Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Belgian Eddy Seel (Hus) kept up his winning ways in the FIM W orld Supermot o Ch am pion ship Series by capt uring anot her victory at the GP of Europe in Pergusa, Sicily, on November 9, With his win in the SuperFinal, Seel jumped up to second place in the provisional standings . With two rounds left , he is attempting to run down series leader Bo r is C h a mbon (KTM) , the Frenchman who dominated both preliminary finals at Pergusa, only to finish seco nd to SeeI in the SuperFinal. Italian M ax Manzo (Ve r) finished third after Gemnan specialist Jurgen Kunze l (KTM) . who was third for most the main event. crashed . Kunzel recovered to finish fourt h, The next round is scheduled fo r Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, whe re the big news is that Aprilia is scheduled to deb ut the supermoto version of it s new 450cc four-stroke motocross model. a tw in, Road racinq 125cc class top rider Alex De Angelis (pole man in Valencia at the last GP) loo ks like the name Aprilia wants in Belqiurn at the Wo rld Supermoto to ride the new revolutionary machine. In a repeat of the last NHRA stop in Las Vegas, Craig Treble (Suz) defeated forme r t hr ee -ti me c hampion Ange lle Savoie (Suz) in the Pro Stock Bike final at the Auto mobile Club of Southern Californ ia Final s at Po mo na Raceway in Pomona, California, on Nove mber 9, This time, Treble earned his second win in as many races at the start ing line when Savoie red- lig hted , The fo ul might no t have mattered . as Treble posted a 7. 129 at 184,07 mph to Savoie's trailing 7.136 at 191. 10 mph, The victory salvaged an otherwise forgettable season for Treble, a 2002 championship conten der who ended up fifth in the points this year. He finished 2-2 in four final-round appeara nces and dropped Savoie to an even 3·3. In a somewhat surprising move , Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies has opted to partake in th e S uperst oc k cla ss in 2004 ra th er than the S up erb ik e class, the young Texan believi nq that the S uperstoc k class is the future of A MA road racing. " I'm going to run Superstock and Supersport - no Superbike." Spies said from his home o n M onday , November 1O. "I feel that there is only really one or tw o years left in Superlbike. If it comes back to the top level, I can go back in 'OS w ith my co ntrac t the way it is . I think I co uld have a bad day in Superlbike and still get on the podium. In Superstock, I think there will be eight or nine guys who will be really fast. I just think it will be a more competitive class w ith a number of fast guy s. In Superlbike. Mat' s [M ladinJ the guy, but to me it's just one really fast guy in th e clas s, I think Superstock is going to be the class. You are goi ng to have all the Yamaha guys. [Jason] Pridmore, Tommy Hayden and Eric Bostrom on t he Kaw asak is... " Spie s is now at home recovering from the injuries he suffered at the Daytona tire test. but things are getting bett er . " It's been a lot bet t e r," S p ie s sai d . " My bu tt w as my biggest ho ld up because it had like a seven -inch in diamet er hole , but it has clo sed up to like two inches. The deep part has healed, and th e skin gra ft is doing really well. The hole in my arm is healing. and my back is healing, I've probably got another three to four week s. It sucks, but I'm not mad at Dunlop. That stuff happens. and it' s nothing personal it just suck s that I didn 't do any t hing wrong and I got hurt," Californian Kenny Noyes (l-ion) went into the final round of the Spanish M otociclismo Superseries (Supers tock) sitting alongside his only rival for the title, Jose Manual Hurtado (Suz) , w ith the knowledge that whoever finished in front of the other would win the title . Noyes came into the final race leading in points , 90-88 , but Hurtado took the pole. The American fo rmer Fo rmula USA Pro Singles Dirt Track Champion, now in his third year as a road racer in Spain, got the holes hot and led the entire race but was pushed to the end by Hurt ado , w ho tried to ride around the outside at the final corner. Noyes won by two-tenths of a second , his third win of the season, with two second places . " Hurtado made a draft pass to beat me o n the last lap here in th e spring. but that time I rode too defenSively. This time I figure d he'd try the same o uts ide line again and stayed up high. I was sweating it those last 400 yards; the Suzu ki nev er c ame along sid e , " sai d No ye s , w ho a lso pi ck ed up t he two bonus points that accompany the fastest lap. He won the title, 117- 108. The sixround championship allows each rider to discard his poorest result. Noyes did not ri de round tw o beca use o f a conflict which required him to ride the 24 Hours of Barcelona. Going into round three of six . he trailed Hurtado , who won the opening two races . by 32 points , After wins in Jerez and Albacete. Noyes fin ished seco nd in Cartagena, beating Hurtado and giving the America n a two-point lead with a race to go . Noyes has been confirmed as the BQR 'steam's lead rider in the 2004 Spanish Fo rmula Extreme Championship on the new CBR 1000RR Fireblade. The Richmond Co liseum hosted the final sto p of the Va ns Trip le Crow n of Freestyle Motocross on November 8 with Kenny Bartram and Nate Adams tied in the Vans Championship heading into the event. When all was said and done. howev er . it w as Ad ams w ho captu red the crown. "I felt good tonight; I didn' t really feel the pressure. " Adams said in a Clear Ch annel press release. " I knew Kenny [Bartram] was go ing to bring everything he had, and I was prepared." RTM Productio ns . I n c. . ha s annou nc ed th at it is laun ch ing a new mot orcycle enthusiast series tha t wi ll debut on January 3. 2004 , on the Spike TV televisio n network. "' T o p Dead Center' will celebrate the lifestyle. the persona liti e s , the machine s and th e events that have made motorcycles icons of speed for over a century ," said Joe St. Lawrence. president of RTM Productions and executive producer of " Top D ead Center." "We're covering it all - the most compelling events, the boldest new bike tes ts , the hottest tech ti ps . the lates t gear, plus our Ride Like a Pro segments loaded with secrets on improving performance riding skills." " Top Dead Center " expands RTM 's ros ter of pe rformanc e enthusiast shows • " Car and Driver Television , " " Ho rsepow er " and " Truckst." wh ich curre ntly air as RTM' s we ekend PowerBl ock. " W ith 'Top D ead Ce nter' we'll have a two-hou r, four- show block delivering in excess of six million enthusias t view e r s eve ry weeke nd , " S t. Lawr ence said. " TD C w ill lead off o ur block at 12 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on S at u rd ay s a nd S undays throughout 2004," RTM is a vertically integrated televisi o n produc tion com pany wi th head - r quarters in Brentwood, Tennessee, and stud io fa cilitie s in M adi son and G ile s County , Tennessee. Spike TV (fo rmally TNN) is one of North America's largest basic cable networks , with 92.3 million subscribers in the U ,S . and C anada, Spike TV is the largest cable network in Viaco m's M TV Netw orks gro up. which also includes MTV , Nickelodeon. MTV 2, VH1. Nick at Nite, BET. CM T and Comedy Central. A M A Pro Racing' s top aw ard. Wa tson ro de a pair o f Hon da-based hillclimb machines this year. W atson is coming off ano ther year of sweep ing both the 540 and 80 0cc div isions of the 20 03 AMA U ,S . Hillclimb Champion ship presented by Pace American Inc. Watson is the only rider in the history of AMA Hillclimb to win both classes . This year was the thind time he earned the championship in both classes . Watson had an incredibly consis ten t yea r, finishing on the podium in all but one round in the 800 class, including three victories , He completely dominated the 540 class, winning eight of the 11 nation als and finishing secon d in t he othe r three rounds . After less than 10 years in pro hillclimb. Watson is already becoming a legend in the sport. " This is unbelievable," said an enthusiastic Wa tso n up on learn ing o f hi s nominat ion , " Last year I thought maybe I got the nomination because a hillclimber hadn't gotten one in a while. but maybe our sport is startinq to get a little more reco gnit ion. The covera ge we ' re getting on Sp eed Channel has really helped , and I think a lo t of the teams are starting to realize that it's important to have a professional presentation. I hope my nomination can at least bring more exposure to hillclimb. " Wat son is only the second AMA Hillclimb rider to earn a nomination for the AMA Pro Racing Speed Channel Athlete of the Yea r Award . Paul Pinsonnault was the last hillclimber to earn a nomination back in 1995. Wat son' s motorcycle is set to be on dis play at th e AMA Pro Racing Award s Banq uet th is ye ar. Fo r t ick et informat ion for this year's banquet. call 614 /856-1900 , ext. 1342. According to a press release from the company, Barrett Market ing Group is relaunching the Husaberg motorcycle marque after acq uiring North American dist ribution rights from Husaberg parent company. KTM Sport M otorcycles, For more infomnation. contact Mike Klausen, product mariager. at 403 /850· 1402. The Dirt D iggers North M oto r c ycl e C lub , the promoters of the annual Hangtow n U .S . M o t o cro s s Cl as si c, gave $3000 to the Club Six Days ·team of Rob Z immerman , Bryc e O lso n, J ohn We lls and Rod Krei ss t o help their ISDE Si x Days effo rt, acco rding to a release from the Dirt Diggers. J .W . Sutter Inc. will be taking over the operation of Hun g r y V a lle y M X in Gorman . Californi a. with the track getting a new name - 1·5MX . The new operators will begin holding practice sessions on Satu rday , November 29 , wit h plans to improve the track and facilities at I-SMX, " First we w ill be changing the track . add ing sand and mix in g the soil, " a release from J ,W , Sutt er said. " Our goal is to have a Mammoth Mountain M X-type soil. The track will hold a grand ope ning on Saturday. December 6. from 9 a.m. to 5 p .rn , Fo r more information, call 8 18170 0 -3559 o r visit th e w eb sit e at www.I-5mx.com. M ot o cro s se r / supe rc ross e r James MB u b b a" Stewart and hi llc limb e r' Dave Watson are the third and fourth nominees for the 2003 AMA Pro Racing Sp eed Ch an nel A t hlet e of t he Ye ar. St ew art w on t he AM A 125 c c W e s t Supercross title. He then came back fro m injury, after missing the first four rounds of the A MA Ch evy Tr ucks 125cc U ,S , Motocross Championship, to win seven consecutive 125cc races. His charge led him all the way back to third place in the final standings despite giving his competit ors an eight- mo to head s ta r t. Ev en though he missed out on the title, Stewart' s streak of 14 straight mot o win s in the 125c c class wa s on e of the most im pressive feat s in the histo ry of the series. For Stewart this marks his seco nd nominat ion for the Athlete of the Year Award. He was nominated in 2002 . his ro o kie seaso n. after w inning the A MA C hevy Truc ks U. S. 125cc M ot ocro s s Championship . He also earned the AMA M o to cro ss/S uperc ro ss Rookie of th e Year hono rs in 2002 . " Being nominated fo r this awa rd for the second straig ht season is an honor and put s me in some good co mpany with all of the other nominees, " said Stewart when infomned of his nom ination . " The At hlet e of th e Yea r award is the last piece to the puzzle and can cap off a really good season , I hope to add one of these to my trophy co llections some day," One of tw o o f the famous photos of Jimmy Weinert and Tony DiSte" fano colliding at a national motocross in Ohio in 1974 w ill be offe red in a silent auction at the AM A Hall of Fame Mu seum's " Leath er & Ic e " holiday party o n December 6 in Ohio. The other photo will be featu red in the museum. The photo, shot by fo rmer Cycle News editor Charlie Morey , captures one of the more memorable moment s in AMA motocross histo ry. Samples of the photo and more can be vi ew ed o n M o rey ' s webs it e at www .digitalphotography.tv/ moto . The last Gary Bailey MX School of the year will be held at Freestone County Raceway in Wortham, Texas. December 13- 14. Limit ed spo ts are sti ll available . For more infomnation , call 276 /650-1 759 . So much for the AMA's new-fomnat Formula Xtreme class being ignored by the fact o ries, Honda team manager Chuck M iller has confimned that three of its four riders w ill com pete in Formula Xtreme next year on modified CBR600RRs, with no Honda factory partici pation slated for the 600cc Supersport class . " We don't have enough riders to do all the classes ." Mill er said from the Torrance, California, race shop. "We had to pick and choose what classes we co uld do with our guys, and we o riginally tho ught so me of the support guys would do Supersport, but those teams kind of dried up. We thought the Formu la Xtreme class gave us our best chan ce for a c ha mp io ns hip ." Fo r Watson . this mar ks t he seco nd straight year that the 25 -year-ol d from Ludlow , MA. has earned a nomination for cue I e n e _ S • NOVEMBER 19. 2003 1 ;= I r= ~ L [

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