Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

osh imura Suzuki 's Aaron Yate s signed br eak in B razil, but he wasn' t on vaca- contrac t t h re e weeks ago t hat will tion. Smith joined America 's team man ager Jeff Russell on a fact -finding mis- kee p hi m on fac tory S uzuk is for t he 2004 and 2005 racing seasons . accord- sion, hop ing to discover info rmat ion that m g t o his manager C l i ff Nob le s . Yates' con tract calls for him to race two can lead t he Am e r ic a n team to the W orl d Trop hy Team Championshi p at classes , th ough his pr io rity w ill remain the Superbik e class . A lthough it initially this year's ISDE. "We learned as muc h in five days as most wou ld have learned in tw o weeks," said Smith. who used to .oo ked as th ough Yates would ride in the new Sup er st a c k class ( 1OOO cc ) next y e ar in ad dition t o S up e rb ike . a p ro po sed AMA rule barring fact ory ri ders from participating wo uld nix that. "If all this com es down. Aaron w ill ride a 600, " Nobles said. "W e nego tia ted for him to ride tw o classes. One of tho se is Superbike . and the o ther class w ill be dete rmined later. " Friends of injured Australian mot ocro sser Jamie Brock ma n have set up a web si te to upd at e fan s o n his cond ition . B rockman suffered a brok en neck at the M ill v il le, M in ne so t a , round o f t he A MA /Ch evy Tr uc k s U .S . M o t o c ro s s Championship on August 17. "Jamie is in live in Brazil during his days as a B razilian National M otoc ro ss Champion . "We me t up with D y o n is io M alh e i r o , the direct or of \he eve nt.. He's build ing the ISD E course. and he used to buil d my prac tic e tracks when I was raci ng mot o c ro s s in Braz il . S o I k no w him w ell. " "We know as much as any ot her tea m will t his year. " sa id Russell, wh o design s all o f the tra ck s for the GNCC S eri e s . IS DE race rs w ill con tend with beach-like sand and a varie ty of special te st s . Extremely high temperatures and humid ity ar e also expec te d wh en th e race run s N o v embe r 3 -8 . Smit h and Russell w ill share t his knowledg e w ith t he o t her fi v e mem b er s o f Am erica ' s good spirits ," th e web site says. " Since Te am , Mi ke Laff e rt y . Fre d An d r ews . the accident last we ekend he has under- J a s o n Rai n e s , Ty D av i s a n d M i k e gone two operations. All going well , Jamie i s not expec te d to nee d any further Kiedrow sk i, as they plan their assault on the event. The U .S . Trophy Team usually surg ery. How ever. at this stage Jamie is doesn't scout ISDE ter rain so far bef ore completely immobilized and has neither the use of his legs or arms . His parents the event. and Smit h feels the advanced knowledge will help the team immensely. have flow n to America to be with Jamie . " We already know little thi ngs like se tting up cell phones , rental cars , food and but due to incubation he has not yet been able to talk to them . At the moment he is communicating by a letter-board where by he blinks when the right letter is selected to spell out words. Ju st befo re gOing in for his last opera tio n, J amie spelled out 'Thumbs Up ' to his par en ts . This is the hotels. " said Sm it h. " W e will know wha t to pack, and how to se t up our bikes. We to ok care o f a lot of details that will make the race les s stressful. " Smith and the rest of Am erica' s Team will resume racing in the G NCC Series on Sep te m- Ac cording to a pres s release issued by t he National Promoters Gro up , the S pring Cre ek MX P a rk round of the AMA Chevy Tru ck s U.S . M o t o cro s s C hampi on s hip d rew a record 20, 10 9 specta tors to the track in M illville, M innesota. M illville ' s record crowd was the eight h record c rowd out o f nine races for the N at io n al P r o m o t e r s Group . according to the NPG . half a second fas te r than his best qualifying lap for the G P. Ni cky Hayden and his teammate Valenti no Ro ssi also took part in the test. "I t was a bit o f a tough day really because after a lon g hard w eeke nd you've go t to really mo tiva te you rse lf to .ge t out there again and work hard ." Hay d en said in a Ho nd a press release. " T he t e s t was really b as e d aro und working on tir es fo r the fron t - it was prett y hard. really. as you've got to find the limi ts . The M ichelins w ere good. On J uly 23 . Cali fornia DMV surprised C alifo rnia mo torcyclists w ith a sud den ban on the co nve rsio n of O ff -H ighw ay mo torcycles to street legal status . Previ - and I think we made so me pre tty good progress. It was more good experience gri nding out mo re lap s . I' m o ff to the Sta tes for a couple of w eek s , w hich I' m really lo oking forwa rd to . Then back to Portu gal in September . " Hayden lappe d at 2 :00.0 w ith Ro ssi turn ing a 1:59.9 2. o usly c o nvers ion o f G r e e n Sticker mot orcyc les wa s allow ed as long as the o wner c o m pl ie d wi th the equi p me nt requirements outli ned for co nversion by California Highway Pat ro l B ullet in 888 . A s so o n as th e BlueR ibbon C o alition lea rne d of t he new change in policy , it co ntac te d DMV managemen t and began w orking , alo ng w ith th e AMA, to le arn wh y th e poli cy w as c hange d and w hat co uld be done abo ut it. A coalit ion wa s quickly form ed including the AM A, all of t he Cali fo rnia AMA D ist rict s. CO RVA, and ORBA, and a joint lette r to Ca lifornia Governor Gray Davis , as wel l as to the directors of the DMV and the California A ir Resources Board. was Signed and hand-delivered to Governor Davi s' o ff ice . In respon se to the coalition, on Frid ay , A ugust 22 , the DMV is sued a new memo suspending the conversion ban until 1-3 1-0 4. Specifically, the new policy is: " 200 3 and '04 G reen Sticker mo torcycles purcha sed by 12-3 1-03 are eligible for co nversion Io ltowmq the pro c e dure s outl ine d in CHP B ulle t in 888 and DMV reg ist rati on manual secti ons 30 .33 5 and 3 0.34 0 . The con v ersion process mus t be started by 1-3 1-04 . All '0 2 and earlier model year mot or cycles With Green St icker regi stration are elig ibl e for co nve rs ion . Exist ing owner co nver sions wil l be allow ed to renew regist rati on inde f initely . " " We are pl eased that D MV and A RB quic kly responded to the co ncerns of the Ca lifo rnia mo tor cy cling co mmu nity and has suspended the conversion ban for the tim e being ," said Bl ueRibbon Coal itio n pubhc lands direc to r Bill Dart . "As motorcycli st s know , these co nversions are done to facili tate On e of t he final pieces o f a co mprehe ns ive mode rni zati on proj e ct has been co mplete d at Infineon Raceway in Son oma . Ca liforni a. with the repaving of t he 12·turn. 2.52-mile road co urse . The facil ity had been clo sed since Augu st 4 . The $ 1 million projec t included repairing and stabilizing exis tin g pavement. adding new drain age and repav ing po rtions of the roa d co urs e that had no t bee n res urf ac e d over t he last t w o years . Th is mar k s the f irst t ime t he surface ha s been repaved since 1986 - the portions of the road course that were repaved incl ud ed t urn s 1-3 . 6 -8 and 11 , M ore than 3000 feet o f French Edge D rains were also installed to keep water fr om draining under the track - the raceway is ju st 15 feet above sea leve l and is based at the bottom of a moun tain range that borders th e Sonoma V alley . In addition , curb ing w as added at turn s 2. 6 . 8 and sig n of the spirit which has taken Jamie ber 7 at t he M at hew s Farm GNCC in this far. and it w ill serve him well as he M ount M orris, Pennsylvan ia. 10 . The trac k was resurfaced w ith 54 00 tons o f po lymer-mo dif ied asphalt that is ordeal. " For more updates on Brockman. vi s it : www .jamie br oc kma n .c om o r Several of the top M otoGP teams test ed at the Brno C irc uit the day alter th e designed to w ithsta nd the heavy usage at Infineo n Racew ay . Turns 4-5 , 9 -10, 12 and the C hute we re repaved prior to the www.jarniet hejet .corn. Cz ech Republ ic G rand Prix o n Au gu st 18 , and that incl uded the Honda tea ms , The fastest of the HRC ·back ed riders at st ruggle s to co me t hro ug h t his c urrent D efending A MA Grand N at ional Cro ss C o unt ry Ch am pi o n R o d n e y Sm i th spe nt part o f the GN CC Series ' summer th e t e s t was Tohru Ukawa , t h e J apanese rider lapping at 1:59. 0 - over 2003 se a so n. " We are very pl ea s ed wi t h t he qua lity of th e new s u rfac e." said St eve Page, president and gene ral manag e r at Inf ine on Raceway . " It wil l make a terr ific racing circuit better. " dent and motorcycle historian Ed Youngblood The site can be found at the following address : www .mo t ohist o ry .net co nnec ting trails and ridi ng areas th at are o ften sep arat ed by sections of publ ic ro ad tha t require stre et legal statu s due to increasing res t riction on off-highw ay vehi cles ." Wh ile this is only a temporary NAMED: Joann Klonow ski, to the new ly created p o sition of director of consumer marke ting and sales of California Speedway in Fontana , C alifornia . effect ive immed iately . Klon ow ski' s bac kground includes more than 30 years of experience in the sports marketing and enter- RESIGNED: Scott Hoffman, from his position of associate editor. fea· solu tion. the coa lition wi ll be explonn g a lonq -terrn solut ion, according to BlueRibbon. tainment industries . ture editor for Dirt Rider rnaqaz ine . H off mann has formed the JA M edia Group to launch a quarterly Supermoto magazine. titled Super Moto Racer. A U TOGRAPH S IGNING: At Vista Kawasaki in Dayton. Ohio. on September 6 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Acco rding to rep ort s in th e San Bernardino County Sun newspaper, the James St ew art and Ezra Lusk and Tea m Pro C ircuit Kaw asaki's Mike ACCEPTING: FMF Racing and 909 Products are currently accepting resumes for the 2004 racing season. All FMF resumes may be mailed to FMF Racing. attn: Rider Support, 18033 S. Santa Fe Ave.. Rancho Dominguez. CA 90221 . or you may fill out an application online at fmfracing.com. All 909 Product resumes should be sent to the same address, or you may fill out an ~pli cat ion through Sponsorhouse.com. COR RECTION : Flatcar Productions of Calistoga. Californ ia, and impose use fe es at fou r popu lar recr e- Cyclepro of Santa Rosa, Califo rnia, will present round three of the Supermoto USA Nor-Cal Series at the Sonoma County Airport. The ation site s in the desert . The BLM has shelved an Oc tober 1 start ing date for S onom a C ount y Airport . howeve r, is in Sant a Rosa , C alifornia. and not the fees , saying it con tinues to evaluate ACCEPTING: Regina USA is accepting resumes for the 2004 racing in S ono ma , California. as previously rep ort ed . For more information call season from September 15 to December 15. Resumes can be sent to: Regina USA Inc.. 824 Chesapeake Drive, Cambridge. MD 21613, attn: Cyclepro at 707/527 -8888 or visit www.supermotousa.com. a plan to charge $ 20 for a wee kly pass or $60 for an annual pass to cover co sts race support. S IGNED: Pro Circuit to a three-year contract with Maxima Racing Brown. Matt Walker and Eric Sorby will be present. For more inforrnation. call 800/577 -1403. U. S . B u r e a u o f L a nd Ma n age me nt is takin g anot her look at a plan to of law enfo rce ment. emergency medi cal aid and site maintenance . "W e have not re a che d a final d e c i si on on fee s. w heth er they will be imp osed or wh en , " Oils . The e xtension partners Pro Circu it w ith M axima beg inning with the OPENED: A motorcycling history website, run by former AMA presi- 2004 season and extends through 2006. c ue I ... n ... _ S • Continuedon page 88 2003 3 S EPTE M B ER 3 .

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