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/128243
By ~ ••)II~@t3 30 YEARS AGO... DECEMBER 11, 1973 Roger DeC oster and Adolf Wei! raced ac ross the cover of Issue #48 in announce- ment of our MX Season Win d -Up . which we assume is the same as a wrap-up, except that a win d -up i s us ually what you do to st art so meth ing . How eve r , DeCost er and Weil tra de d wi ns at t he Tr an s -A MA fi na le at Saddl eba ck , in Orange, California. Weil won the overall , with DeCoster second, and Pierre Kars makers was third. The first American was Br ad Lackey (Kaw) in seve nt h ... Dic k Burleson won the Swam p Fox National Enduro after zeroing the course. However, 12 other riders zeroed the course as well. It was described by more than one competitor as "easy" ... Cy cl e News announ ced that. in addition to our weekly CN West and CN East ed it ions, a CN Central editi on would be going from bi-weekly to weekly in 1974. 20 YEARS AGO... DECEMBER 14, 19B3 We rode the 19 77 MV Agusta 850 across the cover of Issue #48. Why was the bike featured in a 1983 issue of Cycle News yo u ask? Why not? The bike was reporte dly very fun to ride, but the thought of to ssi ng a $ 10 ,000 mo to rc ycle down th e road kept peg dragging to a m inimum... Damon Bradshaw (Yam) won the Brass Boot award at the Florida Mini Olympics by winning the 85cc (7- 11) class. Ronnie Tich eno r was t he overall 85cc ( 12-13) champ, and Bobby Moore was the overall 85cc ( 14- 15) champ... Billy Frank made his ju mp from the Mini Expert class to the 125cc Intermediate class a successful one by winnin g his fir st race at Saddleback. Mike Young won the 80cc Expert event... Jeff Willoh won the Pee Wee class at Indian Dunes. 10 YEARS AGO•.. DECEMBER B, 1993 .iJ]iJ 11:-1 ~jj_ _ _ __ A co up le of t he off-seaso n bik e t est s g r aced the co ver of Issue #48 , with t h e new Yamaha YZF750R an d KTM 440 E/XC placed on the cover in ann oun c ement of t he test s inside. We found that the YZF was awesome on the track , a nd it seemed good for everyday street riding as well. It retailed for $9799. The KTM was a tw o-stroke. and we found that it was quite capable off-road, if out of its element a bit at a motocross track. It retailed for $4968 ... Jeremy McWilliams (Yam) and Steve Hislop (Yam ) topped each leg of the Macau Grand Prix. Hislop won the overall... Mike Alessi won the 50cc Modified class at Perris Raceway, while Jiri Dost al beat Billy Payne. Bryan McGavran and Danny Carlson to win the 85cc Intermediate class. e Lire h a t d o Er i c B o str o m and Val entin o Ross i ha v e in co m m on ? Wi th d eft ca ree r m o v es b o th injected new life into what threa te ned to be m o ribu nd ch ampionships. A ll Rossi has sa id of his m o ve from Hon da to Yamaha. an un pr ec eden ted defection at th e top levels o f J ap an ese raci ng, is th at he need ed a new c hallenge . greate r m o tiva t i on . An d th at m ay b e t rue . But th er e must also b e so me ele men t o f h eav y h and ed ness fr om Honda as we ll as Ho nda' s fi n a lly tir in g o f Ross i ' s d em an d s , thing s li k e r a c i ng wi t h h is f a v o r ed nu m b er 46 ra t h er tha n t h e nu m b er o ne th at Hond a s pe n t so m u ch to h elp him earn . B y m ovin g t o Yama ha , h e' s m ad e th e world sit up and take notice . His w ill be t he most sc ru tinized seas on in t he history o f ra c in g , whi ch tra n s l ates t o i n te res t w orl d w id e , wh ich is j u st what th e Do ctor orde red . Eric Bo st rom -h as ne v er bee n shy ab out h i s a m bi tio ns. E v en before ol der brothe r B e n went t o W o r ld Superbi k e in 2000, Eric ' s wanted to lin e up against the be st. Kawas aki d id its b est to accommodate him , but it wasn't enough , and it wouldn't be enough in 2004 _ No t only cou ldn 't it help him overseas , but its plans for th e AMA had him t aki ng a bac kward step careerwise . Ins te ad o f rac in g in Superbike, h e'd b e t oil ing in th e fa r m or e co mpet it ive 1000cc Supersto c k cl ass , o ne w it hout liv e televisi on . He Wi se l y m ad e th e d eci si o n t o l ea v e K awasak i, th ou gh he left it in a bit o f a lur ch lat e in th e gam e. K awasak i h as a brand -n ew ZX· I OR that m an y expec te d i t t o r a c e in Su pe rb ik e. It m ad e p erfect sense bu t fo r o ne m aj o r deta i l: K a wasak i U .S . wo uld h ave t o bear all of th e dev elo p m en t costs . Having spe nt li ber all y on the aged and o ve r bo red Z X- 7 R i n 20 03, it k new what fas t engin es cos t. Th e a dv an tage it had w a s i n th e c h assis, a prove n p ackage. Bu t hav i ng t o build a ch assi s and wo rk th e en gine s on th e n ew bike pro v ed too much , an d it ste ppe d do wn for a sea son, at least. Bo str om ' s name wa s o n a short lis t D uc ati had at the final GP in Valencia , but with th e notation "too expen sive.' O th ers were Nori Haga, w ho wasn 't thoug ht of as serious, J ohn Hop k in s, unhappy at Suzu ki but under co ntra ct and not l ik ely t o want t o reg ress to AMA , an d Garry M cC oy, whose tai l wa ggi ng ri d in g style hasn't tran slated to four-str ok es. Other s wer e also con si dere d a fter Ducat i recovere d f ro m t h e s u d de n shock o f l os in g Sh a n e B yrn e t o A p ri lia . D uca ti was su re it ha d th e E ngl ish ma n lo c k ed u p u ntil W Chicane HENNY RAY ABRAMS the Sa t u rday of the V a l en c i a G P. On c e Du c at i saw it s o p tio ns fad in g , Bost ro m 's price t ag su dde n ly beca me ir relevant. When the cha nce to m o v e arose. he jum p ed at it. now with Michelin, who 'd bee n on a nd off the Ducati A usti n project. offering its support. Ho w serious Mi c he li n is re ma ins to b e see n. It ' s d e v el o p ed th e w ell earned re puta tion for p ic kin g fr ont run n ers an d fro nt - r u n ne rs o nly . In W o r ld S uper b ike t h is yea r, it full y b ac k ed o n ly th e F il a Du c a t i t e a m w hile a n g er in g th e F o g gy Petron as team with second -rate rubber. It was its rel uctan c e t o sup p ly m o re World Superb ik e teams - which put th e onu s almost c om p letely on Dun lo p - th at co n vi n c ed th e b aron s o f FGSport to go to spec t i re s fo r 2004. M i ch eli n d ropp ed Suzuki 's M otoGP tea m fo r 2004 . t houg h t ha t ma y h a v e so me th ing to do wi t h co m mercia l arrange ments . Th e presence o f g u ards will tell if Mic he lin 's seriou s. Th e Fren c h com p an y is m an iacal abo ut c hai n of c u stody with its n ew e st tires , for ev er fearful one might fall in to the wrong hands. It hires security to watch th e t rucks at th e world events. Th e p roduction p rocess is so se cretive t h a t vi rtua ll y none of t hose involved know wha t the others are doing. T h e co mpo u n d spec ia li st doe sn ' t k now h ow th e carcass is built. If o ne leaves, he ca n't take all th e secrets wi t h him . C ase in poi nt: A s soo n as Fil a Du c ati ' s Rub en Xaus fi n is hed t he po st r ace burn- ou t a fte r h is second race w in at L ag u n a Se c a thi s past July , a Mi ch elin m an was th er e with a br o om a nd d u st p an to co l lec t th e sm ok ed rubber. Wo rr ied th at a sim p le bro om w as n' t effi ci en t , a vac u u m cle a ne r w a s br o u ght in t o fi n i s h the job. Miche lin's b ack in g of t he doo med Dr eam T eam Du cati squa d was less th a n ex pec te d , at lea st fr o m La rry Pegr am ' s p oint o f view . Ri ghtl y o r w ro ngly, Pegr am cl aimed t he t ires he use d dur ing a J anuary te st at Lagu n a Seca we re t h e sam e ones Colin Edwards had wo n on the ye ar before. He assured one and all that th e good rubber would be arriving befo re long , but it never di d , a t least n ot b efore th e Dream T eam was euthanized after Road A merica. At Valencia, a D uc at i spokesma n sa id it wan ted Du c at i Austin to us e Mic helins if it had Ruben Xaus , t he Spa nia rd who wa s already on his way to th e d'Antin D uc at i Moto GP squad. O t h er w i se , it d idn ' t h a v e a p refe re nce. W ith B o s t r om on boa r d , i t app ea rs t o h av e c ha nge d it s m ind . Du cati ' s pos iti o n o n AMA rac ing is n't di ssimila r to M ich elin ' s. Th e last t ime it was ser iou s ab out rac in g was in 20 00 when it backed th e Vance [, Hines team an d J ohn K o c in sk i. T h e following y ear its suppo rt was fr agmen ted, a n d th e r esults showed . In t he pas t three years it h as been t hro ug h th e D ream T eam and Com pe titio n A c c esso r ies an d HM C Rae ing . T his yea r Du ca ti A ustin was c hose n to fly the flag wi t h Ant h on y G o b er t r i d in g. That a r ra nge men t imp lo ded after Road A merica and t he ge ni a l Ita li an Giova n n i B usse i w a s br o ugh t in to run out the st ring . Given D u c at i ' s rec en t lev el o f sup port , it ' s m ade littl e fin anci al sen se to race t he V-tw in s for so me t i me, which ex plai n s th e hi gh m o r t alit y rate o f D u cat i teams. N ow Bo str om . o n the 2003 Du c at i Wo rld Super bik e machi nes supporte d d irectly b y Du ca ti Corse and pr esum ably wi th some o f the better M ich elin tires , will be a true cha llenger fo r th e t itl e, eas ily th e gr eat est impediment t o Yos himura S u zu k i' s Mat Mladin win ning number on e numbe r five. B e f o r e B o str om ' s m ove , the Superbik e class look ed li ke a M ladin walkover. as 20 03 would have been w ithout h is repeated tire pr oble ms. Du nl o p has a l rea d y given the A MA ser ies th e statu s o f Wo rl d Superb ike but h as redou bled its effo rt s for 2004 . prom ising to bring more senior staff from overseas . Th e tire problems th at re pe ated l y struck Mladi n last yea r , and p rol on g ed h is path to the t it le , should be elim inated . Ml ad in is rightly o n t h e record as detesti ng th e A MA 's decis io n to bend ove r t o g iv e an ad va ntage to th e Vt wi ns in a i rbox a n d t hr ottl e b odi es. Pri v ate ly. t he team isn 't th at wor ried . Sh o uld they be? Da y t o n a probably wo n 't give u s t he answer. Du c at i' s reco rd in F lorida is abysma l. and th ough it wo uld des p erat el y like to w in it . t he Desm o tw in h asn 't shown th e reliabili ty to fi ni sh near t h e front for ye ars. After t h at it's o n to Californ ia Speedway , a track with twists an d turns. where experi en ce in setup and tires is pa ramount. M lad in won both legs i n F on t an a in 2003 . o ne o f th e three double wins that made up his I O-rac e tot al. M ladin doesn 't l ike Bostrom, and that's a good thing for t he cha m pi onship. Theirs wil l be a true rivalry . co m p letely different people on diffe rent eng ines and different tires goi ng f or the same g oal. Mladi n 's n e v er l ac k ed mot iva ti on in win n i ng four titles : with B o st r o m defec ti ng to a stronge r p osit ion, he wo n't lack it in 200 4 . eN THO World Supercross GP Opener In an upcoming issue of Cycle News Ba 1000 ja eooperland WOReS Finale e y e . e n e vv s D ECEM BER 3 , 2003 79