Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2001 11 07

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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p ,~-- (' ,=.. ...J r ~ - - - ------.., I )!,_ :' . J"- --- , ~ - _._ Vesrah Suzuki won the Heavyweight Superbike class in ninth round of the WERA/GMC Computrack Endurance Series at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on October 26. completing 134 laps of the 2.52-mile circuit in just under four hours, The Suzuki GSX-Rl000mounted team averaged 75.691 mph. Second, four laps down, was Team Pennzoil, riding a Suzuki GSX-R750. Northern Getaway completed 98 laps, finishing third on their Suzuki GSX-R750. The Heavyweight Supersport class win went to Loudon Motorsports, the team lapping Road Atlanta 131 times. three more than second-placed Ridge Racing. The top two teams rode Suzuki GSXR1OOOs. Third-placed J&J Racing rode a Suzuki GSX-R750 for 125 laps to finish third. Army of darkness won the Middleweight Superbike class, completing one more lap than Triad Racing. SB Motorsports was third, five laps down on the winner. The top three teams all rode Suzuki GSX-R600s. The Middleweight Supersport class win went to Team Chaos that toured the track 127 times. three more than Neighbor of the Beast. Both teams were on Suzuki GSX-R600s, while third placed Quicktime rode a Yamaha R6. Vesrah Suzuki leads the HSB points with 860.73. Team Pennzoil is second at 827.75. Loudon Motorsports leads the Heavyweight Supersport class. and is third overall, with 824.075 points. Army of Darkness leads the Middleweight Superbike points chase with 965.02. far greater than the 790.595 of second-best Leaning Lizard Racing. Team Chaos has more than 60 points on Thermosman Suspension in the Middleweight Supersport class. The eagerly anticipated 35th Tokyo Motor Show opened on October 27 in Tokyo. Japan. featuring all the new 2002 models from the big four Japanese manufacturers. plus a variety of concept bikes to tease the imagination. As usual, Honda's display on concept bike.s had depth and breadth over the other manufacturers combined. The piece de resistance was the Elysium, a canopy commuter scooter powered by an opposed four-cylinder 750cc engine and shaft drive. Honda also displayed five electric powered mini-commuter bikes, including the novel Riding Cart that converts from motorcycle to shopping basket. The power brokers at Suzuki wel)t over the top With a supercharged Hayabusa-powered naked bike, loaded with Bill Gates gizmos such as fingerprint recognition and Internet-based weather monitors. No horsepower figures were available. but Suzuki reckoned that a 240-size rear tire is needed to get the power to the ground. Yamaha introduced the "Tricker" concept bike, a motorcycle Lykke (Yam). Lafferty won all but one round of the nine-round series. 8 o of 102 points, but Fredette' s better finish in the final round broke the tie. Nearly as impressive was the performance of Destry Abbott (Kaw) in the 2001 AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series. whose final round in Lucerne Valley. California, was won by the champ on October 28. Second on the day was Kellon Walch (Kaw). with David Pearson (Yam) taking third. Fourth and fifth overall went to Paul Krause (KTM) and Steve Hengeveld (Hon). respectively. Abbott won all but two rounds in the eight-round series. c Nearly 250 teams competed at the Action Sports Promotions 18th Annual Team Hare Scramble Championship of the World. October 27-28 with Robbie Jenks and Jason Raines successfully defending their title. Second place went to Scott Plessinger and Andy Shea (KTM). Chuck Woodford (Kaw) took first place at round six of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Championship Series in Morrison, Illinois. October 28. Woodford finished over a minute ahead of secondplace finisher Jeff Fredette (Kaw), and third overall Joey Ambrosini (Gal. By finishing second. Fredette wrapped up the overall series championship. Both Fredette and Ambrosini finished out the series with identical scores Series champion Michael Lafferty (KTM) finished off the 2001 AMA FMF National Championship Enduro Series with yet another win. this one in Delaware City, Delaware. on October 28. Finishing second was Fred Hoess (Hus). with Kevin Bennett completing the top three. Rounding out the top five were Matt Stavish (GG) and David o 8 c 'I created from gene-splicing a freestyle BMX bicycle with a trials bike. Look for a complete report in next week's Cycle News. Tracy Hagen The nine-round 2002 AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series gets underway at Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area outside of Hollister, California. February 9-10. Longtime competitors of the Heart On Classic can rest assured that. though the promoter is now P & D Promotions. Inc.. it's simply a name change - the first since '87 - and all the principals remain the same. For information on the race, call 408/249-4336, e-mail heartoncl@aol.com. or log on to www.offroadrider.com. For information on the rest of the series, call 614/856-1900 or log on to www.amadirectlink.com. o1!1l&J[jj]7] m@[jj] f)~ mil!Z@ r? 00 O O D D C C o O II I o L Seven years ago, he was just another young motorcycle racer, trying to make it from race to race on the American dirt track scene. Today, Ben Bostrom has a motorcycle named after him. Unveiled to the public by the man himself at the Ducati Revs America celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 27, the Ben Bostrom Replica Ducati 998 is a limited-edition machine slated soleIy for the North American market. The bike is based around the new Testastretta engine. which Ducati claims can produce 123 horsepower at 9750 rpm_ The chassis utilizes Ohlins suspension components and is adorned in an array of carbon-fiber parts, including the side fairings, belly pan. mudguards, airbox and chain guard. Naturally, the Ben Bostrom Replica is shod with Dunlop tires, but the most visually striking difference is the paint graphic, which has been lifted from Bostrom's signature-model Suomy helmet. The Ben Bostrom Replica Ducati 998 will carry a suggested retail price of $22,695, and only 155 examples (to match Bostrom's World Superbike race number) will be produced, each of them hand-signed by Bostrom. This particular unit is already up for auction on ducatLcom, with the proceeds from its sale slated to 2 NOVEMBER 7. 2001 • cue I .. n • _ s go to charity. For more information. see your local Ducati dealer, but be quick about it. For the complete story on Ducati Revs America. see next week's issue of Cycle News • Scott Rousseau By the way. the eight-round 2002 AMA/FMF National Championship Enduro Series kicks off the week after Hollister at the Clear Creek Recreation Area north of Coalinga. California. For information on that race, call 831/449-1041, e-mail driveline@mbayweb.com. or log on to www.salinasramblersmc.org. A record total of more than 1.57 million fans attended AMA Pro Racing events in 2001. according to the AMA. The total attendance figure covers all forms of AMA Pro Racing - road racing. motocross, supercross. flat track and hillclimb - and marks an increase of nine percent over 2000. The AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships witnessed the biggest jump thiS year with a 19-percent increase in attendance, according to the AMA. Also experiencing double-digit growth this year was the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championships with a 14-percent increase. including a record attendance of 91,000 at the combined AMA/World Superbike wee.,nd at Laguna Seca Raceway in July, the AMA says. Both the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championships and EA Sports Supercross Series had sevenpercent increases.• Our championship series have definite momentum behind them.· said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing in a release issued by AMA Pro Racing. "It's good to be able to report record attendance. It shows that motorcycle racing continues to grow in popularity. We have a number of promoters and sponsors to thank for much of the success. Continued exposure through our television packages also have a lot to do with the growth of our sport. We are working hard to continue the growth of AMA Pro Racing." The breakdown of 2001 attendance figures are as follows: EA Sports Supercross - 797,829; Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike - 375,500; Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross - 233,150; Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track - 138,500; U.S. Hillclimb by Pace American - 32.550.

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