Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2001 06 20

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/128109

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o o o c o [) o o o o o o o o o o A d a m Raga (G-G ) and D o u g i e La m pkin (Mon) trad ed wins at the FIM World Championship Trials round held in G o ld e nd ale , Wash ington , Ju ne 9 -10. Raga sco red the win on Saturday , wh ile Lamp kin came back to w in on S unday . Saturday' s event came down to the w ire , w ith bo th Raga and Lam pk in dropping 20 po ints each, but Raga nipped Lampkin on the tie-break er by havinq one more clean th an Lamp kin. Taking third on Sat urd ay w as T akani sa Fujina mi ( Ho n) , fol lowed by Ma r c Freix a ( S he ) and A lb e rt C a bestany (Bell. On Sunday , Lampkin was in a class all his own. The rider from Great Britain dropped just four po ints all day, beating Fuj inarn i by 13 point s . T hi r d p la ce went to S p a in ' s A lb e rt Cabest a ny (Bet) , foll owed by Raga. After five of nine rou nds , Lampkin leads the series w ith 187 po ints , followed by Fujinami wi th 152 and Freixa with 137 . The Castrol S uzuki team of Christian Lavielle/ B rian Morrison /Laurent B rian , w on the S ix H o u rs of B rand s H at c h , round two of the 2001 W o rld Endurance Champ ions h ip , o n June 9 in B ra nd s Hatch, England . The Su zuki GSX-R1000 tea m bes ted a second Suzuki team, the Zongshen Team of S t e p ha ne M ert ens/N owland , with a third S uzuki finishing thi rd . The team of J erman/Bos sche rode the third-place finishing Suzuki. o o Owen Weichel (Kaw) scored his firsteve r Part s C anad a S uperbike C hampio nship v ict o ry in at a we t Race C ity M oto r spo rt s Par k in C alga ry , Al be rt a , C anada , on J une 10 . 'll(ei ch e l to pp ed Jean-Francois Cyr (Yam) and Fran· cis Martin (Suz ) in the race and the w in moved him to the top of the series po ints stan dings with 106 po ints, 10 mo re than fo urth -p lace f in ishe r Steve Crevier (Ho n). W eic hel also w on the 600 cc Sp ort B ike c las s , t o pp ing C y r a nd Clint McBain (Su z). Frank Trombino (Yam) w on the O pen Spo rt Bike race . o o o o o ~ Mike Lafferty (KTM) exte nded his lead in t h e F M F Nat ion a l C ha m p io n s h i p 8i?J[jj)i?JfJ O O C C C I O O O O O O O O o o Yamaha racing director Larry Griffis has announced his reti rement, effective June 22. Griffis' Yamaha career spanned 23 years. including a two-year stint with the Yamaha Service group and 2 1 years with Yamaha Racin g. "The timing is right for me and I am confident that Yama ha' s racing staff will give the best possib le effort to keep the 'b lue' motorcycles up front," Griffis said in a release issued by Yam aha. "I am also thankful for the privileges and opportunities presented to me in helping to guide the racing department into the successful and com petent team that it has become. " Griffis says he'll spend his reti rement with his wife, ki ds, and nine grandchildren, as well as work on some hom e projects, inclu ding two 1960s m uscle-car restorations. When asked to name his career hig hligh ts, Griffi s said: "There was something memo rable every yea r we were racing - even when we weren't winni ng . However, I' m really proud of Doug Henry ' s 1998 Natio nal Championship title win on the four-stroke YZ400 F. Tha t was something specia l." During Griffis ' career, he's worked with many of motorcycl e racing' s greates t ch am pio ns, in cluding motocrossers Bob Hann ah , Mike Bell , Broc Glover , Dou g Henr y , Jer em y Mc Grat h, Damon Bradshaw, Doug Dubach, Jeff Em ig, John Dowd , Kevin Windham , and Yamaha 's tw o curre nt Supercross/Mot ocross rid er s David Vuille min and Tim Ferry . In additio n to the off- roa d riders , Griffi s worked with road racers Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Jim Fili ce, Jo hn Kocins k i, David Sadowsk i, Th oma s Stevens, Jami e James, Colin Edwards, Rich Oliver, Tom Kipp , Scott Russell, and Yamaha's current riders - Anthony Gobert and Tommy Hayden. Al ong the way, Griffi s developed man y a wor king relationship. Am ong those was the one with Terry Vance, with Vance & Hines runnin g Yamaha's road raci ng program for several years. "I read with interest about Larry retiring ," Van ce said in an e-mail to Cycle News . "Did you know that Vance & Hines would never have had the chance to go factory road racing if not for Larry? He was the one responsible for bringing V&H and Yamaha together in 1990. And he did it against a lot of opposition. So I have always figured I owed Larry in a big way for having the faith in my company to repEnd u ro S e r ie s po ints s tand ings wi th anot her vic tory at t he Wellston , O hio , round on J une 10 , where he beste d Robbie Jenks (Yam) . Fred H o e ss (Hus) too k thi rd, w ith Matt Stavish (GG) and Randy Hawkins (Yam) com pleting the top five overall. N ot far fro m Goldendale in W ashou gal, Wa shington . the third rou nd of the Part s Un li mit ed W orld O ff-R o ad Ch ampi on s S erie s w a s he ld , and t w o -t i m e A MA N at ion a l H are & H o u n d C h a mpi o n and sent it bac k to the lower court to cor rect mi sta kes in several areas. "A new trial in the case was scheduled to take place in July , but the two sides reached a settlement agreement Jun e 7 that ends the litigation and resolves the disputes between them. Under the terms of the settlement, the AMA has agreed to pay Edmondson $3 million. "This agreement concl udes a case that was based on business dealings that took place many years ago," said Rick Gray . chairman 2 J UN E 20, 2 00 1 • Destry Abbott (Kaw) came away w ith the win . Fin ishing a close second w as S teve Hatch (Suz) , w hile Gran d N ational Cros s C o unt ry C ha mp ion ship lea de r Rodney Smith (S uz) took t hird, Brian Garrahan (KTM) claimed fou rt h, and series leader go ing into the eve nt Mike Kiedrowski (Suz) to ok fifth . Russ ell Pe arwon (Y am), Pat Garrah an (KTM) , Kurt C asell i (Yam ) and S c ott Mye r s (KTM ) fin ish ed s ixth t h r o ugh n i nt h . Ro und ing o ut th e t o p 10 w a s S han e W atts' ( KTM) , w ho c a me from be hi nd § @}UiJD@ [JD@}r;s@ @@)Jf10@ [JD Th e AMA has agreed to pa y former road race manager Rog er Edmondson $3 mill ion in an out-c;>f-court settlement t~ end his.IawSUIt agamst the AMA, the AMA said m a press release Issued Fnday , Jun"e 8. The co'!'plete text of th,: AMA press ~elease reads as foll ows: The Americ an Motorcyclist A ssociation (AMA) and Roger Edm ondson have ,agreed te:' an out-o f-court sett leme nt m a case reg~rdmg the AMA s professlo~al road -racmg progr am. . . . Th e ong mal lawsuit, file~ In 1996, arose from the termmatio n m 1994 of contracts under which Edmondson functioned as manager for the AMA's national champi onship reed -racing series and administrator for several classes incl uded in that series. At the time of his departure from those positi ons, the AMA entered into negotiations with Edm ondson and made a financia l offer to terminate the relationship. "Those negotiati ons were unsuccessful, and Edmondson ultirnately formed the North Am erican Sport Bike series. signing contracts with several racetracks that had previously hosted AMA road races. Subsequent ly . mo st of those racetracks term ina ted those contracts and returned to the AMA schedule. " Edmo ndson then sued the AMA, allegi ng that the Association had i n~erfered with his racing program. In 1998, h.e received a judgm ent m feder al court m North Caroli na In which the AMA was ordered to pay dama ges th at, with interest and attorn~y fees, would total well m excess of $3 million . The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of A I ' R' h d V' . . b tl . d th t li ppea s In IC mono, rrgrrua, su sequen y revrewe a ru mg c u e • e n e - s resent Yamaha . A s you know, Larry is not your normal guy . He's never in a bad mo od and he's alw ays got a pos it ive attitude. I believe that I have never worked with anyone tha t treated me better than Larry . I hope his reti remen t is filled with happiness . He definitely brought plenty to everyone at V&H. " [l,CfJ~[lf]!JrJ of the AMA Board of Trustees. "As we looked ahead to the prospect of a third legal review of this matter, we decided to make a very difficult decision and bring this litigati on to a cl ose. "Our efforts to settle thi s matter when it first arose were unsuc cessful and resulted in the lawsuit, " Gray added. "The amoun t we have offered in settle ment, though large, is substantially less than that which was originally awarded, when interest, counsel fees and the portion of the judgment affirmed on appeal are factored in. Mov. f d f thi ttl t th AMA ' ta ff d t t '11 mg .orwar rom IS se. ernen,. ~ 5 S . an rus ees. WI . contmue to !ulfill our pnm ary rrussion - pro tectmg m otorcyclists nght to ride. "The entire amount of the original judgment and inte rest was budgeted by the Associat ion and set aside when the original ruling was handed down . Since then, the AMA 's Board of Trustees has continued to review and revise policies co ncerning the way the Association enters into contracts with those providing serv ices. "Through thi s protracted litigation. the AMA 's trustees and staff have resolved to continue their work to protect the Association from situat ions like this," said Gray. "In todey's litigious cli mate , it's virtu ally im possible to avoi d lawsuits, but the A ssoci at ion has taken steps to guard against a recurrence." "While the case has continued, the AMA has moved forward with its .. . . . . . competi tion program, creating a professlonel racing subsidiary under th di ti f t boa d I II f f racl th A . ti e tree on 0 a separa e . r . na ?rms 0 racm q, e SSOCl3 Ion has attracted new sponsors, Increased nder payouts, expanded the fan bas; a~d substa nti~ lIy upgraded television coverage. . This new subsidiary has allo wed the AMA, under the leadership of President Robert Rasor, to focus on its mission of protecting m otorcycl ists' right to ride, while AMA Pro Raci ng has expanded op portuni ties for racers. tea ms , promoters and fans involved in motorcycle competition," Gray conclu ded. afte r he crashed off the start, bent his b ike and inj u re d his thu m b ( po ssi bly breaking ill. Afte r t hree events, Abbott now unofficially leads Kiedrowski by o ne poi nt . Speaking of the World Off·Road Championships Series , c ha nges have bee n made to its 2001 schedule. The ne xt ro und - ro und four - at M am moth Lake s , Califo rni a , o n S ep tembe r 15-16, has been cancelled , but has been rep laced by the Las V egas round , which w as o rigi nally sc heduled for September 1-2 . Ro und five w ill be he ld in O regon, N ovember 3-4 , and the final ro und w ill be held in Laughlin , N evada, D ecem ber 8-9 . C y c le S t uff w ill pe hol ding an FMF demo day from 10:00 a.m. to 5 :00 p.m. at the Jack Fro st facil ity on Ju ly 4 in Poc o no . Pe nnsy lvania , where you c an br ing you r bike or quad and have staff boit on the FMF pipe of your choice fo r a free trial. Pipes sold at the track that day w ill be spec ially priced and come with a free T-sh irt and a no -charge pass for yo ur ne xt vis it to Jack Frost. RRP 's Ty Wal lace w ill also be hold ing a riding sc hool on site from 10:00 a.m . to 3:00 p .m ., at a co st o f $130 Cinclud ing gate fee ). Can non dale will also be on site with a demo qu ad and moto rcycle , and Sidi wi ll be • offering demo ride s in th eir new Force boot. Camping is ava ilable , and a band will be playing throughout the day. For more informat ion, call 908 /454-8730. Accordi ng t o www.nacnac .c orns Mike Koger, there is a chance that so me J e re my M cGrath m e morabilia (jerseys, e tc.) that wa s gi ven away or so ld at Southern Ca lif ornia' s C ompetition Park during the wee k of Jun e 1 wa s. from the per sonal collecti on of McG rath 's parents . The McGrath s had so me irreplac eable items Cincluding bicycles and mot o rcycles)

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