Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

n the Orange Show Fa irgrounds in an Bern ard ino . C alifo rn ia . Un der th e anagement of reig ning U.S . Na tional peedw ay C hamp io n Charlie Ve negas ' ew venture. Edge Promotions. the faciliis scheduled to hold its spec ial seaso n pene r on Thursday. Ma y 24 at 8 p.m. fore reverting to its weekly Wednesday ight eve nts the reafter th ro ugh A ugus t g. W ith the remod eled C o st a M es a peedway experienc ing a renaissance in erms of both crowd co unt and enthusism. could it be that Southem Califomia peedway is exp e rie ncing a b it of a en a is s ance? The re o pen ing of S an erdoo seems to confirm just t hat. For or~ information . contact 909 /888-678 8 r 909/ 883-1414 . pea king of speedway. Ken Maely's peedway/flat track training faci!- ' ity in C orona, Ca lifom ia. will be clo sed rom June 4 through June 30 . as the Hot Shoe M an is - taking a break: Also. no shoe orders will be filled between Ju ne 4 nd June 30 . For more informa tion, call / 277-8989. Bruno Cavalieri Ducati , 96 . the last surviving founder of the motorcycle com pany that bears the family name. died on Monday. M ay 14 in lspra , Italy. He was the author of t he 1991 - H i s tory o f Ducati, " a book about the company. An arch itect. · D ucati des igned the factory where he and brothers Adriano and Marcelia st art ed buildtnq condensers and rad io equ ipment in 193 5 . After All ied bombs des tro yed the plant in World W ar II. they swit ched to motorcycles. Several riders tested the new Spr ingfi el d TT r ec en t ly . i nc lud ing Gra nd Nat io nal sta rs J o hnny M urphree and Steve Beatti e. in preparat ion for the Illinois M ot o rcycl e D ealer s As sociation ' s AMA Prog ressive Insurance Flat Track Natio na l C ham pio nsh ip doub leheader . May 26-27 . The track is located at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Rodeo Aren a that play ed ho s t fo r last years Labo r D ay wee ke nd 's N at io nal S ho rt Track tha t rec ei ved rav e reviews and produ ced incredible racing. The TT track uses more than half of last year' s short track wi th the IM DA adding several new sections , incl udi ng an ext ended front straigh t. a perf ect horseshoe com er. a tig ht S corner combi nation . a chicane and two tricky jumps. " I love the track." Murphree said after putting in a number of hot laps on his 600 . "It' s a lot of fun to ride. this is going to be a real racy track. I am ready to race on it." " Th e j umps are pretty neat. especially the big one. " said Beattie. who also tested the t rack. "It reminds me of the TT we ran at San Jose in 199 1 or '92. it was very technical. very tw isty tumy. I think this is going to be an excellent TT. " The Saturday night TT will be follow ed by the big one on Sunday. the legendary Springfield Mile Nat ional. It's a rare opport unity for fans to see National TT action and a M ile on the same weeken d . Tickets for bot h race s and ha lfpriced kids tickets for the TT are available for bot h races at partici pating IMDA deal.ers, at www.illinoismda.com or by calling 217 /753-8866 . "The TT National is going to be a great addit ion to the tra ditio nal M ay S pr ingfie ld Mil e wee ken d . " sa id Bruce Bober. AMA Dirt Track M anager. " Last fall' s S ho rt Track here was out standing and the TT pro mises to be just as goo d." The X-Treme Sportbike Associa ti on , or XSBA, has announced its formation and its first-ever freestyle sport bike performa nce and com pet ition. The XSBA will officially host and sanction invitational sport bike performances at select events around the county. The format will cons ist of up to 10 sport bike performance teams performing stopples , fifth -gear wheelies. crosses. surfers and more stunt s. Spectators will enjoy a j udged competition . showcasing expert riders competing for series po ints and event purse money. The first XSBA event will be held at the Pocono Cyclefest at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. August 25 -26. with The XTr e me S po r t B ik e Fr e e s t y le , XS BA Scene One , sp onsored by Vanson Leathers, Air-Tech and Motorcycle St reet and Strip Maqazine. Saturday's event will feature practi ce and qualifying on the front strai ght o f Pocono Raceway and Sunday 's performance will be the finals, with the winner tak ing home $1000 . Competition entry is $50 per rider for the weekend and that includes two admiss ion tickets to the Pocono Cyclefest Weekend . The com petition is by invitation only. and XSBA will selec t the first availa ble performers with valid expert experience. Riders and/or teams wis hing to compete must submit a performance resume and videota pe of live performance. Rules and regulations of the XSBA will be posted Metzeler has issued a press re lease touting its recent road racing succes s with the Rennsport radial. Acc ording to Metzeler, the DOT race radial broke two more tra ck records and set a th ird in just the five we ek s between Ap ril and the AMA Sears Point event on M ay 6. bringing the Hennsport 's total to 12 new outright trac k or lap records in less than a year since it s introduc tio n in the U.S. Ironically. both the April records fell at the hands of riders fro m a sin gle Metzeler-equippe d t eam. Shog un Motorsports' Paul Harrell broke the track reco rd at M otorsport s Ranch in C resson. Texas. at a C M RA event o n April 1. Three weeks later. his teammate J oe Prussiano br oke t he Texas W o rld Speedway track record on his Rennsportequipped Yamaha Rl in a CM RA race on Ap ril 22 - the same day that Harrell, and his Shogun R1. was winning the Formula US A Sport bike final at W illow Springs. Then. on M ay 5, Arcli ght Suzuki' s Brian Parriott gave the M etzeler tire its 12t h record for th e new Sears Point course while qualifying for the AMA 750cc Supersport final. a race he also won . A M A Pro Racing has announced an increase and restructuring of the champio ns hip-po int bo nus money awarded to moto cros s racers for the 2001 season . Thanks to t he National P r o mote rs G r o u p (N PGl, the promoting body of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross C hampio nship. the restructured system now awards bonus money to riders for champi onship points eamed at the close of each race, rather than at the end of the season. accordi ng to the AM A This policy applies to both the 125 and 250cc class es. and the 20 -percent increase in NPG funding b ring s t he seaso n's cha rnpi on sh ip-point bonu s to $ 24 0 .0 00 . W ith $360.000 in purse money also being distributed throughout the 12-race series, the season 's total fo r racing bon uses adds up to $600.000 . Add in the Chevy Truck s year-end bonus of $100.000 plus substantial Bonus Awards. and the grand total motocross fun d amo unts to $4.5 million. the A MA says . In the pas t. the NPG paid $ 20 0 .000 in championshippoint award payme nts at the end of the season . The NPG 's new method of payment increases the bonuses to $240 .000 and now recogn izes achievement at each . . .................................................... .... . ...... .......... .... .... . ...... .... . ...... . . . . .... .. .... .. .. . ...... . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . .. .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . "" . . . . . · · · · G eorgia. Two white males we re witnesse d pulling away from the resi- dence in a white pickup truck, possibly late a 1970s Chevy or GM. For more information, call 706/653-95B6 or e-mai aad44@aol.com. l CORRECTION: Our coverage of the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series round from Sears Point Raceway stated that Ted Sands is the father of race winner Roland Sands. Sands' father is Perry Sands, the owner of Performance Machine. Ted Sands is Roland's uncle. SIGNED: Former 500cc World Champ Kevin Schwantz to a contract ion with Joe Rocket Sportsgear. Schwantz will wear the Joe Rocket Speedmaster Pro race suit during his Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Riding School sess ions. STOLEN: A 2001 Yamaha VZ125(#JYACEO BC11A0069B9l on May 16 approxi a.m. ·....at. ...... ...... . mately. .11.:30...... . . .from. the. .home. of. Morris. .Foor. in. Columbus, . .... ...... . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . """ event. with racers rece iving their bonus checks at every stop along the way . So now in addition to the $1 5.000 in purse money pa id out per class afte r each event. racers in both class es also vie for an addit ion al $1 0 .000 in ch ampio nshi p bo nus e s . Bo t h pa youts brin g cash awards to a tota l of $5 0 .000 per event. There is still a prem ium for finishing the season in the top 20. as those riders will aga in rec ei v e an end- of-y ear champions hi p bon us f rom C hevy Truc k s o f $100.000. In addit ion to purse mon ey . riders als o be nefit fro m bon us awards approac hing $4 million. soon at the organizations official websi te at www.xsba.com . For more information, call 630 /966-9603 . O PEN ED : The updated version of Vance & Hines' home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http:// www.vanceandhines.com. LOST: At the Glen Helen National Motocross in San Bernardino. Califorma. on May 12. a silver Rolex Sea Dweller watch. The watch was lost near the top of the hill, and has both monetary and sentimental value. If you have any information. please call Answer Products' Buzz Truitt at 661/294 -4112. POSTED: $7B,000 in privateer contingency money in the 2001 National Motocross Series. by Niks Pro-X pistons. For more information, look for Niks Pro-X Pistons racer support van and racer representative Ted Heilbron at all of this year's Nationals. or call 562/6 93·2746 . '" c ue I e . .. A cc o rd ing t o Cy cle N ews co nt ribut o r Geoff Meyer, there is a possibilit y tha t the San Ma rino and Swiss rounds of the W orld Championship M otocross Series co uld be canceled . The t rack in San Marino has yet to be built. and it appears that it w ill not be done in time for its September 16 date. The Swiss Grand Prix. mea nwh ile . must revam p it s pad dock area to accommodate th e new t hreeclass forma t. and there is co ncem that the price of making these changes will far exceed the revenue the event is expected to bring in. The Swiss G P is scheduled for August 12. The FIM and Doma have not yet made an offici al announ cement about the tw o GPs in question. Wo rld Superbike riders Troy Ba yliss . Co li n Edwards and Ta dayu ki O k a d a all unoffic ia lly b roke the lap reco rd during the final day of a two-day test at the Misano circuit in Italy on May 16. according to a press release from the Castrol Honda team. Bayliss led the way wit h his lap of 1:35.65. " I felt really good her e to day , " Bayli s s sa id in a D ucati press release. "W e managed to get a lot of things sorted out for the M isano race and I'm look ing forw ard to coming here in June." Okada . in his first visit to the Adri· atic coastal circuit for eight years, was .3 of a second inside the lap record, set by Troy Corser in J une last year. W orld Champion Edwards. meanwhile, was .02 of a second faster and the RC51 -mounted pair believe they both made a lot of progress during the two days . "W e need· ed a test like t his and it' s worked perfec t , " O kada sai d . " The weather was kind to us and we w ere able to put in some good lap times and test some new Michelin tires. It's all been wo rt hwhile and I loo k forward to coming back here for the race next month .' Edwards commented: "This has probably been my best test of the year . W e were able to drastically change the machine set-up and we certainly found a good d irec t ion as far as that is concemed. It's put the whole team in a good mood for next week's six th round of the 'championship at Donington Par k . " C astrol Hon da' s W orld Superspo rt rider Chris Vermeulen was 1.1-seconds faster on Wed nesday than his best time on Tuesday. The 1s -yeer-cld missed out on beating the lap record by just .4 of a seco nd. The 5000-mile 2002 Alcan Rally will be held in August of 2002 and will mark the first time that motorcycles will be allowed to c o mpe te. The rally is a TS D (ti me. - - - - - - - Continued on page 108 e __ S • M AY 3D , 200 1 3 n 8 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o j 'l u n LJ o o o 8 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

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