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/128202
o o c c Continued from page 3 c c pion found difficulties adjusting his style to suit the four-stroke's heavy braking and worked with team supplier Brembo yesterday and today to find a way toward a solution to the problem. Gauloises Yamaha's Alex Barros was also at the test, and his lap times were better than those set by Checa. Barros lapped at 1:44.0. gressive Insurance U.S. Rat Track Championship to the Tunica Arena and Exposition Center in Tunica, Mississippi on March 29. Skybox tickets are available at $45 in advance, $50 race week; reserved and bleacher seats are available at only $20 in advance, $25 race week. Gates open at 3 p.m. with races starting at 7 p.m. For tickets and information call the IMDA office at (217J7538866 or E-mail atinfo@iIIinoismda.com. C r j [) GNCC Racing, a division of Racer Productions and producer of the AMA Grand National Cross Country Series, has announced former Intemational Six Days Enduro (JSDE) Top American Dave Bertram as the media coordinator for GNCC ISDE 2003, a project that will provide full support for America' s Team, the 2003 ISDE U.S. Trophy Team. Bertram will create feature stories and do interviews and event coverage for America's Team for the industry media, Bertram collected five ISDE gold medals and three ISDE silver medals during his riding career, including Top American honors at the Polish ISDE in 1987. He also founded Ride to Win, a nonprofit entity that raises funds for the U.S. Trophy Team, and is a former U.S. Trophy Team Manager. "It's awesome that GNCC Racing has stepped up to the plate to help America's Team," says Bertram. "I'm confident we have the best off-road riders in the world, and now it's time to prove it." America's Team will compete in the 78th ISDE, scheduled for November 3-8 in Forteleza City, Brazil. The six-member squad includes; FMF Suzuki's Rodney Smith, the four-time and defending AMA Grand National Cross Country Series Champion; Team Green Kawasaki's Fred Andrews, the two-time and defending AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion; KTM's Mike Lafferty, the five-time and defending AMA/FMF Racing National Enduro Series Champion; FMF Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowski, a four-time AMA U.S. Motocross Series Champion and a member of three winning U.S. Motocross des Nations teams (and two-time WORCS Champion); Am-Pro Yamaha's Jason Raines, a former ISDE gold medallist; and Yamaha's Ty Davis, the three-time and defending champion of the AMA Hare & Hound Series and a two-time AMA National Enduro Series champion. For more information on GNCC ISDE 2003, visit www.gnccracing.com. PointXCamp has announced that it has developed its motocross program for 2003 and beyond in full cooperation with seven-time AMA Champion Rick Johnson. Starting immediately, Johnson will headquarter his motocross school at PointXCamp and will assume management of the PointXCamp motocross programs. "This combination will provide a unique experience for anyone who wants to improve their motocross skills or introduce themselves to this exciting sport," said Jason Pennington, co-owner of PointXCamp. "PointXCamp chose Rick Johnson as our partner for this effort based on his overwhelming success as a professional athlete, his proven skills as an instructor for all ages and skill levels, and his vast understanding of the off-road motorcycle community. We at PointXCamp are certain Rick will not only uphold the philosophies and quality benchmarks we have developed, but will help us continue to improve them as well. - PointXCamp plans to develop a new satellite facility at Cahuilla Creek MX Park to combine with the PointXCamp campus and field trips to Southem California's best motocross facilities. Training visitors will bring their bikes and gear, and PointXCamp will provide housing, food, skateboarding, BMX, wakeboarding, paintball and a list of other recreational activities. Additionally, PointXCamp will offer fresh bikes and gear for campers who don't have equipment or choose not to bring their own, PointXCamp is situated on over 260 acres just outside of Los Angeles and San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.pointx.com. o o c c ,... L Fortuna Yamaha team riders Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri as well as the Gauloises Yamaha team tested last week in Spain, their final shakedown before the IRTA tests at Jerez on February 21. Despite a crash on February 10, Checa returned to the track the following day. His teammate Melandri completed more laps than all the other Yamaha riders, ending the test with a long run, giving him some of the vital experience that he will need when the MotoGP season be9ins in Suzuka, Japan, on April 6. Checa was positive about his final day's achievements. "I still felt slightly sore today, but generally I am okay, admitted the Spaniard. "I am happy with my performance today, as I found some consistent laps. I also went the fastest that I have ever ridden at this circuit. The weather conditions today weren't great either, so I think there is even more room to improve." Checa completed a total of 46 laps and improved on his previous Grand Prix lap time of 1;45,2, Max Biaggi's pole position time of 1:44.5, and the circuit lap record of 1:46,6. Melandri came away from the test feeling much more confident than at the Fortuna Yamaha Team's previous test in Valencia two weeks ago, when he suffered some front braking problems. The young 250cc World Cham- Jim Spear, a.k.a. "Big Kahuna," died at his home in Ontario, California, on February 11. Spear, a retired business owner who once worked for White Brothers, Noleen, and was a partner in Spear Race Consultants, also handled the checkered flag for GFI Racing since 1980, He also did similar duties prior to that for SMX, DeAnza Cycle Club, Penris Raceway, etc. Spear is survived by his wife, Kathee, daughters Ardah Spear, Debi Lacombe, Sally Weisel, and his son, Tony. Memorial donations can be made to VNA and Hospice of Southern California, P.O. Box 908, Claremont. CA91711-1908, Two-time AMA Grand National Champion Gary Nixon will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on June 12 at the State Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. Nixon will join car racers Darrell Waltrip, Bob Bondurant, Mel Kenyon and Bill Simpson in being inducted in the class of 2003. o ~ 98 FEBRUARY 26, 2003' cue I FollOWing intense efforts by the AMA, legislation has been introduced in Con• n e vv s @G!J@&JUD~ !XJ@UG!J[?[JD u@ [ljJ@u@@[fJ Ducati returns to Grand Prix racing this year for the first time in three decades, and the team introduced its riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi and its Desmosedici V-four on February 14 in Italy, The Desmosedici is a long-term racing project that allows Ducati to experiment with new technology, and Ducati Corse has increased its staff to 110 people to meet the biggest chal· lenge of its illustrious history, according to Ducati. "This is a fascinating and stimulating project," says Ducati Corse managing director Claudio Domenicali, "We are proud that Marlboro, a brand that has contributed to the history of both motorcycling and car racing, has chosen Ducati as its partner for the next four years. For Ducati, the anrival of four-strokes in MotoGP represents an opportunity to demonstrate its maturity and technology in this championship. I believe that the experience accumulated in World Superbike will allow us, after an initial period of growth, to take on the best in this category at the highest level. .. Former World Superbike Champion Bayliss, who has ridden Ducatis exclusively since 1998, and former 125 and 250cc World Champion Capirossi are the ideal men to front Ducati's MotoGP effort, Ducati says, Both men are renowned for their supercommitted riding styles, as well as for their easygoing off-track characters, And both men have alreadly heaped praise upon the Desmosedici, a 2OQ-plus horsepower Vfour four-stroke that uses Ducati's trademark desmodromic valve-control system. "I am pleased to be part of the Ducati Desmosedici project: said Bayliss, "The bike is totally different from the Ducati 998 Superbike I was used to, and I'll probably need some more time before I can really put the new bike through its paces, Also, I've never raced at most of the MotoGP circuits, so that's something else I have to learn. However, all of this is both stimulating and gratifying, and I'm honored and proud that Ducati has chosen me to be a part of the Ducati MotoGP Team." And Capirossi, one of only three riders to have won GPs in the 125, 250 and 500cc classes, added; "The Ducati Desmosedici has improved rapidly, and I am very pleased with the way things are going, We know that it's not going to be easy because we have one year's less experience than all the others, but we're giving it everything we've got. The project has got underway well, and we are already at a good level. The bike is about to make its debut, but we have a constant series of updates and innovations that will help us to improve. We have incredible potential, and the entire company firmly believes in the project. so I am sure that development will be rapid and constant. I'm going to have some fun in 2003," The Ducati MotoGP Team is based at the Ducati Corse premises in Borgo Panigale, outside Bologna. Bayliss and Capirossi commence the 16-race MotoGP World Championship at Suzuka, Japan, on April 6. gress to end health-care discrimination against motorcyclists, according to the AMA. In the 1990s, Congress passed a law meant to bar employers from refusing to cover motorcycle-related injuries in the health-care coverage they offer employees, But federal bureaucrats reversed that law, writing rules to allow health-insurance discrimination against motorcyclists and others who engage in legal activities like skiing, snowmobiling, ATV riding or horseback riding. This new legislation would correct that action, The bill, introduced by U.S. Senators Russ Fein90ld (D-Wisconsin) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) on February 14, would • promote health-care coverage parity for individuals participating in legal recreational activities or legal transportation activities.· Specifically, the bill states that "a pian or issuer may not deny benefits otherwise proVided for the treatment of any injury solely because such injury resulted from participation of the participant or beneficiary in an activity such as motorcycling, snowmobiling, all-terrain vehicle riding, horseback riding, skiing or other similar legal actiVity." Those words came out of meetings between aides for the senators and the AMA's team in Washington, D.C., that also included officials of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, The bill also has the endorsement of the All-Terrain Vehicle Association, the American Horse Council and the American Snowmobilers Association, among others. Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, said the threat of losing health-care benefits is enormous .• Medical bills from an accident can easily total tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said. ·Without insurance, that can amount to a devastating blow to any rider." Riders and others who want to end this type of insurance discrimination are urged to send letters to their federal lawmakers asking them to support the Feingold-Collins bill. An easy way to send your message is to use the AMA Rapid Response Center at www.AMADirectlink.com. "We succeeded in this effort years ago, only to see our efforts reversed by federal agencies," Moreland said. "Now, we have a second chance to protect all motorcyclists from health-insurance discrimination. We need to take advantage of this opportunity.• eN