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/128136
Manager: Keith McCarty Headquarters: Cypress. California Riders: 250cc TImmy Ferry 15 David Vuillernin 12 YZ426F YZ250 Largo, Florida Marseilles, France Lowdown: Yamaha's factory effort remains unchanged for 2002. Tim Ferry will continue to go at it on the powerful YZ426F thumper, while Frenchman David Vuillemin, coming off a big win at the Bercy Supercross in France during the off season, will once again challenge for the title on the YZ250 two-stroke. Perhaps the biggest change at the Yamaha camp is the departure of team apparel sponsor Fox (Vuillemin will wear Oxbow gear for 2002, while Ferry will be adorned in Thor clothing). Yamaha of Troy handles the factory's 125cc racing effort. fl[Mjf1iJ @®[jJ@ rs[jj)~[jj)[Zf) afd@@@@p fl{MJfliJ [jJ[1D[{j}{fJD& rs[jj)~[jj)[Zf) Manager: Roger DeCoster Headquarters: Brea, California Riders: 250cc Kevin Windham 14 Travis Pastrana 199 125cc West Danny Smith 29 Shane Bess 102 125cc East Buddy Antunez 100 Branden Jesseman 28 ail fd@@@P Centerville, Mississippi Annapolis, Maryland RM250 RM250 Eagle, Idaho Oxnard, Califomia 125 SX Lowdown: John Dowd returns to supercross once again_ The former 125cc SX champ (1998) and former Yamaha and Kawasaki factory rider will compete in the 125cc East Series under the Cemics.com/KTM/PC Worldwide banner. Dowd competed in just the outdoor Nationals last year on a KTM 520 SX four-stroke, but he wants to have fun again in Supercross. He will also receive support from the KTM factory, but Cernics will provide most of the motor and suspension work. Dowd will, once again, wear Moose Racing apparel. He will switch to the 250cc class in the outdoor Nationals. RM125 RM125 Temecula, California Fombell, Pennsylvania Manager: AI Cordner Headquarters: Duncansville, Pennsylvania Riders: 125cc East 16 John Dowd Chicopee, Massachusetts RM125 RMI25 Lowdown: Suzuki features one of the largest factory efforts in supercross. The team is armed with two 250cc riders and four 125cc riders, all working out of Suzuki's two bright yellow factory semi haulers - one for the 250cc guys and one for the 125cc guys. Each team, however, will have its own title sponsor for '02_ Suzuki's 250cc team has picked up sponsor SoBe, the energy drink produced by Pepsi, and the 125cc team will be sponsored by Blimpie, a sandwich shop popular in the north and southeast. Last year was Windham's first full season with the yellow team after leaving Honda, and it wasn't until late in the year that Windham really started looking comfortable on the Suzuki, so he should start off this year with more confidence than he did last year. Travis Pastrana wasn"t sure going into last year's SX season whether or not he was going to compete full time in the 125cc class or 250cc class; this year there's no doubt - he's going 250 all the way and has been preparing for that during the off season, which should benefit him greatly. As far as Suzuki's in-house 125cc effort goes, Danny Smith is back for a second term, while Branden Jesseman and Suzuki support rider Shane Bess are newcomers to the team. Also new is Buddy Antunez, who comes over from the Arenacross Series that he has dominated for the last five years. Having nothing more to prove there, Antunez will once again give supercross his undivided attention. Manager: Paul Undsey Headquarters: EI Cajon, California Riders: 250cc Damon Huffman 20 125cc West Justin Buckelew 64 Andrew Short 69 125cc East Ben Riddle 77 Acton, Califomia RM250 Albuquerque. New Mexico Colorado Springs. Colorado RM125 RM125 Campbellsville, Kentucky RM125 Lowdown: The MotoworldRacing.com/Suzuki squad sees a lot of changes for the 2002 Supercross season. Yamaha used to supply the San Diego-based team with bikes, but it will now be armed with Bill's Pipes/RG3-modified Suzukis. MotoworldRacing.com/Suzuki is the factory's only official 125cc support team, overseen by Suzuki Sports, and will be made up of three 125cc pilots and one 250cc rider. The 250cc rider is Damon Huffman, who is the only racer left over from last year's Yamaha-mounted team. Former Yamaha of Troy rider Justin Buckelew and former Kawasaki support rider Andrew Short will represent the team in the 125cc West Series, and former Team Suzuki rider Ben Riddle will be the team's lone 125cc East rep. However, all is not well at the Motoworldracing.com/Suzuki camp, because Short recently broke his collarbone while practicing and is iffy at best on making the series opener at Anaheim. If not, he'll skip that round and try for San Diego a week later. If he's still not ready, he'll most likely switch to the East Series. Riddle is coming off an ankle injury and should be close to 100 percent at Anaheim. The team has yet to sign a major title sponsor for '02, but it did sign a three-year deal with Axo. n e _ s