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/128111
Mike Lafferty (KTM) won his sixth consecutive AMA National Enduro in West Greenwich. Rhode Island. on June 24. Lafferty has won every round so far this season. Finishing second was Randy Hawkins (Yam). followed by Jim Price (KTM), Eric McEchern (CRE) and Fred Hoess (Hus). Lafferty now has an 80-point lead in the nineround AMA/FMF National Enduro Series. The defending champ has 180 points to Hawkins' 100. Hoess is third with 98. followed by Matt Stabvish (GG) with 88. Steve Hengeveld and Jonah Street (Hon) teamed up to win the Best in the Desert Tonopah 300 in Tonopah. Nevada. June 24. with Shane Esposito and Andy Grider (Kaw) taking second. Rounding out the podium despite a hard crash was the team of Johnny Campbell and Tim Staab (Hon). Defending 540 and 800cc National Champion David Watson (Hon) put together two impressive first-round rides to rack up his second 540/800cc sweep of the 2001 AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series. this one coming in round five in Nashville. Indiana. Watson took the 540cc win over Chad Disbennet (Tri) with Phil Libhart (Tri) finishing third. Ubhart finished second in the 800cc class with Tiger Strank (Yam) taking third. Jeff Fredette (Kaw) captured the overall win at the Spring Creek GP 100 round of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Series in Spring Creek. Missouri. June 24. Joey Ambersini (G-G) was the runner-up. while Jack Lane (Suz). Kyle Nelson (KTM) and David Stickel (KTM) rounded out the top five overall. Jim Holley was the big winner in the Yamaha Race of Champions that was held in conjunction with the Vintage Iron World Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. California. March 23-24. The event featured a fourmota format over the course of the weekend. and each participant was required to rotate on Yamaha's YZ125. YZ250. YZ250F and YZ426F motorcycles. Holley won two motos. while Marty Smith and Broc Glover each Apparently already intent upon preparing for next year's supercross series, eight-time National Supercross/Motocross Champion Jeremy McGrath interrupted his summer "vacation" to contest the 34th annual Mammoth Mountain Motocross in Mammoth Lakes, California, June 21-24. With a full outfit of Yamaha MX equipment, the Mazda Yamaha rider was hoping to pull the Mammoth Sweep - but it wasn't to be. In Friday's Open Pro class, McGrath was knocked down on the first lap and had to race his YZ426F from dead last in only 10 laps. He made it as far as fourth before the checkers flew but suffered a flat tire on lap one of moto two and took a DNF. The win, via 1-) moto finishes, went to White Brothers Yamaha's Doug Dubach, who also won the Vet Pro class the day before. His teammate Spud Walters finished second with 2-2 finishes, while equally consistent Nathan Woods finished 3-3 for third on another Yamaha. Saturday's 125cc Pro racing was all McGrath. Despite a poor gate pick resulting in an extremely poor start in his qualifier, McGrath still vaulted his YZ250F into the lead and an uncontested win. In the main event, McGrath started around fourth, but he passed holeshot artist Dubach for the lead before the end of the first lap and was never headed. Dubach finished second, while Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/SplitFire's Andrew Short raced to third overall, first two-stroke. won a moto. The rider's total combined scores determined the overall winner. Finishing second overall was defending YROC champ Glover, while Smith took third. Fourth overall went to Ron Lechien. followed by Jim Gibson. Mark Barnett. Georges Jobe, Kent Howerton, Marty Moates and Tommy Croft. Former Supercross Champion Mike Bell and three-time National MX Champion Gary Jones got banged up in a first-turn crash during the second mota of the Yamaha Race of Champions. Jones suffered a dislocated shoulder but was able to continue and finish out the weekend's racing. but Bell wasn't so lucky. Even though Bell made the restart. he eventually pulled out of the race with what was later diagnosed as a broken leg. "Preliminary report from the E. R. on Saturday was a fracture near the left ankle." Bell said on Monday, June 25. "I will go to see my orthopedic doctor today or tomorrow for treatment. It's very swollen and still quite painful." Former GP motocrosser Jim Pomeroy filled in for the injured Bell. J J J J In the weekend's finale, the 250cc Pro-class main event, both Dubach and McGrath botched their starts and had to work their way up. McGrath made quick work of his competitors aboard his familiar YZ250 and soon took the lead, which he held ahead of Dubach at the finish. Steve Mertens was third on a Yamaha. n LJ 3 J Steve Cox "l Yamaha test rider John Kocinski is recovering well after successful surgery to repair a broken lower left arm on June 22. which he sustained in a crash during testing of the YZR-M 1 in Barcelona. Spain, on June 21. according to a release issued by Yamaha. Kocinski had almost completed the third and final day of testing when the accident took place. in which water leaked onto the rear tire from a split hose in the cooling system. The attending surgeon reported that the operation passed without complication and that Kocinski should be fit to return to testing in approximately one month. ing. on and off the track. according to a release from Red Bull. "It's great to be taken in under the wings of the Red Bull family, and to become one of their athletes," Bostrom said in the release. ''I've been a big fan of theirs for several years now. and it always gets me fired up when I drink it." The sponsorship will also provide Bostrom with the opportunity to cross-train with other Red Bull athletes from time to time. Ducati has announced that its major team sponsor, Infostrada, has signed on as title sponsor for three more years of World Superbike racing. Since the current three-year deal started in 1999. Ducati and Infostrada have finished on the podium 56 times in 65 races, with team riders picking up a total of 20 wins. "Infostrada is a telecommunications company that has chosen to be a pro· tagonist wherever sport unites people, because this world arouses the passion of our target public: young. dynamic and open to innovation." said Riccardo Ruggiero. Infostrada Managing Director in a Ducati press release. "We are very Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom has announced that that Red Bull North America has signed on as his personal sponsor for the remainder of the 2001 racing season. The sponsorship will see Bostrom sporting a new. custom-painted Red Bull helmet at all road racing events, beginning with the upcoming Laguna Seca AMA and Wdrld Superbike rounds. The sponsorship will also provide Red Bull's newest athlete with enough product to fuel his intense train- cue I e n e _ S • JULY 4. 2001 1