Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert turned a 1:25.186 on his Dunlop-race-tire-equipped 2002 YZF-R7 Thursday afternoon to finish the three-day AMA team test with the unofficial lap record for the new 2.36-mile infield road course. Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster rode his Dunlop-sponsored YZF-R6 and YZF-R1/R7 hybrid to the fastest 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme lap times, respectively.

In near perfect weather conditions, Gobert and Buckmaster adapted to a new turn one chicane configuration Thursday morning and to a revised transition from the infield to the front straightaway Thursday afternoon to log their fastest laps.

Gobert turned his fastest lap just after lunch when AMA Pro Racing’s Gary Mathers opened up the artificially-restricted section of track leading riders onto the Speedway’s long front straight. Mathers said that he expected both the turn one chicane configuration and the new layout of the section leading onto the front straight, to remain the same for the AMA races scheduled for April.

“The new ’02 Yamaha R7 is awesome, the new Ohlins suspension is awesome and I thank Yamaha for continuing the development of the R7. For a while there, it wasn’t looking like they were going to do more on it. Then all of a sudden, they surprised us with new parts. I’m really, really happy and confident going into Daytona,” said Gobert.

Gobert and his crew ended their test by practicing pit stops for Daytona. The team’s best was 9.8 seconds for two tires and fuel.

After spending the majority of his afternoon testing tires, Mat Mladin picked up his pace toward the end of the day to finish the test with the second-fastest time of 1:25.429. But Mladin said he didn’t put much stock into anyone’s lap times at the new circuit because there were so many places to cut the course, with no one monitoring during the test.

Buckmaster made his fastest 600cc lap Thursday morning before shifting his focus to his Formula Xtreme Yamaha. After some chassis refinement, Buckmaster was battling for fast Formula Xtreme lap honors with Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Tom Kipp. As the Valvoline team finished off the last of their Michelins, Buckmaster and teammate Aaron Gobert switched from 2001-spec Dunlops to the much-talked-about, larger 2002 Dunlop slicks. Using the new tires, Buckmaster dropped his lap time from low 1:27s to a best of 1:26.223, and Gobert dropped to low 1:27s, according to AMA scoring.

Best Lap Times
From Thursday Afternoon:
(Ranking, Rider Name, Machine, Class, Best Lap Time, Second Best Lap Time, Trap Speed)
1. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, SB, 1:25.186, 1:25.484, 168.372 mph
2. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, SB, 1:25.429, 1:25.449, 166.054 mph
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, SB, 1:26.090, 1:26.328, 165.201 mph
4. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1/R7, FX, 1:26.223, 1:26.732, 166.054 mph
5. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, SB, 1:26.295, 1:26.444, 163.521 mph
6. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R750, SB, 1:26.812, 1:26.835, 161.875 mph
7. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R1/R7, FX, 1:27.074, 1:27.312, 166.916 mph
8. Tom Kipp, Suzuki GSX-R1000, FX, 1:27.169, 1:27.389, 168.372 mph
9. Josh Hayes, Suzuki GSX-R1000, FX, 1:27.862, 1:27.886, 168.079 mph
10. Jason Pridmore, Suzuki GSX-R1000, FX 1:28.190, 1:28.195, 164.637 mph
11. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 600cc SS, 1:28.673, 1:28.762, 147.745 mph
12. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 600cc SS, 1:28.742, 1:28.865, 147.069 mph
13. Ben Spies, Suzuki GSX-R1000, FX, 1:28.945, 1:28.952, 168.079 mph
14. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 600cc SS, 1:30.333, 1:30.335, 148.427 mph
15. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R750, Superstock, 1:31.538, 1:31.622, 153.139 mph