American SuperBike 2001 - Round 12 - Pikes Peak

Steve Rapp - 4th - 54.873s - “I was almost a second faster than last year’s time,” said Rapp. “That’s a substantial improvement. We really hit the right set-up in Virginia and it worked well from the start. The bike’s now much more stable through the corners, that gives me a higher entry speed and allows me to brake later. With few adjustments needed to the bike, we had plenty of time to test our race tire and I had time to work on my stamina. Tonight there’s a few things we need to fine tune but I think we’ve almost got it.”

Larry Pegram - 6th - 55.238s - “We really started to improve towards the end of the session,” says Pegram. “Hopefully we’ll continue that trend tomorrow. I feel a little rusty, I’m not hitting the apexes properly but that will change with a bit more time on the bike. Everyone’s so close here, a tenth of a second can mean the difference between ten places, and so you have to be accurate and on the ball. Although the race is a completely different story to qualifying. Everyone’s running a much harder tire compound to last the distance and lap times drop a lot.”

Andreas Meklau - 9th - 55.425s - “The Virginia test has helped me here,” said Meklau who was second fastest overall during the team’s two-day test. “I can’t believe how short the track is and how much of it you’re leaned over for. My bike was only upright for five or six seconds each lap. It’s going to make the racing very close. I’m happy with my result, it’s not bad for the first day on this track."

Scott Russell was unable to ride in today’s practice as planned. He is currently being treated for an infection in his injured arm and has been retained in hospital until doctors can determine the exact infection before they begin treatment. Doctors are certain he’ll be fit to ride for the last round in September. Anthony Gobert did not participate in today's session and instead will conserve his efforts in SuperSport.

1. MATHEW MLADIN SUZ 0m54.523
2. DOUG CHANDLER KAW 0m54.721
3. NICKY HAYDEN HON 0m54.789
4. STEVE RAPP DUC 0m54.873
5. KURTIS L ROBERTS HON 0m54.915
6. LARRY PEGRAM DUC 0m55.238
7. ERIC BOSTROM KAW 0m55.240
8. TOMMY HAYDEN YAM 0m55.296
9. ANDREAS MEKLAU DUC 0m55.425
10. MICHAEL A SMITH HD 0m55.530
11. AARON W YATES SUZ 0m55.699
12. MIGUEL DUHAMEL HON 0m55.864
13. PASCAL PICOTTE HD 0m55.892
14. JAMIE A HACKING SUZ 0m56.088
15. JORDAN M SZOKE HD 0m56.786
16. CHRIS ULRICH SUZ 0m57.664
17. VINCENT HASKOVEC SUZ 0m57.842
18. MAURO CEREDA SUZ 0m57.909
19. RICHARD J ALEXANDER JR SUZ 0m57.912
20. BEN SPIES SUZ 0m58.061