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/128307
Briefly... Honda And Co. Test At Laguna A Ithough poor weather hampered a por/"\tion of the three-day test at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, last week, it did little to dampen the enthusiasm of American Honda's Ben Bostrom , the Californian still smiling ear to ear when he talks about the CBRIOOORR Superbike . "This thing is amazing," Bostrom said by cell phone as he was leaving the trac k after a mostly unprod uctive first day. "It' s so exciting to ride. I wish everybody could take 10 laps on the thing." Bostrom had ridden the new four-cylinder at Daytona , a track w ith its own characteristics. On the twisty, up-and-down LagunaSeca course, he had the full measure membership is required. For more information, or to register, contact Sharon T itus at 614/856-1900, ext. 1252 or bye-mail at st itus@ama-cycle.org. Accord ing to event promoters, seven-t ime World Champion Stefan Everts will com pete in the International Motocross of Mantova, February 14-15. Everts will ride his Yamaha yz450 in the Italian classic. Th roughout 2004 , California-based Vre eke & Associates will serve as the officialmedia relat ions agency for the Motorcycle Sports Department of American Honda Motor Co., Inc, according to a release issued by Honda . Vreeke & Associates is a full-service public relations and advertising agency spe- of the machine. "Now you can actually tell how good the bike really is," Bostrom said. "At Daytona , it's kind of hard to te ll beca use the RC-51 was great there. The bike is really showing itself. This thing is so fun to ride. I look forwar d to getting on the bike." While he neve r got along with t he RC-5I, which de manded a certain riding style, the former dirt tracker has instantly acclimate d to the new 1000. "Y can run th is thing on the fro nt tire and pick up the throttle ou wherever you want . It'll rear steer and go," he said. American Hon da tested along with Kawasaki and Attack Kawasaki. The three Honda riders, Bostrom, Miguel Duhamel and Erion Honda 's jake Zemke shared two of the new CBRIOOORRs. Duhamel only got out for a few laps on the first day, with Zemke having his own bike. With day two pretty much a washout, Bostro m shared his 1000 with Duhamel on day three while also taking some 20 laps on Duhamel 's For mula Extreme-spec CBR600RR. "We're going th roug h musical chairs o n t he bikes," Bostro m said . AHRMA Opens Its Arms To 250s Kicked into the gutter by the AMA, 250cc G rand Prix motorcycles are being welcomed with open arms by AHRMAto compete in its Battle of Twins Two-Stroke class at Daytona Intemational Speedway, March 1-2, AHRMA w ill run a complete round of its pro gram bot h days at Daytona , giving riders two chances to compete . In addition to the Daytona event, a warm -up round will take place on Febru ary 26 at jennings GP in jennings, Florida, The track will offer open practice for AHRMA and WERA Vintage competito rs on February 24 and 25, Pre - entries are due for Daytona and jen nings by january 3 I, but postentry will be accepted. For more information, www.ahrma .org or call 6 15/851-367 4. visit cializing in the motorsports industry, and it has served as American Honda's Moto rcycle Division public relations agency since 1999. Afte r the comp letion of the test, Bostrom was still enthusing : "The third day was beautiful," he said. "That bike is just so good, I did a 26 flat , and that was with not very much tra ck time because I shared the bike w ith Miguel [Duhamel]. All of us like the bike . It turns unreal. Ou r biggest prob lem is just trying to kee p the front end down. Honda really did the ir homework with this one . 1rea llythink everyone is in trouble. I think it's got to be one ofthe best bikes out there ... "It's SO exciting to ride. I wish everybody could take 10 laps on the thing." Ben Bostrom Dade City Triples North Carolina's Ian Trettel , New je rsey 's jaso n Lawr ence, Michigan's Nico lui and Florida's own Earl May wer e some of the big winne rs at the third ro und of the Florida Winte r Am MX Series at Marion Cou nty MX in Reddick. january 10-1 I. Keith Johnson and Shaun Skinne r also fared we ll by splitting wins in the highly competit ive Pro divisions. Trettl e. Lawre nce and lui came aw ay wi th three victories each. Trettle topped the 65cc Op en , 65cc (10- 11) and B5cc (7- 11) classes, lui won the 85cc jr. Mini (9- 13), Super mini (12- 15) and B5cc ( 12- 13) classes, w hile Lawr ence topped the I25cc Open, 125cc B and 16-24 classes . May also rode off with three wins in the 25-, 30- and 40-Plus classes. Jeff Laymo n ~~i~~~~~~ M"!?rCY~~I~,~r~~~r ~t~~n~?v.~ "Th is expa nsion into motorcycle sports media relations reflects American Honda's deep com mitmen t to the continued growth and mainstrea m promotio n of professional mo to rcycle racing in the U.S.," said Vreeke & Associates president, Ken Vreeke. The dP Safe ty School has annou nced its 2004 dates . Back for a 15th year of offering on-tracki ng training for riders of allskills, the dp sessions are as follow s: Laguna Seca - March 22, AprilS , May 27 , jun e 10, November 3; Infineon (Sears Point) - April 19, August 9; Thunde rh ill - Apr il 13, Septe mb er 2 1; Buttonwillow - july 5, November I . For more information, visit www.dpsafetyschoo l.com. Mot ocross pract ice resumed at Ca rlsbad Race way in Ca rlsbad , California, on Satu rd ay, janu ary 10, and the pract ice sched ule will con tinue on throug h the month . Sessions will be held on Wed nesday, january 21 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (uppe r track); and Saturda y, january 31 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lower track). Former flat track er and road racer William New b ury , 86 , died on December 18. Newbury began his caree r as a flat tracker in the 1930s and continued as a co-driver for the likes of Malcolm Smith in Africa and Baja. Co lorado 500 parti cipants may r emem ber him as a chase dr iver in 1989. Newbury is also the grandfat her to Buddy Feldkamp and fathe r-in-law to Bud Feld kamp , owner of Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino , California . A new vet club, Ve t X Racing, has bee n cre ated by Craig Davis. Vet X Racing is geared towa rd riders of all leve ls, 28 years and older, and it also offe rs support classes for all levels as we ll as kids from Beginne r to Motocross Classic, has Interme diate. accor ding to D avis. For mo re signed on as tit le sponso r fo r Steve Lamso n Racing. Lam son will be riding the Hangtow nm x.co m info rmat ion , call 949/400- 1089 o r visit Ho nda CRF250F in the 125 East AHA Supercross Se ries and the 125 AMNNPG O utdoo r www.vetxracing .com . National Mo tocross Series using the numb er six. No event promot er has ever been th e title sponsor o f a factory-level racing team. accor ding to the D irt D iggers. an organization consisting of 35 voluntee r members that has been pro- The Desert Vipers will be holding the 24th a nnual Ad elanto Grand P rix on Saturday and Sunday, February 2B-29. With the race mo ting the Hangtow n Motoc ross Classic for ove r 35 years . This year's Hangto wn Motocross Classic is the opening roun d of the AMNChevy Trucks Motocros s Cha mpionships and will be held May 14-16. growi ng in bot h race entries and spectators Two-time 125c( National MX Champion Lamson is from Sacramento and considers Hangtown his home eve nt. to increase the number of volunteers helping with the event . T hese include flagmen. www.cyclenews.com thro ughout the years, the Vipers would like CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 21 , 2004 9