Team M4 EMGO Suzuki displayed tremendous form in the opening action of the 2005 AMA road racing season on Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway. Showing impressive speed in all four classes, they served notice to their rivals that the new-look squad will be a force to be reckoned with before rainfall brought about an early end to the day. Even while getting used to working with several new technical partners, the team played heavily near the top of the charts in the season’s opening practice sessions. Squad newcomer Geoff May showed his potential early, finishing up the morning Superstock practice ranked third. The Georgian made his way around the revised 2.95-mile Daytona circuit aboard his GSX-R1000 with a best time of 1:41.742 despite cold and slick morning conditions. Vincent Haskovec was not far behind his new teammate on the charts; the Czech-born racer ended the Superstock session seventh best with a fast lap of 1:43.166 on his Pirelli-shod GSX-R. May followed up his Superstock performance by setting the ninth best time aboard his GSX-R600 in the Supersport practice. He then topped that by running seventh fastest in the Superbike free session. While using the Superbike practice to experiment with suspension settings, May put in a 1:42.011, which put him well ahead of several factory Superbike stars, including the polesitter for last year’s Daytona 200. Haskovec finished a rain-shortened Formula Xtreme practice in sixth at 1:45.291. Unfortunately, the rainfall did not let up, forcing the afternoon’s schedule to be scrapped. As a result, the grid positions for Thursday’s 13-lap Superstock race and 22-lap Supersport race will be set based on the final 2004 point standings and order of entry. The turn of fate will cost Team M4 Suzuki greatly. Instead of fighting for front row starting spots, Haskovec will open the Superstock final from the outside of row three in twelfth, while May will be on the inside of row five in seventeenth. May was hit even harder in the Supersport class. As a result of not competing in the class last season, he’ll start from 42nd. Despite the twist, the team is ready for the challenge. Although last weekend’s practice and race sessions were not especially lengthy ones, the decision to run at Daytona last weekend in Formula USA competition looks to at least give the riders some track time. Speaking about an exciting and frustrating opening day, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry said, “It looks good that we had the time that we got Saturday and Sunday. We’re ready to go — everybody is running well. Geoff ran really, really strong this morning in the practice session, and we we’re preparing to earn a spot on the front row in qualifying. Looks like we’re not going to have that opportunity. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.” He continued, commenting on May’s 7th best showing in the Superbike session. “We used that to test a couple of shock settings. Working with the Öhlins guys this weekend has been really nice. We’ve really made some good progress and the riders are happy. We’re ready to show the product.” In addition to Öhlins, the team is also getting accustomed to other major changes to their racebikes, including a brand-new GSX-R1000 from Suzuki, new title sponsor M4 exhaust, and a change to Pirelli tires. The short amount of time available to dial the new machinery in just makes the team’s solid start to the season all the more remarkable. Perry remarked, “We changed every which way our bike was hooked to the ground –tires, shocks, everything. That’s been quite a challenge. To start off the year with so many new things, that’s a lot of unknowns that you’re not comfortable with until you get some time with it. We came here with no base settings whatsoever and have established something pretty quickly. That makes us feel pretty good.” The Supersport and Superstock races will be held on Thursday afternoon. Vincent Haskovec will race the Daytona 200 on Saturday. More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin: HODGSON QUICK DESPITE DAYTONA PRACTICE WASHOUT Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin riders Neil Hodgson and Eric Bostrom saw their track time limited by rain to just a single session on the opening day of the AMA Superbike season at Daytona on Wednesday. Hodgson and Bostrom practiced in the morning session, held in cool and overcast weather, before the rain (and the red flag) forced the team to park their Ducati 999s for the day. Neil was fourth with a time of 1:41.425 and Eric was 11th at 1:42.434. Neil got in 19 laps during the session and his factory Ducati 999 clocked the trap speeds at 194.97 miles per hour on the banking. “You’re always looking to improve the bike over the weekend, to make the bike faster, to handle better. Once you’re really comfortable, then you get even more out of the bike as a rider,” said Neil Hodgson. “We have a good direction from where I want to go with the bike, to better the feel just a little bit that can make all the difference on Saturday.” “I was pleased to get one dry testing session in today, anyway. The bike was good, but like I said we’re always looking to make it better. We’d like to have the track time tomorrow morning to keep improving it,” said the former World Superbike champion. “I felt a little wooden out there today, with all the time off after the last test at Laguna Seca. No excuses from me, but I think I can do better, too.” Hodgson said he hopes for better weather tomorrow. “We’re supposed to practice at 8:45 a.m. in the morning, so who knows if the track will be ready to go then? We hope so. Daytona is an unusual circuit, with the high speeds of the banking and not much grip in the infield. Any track time you can get helps here.” Eric Bostrom, last year’s pole winner for this race, said going into the event that he wanted to turn as many laps as possible in practice at Daytona. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate. “We had a few problems in the session,” said Eric. “We were trying some new suspension settings and it took us basically most of the practice time to get things to where we needed to be. I turned a couple of laps in the 1:42 range and then the session ended. The weather tomorrow will determine a lot for us. We need some more laps and if it rains in the morning and we have to go straight out and qualify tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have to really go under the gun for qualifying.” “The bike’s good on the high speed stuff, very fast. It’s also good on the old pavement. It’s the new section where we lost a little time today,” said Bostrom. “I think the day went well for just one short practice session,” said team owner Terry Gregoricka. “Neil was right there on the pace. He was within just a few tenths of the fastest time until some of the others went quicker on the last lap. We’re really pleased with how well Neil is doing. Eric and his crew are working up to speed, too, and they could have used a few breaks today. Too bad about the rain.” Tomorrow’s schedule includes practice in the morning and qualifying for Saturday’s race in the afternoon. TIMES: 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 1:40.505; 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 1:40.954; 3. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 1:41.167; 4. NEIL HODGSON (Ducati 999) 1:41.425; … 11. ERIC BOSTROM (Ducati 999) 1:42.434.