Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Greg Hancock salvaged a disappointing Speedway Grand Prix season by winning the Grand Prix Challenge event in Slovenia on October 13. Hancock. who won the World Speedway Champi- AMA Pro Racing has released its 2002 Grand National numbers list, which features several additions and changes. Most notable among them is 2001 AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Champion Joe Kopp's number choice: The Washingtonian has decided to take the number 3, formerly occupied by three-time onship in 1997, guaranteed his place in the 2002 Grand Prix series after failing to finish in the top lOin the 2001 Grands Prix. Hancock finished second, AMA Grand National Champion Ricky Graham. Chris Carr, the 2002 champion, graduates back to number 1. and Jay Springsteen is number 9, with the remainder of the single-digit numbers being behind Lukas Dryml in the second semi-final. but rebounded to win the final J o ahead of Nicki Pedersen and Scott Nicholls. Dryml finished fourth. J reserved for past Grand National champions. Other interesting notes include Larry Pegram, who checks back in at 14, and Rookie of the Year Bryan Smith, who has taken the number 42, previously Chris Manchester earned his second held by the retired Steve Morehead. The late Will Davis retains Grand National number 21, as he scored more than enough points during the 2001 season to do so. career U.S. National Speedway Championship at Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on October 13. J 8 c The States of California and Pennsylvania are tied for the most numbers, with 10 each. Michigan is second, with mne, and Texas is third, with eight. Ohio has seven, Wisconsin has six. Manchester, who became the youngest rider ever to bag the title back in 1992, scored an upset victory over Josh Larsen in the four-lap National Final 1 Chris Carr Fleetwood, PA 3 Joe Kopp Mica, WA 9 Jay Springsteen Lapeer, Ml 10 Dan Stanley Bellingham, WA 11 Bryan Bigelow Au Gres, Ml 12 Jason Tyer Irving, TX 13 Chris Boone Goodlettsville, TN 14 Larry Pegram Baltimore,OH 15 Chris Evans St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada 16 Donnie Steward Burlington, lA 17 John Nickens UI Richmond, VA 18 Terry Poovey Euless, TX 19 Paul Lynch Street, MD 20 Johnny Murphree Paso Robles, CA 21 Will Davis Goldsboro, NC 22 Dan Butler Waterford, MI 23 Kevin Atherton White Pigeon, MI 24 Mike Varnes Birdsboro, PA 25 Rick Winsett Bainbridge, PA 26 Steve Beattie Burlington, Ontario, Canada 27 George Richtmeyer Delanson, NY 28 Shaun Russell San Jose, CA 29 Dale Jenneman Grand Island, NE 30 Dominic Beaulac Nicolet, Quebec, Canada 31 Kenny Coolbeth Warren, CT 32 Kyle Long Plainfield, IN, 33 J.R. Schnabel West Bend, WI 34 Roger Lee Hayden Owensboro, KY 35 Cory Roth Mansfield, OH 36 Robert Knapp Lapeer, MI 37 Gerry Booher Universal City, TX 38 Mike Meyer Little Rock. AR 39 Trenton Bailey Ottuma, IA 40 Georgie Price IV Sicklerville, NJ 41 Brett Landes Los Gatos, CA 42 Bryan Smith Flint, MI 43 Scott Deubler Oklahoma City, OK race. Larsen had entered the semis on a perfect score, and then won his semi to r -"I draw the pole for the National Final. Manchester - who had barely made it into the semis with a score of seven, also won, but was placed on the outside starting gate for the National Final. when u ,-.. LJ " d Larson, Mike Faria and Bart Bast tangled on the inside of tum one off the start - was able to sweep around the outSide and steal the win. Larson held on for second, with Faria third. Scott Brant was fourth, and Bast was fifth. c Destry Abbott (Kaw) scored the over- all win at the AMA National Hare & Hound at Lucerne Valley, California, on t o October 14. Abbott, who clinched this year's title at the previous round, finished ahead of 250cc-class winner Joey Lanza (Kaw). Third overall went o to Stevt? Hengeveld (Hon), followed by Paul Krause (KTM) a'nd Luca Trussardi (TM). o " Heavy rains in the Dayton/Oregonia, LJ Ohio, area forced the cancellation of the C final round of the 2001 AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series, scheduled for October 11. As the event will C o o o not be rescheduled, Jeff Thomas is the 2001 540cc Champion by three points over Phil Libhart. Walter "Tiger" Strank Jr. clinched the 800cc title at round 14, two weeks ago, Strank's teammate Gregory Thompson took the 800cc Rookie of the Year o c 44 Chris Hart Farmington, NY 45 Jim Sumner Grafton, WI 46 Steve Kasten Hatley, WI 47 Greg Tysor Cumming, GA 48 Sam Lowe Harrison, OH 49 Mark Witham Mark Witham 50 John Grant Georgetown, CA 51 Nate Wait Lcdi, CA 52 John Faulkner III GoreviUe, IL 53 Gary Rogers San Jose, CA 54 Rob Williams Davisburg, MI 55 Timmy Mitchell Wirt~, VA 56 Roy Miller New Holland, PA 57 Ken Yoder East Earl, PA 58 Greg Teague Duncanville, TX 59 Willie McCoy Richardson, TX 60 Tony Souza Stockton, CA 61 Shawn Clark Groton, NY 62 Josh Butler Matoon, IL 63 Robert Buffington Prairie du Chien, WI 64 Aaron Creamer Leominster, MA 65 Pat Buchanan White Lake, Ml 66 Geo Roeder II Moneroeville, OH 67 Mike Hacker Prince George, VA 68 Vacant 69 Nicky Hayden Owensboro, KY 70 John Hlebo III Los Gatos, CA 71 Yuhiko Hirao Japan 72 Steve Uberty Post Falls, lD 73 Brent Armbruster Mount Morris. MI 74 Brandon Cartwright Sapulpa, OK 75 Donnie Mullen Coatesville, PA 76 Victor McAnally Tulsa, OK 77 Scott Stump Warminster, PA 78 Scott Scherb Decatur. TX 79 Vacant 80 Rich King Dysart,lA 81 James Hart Sandoval, IL 82 Brian Thomas Belleville, IL Centralia, IL 83 Paul Morgan III 84 Brian Kromroy Madison, WI 85 Dave Rayburn Wintersville, OH 86 Jerry Vanderkooi Mount Gilead, OH 87'Charlie Orr Grand Prairie, TX Tarboro, NC 88 Robert Lewis 89 Kevin Varnes East Earl, PA 90 Michael Hinds Claremore, OK Tulsa, OK 91 Joe Duvall 92 Todd Winsett Lebanon, PA 93 Jaime Aguilar Lcdi, CA 94 Jess Roeder Monroeville, OH 95 Tim Eades Petersburg, VA 96 Roger Durkee Dudley, MA 97 Michelle DiSalvo Waterford, CA 98 Bret Beyer Oshkosh, WI 99 Tommy McGrane Gap,PA so I will have to work even harder to event in Sacramento, Califomia. Bonds 2001 AMA Motocross/Supercross make the best GP 1 race bike for award and Michael Goncalves claimed the 540cc Rookie honors. Bobby Bonds has been named as the come back and race again. I will try to Rookie of the Year. according to a has been conSidered one of the top upand-coming amateur riders in the coun- Kawasaki so I can return to finish what I try for years. He won championships in year-old rider from Bakersfield, California, finished the year ranked 15th in his the AMA Amateur Motocross Nationals your support. Every time I rode the Kawasaki and saw you in the stands urg- o o release by AMA Pro Racing. The 17- started. To all my fans, thank you for all According to a press release issued by Kawasaki, Akira Yanagawa won't be debut season in the AMA East Region motocross titles during his amateur as well as numerous West Coast returning to the World Superbike Championship in 2002 but will instead be helping develop Kawasaki's four-stroke ing me on, I pushed even harder. I must 125 Supercross Series and 19th in the career. "Winning Rookie of the Year is thank you for pushing my spirit to go AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross the best news I've had all year," said Grand Prix racer. Vanagawa will also be even faster." Vanagawa's team manager Championships. Although nagging Bonds, who began racing when he was racing in the All-Japan Superbike Series in 2002. "I must thank everyone at Kawasaki Racing Team for having the praised his rider. "Everyone in the world four and grew up idoliZing Micky knows Akira Vanagawa. Akira is an honorable gentleman both in his approach to injuries cut short his rookie sElOlson in both Supercross and motocross, his faith in me from the beginning," Vanagawa said in the press release. "Unfortunately, I couldn't finish my final race, racing and to his life. Without you, my team would not be what it is today. Thank you for everything you gave to us. " c c 2 OCTOBER 24, 2001 • C U ... _ n _ _ so season included five top-10 finishes in Supercross and motocross and was highlighted by a second-place finish in the first 125cc moto at the Hangtown Dymond and later Jeremy McGrath. "My goal for 2002 is to stay healthy and try to get a few podium finishes." Bonds will return with the Splitfire/Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad this coming season and

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