Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship R o a d R a c e S e r ie s F inal R o u n d : V a lencia G r a n d P r ix 9. Eric Bateille (Hon); 10. Alex Deboe (Hon): 11. Neokl Mlitsu do (Yam) ; 12 . Dirk Heidelf ( Apr) ; 13 . Chez Dav ies (Apr); 14. Jakub Smra (Hon) ; 15. Radomil Reus (A pr) ; 16 . Alvaro Molina (Apr) ; 17. Johan Stigefelt (Apr) ; 18. Henk ve n der Lagem aat (Hon); 19. Lukas Alex Deben (8 1); 12, Joan Olive (38); 13. Hector Faubel (34); 14. Chaz Davies (33); 15. H. Aoyama (31); 16. (TIE) Erwan Nigon/ Alex Boldolini (30); 18. P esek (Vam); 20. P ck Lakerveld (Apr). atri (1:32.478): 2. Sete Gibernau (1:33.148): 3. Loris Capirossi (1:33.275): 4. Nicky Hayden (1:33.348); 5. Carlos Checa (1:33.454); 6. Max Biaggi (1:33.575): Time: 44 min.. 1.924 sec. Distance: 27 laps. 67.58 miles Margin of v ictory: 0. 072 sec. 250 GP C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 16 of 16 rounds ): 1. Manuel Poggiali (249) ; 2. Roberto Rolfo (235); 3. Toni Elias (226) ; 4 . Randy de Punl et (208); 5. Fonsi Nieto (194); 6. Franco Betteiru (148); 7. Anth ony West (1 45) ; 8. Sebastian Porto (127 ); 9. Naoki Matsuda (119) : 10. Sylv ain Guintoli ( I OI ); 11. Y. Takahashi (29) ; MO TOQP Q UALIFY IN G: 1. Vale nti no Rossi 7 . Colin Edward s ( 1:33 .98 4 ) ; 8 . A lex Barr os (228/2); 4. Loris Capirossi (177/1); 5. Nicky Hayden (13 0) ; 6. Troy Bayliss ( 128) ; 7. (TIE) Carlos Checa/ Tohru Ukawa ( 123); g. (TIE) Alex (Pro); 13. John Hopkins (Suz ); 14. Ryuichi Kiyonll ri Berroe/Shinye Nekeno (1 0 1); 11. Mak oto Temede (8 7); 12 . Oli vier Jacque (7 1) ; 13. Colin Edwards (Hon); 15. Nori Haga (Apr); 16.Nicky Hayden (Hon): (1:34.742); 14. Garry McCoy (1:34.912): 15. Jeremy McWilliams (1:34.975); 16. Andrew Pitt (1:35.125); (62): 14. Nori Hag (47): 15. Marco Melandrl (45); a 17 . Nobu Aoki (Pro) ; 18 . Andrew Pitt (Kew) ; 19 . 16 . Norick Abe (3 1); 17 . John Hopk ins (29); 18. Garry McCoy (Kaw); 20. David de Gee (WCM). Time: 47 min., 13.078 sec. Jeremy McWill iam s (27 ); 19. (TIE) Kenny 17 . John Hopkins (1 :35 . 178 ); 18. Kenny Roberts ..As soon as ir s signed," he said. The tea m is testing a new If Kurti s Roberts does go to his father' s team. it would mean one of the current riders would have to find a job . Late in the day Nob u Aoki looked lik e the one who wou ld go, and it's all because of tires. Aoki has ties to Bri dges tone. but it appears Roberts will be lasing the Japanese rubber and moving back to Dunlop. That suggests Kurtis would take his seat. and Je remy McW illiams would be spared. There is a certain irony in Robert s' moving to another Dunlop team. after some of the tire troub les he's had the past two years with the Honda RC-51. Tire companies got into the musical chairs rumor game in Valencia. Bridgestone is confirmed be the tire of choice for Kawasaki. who will fit the rubber to its new ZX-RR afte r two seasons on Dunlop . And it looks increasingly likely that Bridgestone will also go to Suzuki, who reportedly didn't follow Ihrough on commercia l promi ses it made after switching to M ichelin early in the 2002 season. Aprilia will be back on Dunlop after losing Colin Edwards. one of Michelin's favorite test riders. Honda. Yamaha and Ducati appea r to be t he rema ining Mi chel in team s . with Honda rider Makoto Tarnada also likely to stay with Bridge stone . The new Proton KR c hassis isn't next year's design but a new variation to give the team direction on what to start the season with, Kenny Roberts Sr . said. - W e' re changing the weight distribution and moving the electrics and stuff around on it so the new bike will have more input." Robert s said. Robert s said the current Proton KR was a little heavy, and the riders had to use too much lean angle. The 2004 chassis will be ready at the end of January, and testing will commence in February. The new engine wo n't be ready until later. " If we don't have it at the start of the season. it' ll be \wo or three races into the season. It' s all being drawn now. The whole bike will be new except for the top of the cases. It'll st ill be a 60 percen t crank. We 're calling this an intra design because we want to change the V-angle in the next one ," Photos of the new K awa saki emerged, and it appears to be a very diffe rent machine in every way from the one raced this year, though technical details were scarce . Gone is the breadbox tail section, replaced by a sleeker, aerodynamic seat. It still uses the inline four -cylinder engine, though rumors of a V-four later next season continu e to circulate, as does the possibility it could buy the MotoG P mills developed by KTM before the Aust rian firm abandoned its big bike aspiralion s. Repsol Honda's Valentino Rossi left Valencia with a new car, a $40,000 BMW Z -4 Roadster , his reward for qualifying best over the course of the season and the preseason winter tests at Cat alunya. Rossi' s Valencia pole was his ninth, and his 15 front row starts added up to a margin of 4.769 seconds over Camel Pramac Pons' Max Blaggi, who finished seco nd fastest over the cour se of the season-plus . His only sec ond-row start w as at Jerez. Rossi earned a Tissol watch for each of his poles and special-edition model for his seaso n's accomplishments. The season ended. but testing didn't , at least not for a majority of the teams . Monday was reserved at Valencia fo r journalist s to ride the 2003 Y amaha a nd Ducati race bikes. Testing is to begin on Tuesday, with Proton testing a new chassis and Kawasaue (After 16 of 16 rounds): 1. Valentino Rossi (357/9 wins); 2. Sete Gibemeu (277/ 4); 3 . Max Blaggl Biaggi ( Han): 5 . Carlos Checa (Vern); 6 . A lex Barros (Yam ) ; 7. Tro y Bayliss ( Due); 8 . Colin Edwa rds (A pr) 9 . Nc rlck Abe (Yam); 10. Makola Temeda (Hen); 11. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Suz ) ; 12. Jeremy McWilli am s chassis on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Kurtis will definitely nol . be riding~ " He just had a shoulder operation." Robert s Sr. said. c MOTOGP WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (1:34.247); g. Tohru Ilk ewa (1:34.286); 10. Troy Bayliss (1:34.398); 11. Norick Abe (1:34.467); 12. K urtis Roberts, formerly of Erion Honda. may end up with hIS father's Proton KR team , Ihough neither he nor Kenny Senior gave a definitive answer. "There' s no doubt we would like to get younger," Roberts Sr. said. Current rider Jeremy ~ cWilliam s" i s 39, and Nobu Aoki is 32 . "W e're just trying to piece toget her all the little pieces and finalize it. The tire company [Bridgestone l has some say aboul it. There's a good chance Kurt is will be on the bike; there 's a chance he w on't be." " Nothing yet," Kurtis Roberts said as he was about to ente r the Proton KR pit box. "There's rumors . There's nothing for sure yet." Kurtis said the Proton KR team wasn't his only pcssjb le des tination bul joked that his birthright was holding him back, one of the great ironies of the weekend . " I don't have a $4-million sponsor to bring a ride yet: he said. adding that he wasn't Italian or Spanish . "W e' re talking .to people ." Kurtis shot down the rumor that he'd ride a 250 . though he admitted there was some interest from the World Superb ike wo rld. "There's a little bit of talking about that stu ff . but not too much. " When wou ld he know where he'lI be riding? NOV EMBER 12, 2003' Dist ance: 30 laps. 75 .1 m iles Average speed: 94 .872 mph. Ma rgin of victory : 0 .68 1 sec. Shinya Nakano ( 1:3 4 .6 77 ) ; 13 . Mak ola Tem ed a BRI EF L Y••• 12 (1;35.269): 19. Nobu Aoki ( I :35.439): 20. Ryuichi Kiyonari (1:35.572); 21. Olivier Jacque (1:35.816); 22 . Norly uki Haga (1 :36 .52 4); 23. David de Gee (I :36.604). M O TO GP: 1. Va lenti no Rossi ( He n) ; 2 . Se te Gibemau (Hen ); 3 . Loris Capirossi (Due) ; 4 . Mu e ki a whole new bike. Yamaha is also testing. and Aprilia test rider Marc ellino Lucchi will be trying a new chassis . On Tuesd ay . Honda is testing in Barcelona with Nicky Hayden and the new Honda team members , including Colin Edwards. who 'll be on the Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC-21 1V for the first time . Roberts/R yuichi Kiyo nari (22) . to the GP world he left in 199 5, when he raced in Ihe 500cc class. The seco nd rider is the subject of some speculation . since it could determine who spearheads Ducatis e ffort in the AM AlChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship. Ruben Xaus. the WS B runner-up, has been Wide ly rumored as the second rider, partly because of his Spanish heritage and what he could bring to the leam. which is in need of a sponsor. If Xaus doesn't get the ride, and many in the paddock believe he will, he would be the first choice to head the Ducati Aust in team . Emilio Alzamor a , the 1999 125cc W o r ld Champion. announced his retirement in Valencia. The Spaniard, who rode a Honda to the title, said he struggled to maintain his motivation during a disappointing season on the Derbi. He finished 24th and last in his final GP. ending the season with two poi nts , scored Kenny Roberts .Jr. won't be testing again for two month s. until wi th a 14th-place finish in the previous round in A ustralia, His . the middle of January, when the newest Iteration of the Suzuki future is wid e open . he said. with an announcement soon to GSV·R is ready to roll. "It' s an all-new bike, " Roberts said of the come. 990cc V-four, the fourth different bike in four years for Roberts. "Considennq the step they need to take . it's going to take some Riders for Health 's fourth Day of C hampions raised a record time to make anything that will make a sign ificant difference. 55,000 euro s ($63 .050) at Valencia on the Thursday prior to the Hopefully, something will show up that' s much better than the sitGP weekend . The total exceeded last year's haul by 9000 euros uation we 're in. " ($10 ,3 17). The Ricardo Torma Circuit made a bid for the Guinness Book Yamaha had a new Delta box c ha ssis in Valencia. designed to of World Records with the world 's largest mosaic. On the improve stability under braking and directional changes. Not only warm-up lap of the 125cc race, 45 ,000 spectators held up plastic is it a further evolution of the main frame. but it' s also fitt ed with posters in red. yellow. blue and black that spelled out "Without an upside-down swingarm unit. For Va lencia . the fron t will be violence w e win." raised slightly. compared to other circuits . and the rear lowered . Alex Barros is contracted to the Gauloises Yamaha team for The Ducatl deadline for Shane Byrnes to make up his mind was 2004. but he wants out. and many expect him to go to Repsol this weekend-Out of the blue, he got a call from Aprilia to come Honda. thou gh the re's a factio n wi thin Honda that's less than , to Valencia the Monday before the race. The meeting w as on Frienthus iastic . " I still don't know." Barros said when asked whal day. He thought it was going to be a formality whe n Ihey offered his plans we re for next yea r. "I have a contract w ith our team for him a contra ct. He walked out of the meeting in a daze and ran 2004. but I've asked if I can go somewhere else . But I am not into Troy Bayliss. "Y ou' re not go ing to I"&%ing believe this , but pleased to continue with Yamaha. - Shou ld he jo in the Repsol I've just been offe red a MotoGP ride ." Byrne s told him of the Honda squad. it would be as a st op-gap meas ure and mainly two-year deal which he signed on Sunday morning . Unt il he got to becau se o f his attra c t to n to spo nsor Rep so l YPF, the South Spain, he thought he was gOing to America. Ducati had swee tAme rican branch of the giant Spanish oil company. He said the ened the pot once it got word of his other offers. and he said he year had been "damaging for my morale." Barros ended the 2002 was really tempt ed . " I think I co uld have gone over the re and season winn ing three of the last five races, once he switc hed done a good job." he said. from the We st Honda Pons NSR -500 to the RC-211 V. On the strength of those perfo rmances, he was signed by Yamaha but Byrnes was a hot property this off-season. In addition to the April has had little success. He doesn't believe that Valentino Rossi will ia and Ducati Auslin offers , he had the option of staying with his have it much better . -I don't think there's any way that he can win BSB tea m or racing fo r the Foggy Petrona s team in W orl d the championship next year ." Barros said. " It' s not impossible. Superbike . One thing is certain, Byrnes wo n't be using Mi chelin but it w ould be very hard . I can see him maybe winning with tires next year. The Aprilia team won't have access to the World Yamaha in the fut ure." Barros said it would be diff erent for Rossi, Championship-winning tires and instead must choose between but . he. added . " One thln9's for sure . he w on't be riding t his Dun lop . which they ran unti l this year. and Bridgesto ne. With Yamaha. He'll have a new and better one at his disposal. The facByrnes out of the mix. Nori Haga. one of the riders he's replacing tory has already made major ch anges for next year. It seems at Aprilia, move s to the top of the list. Originally, it was thought they're working with Formula One engineers from Toyota on electhe team would use Michelin tires. the brand of choice for Aprilia tronics and software . " in W orld Superb ike and MotoGP. Shou ld Xaus co me . Ducati would " quite like to use M ichelins: Thomas said. Without Xaus, Col in Ed w a rd s cras hed a Ya maha YZ .250 -powered the sit uati on is less certain. A senior M ichelin offic ial said in shi fter go -cart al about 100 mph durinq a race meeti ng in AusValencia that they were talking to teams in A merica and in the t ralia, just prior to Valencia. and walked away. He was qualifying GPs but wasn't more specific . at W inton, going down the front straight at full speed in fift h gear when his right front brake failed and sent him straight into a wall. Another ride r in the D ucati mix was Proton KR ' s .Je re my Luckily. he escaped with out injury . " I got out in qualifying and secMcWilliams . The 39 -year-old Ulsterrnan said he spo ke with ond sess ion. and everything's coo l, and two comers from the end Ducati about going to the AMA or British Superb ike, but that isn't of my second lap and the brake s are a littl e bit mushy compared what he wa nts to do . " I j ust don't have enough yea rs left to to what they were. It was like a !riggin' brick. So we nt down the exploit what I want to do ," M cW illiams said. "I' d love to race in front straight fifth gear tapped, and ther e's a damn concrete wall the States, but at the moment that' s just an oplion if not hing can 10 feet off the track . I'm lining up for the right-hander coming up. be worked out with Proton. I really don't want to do it. I know I'd And .1barely touched the brakes and nicked them , and the Ihing be sitting in BSB or AMA last year kick ing mysel f for leaving just fired 90 degrees dead left straight into the wall. I hit it perfect, MotoGP." Iy square on the front, bounced off . hit the back , front. I cou ldn't get off the wall. so front -back. front -back. front -back. It scared the Ducati Co rse will continue its tradition of supplying year-old equipshit out of me. After I hit the wall a couple of times , I'm used to ment to satellite teams by giving this year' s machinery to Team gravel flying up my nose and grass in my eyes. And I'm going, d'A nt in for the 2004 season, it announced at Valencia. W orld 'This ain't so bad, actually.' Luckily, just hit the ste ering wheelan Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson is one of the riders, and the the top of my thigh. I thought n was going to be bruised . but it other is yet to be announced . Team d' Antin said in a press was n't." Edwards explained that the right fron t caliper . the two release, though Ruben Xaus is the likely cho ice . The d 'Annn pins that hold the pads , had bo th sheered . Both of those pins had Ducati team will be Ihe only outs ide team to receive the Ducati fallen out and were sittin g on the belly pan. The actual pins were Desmosedicis. " Right from the start of the MotoGP project , we still in the caliper, but they we re just sheered . "This whole centerdecided that we would make our bikes available to ot her teams." piece just fell out. So as soon as I hit the brakes, it just locked up said C laudio D omen icali, D ucati C o rse managi ng direc to r. "It the left brake. That was the end of my day." Until then, Edwards gives us great pleasure. therefore . to announce that we will now was on the pace . The lap reco rd is 59.3, and he was lapping at also be present in this championship with a satellite team - Team , :00 .7 after only 12 laps. d'Antin - which demonstrates that the Desmosedici is already a very competitive bike." Luis D'Antin said, "We are very pleased Camel Pramac Pons' Toh ru U kawa ended his GP career with a to begin this new adventure with D ucatL W e are certain that the crash. the Japanese rider taken out by his co untry man Shinya arrival of the Desmosedici. which has prove d to be a competitive Nakano. "This is such a stupid way to go out. [ShinyaJ Nakano hit bike in its debut seaso n, will enable our team to achieve some me fro m behind, but none of it really matters because I am retir ing brilliant results that will help to contribute to the ever-increasing now . I'll be an HRC te sl rider. but I still wan t to race, so this spectacle in the top class of motorcycle racing." Hodgson retu rns retirement is 'a bit early for me. But we'll see what happens." neVllS

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