Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2001 05 30

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/128106

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8 o o Rod ney S m it h (Suz) capt ured ro und seven of the Grand Nati onal C ro ss Country Series, the W ildem ess Pro GN CC , in C lark sb ur g. W est Vi rgi nia, on M ay 20. Fred Andrews ( Ka w) an d S mith ' s teammate Steve Hatch roun ded out the pod ium. Followin g his sixth-place finish. Shane W att s now trails Smith by 29 in t he series poin t s st andi ngs , 17 5 - 146, with six rounds remaining. o o o o f%@[f)J]Jv[ffJD ffJ@[):;{J@[f);=..o Those in attendance at the Big Kahuna Nationals at Road Atlanta on May 19 may not have been aware that the Kawasaki running around the racetrack wearing #143 belongs to AMA Grand National Cham pion Joe Kopp . A visit to his pit area. however. revealed little in the way of fanfare for the man who is currently the number-one-ranked dirt-track racer in the country . Already successful in many of the hybrid super motard events that he has ridden. Kopp was on hand to learn more about road racing. In fact. the Big Kahuna Nationals mark ed Kopp's first-ever road race. though he didn't actually compete. The Mica, Washington, resident did sign up for both the 600 and 750c c Supersport classes. but for just one reason - to get some track time. Fresh off hi s att endance at th e Kevin Schw antz road racing school on Wednesday, Kopp was all smiles as he went about the business of leami ng how to road race. "I'm having a blast, actually ," Kopp said. "I' ve been wanting to try it for a few years. I almost went road racing in '98, but I found a dirt-track sponsor and stuck it out. Th is is my very first road race. I did Kevin's school and it helped a lot. Everything I know about road racing. I leamed that day. I j ust need to get some seat time. I'm not going to race, because as a racer I'd end up pushing it to a level that I don't need to push to right now." Kopp rode an ex-Eric Wood Kawasaki with sponsorship from his dirt track sponsor Darryl Jones, the owner of Jones Powersports in Missiouri. He picked the bik e up the Tuesday before the Big Kahuna, drove to Atl anta and took part in the school. "I' m not really comfort able with the bike yet," Kopp said. "I'm not pushing it hard enough to slide it much, and that' s probably when I'd start feeling more comfortable. My goal was to come out Dougie La mpkin (Me n) finally lo st a round o f the 200 1 W orld C hampionship Trials Series . finishing sixt h on the fi rst day of the Mons, Belgium, sto p that took place M ay 19-20 . Ta ka hisa Fujina mi scored the win. with Adam Rag a (G -G) second and Marc Freixa (Sh e) third . Lamp kin rebo unde d w ith a day-tw o w in ov er Freixa and Fujinami. 8 8 o o o o o o Steve Crevier (Hen) co mplete d a perfect we ekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park with a flaq-to- flaq wi n in the opening ro und of th e Part s C an ad a Superb ike C ha mpi on s h ip o n M ay 20 . Cre v ie r top ped Owen W eic h e l ( Kaw) w ith Francis Martin (Suz) completing the top three. Crevier sta rted his day by winnin g t he 60 0c c Spo rt Bike final. aga in topping Weich el with J e an ·Fra ncois C yr (Ya m) f inish ing t hird. The O pe n S po rt B ike c lass was won by F r ank Trombino (Yam) over J eH W illia m s (Hon) and Michael T aylor (Hon), 8 o o David Watson (Hon) conti nued to roll in th e 200 1 AMA Nat ional Ch amp ion ship Hillclimb Series. taking his second straight win in round tw o of the series Middlebury. Indiana. o n M ay 20 . Wa tso n beat T im FreidhoH (Hon) and Phil Libhart ITri) to win the 540cc class , but w as beaten by Bo bby T e mpleton (H-Dl in the BOOcc class. W atson, how ever, still managed to finish second in the big-bore class , with Mark Swem (BSA) taking third. o o o o o o o o o o Att ac k Racing' s Jason Pridmore is in an At lanta hospital aw ait ing more X-rays on the injuries he suffered in a Formu la Xtre me cras h on Sat urday , Ma y 19 at Ro ad A tl ant a in B raselt on, G eo rgia. A groggy Pridm or e said on M onday. M ay 21 th at although reports circu lat ed that t he injury was to t he same leg t hat he has broken twice befor e. that' s not th e case. " This tim e it' s my left leg ," Prid .. mo re said. ' There are a lot of rumor s out t here. I didn't get run over and the break wasn 't compound.' Pridmore's left tibula/fibula area near the ankle is broken in " five or six places . " " I' m waiting fo r them t o bring d o w n a mob ile X- ray mac hine and t hey are going to X-ray my ha nd and co llarbone, " Pr idmo re sa id . " I'v e been sleeping most of the day and we 're going to t ry and get hold of rScottl Russe ll' s surgeo n. I' ll be havinq surg ery , but they have to wait for t he swe lling to go down. " Ronnie Brown (W · R) won the O pen Pr o cl a s s at r ou nd t hre e of G ene Romero's E-moola.com W est Coast Flat Trac k Series at Kings Speedw ay in Hanfor d . C ali f o rn ia , o n M ay 19 . J oh n Hlebo III (RW was second, with Don· nie Harrell (RW third. Rick Hocking (Yam) w on the Op en Vintage class. wit h Brad Spencer (Yam) second. and Harrell (T rt) t hird aga in. C hris Ca nepa (Yam) topped Josh Ritchie (Yam) and Daniel Brown (Y am ) in t he 25 0 c c Novice class. Eddie Mulder's West Coast V in tage Dirt T rack Series 200 1 sched- _ here and drag a knee and I've done that. I think one of my problems is I need to get off the seat a bit more." • Kopp got plent y of advice over the week end. In add iti on to Schwantz, Nicky Hayd en and Eri c Bostr om - both dirt-t rack ers themselves - helped Kopp adapt what he already knew to make an easier transition onto pavem ent. "I'd much rather be at a club race," Kopp said when asked about the harrowing experience of riding on the same track as the fastest 600cc Supersport riders in the country. "My first race isn't going to be at a National · that's for sure." Kopp goes back to his day jo b Memorial Day Weekend when he takes part in the Springfield Grand National doubleheader in Illinois. ule has just been re lease d a nd will incl ude two vintage miles this year: the C al Expo State Fairground s in Sacrarnento . Califom ia. S ept ember 16 and the Del M ar Fairground s in Del Mar. California . O ctober 6. Both w ill be held in conjunction wit h SFX National Dirt Track Series eve nts. A d ditiona lly . two new ve nues have been added : the Paso Robles Short Track, Se ptemb er 2. in the middle of the C alifo rn ia M id- S t at e Rally Lab o r D ay we ek end; and two da ys raci ng at th e W e stern Id aho Fairgroun d s in Bo is e , Idaho. The Boise even t w ill be rUQ in conj un ctio n wi th a motorcyc le show and swa p meet. The fir st even t of th e se ries is again t he biggest West Coast V intage race at the V entura Cou nty Fairground s in V ent ura, C alifornia on J une 30, and the series ends Oct 13-14 w ith races at W illow Spri ngs International Racew ay in Rosamond. Califomia. As a fundra iser to aid in it s que st to help inj u re d mo to rcyc lists , t he Wegman Benefit Fund is raffling a new 2001 Yamaha TIR-125L. t he drawing for wh ich w ill be held at the 15th A nnual W egm an Fund auct ion on Sat urday Ju ly 7, 2001 . at Black hawk Farms Racew ay in Rockton, Illinois. Tic ket s may be pu rchas ed . $5 each or six fo r $ 25 , by sending a check or money order/bank draft (p refe rre d) payable to: W egman Benefit Fund. 3741 S . 7 1 S tre e t . M ilw au ke e. W I 5 32 20 1814. Please print clea rly and incl ude your na m e . add re ss, p ho n e nu mb er , email address and age . Due to shipping co nstraints. tickets are available to res ident s of the continen t al U .S . only . All tic ket requests by mail must be received no later than midnight , Sat urday J une 30, 200 1. The w inner will be notified as soon as po ssible afte r July B. 2001. The Yamaha ITR-l 25L was d isco unt ed for the W egma n Fund by Port Yamaha W est in Germa ntown . W isc on sin . The secon d prize is being prov ided by Torque Center in N ew B e rl in, W I. Seco nd an d th ird prize s will be announced in the next wee k and po sted on t he fo llowing w eb site : www.wegmanfu nd.org . S p e e d w ay f an s , t he o n ly rea so n for W ednesday night s is bac k! For the first t ime s i nc e t he old Inland Mo to rcycl e S pe edw ay closed its doo rs. class A speedway w ill have a perman ent fac ility 8~(!J[ill[J)(B[?loo..-------- ~o c (J o 8 o 2 MAY 3 0 . 2001 • 0:: U 0:: • e n e _ s

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