As of nearly 11 AM local time, the bikes still haven't taken to the track yet as Speedway personnel waited for the track to dry.

Honda has one brand new 2002 RC51 ready for their riders to test. "Nicky Hayden will have it the first day and a half, and Kurtis and Miguel will split time on it the last day and a half," says Honda team manger Chuck Miller.

HMC Ducati has two brand new Testa bikes for Pascal Picotte's use. "Our plan is to let him try one out this afternoon," says HMC's Mark Sutton. "He'll start out this morning on one of last year's bikes."

Sutton says the new Testa motor will be a new step for the HMC mechanics. " The head is totally different and some things in the lower end as well. We've already had one of them apart. Charly (Putz, team engine builder) went to Corse when he was in Europe getting his visa straightened out."

Roger Hayden is pretty much fully recovered from off-season "arm pump" surgery. "I had it as soon as the season was over. For a month I couldn't do any thing, but now I am back lifting weights and riding an XR100."

Roger's brother Nicky wanted us to mention that his suave 2001 leathers are up for auction on E-bay.com. The proceeds will benefit for the air fence fund.

Expecting Mat Mladin's business interests to distract him from taking another title for Suzuki? Don't "It basically runs itself," Mat says of his new dealership.

Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom feels his wild card rides at several WSC events will impact his AMA season. "I'm expecting good things from it because it'll make me run at a higher pace, and I can bring that back here."

Bostrom also has a new crewchief, Matt Warbus. "That's another learning curve because Matt is used to working with Doug, and Doug has a different lingo and way of explaining things. Matt and I have to learn to communicate."

Tommy Hayden is impressed so far with the championship-winning Kawasaki ZX-6. "It's totally different than the Yamaha. Different chassis feel, engine characteristics... it was great but when we've tested so far I've just been running by myself. I'm looking forward to getting out there and seeing what it will do compared to the other guys."

Mike Hale has tested the Erion bike three times so far -- at Fontana, Vegas, and Thunderhill -- and likes what he has seen of the 929 and 600 Hondas. "I haven't ridden the new (CBR 954) bike yet, but I rode last year's bike and made some changes. It's felt great so far. I just look forward to getting out here against these guys and seeing what I can do."