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/128231
Bw Elm d] o Continued from page 3 o o o o o rJ world-class rider, and withou t his pre sence it wo uld have bee n easy to pull out. but he is as eager as any of us for J .R. [Reynolds] to race , W e will do our best to put o n a good show fo r Rizla, Yuki and all t he t eam's fa ns. O ur Rizla Suzuki GS X-R1000 is undoubtedly t he bike to beat at the moment. and J.R. is riding better t han ever. W e have a really good chance of gett ing a co uple of top finishes, and that' s our go al. " l. o o o o o Sn a p -o n ha s In c o r p orated announced that its Equipment Solution s (EQS) gro up was named a recipient of the American Honda 2003 Premier Partne r Aw ard . The award is present ed to Honda suppliers that demon st rate exce llence in quality , value and custo mer service, includin g EQS' s support of Hond a M ot orcycle, according to Snap-On. "W e are hon ored that Equipment Solution s is rec eiving th is pre st igi ou s awa rd fr om o o o o o o o o o o o o Honda, a leading manufact urer of automobile s and engine -powered product s," said Paul Tut ske y, general manager of Sn ap-an ' s Equipment Solution s gro up. "Our mission , and our co ntinuing success , is based o n deligh ting o ur c ustomers and providing superior value and beneficial solut ions ." O 'Neal USA has announced that it has signed a multiyear deal wit h 17-year-old B roc Hepler to wear O'N eal Raci ng apparel. Hepler raced fo r t he firs t tim e ever as a professio nal in Mill ville, Min nesota , and finished 11th overa ll. " All in all I think my fi rst pro race went really we ll! " Hepl er sa id in an O 'N eal press release, "I did n't pass out in t he heat, and I didn't crash in the whoo ps. I got a o o lot of suppo rt from all of my spo nso rs, and I lea rn ed a lo t th is weeke nd . It see med like everyone was stop ping by to offe r advice and support . People like o o o o o o Co le G re s s and Ri c k J ohn so n f r om Suzuki, my mechanic, Jason, and Broc Gl ov er fro m D unl op gav e me lot s of good adv ice . M y pa ren ts we re rea lly suppo rt ive - like they have been since th e beginning." In his last race befo re tu rning prof es si on al f ull t ime , Hepler wo n the 2 50ccA cl ass at t he Lo ret t a Lynns AMA Ama te ur C hampio ns hips . Bri an Rost at O ' N eal USA says , " We have been watc hing Broc fo r quite some time now. A s imp ress ive as Broc is on the track, he is all the more impressive off th e t rac k. Broc has an outs tan ding attitude and a great family to suppo rt his pro fessional caree r. O 'N eal is pro ud to suppo rt Broc in his profe ssional effo rts , and w e look fo rw ard to wo rk ing wi th B r o c t h ro ug ho ut h i s pro fessiona l o 8 B o o career. The public is being invited to the opening recept ion for Gi ro d' Italia , a display o f It ali a n racing mo t orcy cl e s of th e 1950 s from the Guy W ebst er col lect ion. The recep tion is sc heduled for Septem- o n 96 SEPTEMBER 10, 2 003' C U AMA Pro Racing motocross operation s manager Duke Finch has been the top official at all of the AMA Motocro ss and Supercross races for the past 12 years, Next weekend at Troy was supposed to be his last in that position , but since the race has been ca nce lled, his tenure as the series' top official ende d prematurely, "I had planned on not even doing a riders ' meeting next week end, but saying so long to all the riders ' if I could do it without choking up too much - but I've so rt of been robbed of that now : Finch said. "I'm done. I'll continue to work for the AMA on more an advisory level, and I'm su re I'll miss this job very much." Finch said at the end of the Supercross series that he'll miss the job , but not the pressure. "It' s mixed emotions: he said in the Sam Boyd Stadium pits . "You know , I'm happy to be out of th e pressure of it all, but I'm going to miss it a lot. Twelve years is a long time to be doing this, so I'm definitely going to miss it." Steve Cox ber 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the California Oil Mu seum in Santa Paula, California. For more i nf o rm at io n, c all 805 /9 33 - the end of July and has had a rod placed in the leg. He is also hop ing to be fit for the Barber round, 0076 . Accord ing to the O range C ounty Register (Ca lifornla). Travis Pastrana says he wi ll co mpet e in a limited Supercross season in 2004 but that he will be competing in all three Anaheim events at Edison Field , With his Suzuki co nt ract set to expire at the end of this seaso n, Pastra na is report edly set to field his own team for '04. A Har le y-Davi dso n 100t h Anni versary Pa rty wi ll be held at Frank G . Bonelli Park in San Dimas, California, on September 14 fro m 9 a.m. to 6 p.rn. The party is being hosted by Southern California Harley -Davidso n dea lers , and over 10,000 people are expected to take part in t he eve nt that will feat ure a co ncert with Eric Burdon and the Animals, Mountain , D ave M aso n, Va ni lla Fudge an d Brian Auger' s Oblivion Express. For more information, call 8 18/759-5099, Road racer Jason Curtis is hoping to be fit for the final round of the AMA Fo rmu la Xt re me Series at Barbe r M ot or spo rt s Park , acco r ding t o a re leas e is sued by his t eam - N o Limit M ot o rsport s. C urti s cras hed during the final laps of the rain-delaye d Formula Xtre me race on M onday , Sept em ber 1, at Virginia Int ern atio nal Racew ay , su ffe ring injury to his left hand . On Tuesday , Sept e mbe r 2 , Curt is wa s s ched uled f o r surgery with Dr. Art hur Ting in North ern C ali f o rn ia w he re Tin g will attemp t t o repair te ndon damage t o the litt le finger of his left hand . He wil l al so undergo sk in-graft su rgery. Curt is ' tea mma te Lance Isaac s was on hand at V irgi nia, bu t not rid ing bec au s e o f his bro ken right leg . Isaacs crashed at M id-Ohio at cle D e "" s Hundreds of off-highway vehicle ent husiast s part icipated in a clean-up day at a pop ular B ureau of La nd Managemen t (B LM ) recr eati on area loc at ed about 25 miles fro m Fallon, Nevada, on Au gust 30 . Host ed by Friend s of Sand Mountain (FoSM) this event success fully engaged the public in a significant stewards hip project by filli ng up a 40-y ard garbage bin with trash and ot her debris co llec ted at t he Sand M o untain Recr eat io n A rea (S M RA) . Fo SM had ra ffle prizes fo r those wh o co llect ed a bag of garbage, plus the organization held other raf fle and silent auctio n eve nts to help raise funds to assist the group in its effort to keep SM RA open for fut ure generations. Recently, the Ce nter for Biological Diversity and ot her anti-access organizations have been press uring the BLM to close some or all of the 4700-acre area to O HV use, The BlueR ibbon Coal itio n (BRC ) and Ca lifornia Off -Road Ve hicle A ssociation have also been wo rking with FoSM to develop a plan that encourag es the BLM to manage the area with a sensible user education and signing prog ram that allow s for a viable tra il sys tem and protects resources. The main species at the center of this controversy is the Sand Mountain Blue Butt erfly and its habitat of Kea rney Bu c kwh eat. O t he r acce s s grou ps suppo rt ing good manage me nt ins tead of c los ure inclu de: Frien ds o f Oceano Dunes, Escarabajo Buggy Club, America n Sand A ssoci atio n, Off-Road Busines s A ssoc iat ion, DUNER S , AM A and Reno Dust Devils M otor cycle Club. Don Amador, the wes tern representat ive for th e B lueR ibbo n C o alit ion , sta ted, " Friends of Sand M ou ntai n sho uld be co mmen ded for ho st ing t his prog ram which teaches land stewardship and also educa t es t he riders t hat th ey need to support the fight to preserve our access to public lands. " Jon Cro wley, president of Friends of Sand M ountain, said: "I 'm proud of the many families who came out this we ekend to help show that OHVers are tr ue stewards of the land , Seeing youngsters alongside mom and dad pick ing up garbage shows that we are teach ing our children the importance of caring for the land we use and enjoy , They are also learning that we ofte n have to figh t ant i-access grou ps t o keep our are as , ope n for fut ure generation s," For more infor mation on Friends of Sand Mountain go to: www.SandM ountain-NV ,org Attack Suzuki' s J ason Pridmore was scheduled to undergo surgery on his bro ken tib ia on Tuesday , September 2 , at the offices of Dr, Arthur Ting in Nort hern Californ ia. Pridm o re , w ho suffere d th e i nj u ry w he n he co lli de d w ith Eri on Honda' s Roger Lee Hayden in the For mula Xtreme race on M onday, Sept ember 1, at V irginia Intemational Raceway, ended up break ing t he same leg he brok e in 200 1, Fo rt unately, this break is high er than the previous break, " It' s higher than t he 20 0 1 brea k , " Pridm ore sa id fro m Tln q 's off ic e o n Sept emb er 2. " W e' re go ing to take the plate ou t of that one while we 're in there, We'll plate the new injury and take the old plate out. I'll j ust have to chill for 10 days and keep everything immobilized." Pridmore is hoping to retum to act ion for the final round of the W orl d End urance Ch ampion ship in five weeks. " I j ust wan t to make it to th at race," Pridmore said. "I 've been so com mmitted to that series this year. I want to do it and bring it [th e Wo rld Ch ampionship] home. All we have to do is finis h 13th , and maybe I can rid e the midd le st int. " In typical Pridmo re fashi on , he seems more concerned over the fact that he caused the crash with Hayden than he does over his ow n injuries, "It was 100percent my ow n fault ," Pridmore said. "It' s the first time in my career that I've eve r t aken anyon e o ut. I feel bad for Roger beca use he' s had bad luck t his year, but he called me and was really cool about it. I feel really bad about it. I knew as soo n as I hit Roger.., I felt the leg hit the bar, and I knew it was broken." eN