VOL. 48 ISSUE 23 JULY 19, 2011
CAIROLI,
ROCZEN
TAKE LATVIAN
GP
T
he Grand Prix of Latvia ended
a dizzying spell of six races in
seven weeks and treks across
southern, northern and eastern
Europe. The chaotic period of the
calendar could not have ended at
a harder venue for the riders of the
MX1 and MX2 classes as the hardpack, sandy terrain of Kegums was
dry and shifting, but it didn't stop
Tony Cairoli and Ken Roczen.
The current MX1 World Champion and MX2 World Champion-elect
gave the factory Red Bull Teka KTM
team a perfect weekend in front of
21,000 spectators by following up
their pole positions with perfect 1-1
scorecards, marking the first time
that Cairoli has managed a clean
sweep of both motos this year. The
result: Cairoli, with his third overall
win and eighth podium in 10 races,
now leads the MX1 standings by 42
points over a struggling Rockstar
Suzuki's Clement Desalle.
Roczen, meanwhile, is only 27
points ahead of teammate Jeffrey
Herlings, who ended up second
for the third time in 2011. But Roczen has won 14 of the 20 motos
and he comfortably beat the Dutch
teenager in Latvia.
MX1 featured a frantic battle between Monster Energy Yamaha's
Steven Frossard, Honda World
Motocross team's Evgeny Bobry14-26 Wind.indd 15
P15
Briefly...…
John McCown, the man made
famous by racing in the desert
with his dog Kookie on the gas
tank of his motorcycle, died on
July 14 from complications from
heart surgery.
For some six years, McCown and
Kookie averaged nearly 50 races
a year in the southwest desert, including the infamous Barstow-toVegas race. "I'll race for as long
as there's a desert out there and
the BLM will stay off our back and
we can get out there and do it,"
McCown said in an interview in
American Motorcyclist in 1981. In
his non-racing career, McCown
was a butcher. He also wrote children's books.
Metal Mulisha has announced a
new memorial shirt in honor of
Jeff 'OX' Kargola, the popular freestyle motocross, off-road
racer who lost his life while riding
in Baja, Mexico on April 29. For
more information, visit www.metalmulisha.com.
Chester "Chet" Dykgraaf, the
1946 AMA National Champion,
passed away on Tuesday, July 12.
He was 96. Dykgraaf was one of
the nation's top racers during the
period immediately after World
War II. Riding a Norton, he won
the AMA National Championship
in 1946 by virtue of his victory in
the winner-take-all Springfield
Mile. His Springfield victory was
Dykgraaf's only National victory,
but he was well known for winning
numerous regional events across
the Midwest. He was inducted
into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame
in 1998.
Former AMA and World Superbike Champion Scott Russell
has signed up to join the Yamaha
Champions Riding School as a
guest instructor for the following
dates at Miller Motorsports Park:
July 18-20, August 17-18, September 19-20 and 28-29, and October 10-11 and 24-25.
Motorcycle-Superstore.com
has teamed up with Indianapolis
Motor Speedway to provide two
race fans the Ultimate VIP Indy
Experience. The winner and
their guest will receive VIP access
to the EnduroCross race Friday
night, the Indy Mile Flat Track on
Saturday night and VIP treatment
all weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including Suite
Passes for the RedBull Indianapolis MotoGP races on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. And airfare,
hotel and rental car is included.
To register visit www.motorcyclesuperstore.com.
Legendary race tuner Shell
Thuet passed away on Friday,
July 8. He was 98. Thuet was
one of the legendary race tuners and builders in the history
of AMA Grand National racing.
Thuet, who began tuning racing
motorcycles in the 1930s, went
on to be the mechanic behind
many AMA greats such as Kenny
Roberts, Hank Scott, Ted Boody,
Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey,
to name a few. Thuet is perhaps
best known for building winning
Yamaha 650cc vertical twins during the early-to-mid-1970s that
helped Kenny Roberts win two
AMA Grand National Championships.
7/18/11 4:20 PM
