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/128195
o o r r - ( t ~ - "" "- __ ___ -- _ -- _ _ __ Continued from page 3 Indoor Trials Championship based their performances in the 2002 AMA/NATC Ryan Young Products National Observed Trials Championship Series. As in intemational competition, there will be one "wild cand" entry allowed by the organizer and AMA Sports. For more infonmation about the 2003 AMA National Indoor Trials Championship. call 800/341-3412. or visit www.mototrials.com. has become the largest single market for KTM motorcycles in the world today, according to KTM, Bush has served as the president of KTM Sportmotorcycle USA. Inc, since 1992, and he previously served as president of KTM America, Inc. His primary responsibility will continue to be overseeing the rapid development of the KTM motorcycle, OEM parts and KTM Hard Equipment sales in North America. "I've been invited to join the KTM Group management specifically to bring an 'American perspective' into the management team." said Bush. "I look forward to working with my highly respected colleagues. CEO Stefan Pierer and CFO Dr. Rudolf Knunz. who have been the driving force behind KTM's worldwide success. The KTM Group has very clearly defined goals, and a real strong focus on how to achieve them. " x L Thurston County Commissioners in Washington State voted on Monday, November 25. to close Thurston County ORV Park permanently. This was the only ORV Park in Westem Washington and a very popular place among ORV enthUSiasts, The Tacoma M/C had scheduled its 19th annual Dino Daze vintage weekend for the first weekend of June and wants everyone to know that the event will be held as usual. The new location has not been confinmed at this time. For C L C C o C r L , -- c BP Motorsports of California City, Cali· fornia, and Race Town "395" of Adelanto, California, will be staging a six-race motocross series in 2003. The Hi-Dez Winter-X MX Series will start Saturday, January 25. and conclude April 12. Since Race Town "395"'s new management took over, they have created five unique tracks to fit every rider's needs, according to race promoters. The series will move from the main track to the veteran's track from race date to race date. Classes are available from 50cc to Open and for ages from four years old to 90plus. For details visit BP' s website at: http://www.bpmotorsports.net or call more updates, check the Tacoma M/C website at www.tacoma-mc.org. Motocrosser Greg Schnell will be back in action in 2003. competing in all 16 rounds of the AMA Supercross Series as well as eight AMA National Motocross events and L Gary Semics Motocross School franchise instructor Jeff Sanford will be conducting motocross schools in South· ern California. The dates and places are as follows: January 7-8 - Hungry Valley; January 16-18 - Glen Helen: January 2829 - Third Gear Pinned. For reservations and more info, call Sanford at 419/8857433 or e-mail toJsanford282@aol.com. JANUARY 8, 2003' cue I Mert Lawwill. the 1970 AMA Grand National Champion, will be the guest of honor at the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Swapmeet and Show Sunday. January 19, 2003, at the York Expo Center in York. Pennsylvania. Lawwill. 62, of Tiburon, California, will pick the "Lawwill's Choice" winner in the bike show as well as sign autographs and visit with the fans from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the "Old Main" Building. Show hours are For additional infonmation about the 27th World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series. visit www.icespeedway.com. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 200 Miglia di Imola in Imola, Italy. will open the World Endurance Championship in 2003. The race will be held on May 4. The World Endurance schedule is as follows: May 4 - Imola, Italy; May 25 . Assen, Holland; June 15 Brno. Czech Republic; June 28-29 Albacete, Spain; July 20 - A 1 Ring. Austria; August 3 - Suzuka, Japan; August 23-24 . Oschersleben. Genmany, October 5 - Vallenlunga, Italy. _ Some will think that sanity has finally prevailed in World Superbike with the recently anticipated news that the World Superbike air restrictor regulations have been redrawn. The previous regulations called for only one or two restrictors, of diminutive size, located somewhere in the airbox intake system, Many believed the plan was flawed in the extreme, despite assurances from MSMA members that the rules were perfectly feasible and could be policed properly. The FJM thought differently. The new regs now call for one restrictor plate per intake port, with sizes of SOmm for twins and 32.5mm for fours - far less of an outright restriction to ultimate airflow than the previously-proposed dimensions. The new setup has the multiple benefit of being simple technology (a 3mm thick metal plate stuck in between the throttle body and head). has no effect on roadbike intake styling or ducting design and does not significantly disturb the airbox's ability to act as a pressurized reservoir for ever-changing throttle demands, Regulations for three-cylinder bikes, like the forthcoming Foggy Petronas FPI, have to be decided before the end of January and, according to a spokesman from the World Superbike series, will be made independently of the FPR team. The exact wording of the regulations is as follows; "1) All the air feeding the engine must pass through the air restrictor(s). "2) If the air restrictor is NOT included in the throttle body as homologated by the FlM, the air restrictor must be located somewhere between the throttle valve at the throttle body and the cylinder head (not including the cylinder head itself). The air restrictor must have a round aperture with a diameter no larger than 50mm for 2-cylinder engines (as from 2004) and 32.5mm for 4·cylinder engines and must be of non-defonming metal or metal alloy with a thickness of at least 3mm (It is necessary to check its diameter on two [or more) directions). "3) If the air restrictor is included in the throttle body as homologated by the FlM, the shape of the restrictor may be oval. but the area of the aperture must be precisely the same as for a round restrictor, as mentioned above." Coming on the heels of recent regulations to limit numbers of tires, and changes in the weight limits, the technical changes once more make a mockery of the wide-sweeping and Widely criticized proposals laid out at the end of the 2001 series. The net result is that the actual rules for the start of the 2004 season may bear no real relation to the ones delivered to a shell-shocked world at Imola in 2001 - as many suspected at the time. Homologations rules will also change for the 2004 season, more details to follow. According to Paolo F1ammini, president of SBK International, the new changes have universal approval from the current and future participants in SBK racing. "The new relations for 2003 have been very well-considered and now accepted by the MSMA," claimed Flammini the day before the regulations were made public. 'Our understanding is that every singl., MSMA member (Honda, Ducati, Aprilia, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki) is very happy with the regs. All the Japanese factories are working very hard to provide a competitive participation in 2004. The FlM technical committee is also now happy with this regulation. The three- and five-cylinder machines' regulations will be decided by the end of January.' Another significant SBK initiative will be one that many will consider to be a retrograde step - the immediate closing of SBK Intemationai's offices in London and a subsequent relocation back to Rome. The old organizers of the championship will have a new name: Octagon Motorsports Italia. Reasons for such a move are numerous, but cost cutting is the most likely single cause, especially as rumors of Octagon's financial perfonmance have not been overly optimistic of late. Almost the entire SBK organization and commercial staff were moved to London a couple of years ago to team up with the rest of Octagon's UK-based staff. This was seen at the time as a healthy move away from what outside observers considered to be a series too steeped in Italy to become as truly global as its aspirations suggested. The move back to Italian-speaking Italy, whatever its true motivations, will be seen by some as another slip down the ladder for World Superbike racing in general, a series with an embattled image and a poor line in self-defensive propaganda compared to MotoGP. According to F1ammini, the step is not a knee-jerk reaction to Octagon's turbulent last few months or a move to repossess SBK from Octagon, "The point is to have better efficiency for the group. Therefore, in our opinion. to have everyone concentrated in one office is better. All the relevant people will remain in place. This does not change the strategy of Octagon, which, shall we say, wants to still have a leading role in the world of sports marketing. The Superbike World Championship is one of the best Octagon properties and therefore is still a very important focus for Octagon. Of course, we must say that 2003 will be a transitional year for SBK, independent from the Octagon situation, but we knew that very well." Flammini again vehemently rebuffed accusations that World Superbike was about to get 'too Italian.' "We will remain part of the Octagon group - wherever we are," said Flammini. "I don't agree at all with that thinking. The steps we have taken to be more intemational in the past have been achieved not because we moved the offices to London, but because we entered the Octagon group, which is part of the Interpublie group, which has 140 offices in 85 different countries." Gordon Ritchie 760/373-2198. 94 The 27th annual World Cup ICE Speedway Championship Series is scheduled to kick off on December 26 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. World Champion Anthony Barlow. from Merseyside. England, will make his first title defense since winning his third career ICE championship last March. The British Bulldog' s toughest competition just may come from fellow countryman James Mann of Bolton, currently ranked number two in the world, and 2002 Rookie of the Year "Wild" Will Beverage from Durham. North Carolina. On Saturday night, December 28, the 21 st annual Speedway ICE Racing National Championships will be held at The Family Arena in St. Charles. Missouri. The first New York Classic ICE Speedway Championships are scheduled for January 30. New York First Division riders are signing up to take a shot at the ICE Series Pros. The first three are Tom Burge from Port Cran. Chris Strong from Binghampton and David Oakden from Holley. The event is set to take place at the ~{]f][j)@[?@DD:I@ fX]@[fl.-L--~ AMA Sports. the amateur and pro-am competition division of the AMA. has announced the first AMA National Indoor Trials Championship, presented by OG Promotions of Winters, California. The event will be held on Saturday, January 11, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. With riders representing both the Canadian Motorcycle Association and the AMA. the 2003 AMA Nation· al Indoor Trials Championship will be a continental championship as well. carrying the North American Motorcycle Union CNAMUl Championship designation. "Our first-ever indoor trials championship event will be a great showcase for North America's top riders. and we expect it to grow into a championship series in coming years," said Douglas Neubauer, director of AMA Sports. "Especially with the organizer's experience in putting together local, national and world championship events, we believe that the AMA National Indoor Trials Championship has a bright future." Riders earn their invitations to compete in the 2003 AMA National >=< War Memorial At Oncenter in Syracuse. !?DfliJ fX]@D@&J[;B@[;B !J!]@\!l!l r!ll@[?D@) p r eight Canadian Nationals. Schnell will ride a VZ250 for Riverside Yamaha, a Canadian Yamaha dealer. For more infonmation, visit www.gregschnell.com. e nevvs