Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

t he 125cc class at the Hangtow n National in Ma y . Gray' s break throug h cam e w hen he earned a spot on Suzuk i amateur moto cross program in 2000 . "That's when I started t h in k ing t hat m ay be I co uld mak e a li v i ng at r a ci ng moto cro ss. " G ray explained . Gray' s initi al ta ste of pro rac ing came w hen he qu ali fied for th e S t eel City Motoc ro ss last year, It w as at the Hangtow n C lassic in M ay where G ray shoc ke d lo ng t im e motocross o bserv ers by tak ing eight h overall in the 125 clas s, In only his third pro race, Gray wa s able to crack t he top 10 , "That w as a big weekend for me, " G ray admitted , .. And I gue ss you could say it couldn' t have happe ned at a better t ime , Suzuk i had so me inju ri e s , and I t hink becau se o f my Hangt ow n res ult I wa s give n the chance t o ride wit h t he fact ory Suzuki team," By the end of the 2003 AM A Ch ev y T r u c k s U ,S , M oto c ro s s campaig n, G ray t allied an i mpre s sive fi ve top - 10 f ini she s , He e nded t he se aso n ranked 15 t h in t he 125cc class, His be st results of the year were seventh overall at Budds Creek in J une and at the Steel Ci ty M ot oc ro ss ove r th e Lab o r D ay w e ek end , ..B ro c Hep ler, Bob Kiniry and a few other new guys lik e me are co mi ng in and ri ding pretty st ro ng, " Gray says , " I t hink t he c lass of 2003 has a good chance to be rem embered as o ne o f the be st roo kie classes, I hope in a few years w e' ll be up t here challenging Rick y [Carmichael] and B ubba [S tewartl. " Gray wi ll be formally p re sented as A MA M ot o cro ss/Superc ross Rookie of the Year at the AMA Pro Awards Banqu et in Novemb er. Gray is slat ed to return to race A MA 125 Wes t Region Supe rcro ss and 125 M otocro ss ag ain next year f or th e fact ory Suzuki s q uad , T h e Moto c ro s s /Sup er cro s s Rookie of the Year is based on co mbi ned Sup ercro ss and M ot ocro ss point s, and it mu st be the rider 's first full year wit h an A MA profess ional motocro ss license, To mmy Hayden, Tony Meiring a nd Doug Chandler wi ll b e the guest s and gues t instruct ors at Keith Code's Race And Competition Experience (Code RA C.E. ) schoo l on O ctober 27-28 at The Streets of Wi llow Spring s in Ro samo nd , Ca liforn ia . The p ro gra m includes all the ba si c ra cing t e chnique s like st arts , qu ali fy ing . li ne selectio n, braking and passing . In add ition , st udents are gridded up and really race. Rider s can bring t heir own bike s or use one of t he sc hoo l' s new Kawa saki 636 ZX 6Rs for the pro gram . The sc hoo l is limited to 14 studen ts . For more infor - (1 i'---'I ~@@~ [jJ~ fX] fJ ~@@ @ [lj]@[fiJ7JfiJG!J1Z n o o o n BMW Motorrad has Just released images of its new cruiser mo del the R1200 C Montauk. The bike is an addition to the popular "CO cl ass of c ruise rs and will retail for $ 14, 99 0. The Man ta uk is designed to offer aggressive styli ng and an unparalleled list of standard equipment and features. Changes that make the Mantau k unique include twin-spark ignition, BMW EVa brakes with full integral ABS, new instrument cluster, an updated gearbox, new headJight duster, new dual seat, new handlebars, and a new windscreen. The Mantauk will be available in Cham paqne Metall ic, Sapphire Black Metalli c, and Artie Blue Metallic. mat ion . visit www.coderace.com . X-Plex Motosports Park ha s announced that Tucker Ro cky Dist ributing wil l be the tit le s po nso r f or MX Champi on Chu ck S un ' s S upermo to Ba s h sc hed uled fo r Sunday , Oc tober 12 . The " T u c k e r Ro c ky L a s V ega s Sup erm ot o Chal lanq e " wi ll b e held at the Le Mans-st yle tr ack just 10 minu te s so ut h of th e MG M G rand , s it e o f th e U .S . Ope n SX on the pr eced ing nights o f O ct ober 10 -11 , and M and alay Bay Off-Road Trad e Expo . Tuc ker Rocky is th e proud dist ribut or of MSR riding gear. Pro Taper Bars, Tsub aki Ch ains, Answer Racing and Silk olen e O il & Lub rica nt s . Tw o se parate dirt port ions of th e cou rse includi ng dirt t rac k t urns and M X jumps are ex pec te d to prov ide altern ate lines fo r passing opportunit ies and great racing . With th e U .S . Ope n in to wn t hat wee ke nd , the pr om ot ers ex pec t so me surprise U .S . and Europ ean pro ent rants t o c halle n ge for th e Pr o Purs e w ith W orld GP M Xer and A MA Laguna Seca winner Kurt Nicoll . Atlanta AMA Sup ermot o winner Doug Chandler , M X Ch am pion Mi cky Dym ond and many other top rid ers from every rac ing di scipline . A full day o f rac ing ac t ion is scheduled , wi t h th e Pro ma in event p lann ed f o r 2 :30 p.m. Sun day . For Sup erTI round-sev en Am a t e u r /Pro -cl a s s e nt ries and ra c e sc hedules, v is it w ww.s uper t t .co rn. and f or t rack lay o ut and di r e cti on s , v is it www .xplexlasvegas .com . A ll rid ers and spec tators are w elco me w itho ut a special license required . Tick et s ar e available day of the race at the X-Plex M ot o s po r ts Par k . D av id B ai le y, T r av i s Pastran a and fr iend s w ill be on hand to rip a few laps at no on in t heir specially de sign ed hand-operated ca rts (HOC) for so me great fun . Th e se s pecia l HOC kart s are manufa ct ur ed by G o -Kart ing .... . .... ............. .. . ... . . . .. . . .. .. . . .... . . . . . . .. ........ . . ...... . . . ........" · · · · ~ MARRIED: u n u o 11 for the Full Circle Foundat ion (www.fullc irc le fo unda t io n.c o rn) to all o w inj ured rider s to enjoy the thri ll o f kart racin g . C haparra l Motorsports i n S an Bernardino , Ca lifornia , w ill hold its 17th annu al b lock sa le on Satu rda y , September 27 , from 8 a. m. t o 3 p.m . The bloc k sale has becom e an annual t radition. w ith so me customers ca mping out ove rnig ht prior to th e opening. This is a one-day only event. and it only accepts cas h - no c re dit cards o r c hec ks . For m ore i nfo r ma t io n , ca ll C hapa r ra l at 90 9/889-2 761 . Th e a w a r ds b anqu et f or th e AM A S o ut her n Ca lifo rn i a C hamp io n s hi p M otocross Series w ill be held on Thursday , S ept ember 25 , at Vi nce nzos Pizza at 24504 1/ 2 W . Lyons Aven ue in New hall. Californi a. The banquet is sc heduled to begin at 7 p.m. In add it io n to numbe r-o ne plates for t he series ' winners , prizes and troph ie s w ill be handed out to series particip ant s. Flat -t rac k race r and track- p rep arati o n ex pert R ic h a rd C l a r k of M isso u la, M ontana, was sev erely injur ed in an ontrack acci de nt at a rac e in W ashington recent ly . C lark is known nationwide for hi s ex pe rt ise in p rep aring di rt t rack s , from Del M ar to Ca st le Ro ck and many ot her trac ks in th e W e ste rn US A and Cana da . He is also know n for his love of and parti cipa tion in flat t rack ev ents , r acin g as man y a s fiv e c la sse s pe r weeke nd near ly eve ry w eek of th e sea son. C lark has been hosp itali zed in Port land , O regon , s ince th e ac c ide nt and may rem ain t here for an exten de d per iod of time . Friend s o f the C lark family and fellow flat -track race rs have es ta blishe d a fund to help th e fami ly def ray the medical and other costs relat ed to thi s trag ic : . . White Brothers race team manager John Anderson to his , longtime girlfriend. Kristin White, on September 7 in Cambria, California . A UTOGRAPH SIGNING: At the Caney Creek National Enduro reg- istration area in Waverly, Texas, on Saturday, September 27, from 4 to 5 p.m. ProClean1000 team riders and National Enduro Champions Mike Lafferty and Randy Hawkins are scheduled to appear. ACCEPTING N-Style is currentiy accepting resumes for rider support for the 2004 season. Resumes can be sent to: N-Style c/ o Rider Support, 28208 N. Ave. Paine. Unit B. Valencia, CA 91355 or via e-mail to Brenda@ n-style.com. BORN: A baby boy, Dillon Michael. to Mike Tripes and his wife, Jill, on September 3 in Southern California. A U TOGRAPH SIGN ING: At Richwood Powersports in Florence, Kentucky, on September 19 from 5 to 6 p.m. AM Pro Yamaha riders • Barry Hawk, Jason Raines and Randy Hawkins are all scheduled to • appear. For more information, call 859/3 72-0082. : " " ~ « OPENED: Lindemann Engineering's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http:/ / www.lesuspension.com. • ,, . cycle n e v en t . D o na t io n s ca n be s e n t t o : Rich ard C lark Benefit Acco unt. AT TN : Nancy Fuller , First Interstate Bank, P.O . Box 5299, Helena, MT 59604-5299 . A dinner/bene fit raff le is being planned for t he Sp okan e area as w ell. th ough t he date has yet to be determined . A s pec ial fund -rai s ing Sport B ike N ight w ill be held on Sunday, Septem ber 28 , from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to benefit AMA / AFM /CCS roa d ra c er Shaun Su m me rs , w ho was seriously injured on the opening lap of the 600cc Sup er spo rt fin al at Laguna Seca in J uly . Summer s has spent nearly a month in St anfor d Un iv er s ity H o s p ita l an d h as underg on e th ree surge ries to his right leg and foot as a result of the cr ash. The c urrent tot al fo r medical ex pen ses, t o thi s poi nt , is ap proxim ately $150 ,00 0 . A lth oug h Summ e rs has me dica l in surance , th ere w ill lik ely be seve ral th ou sand dol lars in out -of-pock et expe nses. A majority o f th e p roc ee ds fr om t he eve nt w ill go directl y to Summ ers' medical ex pe nses . Th e f undraise r w ill be a day of kart raci ng at Race Place M ot orspo rts in Ranch Cordova, Ca liforni a, and th e w inne r o f th e eve nt wil l re cei ve a new Arai helmet. Fo r more info rmation, call Mike Summers at 9 16/373 -1557 or visit www .spo rt bike night.c om. KTM recentl y announ ced its lineup for the 2004 Wor ld Motocross Cham · p io ns hips. In t h e 125c c cl a s s , the Ch amp KTM Team w ill field four riders : Tyl a Rattra y , B en To wnle y , M a rc d e Reuver and Erik Egge ns. The riders wi ll be racin g o n S X 125 moto rcy cles p rimaril y , altho ug h th e new 25 0 c c fo urs t ro ke may be u s ed in so me rac es , according to KTM . In t he M XGP class , KTM will fie ld St eve Ramon and Kenneth Gund er sen . The 650 cc te am wi ll be run in 2004 by J ac ky M art ens , the man wh o has run th e Hu saberg fact ory team for th e past two seasons . His ride rs will be Yv es Demaria and Sven Brugelmans. In the release, KTM also took th e t ime to thank J o el S met s , who wi ll sw itc h t o Ho nda in 20 04 . " To J oel Sm et s , w ho decided no t to race w ith KTM in 2004, w e say many thanks fo r four very suc cessful ye ars . W ith 34 GP v ictories, two W o rl d Champ ion sh ip s and three V ice Cham pion sh ip s , J oel is t he mo st suc cessful KTM mo tocross rider of all time ! KT M w is hes him every success in his futu re vent ures . Thanks Joel!" Fo rm er Am at eu r m ot o cro s s ra c er J u stin V ie n s w as killed in an auto mo- - -- - - - Conti n/led on page 100 e . VII S • S E PTE M B ER 24, 2 003 3 o n u n LJ n • I U o n u n U n U n U (I LJ nI , U r u (I

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