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/128103
o o o o c " I LJ [} O ne w eek after pu lling o ut of th e combined National HS /GNCC roun d in Tenness ee. Au stralian S ha ne Watts (KTM) reb ounded by wi nning round fou r of the A MA Na t ion a l Ch am p io n s h i p H are S c ramb les S e rie s in Kahoka . Missou ri. on Apri l 29 . The KTM rid er be sted last week' s wi nner and cu rrent points leader Fred Andr e w s (Kaw) in the M idw est M otospo rt -pro moted event , and sits second to the Kaw asaki Team Gree n ride r in the po int s standings. 71-69 . C limbing to th e f ina l po diu m s po t was O hio rid e r C huck Woodford (Kaw) . The riders now get a' b it of a b reak . as the next round isn't sc hed uled until July 1 in Elkton, O regon. Honda Racing's prima ry team sponsor. Un iversal Studios . will showcase its latest feature- length film . The Mummy Returns. with special bike and rider graphics at Las Vegas" AMA Supercross and Sears Point's AMA Superbike Nat ional on May 5-6. The Mum my Return s. the latest in the series of motion-picture adventures begun in the 1999 worldwide smash The Mummy . will be released in theaters nationwide on May 4, 2001. Team Honda's Sebastien Tortelli and Miguel DuHamel will join in The Mummy Returns excitement. Tortelli's specially designed uniform and CR250R - emblazoned with gold scorp ions - will be showcased at Round 16 of the AMA lEA Sports Supercross Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada , on Saturday, May 5. Road-racing fans will see DuHame l's strik ing black -and -gold uniform and RC51 in th e second round of the AMA IChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma , Californ ia on Sunday , May 6. The innovative, feature -length moti on pictu re and motorsports promotion is one of several collaborations resulting from American Honda's multi-year partnership with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group (USCPG) . Announced in November 2000 , the sponsorship agreement also featur es Universa l Studios' animated character Woody Woodpecker as Team Mascot for both the Honda Motocross Racing Team and the Honda Road Racing Team. With the launch of The Mummy Returns , Universal St udios becomes the pr imary theme sponsor for both the Sears Point Superbik e road race and the Las Vegas Supercross, This is the first of four such sponsorships in 2001 and 2002 in which Universal Stud ios films will be showcased with special designs on the bodywork and uniform of a selected Honda motocross rider and roadracing rider. Universal Studios represents the merchandising and promotion al rights to the Honda Racing Team riders, including jointly devel - o c o o O O O O Defending W orld Ch ampi on Do u g i e La m p ki n (M on ) may be g et t ing more competition so far thi s year, but he has still managed to maintain a perfect record through the first two rounds of the World Championship Trials Series - despite having his preseason train ing limited due to f oot -and -m o uth d iseas e in h is home country of England . The M o ntesa rid e r topped both rounds at Paco s de Ferre ira, ~ Portugal, Ap ril 28 -29 . extending his lead in the points standings. The ot her podi um positions over the weekend we re shared L;1 by Japanese rider Takahisa Fujinami (H on ) and Sp anish pilot Mar c Frei xa (She); each took o ne runner-up finish and one third-place resul t. C LJ 1: O D O O O O O O O O O O O O and then I'm ready to race there. " Seve ral ot her Grand Prix riders are expected to make th e t ri p to Southwic k o r B udd s Creek, and the co mplete month of J une is free on the G P circuit now that the Italia n ro und ha s bee n ca nc e lle d and the Aust rian round postponed. Re ign ing AMA National Hare & Ho und Champion Des t ry A b b ott ( K aw) scored his second victory at round four of the series. in De ita, Utah. on April 28 . The win marked his third of the series to cushion his po int lead over Kawasaki Team G reen teammate and rival B r ia n Brown . Kurt Caselli (Yam) was sec ond overall, with Brow n (Kaw) finishing thi rd. M ontclair Yamaha rider Ty Davis suffered his second straig ht DNF. and is unli k ely to be a co nte nder fo r the t it le now . A t t he halfway poin t in t he series , A bb ott le a d s B r o wn , 1 15-10 1. with Case lli in third with 71 . Jeremy McGrath has donated for auct ion the race-worn /autog raphed Da le Earnhardt tribute helmet that he had Troy Lee design to pay respect to Earnhardt after the NASCA R legend's tragic death in the Dayt ona 50 0 on Sunday , February 18 . Mc Gra t h wore the he lme t at t he A tlanta Su percross , one week after Earnhardt's death. Proceeds raised from the auction of the helmet w ill go to Road 2 Recovery Fo undat io n who, in turn . w ill present 100 percent of the net proceeds to Buddy Duffy, an AMA 125cc rider wh o suffered severe head injuries in a crash during pra ctice for the Atlanta Supercross. Duffy is currently recovering from his inj uries at a hospital in Florida. To place a b id . go to the followinq site : http:/ /page.auctions .yahoo.c om/auc tio n/51304926. N ew Zea land's Josh Coppins is also inte res te d in rac ing two rounds of the AMA N at ionals in June. but he must first o rg anize help from the S uzuki factory Roger D eCo ster was at the Belgian G P this w eekend and is in talks with Corona S uzuki boss Sylvain Geboe rs about Coppins doing the Budds Creek and Southwick rounds of the 250cc Nationa ls. " I have interest in racing in Americ a for sure ." Copp ins sa id . " O f cou rs e , it depends on what Sy lvain can o rganiz e. C In the midst of ce lebrating its 90th birth day th is year . Bene lli says it is nearl y oped designs, such as The Mummy Returns Honda Racing promotion. Universal inked a similar deal with the NASCAR Winston Cup Stock Car of driver Jimmy Spencer, whose K-Mart Ford contested the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway in The Mummy Returns live ry on April 29. Later this summer, Jurassic Park III - the third chapter of one of the most successful film franchises in Universal Studios ' history will be highlighted with special graphics for Nicky Hayden and his RC51 Superb ike at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. California , and Ezra Lusk and his CR250R motocrosser at Red Bud , Michigan. re ad y to ma ke it s come back in rac ing with a fac to ry Torn ado 900 in the W orld Supe rb i ke Champ i on sh ip . W ith two W o rld Champ ionship title s and three w ins in the Isle o f Man TT in the reco rd boo ks, Benelli is making the final steps of te st ing in o rd e r t o get the Tornado ready for competition. Pete r Goddard, the 37 -yearold A ustralian, is currently liv ing in Sa n Marino and is ready to make his debut on the Tornado , according to Be nelli. The most challenging test thus far was held at the Mugello c irc uit in Italy , April 23 -24 , with rain limiting t he first day of act io n. The sunny second day of actio n, how ever, allowed Goddard to test the bike fo r a lon g time and, according to Benelli, the tests we re positive. The official To rnado coming-out party in W orld Superbike racing is sc heduled for the S a n M a r ino round in M isano, Italy , on J une 24 . Defending AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin has made a belated return to America. where he will resume preparations for the second round of the AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Champio nshi p. which is schedu led for Sea rs Po int Raceway in Sonoma. C alifornia. May 4 -6. M ladin was du e to return to 2fS[JiJrz@}@fJb !X1D~ik/J @(l!JU @(l 1l!JiJ@ @@u@ b c Tea m Harley -Davidson's Jennifer Snyder silenced doubters who questioned her hiring to the factory team by winning the SFX-promoted Mega Mile sanctioned by Formula USA on the I.8-mile limestone track at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Virginia , on April 28. The 17 -year-old Garla nd, Texas, resident pulled off her first career National win in spectacular fashion. heading a four -rider pack that included veterans Rich King and Mike Hacker as well as Snyder's old amateur rival, .Bryan Smith. Snyder and Hacker drafted past King and Smith on last lap , with Snyder leading the rest off the last corner and taking the narrow victory. while Hacker wound up second. King held on for third, ahead of Smith, with another veteran, Terry Poovey, finishing fifth, well behind the lead pack. Snyder was obviously overjoyed with her performance. "That was a cool deal," Snyder said. "It was such a battle for the whole race. About the middle of the race it got so rough that I nearly crashed a couple times . You j ust had to stay on the gas and blast through the holes." 8 o o o n 2 MAY 9 , 2001 • cue I e n e vv s The impact of Snyder 's performance wasn't lost on her tuner, legendary factory wrench Bill Werner, either . "I' ve seen some good ra ces in my tim e, but that was a war ," Wemer said. "She was awesome right from the start of the night. She set fast tim e, won her heat and then she got a shitty start in the main , but she caught right back up. Rich [King] told me that one tim e she hit a hole and her butt was about six inches off the seat, so he figured she'd be done because that'll take the starch out of ju st about anybody . But then she cam e right back and passed him at th e end. She's the real deal. She's gritty, and she can ride a motorcycl e." The factor y Harley team had plenty to be proud of at Colonial Downs, as Snyder did indeed set a fast quali fying lap of 47.46 seconds, with King checking in at 4 7.85 seconds for second- fastest tim e. Snyder also continu ed testing the team's Buell Blast-powered Harley -Davidson 500R single . cloc king a 48 flat that would have placed her in the top five in the qualify ing order. America more than two weeks ago. but motocross training accident on the morr ing he w as to fly ou t left t he two-ti m champion w ith a broken left fibula. Takin specialists ' advice. Ml ad in did not hav the break plated , instead opting for natu al healing. given that there was sufficie time before Sears Point for the injury t heal. M lad in suffered a severe break i the same area of his ankle in January 1995 and doctors were concerned th any surgery may attract a ret urn of th infections t hat threatened the mobility his foot. "As far as the ankle goes, eve t hing is fi ne, " M lad in said in a p re s release prio r to leaving Sydney . " I act ua Iy did a full moto on the motocross bik yest erday mo rning and it felt fine. Ther is a bit of soreness w ith the achilles , b ' that is all. I don't thi nk it wi ll be a pro ble at Sears Po int. " O n arrival back in Cal fornia, M lad in is sched uled to test hi Yoshimura S uzu k i G SX-R 7 50 at th Pahrump circuit in Nevada on Monda April 30 , before the team packs up an heads to S ears Point. Mladin heads t Sears Point as the defending race winn [in 19 9 9 ] an d a lso th e c ha mp io n shi leader after tak ing victory at the Dayton 200 in March. Last year' s ro und was ca celled due to poo r dra inage at the Son rna c ircuit after day s of t orrent ial rain " It's be en seven wee ks betw een D a to na and Sears , so I' m loo king forwa rd t getting back on t he bike a nd w innin aga in, " Ml adin added. " Track safety i always an issue, so I hope we don 't hav a repeat of w hat happened there last yea an d what also happened at the Phi lli Island round of the World Superbikes las w eek end . I ho pe tha t t he track ow ner' have do ne eno ugh wo rk aro und there t make sure it doesn' t happe n again. Th next th ree races, at Sears and the dou b le hea der a t Ro ad A tla nta , are v e r important. If yo u c an get so m e go o res ults here it w ill set yo u up for the mid die of the season, so yo u can manag wha t needs to be do ne in relat ion to th