TOV is on site this weekend at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT, about 40 minutes from Salt Lake City. To say that this is a beautiful venue does not do it justice, MMP is the most majestic setting for a racetrack in the United States by a great margin and probably rivals anywhere in the world. On two sides of the track snow capped mountains tower on high, while to the rear the Great Salt Lake can be seen from any reasonably tall vantage point.

With mountains all around the valley the racetrack sits in is surprisingly flat. Not to say the track is without elevation change, but the changes in elevation are more like gentle rises rather than actual hills. The track itself was designed in the mold of a bonafide grand prix track, fit for any form of the world's best road racing.. The track's layout was penned by Alan Wilson who is also behind several other racetracks in the United States including Barber Motorsports Park, Carolina Motorsports Park, and Beaverun Raceway.

This is the first World Superbike race in the United States since 2004. World Superbike used to be a regular fixture at Laguna Seca from the mid 90's up to 2004 when it was supplanted by Moto GP. Now that motorcycle racing is enjoying a rise in popularity worldwide as well as the United States, the commercial rights owners decided to bring World Superbike back to America to try take advantage of the prodigious market potential.

AMA Superbike is here this weekend as well and this was the site of American Honda's last win back in 2006. Through the practice sessions American Honda doesn't quite look like they've taken a step forward from the previous round but the team race coordinator was actually pretty confident that they could score a podium this weekend.

We had a chance to chat with Ronald Ten Kate, team manager of the World Superbike heavy hitter team Ten Kate Honda. Talking to him you really get a sense of how closely knit his team is. More so than many people I've met in motorosport Ronald seems to really understand the human aspect of racing. Modest to a fault, Ten Kate said that he still wants to be considered the underdog.

We also had a chance to do a quick video with the American Honda team to go over some of the details of their superbike. Hopefully it will dovetail nicely into our upcoming Project CBR1000RR feature.

In the meantime here are some pictures taken by Ryan Jenkins who has been in the trenches shooting for us

World Superbike Practice and Qualifying Results

WSBK Miller Motorsports Park Free Practice Results (Top 10)

1. Troy Bayliss - Xerox Ducati - 1:50.710
2. Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 1:50.719
3. Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1:50.738
4. Regis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 1:50.842
5. Fonsi Nieto - Alstare Suzuki - 1:50.862
6. Yukio Kagayama - Alstare Suzuki - 1:50.972
7. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1:51.246
8. Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda - 1:51.532
9. Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing by Grifo's - 1:51.607
10. Michel Fabrizio - Xerox Ducati - 1:51.643

WSBK Miller Motorsports Park Qualifying Practice Results (Top 10)

1. Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1:49.224
2. Troy Bayliss - Xerox Ducati - 1:49.394
3. Regis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 1:49.445
4. Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 1:49.482
5. Fonsi Nieto - Alstare Suzuki - 1:49.738
6. Max Neukirchner - Alstare Suzuki - 1:49.757
7. Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing by Grifo's - 1:49.758
8. Michel Fabrizio - Xerox Ducati - 1:49.872
9. Ruben Xaus - Sterilgarda Ducati - 1:49.935
10. Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda - 1:49.947

WSBK Miller Motorsports Park Superpole Results

1. Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 1:48.193
2. Max Neukirchner - Alstare Suzuki - 1:48.504
3. Troy Bayliss - Xerox Ducati - 1:48.604
4. Michel Fabrizio - Xerox Ducati - 1:48.800
5. Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1:48.975
6. Ruben Xaus - Sterilgarda Ducati - 1:49.181
7. Regis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 1:49.206
8. Yukio Kagayama - Alstare Suzuki - 1:49.394
9. Max Biaggi - Sterilgarda Ducati - 1:49.479
10. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia - 1:49.735
11. Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing by Grifo's - 1:49.784
12. Karl Muggeridge - DFX Corse - 1:49.858
13. Fonsi Nieto - Alstare Suzuki - 1:49.942
14. Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda - 1:50.007
15. Lorenzo Lanzi - RG Team Ducati - 1:50.446
16. Ayrtron Badovini - Pedercini Kawasaki - 1:50.807