Rain scuttles sessions

By John Hopkins

Heavy rain played havoc with the schedule at Daytona International Speedway today, as only the four opening practice sessions were completed on the revamped road course.

Factory Honda rider Miguel Duhamel was top Canadian in practice for both the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series and AMA Superbike Championship. In Formula Xtreme the Montrealer rode his Honda CBR600RR to the eighth best time of one minute, 45.660 seconds. Jason Disalvo led a Yamaha R6 sweep of the top three positions at 1:44.242.

Second best Canuck was Calgary's Chris Peris aboard his Yamaha YZF-R6 in 10th place with a 1:47.350. Alan Schmidt of Clearwater, BC placed 15th at 1:48.768 on another R6 and Granby's Pascal Picotte was 19th with a 1:49.085 on his Yamaha. Vancouver Island racer Oliver Jervis was 50th in the field of 75 with a 1:53.502 riding a Kawasaki ZX-6RR and Kevin Lacombe came in at 68th with a time of 1:59.837 abaord his Suzuki GSX-R600.

In Superbike practice Duhamel wound up 12th with a 1:42.553 on his Honda CBR1000RR. Ben Spies led a trio of Suzukis at the top of the timesheets with a 1:40.505. Mat Mladin was second on a 1:40.954 and Aaron Yates third with a 1:41.167.

Diablo Suzuki teammates Steve Crevier and Francis Martin placed 28th and 32nd respectively on their GSX-R1000s. Crevier managed a 1:47.939 and Martin clocked a 1:49.151.

Rain washed out qualifying for the Repsol Lubricants Superstock and Pro Honda Oils Supersport classes today. They will be gridded for their races tomorrow based on last year's points.

Peris was top Canadian in Supersport practice with a time of 1:48.571 on his R6, good for 14th. Picotte placed 17th at 1:49.273 and Schmidt clocked the 21st best time of 1:50.000. Aaron Gobert was quickest with a 1:44.401.

No Canadians recorded times in Superstock practice. Disalvo led the way with a 1:40.621 on his R1.

Superbike and Formula Xtreme qualifying will go as scheduled tomorrow.