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/128090
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lows: January 28. Phoenix, AZ.; February
24. San Jacinto. CA; March 25. San
Bemardino, CA April 21. Carlsbad. CA;
August 26, San Jacinto, CA; September
16, Gorman. CA; October 14. San
Bemardino, CA. For more information.
check out SVRG's website at
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www.svrg.com.
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Moto - MGMT, L.P., a Houston-based
management company has assumed
operations of Lake
Whitney
Motocross Park. in Whitney. Texas.
Dave Martin. a director of MotoMGMT, says that this new organization
is looking forward to working with the
motocross community to re-establish
customer confidence and restore the
family atmosphere. "It is our primary
responsibility to protect this piece of
Texas motocross history and assure our
children that they will be able to race
and play here as we have four over 20
years." The dates for the 2001 Lake
Whitney Spring National is March 7-11.
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Motocrosser John Dowd made an
appearance at the New England
Motocross Association's annual awards
banquet on January 20. shOWing up with
his brand new KTM 520SX four-stroke the bike on which he will compete on in
the 2001 AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S.
-.. Motocross Series. Originally. Dowd
was slated to race in Canada this year.
but he has since inked a factory support
Mansfield, Ohio's motorcycle racing legend Ronnie Rail will be the guest of
honor at Jhe AMAlWiII Stoner Vintage Motorcycle Swapmeet and
Show on Sunday, February 18 at the
Richland County Fairgrounds in Mansfield. The AMA Grand National Dirt
Track star from the 1960s will pick the
"Rail's Choice" winner in the bike show
as well as sign autographs from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Fair Haven Hall. For more
information, call 614/856-1900. ext.
1227.
Supercross legend Jeremy McGrath
will appear in an episode of the 3D CGI
animated show. Max Steel. on the WB
network sometime in May. McGrath will
meet up with the show's hero. Max
Steel. when Max and friends take part in
an off-road race. During the race, the
team meets up with McGrath, who is
"being targeted by a vengeful and jealous driver. Serge. When the guys leam
of Serge' s plot to blow up Jeremy and
the packed stadium by attaching a bomb
to the engine block of his vehicle, they
must do some amazing driving to catch
up with him and save everyone in the
stadium." Max Steel airs on Saturday
CJ
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The Pikes Peak International Hill
Climb will be held on June 30 this year
instead of its normal July 4 date. The
change was made to accommodate families that want to make it home in time
for barbecue and fireworks, the promoter says. And it should help race organizers. drivers. riders and teams since the
race won't compete with the busy
national holiday. Also, the race will be on
a Saturday, giving more people an
opportunity to attend. If the date change
works. the race will be held on the Saturday preceding July 3 in future years.
according to the promoters. Applications
for invitation and the 200 1 rulebooks are
"head of the Yamaha R6 in second place - and Its 100cc
Speedfight sister in third. with more than 3500 sales. Peugeot's chart-topping achievement is the first time in more
than a quarter-century that Britam's best-selling two-wheeler
has been a scooter rather than a motorcycie, and is an indication that .. combination of convenience, chic, rising fuel
costs and worsening traffic conditions may finally have made
the scooter fashionable In Britain.
Under these circumstances, It'S doubly ironic that the
Peugeot importer for Great Britain responsible for these
chart-topping sales figures is Dorset-based Three Cross
Motorcycles - which is also the exclusive importer for the
world's most desirable sportbike, the MV Agusta F4.
So Peugeot makes best-selling cars and scooters· but no
motorcycles, at least not since its last 250/350cc two-stroke
twin was built in the late '50s. and its range of 80cc minibikes tha petered out In the mld:'80s, But according to persistent rumors in France, this may perhaps change with an
increased involvement by the French car giant in Voxan. perhaps even amounting to making Voxan founder Jacques
Gardette an offer he couldn't refuse for a majority of the equity in his company. Peugeot is known to have seconded one
of its production engineers to the French bike manufacturer
to help sort out the problems encountered in kick· starting
series production of Voxan's range of 1000cc fuel-injected
72-degree V-twins - a successful collaboration which was
matched by the employment of another such expert from Its
rival Renault. But with substantial future investment needed
to expand the Voxan range, and the need to structure a net-
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French Gossip
French car maker Peugeot, whose scooters we mentioned
here In last week's issue, has achieved a breakthrough in the
British sht,lwrooms. In sportbike-mad Britain, the only major
motorcycle market In the world where such motorcycles
have consistently outsold all other types of bikes, and the
Honda FireBlade was for five straight years the country's
best-selling two-wheeler of any type (succeeded by the RI
Yamaha ami, in 1999, its CBR600 kid sister), the 2000
British sales charts have been topped by a scooter and a
French one. at that.
As of November (after which the market typic"lly goes
into a winter hibemation). sales of powered two-wheelers had
seen a year-on-year increase of just under 10 percent
(161,239 new bikes sold, compared to 146,809 at the same
point in 1999). However. contained within this figure is a 37percent increase in the sales of scooters year-on-year. from
47.914 units in '99, to 67.973 in 2000, representing ewer 40
percent of the total market· a statistic confirmed by the
extraordinary news that the number-one best-selling unit in
Great Brltam in 2001 was the 50cc Peugeot Speedfight. with
over 4000 registr"tions in the first 11 months of the year,
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momings at 7 (Pacific) and 8 (Eastem).
Skateboarder Tony Hawk will be featured on the show on February 17 and
we'll keep you posted when Jeremy's
airdate becomes available.
deal with KTM that will see the popular
New Englander racing again in the U,S,
Dowd presented each Top 10 NEMA
racer with an autographed "Award of
Excellence" in memory of Michael
Gould, a New England racer who
passed away earlier this year. "These
kids are terrific and really remind me of
what racing is all about," Dowd said.
"Making special appearances to fans,
especially in New England, feels great. I
am honored to be a part of this night for
them." John created the most excitement of the night during the NEMA auction when he donated a "Day of Riding
with John Dowd" gift certificate. That
auction item brought in an impressive
$730 toward the Jason Shute
Motocross Scholarship Fund.
Ricky [armichael and Jeremy McCirath are currently tied for the lead in the AMAlEA Sports Supercr
oinls differential
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