Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Timing And Scoring Snafus, Red Flag Delay Plague Second Superstock Qualifying Session At Fontana

The standing water on the road course at California Speedway–caused when the sprinkler system was left on Thursday–and the resulting delay in starting practice came back to hinder the poor souls in the second Superstock qualifying session, for even-numbered bikes, late Friday afternoon.

The session was red-flagged due to a three-bike pile-up and barely restarted and finished before all daylight was lost.

Then a timing and scoring problem deleted the fastest times turned by Tommy Hayden and Chris Ulrich, who were first and second-fastest in the second session, demoting them to fourth and 19th fastest overall, respectively.

Timing and scoring officials quickly issued a revised second session timing sheet when the error was pointed out by roadracingworld.com, but combined sheets with the incorrect times were still being circulated in the press room.

Ulrich’s session ended early when his bike’s shift lever broke off on a curb. Defending Champion Jimmy Moore had a shock blow out in Superbike qualifying; he missed the odd-numbered session and got special AMA permission to qualify in the even-numbered session, a situation reporters couldn’t remember happening before.

AMA officials later said that they typically allow riders who miss the first qualifying session due to mechanical problems to qualify in the second session, although riders who are scheduled to qualify in the second session and miss it are just out of luck.

The session was headed by riders on Supersport bikes, using the 750cc class for extra practice.

The correct combined times follow:

1. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:28.987
2. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:29.193
3. Chris Caylor, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.821
4. Ty Howard, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.928
5. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.178
6. Mike Ciccotto, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.470
7. Vincent Haskovec, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.483
8. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.559
9. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.562
10. Tom Kipp, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.615
11. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.641
12. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:30.850
13. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:31.061
14. Jordan Szoke, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.235
15. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:31.575
16. Michael Hannas, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:31.593
17. Brian Parriott, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.593
18. Robert Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.647
19. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.663
20. Jeremy Toye, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.689
21. Shawn Conrad, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:31.741
22. Rich Conicelli, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.038
23. Brian Livengood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.532
24. Owen Richey, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:32.573
25. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:33.047
26. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.224
27. Takahiro “Tiger” Sohwa, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:33.228
28. Phillip Herrin, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:33.250
29. Mark Ledesma, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:33.389
30. Troy Green, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:33.394
31. Randell Mennenga, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.621
32. Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.651
33. Rob Christman, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.665
34. John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:33.670
35. Scott Simpson, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:34.070
36. Robert Underwood, 1:34.078
37. Aaron Clark, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:34.408
38. Dr. Jeff Purk, DDS, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:34.408
39. Giovanni Rojas, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:34.426
40. Scott Jensen, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:34.742


First-year Expert Matt Hartlieb crashed during the odd-numbered Superstock qualifying session. According to a preliminary medical report issued by California Speedway, Hartlieb was transported to San Antonio Community Hospital for X-rays of his left wrist.

Greg Esser crashed his Honda RS250 in Friday afternoon’s 250cc Grand Prix practice session at California Speedway. According to a preliminary medical report issued by the track, Esser was flown to Loma Linda University Medical Center as a precautionary measure.