads the Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport point standings with 142 despite his first loss of the season at Road Atlanta. The loss came after a race long battle with teammate Jamie Hacking. Yates finished third at Pikes Peak in 2001 and is looking to get back on a winning streak. Yates, along with Hacking now stand as the sole factory riders racing both supersport and superbike.

With Hacking coming off a win on his Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R600, he knows the feeling of victory and based on the battle he fought to the end at Road Atlanta with Yates, he can never be counted out as wanting the win just as bad as all the others.

Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster is third in the AMA Supersport point standings, and still remains a strong contender for the championship. Road Atlanta marked his third consecutive fourth place finish and there’s no doubt that a podium finish is near.

Attack Suzuki’s Ben Spies first year in Supersport is going well and much like Buckmaster, he has had three consecutive fifth-place finishes. It won’t be long until you see this 17-year-old Longview, Texas native taking an AMA Supersport podium position.

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden was Road Atlanta’s third-place finisher in the fiercely competitive class and the oldest of the three Hayden brothers, Tommy knows his way around PPIR. He is looking for a podium in this year’s event as he missed third last year by .025 seconds.

For ticket information visit Pikes Peak International Raceway’s website at www.ppir.com, or call toll-free at (888) 306-RACE (7223).


LEE ACREE TAKES HIS ARCLIGHT SUZUKI TO FRONT IN GENUINE SUZUKI ACCESSORIES SUPERSTOCK SERIES

Pickerington, Ohio – There’s been a changing of the guard in the AMA Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Series and the new guard comes in the name of Arclight Suzuki’s Lee Acree of Jamestown, N.C. Acree took over in the points lead at Road Atlanta after a race long, bar-banging battle with second place newcomer Adam Fergusson from Australia. Acree will attempt to guard his 10-point advantage June 1 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, in Fountain, Colo.

Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden will attempt to take back the points lead that he had before Atlanta with his factory Kawasaki ZX-6R. Hayden is a veteran of the Superstock class (formerly 750cc Supersport) and considering the fight he put up for fourth in last year’s Supersport on his 600cc machine, he can’t be counted out as a season-long threat to become the first AMA Superstock Champion riding a 600cc motorcycle.

Team Cruise America’s Jason DiSalvo had another thrilling weekend at Atlanta and comes to PPIR full of confidence after three brilliant race performances in Braselton, Ga. It’s also rumored that the 18-year-old Stafford, N.Y., native will be receiving his high school diploma with a podium as the back drop for the obligatory “handshake” photo opportunity.

The AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series is just about to get interesting as current points leader Damon Buckmaster will race a brand new Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. It was recently announced that the motorcycle that he has been victorious on in 2002 was found to be illegal for competition. PPIR will not come without challenges as the friendly Australian has an unproven motorcycle to contend with.

Erion Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden (youngest of the three Hayden brothers) returned to racing at Road Atlanta and despite the knee injury he was still suffering from, fought to the end for a well-earned second-place finish. Hayden finished fourth in 2001 at PPIR.

Bruce Transportation Group’s Jake Zemke is also making regular podium appearances in the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme class. Though he had two hard get-offs at round three of the series at Road Atlanta, he came back strong after the final restart to take the last podium spot. Zemke knows PPIR well and he goes there looking for his first win of the season.

Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Marty Craggill is proving that he’s a quick learner. Craggill, another Australian and former Australian Superbike Champion, will be with the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team for the remainder of the season.



1995 AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPION KIRK MCCARTHY TO BATTLE FOR BUELL PRO THUNDER TITLE ON ADVANCED MOTORSPORTS DUCATI

Pickerington, Ohio – After shattering the track record in qualifying and easily winning the race at the opening round of the AMA Buell Pro Thunder Series in Daytona Beach, Fla., Australian Kirk McCarthy didn’t know if he would be back for the rest of the year aboard the Advance Motorsports Ducati. That question has been answered as McCarthy arrived back in the U.S. last week and will stay through the end of the season. Kirk is the current point’s leader in Buell Pro Thunder and is looking for his next win June 2 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, in Fountain, Colo.

The friendly Aussie has never raced at PPIR but showed at Daytona that he is fully capable of learning new race tracks very quickly.

Also returning to PPIR is Mike Ciccotto on his Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell 1200. Ciccotto lost the championship in 2001 by two points and is currently five back of point leader McCarthy going into round two. Ciccotto has proven time and again that he is able to save something for the last few laps of a race to take the win.

Defending Buell Pro Thunder champion Thomas Montano is looking for his first win of the season after he finished fifth at the opening round in Daytona Beach. Montano, a Berkeley, Calif. native will have Michael Barnes, Ciccotto and McCarthy to contend with in Sunday’s 29-lap main event, but the No. 1 plate holder is sure to arrive at PPIR with a plan of attack.

The AMA MBNA 250 Grand Prix Series has Stargel Aprilia’s Chuck Sorensen’s name written all over it as he sits first in points with a 31 point lead. Chuck has won the last two rounds but not without a battle from Team Cruise America’s Jason DiSalvo. Finishing 20th at the 2001 race, Pikes Peak International Raceway is a track where Sorensen will be looking for his first win. DiSalvo his looking for his first win of the year and it could come at PPIR as he has been on the podium at the last three rounds.

Veteran class champion Rich Oliver is still out with injuries sustained in Sonoma, Calif., and it is still unknown as to when he will return, but until that time, teammate Perry Melneciuc of Team Oliver Yamaha is holding his own and currently sits second in points.

Simon Turner is another rider in the two-stroke class that is drawing attention to himself, most recently with his third place finish at Road Atlanta. With the help of Priority Racing, Irishbike and Dunlop, Turner should be considered a viable contender for first place at the Pikes Peak round.