The layout and surface of the Road Atlanta track has been modified over the past ten years, in the aim of making it safer and more enjoyable.

A chicane has been added in corner ten, slowing the pace of the long, back straightaway and improving safety. This will be the best viewing area for spectators as the riders wheelie out of the fast double corner then dive hard on the brakes as they enter the penultimate turn, setting themselves up for a good drive onto the short front straight. There’ll be a lot of passing on the brakes and riders will be straight back on the throttle as they fight to cross the start/finish line first. Anything can happen in those last few bends!

Most of the 2.5 mile racetrack gives ample passing opportunities, it’s only the esses that will force riders to fall into line. Corners six and seven require the most focus, making sure the bike is well balanced and stable so the rider can stay on the right line to get a good drive onto the long back straight. This is made doubly difficult with the addition of a concrete section that has been recently added to turn seven. It has a slippery surface making it difficult for the riders to get traction.

The track begins to drop off after turn eight and bikes will wheelie as they head onto the downhill slope coming into turn nine, banked right over on the edge of the tyre, the bike will tend to wiggle and become unstable as the tyre begins to spin-up. Speeds of up to 314kph (198mph) will cause the tyres more heat problems than usual.

Honda Racing's Nicky Hayden comes to Road Atlanta with a 60-point lead in the American Superbike Championship, and is in the middle of a three-race win streak. Hayden will be going for a repeat of his double wins at Sears Point and take on the new title of Big Kahuna.

Suzuki riders took all the superbike podium spots at Road Atlanta in 2001, so Hayden will be looking to continue his win streak to keep that from happening at this year's double-header.

Hayden's Honda teammate Miguel Duhamel is fresh off of two Sears Point Superbike podiums and will be a contender in both races at Road Atlanta. With the power of his RC51 and his proven ability to win races and championships, Duhamel is a threat to any rider on the grid to steal their podium finish.

Three-time defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin comes to Road Atlanta as the defending Big Kahuna, taking a second and first in 2001 at the track. The elbow injury he suffered at the opening round at Daytona International Speedway doesn't appear to be a problem.  Even though the No. 1 Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki rider is down on points, the Aussie can never be counted out as a viable contender for race wins. Having won three of four races at Road Atlanta in the last two years, Mladin knows his way around the track.

"We have had a lot of problems getting our bikes set up this year, but we feel that we may have found the reason that we have not been able to get them to handle how we would like," said Mladin.

"At Sears Point we identified an area in the rear suspension that may be the cause. We have been talking to Suzuki and to the people at Showa who build the shocks and they acknowledge the problems that we have had. We have had this problem all year and I've tested more shocks in the past four months than I have in my entire life, but unfortunately it has just taken us this much time to locate the problem area. We are now working together on solving the problem and hopefully it will have happened by this weekend and then we can start to get some good results."

Mladin's confidence will be further boosted knowing that he was able to record a number of very quick lap times around the circuit when the team tested there in mid April.

"Even though we have had a few problems, I'm still looking forward to racing there this weekend," Mladin added. "If we can get the bike to work as well as it did last year we'll be right there. Even though we have had a problem with the rear suspension, we have made some good progress in other areas on the bike such as the engine."

Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates will be at his home track and hopes for a repeat of last years finishes. His second and third place in 2001 were some of his best finishes of the season and he's looking for his first-ever superbike win in front of the hometown crowd.

Yamaha's Anthony Gobert was blisteringly fast in a recent test at Road Atlanta and is looking for dual wins at this year's event after a not so good run at Road Atlanta last year.

HMC Ducati has experimented with different sized rims to reduce wheelspin.  Their focus during Friday’s practice and qualifying will be on loading the front end of the bike to stop the bike from lofting the front wheel.  Changing gearing may also provide some part of the solution for them.

One of the superbike class's top privateer and local rider Brian Livengood, hopes to move himself back up in the point standings with good finishes at his home track. Livengood's 16th and 9th place finishes at Sears Point dropped him from fourth to eighth in points. Solid finishes at Road Atlanta will be crucial to maintaining his recent notoriety as a top superbike privateer.

The Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship has seen only one rider win thus far in 2002 – Aaron Yates. The Georgian is looking for his first-ever AMA National win at Road Atlanta and having the home track advantage will definitely help. Yates has a strong command of the championship with 29 points over teammate Jamie Hacking. Hacking's season seems to be on the right track after a third place at Sears Point moved him into second in points.

Gobert is one of three factory superbike riders to be pulling double duty and racing supersport as well. You'd think that getting off his Yamaha 600 and on to his superbike would be taxing both mentally and physically, but Anthony has proven how capable he is to ride both and produce top results.

Aussie Yamaha rider Damon Buckmaster is sticking to his theory that if he were to get on a factory 600, he'd be giving Yamaha top results, and he is doing just that. Bucky is currently sitting third in points, down a spot after Sears Point when Hacking beat him across the line.

Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies has been turning heads in the supersport class riding a GSX-R 600 and has lead a freight train of riders around the track early on in the last two races. Spies finished fifth at the last two rounds and is looking for his first Pro Honda Oils Supersport win of the year at Road Atlanta. Mike Hale's return to racing with the Erion Honda Race team sees him sitting fifth in points and happy to be back on a Honda. Even with a few years off a bike, Hale appears at home on the Erion Racing Honda CBR600 and is getting faster with every race weekend.  As is AMA newcomer Alex Gobert who is quickly coming to terms with his new machinery and surroundings.

Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden is doing what no other rider has ever done before. In 1999, he became the first rider to ever win a Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race (formerly 750 Supersport) on a 600cc machine.  The 2002 season has seen him win his second Superstock race on a factory Kawasaki 600 and is currently holding the points lead. The class is made up of mostly 750cc machines and has been dominated by Suzuki in past years.

Arclight Suzuki's Lee Acree is fresh off a win at Sears Point and can be strongly considered Hayden's toughest competition. Acree will arrive at Road Atlanta and make a strong run to take over the points lead as he currently sits seven behind Hayden.

Corona Suzuki's Jordan Szoke and Jimmy Moore will be shooting to make up their points deficit at Road Atlanta. Szoke wasn't able to make the last race at Sears Point after running into problems with his VISA when attempting to fly out of Canada. Defending class champion Jimmy Moore is hoping to end his streak of bad luck at the upcoming round. Cruise America's Jason DiSalvo is turning out to be a surprise in the class as he took fourth at Sears Point over Moore.

Australian Damon Buckmaster continues to remain undefeated in the Lockhart Philips Formula Xtreme Series, a goal he set for himself after losing the 2001 class championship to John Hopkins by just one point. Buckmaster currently holds a 14-point advantage over Bruce Transportation Honda's Jake Zemke, a multi-time podium finisher in the action packed class of 1000cc machines.

Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's newest recruit Marty Craggill, filling in for injured rider Josh Hayes, showed his talent at Sears Point as he battled with Jake Zemke and Mike Hale to take the final podium spot. The 33 year-old from Melbourne, Australia is a former Australian Superbike Champion and is looking for his second podium at Road Atlanta.  Another possible starter in the SuperStock, Xtreme and maybe also SuperSport fields will be Australia's Adam Fergusson who flew to the US this week after being contacted by the Corona Suzuki squad.

Yamaha's Aaron Gobert is currently still at home recovering from injuries he sustained earlier this year at Daytona.