c
L&M Ducati's Ben Bostrom
(pictured) turned in the
fastest lap of the two-day
World Superbike test in
Valencia, Spain, February
18-19. The Californian
lapped at 1:35.228, which
was within a whisker of the
best lap ever turned at the
Spanish facility by Kenny
Roberts Jr. on his Suzuki
RGv500 V-four Grand Prix
racer.
Close behind Bostrom
was Infostrada Ducati's Troy
Bayliss, who put In a best of
1:35.503 while turning In
more laps than any other
rider over the course of the
two days. Castrol .Honda's World Superbike rookie T.adayuJ.
was second, with Valerio Bauce (Bet>
rounding out the podium.
The opening round of the AMA Westem
Four-Stroke National MX Series got
underway, February 18, at Speedworld
MX Park near Phoenix, Arizona, and
White Brothers/Yamaha rider Spud
Walters came away with the overall win.
Walters won a hard-fought battle in the
first moto over KTM rider .Jimmy
LaMastus, Husaberg-mounted Ryan
Terlecki. and Yamaha riders Kip
Sandell and Nathan Woods. Walters
and LaMastus went at it again in the second moto, with Walters again coming out
on top over LaMastus, Woods, Terlecki
and Sandell.
Cannondale announced on February 17
that it has begun shipping production
units of its FX400 ATV. The Americanmade FX400 features the same fuelinjected four-stroke engine as its motorcycle, as well as the industry's first
twin-spar perimeter aluminum frame. Suggested retail price for the FX400 is
$7950. The quad also features Ohlins
Radson/Montesa rider Dougie Lampkin won rounds seven and eight of the
World Indoor Championship Trials Series
in Austria (February 16) and Spain (February 18), keeping his unbeaten streak
alive. Lampkin topped round seven in
Vienna, Austria, ahead of Gas Gas riders
Marc Colomer, Bruno Camozzi and
Steve Colley. Two days later, the
series resumed in La Coruna, Spain,
where Lampkin again took the win ahead
of Sherco-mounted Marc Freixa.
Colomer and Colley. Lampkin enjoys a
comfortabie series points lead over
Colomer, 140-104. Freixa is third with 96,
followed by Albert Cabestany (91) and
Colley (85).
Different in Every Sense is a statement
that describes Buell motorcycles and
the recently launched Xtreme Football
League (XFU, according to a HarleyDavidson press release. Attracting both
football enthusiasts and thrill seekers, the
XFL launch drew more than twice the projected average season rating for NBC
during the network's first telecast with a
9.5 household rating and a 17 share,
according to Harley. The Buell "Have a
Nice Day" television spot, featuring Buell
Pro Thunder racer Tripp Nobles doing a
smiley-face-shaped bumout. will air during
the first half of the XFL season on NBC,
UPN and TNN. An online sweepstakes
sponsored by Buell and the XFL will add
another surge of power to the partnership, beginning in mid-February. Visitors
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Yamaha made it official, they not only
have a four-stroke Grand Prix
machine, but their factory riders have
already tested it. according to a Yamaha
press release. Code-named the OW-Ml
(the official name will be released at a
later stage), the 2002 race machine will
run an all-new, in-line four-cylinder powerplant with Yamaha's trademark fivevalve head design. The chassis comes
straight from the latest YZR500. Many
configurations were considered when
deciding an engine fomnat for this chassis, with Yamaha concluding that an inline-four layout offers the best balance of
compactness, outright perfomnance and
power delivery. The" M 1" engine is also
considerably lighter and more compact
than that of the current YZF-R7 Superbike. Marlboro Yamaha Team's Max
Biaggi had his first test of the bike at the
end of last year. "It was good to be able
to test Yamaha's four-stroke so early
and give feedback and direction to the
development process," the Italian said.
"The bike felt good and easy to ride,
although it's a completely new style of
engine and I'll have to adapt my style to
suit it." Teammate Carlos Checa, a seasoned four-stroke pilot who trains regularly on his race-prepared YZF-R 1. was
equally impressed by the experience of
his test. "It was very exciting to test the
four-stroke and I was very impressed,"
the Spaniard said. "It's really compact
like the 500, but the increased engine
braking and traction are quite noticeable.
It handles very well and has a wide
power range. It sounds good tool" An
intensive testing program is well under
way for OW-M 1, which has already
demonstrated qUicker acceleration and
higher top speed figures than the current
YZR500. Sources close to Yamaha
reported that, at a recent test in
Malaysia, Checa not only went faster
than Biaggi on the four-stroke, but he
also went faster than he ever had on his
YZR-500. Yamaha's Motorsports Division Chief, Mr. Yoshiharu Nakayama,
himself a four·stroke development engineer, has been closely involved with the
venture since the outset. "We are testing both inside and outside Japan already
and have an exhaustive development
program planned to be ready for the
2002 season," Nakayama said. "I am
optimistic and confident that we will have
a highly competitive new bike for next
year."
American Honda has announced that
extreme athlete Shaun Palmer, the sixtime Winter X-Games gold medalist, has
entered a unique promotional relationship
with Honda's Motorcycle Division. Under
the terms of the agreement Palmer,
crowned Action Sports Athlete of the
Year at ESPN's ESPY Awards on Monday, February 12, will promote Honda
motorcycles and display Honda logos on
his snowboard and gear at the 2002 Winter X-Games. In retum, Honda Racing will
provide Palmer with a factory-prepped
CR motocross bike to compete in round
one of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S.
Motocross Championship at Glen Heien
Raceway in San Bemardino, Califomia on
May 13.
U
,.
can log on to XFL.com or Buell.com for a
chance to win a one-of-a-kind XFL edition
Buell lightning Xl.
Buddy Antunez (Suz) pulled off a couple of wins at the Denver Arenacross in
Denver, C-olorado, February 17-18.
Antunez, who recorded his 100th Arenacross win the week before in Milwaukee, racked up wins number 101 and 102
after topping the 250cc final on Friday
night and the 125cc main on Saturday
night. Antunez's teammate .Jeft Gibson
opened the weekend's racing with a win
in Friday's 125cc main, while .Josh
Demuth (Kaw) closed out the weekend
with a win in Saturday night's 250cc final.
Gibson and Pedro Gonzales (Kaw)
won Friday and Saturday night's Dash
For Cash races.
III
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