Roberts and Zemke Podium in Atlanta

AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship
Round 6: Braselton, GA
May 17, 2003

Roberts takes podium at Saturday Road Atlanta race

Sometimes the championship chase can change in an eyeblink, as it did in
the AMA Superbike series at the sixth round at Road Atlanta.  In the first
race of the weekend double-header, a tire problem gave series leader Mat
Mladin a big goose egg in points, and breathed new life into the title
hopes of Honda's Red Riders. Kurtis Roberts, still recovering from a
separated shoulder, bravely pushed his RC51 to a podium position in third,
ahead of teammate Ben Bostrom in fifth, who struggled with setup problems.
And Miguel Duhamel, who rode with a broken collarbone because of a crash at
the previous round, showed once again how tough and determined he is by
finishing 11th and bringing home 20 valuable points.

All three Hondas gridded on the second row, and when the light went green
Kurtis Roberts smoked his way to fourth, Duhamel went past teammate Ben
Bostrom for sixth, and Bostrom held eighth. The Honda trio largely held
their positions for the first 10 laps or so, getting into lapped traffic on
only the ninth lap of the 25-lap race.

On the 11th lap, everyone gained a position when Mladin pulled out of the
race with tire problems. Ben Bostrom kept pushing, eventually coming home
fifth for the day. Duhamel, feeling the effects of his broken collarbone
and also concerned about his own tire situation, opted to back it down a
notch in the closing stages of the race, crossing the line in 11th place.

Roberts, though, continued charging. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he
battled with Eric Bostrom for second place, but Eric got through lapped
traffic better and gapped Roberts in the late stages of the race, holding
him to third at the checkered flag.

At the post-race press conference, Roberts said, "My arm's not as strong as
it was, so it gets tired out there a bit. It's probably about 80 or 90
percent right now.

"Mladin's problems today were kind of a shame for him, but it helped us in
the points, gets us back up there a bit, and hopefully we can put our head
down tomorrow and move up the podium a bit."

Superbike Results:
1. Aaron Yates - Suzuki
2. Eric Bostrom-Kawasaki
3. Kurtis Roberts-Honda
4. Anthony Gobert-Ducati
5. Ben Bostrom-Honda
11. Miguel Duhamel-Honda

AMA Superbike Points Standings:
1. Aaron Yates-Suzuki-187
2. Mat Mladin-Suzuki-175
3. Eric Bostrom-Kawasaki-170
4. Ben Bostrom-Honda-168
5. Kurtis Roberts-Honda-160
6. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-141


AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship
Round 7: Braselton, GA
May 18, 2003

A pair of crashes brought out the red flag before the end of the 25-lap
seventh round of the AMA Superbike series at Road Atlanta on Sunday, with
finishing positions reverting back to the order on the 20th lap. As on
Saturday, Honda-supported Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts, still suffering
the effects of a separated shoulder, piloted his RC51 home to another
third-place podium finish. Team Honda's Ben Bostrom duplicated his
fifth-place finish from yesterday, while teammate Miguel Duhamel,
struggling with vision problems from a fogged visor early on in the race,
rode to ninth place, with its 22 points keeping him in the title hunt.
Duhamel was also still riding with a pinned collarbone, broken in a crash
at the Sonoma round two weeks earlier. Sponsor Joe Rocket made a special
two-piece leather suit for the tough-as-nails Duhamel in record time, so he
could, as he said, "get in and out of it without injuring myself."

On the start, Kurtis Roberts stuffed his RC51 from fourth all the way into
the lead on the second lap, where he stayed until relinquishing the
position to Mat Mladin on lap seven. For the remainder of the race,
Roberts, Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom and Aaron Yates waged a tremendous
battle for second with Roberts taking third for the day and Ben Bostrom,
also suffering from a fogged visor, crossing the line in fifth. Duhamel
rode a smart race, conserving energy and bringing home valuable points.

At the post-race press conference, Kurtis Roberts said, "I just can't get
through the new section of the track as well as these guys can, and just
have to make up the rest of the lap from all the ground I lose there. Maybe
the track temperature is a little too cold or something. But everything
went as well as it could have. Mat was riding well, and I closed back up on
Eric there, and then when we got the yellow flag and red flag, it was kind
of disappointing. But I did as well as I could have."

As the series moves on to the eighth round at Pikes Peak, Colorado, in two
weeks, all three Red Riders remain well positioned to contest the
championship points chase. Only 25 points separates the top five in the
title battle, and Miguel Duhamel, the winningest Superbike racer in AMA
history, is still within shouting distance only 51 points out of first.
Stay tuned-the 2003 Superbike championship promises to be one of the most
closely contested in years.

Superbike Results:
1. Mat Mladin-Suzuki
2. Eric Bostrom-Kawasaki
3. Kurtis Roberts-Honda
4. Aaron Yates - Suzuki
5. Ben Bostrom-Honda
9. Miguel Duhamel-Honda

AMA Superbike Points Standings:
1. Aaron Yates-Suzuki-214
2. Mat Mladin-Suzuki-212
3. Eric Bostrom-Kawasaki-202
4. Ben Bostrom-Honda-194
5. Kurtis Roberts-Honda-189
6. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-163


AMA 600 Supersport
Round 4: Braselton, GA
May 17, 2003

Weather Stymies Honda 600 Riders at Road Atlanta

Normally, the most threatening thing on the Pro Honda Oils Supersport
Championship grid is the Honda CBR600RR, but with a light mist falling at
round four of the series at Road Atlanta, the entire Supersport field was
threatened by a wet racetrack. The moist sky and glassy track conditions
left riders with nerve-racking options. If the rain picked up, rain tires
would be the smart move. If the track dried out, standard DOT's would be
the hot ticket. As it turned out, a number of riders guessed wrong, and
paid for it, though they would later get an unexpected reprieve.

From his 12th place starting spot on the third row of the grid Erion
Honda's Roger Hayden jumped to the lead on the second of 15 scheduled laps
around the 12-turn, 2.54 mile circuit. Hayden kept the lead for only one
more lap, knowing full well he'd made the wrong tire choice.

"I chose a rain front and it was good in the beginning when the track was
dry," said Hayden, who was eventually passed by Ben Spies when his rain
tire began to heat up. "I knew the thing was going to go away."

On Hayden's sixth lap the front tire grip had gotten so tenuous that the
front end washed out in the newly configured turns three-four area, sending
Hayden sliding to a halt in the red Georgia clay. He immediately remounted,
only to fall over again while reentering the race track. With Hayden's
Erion Honda CBR600RR on the racing line, the race was red-flagged. It would
turn out to be a blessing for a number of riders; everyone who'd chosen
rain tires was given a reprieve for the resumption of the race. Scoring
reverted to the end of the fourth lap, with 11 laps to run.

On the re-start there was a multi-rider crash in turn one, though Erion
Honda riders Hayden, Jake Zemke and Alex Gobert emerged unscathed.
Unfortunate for them however, was the fact that race leader, Ben Spies had
gotten out ahead of the crash and was not at all slowed down by the
first-turn carnage. Spies' truly enjoyed the advantage and eventually won
the 11-lap sprint.

Behind Spies, Erion Honda's Alex Gobert was putting in his best ride since
coming to America from Australia. Gobert slotted into second behind Spies,
soon to be passed by fellow Australian Damon Buckmaster and Gobert's older
brother, Aaron. The brothers Gobert spent the remainder of the race in
close formation fighting for the final podium position.

"I was definitely a bit nervous because I have never run up front over
here," said the youngest Gobert. "I knew if it was raining I could be up
there because I have a lot of experience in the rain and that's the frame
of mind I've been in all day-just go as hard as I can, wet or dry. And when
it dried out I thought, 'Well, if I can just get up there off the start and
stay there as long as I can, it'd be good.' I got up there and it seemed I
had the pace of the front guys."

Alex held his own to finish fourth, marking his best AMA finish since
coming to America in 2002.

Gobert's Erion Honda teammates weren't far behind when the checkered flag
came out. After running up front before the restart, Jake Zemke struggled
with a rear shock setting that was too soft in many parts of the track.
Zemke finished sixth with Hayden recovering from his back row starting spot
to take ninth, one spot ahead of No Limits Motorsports' Doug Chandler.

Miguel Duhamel was a non-starter in the 600 Supersport race. The
French-Canadian veteran is still on the mend after breaking his left
collarbone at the previous race at Infineon Raceway, and chose to focus on
the Superbike races at Road Atlanta.  Said Duhamel,  "Since the
championship in 600 is half as long as Superbike because of the
doubleheaders, it would have been a long shot to get back in the 600
championship."

Still in the hunt for the Supersport championship is Erion Honda's Jake
Zemke and Alex Gobert and the two will continue their quest for the
prestigious title at the next round in the thin air of Pikes Peak
International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado.


Road Atlanta Pro Honda Oils Supersport Race Results:
1. Ben Spies - Suzuki
2. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha
3. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha
4. Alex Gobert - Honda
5. Jason Disalvo - Yamaha
6. Jake Zemke - Honda
9. Roger Lee Hayden - Honda
10. Doug Chandler - Honda

Pro Honda Oils Championship Point Standings:
1 (TIE) Jamie Hacking - Yamaha /Damon Buckmaster -Yamaha - 117
3. Ben Spies - Suzuki - 112
4. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha - 109
5. Jake Zemke - Honda - 102
8. Alex Gobert - Honda - 86
9. Doug Chandler - Honda - 80


AMA/Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series
Round 3: Braselton, Georgia
May 18, 2003

Zemke tops Formula Xtreme Leader Board

Erion Honda's Jake Zemke moved to the top of the Formula Xtreme point
standings with a second place finish in the red-flag shortened third round
of the class championship at Road Atlanta. Also taking his Honda CBR954RR
to a podium position was Bruce Transportation Group's Marty Craggill, who
finished just moments behind Zemke.

Despite his third consecutive second place finish, Zemke felt he could have
done better. "I'm not too happy with the way my race went," said the
27-year-old northern Californian . "I should probably be more happy,
because I am leaving with the points lead." The race was the last on a
long, humid, overcast day and Zemke got a chance to taste the Formula
Xtreme lead early in the event, which made settling for second that much
tougher.

Getting underway in second, Zemke moved into the lead on the second lap. It
was then that the first of his problems struck. Just prior to the race, new
brake pads were installed on the #98 Honda CBR954RR, but according to
Zemke, the parade lap wasn't enough to get the new pads "bedded in" and
working up to the demands of high-speed racing. "Right after two laps were
complete, the pads were just totally glazed and really inconsistent and I
was having some problems braking.

"Then I stuck my knee in the grass on the inside of turn three," continued
Zemke. "That caused me to lose my knee slider and I rely on my knees a lot
when I'm riding. Riding without it messed me up quite a bit."

Because of Zemke's early-race problems, he quickly found himself trailing
fourth place Craggill, who had moved past his fellow Honda rider and was
chasing the new lead group of Ben Spies, Damon Buckmaster and Jamie
Hacking.

"I finally got myself together after about lap seven and passed Marty
back," said Zemke. "Once I did that, I kind of kept running my own race and
tried to be easy on the brakes."

Zemke was easy on the brakes, but hard on the gas and moved into second on
the 11th lap, just behind leader Buckmaster, who'd taken over the lead from
crash victim Spies. Lurking behind Zemke was Hacking and Craggill and on
lap 12 when Buckmaster was forced out of the race with a mechanical, it was
Hacking, not Zemke who would inherited the lead. At the start of lap 13
with only four scheduled laps left to run, Zemke was confident that he
could re-pass Hacking and take over the lead for good.

"I could see him coming back to me and I was kind of bummed when I saw the
red flag," said a disappointed Zemke. "That's just the way it goes."

The dreaded red flag was the result of a Roger Hayden crash, which occurred
halfway into lap 13. The Erion Honda rider was unhurt, but scoring
officials sided with caution and declared the race complete with scoring
reverted to the end of the 12th lap. Coincidentally, Hayden was credited
with 15th place.

At the time of the Hayden crash, Craggill was also still in a hunt for the
lead, chasing Zemke and Hacking, even with a fogged up face shield. The
stifling humidity and dense air played havoc on the vision of riders, and
Craggill was among those victimized at the most inopportune time.

"I was catching the leaders for a while and my face shield fogged up," the
Australian said.  "I couldn't see where I was going. I dropped back about
two seconds a lap and then cleared my visor going down the back straight
and I could see where I was going again.

"My bike worked really well," added Craggill. "We made a few changes since
qualifying. I think I went like two seconds quicker in the race than I did
in qualifying. We obviously made the right changes."

With three Formula Xtreme races in the history book and three runner-up
finishes to his credit, Zemke and the Erion Racing crew are looking forward
to round four at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Finishing runner-up at
the Colorado event last year, Zemke has the speed and experience to make
the technical Pikes Peak circuit his first win this year.


Formula Xtreme Overall Results:
1. Jamie Hacking  - Yamaha
2. Jake Zemke - Honda
3. Marty Craggill - Honda
4. Josh Hayes - Suzuki
5. Aaron Gobert - Yamaha
10. Ty Howard  - Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Point Standings:
1. Jake Zemke - Honda - 96
2. Ben Spies - Suzuki - 89
3. Josh Hayes - Suzuki - 78
4. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 75
5. Steve Rapp - Suzuki - 74
7. Marty Craggill - Honda - 72