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/128205
.... _:-1•• .... .RI~ •... . Happenings In Motorcycling .I~-'."--'" Yamaha's Weekend of Champions kicked off early Friday morning, legends past and present ready and eager to sign autographs for a line that snaked through Yamaha's display area in front of Daytona International Speedway. Giacomo Agostini (right), a 15-time World Champion who took his last 500cc title in 1975 aboard a Yamaha, shows four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson (left) a Daytona 200 program from the mid-70s. Agostini won the Daytona 200 aboard a Yamaha in 1974. Lawson won the 200 twice aboard Yamahas, in 1985 and J 993. He also twice won the 250cc Grand Prix race, in 1980 on a Yamaha and in 1981 on a Kawasaki. B¥ ALAN CATHCART • • Living the MotoGP Life Ever dreamed of joining the Grand Prix or World Superbike race paddocks as a team mec!llmlc, and of working on the bikes that line up try to win bike. racing's glittering priZes? Well, for 15 fortunate Italian students, that dream wUl become reatity later this year - and thanks to the farsightedness of the director of professional training for the province of Pesaro and Urblno, JI'\$. OIorlana Gamb1h1, and the personal support of the president of the ",rovince, Palmll'O Qcchielli. they wUl be doing so as part of a state-funded trainlng course at the end of which lies a spec:IaI1st diploma, which Italian road racing teamll are pledged to recognize. The small city of Pesaro on Italy's Adriatic Riviera has been a hotbed of italian motorcy· cling for the past centwy and most recently the home of such race·winning road racing mar~ as MorbJdelli, MBA, Sa,wenero, Iprem, Ringhini, RTM and of course the reborn Hereos from Harley-Davidson's past and present gathered in Daytona Beach to celebrate the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum's new exhibit. Willie G. Davidson takes a break from the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum's Daytona Bike Week party to "customize" an Anniversary Edition 2003 Heritage Softail (R) Classic, donated to the museum by HarleyDavidson. The bike will be raffled off and the winner announced during Daytona Bike Week 2004. Benelli company now uoder the coo1!roi of the Merloni family. Several of the privateer teams taking part in the 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix series, as well as the 2002 Aprilia and BeneDi World Superbike squads, are based in or near the city, making this a Il)ecca of motorcycle racing, which makes training the next generation of race mechanics to work In these teams an important local priority. The provincial government has therefore established a course in motorcycle race- engineering, which is limited to just 15 students to begin with and is being taught In Pesaro Technlcal College by a staff headed by local resident Mario Galeotti, one of Italy'S most experienced and famous race mechanics. Galeotti prepared the bikes on which Loris Capirossl won bOth 125 (Honda) and 250 (Aprilia) World titles, then repeated the trick with Max Biagg] during his ApriUa days. He was also Manuel Pogglali's chief race engineer, looking after the Gilera/Oerbi 125 on which the youngster from the nearby city-state of San Marino won the 2001 World Championship. Now retired from the GP paddock. Galeotti wm be seeking to pass on his experience to a younger generation, during the 760 hows comprising the course, of which 240 hours will be on placement with a race team, obtaining hands-on work experience at the sharp end, Predictably, the Technlcal College was deluged with applications from ~oungsters from all over Italy. The qualification for acceptance was a basic understanding of motorcycle engineering, obtained either at school or a technical institution. The lucky 15 began their course on January 7, and It'll be interesting to see whether the Province of Pe58ro and Urbino's brave initiative is copied elsewhere in Italy - or indeed in other countries. Let's hope it is. TD cast YDur vDte, IDg Dn tD ,,.---<:http://.ww:t:ydenews.cDm. ~ A. ThrDw Dut the race B. Add Dne thrDw-away rDund tD file series 6 MARCH 19, 2003' e y e l e n y rounds e _ s to the series