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/128308
Briefly... Kawasaki Tries Infineon tors meets four times a year. The thr ee way is just 15 feet above sea leve l. Curb ing was also added in turns two, six, e ight and 10. "Turn I is definite ly the biggest improvem ent ," said Tommy Hayden in a release issued by the racetrack. "I was a little worried that with the new pavement the speeds would be up a lot, but they weren't. at least not today. This surface is way better tha n before." "It' s much safer going into turn one," said new individual director; w ill be seated at the Saturday, February 14, session of the schedule d board meeting, which will follow the election o f corpo rat e directors at the annual corporate me mber meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. Votes cast in this e lection were independently tabulated and the res ults ce rt ified by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, which also verified the ballots' eligibility, according to the AMA. The Trials Training Ce nte r in Sequatchie, Tennessee. has annou nced that Brent and Bruce leRiche, the two top rider; from South Africa, w ill contest the AMN NATC Trials National Championship in 2004. The tw o brothers will relocate to TIC in February to practice and help out with tr io Meiring. "You used to be als rid ing inst ru ction during their visit to worried going into turn America. The Le Riche brother; will com pete on Montesas as part of the TIC team . The AMN NATC National Champ ionship season kicks off with the ope ning two ro unds at TIC, April 3-4, follow ing the Trials Training Days rally the previous one, but that's not the case now. You can make a T sion on the redone Infineon Raceway in tion of the first day. On Thursday, the trio finally took to the track at I:30 p.m. At that po int, the riders had their first Sonoma, California, on January IS, and all look at the improvements to the track, three came including the addit ion of more than 120 feet of runoff in turn one and 80 feet of additional runoff in turn six (the Carou sel). In addition , the track has been comp lete ly repaved, and more than 3000 feet of French Edge he three mem ber; of Kawasaki's two o fficial race team s took part in a tes t ses- away imp ressed wi th the changes that have bee n made to the racetrack, formerly known as Sears Point . Kawasaki's Tommy Hayde n (pictu red) and Roger Hayden and Attac k Kawasaki's Tony Meiring were slated to take part in a two- day test, but rain forced the cancella- Tire Wars With Dunlop opting to close its AMA Superbike Series test sessions for the 2004 seasonto non-Dunlop riders, it started some- what of a furor to which it responded with a press release from Mike Buckley, vice presi- Drains were installed to keep water from draining under the trac k surface, as the race- mistake, but the turn is forgiving." Tommy Hayde n and Meiring also said the new, smooth surface will produce more passing lines. "You're going to be able to pass in a lot of places ," Meiring said. "This race in May is going to be a lot mo re fun for both the ride r; and the fans. Ther e 's going to be a lot of passing and a lot of close racing." Kawasaki is scheduled to return to Infineon, along wit h the factory Yamaha team, for two days, starting on March 15. "This hard-earned data nee ds to be closely guarded - as is true of pro prietary inforrnatio n gathered through top- level research in any other field or setting. As other tire man- ber of Dunlop personnel from our international MotoGP and World Superbike staff services and programs it offers to the riding attending American race events this year. In out the co untry can attest to how invalu- ufacturers begin to renew their race support addition, teams and riders who have selected Dunlop for the 2004 season will have access to an unprecede nted variety of tires utiliz ing season, we welcome the challenge; rigorou s our latest deve lopment technology. "We loo k forward to the new season, and competition on ly makes for better racing. "In a re lease dated Dece mber 9, 2003, Dunlop clearly sta ted that the company 'has inte nsified its tire development program in the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship and Dunlop-sponso red tests in the com ing 2004 seaso n.' "Having e stabiished an effective R& D/tes t· the early 1990s, Dunlop stayed the course ing system for the many teams we sponsor, we will continue to imp lement and expan d and continued to deve lop new technology upon our program in order to give every and supply state-of-the-art tires to road rae- advantage possible to the teams who have ers in all classes and venues in the U .S. In chosen to race on D unlop tires . doing so , Dunlop cultivated stro ng and posi- "As part of the first steps to expand this tive worki ng re lationships with virtua lly every top-tier race team in America , and to this day D unlop continues to strive to provide every pro gram and in orde r to safeguard this new scenes testing dur ing th e off-season and be tween race s. D ur ing these testing sessions, all teams en joy a free exchange of information with Dunlop tire engineers. and this open and cooperative environ ment has proven most valuable, yielding new tire data that is then updated information on the organization's activities as well as details on the m any "In kee ping with this direc tion, fans of U.S. racing will see a marked increase in the num - efforts once again in the U.S. du ring the 2004 advantage possible to these teams. "To a large degree, the success enjoyed by Dunlop and the many teams sponsored by Dunlop has been the resu lt of an incredib le amoun t of hard work , including behind-the- O HV enthus iasts, activists and industry folk can now subscribe to the free wee kly e· news letter from the National Off· Hig hway Vehicle Conservation Council (NO HVCC). NO HVCC News feature s incorporated into next-generation tires for Hot on the he els of that release came one from Miche lin, stat ing that its tests would be open to anyone. In othe r words, the tire war in AMASuperbike racing has officially begun and a wheel has yet to be turned in anger. First, the Dunlop release: "Fo r many years , Dunlop has maintained an unequa led States. W hen other tire ma nufacturers chose to abando n the Ame rican r oad racing scene in The FIM has announced that the World Individual Trials Championship round in Aprica, Italy, w ill take place July 3-4, not July 10- 1I as erro neously released last week. th e race t rack , and street applications as wel l. dent o f the co mpany 's m ot orcycle division. commitment to road racing in the U nited weekend. For more information , visit .trialstrainingcen ter.com . .WWW tech nology, Dunlop has taken a lead roie in select off-season and pre- race testing programs. Drawing on accepted practice in European. MotoGP and World Superbike raci ng, this lead ro le will see some tests res tr icted to teams supported by Dunlop . These dedicate d tests will acce lerate ou r abil- w e con tinue to pledge our support to the many race teams who have chosen to partn er with Dunlop Motorcycle Tires." And now the word from Michelin... " M iche lin and it s partn er teams, D ucati Austin and Valvoline EMGO Suzuki, will undertake a co mprehensive testing schedu le prior to and during the 2004 AMA road raeing season, com prising at least 18 days at most of the venues on the AMA schedule . Additional test dates may be added later. "In the spirit of competition, these tests will be ope n to all facto ry-supported AMA Supe rbike , Supe rsport , Supe rstock and ma intenance, and profiles of successful OH V activists. There is also some fun stuff to peruse suc h as the weekly off-road trivia question . M o st of the content in the NO HVCC News can be repri nted in O HV club and association newsletters if desired . To get on its e- mail list, simply e-mail your request to l ynn@ no hvcc.org or call 800/348-6487 . You can also get the detai ls on its services by logging on to www.nohvcc.org. Clear C hannel Entert ainme nt's M otor For mu la X tr em e series are welcome to par ticipate at no cost, as are ride rs wh o have next-generation agement issues. trail construction and Sports division held the first of four privateer test days at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Califomia, for THQ World Supe rcross GPfTHQ AMA Supercross Ser ies. "This really helps the privateers ," said Ryan Clark, national number 43. ':An signed up for the 2004 Team Hammer Tale nt Search ." de live r add itio n, there are arti cles on the opening of new ride areas, OHV legislat ion issues, safety and training programs, youth rider issues, NOHVCC workshops, land man- Formula X tre m e team s, and all tire man ufac- im prove me nts to racers and stree t consumers alike. In no way do these steps preclude ot he r manufacturers from securing their own dates at A MA venues to do their own deve lop ment work. to able NO HVCC has been to them over the past decade by helping them get organized and worki ng to keep our trails open. In tur ers . on a shared-cost basis. Additionally, privateer Michelin racer; who ho ld AMA Pro licenses and w ho will contest the 2004 AMA Supe rbike , Supersport, Superstock or pr o duct ity public. Hundred s of OH V act ivists through- For more information on the Michelin tests, co ntact Jim Rhodes at 864/4S8-5684 or via e-mail at jim .rhodes@u s.michelin .com . www.cyclenews.com e xtra day of practice on an official super - cross track helps us adapt to the tracks on the circuit." Each privateer test day will be held on the Thursday prior to the race at 2 p.m. and is available to any AMA pro - CYC LE N EWS • JANUARY 28, 2004 9