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/128134
'I L.J /I ports, the competition arm of Vance & ines, will be renamed Vance & ines Motorsports, With the renamg to Vance & Hines Motorsports, it will easy for the consumer and fan to idenify the competition side of the company, ccording to V&H. Vance & Hines Motorports will remain in Trinidad, Colorado, ,nd will be responsible for all aspects of rag racing competition and racing activiies. "Our initial plans for Byron Hines' ove to Colorado were on a very small cale," said Terry Vance, president of ance & Hines Racing. "However, with he expansion of our racing efforts in HRA Top Fuel Harley-Davidson, NHRA agle One and Screamin' Eagle Pro tock teams, Byron and I feel it has ecome necessary to eliminate the current confusion regarding who Freedom Motorsports is and what their relationship is with Vance & Hines Racing." story we were scolded for running two eeks ago proved to be nothing but factual as Craig Dack has agreed to join amaha of Troy as its assistant team manager in 2002. "The Yamaha of Troy opportunity was meant to be," expressed Dack in a release issued by Dack. "The whole thing seemed to just fall in place. Over a phone call to Yamaha Motor U.S. race team, I leamed that Eric Kehoe had left the Yamaha of Troy team. So after a bit of chit-chat, the whole idea of a replacement of Eric came about. Next thing you know I receive a phone call from Yamaha of Troy team owner Phil Alderton and negotiations were underway." Dack secured his exciting new position with YOT owner Phil Alderton on Thursday, November 29 and will depart Australia prior to Christmas. "I have been associated with Yamaha for 20 years and I feel honored that I was considered to work with a high-profile Yamaha team in another country." Dack said. "Phil [Aldertonl is a very successful team owner and it will be a pleasure to work with him." YOT riders in 2002 will include Aussie hotshot Chad Reed, French young gun Rodrig Thain, Greg Schnell and Ivan Tedesco. The YOT team is the official YZ125/YZ250F program for Yamaha Motor U.S. "It's ironic that Chad Reed will be riding for the Yamaha of Troy team and it will be a pleasure to work with him again. I have briefly worked with Greg 5J[lj}5J @oru fX1@O@(fJ@@@ f?J@@f?J W(fJ@{)J [B@!JD@@(}[jO@ AMA Pro Racing released its 2002 U.S. Flat Track Championships schedule in what could be a pivotal year for the series. The year 2002 will see the implementation of AMA Pro Radng's five-year plan for flat-track radng to help incorporate more brands into the series. Since 1999, the 1000cc bikes ran in the now-defunct SuperTrackers Series. The 2002 series will feature a mix of established events and several new rounds. The championships will see its traditional kickoff on March 9, during Daytona Bike Week at the Daytona Munidpal Stadium short track. Speedvision will televise the opening round. New rounds include Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Oklahoma; Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois; and Oglethorpe Speedway Park in Savannah, Georgia. AMA Pro Racing is working to complete the 2002 schedule, and is hoping to add events during the late-April and early-May time period. The current schedule is as follows: March 9 • Municipal Stadium, Daytona Beach, Florida (Short Track) April 7 • Will Rogers Downs, Claremore, Oklahoma (Mile) TBA April 20 Apri127TBA May 4 TBA May 18 West Virginia Motor Speedway, Mineralwells, West Virginia (Half Mile) May 25 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (T.T.) May 26 • Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (Mile) June 1 • Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown, Maryland (Half Mile) June 15· Tri-City Speedway, Granite City, Illinois (Half Mile) TBA June 22· June 29 Allen County Fairgrounds, Uma, Ohio (Half Mile) July 6 Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (Short Track) July 13 TBA July 20 Oglethorpe Speedway Park, Savannah, Georgia (Half Mile) July 27 • Lowes Motor Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina (Half Mile) August 3 Delaware State Fairgrounds, Harrington, Delaware (Half Mile) Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerstown, Maryland (Half Mile) August 10· August 18 Peoria Motorcycle Clubgrounds, Peoria, Illinois (T.T.) August 24 State Fair Speedway, Sedalia, Missouri (Half Mile) Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (Short Track) August 30 August 31 • Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, U1inois (Mile) September 1· Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (Mile) September 7 - Vemon Downs, Vemon, New York (Mile) September 28· Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, Du Quoin, Illinois (Mile) Schnell when he was a guest rider on my team in Australia last year at the Sydney Superdome." Dack said. "I guess I will have to brush up on my French. Seriously, I am looking forward to meeting Rodrig IThainl and Ivan [Tedescol and working with the whole team in pursuing championships. " The long-awaited signature of Gregorio Lavilla on a Suzuki contract was in place on Thursday, November 29, with the Spanish rider already testing for his new team in any case, according to World Superbike contributor Gordon Ritchie. In the Suzuki Supersport squad, existing rider Katsuaki Fujiwara will be joined by another former Alstare Suzuki Superbike rider - Stephane Chambon, the 1999 World Supersport Champion. The supposed French round on the 2002 World Superbike calendar will not take place, as previously reported, and the slow nature of the work at the supposed new venue of Pau may make that a non-runner even for 2003. With the bike Grand Prix a fixture at Le Mans, Magny Cours is supposed to be the next available venue for World Superbike racing, but circuit changes may need to be instigated for World Superbike class racing. Magny Cours was used by the championship as far back as 1991, for one time only, but the superb crowd and team provisions may make it an ideal venue despite a strange track design. The early years of World Superbike featured French races, with Le Mans, Paul Ricard and the aforementioned Magny Cours all getting a look in. may be the stumbling block, as will the high number of production models necessary lor homologation, but it is hard to see how a race series run predominantly by Italian personnel would be in much of a position to refuse an entry to such a classic name like Gilera - FIM homologation permitting, of course. With the obvious recommencement of hostilities between SBK International and Dorna, it would be even more difficult to see SBK International doing anything less than welcoming any and all eligible new manulacturers into the fold, FIM regulations permitting. Triumph, meanwhile, is expected to unveil its own World Superbike Challenger sometime soon, if only in streetbike guise for the time being, but as has been reported on previous occasions, there is more likelihood of there being a Supersport team first. With more production-based rules for World Superbike coming in for the 2004 season, Triumph, and other middle-range manufacturers will be - theoretically - able to join in World Superbike on a more-even and less- Rumors from Italy suggests that 125ccc World Champions Gilera will put a toe in the World Supersport water in 2002, with their all-new Suzuki-engined GOOcc Supersport machine. How they will be fitted into an already oversubscribed grid expensive looting. Rumors suggest that practice sessions at World Superbike races may change in 2002, with the second World Superbike qualifying session moving to the afternoon, and a doubled gap from then to the beginning of Superpole qualifying. Shorter qualifying sessions may also be on the cards, although some may resist this move. Riders especially have never been keen on reducing practice time. World Superbike races have often been criticized for being too drawn out, yet with very little time separating qualifying ses- OPENED: A new Shoei Helmet home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be lound at the lollowing address: htlp:llwww.shoei-helmets.com. BORN: Madison Rayne Eva Galland, to Bert's Motorcycle and Water· craft Mega Mall sales manager Dave Galland and his wile, Dianna, on November 12 in Southern Calilornia. OPENED: Interactive Motorsports in Livermore, Calilornia. For more information, call 925/371·MOTO or visit their Web site at: http://www.imotoracing.com. ACCEPTING: FantasyRacer.com is now accepting signups lor the 2002 Fantasy Supercross League. The grand prize will be a new 2002 Suzuki RM250, and other prizes will be offered from Shoei, Renthal, Mechanixwear and others. For more inlormation, visit www.FantasyRacer.com. APPOINTED: Ty van Hooydonk, as managing director/communications for Discover Today's Motorcycling, by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), effective immediately. Van Hooydonk lormerly directed American .. Suzuki's accounts at PainePR for nine years prior to taking the position at the MIC. ................................................................ to.. .. .. .. .. Continued on page 80 eye I e n e _ S • DECEMBER 12,2001 3 .J j J J 'J ........