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/128152
wElmcf] Continued from page 2 years, he IS survived by his wife, Debbie Wilkins Lewis, and brother, Steve Lewis. A memorial celebration of his life is planned for April 30 at Joe's Garage, 36 Auto Center Dr .. Tustin, California. Friends are asked to visit beginning at 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the U.S., 302 Ridgefield Court, Asheville, NC 28806, earmarked for the Cycle World Joe Parkhurst Education Fund. LJ Clear Channel Entertainment's motor sports division bas announced that Formula USA will crown a Grand National Champion, along with offering $150,000 in point funds for the Formula USA National Road Race Series, the Formula USA National Dirt Track Series and the new Grand National Champion Championship Series. Formula USA will sanction eight National Road Race events along with 12 National Dirt Track events during 2002. Five events from each series will award Grand National Championship points, along with road race and dirt track Formula USA series-specific championship points. Grand National Points will be awarded in the Pro Honda Oils 600 Sportbike class at the National Road Race series and the Pro Single class at the National Dirt Track series as follows: 1st place - 20 points 2nd place - 18 points 3rd place - 16 points 4th place - 15 points 5th-18th place - one-point increments through 18 places. A $50,000 National Road Race Series points fund will be awarded in the Pro Honda Oils 600 Sportbike class, with another $50,000 in the National Dirt Track Series Pro Singles class. The Grand National Championship series will consist of an additional $50,000, giving riders a shot at over $150,000 in points funds. Each championship will pay $20,000. The Grand National Championship Series' tentative schedule is as follows: June 14 - (half mile) Rochester, New Hampshire, Rochester Fairgrounds June 14-16 - (road race) Loudon, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Intemational Speedway June 22 - (TT) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, OK State Fair Speedway August 1-4 - (road race) Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Road America August 22-25 - (road race) Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway September 5-8 - (road race) Portland, Oregon, Portland International Raceway September 14 - (mile) Sacramento, Califomia, Cal Expo September 21 - (short track) Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma Dome October 5 - (short track) Del Mar, California, Del Mar Fairgrounds October 16-20 - (road race) Daytona Beach. Florida, Daytona Intemational Speedway Clear Channel Entertainment's Motorsports division has announced that Pro Honda Oils has assumed title sponsorship of the 600cc Sportbike Class inside the Formula USA National Road Race Series. Rick Mitchell of Pro Honda Oils said in a press release: "We are proud to join forces with the National Road Race Series and we're happy to get behind the Sportbike class. The class is a breeding ground of champions in the sport and we're looking forward to this season." The next Formula USA National Road Race Series event is May 24-26 at Summit Point International Raceway in Summit Point, Virginia. o AMA Sports, the amateur and pro-am competition division of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), has announced its affiliation with Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series. Starting with round two at Paso Robles, California, the series will be sanctioned by the AMA. "We're pleased to welcome Gene's series onto the AMA Sports calendar," said Bill Amick, Vice President of AMA Member Events & Entertainment, which oversees AMA Sports. "It's great to renew our association with a former AMA Champion like Gene, and adding this series is a positive boost for our West Coast programs. Since the series was launched in 1998, Gene has built it into a premier regional racing series." The series, which began last weekend in Hanford, California, includes three classes of competition: 250cc Novice for newcomers aged 16 and above on lightly modified production machines; Open Vintage for riders aged 35 and over on machines produced prior to 1974; and Open Pro with a minimum age of 16. As the West Coast Flat Track Series has been chartered as an AMA Affiliate, two of the Saturday night events in the series will be followed on Sunday afternoon by AMA Sports-sanctioned events with a variety of amateur classes. Those events will be May 5 in Paso Robles, California, and August 4 in Salinas, California. "We are proud to announce our affiliation with AMA Sports, and we look forward to a building a strong partnership that will help both parties increase their presence and awareness as we grow the sport of flat track racing at the grass-roots level," said Romero. "Our series delivers quality events to racing markets up and down the coast, where there's always been a great base of flat-track enthusiasts, but where there aren't as many opportunities as there were when I was racing. This affiliation opens a lot of doors for the series and the AMA, and it is a win-win situation for O "I U n LJ O O O O O O '"""I U '"1 --...; ('""""' both of us." The tentative series schedule is as follows: April 13: Kings Speedway. Hanford, California (TT); May 4: Paso Robles Fairgrounds, Paso Robles, California (SD; May 18: Plaza Park Raceway, Visalia, California (SD; June 1: Watsonville Speedway. Watsonville, California (Tn: June 29: Perrs Auto Speedway, Perris, California (TT); July 6: Watsonville Speedway, Watsonville, California () /4 []jJ@[l[lD!JUi]CffJ[JD£J ~ ;..:;[ \=:1 --' r >=-'J r 'I.-, "---' O O 134 MAY 1 , 2002' co Y co • e f:0CffJD!JUi]D[JD@[JD Australian CH Racing Husqvama rider Stefan Merriman and Finnish KTM star Juha Salminen shared the victory celebrations at the third round of the World Enduro Championship held in Kalavrita, Greece, April 20-21, as the 400cc-mounted rivals provea qUickest over the fast Mediterranean special tests. On day one, it was Merriman who topped both the 400cc class and scratch classification for best overall performer, while on day two it was Salminen, who finished runner-up to Merriman on day one, who headed both the 400cc class and scratch. In the 125cc class, Swedish TM rider Rickard Larsson toped day one ahead of Finn Petteri Silvan and Frenchman Olivier Rebufie, while on day two Silvan went one better to claim the win ahead of countryman Petteri Pohjamo and a disappointed Larsson. In the 250cc class, Frenchman David Fretigne retumed from injury to claim the win on day one and finish as runner-up on day two. Championship leader Samuli Aro finished runner-up to Fretigne on day one before moving to the top of the quarter-liter scoresheet on day two. TM-mounted Finn Simon Wilk claimed third on both days. Swedish Yamaha rider Peter Bergval (right) extended his championship lead in the 250cc Four-Stroke class after taking a double class win, his second of the year. Husqvarna-mounted teammates Paul Edmondson and Oblucki Bartosz claimed second and third places, respectively, on both days. In the 500cc Four-Stroke class, Finn Mika Ahola topped day one before falling to third on day two while Husqvarna's championship leader Anders Eriksson claimed second twice to maintain his series lead. Swedish Husaberg rider Bjorne Carlsson finished third on day one before claiming his first World Championship win in almost a year with a victory on day two. Jonty Edmunds O '"""I I-.J The AHRMA/Northwest Maico & CZ Post-Vintage MX National scheduled for June 30 at Evansville Raceway in Berwick, Pennsyvlania. has been changed to Saturday, October 6, at the same facility. The rescheduled national will run along with a Northeast regional vintage/post-vintage round. The June 29 Speed & Sport vintage National MX at Berwick will nun as scheduled. @[l@@[)x 1!A!l@[lD@ B[JD@f!!J[l@ U@ n u O 'l l-.J mile); July 20: Silver Dollar Speedway, Chico, California (1/4 mile); August 3: Salinas Fairgrounds. Salinas, California (1/4 mile); August 17: Southern Oregon Speedway, Medford, Oregon (1/4 mile); September 21: Perris Auto Speedway. Perris, California (1/2 mile): September 28: Lawlor Event Center, Reno, Nevada (special, non-points-paying Indoor ST, polished-cement surface). n e _ s