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/128166
o o\X/ o Bill G'l])CB Continued from page 3 o o The Third Annual RAM Shootout Golf Tournament, promoted by Robb Mesecher. and Tom Webb of Dirt Bike magazine, will take place Friday, August 16, at Cascades Golf Club in Sylmar, California. All proceeds are going to the Kids 'N' Cars Charity. All interested parties should contact Mesecher or Webb at 661/367-2105 the deadline for public comments is November 8, and schedules a public hearing September 17 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation is conducting an in-depth review of this complex Proposed Rule and will be issuing further comments regarding its implications in the days to come. According to the MRF, you can view the EPA's Proposed Rule at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/whatsnew.htm. o o o o o o Clear Channel Entertainment - Motor Sports announced today the continued cooperative relationship between Kawasaki Motor Corporation and the National and Regional Arenacross Series. For the 14th consecutive year, Kawasaki Motor Corporation will be the exclusive motorcycle dealer ticket outlet for Arenacross. Fans can purchase tickets at all participating Kawasaki dealers without having to incur standard ticketing fees. Also, for the fourth successive year, Kawasaki will hold KX65 invitational races on Friday and Saturday nights in conjunction with the National Arenacross Series. These races will be exclusive to riders that are between the ages of 7 and 11 years old. The riders can participate for free when they obtain a voucher from participating Kawasaki dealers. Each night, the invitational will consist of heat races, semis, and a main-event race. "With the continuation of the KX65cc invitational races at our National Arenacross Series events, we are looking forward to watching the stars of tomorrow compete at our races today," said Mike Kidd, vice president of Arenacross. "We are also delighted to continue our long-lasting relationship with Kawasaki Motor Corporation." The BlueRibbon Coalition has announced that Bill Dart has been hired, effective June 3, 2002, as Public Lands Director. Dart will replace the current Public Lands Director, Adena Cook, who retired July 1 after 15 years with the BlueRibbon Coalition. Dart comes to this new position with extensive experience in the field of motorized recreation and land-use issues, haVing worked for over 13 years as the Legislative Officer for AMA District 36 in Northern California. As the District 36 Legislative Officer, Dart was successful in keeping areas and trails open and assisting District 36 clubs and promoters deal with event permits and land-use issues. Dart won several major contested land use decisions over the years, such as setting a precedent that roads and trails would remain Open Unless Designated Closed on California National Forest lands. Additionally, another decision required land managers to do further site specific analysis and make a finding of significant adverse impact before restrictions could be imposed for wildlife reasons. After the California Air Resources Board adopted emission standards in '994 for off-highway motorcycles and ATV's that banned all two-stroke models and most high-performance, four-stroke models from use on public lands, Dart developed the concept of allOWing these non-complying models to be used in areas during the period they are in com· pliance with air quality standards, and working with the California Motorcycle Dealers Association and other California OHV groups, this was adopted by the California Air Resources in 1998 in what became known as the "Red Sticker" program. Dart was a member of the BlueRibbon Coalition Board of Directors for over 12 years, and has worked closely with BRC Executive Director Clark Collins and retiring Public Lands Director Adena Cook, as well as BRC Western States Representative Don Amador. "I am very excited to join the BlueRibbon Team," Dart stated. "In the last 15 years, I have watched BlueRibbon start from scratch and evolve Into the leading national recreation and access rights organization," Dart went to say. "The future holds plenty of challenges, as well as opportunities such as implementing the Backcountry Recreation Area concept as an alternative to more Wilderness designations, and I eagerly accept this opportunity to pro- 8 o o o o o o o o 8 ~o A fundraising golf tournament for District 36 riders going to the ISDE (including Trophy Team rider Brian Sperle, as well as Darrick Merrill and John Wells) is being held on August 10 at Forest Lake Golf Course in Acampo, California, beginning at 8 a.m. The minimum donation is $75, and raffle prizes will be handed out. For more information, call 4081737 -8848 (weekdays), 40817370783 (evenings and weekends) or e-mail gmartinson@hotmail.com. o o o o o o o o o o o o As predicted in December 2000 by the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency has introduced a proposed rule to adopt the stringent, future California emissions standards for street motorcycles nationwide, according to the MRF. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman signed the proposal July 25 that sets California-inspired limit values of 1.4 grams/kilometer Hydrocarbon (g/km HC) plus Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) for the 2006 model year and .8 g/km HC plus NOx for 2010 for "Class III motorcycles" (280cc or greater). Although it has not yet been published in the Federal Register (anticipated publication in August), the proposed rule states that 8 o o o 108 AUGUST 7,2002' cue I e n ... _ !IS teet our resources forthe public, instead of from the public. " In an effort to further promote the sport of motocross within the action sports world, the inaugural National Promoters Group's "Where the Snow Meets the Dirt" promotion took place on Wednesday, July 24, at Washougal MX Park. Athletes from several disciplines of the high-speed mountain variety showed up, bikes and camping gear in tow, and have made a week of it on the Washougal track, indulging in free riding on Wednesday, racing amateur classes on Friday, and getting the chance to hang out this Sunday with some of the top pros at round nine of the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship tour. Those mountain athletes in attendance included U.S. Ski Team member and two-time Olympian Daron Rahlves, pro snowboarders Noah Salasnek, Tex Devenport, Matt Goodwill (pictured), Aaron Vincent and Chad Shetler, and nationally ranked skiercross racer Berry Selley. The purpose of the NPG's event was two-fold, according to event coordinator Pat Schutte of OMS Sports. "Given Washougal's proximity to Mt. Hood, I had the opportunity to invite some snowboarders and skiers to come ride the Washougal track during their time off from competition. The Huffmans [promoters of Washougal] gave me the green light, I put the word out on the street, and a number of guys were stoked to jump at the opportunity to participate. In turn, these guys will head back to their various camps and will undoubtedly talk about what I'm pretty sure will be the highlight of their summer - riding the legendary Washougal motocross track." Joining the snowboarders/ skiers were several local pros, including Ryan Huffman and Jason McCormick. Said Huffman of the afternoon riding with these high-caliber athletes: "Most of these guys ride real well, I was impressed. You can tell they really love the sport of motocross." Huffman looked out over the track, pointing to the gnarly pro whoop section. "Right there, I was able to blow past these guys pretty easily," Huffman added. "But now I'm wondering, 'How bad would I get worked if I went snowboarding with them?' Wouldn't even comparel So to see them here, letting it hang out my home track was cool. I'll look forward to doing this again next year." Like one of the greatest downhill racers of all time, Austria's Franz Klammer, Rahlves is hip on using motocross as a dry-land cross-training tool for World Cup ski competition. And, obviously, he's an adrenaline junkie like motocross racers allover the planet. "I do this for the rush," said Rahlves, who won the Super G at the 2001 World Championships in Austria. "It's also a great way for me to train. Line selection, cornering speed, balance and the intensity are all very similar to ski racing." Extreme snowboarder Matt Goodwill agreed. "About the only thing that compares to motocross is waist-deep powder on a sunny Alaskan morning," Goodwill said. "And even then, getting the Washougal track to ourselves was something I'll be able to replay all winter long. This was amazing. The battle for the 2002 AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship will go down to the wire in the final race, the doubleheader slated for Virginia International Raceway, August 9-. 11. American Honda's Nicky Hayden leads Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom by 35 points after the two each came away with victories at Mid-Ohio, July 27-28. Each race is worth a maximum of 37 points, so it could go either way when the season concludes at VIR, though Bostrom will have to have a near-perfect weekend, while Hayden will have to suffer some misfortune. Both riders participated in a multi-team test at VIR in June, and Bostrom, a 25-year-old Northern California native, is full of confidence that he will be able to get the job done. "Our pre-test setup was good going into the test and proved to be a winner, so we didn't really have much to test," he said. "Of course, we still went through some suspension pieces and tried a number of things with the front end. The bike still seems a little too harsh on the bumps, but I'm pretty happy with how things went. In fact, I went over a second faster during the test on race tires (running consistent mid-1 :25s) than I did last year on a qualifier. So it's all positive." As for the championship-leading Hayden, he relishes nothing more than a good fight and he's looking forward to the run to the finish. "It's going to be good," he said. "I'm ready to go. I think it's going to be really fun. I've got a little bit of a lead right now, but not a lot. We're just going to try to keep doing what we're doing." One championship that won't be decided at VIR is the Pro Honda Oils U.S. SuperSport Championship, which was locked up by Blimpie/ Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates at MidOhio. Yates won Sunday's race in dominating styie, putting the championship out of reach of his nearest pursuer, Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden, the older brother of Nicky. Three-day advance Super Tickets priced at $50 and singleday advance tickets for Saturday ($30) and Sunday ($35) will be available through various ticket outlets. Check VIR's website, www.virclub.com. for' ticket outlets. At the gate, three-day Super Tickets will be priced at $55 and one-day tickets for Friday ($1OJ, Saturday ($35) and Sunday ($4OJ will also be available. VIR is a family-friendly facility, where children 12 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. Spectator camping is available. For more information, contact VIR at 888/RACE099 or visit the track's website at www.virclub.com. eN