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/128225
By ,Chicane HENNY RAY ABRAMS H ave we seen the last of the AMA wild cards at Laguna Seca? More importantly, have we seen the last of World Superbike? The biggest of the AMA Superbike teams, American Honda, snubbed World Superbike by choosing to showcase its Superbike riders in the Supersport class. That left four AMA wild cards, including the top three in the AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship. Eric Bostrom arrived in Monterey with the best of intentions, surrounded by friends and family, wrapped in a sharp new set of retro leathers, energized by the challenge of racing his standard-bore 750cc Kawasaki ZX- 7R against the 1000s of the rest of the world, his charisma a certain draw in a galaxy of stars diminished from last year. Third in Friday's AMA race, Bostrom was headed to the next rounds at Mid-Ohio six points behind Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin, with five on Yosh's Aaron Yates. Then came World Superbike. Off the first leg start, Yates tried a low-percentage, high-risk move up the inside of turn two. His front end washed out, he ran through the gravel on the inside, then his GSX-R1000 became the bowling ball that skittled Neil Hodgson, Troy Corser, Frankie Chili and Bostrom. All made the restart but Bostrom. While Chili was winning the first race, Bostrom was being treated for a thorax compression and dislocated right shoulder, his AMA title hopes damaged, if not shattered. Less than two weeks after leaving the medical center, he'd have to be in Lexington, Ohio, for the 13th and 14th rounds of the AMA Superbike Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, if his doctor clears him. No one question's Bostrom's determination, but no amount of heart can soften the twists and turns, elevation changes, and hard braking of the hours of practice, qualifying and two Superbike races at Mid-Ohio. The first time he brakes from 160 mph plus on the back straight, the pain in his shoulder will be excruciating. Yet there are no regrets at Kawasaki. "If I don't let him ride, he's off to Australia hanging off a 1OO-foot cliff," Kawasaki team manager Mike Preston said. "I guess my chances are better letting him ride." Of the four AMA wild cards, Bostrom was the most enthusiastic, Mladin the least. "The World Superbike thing is a big pain in the ass to me," Mladin said. LOOK/liB Teammate Aaron Yates was more politic: "I never thought about it. They ask me to do it; I come do it." Yates restarted in the first leg to finish, then crashed late in leg two while battling for the final podium spot. Mladin had been the fastest rider on the track all weekend, leading the first leg before dropping to fourth. He opted out of leg two because of exhaustion. Ducati Austin's Giovanni Bussei went through two motors after they'd ingested dirt and gravel from first a crash in practice, then another in the AMA race. He finished seventh in the first World Superbike leg, sixth in the second. Only Mladin left Monterey with a full complement of parts and machinery and with his health intact. The good he did himself and his team will be measured at Mid-Ohio, after which the majority of the teams head directly to Birmingham, Alabama, for a three-day test at Barber Motorsports Park. ''I'm here to try to win the AMA championship," Mladin said after earning the pole for the AMA race. "If I could do a World Superbike race without having to concentrate on AMA, I'd be much happier. I'd be here, ready to go, flat out for World Superbike. " Will there be a World Superb ike race in Monterey next year? And, if so, will it be worth watching? As Gordon Ritchie, Cycle News' man on the World Superbike trail, wrote last week, World Superbike is in if not turmoil, at least transition. The Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association (MSMA), a group that includes Honda, Suzuki, Ducati, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Aprilia, issued a surprisingly strongly worded statement on Thursday decrying the current and future states of World Superbike technical regulations. "As a consequence, the large majority of the MSMA member companies who were considering entering World Championship Superbike have reviewed their positions and decided not to enter World Championship Superbike at all," the MSMA's release stated. Is it a bluff? It was known that Yamaha and Aprilia wouldn't be playing in 2004, no matter the rules. Honda hasn't made its plans known, and the signals Kawasaki has been sending don't presage a return tQ the series. Ducati and Suzuki may return, though tires will certainly factor into their thinking. In an upcoming issue of Cycle NeWS • QF1l111a~ 1~loO! 108 JULv30, 2003' cue' e > neVU's On the same day the MSMA fired its salvo, the FIM caught some of the tire companies by surprise by issuing a statement that said next year's World Superbike series would feature spec tires. "At the request of the Superbike World Championship promoter, FGSport Group, a unique brand and type of tires will be available to all riders and teams to create fair and equitable conditions to all of them and in order to prevent a lack of availability of tires," the FIM release read. Dunlop supplies tires to the vast majority of the World Superbike paddock. The exceptions are the threerider DFX Ducati team, which uses Pirellis, and the Foggy Petronas and Fila Ducati teams, which Michelin supplies, though not equally. Foggy Petronas' Troy Corser complained early in the season about getting twoyear-old tires. Neither Dunlop nor Michelin was aware of the FIM's plans, leading to speculation that Pirelli would be the tire of forced choice, if the regulation flies, making World Superbike an even more Italian championship, run by the Flammini group, raced mostly by Ducatis, possibly to be shod with Pirellis. None of which would matter to the AMA Superbike teams, all of whom are under contract to Dunlop this year. Suzuki and Kawasaki are signed for 2004, with Honda and Ducati up for grabs, and Yamaha's return to the Superbike class uncertain, though less likely if it doesn't make an attack on the world level. If American Honda and whoever is running AMA's Ducati team go to Michelin, as some have speculated, they'd also be precluded from World Superbike So maybe the teams won't have to decide whether to allow, or encourage, their riders to pull double duty at Laguna S ca next year. With the mass defections from World Superbike after 2002 of Ben Bostrom, Colin Edwards, Nori Haga and Troy Bayliss, and with Neil Hodgson almost certain to go to GPs next year, the Laguna Seca weekend is more dependent than ever on the star power of the AMA wild cards, even in reduced numbers. When Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin took the lead in the first leg, the crowd roared in approval, an unlikely occurrence at AMA races. "I think for us at Kawasaki, it would be a disappointment if he didn't ride," Kawasaki team manager Mike Preston said of Eric Bostrom. If only he has somewhere to do it. eN Washougal MX National Sachsenring MotoGP Brands Hatch WSBK Road America AMA SBK LOOK/liB ~.'(JI/I:f;tIJt~ 30 YEARS AGO.•• AUGUST6,1978 Yvon DuHamel (Kaw) led the AMA Road Racing field through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca Raceway on the cover of Issue #30. Gary Nixon (Kaw) ended up winning the Kawasaki-sponsored event, and Cliff Carr (Kaw) was the runner up. Gary Scott (Tri) finished third, and DuHamel lubed his rear tire and crashed out. Kenny Roberts (Yam) broke in the big race but won the combined event over Kel Carruthers (Yam) and DuHamel... Eddie Cole (Pen) won the 125cc Expert class at a CMC Motocross event at Indian Duoes. Randy Myers (Bul) won the 250cc Expert event, and Rex Staten (Mai) dominated the 500cc Expert race... Heikki Mikkola (Hus) not only won both motos at the Unadilla Irrter-AMA event, he won the title. Jaroslav Falta (Cl) finished second overall, and Pierre Karsmakers (Yam) was third. The top American was Gary Chaplin (Mai), overall. 20 YEARS AGO... AUGUST 19, 1983 The Wheelie King Doug Domokos stood his Honda on end and lofted the stars and stripes on the cover of Issue #30 in announcement of his interview inside the issue, and of the American domination of the Unadilla USGP. "Business is wheelie good," Domokos said ... David Bailey (Hon) continued his assault on the American MX scene in winning the 250cc USGP with a 1-2 score. Defending champ Danny LaPorte (Yam) finished second overall (4-1), and Bryan Myerscough (Hon) rounded out the podium (2-5). The first Euro was Georges Jobe (Suz) in fourth (3-4} ... Honda got its first National Mile win, and its first win for the new RS750 at the DuQuoin Mile under rider Hank Scott. Bubba Shobert (H-D) finished second overall, and Doug Chandler (H-D) finished third ... In an event held the week prior to the Unadill<; MXGP, Kees Van der Ven (KTM) swept both motos at the Canadian MXGP in Quebec. Georges Jobe (Suz), Ross Pederson (Suz) and Danny laPorte (Yam) rounded out the top four. 10 YEARS AGO.•. AUGUST 4, 1993 Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) graced the cover of Issue #30 after clinching the AMA 250cc National MX title with Ilis sweep of the Troy, Ohio, MX National. Mike LaRocco (Kaw) finished second overall with 2-2 scores, and Steve La mson (Hon) finished third. Jeff Emig (Yam) swept the 125cc class over Doug Henry (Hon) and 16-year-old Damon Huffman (Suz). After 7 of 12 rounds, Henry sat three points behind Emig for the championship, 280-277 ... Michael Doohan (Hon) turned his pole position into a win at the Mugello GP, hoiding off Kevin Schwantz (Suz) in the process. Wayne Rainey (Yam) was third as Schwantz led the championship by 23 with four rounds remaining ... Scott Russell (Kaw) went 2-1 in the two legs of the Czechoslovakia World Superbike event. Carl Fogarty (Due) went 1-2... Jorgen Nilsson (Hon) scored the Dutch 500cc MXGP in Mill, Holland, with a 4-2-1 score.