Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Albert Cabestany (Bet) won the overall in the Ancelle, France round of the World Trials Championship, June 22-23. Cabestany won Saturday's trial over Takahisa Fujinami (Hon) and Adam Rega (G-Gl with World Champion Dougie Lampkin (Mon) finishing fourth. On Sunday, Lampkin bounced back to take the win over Cabestany and Fujinami. After five rounds of the series, Lampkin leads Fujinami. 187-157 in the championship points standings. Cabestany is third with 150 points. Brian Brown and David Pearson (Kaw) teamed up to win the Nevada 1000, round five of the Best in the Desert Silver State Series, held June 20-22. The duo took the lead on day two of the three-day race and held on to take the win, their first as teammates. Second overall went to another Kawasaki-mounted team made up of Shane Esposito and Destry Abbott, but Esposito was forced to solo the 1000-mile race. Abbott attended the race but could not ride after haVing recently undergone knee surgery. Esposito even led the race at times, but finished out the race just a few minutes behind the winning Brown/Pearson team. Third overall went to the first Honda team, made up of Andy Grider and Danny Cooper, while fourth place went to Honda's other team of Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld. The Yamaha team of Ty Davis and Russell Pearson led the race after the first day but developed engine problems on day two. They managed to repair the bike but were docked extra minutes for haVing to work on their bike beyond the allotted 70-minute work period. They also suffered more mechanical problems on the final day but still managed to earn sixth-place points. Dave Watson (Hon) won both the 800 and 540cc classes during round four of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series held at Ski World in Nashville, Indiana, on June 23. Watson topped Chad Disbennett ITri) and Phil Libhart ITri) in the 800cc class and then beat Disbennett and John Hamilton Jr. ITri) in the 540cc class. Michael Rutter won both races of the Rockingham round of the British Superbike Series, June 22-23. Rutter topped Steve Hislop (Duc) and Sean Emmett (Duc) in the first race before beating Emmett and Dean Thomas (Duc) in the second. Hislop, however, le'ads the title chase over Emmett, 246-233. Team Harley-Davidson's Rich King grabbed his first National win of the year in the unique Oklahoma City Moto IT at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 22. Team WE/West Bend H-D/Fieldsheer Leathers' J.R. Schnabel (Hon) of Wisconsin chased King down and made a pass for the lead on lap 17, only to be repassed by the Iowan, who then remained in control for the rest of the 25-lap main event. The two finished well ahead of Gardner Racing/Waiters Brothers H-D rider Bryan Bigelow (Hon), who was third. With his runner-up finish, Schnabel has taken over the points lead in both the Formula USA National Dirt Track Series and the Formula USA Grand National Series, which combines points from the sanctioning body's National Dirt Track and National Road Race series. Schnabel leads reigning National Dirt Track Champion Terry Poovey, 162-158, in the dirt portion, and is ahead of Matt Wait, 38-33, in the Grand National. The event featured a twist in the form of a motocross-style starting gate, which placed all 18 riders on one row. After safety concerns were raised, Formula USA offiCials elected to start the field off the gate in two rows of nine. Clear Channel Entertainment's Motor Sports division has announced a pivotal change in the schedule of the 2002 Formula USA National Dirt Track Series presented by Drag Specialties. Formula USA is proud to announce that the National Dirt Track Series will come to The Red Mile racetrack in Lexington on Saturday, July 27, replacing the previously scheduled August 7, Black Hills Speedway event in South Dakota, which has been canceled. "While it was traditional for us to run our Dirt Track event dUring the Sturgis Rally, we couldn't pass on the opportunity to take our Formula USA Dirt Track to such a premier facility like the Red Mile in Lexington," said Mike Kidd, vice president of operations for Clear Channel Entertainment. "This event is another investment in the future of what Dirt Track racing needs to be. It will be our 'Del Mar' of the East." The Red Mile is one of Kentucky's prestigious racing facilities, with 127 years of racing history, and recently underwent renovations, including an all-new lighting system and major track upgrades, including the availability of VIP club seating. Event tickets will be on sale Tuesday, June 25 for Kentucky's Red Mile, round seven of the Formula USA National Dirt Track Series, presented by Drag Specialties. The remainder of the 2002 Formula USA National Dirt Track Series presented by Drag Specialties is as follows: July 20 Duluth, Minnesota; July 27 - Lexington, Kentucky; September 14 - Sacramento, California; September 21-22 - Tacoma, Washington; September 28 - Boise, Idaho; October 5 - Del Mar, California; October 6 - Del Mar, California. Most of the top AMA motorcycle road race teams were busy testing at Virginia International Raceway, June 17-19, perfecting their setups for the August 9-11 VIR Lightning Nationals, the doubleheader season finale for the Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship. Teams present for the test included American Honda, with current championship leader Nicky Hayden, Miguel DuHamel and Jake Zemke, filling in for injured Kurtis Roberts; Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki, with three-time and defending champion Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Jamie Hacking; Yamaha, with Aaron Gobert and Damon Buckmaster; Kawasaki. with Eric Bostrom and Tommy Hayden; Arclight Suzuki, with Lee Acree and Craig Connell; Erion Honda, with Michael Hale: and Austin Bleu Bayou with Pascal Picotte. Nicky Hayden set the unofficial fastest time of the test, posting a 1:25.06 over the 2.225-mile VIR North Course to best Mladin's pole-Winning 1:25.428 from last year's inaugural lightning Nationals, but ended his test early on the final day with a high-speed accident coming out of the circuit's final tum. Fortunately, he was uninjured, but his motorcycle was heavily damaged. Honda crew chief Ray Plumb said he was pleased with his team's performance, despite Nicky Hayden's mishap. "We've had a good three days here," he said in a release issued by the racetrack. "Nicky was real fast before his accident, and Miguel has been turning some good laps as well," Plumb said. "We've been working on a whole anray of set-ups, not only for here but for next weekend at Brainerd as well. I think we're going to be in good shape when we come back here in August." Miguel DuHamel is on quite a roll right now, having won both ends of the recent doubleheader at Wisconsin's Road America to propel himself into fourth in the championship. He said he is looking forward to the VIR Lightning Nationals, describing the VIR circuit as one of his favorites. "I like a bunch of places in America," he said, "and VIR is one of those tracks. It's refreshing to go to a new track, and it's actually a real racetrack. The people here really put a lot of effort into making it a really good race. " At the VIR test, Mat Mladin was second fastest at 1;25.46, followed by Aaron Yates (1 ;25.84), Miguel Duhamel (1 :25.85) and Pascal Picotte (1 ;26.90). Among the Pro Honda Oils U.S. Supersport Championship teams, Jamie Hacking was fastest at 1:28.56, followed by Damon Buckmaster (1:28.71> and Mike Hale (1 :31.76). Team Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. had a successful test at the Catalunyan circuit in Spain, immediately after the June 16 Grand Prix at the venue. Roberts claimed the test was "the best tests so far with the new four-stroke machine," according to a Suzuki release. Blazing heat and exhausting conditions were not enough to keep Roberts from running more than 70 laps on both Monday and Tuesday, as a revised chassis and a series of other development changes kept levels of enthusiasm and excitement at fever pitch. The factory's and the team's latest development work not only brought the 2000 World Champion a significantly faster lap time than he had achieved at the GP on the weekend before, they also opened up a new level of competitive promise for cue I • the powerful 990cc Suzuki GSV-R V-four - the newest of the three Japanese factory four-stroke racing prototypes, after being brought to the tracks a full year earlier than ori9inally planned. "This was one of my best tests ever, and certainly the best with the new motorcycle," Roberts said at the end of the second day. "I'm really looking forward to the next GP, at Assen in Holland. The team found some different directions, and a new chassis from the factory also seemed to help. We made a lot progress in areas that we hadn't necessarily expected to, and it made the bike comfortable for me to ride at a very fast pace. The lap times reflected it. I was able to go half-a-second faster than I had in qualifying for the weekend's GP, but I could do so for a number of consecutive laps. That is what's really important." J J J CJ n w CJ "I .-.-/ Roberts' teammate, Sete Gibernau, also tested at Catalunya on July 17, but missed the second day after succumbing to an illness he had been fighting off all weekend. The bulk of the work - testing next-generation prototype Michelin tires as well as Suzuki's own development fell on Roberts, and team manager Garry Taylor was full of praise. "Kenny ran almost three times race distance on both days, while the weather just kept on getting hotter and hotter," Taylor said. "None of us had been looking forward to the tests after a long and hot weekend, but Kenny showed a lot of grit and determination, and that inspired the whole team. When things are going in a good direction, you can see a lot of difference in Kenny, and in everyone else as well. I think the whole team would like to thank him for his efforts ... After careful consideration, and following the introduction of the new Superbike regulations, Ducati Corse has decided to maintain its commitment in the World Superbike Championship for production-based motorbikes, according to a release issued by Ducati on June 18. The new .. Superbike Racing Unit." headed by Paolo Ciabatti, will run the Italian manufacturer's program with an official factory team, and it can also count on the support of the satellite team GSE Racing, which will run Ducati 998 Factory 2002 bikes. Paolo Ciabatti, responsible for the Ducati Corse Superbike program, commented; "Our main aim is to continue Ducati's winning tradition in the World Superbike Championship. Being able to count not only on our official team, but also on a satellite structure like the GSE Racing team, will also allow us to continue with another of our aims, that of being able to produce up-and-coming talented riders in a highly professional structure. We will also continue with our policy towards private teams, which will be offered highly competitive bikes like the 998 RS. The collaboration between Ducati Corse and GSE Racing has produced excellent results in the last few years. Troy Bayliss and Neil Hodgson, British Superbike champions in 1999 and n .. _... • JULY 3, 2002 1 'I U I'"'") 'I ....J J J J o o 8 o o o o J J J J J J J J ] J J J J J n

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