Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

. gram provided certain conditions are met. The fees must be co llected to recover co s t s and must be used at th e area where they are collected. he said. Also. th e adminis tra tive cos ts mu st be held down . payi ng the fee s must be co nve nient for the land users . and federal. state and local fees should be combined where appro pria te . " T he Rec reat io na l Fe e D emonstration Pro gram has enormous potential to enhance recreation oppo rtunities ." Holtz tes tified. • But . to be successful. it has to receive full public support. In orde r to receive that support. the Fo re st Serv ic e mus t thi nk boldly and implement a fee sys tem that efficient ly acco unts for it s de ferred maint enance needs. rewards land managers who work on those needs. and provide a coherent and integrated experience for the user." Continued from pO 3 J1C racing D ucatis for 27 years . and I am excited to be wo rking w ith a group of mot or cycli st s w ith th e enthu siasm o f Ducati North America." "I am extremely ple ased . " sai d M icha el Lock . C EO of Ducati North America. " to have our com~ pany associated with Penguin Roadracing School. Racing is at the core of Ducati's values and tradition. and we look forward to promoting not only Ducati but amateur road racing as well." The Penguin School will be instructing on Ducati motorcycles and will have Ducatis available to rent for both partic ipat ion in the sch ool and in some CC S race s st arting in 200 4. Fo r mor e information . contact the Penguin Roadracing School at 508/339-46 73 or check its website at www .penguinra c ing.com. = Rausch Creek Land. LP has announced the reviva l o f t he Rausch Creek North Course road racing p roj ect. Rausch Creek Land. LP CRCLJ is a newly form ed part ners hip, w hich has acq uired th e asset s o f Rau sc h Cre ek M ot or Sport s. LP. RCL has also completed the transfer of all necessary permits and zoning approv als fr om th e forme r parent co mpa ny of RCMS . Th e new ge ne ral partner. Robert Rivkin. will lead the partnership to the co mpletion of the North Course and the future developmen t of the pr op ert y s urroun d ing the track . acco rding to the release. Rivkin brings a strong business sense of large development projects to the table for RCL and is eage r t o com plete the North C o ur se Development Project. Andrew Stutzman will con ti nue to manage the opera tions and coordinate construction details fo r the facility. Currently RCL has been interviewing and acc epting prop osals from th ree architectural firm s t o design th e buildings for the facility to include: adrninistration and credentials building . longterm and daily-use garages. race control and media tower. VIP/ spectator seating areas and other maint enanc e buildi ngs needed to care for the facility. The track designer. Alan W ilson. and the trac k 's 2.3 1-mile layout have been retained fo r the completion of the North Cou rse. Any new co nstruction sched ules will not be set until spring. 2004. accordin g to the release. The AMA told a congress ional subcom mittee that the U.S. Forest Service need s to spend more mo ney it raises from recreation fees on trail maintenance. L- In testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health on Wedne sday . September 17 . AMA senior legislative assistant Patrick Holtz pointed out that land managers in some national forest s are using the fee money for operations and services rather than spending it on much-needed trail rehabilitation . He was testifying on a proposal to make the Recreation Fee Demonstration LJ program. which involves collecting fee s ,....., for using public federal land. a permanent program . The dem on stra tion project is se t to expire on September 30 . 200 4. Cong ress authorized the Recreation Fee Demonstration prog ram in 1996 for the U.S. Forest Service. National Park Service. federal Bureau of Land Management and the U .S. Fish and Wild life Service. The purpose was to collect money to maintain and improve natural resour ces . recreation facilities and services on federal land. The U.S. Forest Service is current ly collec ting fe es in 114 nat ional forests and grasslands in 36 state s and Puert o Rico. Holt z told the co mmittee tha t a U .S. General Accounting Offic e report thi s year noted that the Angeles and San Be rn ard ino natio nal fores ts spend 80 percent of their recreation fee mon ey on visi to r services . o perati o ns. maintenance of facilities. and for providing interpreti ve services . rat her than address ing def err ed trail maint enanc e needs. "This is meritorious. but shouldn' t land managers address the specific longterm needs of those who are paying the fee s?" Hol tz asked . He said the AMA could support making the Recreation Fee Demonstration program a permanent pro- [ [J o q O CTO B ER 8 . 2 003 · eye I .. Former Nati on al M otocr oss Ch amp ion D o ug Henry will race in round three of the AMA Red Bull Sup ermoto Ch ampi onsh ip abo ar d a Yam aha -sup port ed VZ450F . Riding as part of Team MotoDy namics. the • semi-retired" motocrosser w ill ma k e hi s fi rst AMA Sup e rm oto appearance at Columbus . Ohio. on Octo b e r 5 a nd wi ll then co mpe te in the remainder of the championship. Dr. Rob Tuluie. creato r of the Tul-aris GP bike and owner of Team MotoDynamics. confirms Henry's plans and is thrilled to have the likable rider on the team. "Doug brings a wea lth of talent to everything he does. and we think his pros pects in this series are very good." sai d Tulu ie. "Dou g ' s work ethic. co mmitment and past successes in racing will serve him well as he transitions to supermoto racing." Tuluie says his team will be fie lding a " prett y tric k " YZ 4 50 F in th e c ha mpio ns hi p . · W ith Yamaha 's support we have bui lt what we think will be a very competitive motorcycle ." said Tuluie. Yamaha recoq nizes the tr emend o us int eres t in A MA Supermoto racing and want s to be a part of that. Plus. the YZ450F is the perf ect platform for this form of racing. so we're look ing fo r goo d re sults righ t away . " Henry. who retired from active motocross racing in 1999. has made it a po int to return to his home track in Southwick . Massachusetts. yearly to stay current in the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Ch ampi on shi p. At th is year' s rac e he posted an impressive sixth place in mota one before suffering a DNF in mota two. Showing his versat ility . Henry has also dabbled in snowmobile and mountain bike rac ing . "I ' m rea lly loo ki ng forw ard t o Columbus." said Henry. " It' s going to be great to get out there and bang bars with [J er em y] M cG rath . [J eff] W ar dy and everyone else. Supermoto is definitely a wave of the future. and it'll be great to be involved." AMA Pro Racing will delay the implementation of new displacement and stock-frame requirements aimed at the 505 cl ass for 2004 and recons ider ph asing in the changes beginning in 2005. according to AMA Pro Racing. This decision is primarily a result of the input gathened during the 30day comment period tha t followed th e announcement of preliminary 2004 rules in August. AMA Pro Racing flat track manager Bruce Bo ber says this is an example of AMA Pro Racing's responsiveness to the racing community. • After review ing the feedback that was received during the 30day comment period. it became apparent to us that it is not in the best interest of the sport to enact these changes now." said Bober. "Instead we'll review the situation for possible 2005 race season implementation. which seems to be better for everyone involved ." AMA Pro Racing C EO Scott Hollingsworth added that for the long-term growth of flat-tr ack racing. evo lving the rules for this class is very important. "We strongly believe that taking the 505 class more towards production-based equipment is vita l for the sustained growth of fla t track." said Hollingsworth. "However. we D ue to th e g rowth in th e amount o f e ntries f o r th e W inter National Olympics in the past few years. Unlimited Sports M X has decided to change the 2003 format to consi st of Supercro ss and Motocro ss only. wi tho ut the Grand Prix. This form at change will allow adequ at e rac e t im e for the tw o prem ier ev e nt s . S uperc ro s s and M ot o cro ss . Supercross racing will now start on Mon day. Novemb er 24 . For furt her info rmation and a co mplete schedule of the Wi n:=- ter N ationa l O lympi c s event. visit : W'NW.unlimitedsport smx.com and click on :=, the Winter Olympics page. "",1 0 6 listened carefully to those participating in the championship and agree that by delaying the changes for a year. more riders and teams can make a better transition to new equipment. " As announced in August. rules for the twin-cylinder machines will be relatively unchanged for 2004 . To review the co mplete 2004 rules package logo n to www .1800AatTrack.com. Ame rican Suzuki has announced that it has formed the Empire Racing Suzu· k i factory-supported team to contest the 2004 AMA Arenacros s Championship Series . Afte r owning the numb er -o ne plate in Arenacross fo r four co nsecut ive years. Suzuki spent the 2002 -2003 seasons pur suing the Arenacro ss championship in vain. By partnering with Empire Racing out o f G raham. North Carolina . Suzuk i hopes to regain the Arena cro ss titl e in 2004. Former AMA Supercross and mot ocross mainstay John Dowd w ill contest the 2004 Suzuki RM -Z2 50 and RM250 in Arenacro ss. Dowd is the 19 9 8 125 We st Regi o n Supercro s s Champion and has multiple 125 Super c ross and 12 5 / 2 50 M ot o cro s s w ins under his be lt. J oin ing D owd on t he Empire Racing Suzuki team will be J im N e es e . the 2003 Reg ional Arenacr oss Champion. Like his teammate. Neese will campaign the 2004 Suzuki RM-Z250 and RM250 in the series. Last year. Empire Racing team owner Mar k DeW eese and team manager Chad Newton sponsored N eese in his success fu l quest for the 2003 title . Suzuki and Empire Racing look n e vv s to .carry th at wi nning mom entum int o 2004 . The 2004 AMA Arenacross Champio nship Series 12-race seaso n begins N ovembe r 7-9 . 2003 . in Albany . New York . Road racer S hawn Higbee sent Cycle News an email followinq the final round of the AMA Su perbike Se ries at Barber Motorsports Park. with the e-mail getting posted on cyc/enews.c om. The email is as follows : "I got a chuckle out of reading what Mladin said in Saturday's Superbike press co nference at Barb er. I co uldn' t resist responding to his co mment about how fast my bike was. I'm sure I co uld talk Kevin into trading some horsepower and/or larger rear sprockets for a few of those trick Yoshimura pieces that Mladin uses. You know the kit swing arm. carbon fiber parts. narrow charging system . slipper clutc h. swi ngarm pivot inserts . shock linkages. steering head inserts and the res t of thos e nice pieces that most privateers can' t afford. If the faster privateers could get enough sponsorship for a fu ll Sup erbike instea d of a supersport bike w ith a fast motor. then Mladin will really have something to complain about next year ." It wasn't long after the posting that Mat Mladin responded with an email of his own : · When asked questi ons in a press conference. you give answers . As most people know . I tell it how I see it. That certainly does not mean that I am right. I stated that Mr . Higbee's bike was fa ste r than mine . Coming off the tight tum 5 at Barber. I struggled to stay right on the wheel of M r. Higbee accelerating to the next turn. I have seen how fast the privateer 1000s are all year . I noticed how fast M r. Higbee 's bike was at V irginia this year. Kurt is Robert s had the fast est radar speeds there and was followed by M r. Higb ee's bik e · two mph down . I wa s jus t on e mph slower than t hat. In no way was I sayi ng anyth ing det rimental towa rds M r. Higbee: I was just stating what I had seen. We do have more trick stuff than all the privateers and support teams. no doubt. But I know fo r sure what Jason Prid more rides is no t factory and is done on just fractions of a budget compared to ours. but instead of co mplaining. Jason tries as hard as possible and f inis he s o n th e po dium . I' v e earned the right to ride the trickest bikes in the paddock. and if I remember rightly it was not that long ago that you had your chance. I've been a privateer for more years than I care to remember . so don't give me that garbage privateer stuff been there ." Las Ve gas ' X-Ple x M ot o spo rt s Park. along with event co-promoter Chuck Sun. has f orged an agreement w ith Tucker Rocky Distributing to be the title sponsor of the MTucker Rocky Las Vegas Supermoto Challange. " The event will take place Sunday. October 12. at the X-Plex Motosports Park located a few minutes south of the MGM Grand. site of the 2003 U .S . Open o f Superc ro s s. October 10- 11. Rounding out the week· end powersport s tnfecta is the Off-Road Trade Expo at Mandalay Bay. · We could not be more excited about the fit and the synergy we'l l enjoy with Tucker Rocky: o ffe red form er AMA mot ocros s star Chuck Sun. who today is deeply involved o n t he Am eri can s upe rmo to rac in g scene. " They bring a new level of excitement and credibility to our event. and in just a few short wee ks since we began planning. it's really shaped up to be speceN tacular."

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