Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Martin On Top In Spain time of factory rider james Tose land, who tes te d his Fila Ducati at Vale ncia a coup le of weeks previo usly, albe it not as fast as Regis Lacon i's brea k into the I:35s. The injured McCoy put pe n to paper for the NC R squad in the afternoon and also put in a total of nine laps o n t he sec on d day befo re pulling the plug pre mature ly, if sagely. "I almost had a couple of moments wh en the bike pushed back at me through t he handleb ars, so I didn't wan t to risk too much and aggravate t he injury," said t he brand -new 999RS rider. The sec ond-fas test man at the test was you ng British rider Leon Haslam, w ho set a I:36.8 17 on his year- old 998 Testast rena and also co mplet ed a wallo ping 140 laps over the two days. He was due to take de livery of his 999 on Monda y. Decem be r 22. and rumors still pe rsist of Noriyuki Haga becoming his teammate at the British-b ase d Renegade Steve Martin led the World Ducati. Superbike testers in Valencia. Ten Kate Honda 's Supersport rider Karl Muggeridge was third fastest overall and the J he final test of the 2003 World Superbike I and World Supe rspo rt season too k place in quickest of the many Wor ld Super-sport riders on display. thanks to a final push to a 1:38.023 Valencia. Spain, December 18- 19, w ith - just over .3 of a second off the best-ever Australian Steve Martin and his DFX Ducati Supers port lap at the track. Brae Parkes . 999RS lead ing the way on both days. Although Muggeridge's te ammate , was fifth quickest, the test boasted no works teams in the ahea d of Serg io Fuertes ' Superbike and Superb ike lineup, Valencia was the scene of the Ch ristian Kellner's Yamaha R6. short but morale-boosting appearance of Gary Katsuaki FUjiwara finally tested his newMcCoy on a 2004 customer-spec NCR 999RS. for-2004 GSX-R600 . co mpiete with upsideMart in did his best lap on the second day, down forks and a slipper clutch . The bike cut his I:36.454 proving to be fastest of the test a pec uliarly angular figure, as GSX-RI000 cardespite a crash late in the final bon bod ywork had to be afternoon. used until the proper bod y "I just lost the front at the first panels can be supplied , but right after a couple of left-hand w Fujiwara seemed pleased corners," Martin said of the a'J with his new toy. outlining mishap . "It felt fast, but it always ~ the differen ces be~een his feels fast when yo u fall off!" C) old and new machine - and Martin went back out and put Pirelli tires . in a few mor e fast laps before o "The front part of the calling it a day earlier than most of bike feels closer togeth er, his peers. and the swingarm fee ls "We had done everything we longer," he said. "T he wanted to do ," he said . "We upside-down front for ks turned up he re wit h the new make bra king better than bikes; no alternative sprockets to before . It also changes direceve n alte r the gear ing and one tion easier, w hich is on e rear rim. so we had take n things Garry M cCoy gets used thing we wanted from the as far as they co uld really I'm to his n ew Oucati . . new bike. It's got a slipper happy to be fastest, and the bike clutch, and I had to ge t used to that. Th is is my is quick. It' s also smoother than the old bike, first time on Pirellls, and I need more time to somet hing yo u not ice right away. It fee ls like a test them ." bike from a w hole differ ent manufacturer Nei l Hod gson 's best pr actice time of w hen co mpared to t he old one . I we nt back I:34.633 remains the Holy Grail for th e out to do so me mo re quick laps to pro ve I February World Superbike tests, w ith the could do it even after I crash ed . I did that , so Super-sport riders shooting for the exist ing I'm happy." best of 1:37.674. Martin's time was on par with th e best Gordon Ritchie in b 5: Hatch, Smail To Team Green Steve Hatch, a long-time stab lemate at Team Suzuki Off-Road, w illswitch gears for 2004. Th e former National Enduro Cham pion plans to ride for Kawasaki Team Gre e n and Team Throttlehead.com in t he Grand Natio nal Cross Country Series and the AMNFMF National Enduro Series. Hatc h's new teammates at Team Green wilt be Ch uck Woo dfo rd , Andy Shea and Josh McLevy, the four slated to follow the GNCC Series. In addition to the GN CC series. Wood ford will follow the AMA National Hare Scrambl es Se ries and is ex pected to ride the new Kawasaki KX2S0F in bo th. Out West , Descry Abbott and David Pe arso n will concentrate on the WORCS and AMA National Hare & Hou nd Series for Team Gre e n. while new recruit Lance Smail w ill focus entirelyon the WO RCS se ries . In Texas , Team Gree n will also support Clay Hoe nshe ll in the TCC RASeries. Team Gree n riders Brian Brow n, Shane Esposito and Mike Childress have not signed for 2004, but are said to be still in negotiations wit h the green team. Briefly··· One ice racing event expected to draw a crowd is the annua l Three-hour Endurance Ice Race to ben efit the Steel Shoe Fund. Schedu led for January 18 at Gimme r's Sunset Marina. on Lake Kos hkonong, so uth and west of Fort Atkinson, W iscons in, the event is e xpected to draw so me to p motorcycle racing talent, including multi-time ISDE gold med alwinning American Jeff Fredette, Peo ria TTwinning AMA nat- tracker I.R. Schnabel, and factory KTM Supermota racer Ben Carlson . Racing starts at noo n. For more inform ation, call 262/7S4-0686 . California Race Services ' John Grant was struck and kill d by a truck on Sunday, e Decembe r 14 , w hile cro ssing a street in O range Co unty, Californ ia. Grant, who was originally from Rome, Geo rgia, was livingin Aliso Viejo. Californ ia. He was 4S years old. Grant is survived by his wife, jen ny. Grant was part owner of Califo rn ia Race Services , the west coast race tire distributor for Pirelli. Kawasaki w illagain be offering a co mprehensive contingency program for 2004, whe re Kawasaki riders can be eligible to earn Kawasaki " Green Bucks" that are redeemable at Kawasaki dealerships. Expe rt and Pro racers can ea rn cash. Kawasaki is posting ove r $10 million dollars at over 800 events for 2002 . Deta ils on Kawasaki's Co ntingency progra m will be posted on their we b-site in mid-january at www.kawasaki.co m and brochures will also be available at local Kawasaki dealers abo ut the same time . For rules, regulations and quest ions, you can e-mail Kawasaki at teamgreen.con tingency@kmc-usa.com . Gary Semics, former Natio nal Supercross Champion and trainer of jer em y McGrath . Ezra Lusk and many ot her pros , willbe hold ing a spec ial motocross school at The Oak Hill Motocross facili ty in Turlock, California, on Wedn esday, February 4. The main focus of this school will be how to combat the dreaded arm pump. Sem ics will be joined w ith his franch ise instructor from Southern California , jeff Sanford , and re nowned arm -pump specialist Dr. Jondy Co he n. The class is limited to 40 ride rs w ith a cost of $1 75 per rider. For mor e informat ion, call 330/424 -929S or visit www.gsmxs.co m. In a U.S. Senat e hearing roo m on Wednesday, De cember 10, 200 3, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) attacked the Murko wski Motorcycle Safety Ame ndme nt to the highway spending bill - the Senat e measure backed by the MRFand State Motorcycl ists' Rights Organizations (SMRO s), according to the MSF. In t he meeting called and con ducted by a key Senate Committee staff me mber. t he MSF criticized every element of the amendment. MSF president Tim Buche criticized in particular the Ame ndment's language that he lps states deliver rider trai ning programs and provides an . ince nt ive to states to fund the m fully Calling the current system of SMRO-backed, stateadministered rider training "an economic model that is br oke n," Buche urge d the Senate not to invest in it. (He late r said better funding wou ld "lower wa iting lists.") Asked abo ut the effect iveness of train ing, Buche deva lued training by Citing a single st udy that attested to effec tiveness "on ly for the first six mon ths" following training. after w hich the cras h involvement of trained and unt rained riders is made more or less eq ual, he said , by "ex pe rience" and "luck." Pre -t-furkcws k! staffers were www.cyclenews.com stunned at such a sta te me nt fro m an amb assador of mo to rcycle safety. The Grand Prix of the City of Valencia has wo n the 20t h ed ition of the IRT "Best Grand A Prix Trop hy," according to a releas e issued by HRC . Valencia retai ned the high standards it had esta blished d uring its 2002 winn ing season t o sco re a repeat trophy success this time arou nd. The Ricardo Tor mo Circuit played host to the final race in the 16-round MotoGP World Cham pion ship of 2003. Valencia's success is the third co nsec utive win for a Spanish circuit . w ith Catalunya taking the award in 200 I. But , as IRTA president Sito Pons pointed out: "T he high sta ndard s set by many of the best Grand s Prix who have take n the prestigious tro phy in recent years calls for a superb effort by any circu it and race pro moter seeking the ultimate IR accolade ." The IRTA Tro phy TA is awar de d based upon a point -scoring syste m that covers every aspec t of the running of a Grand Prix. On ly two othe r Grands Prix have recorded back-to-back IRTA Tro phy successes in the 20-year history of the award - East ern C ree k (Austr alia) and Mugello (Ita ly). Longtime No Fear man Travis Pas trana has inked a dea l to wear Thor Raceway for the 2004-20 05 seasons. According to Parts Unlimited, "T he next time you see phenommotocrosser-turned-cross-segment media superstar Travis Pastrana on a moto rcycle or at the racetrack. he'll be wearing Thor Racewear." "We 're very pleased to have Travisflying o ur colors ." said Thor parent company Parts Unlimited CEO jeff Fox of the two-year exclusive agreement. "We 've always forged re lationships w ith the top talents in allsegments of the sport. from Kenny Roberts right through Jere my McGrath . We see Travis in that mo ld - both in terms of the extraordinary ab ility to go faster than huma nly possible in nearly any circumstance and in having a larger-than -life personality that makes him a cro wd favorite ." While recu perating fro m injuries, Pastrana w illsign autographs at the Thor team truck in con junction with Parts Unlimited hospitality funct ions during upcoming supercross eve nts . "Some have quest ioned whether Travis, with some injuries in the past season , can make a full return to racing," Fox added. "We think it's a little early to w rite off the enormous ta lents of a yo ung man who just turned 20 yea rs old. We 're excited to support Travis in almost any e ndeavor, no matter what crazy idea he gets next ." Erion Honda 's Jake Z emke was smack dab in the midd le of the eart hquake that shoo k Northern California on December 22, but nothing was bro ke n, and all ended up okay w ith both Zemke and his reside nce. Zemke lives in Paso Robles, California, the site of the most damage and two deaths, according to news re ports. The quake registered a pre liminary magnitude of 6.5 when it hit abou t I I: 15 a.m. on the 22nd . "I was just getting rea dy to go do some Christmas shopping and was get ting out of the shower, " Zemke said. " It lasted a long time , but all I had to do was go aro und and turn everything off. Th ere' s a lot of da mage downtown [Paso Ro bles] because there are a lot of old buildings down there fro m the 18005. Some of the m have been retrofitted , but not all of them . All t he new stuff is okay." Th e quake 's epice nte r was abo ut six mile s northeast of the town of San Sime o n, abou t 240 miles north of Los Angeles and 200 miles so uth of San Francisco. Paso Rob les is abo ut 30 miles from the e pice nte r. CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 14, 2004 eN 13

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