Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128025
Pedro Gonzales (Kaw) won the 250cc class on Friday night. January 14, in the National Arenecross Series round held in Guthrie, Oklahoma, then came back and finished second in his three other races over the course of the weekend. Gonzales was second to Charley Bogard (Suz) m the 125cc fmal on Friday, and then fmished second to Buddy Antunez (Suz) in the 125cc main event on Saturday. He was also second to Josh Demuth (Yam) in Saturday's 250cc final. Paul Edmondson, who was making his debut on a Kawasaki. won the Tecate Hare Scrambles in Tecate, Mexico, on January 16. Second place went to Steve Hatch (Suz) with Destry Abbott (Kaw) finishing third. Doug Dubach (Yam) won the opening round of the PACE U.S. Off-Road Championships in the Houston Astrodome on January 15. Derek Gerdes (Yam) finished second, and Spud Walters (Yam) finished third to complete a Yamaha VZ426F sweep of the main event. By the way, Dave Shade was the first nonYamaha finisher in the top 10. Shade placed fourth in the main. There may come a day when the World Superbike Championship is run during the winter months, according to Cycle News contributor Paolo Gozzi. Right now eight of the 14 rounds of the World Superbike Series clash with the Grand Prix Series, but all that could change for 2001. "Our company already took the possibility of altemating the calendar with GPs into consideration a few years ago, " said Maurizio Flammini, the head of the Flammini Group - the promoters of the World Superbike Championship. "Moreover, World Superbike traditionally anticipates the future. We were the first to discover new markets, by bringing top-level motorcycle racing to Asia and Oceania for the first time. We also introduced the tworace formula and many other innovations the spectators like. A winter calendar could be our new frontier. We will have a look at it in the next few months with the FIM, the manufacturers, the teams and all our usual partners." The calendar could see the series beginning in September with some races in Europe, then going to Japan, South Africa and Australia in January, with a retum trip to Europe in February, followed by races at Laguna Seca (also in February) and more races in Europe, with the season concluding there in early May. Three-time World Trials Champion Doug Lampkin won in his debut ride for Montesa-HRC at the Trial Indoor World Cup round in Sheffield, England. on January 8. Lampkin has signed a two-year contract with Montesa-HRC. In an apparent effort to head off more lawsuits by environmentalists, the federal Bureau of Land Management CBLM) announced it would develop a national strategy to manage off-highway vehicle (OHVl use on BLM land, according to the AMA. Creating a national OHV strategy will involve working with motorized recreation groups, environmental organizations and state and local governments, the BLM said. No schedule of meetings or At a press conference in Anaheim, Califomia, on January 12, PACE Motor Sports formally disclosed plans for its Formula USA Road Race Series, announcing that it has already acquired a title sponsor, will be paying a generous series point fund, and will be holding its season finale under the lights at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, among other items. "We look at the property of road racing as one of the most exciting forms of motor racing there is," PACE CEO Gary Becker told the members of the press and members of all four of the Japanese factory road race teams at the conference. "We look at it as having a potentially great entertainment value to the fans, and I don't really mean the enthusiasts, because we have already got those. We need more fans. Hopefully, with the team that we have put together and with the cooperation of the industry, we can build a property that will follow in supercross's footsteps in terms of fan recognition and financial success - obviously for our company, but also for all companies involved." Becker also announced that the series had acqUired a title spOnsor in wrenchhead.com, an online retailer of automotive parts, and that the series will pay a $150,000 series-points fund. Some $50,000 will go to the champion of the series' premier Unlimited Superbike division. "As far as marketing and promotion, I think that we have a track record that speaks for itself," Becker said. "Four years ago, supercross was selling an average of 28,000 tickets per race. Today we average roughly 44,000 tickets per race. We believe that we can do that for road racing. A key part in all of this will be television. I'm not allowed to talk about that today, but I can assure you that we have all of our resources working toward that goal." PACE Director of Road Racing Bill Syfan went on to outline the format for the six-race series, which will begin in Daytona Beach, Florida, March 2-5, and conclude in Las Vegas on October 7. Plans call for a hard-hitting two-day show, with qualifying to take place Saturday. All class races will be run Sunday in a rapid-fire, three- to four-hour program. The Unlimited Superbike event will be run in two legs, with the winner of the first leg receiving $2500. There will then be a 20-minute break to allow teams to make tuning and tire changes before the second leg begins with the riders gridding in the order in which they finished the first leg. The winner of the second leg will be declared the winner of the round, and will eam $7500. Each leg will pay 25 championship points to the winner, with points being paid back to 15th place. One bonus point will be paid to the fast qualifier, as well as to any rider who leads the race. Syfan also reiterated the earlier announcement that the series will timetable for completing the plan have been set. however. "This is a major policy initiative that has a significant impact on OHV use on BLM land," said Sean Mahler, AMA legislative-affairs specialist. "It's critical that motorcyclists are involved in forming this strategy, and we've contacted the BLM to ensure that the AMA is at the table to represent motorcyclists' interests." BLM acting director Tom Fry said this week that the strategy will recognize the interests of OHV users while protecting environmentally sensitive areas. The plan "will also enable the BLM to spend scarce funding resources on managing OHV use rather than on OHV-related litigation, protests, appeals, and Freedom of Information Act requests," Fry said. In October, a coalition of environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit seeking to ban OHVs from 10 million acres of land controlled by BLM in Utah. The coalition alleged the federal agency failed to protect the Utah land from OHV use. If opponents of recreation are successful in Utah, millions of additional BLM acres could be shut down throughout the West through similar lawsuits, according to the AMA. For the first time in the history of the SuperTI Series, front-runners were invited to participate in the annual Guidon d'Or, held at Bercy Stadium in Paris, France, on January 8. While past winners of the prestigious race include such luminaries as Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey, a lesser-known American contingent of Rick Pearce, Donnie Howard and Mark Cernicky competed in this year's PACE CEO Gary Becker (above rightllistened In while Formula USA Director of ....d racing Bill Syfan (above left) outlined the new PACE-promoted road racing serie. at a pre. . c::onference in Anaheim, California. feature just four classes, In addition to the Unlimited Superbike feature, there will be Middleweight Sportbike, Buell Ughtning and Aprilia 250cc Challenge events at every round. All classes will be horsepower classes, with dynamometer and performance firm Dynojet being tabbed to enforce the class requirements by testing the top five finishers in each class after every event. Syfan announced that all classes will be run on DOT tires as well Mike Kidd, PACE's VP of Operations in Fort Worth added that he was very excited to be involved in the company's new venture. 'When we sat down to discuss the expansion of our motorcycle division, I stood up and said that we ought to take a look at road racing," Kidd said. "Several members said, 'Well, we don't know if it will sell tickets,' and my comment to them was, 'I don't know if anybody has ever tried to in America.' It's pretty thrilling for me to be a part of this.' race. The event's format pared a 71-rider field down to a 12-man main event through a series of heats. None of the Americans made it to the final. which was won by Frenchman Boris Chambon - the younger brother of Stephane Chambon aboard a Husqvarna 410. be made to: Davis Research, 1601 Bayshore Highway, Suite 260, Burlingame. CA 94010. The scheduled Willow Springs Motorcycle Club (WSMC) race sched· uled for September 16-17 has been changed to September 23-24 in order for Willow Springs Intemational Raceway to host the Willow Springs 24-Hour on the September 16-17 weekend. Four-time AMA 250cc Grand Prix Cham'pion Rich Oliver has joined Yamaha as a media spokesperson for the coming season. In addition to his 250cc GP racing duties in the AMA Series, Oliver will be on hand to update media representatives on Yamaha's road racing activities, serving as a liaison between the media and Yamaha's racing team. "This is a great arrangement." Oliver said. "Over my long career with Yamaha, I've been involved with a number of special projects including photo shoots, speaking engagements and press introductions. In addition, I've got a great relationship with Tom Houseworth (the Yamaha road race team managerl and the entire Yamaha road race team." Oliver will also try to claim a fifth AMA 250cc Grand Prix title in 2000. At the opening round of the AMAlEA Sports Supercross series, Team Moto XXX was the victim of theft when a green canvas backpack, a bag of team sponsor Hurley T-shirts and the skirt of the Moto XXX tent was stolen from the team's pits. In the backpack was a video camera and videotapes with footage for the upcoming Moto XXX 4 video. According to Moto XXX team owner, Jordan Burns, the videos are irreplaceable and should have no value to anyone except Moto XXX. Anyone with information about the stolen goods can contact Moto XXX at 8881 784-5349 or e-mail Burns at jburns178x@aol.com. There will be a reward for the return of the tapes and no questions will be asked. A memorial trust has been set up for Mark Anderson, a road racer who was killed on Saturday, January 8 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California, when he crashed into the right-side wall at the start-finish line. Anderson was 42 years old Charitable donations can be made to: Mark Anderson Memorial Trust. clo Robert Brown, 2901 Buchanan Street. #3, San Francisco, CA 94123. All funds will be made available to Anderson's widow. Dena. Donations can also eye I ... According to a press release from Pirelli, this year's Axo European Superstock Championship will be a tire-spec class - with all riders using Pirelli tires. Karl Harris won the European Superstock Championship in 1999 using Pirelli rubber. Those of you who haven't made travel n ... _ S • JANUARY 26, 2000 1 '--