American James Stephens from Melno Park crashed his 250 on the entrance to T2 in practice and sits on the straw bales. He rode a horrible Aprilia 250 that year and joined a pretty large group of US national 250 rider who were not able to qualify for the 250 race. It was a tough crowd: Euro 250 regulars who had never seen the track before could do a mid-1:33 lap time. To make the show you needed to be able to do a mid-1:35. Ten US 250 regulars did not qualify for the race. Canadian Jon Cornwell made the show; no small feat.