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/128203
o o o Continued from page 3 u has announced that it will conduct class- conjunction with the AMA Four-Stroke Nationals in Adelanto. March 22-23. For more information, call 909/341-8002. es for motorcyclists in 12 countries during the 2003 calendar year. Founded in 1980 by motorcycle racing legend Keith r-\ Parts Canada Superbike Championship officials have announced a date The California Superbike School treal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to August 22-24, setting up a conflict with the Parts Canada Superbike event. Mont- Tremblant is located about an change for the seventh round of the series at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. The event will take place August 15-17 rather than August 22-24. as originally planned. The shift came because of a late change in the CART Champ Car schedule. according to promoters. That series recently moved its round at Mon- Code, the Los Angeles-based school established permanent branches in England and Australia in the 1990s. This year, in addition to its operations in the United States, England and Australia, Code's school will hold classes for riders in Ireland, France. Spain, Germany. Greece, Norway. Sweden. Malaysia and the Philippines ... Once foreign students hour's drive north of Montreal. Since the two events will draw from the same pool of course worlkers, Parts Canada Superbike representatives elected to change the date of their event. "It wasn't very practical to try and run two major motorsports events within about an hour of each other on the same weekend." said Colin Fraser of Parts Canada Superbike Championship series organizer Professional Motorsports Productions. "The staff at Mont-Tremblant have been ve cooperative in helping us resolve this situation. and we thank them for thei understanding." The Mont-Tremblant event. the first national Superbike round held at the classic venue, will now come one week after the Parts Canada Superbike series stop at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie. Nova Scotia. The season will conclude two weeks following the Mont-Tremblant race at Shannonville Motorsport Park. August 29-31. come to one of our schools, they immediately want to share their new skills with friends at home - and this rider-torider. word-of-mouth dissemination is what's fueling our global expansion," The end of three days of preseason testing on an always cold and occasionay damp track at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in says Code. "Our biggest problem is keeping up with the demand. It usually takes one to two years to train a riding instructor in our procedures. and we Valencia saw a new circuit '""' only accept one out of every 25 who try out. For more information. call 323/2242734 or visit www.superbikeschool.com. [ r best (World Superbike best at least) set by one of the men most expected to - Fila Ducati's new star Neil Hodgson. Wet conditions on February 21-22 saw a blizzard of qualifying tires and desperate riders take to the 2.48-mile circuit in the last two sessions on February 23, trying to beat Hodgson's time of 1:34.016 from the early American Suzuki has announced its 2003 Suzuki road racing contingency program. The Suzuki program now features over $1.5 million in payouts for Suzuki racers nationwide. Highlights for 2003 include a totally revamped AMA Superstock program. higher regional payouts for 600. 750cc c o and Open class categories. a chance to compete in the World GSX-R cup, and afternoon session. The test was the last chance the teams had to practice at Valencia before the start of the 2003 season (which begins March 2 at Valencia), and the poor weather prevented all the riders from fjnding absolutely optimal setup and tire choices before the end outing - the only official SBK preseason test session. The fastest man on day one was Hodgson but he was displaced by his factory 999-equipped teammate Ruben Xaus on day two, only for Hodgson to score his ultimate best time at the exact point required. The Englishman also put in more laps than any of the other 21 riders in attendance, with a total of 164. In the psychological war within the Ducati pit garage, Hodgson is certainly winning so far. Some say Hodgson is a sure thing for the title, but don't teliltim that, as he is taking his duties in testing very seriously. He was even motivated enough to be annoyed not to break into the I :33s, "We went the wrong way with some of the setup on Saturday, but we know we can do good lap times consistently," Hodgson said. "' was really disappointed to miss out on setting a 1:33 time, because I made a couple of mistakes on my best lap.· Xaus' second day lap of 1:34.755 proved to be his best, and the Spaniard crashed twice during this test, once in the very last session, attempting to improve on Hodgson's time. NCR Nortel Ducati's Regis Laconi took the third best time of the test after 139 laps of the torturous circuit, with the Frenchman scoring a personal best of 1:35.391, some distance behind the Michelin-shod Ducatis of the Fila team. Laconi is a proven World Superbike race winner of the recent past and is fully intent on finishing the season as top nonfactory rider. "The factory Ducatis are the target to aim for, but even if we are not on that level of machinery, we will be trying 100 percent to be the best," Laconi said. "I have had some very good cooperation with the team, with Dunlop for the tires. I have tried a new Dunlop on the final day, and it gave an instant improvement.· Of particular satisfaction to his NCR team is the fact that he managed to outperfonm the owners of Bayliss and Xaus' 2002 factory Ducatis - Chris Walker and James Toseland - at the first serious attempt. The English HM Plant Ducati pairing nonetheless went a close fourth and fifth on the time sheets, with Walker setting a personal Valencia best of 1:34.460, .204 better than the injured (and obviously in pain) Toseland. "My hand has been frustrating me, but it has been difficult to get into any kind of rhythm because we have been trying out a lot of tires to see if they will go any distance in this cold weather," said Toseland. "Both bikes are setup the same now, and although they are faster than last's year's ones, it is hard to feel it, because they handle just the same.· Aussie privateer Steve Martin (Ducati DFX 998RS) kept the best of rus Pirelli tires until the final day to set a quick 1:35.875, installing himself one whole rung above his previous expected testing results. The oldest man in Superbike racing, the 38-years-young PierFrancesco Chili (PSG- 1 Ducati) finished his test in overall seventh place, getting reacquainted with two different Ducatis - one of his old ones from 2002 and one of Juan Borja's. Troy Corser and the Foggy Petronas FPl triple put up a good shOWing In eighth place during the contest of the stopwatches, getting some better Michelin tires toward the end of the test and making good use of them. He and his teammate James Haydon both said that with full access to even 2002 Michelin rubber, rather than the 2001 stuff they claim to have at their disposal now (a claim contested by a Michelin spokesman, who says they have a mix of older and not so old), they would be right there with virtually any of the Ducati riders. Gordon Ritchie the 18th annual Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta. AMA Superstock riders will now benefit from increased payouts for the top 15 positions ($250 for 15th), an increased championship bonus of o o o o o $15,000, and higher overall payouts per position. Suzuki says. Suzuki GSX-R riders will also be happy to hear that 600. 750 and Open class category regional J n U 8 payouts have been increased for '03. The new payout structure for these regional classes now includes a $1000 payout for first place. $500 for second. $275 for a third-place finish and $200 for fourth place. The Suzuki World GSX-R Cup Final will retum for its second year. America's best GSX-R750 mounted privateers will have a chance to win a spot on the U.S. team and take on the fastest Suzuki privateers in the world in o o o o c " Magny-Cours. France. Finally. all Suzuki mounted riders will have the opportunity to race in the 18th annual Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta and win their share of $80.000. For more information visit www.suzukicycles.com. The Lodi Cycle Bowl will celebrate its 50th anniversary, April 12- 13 with racing on the famous track in Northern California. Sunday, April 13. will feature roll-back entry fees of just $1 , and spectators will also get in for a buck. Goat Breker of GFI Racing will present the first four-stroke Amateur Nationals in MARCH 5. 2003' cue I • n • _ s