Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The fifth and sixth rounds of the Nation- . .al Are nacross Series were pla yed out in Worcester, Ma ssachusetts, N ovember 19-20. On Frida y night, privateer Jimmy Wilson (Yam) s cored the win in th e 125cc class over Ty Wallace (Yam) and Mike Kati (Kaw) , In th e 250cc class, Bud dy Antunez ca p tu red th e vic tory over Ba rry Carsten (Suz) an d Chad Peterson. On Sa tu r day ni ght, Pedro Gonzalez won both classes. In the 125cc class, Gon zalez finished ahead of Peterson and Antunez, and in the 250cc class, d he toppe Denny Stephenson (Suz) and Antunez. Aprilia d e lay ed th e fi rs t t est of th e RSW500 V-tw in tha t was sched uled for November 15-16 at Mugello in Italy due to incle ment w eather. Tetsuya Harada was sla ted to test the new Grand Prix bike, bu t heavy rain, wi nd and cold temperatures prevented him from doing so. The new b ik e fea tures a co mpletely new, fue l-injected engine for the 2000 season, accordi ng to Cycle News contribu tor Paolo Gozzi. "We do n' t need to run on the w et - we wa n t to test the new engine in d ry and hot conditions," said Fabrizio Guidotti, the director of Aprilia Ra cing . "We preferred to cancel our tests at Mugello to rent differen t track s, like Spain's Jerez or Valencia, to continue the wint er activity of development." Th e team will atte mpt to test at Jer ez, November 27-29. Although Aprilia has sa id th at Marco Melandri wi ll rid e a factory 250 for the team' next yea r a s a r eplacement fo r Val entino Rossi, th e deal hasn't been fin alized ye t. In fact , th e 17-year-old Melandri s till has an option with his Ben etton Honda team until the end of the 2000 sea son, and h e mus t b e released from that contra ct before he can sign wi th Ap rilia. "We need to negotiate w ith Bene tto n and we h op e th at a ll things will be friendly," said Loris Reggi ani, th e former GP ra cer who now manages Melandri.·There is also a possibility that Benetton w ill be a featured sponsor on Melandri's Aprilia next year. N ow it a p p ears th a t th ere m a y b e a chance the Loris Capirossi will return to Ap rilia for 2000. "A t th e moment ou r priori ty is to stay with the Grecian team and Ho nda NSR250," sa id Ca rl Pernat, Ca pirossi's manager. Ho wever, the former 250cc World Cha mpion ha s had ta lks w it h Ap rili a th a t cou ld p ossibl y reunite him wi th bo th the Aprilia factory an d h is former crew chief Mauro Noccioli. Stay tun ed . Dirt tracker Will Davis, a team member of Racing For Kids, recentl y visited wit h child ren at the Children's Hosp ital and Hea lth Cen ter in San Diego, California. Racin g For Kid s has visited over 9500 children in 120 hospitals across the Uni ted Sta tes, Australia and Canada , raising some $1.2 million for the hospit als. Chev and AMA tie the knot ma rr iage made in hea ven? Th at rem ain s to be see n, bu t the kn ot was officially tie d on Friday, November 19, as a multi-year sponsorship alliance was announced between Chevy Truck and the AMA. The deal includes title sponsorshi p of both the AMA Superbik e a nd AMA National Mo tocross Ch ampion ships, and the designation of "official truck of the AMA Grand National Ch am pionship." All totaled, the AMA claims that this is the largest marke ting partnerof Silverado owne rs participate in the spo rt of motorcyclin g. ship in the history of the association. 'This is a partnership that truly will help us achieve so me of As of Friday, the two series will be kn own as the Chevy Tru cks Ll.S. Superbike Cham pionship and the Chevy Trucks Ll.S. o u r objectives," sai d AM A Pro Ra cin g ' s CEO Sco t t Mot ocross Cha m pionship. Chevy Trucks will th us replace the H olling sw orth. "This p a rtnership repre sents a signi fica n t MBN A titl e s ponsor in road raci ng while d oin g th e sa me to advance me nt in d ev eloping a business mo del a nd marketin g Mazda Tru cks, th e former title sponsor of th e AMA National platform that will enable u s to increase the me dia presen ce of motorcyclin g and in fact develop new media outlets to promote Motocross Cha mp ions hip. In a press conference held on November 19 in Pasa dena, Cali- the growth of the sport going forward . We believe this will benefornia, Chevy Trucks and the AMA outlined their involvement fit all of the stakeholders w ho participate and enjoy ou r series together, though no mon etary information was disclosed . They be they riders or teams or our promotional part ners, fans, and did, however, say that inform ation rega rding such things as rider obviously our spo nsorship partners. We' re ela ted with the ability to move forward in tha t manner ." poin t funds would be an nounced at a later da te. Pe rhaps fo rmer A MA Motocro ss and Na tional Motocr oss "Why Chevy Tru cks' and mot orcycling, or mo tocross specifically?" asked Joh n Fa rris [r., th e assis ta nt brand manager of C ha m pion, a n d curre n t Chevy Tru ck racer Rick y Johns on Chevy Trucks. "When it comes to sponsor loyalty, mot ocro ss .su mmed it up best. "As a rider and somebody wa tching the sport grow over the ranks second on ly to NASCA R. When it comes to Chevy Trucks, it's tough to find a mo re product-loyal customer in the automo- yea rs, this is an unbelievable day:' Johnson said. "If the AMA tive industry. Equally impressive is Cycle World magazine's cou ld pick one company to take our riders to the Motocross des resea rch that confirms that 75 percent of their readers are truck Nations, to support our flat tra ck rid ers and superbike riders and owners. The Chevy Truck tie- in is a natural. O ur support of also our mo tocross champions - I think if they had a drea m list of AMA Pro Racing is a great link to the millions of fans who either sponsors th ey co uld ge t, I think General Motors and Chevy atte nd events or watch them on TV, and really tap in to the pas- Tru cks wo uld be one of them . It' s a natu ral fit, jus t like a motorsions of the six an d a half million motorcyclists in the u.s. But it' s cycle fits in the back of a tru ck . As a racer and somebody who not 'r ea ll y just abou t numbers, it' s a bo u t th e co m mona lities has worked wit h Ch evr olet, this is a very exciting time and, yes, shared betw een Chevy Trucks an d mo torcyclists." I' m a little jealous tha t I'm not racin g, beca use to see Chevy Farris aI.so sta ted tha t Chevy's research shows that 30 percent Tru cks ge tting inv olved - i!'s just an aw esom e time." A and rear suspension and Brembo fro nt and rear brakes. Last year, the Suz uki team used Tokico brakes. Chili also had several new Dunlop tires to test - all of which were 16.5 inch es. Chili com pleted some 156 lap s in perfect weather condition s, lapping at a best of 1:45.10. "I'm very sa ti sfied ," Chili said. "The new tires are absolutely good and now I hav e more grip, especi all y in th e re ar. Th e Dunlop man also worked very good and I'm very confide nt to have great su ppo rt next se ason. Also, I lik e so much th e Brembo radial brakes. My Alstare team and U] have d one a grea t job here in Spa in and now I can go to wint er holiday very confide nt. Next season I want to a ttack th e Duca ti cro w n an d now I know that I will have the right bike to win a lot of races. " Suz u ki's Kenny Roberts Jr. was also present at the test, a n d h e lapp ed u n d er th e Jerez la p record , setting his fas test tim e of 1:43.6 on the Suzu ki 500. Altho ugh he has yet to sign a contract , Troy Corser continued to test the Ap rilia RSVI000, puttin g in so me 30 laps at M ugello in It a ly o n November 16 again, in very bad weath er conditions. Crosier comp leted his laps on intermedia te-treaded tires. He is expec ted to test again at Jerez in Spai n on November 2830 a n d b y the n h e w ill like ly h a v e signed a cont rac t with the Italian compa ny. A Ca rroll Resweber-au tographed official Dirt Track Hall of Fame base ball cap is being auctioned off wi th the proceed s of the sale going to the Dirt Track Hall of Fame race purse for 2000. The auction d at es are N ovember 15-30, w it h bid s being su b mit ted in $5 incre m ents . To bid , write to the Hall of Fame office at : dthof@negia.net. Resw eb er w as AMA Grand Natio nal Cham pio n fro m 19581961. 2 Blackman's Cycle, th e la rgest Aprilia d ea ler in th e U.S., h as formed a new ro a d r a ci ng tea m to co m pe te in th e AMA 250cc Grand Prix Ser ies in 2000. The team will feature Mike Himmelsbach as its lon e rid er , with H im melsbach 's father, Bill, handling the mechanical duties on the Ap rilia. Pier-Fra ncisco Chili te sted the new Suzu ki GSX-R750 a t Jerez in Spain recently, with the bike being completely new with the exception of the engine. In addition, Chili tested a new Show a fork A mem orial fund has been establis hed for m otorcycl e r oad r a ce r Douglas Cook, 41, of Truckee, California. Cook wa s fatall y injured in a three-bike incident at Thunderhill Raceway on Octo- ber 24. Cook is surv ived by his wife, Tricia, son s Troy and Matthew, his mother Di anne 0 ' H arra , h is fa t her H a r t "Cappy" Cook and numerous br oth ers, sisters, nieces and nephew s. Cards and d ona ti ons ca n be sen t to Bank of the West , Gateway Branch, I 1202 Donner Pa ss Rd., Truckee, California, 96161480 8. For more informati on, call 530/582-3050. Karl Wh arton , general manager of TriMotorcycle s, Ltd. , ha s . um ph an no u n ced th at Triumph Mot orcycle s Ltd . will assume direct responsibility for the distribution of all Triumph motorcycles, parts and accesso ries in Canad a, as well as serv ice and warranty issu es. Mountain Performance Racing wi ll field a team in the AMA Na tional Road Racing Cham pions hip Series in 2000, featuring Chris Rankin and Brian Lehfeldt. The pair will ride Yam aha R6s in the 600 an d 750 cc Su pers p ort classes. Rankin previou sly rod e for Bell Cou nty HarleyDavidson in the AMA Superbike class. White Brothers has announce d that it has re-signed riders Doug Dubach and Spud Walters for th e 2000 motocross season. Walt ers w ill d efend his PACE O ff-R o ad Thund erbike titl e w h ile Dubach will race in se lecte d eve n ts, in cl udi ng th e Wo rld Fou r-Stroke and Vet Championships . Both will ride 2000mo del Yamaha YZ426s. The American Trials Associati on has announced that the 30th annual El Trial de Espana will be held on Sunday, April 16 at Reed Valley in the city of Aguanga, rou ghl y 25 miles eas t of Tem ecul a, Californ ia. For th e third consecu tive yea r, American Suzuki w ill spo nsor th e Suzuki Rock 'n Roll Mara thon in San Diego, Cali fornia on June 4. Some 20,000 runners are ex pec te d to co m pete on th e 26.2-mile course. The 29th annual World Mini Grand Prix has been scheduled for April 25-30, 2000, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada . Last year' s race drew some 2300 entries. Also, the NMA Grand Nationals of Mot ocross in Pon ca City, Oklah oma, is s ched u led for A ugust 1-5, and th e Branson USA Motocross Championships in Branson, Missouri, is sched uled for October 6-8. The Branson ra ce is not NMA-sanch on ed , s o rid in g qualifiers is not required. For more information on these three rac es, call th e N at io nal Motorsport Association (N MA) at 909/ 6576782. The La Playa Masters of Motocross race, sched u led for December 5, w ill ta ke pl ace at th e trad itiona l race site - th e Can tamar Sand Dunes. The even t will also pay d ouble p oints toward th e La Playa Mo tocross GP Series. The club says it is sti ll working at Rancho Bernard o to so lve th e irriga tio n se rvice, but since th er e hasn ' t been any rain sin ce Ma rch, dust is a problem, which is why the race is movin g back to Cantamar. For mor e info rmation, call 011-52-661225-25. DSP, the co m pany bes t kn own for its tri ck carbo n-fiber gua rds and titanium ex ha ust systems fo r Yama h a YZ400s, has accepted an offer from FMF Racing's management tea m in w hich FMF will invest a su bstantial amount of capital into DSP in re tu rn for an interest in the com pany . FMF's managem ent team w ill w ork with DSP found er Willi e Amaradio in the marketing and salesmanagement area s for the DSP brand. Initial plans call for an ex pa nded race e ffo r t, in crea s ed d istribution, more advertising in co ns u mer publicati ons, and an all-new color catalog . "OSP is a natural ex tens io n to our efforts," said FMF' s Don Eml er . "Racers kn ow FMF for the world's best pipes, and OSP for the tou gh est, most reliable, and light estweight products out there. "

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