Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship Road Race Series Round 10: Czech Republic Grand Prix here," Cliffond said. What about next year? Clifford's most viable option appears to be Ducati engines in specialist frames, likely Harris, the builder of his current chaSSIS. The second option would be Aprilias. BRIEFLY••• Colin Edwards wanted to put to rest the rumors that he'd be switching camps for 2004, leaving the Alice Aprilia team for any number of other garages. "I'll be here, doing the same thing: Edwands said. One of the less savory aspects of Grand Prix rac· ing, Edwards discovered since moving over from World Super. bike, is a never-ending rumor mill that had him going to Telefonica MoviStar Honda and Camel Pramac Honda. "Over here it's just going apeshit with rumors, but I'll be doing the same thing. It's been going on since before the fourth race. Next year we've got new stuff coming, so I'm excited for it," he said of the expected new three·cylinder engine. Edwards confinmed that he'd signed a two-year deal at the end of last year. "It was a two-year deal with an option. if I don't finish top 10, well, then we both can look. That was a safety net." he said. The deal was reached a month ago. "We've come to an agreement that I want to stay; they want me to stay," Nicky Hayden's confidence has been on the rise since the Dutch TT in Holland, culminating in a fighting fifth in the previous GP in Germany, and this weekend's seventh-fastest qualifying effort, "I think that [Dutch m weekend I could have been top five for sure, But it rained before the race, and on the warm-up lap my bike had a big problem, and I had to switch bikes and start last." Following Assen he went to Donington Park, another track he'd never seen, then on to Suzuka for the 8-Hour. Hayden lasted just over a lap when he crashed on another bike's oil in turn one. "Even though I went to Suzuka and the race didn't go good, I was pretty quick all weekend," Hayden said. "I was provisional pole, and you get your confidence going. I don't think that hurt either. I got back on a Superbike. I don't know if it was a big help, but there I got to do a lot of laps. Maybe just getting on something I was real comfortable on." After Suzuka came his inspired ride in the Genman GP at the Sachsenring, where he finished fifth after getting passed by Loris Capirossi on the final lap. "Now I feel really good on this bike; I feel at home on it. There was a few weeks there that wasn't fun, but now I've kind of got it to where I can go for it and I can make it fun. When you're not having fun, it shows in your riding, and it's just everything - not fun on the bike, you just want to sit in the motorhome." The fastest motorcycle in Grand Prix racing just got faster. Ducati revealed that riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss both had new chassis and new fairings at the Czech GP, improving the handling and aerodynamics of the Marlboro Ducati Desmosedici, the MotoGP debutante that reached over 207 mph at the italian GP at Mugello earlier this year. Designed by Ducati Corse's aerodynamicists. the new cowling has air intakes in the upper fairing to cool the rider, with new air outlets in the lower fairing to extract hot air for improved performance. The front area isn't much changed, and the team is paying more attention to internal air flow. The changes should be especially helpful in the hot weather that's plagued Europe all summer. Rigidity has been increased in the chassis, which is otherwise unchanged, except for detail changes, new, larger-diameter Ohlins forks and new tripie clamps. The upgrades are the result of work carried out by test rider Vittoriano Guareschi at various test sessions in Italy. Arnaud Vincent, the reigning 125cc World Champion, was back in the GP paddock less than a week after being fired by KTM. The Frenchman was hoping to secure a ride for the rest of the season after KTM suddenly severed his contract. "I have possibilities with Derbi and Aprilia, but things still have to be ironed out: he said. As for his dismissal, he said, "I was surprised. I have given everything I could into the project. but both myself and KTM weren't rewarded for our efforts, and they decided to release me from my contract," Vincent was replaced by Finn Mika Kallio, who joins Roberto Locatelli. Kallio's spot on the Ajo Motorsports team was taken by Hiroyuki Kikuchi. a 38-year-old whose first GP was in 1988. Ajo Motorsport announced, in a press release, that it was considering legal action against Kallio and KTM. "In onder to secure our reputation and legal rights, and our partners and sponsors as well, we are seriously considering, and also preparing, to start legal actions against Kallio and KTM to annul Kallio's contract with KTM and to seek for indemnification for serious damages suffered by Ajo Motorsport." At the time of Vincent's dismissal. KTM also announced it had abandoned its MotoGP project after realizing the huge financial burden it'd put on the factory. The team said the recent decline of the U.S. dollar against the euro meant that sales from the USA, KTM's biggest market. were less profitable. They also understood that spending 30 million euros wouldn't guarantee that they'd be competitive and that the opposite was more likely, that they'd be a second-tier team behind Honda and Ducati. WCM Motorsports, the troubled MotoGP team whose Yamaha R l-based bike was ruled illegal by a succession of authorities, will finally put the bike on track Monday, the day after the Czech GP, according to team owner Peter Clifford, Clifford said the team had recently taken delivery of prototype crankcases and four-valve heads and that team riders Chris Burns and James Haydon wouid test at Brno. Clifford was guarded about who was building the engines, saying oniy that it was being done in Holland. Coincidentally, Yamaha's former workshop was located near Amsterdam, In the meantime, they'll race a pair of old twostrokes, a 1993 Yamaha YZR-500 and a dated Sabre V-four. "We're obviously not confident enough to race (the prototypel 20 AUGUST 27,2003' cue I e n e vv What American Honda will race in the AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship next year was the subject of discussion in Sma with the prevailing opinion favoring the new inline four. Rumors have surfaced that there's a rift among various factions at Honda as to whether to race the new four or a rumored street version of the RC-211 V MotoGP bike. More than one senior Honda employee said their bet was on the four-cylinder, dubbed the Fireblade outside the United States, for one simple reason; they didn't believe the street version of the 211V existed. What may exist is a new V-six Honda, reported to be ready for track testing as a weapon against the aggressive Ducatis next year. The rumor mill has only two being offered, with Valentino Rossi surely to get one and the other up for grabs but, given his performances this year, Iikeiy to go to Sete Gibemau, if it exists. Repsol Honda's Valentino Rossi went four consecutive races without a win, his longest win streak in the premier class since taking his first Victory at Donington in 2000, Rossi broke a tie with Wayne Rainey for third place on the list of consecutive podium finishers, Only Giacomo Agostini. with 22, and Mick Doohan, with 17, have been on the podium more times in a row than the MotoGP World Champion. Rossi's last nonpodium finish came here one year ago when his rear tire came apart. Smo marked the 14th race in a row without a repeat winner in the MotoGP class, The only longer string spanned the 1999 and 2000 seasons when there were 22 races without a back-to-back winner. Team owner Luis d'Antin said he was reasonably certain he'd have a pair of Ducati Desmoseidicis for next year's MotoGP World Championship and that it would be confirmed shortly. Should the Ducati deal not come through, he said he's been assured Yamahas for two riders. Who those riders will be has yet to be detenmlned, he said. Telefonica MoviStar's Sete Gibernau surpassed his best previous points total for a full season by finishing second at Brno. Gibemau has now scored 178, 13 more than the 165 he racked up in 1999. Alex Hoffman will join the Fuchs Kawasaki MotoGP team full· time next year, team manager Haraid Eckl announced at a press conference in Brno on Friday afternoon. "I'm very happy I can announce today Alex [Hoffman] as a MotoGP rider," Eckl said of his fellow German. Eckl said he'd followed Hoffman's career for some years and wanted him as a test rider and occasional wild card for 2003 but didn't have the budget. But at a test in Sepang, Malaysia, last November, Hoffman so impressed the factory that it found a way to accommodate him. "I pushed very hard to give him a chance," Eckl said, Until signing with Kawasaki, Hoffman had been rumored to be signing with the d'Antin team, which is expected to run second·tier Ducatis next year. "The offers were good," said Hoffman, who rode for a number of teams last year and has jumped in and out of GPs this year. Most important was that he be in one place all year, he said, so that he can concentrate on the task at hand. -I think, for sure, there's a lot more potential from my side," he said, Kawasaki currently has Australian Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt under contract for this year. Eckl wouldn't say who the second rider would be in 2004. "I don't want to make any further comment of the rider for next year," he said, adding that it wouldn't be announced before the end of the season. A question arose as to what engines Kawasaki would use next year. One story was that it would use the V -four Suzukis, further evidence of the cooperation between the two factories. The benefit would be more to Suzuki than Kawasaki. giving it a second opinion and more data than is normally provided by just the team's two riders and occasional testers. A source close to Kawasaki denied the Suzuki connection, saying it was to continue with its inline four while developing its own V-four next season. As For what tires Kawasaki will run, Dunlop's Jeremy Fergusson said, "We're working on the premise that it'll be the case. Our objective is to expand our presence in MotoGP to more and more competitive teams... A month after a very controversial ruling against Repsol Honda's Valentino Rossi. the FIM has amended the rules for passing under a waving yellow flag. Well after winning the British Grand Prix at Donington Park, Rossi was assessed a 10-second penalty for passing Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi on a yellow flag. The penaity meant that Rossi was dropped from first to thind, and Camel Pramac Pons' Max Biaggi was awarded the win. The new ruling states that for the rest of the 2003 season, "Any infraction to Art. 1.22,2 'yellow flag' during a practice session will resuit in the cancellation of the time of the lap during which the infraction occurred, Any infraction to this rule occurring during the race will be penalized with a 1O-seconds penalty. After notification has been made to the team, a board will infonm the rider of the time penalty, and the information will also be displayed on the timekeeping monitors, In both cases, an extra penalty may also be imposed." The FIM's release said that more changes will be proposed for the 2004 season, s D'Antin Yamaha's Shinya Nakano Grashed spectacularly in Saturday's qualifying session, the Japanese rider sliding hard into tire barriers after being pitched from his M-l. He was immediately attended by a group of medics and comer workers while lying unconscious in the gravel trap. Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi both thought the session should have been red-flagged and pitted to say so. But it wasn't, and qualifying continued, much to their dismay. "I couldn't believe it wasn't stopped: Capirossi said. "The crash was in a very fast part of the track. - Rossi said that riders and race officials had come to an agreement at the South African GP that when a rider crashes and appears unconscious, a red flag comes out immediateiy. "This didn't happen: Rossi said. - Loris and I tried to get it stopped. It was a very dangerous situation." The pair had requested a meeting with race director Paul Butler and riders' safety rep Franco Uncini. Pirelli may have been granted the spec-tire franchise for the 2004-2005 World Superbike Championship, but it doesn't mean the issue has been settled. Dunlop's Jeremy Fergusson said Dun· lop had had "absolutely no conversation at all" with FG Sports, the promoters of the World Superbike series, before the announcement that Pirelli was the spec tire was made. Dunlop's lawyers are looking over all the relevant documents, including the presentation that World Superbike managers FG Sports made to the teams and any subsequent correspondence, including documents in the public domain like press releases, Fergusson didn't say how long it would take for the legal department to respond, but he didn't expect it to be before September. He also said that Dunlop was working in concert with Michelin, with the tire giants' exchanging documents and copying each other on all correspondence. "We're here to promote competition, not discourage it: Fergusson said. Suzuki's John Hopkins is hoping to make his racing retum to the United States in the final round of the AMA Red Bull Supermota Championship in Las Vegas. "I'm planning on doing the last one in Las Vegas," Hopkins said after qualifying 13th for the Czech GP at Brno. Hopkins said he had a test in MalaySia after the final MotoGP race early in November. The Supermoto race was the following week. Hopkins said he'd been practicing on a friend's Supermoto machine on the streets near hiS home in Ramona, California. "It's pretty low-key," he said. "Once I get my bike ready, I'm going to get out on the go-kart track at Lake Perris ... Aquaphobics were out of luck on the Friday of the GP weekend. Valentino Rossi made sure of that. The World Champion instigated the traditional Italian celebration of August 15, a day when mischievous children roam the streets dousing passersby with water, often From water balloons. No one was immune, Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi was drenched head to toe, as was Telefonica MoviStar Honda's Sete Gibernau, courtesy of Capirossi. Gibemau had his revenge on an unsuspecting Kenny Roberts Jr.. who didn't know what hit him. Rossi cruised the paddock on a scooter with two mates fully armed with seemingly bottomless buckets. World Champion Valentino Rossi has returned to his roots and arrived at Bmo with bright red hair thanks to a girl he met on the beach in Ibiza. The 24-year-old Italian won his very first Grand Prix at Brno, the 125cc race seven years ago, when his hair was red, and so the change of color, as he chased his first Grand Prix victory for two and a haif months. "I saw a girl dying people's hair different colors on the beach in Ibiza, but I didn't see anybody with red, so I thought I would try it again," Rossi said. Blond-haired Marketa Janakova, a 15-year-old Czech girl who is leading the Czech 125cc Championship, made her Grand Prix debut at Bmo, At a recent championship round at Bmo, her lap times would have qualified her for the 125cc Grand Prix race last year, and so she got her big chance. Those lap times did not lie, and she comfortably qualified for her first Grand Prix race in 34th place, just over four and a half seconJ;ls slower than pole setter Alex de Angelis. She finished the race 25th, one place in front of the final rider, Luka Nedog. The Proton V"five arrived in Brno the night before practice fresh off the three-week break with new crankshafts, though they weren't radically different. "The radius is different, things like that," team owner Kenny Roberts said. "The way the thing's heat-treated." The crankcases had also been machined to improve oil flow, and the team was fiddling with firing orders and exhaust system. Roberts said there was a problem with where the oil was going inside the engine and how it was breathing. "We haven't even started tuning yet." Roberts said. "I said a long time ago to wait until Czecho to see where the engine actually is. We were short by two weeks." Roberts pointed out that Brno was the fifth race for the V-five, and the first race was a test. "I don't think you can draw any conclusion to how the team prepared in that time," What the team is discovering is that the time it takes to build an engine is significantly different from a two-stroke, and how many people it takes to prepare an engine for a race is significantly different. "We have to wait until after Sunday night to see how far we've progressed," Roberts said, Suzuki Group Leader/Racing Group Masahito Imada retumed to the racing department a month and a half ago to overhaul the moribund GSV-R990 MotoGP project. The first task is to make the bike competitive, which he's promised to do by the end of the year with the arrival of a new engine. MWe will have a new spec of

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