Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

c o ~ James Stewart (Kaw) broke Ricky Carmichael's Loretta Lynn's Amateur National Motocross Championship record by scoring his 10th and 11 th titles at the 20th Annual Hurricane Mills event August 8-11. Stewart won the 125cc Schoolboy (12-15) Modified and 125cc A divisions, topping all six of his motos for a record-setting 23-straight Loretta Lynn's moto wins (Kevin Windham's mark was 18 moto wins between 1992 and 94). Other big winners included Mike Alessi (Vam) in the 85cc Modified (9-13) division, Andrew Short (Kaw) in, 125cc Pro Sport, Broc Hepler (Suz) in 85cc (14-15) Modified, Joshua Woods (Kaw) in 250cc Open A Pro Sport, Stefy Bau (Hon) in the Women's division, Jason Lawrence (Kaw) in 85cc Stock <12-13), and Steve Mertens (Vam) in 250cc/Open A. Also of note was former mountain-bike World Champion John Tomac's win in the Vet BIC division (son Eli also won a moto in Pee Wee racing), All together, 1344 riders competed in 32 championship classes, with more than 13,000 attempting to qualify at the area and regional level. special stage, A medical helicopter arrived quickly at the scene, but Deacon had already passed. He was 77 miles out from Palmyra, Syria, and it is thought the bike flipped at high speed. Deacon was a 10:time British Four-Stroke Enduro Champion and nine-time ISDE gold medallist, In 1994, he was overall British Enduro Champion. In 1995, he was 13th in the Tunisia Rally, and in 1997, he was 17th in the Paris-Dakar and seventh in the Atlas Rally, The foltOWing year saw him finish eighth in the Paris-Dakar and he was sixth in 1999, This year he was sixth in the ParisDakar, becoming the first Brit to win a stage in the event. BMW's motorcycle manager Dave Taylor told Motor Cycle News: "It is a tragic loss, I feel most for John's family and my heart goes out to his wife and two children, John has been part of the BMW family for several years. He was a remarkable man who craved adventure and loved racing. He exuded talent and charisma and is a true legend of the motorcycle industry. He will always be remembered." o o o o o 8 o o o J o o o The Formula USA dirt track event scheduled at Black Hills Speedway in South Dakota on Aguust 8 was cancelled due to torrential rainfall that began at 3 p.m. and continued well into the evening. At 7:30 p.m .. Formula USA race management officially canceled the event as standing water continued to build and thundershowers continued, according to a release from Formula USA. Since the majority of riders had existing plans to immediately travel to another dirt track competition beginning the follOWing weekend, no rain date or rescheduled race is planned, the release states. Fans holding Rapid City dirt track tickets have the opportunity to receive free tickets to next year's event along with free souvenir programs or can receive a full refund on this year's ticket. Ticket holders should send copies of their tickets along with their receipt (if they have ill and a clear return address to: Rapid City Refunds, c/o: Clear Channel Entertainment, 495 North Commons Drive #200, Aurora, IL 60504. If you wish to trade your tickets for the 2002 event. write "free tickets to 2002" on the letter Those fans will receive the According to Motocross des Nations team manager Roger DeCoster, the concussion suffered recently during a practice crash at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernadino, California, will prevent Ryan Hughes from joining Team USA at the Motocross des Nations in Belgium. Hughes will be replaced by Suzuki's Kevin Windham, DeCoster confirmed at Glen Helen Raceway on August 9. EieCoster also said that as of right now, Travis Pastrana is still planning on being part of the team, despite his recent battle with concussions, The team will now consist of Pastrana, Windham and Ricky Carmichael. ~ o o o o o o BMW factory off-road racer John Deacon was killed on August 8 during the Master Rallye in Syria, according to reports from England. The Brit. who was riding as a privateer in this event, was running in second on the seventh day of the rally on Wednesday when he was involved in an accident and died as a result of injuries sustained, England's Motor Cycle News is reporting, He is thought to have fallen heavily dunng a O O O O O o first choice of tickets before the 2002 event goes on sale, according to Formula USA, Refunds will be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis, and expected turnaround time is 2-4 weeks. Ticket refunds/trade requests must be postmarked by no later than September 15, 2001 to be valid. "We appreciate the support of the fans who patiently waited in the rain out there with our riders, teams and crew, Sometimes Mother Nature frowns on us, but we'll be back" said Mike Kidd, Vice President of Clear Channel Entertainment, Motor Sports. Formula USA dim track points standings prior to Rapid City will carry over to the next Drag Specialties National Dirt Track event in Vancouver, British Columbia, on August 25. HMC Ducati's Scott Russell completed two days of testing at Virginia International Raceway, August 6-7, his first outing on a road racer since he was seriously injured in the startline melee in the Daytona 200 in March, "I'm happy," Russell said on August 8 while en route to his home in Georgia, "Man, to get back on it and get right back in the groove, you don't know how good that felt. Physically, I don't feel good, but mentally it did me a lot of good." Russell faced two problems in riding the bike again. The biggest was weakness in his badly broken left arm and in his upper body. The second was a left foot that still isn't right, "My left arm was idle for so long," Russell said. "So that's pretty weak and so is my upper body on the left side. Braking into corners and turning the bike into lefts was a lot more work than it should have been, And I've got hardly any feeling in my left foot. so shifting it is a bit of a chore, It's just a bunch of little things that you normally don't think about. But it was great to ride again and to know that the physical stuff is the only thing holding me back. I thought it was over for me in raCing. Mentally it was tough, I was lying there [at Daytona] and I was falling apart, It's easy to think the worst. and I did." The test has given Russell the motivation he needs to move on. He says the first thing he's doing when he gets home is head to the gym. He will then travel to Colorado to train and will take part in practice sessions at the Pikes Pr,ak National, August 24-26, but won't r.ace. The return to racing will come at Virginia International Raceway on Septe~ber 30. "I plan on staying on a motor\::ycle as much as I can," Russelr said. "1 had no rehab before this because I just wasn't able to. I'm headed to the gym a,lid I'm going to get in shape, get the cardio going. I also plan on riding at Kevin rSchwantz'sl school this weekend [at Road Atlantal. I'm going to Colorado to train with Cameron [G ray - of Speedvision Productions~ and I'll practice at Pikes. Then it's back to the gym. I'll skip Willow and race at VIR - that's my whole goal. I rode one day at my house and it triggered all of this. I want to go race," Remarkably, Russell lapped at 1:29,2 with the other factory testers, notably Nicky Hayden and Eric Bostrom, lapping in the high 1:26 range, The Georgian also completed some 50 laps. Kawasaki's Doug Chandler was also at the test in Virginia, and he came away with good impressions of the facility that will host the final round of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U,S. Superbike Series on September 30. "It's all right," Chandler said of the 2.4-mile course. "There's a lot of corners, but it's real safe. It's a bit narrow and with a lot of turns there's not a lot of places to pass, but it's a good track and it's a lot of fun." The biggest complaint from Chandler was the oppressive heat in the Danville area. "It was smokin' hot," Chandler said, Chandler, who is already in the Colorado Springs area of Colorado with his family in preparation for the National there on August 26, also came away impressed with the efforts of Russell in his return to action, "He looked really good," Chandler said of Russell. "He did good and he had fun, He really put it together and did some pretty good laps. It was good to see." The chairman and CEO of PJH Brands, P.J. Harvey, was injured on August 6 while riding his prized Jim Nasi custom Harley Fat Boy at the 2001 Sturgis Bike Rally, held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, according to a press release from his company, Harvey was attending the event with friends Jeff Fox, President of LeMans Corporation, and three- ~ ~QJ[illO)(B[?------~o o o o o o o o o o 2 AUGUST 22,2001 • c u e • e n e _ so

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