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
(""\ U o CJ o o o o o r arley -Davidson Mot or Company, has incr eased its support of of the 200 1 AMA Proressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship, and will hel p bring 26 hours of series overage to television. Harl ey -Dav idson returns as titl e spo nsor of the Harl ey -Davidson Sportster Perforance Series and has incr eased its support for a new programming pack age on Speedision and Fox Sports Net. Addit ionally, Harley-D avidson continues its commitment to he racers with payouts to riders competing on Harle y machinery, thro ugh the AMA Pro acing bonus awards program . " Harley-Davidson is proud of its involvement in the AMA Progressive U.S. Flat Track hampionship. We'v e been staunch supporters of the sport since its inception and want o see it continue to grow," said Art Gornpper, marketing director for Hariey-Davidson. This year' s "PI package will help intro duce some new fans to the sport. The level of .om petition and the beauty of the sport is captiv ating. All you hav e to do is watch one pringfield Mile and you'll be a dirt-track fan for life." As part of their new sponsorship agreem ent with AMA Pro Racing, Harley-Davidson ill be presenti ng spo nsor of Speed vision and Fox Sports Net programming. The new package wi ll deliver more than 26 hours of flat -track racing cov erage in 200 I , ncluding 11 hours of origi nal flat-track racing coverage. mouth disease. W hat we have to weig h in the balanc e is a reas onably w ell-defined lo s s ag ainst the enhanced risk o f t he Is la nd c ont rac t ing a potenti a lly cata strophic outbreak of the disea se . It is the judgmen t of the C o unc il of Min ist ers that the stakes are jus t too high. It is therefore the decisio n of the C o uncil of M inisters tha t t he TT races 2001 b e c a nce led . - G elling adde d : " 'The Isl and sti ll rema ins o pen as a tou rist de stina tio n. " This marks the first time that t he n races have bee n cance led during pea cet ime. In 1966, t he race s we re pos tpon ed from th e no rm a l J une d ate t o lat e r in th e ye ar beca use of a sea man's strike. ampio ns hip . A c o uple o f w ins o ut of se three would be ideal. " co rd i ng t o re port s on Is le of Man line . the Isle of Man TT was oH io lIy called oH on A pril 24 , with C hief inis ter D o nald G e ll ing reveali ng his cis ion after we ek s of speculatio n and bate ove r th e fest ival' s futu re. Gell ing id the choice had been a di ffic ult o ne t had not been helpe d by pressure m " mo re i m p a t ie nt p a rt s o f th e d ia . " ac c o rd ing t o th e re p o rt. H e ded : " If ev er there was an issue w hich serves sobe r and care ful co nside ration fact s it w as th is . W e need t he right cision, no t a quick o ne . - G elling said ris k of hold ing t he festival was too h as there was no way of property dis fecting up to 40 ,00 0 vis i tors . H e aised work do ne by government staff in eventing the spread of the d isease to e Island as we ll as farme rs. airlines and e Steam Packet C o mpany , the report id . -We have had t ruly a co ncerted tion al resp on se to t he threat of foo td-mo ut h disease, - he added . " The ises an issu e of sca le quite different m what we have had to cope with so r, The is the single most impo rt ant mponent in the Island' s tou rist year. It important for the whole community as spending is res pent time and again ros s this Island . It helps to place the and on the map and for two weeks of e year it gives the island a vibrancy and buzz wh ich is unique. Canceling the no t an ac tion to be taken ligh tly . N o e can say that by canceling the n we II safeg uard t he Island from foo t-and- It seems as tho uqh Scott R us se ll may have turned the corner o n his road to recovery. accord ing to his sister. S he ri Ru s se ll . T he forme r A M A and W orl d S uperbike C hampion , who suffered seriou s arm and leg injuries in the Dayt o na sta rting -line melee , is now wa lking w ith o ut t he aid of a wa lker. On Thursday , Apri l 2 6 , Rus se ll unde rw e nt skin -graft surg ery and w as ke pt overnig ht at th e hospital. The surgery was succ ess ful. and Russell was released the foll owing day. Russell is sc heduled to ret urn to see his plast ic surgeon on May 2 to determine how well the graft is healing before he will be given the green light to begin his reha bil it ation in earnest. The next stage for Russell will be to beg in work on his forearm. He currently has no feeling from the elbow to the w rist. and has ve ry limited mobility in his fi ngers. Rus sell's big gest co mp laint t hese days, ac co rding to his n n n .... " It "" " .. " -..J J o o o o J ust one week afte r Ryan Hughes took the factory CRF450R to a win in its U.S. debu t, Honda supp lied us with phot os of the eagerly awaited produ cti on 200 2 model, along with information and im ages of the rest of its CR line-up. Like the KTM thumper, the Hond a featu res a single overhead-cam engine (which is cla imed to put out 55 horse power at 9000 rpm ) , and li ke th e Yamaha fo ur-s tro ke, it features titan ium valves (in tak e only; the exhaust valves are steel ). Displac ement is 449 cc. which is arrived at via bore and stroke figu res of 96 and 62. 1mm, respectively . Hond a also puts the weight at 225 poun ds, six pound s lighter tha n the cl aimed dry weigh t of the Yam aha YZ426F and over 10 pounds lighter than th at of the KTM 520 SX. Honda puts the rev ceiling at 11,200 rpm . Th e frame is of course of the perimeter, aluminum vari ety . For com plete detail s on the CRF450R and the other CRs, see next week's issue of Cycle News. sister, rela te s to his fo o t , which is sti ll very swollen and painful. Help ing to lift Rus sell' s sp iri ts t hese day s is the fact that the renovations to his home in G eo rgia are a lm o s t complete. The house, whi ch was built in 194 8 , has undergo ne a co mp lete remodel , and Russell hopes the wo rk w ill be co mp lete d by the ti me t he AMA Superbike Series ro lls into town fo r t he Road A tlanta dou bleheader. Funeral services were held fo r Sa linas , C alifo rn ia. d irt-track rac e r Dan Hart, who died in a crash at rou nd two of Gene Rom ero' s West C oas t Flat Track Series in Bakersfield. Ca liforni a, on April 21. Hart was 25 years o ld . A memorial fund has been se t up for Hart at the Washington Mutual Bank in the Harden Ranch Plaza, North Salinas. Califomia . Phone: 831 -449033 1. C ontributions shou ld be made out to : FB O D aniel Ray Hart , ca re of, Hart M em o rial Fund , 2 80 M cC ulio um La ne , C oalinga. Ca lifornia , 932 10. " " '" .. OPENED: Rick Petersen Motor Sports' home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at: http:/ /www.rpmsbigbore.com. AUTOGRAPH S IGNING: At Kawasaki of Riverside in Riverside, California, on May 12 from 12 to 1 p.m. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki' s Ricky Carmichael and Stephane Roncada are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 909/683 -8839. BORN: Steve Allen Martin III. to former Pro motocrosser Steve Martin HIRED: Cory Johnson. as general mana ger of OMS Ltd.. .the extreme and his wife. Aandi. on January 12. motorsport s marketing and manage ment agency . Johnson, a motor- sports enthusiast. previously held the positions of national sales managRECALLED : Avon' s AV34 "Gripster-H" tires commonly used on the BMW GS Series of motorcycles and some other dual-sport bikes. Avon is offe ring free replacement s of the recalled tires with its ..Drstanzia " er , off-road race coordinat or and ge neral manager at Metzler/Pirelli Motorcycle Tire North America during his seven-year tenure there, and he recently worlked as general managerat Lake Cycle in Indiana. Canada 's 6 00cc Supersport C hampion O wen W eichel has inked a deal that w ill see hi m con te st both the 600 c c S u p ers port a nd S u p e r b i k e S e r ie s in Canada this season on Kawasakis . M artin Hamel , t he 1999 rooki e o f the year. will join W eichel on the team . Ca nadian Kawasaki has stepped up its prog ram fo r 200 1 and has moved into a new race shop . The team will be nun by Je ff C o rnelIo and suspension man Dale Rathw ell w ill also work on th e t eam . jo ini ng en g ine builder To ny Russell. Armando Magri , 87 , one of America 's premier racers of the 1930s. died o n April 22 . Magri started c ompeting in flat track and n races in 1935 and won twentytwo trophies in sta te and National competition before he jo ined the Amny in 1942. The Army hel d an enduro as a t rain ing exercise and M agri won th at , too . After the war, M agri ente red a few more race s befo re he hung up his rac ing sho e and bou gh t Harley -D avi dson of Sac ram ent o (C alifo rnia) in 1950 . He ran the dealership until he reti red in 1983. M agr i spent his reti rem ent res toring v int ag e Harleys . spo rtfis hing and traveli ng and he wa s an active member o f the Fort Sutter Chapter o f the Antique Motorcycle Club of America . M agri is survived by his wife , Lou . his children and his bro ther. The family ask s that donations be mad e in his name to the American Lung As so ciation , 909 12th St .. Sac ramento, CA 95 8 14. tires. For more information, see your local dealer or call 800/6 24-7470. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Motorcycle City in Las Vegas, Nevada. on May 4 fro m 7 to 8 p.m. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki' s Ricky Carmichael and Stephane Roncada are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 480/ 367-9845. HIRED: Daniel Bush, by Rick Petersen Motor Sports, effective immediately. Bush most recently worlked as Dirt Rider magazine's shop foreman. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Fairfield Cycle Center in Fairfield, Califorma. on May 3 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Team Yoshimura Suzuki' s Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Jamie Hacking are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 707/4 32-1660. MARRIED: Advanstar Communications National Sales Manager Eileen • Cunningham to Terry Oldroyd on March 26, on the island of Maui. in Hawaii. ..... .. .. ... ... .......... .... .............. ..... .... ................ ... ......... ... .... .. .... ......... .. .................... ...... ...... c ue I e A nti-dopin g co ntrols we re carried ou t at the Japanese Grand Prix, held on April 8, wi th all of the followin g riders bein g tested and cleared : M asao Az uma , An g e l N ieto Jr.. M anue l Pogg iali , Valentino Ross i, Kenny Roberts Jr. a nd Shi nya Nakano. - - - - -- - Continued on page 104 n e vv s MAY 9 .2001 3 o o o o o 8 ,..., I '-.-J ,......, ~ I ........ '~l ..J o o o o fl w ,......, J I w J o o o o o n