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/128083
Franco American irst of all, I'd like to say hello to all of th e American supercross a nd motocross fans. Some of you might eme mbe r me fr om last yea r, w hen I aced th e fir s t severa l round s o f th e MA Su pe rcross season. I raced both nah eim ro u nds, as well as Ph oen ix, attle and San Diego, but 2000 will be y first full year of racing in the United ta tes. It's a big move for me from the P circuit, an d I'm really excited about he chan ge. know more abou t Ame rica . Maybe it's be t ter t hat way tha n to come ho me every w eekend off. Anyway, I don' t think I'll miss home too mu ch. My pa rents ar e comi ng to stay with me, and I'm trying to ge t my hun ting dog Lipton als o. I th ink we sho uld be hap p y there. Also, my new home w ill not really be so d ifferen t from my oid one. The weather in my ho metown of Marseilles or a good restau rant and spend a good time with my girl friend, Julie. One thi ng th a t w ill hel p mak e my transition easier is my new team. I like the people on Team Yamah a a lot, but it will be a lot d ifferent from my oid setup. On my French tea m, I go t all the parts from the factory, but it was kind of my family team . My father was my manager, an d I ha ve a mec ha nic a t hom e. I nice to take your ind off bikes someimes , and I think the u ys on Yamaha and amaha of Tro y w ill be ood fr i en d s - not just eammates. I won't be moving to California until he begin ning of December, but I recenty spent abou t two weeks there to be it h Team Yamaha and to look for a orne. We found one, and I just bought t. Jon R. from Yamaha has a wife who is realtor, so she came with me . We visitd hou ses, and I found a fou r-bed room ith a sma ll swimming pool between oro na and Lake Elsinore - five min utes rom the Yam aha track and close to lots f the othe r rid ers. It' s perfect. I'll put he bed s and everything inside when I ove; I haven 't even stayed in it ye t. I'm just going to California for my job. hav e an objective to d o, and I have a hampionship to pr epare for, so I won' t et have time to go see things and have n. I just want to be read y for the first ace. It's a very difficult seaso n, with 28 aces. It's a big change for me, and that' s hy I have to get used to the team, to the ike, and to the American style of life. I d on't think I will go home to Fran ce o much. On weekends off maybe I can o visit nice places in the country and David Vuillemin: Yamaha USA's new teamster and Cycle News ' new guest columnist. is si m ila r to Ca liforn ia, with no t too mu ch r ain. It ' s a nice pla ce to r id e because everybody's from there - Fred eric Bolley and Yves DeMaria, all those guys. It' s kind of like the Fre nch California. There are certain things I like to d o in France, and I'll try to d o some of those in California. I like to ride mountain bik es and pl a y tennis a little bit, but when I have a da y off I'll usually just relax a little bit. I train a lot, so I like to take my car and just go for a d rive. I'll just drive maybe 10 miles to a nice place used to work wit h my dad all the 'time, so it will be a big change. I have to get to know all th e people. From what I' ve seen since October, the peopl e at Yama ha are very friendly, and they helped me a lot. I think it's a pretty good situ ation. . No t eve rything wi ll be d ifferen t. I'll still be on a Yamaha, and I'll still have the same boot, helmet and goggle sponsors (Sidi, Shark and Oakley). I'll move from First clothes to Fox, because they sponsor Team Yamaha. FMF helps me ou t now, and I hope I get to keep using FMF pipes when I'm racing for Yamaha in 2000. Guest Column I'm already getting to k no w m y teammates. I've spent some time on the test track wit h Jeremy McGrath, Jimmy Button, Ernesto Fo nseca a n d Casey Johnson. It was a good ti me because they're friend ly with me and they talk to me. I don' t just stay away, over in a corner, igno ring th em . I wa nt to imp rove my Englis h and talk with them, may be not speak ing about mo toc ross, b u t about other things. It's nice to take your mind off bikes so metimes , and I thin k the .guys on Yamaha and Yamaha of Troy will be good frie nds - not jus t teammates. Yamaha recently had a d ay w here we all drove go-karts, so that was a good way to relax with those guys. My new mechanic is Craig Mon ty, w ho wor ked wit h Doug He nry before. He's a nice guy, and he's young . We spent some time testing, and he came to my house in 'France to prepare the bike for the Bercy Supercross. We also slep t in the sa me ho tel room at Berey, because we're trying to get to know each other more and establish a good relationship. Changing countries won't be easy. I'll miss some friends, and some amateur riders I used to practice with. My girlfriend, also ; sh e will stay in France because she has to work as a hairdresser . She will come visit me sometimes, though. I also have a few friends in California that I can hang ou t with - some mechanics tha t used to work a t FMF tha t helped me in the past when I came to the States. I also know Danny laPorte an d Don ny Emler from FMF, and Mike Garrett, wh o used to wo rk there but is now at Parts Unlimited. Anyway, that' s how things are going for me right now. Maybe now when you see that French Yama ha guy at the races, you' ll know a little bit about who he is. I hope I can put on a good show for you in 2000. See you! David Vu illemin finished third in this year's 250cc Wor ld Championship Motocross Series , and leads the Wor ld Supe rcross Series. Next year, the Frenchman will ride the AMAlEA Sports Supercross Ser ies and Chevy T r ucks 250cc Nationa l M X Series , and update Cycle News readers with periodiccolumns . t:III Looking Back ..... oYEARS AGO.., ECEMBER 9, 1969 20Y ARSAG .., E O DECEMBER5 1979 , 10 Y SAGO EAR .., NV O EMBE R29,1989 e inter rup te d th is Tha n ksgiv ing to ring you coverage of he thi rd annual a r stow-to - V ega s are & Hound. This ea r's classic d rew 500 entries, but jus t ike last yea r th e man o beat was J. N , oberts (H us), who ook the lead so me 15 iles into the event and as never head ed as he aced to hi s seco n d verall win in as man y ears... The Westlake Vil, ge, Californ ia, rou nd of the Inter-Am MX dr ew over 0,000 spectators, w ho watched as Arne Kring (Hus) acked up anot he r wi n via consisten t placings in the ree-moto format. Kring only wo n one rnoto, Ake jonson (Mai) wa s second overa ll, and Gary Bailey (Gre) arned the boistrou s cheers of th e crowd by com ing orne third overall... Mark Brelsford (H-D) rolled to his ird straight main -event victory at the San Jose ind oor ho rt track ... A Ken Maely steel shoe, direct from the an himself, cost $29.95 plu s shipping and handling. u r cover p hoto showedKawasaki r oad r acer Mike Ba ldwin in ac tion. Unfortunately, Bald win was in te rviewed by Cycle News just after he had suffered a badl y broken leg in a crash at Loudon, New Ha mpshire. In th e int erview, Baldwin discussed the crash and his p ro g nos is , stating, "I know I will race again" ... We spo tlig hted the new KTM motocross and off-road ma ch in es. The 495MC open classer was gone, and in its place was a 420MC. Th e USMC boas ted a six-speed transm ission a nd 27 hp... Johnny O'Mara (Mug) won the 125cc Pro class at the CRC Western Sta tes Amateur Nationa l Championships at the Anaheim Stadium. Mi ke Healey (Suz) won the 60cc class... We also ran a sma ll feature on the p ractice day th at was held the week befor e th e ina uguara l ru nni ng of the Su perbikers a t Carlsbad Raceway. All of th e competitors came out to d ial in their machines for the eve n t, w hich was to be televised on ABC's Wid e World of Sports. he team of Larry Roeseler, Ted Hunnicutt and Danny laPorte (Kaw) scored the win in the Baja 1000, Ro es e ler rolling across the finish line at about 1 a.m. on Saturday, November 11, after starting the race on November 9. The team of Danny H am el, Scott Morris and Darry l Fo l ks (KTM) finished second overall, ahead of the team of G reg Zitterkopf, Garth Sweetland and Paul Krause (ATK)... Scott Plessinger (Kaw) earned his first AMA National Hare Scrambles Cha mpionship by finis hing seco nd to Keith Johnson (Kaw) at the series' fina l roun d in Wrentham, Massachusetts... We featured a wrap-up of the Japanese F-l an d F-3 Road Racing se ries, where Texan Doug Polen (Suz) became the first ride r ever to capture both titles in the same seaso n... Youngsters Greg Hancock and Josh Larsen su rprised everyone in atte ndance by capturing the top tw o spots in th e AMA National Long Trac k Speed way Champion ship at Ascot Par k. Lon g tr ack specialist Simon Cross of England was third. CI/I O T 79