Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Everts Takes Stareross the ten nis ma tch , having bea te n tw o former Wo rld 12Scc Moto cross C ham pions on his wa y to t he final. In his quarte r-final Eve rts beat 2003 cham pion Steve Ramo n the n knocked orr threet ime World 12Scc Ch a m pio n Alessio Chiodi in the semifinal. Eve rts clinched t he victory with 1-8-2 resul ts , with L&M Yamaha teammate Cedric Melott e finishing a close sec ond w ith 2-9-1 re sults. Th ird place w ent to for mer Wo rld 500cc Motocross Champion Joel Smets suffered a chest and knee Andr ea Bartolini , w ho ca ptured injury in the Starcross event. the attent ion of th e local crowd by finishing third in the first mo to. He t seems Stefan Eve rts is a year o lder and then won t he second mo to before blowing very much a yea r wi se r. The seven-time any chance o f vict o ry with a disap po inting Wo rld Motocross C hamp io n won the 17th in t he final mo to of the day. o pe ning race o f the 2004 European Five -ti me Worl d 500cc Motocross Motocro ss seas on w he n he to ok victory at C hampion Joel Smets en de d the day in the the Sta rcr oss, held at the MantoYacircuit in hospital w ith a mino r chest injury afte r the North of Italy, For Everts it wa s a su rcrashing in his tenn is match heat . The new prising victory, as the Belgian legend had Suzuki factory rider had looked brilliant neve r befo re begu n a season w ith a w in and pr ior to his accide nt, w inning his Saturday is ge nerally known fo r his early season lack q ualification heat and clocking the quickest of fo rm . The Grand Prix hero has en tered t ime of the Sund ay morning pract ice . the 2004 season with a new ap proach. Altho ugh the blow to the chest was " I can't remem ber the last time I won a Srnets ' biggest worry initially, it now looks season-opening race ," Eve rts said. '" feel like he also has a problem wit h his knee . so good. Since win ning my se ve nth Worl d Belgian television ran a sto ry that Smets t itle, I just wan t to ride w ithout the pressuffered the knee injury and may need su rsure. I wan t to e njoy the racing in my last gery. seasons. Today' ro de so sm oo th, and I just "I tast ed blood," Sme ts said. "I th ought d idn't w o rry about anything, an d t hat is the it was an internal injury and was very W O f wa y I am going to go into th e Grand Prix ried . How eve r, afte r being checked o ut by season. I wa nt to e njoy my ra cing." t he doctor, not hing was fou nd . I do , howEve rts also won a series of races called ever, have an injury to my knee and will the "ten nis matc h," which saw 16 seeded have to get it checked . I hope to be back riders race in two -ma n heats unti l o nly two for the o pen ing round in Zolder in a rid e rs re mai ned . Eve rts led hom e month's time. " Denmark's Brian Jorge nsen in the final of Geoff Meyer I Nixon vs. Springer Racing greats Gary Nixon (9) and Jay Spr ingsteen (9S) w ill re prise th eir Battle of Legends match du ring A1HRMA ac tion March 1-2 at Dayton a Intern at ional Spe edway. Last year's showdown between the two was dampen ed by the ra in, with Springsteen running away w ith the w in w hile N ixon had machine problems. Reti re d nationa l champs don't like to lose, even at vintage racing, so 1967 Daytona 200 w inne r Nixon can be expected to co me out with all four cylinde rs howling to ave nge his th ird- place finish beh ind Springsteen and Triumph-mou nted Geir Jacobse n of Norway. T he past champio ns will face orr in a Battle of Lege nds race in the Fo rmula 750 class both days , w hile N ixon also is entered to compe te in the Formu la Vintage class o n the fast M3 Ho nda. T he 63 -ye a r-old Ni xon won back- to- back AMA Gran d N at io nal C ham pionship s in 1967 and '68 on Trium phs . He began his professiona l racing career in 1958 and ov er the nex t 22 seasons logg ed 19 AMA Nat ional wins in ove r 150 finishes. He was inducted into t he Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in 1998 a nd lives in Maryland . The 46-year-old "Spri nger" is a th ree-time AMA Grand Nat ional C hampion ( 19 76 , '77 and '78 ) w ith over 40 nation al dirt t rack wi ns to his credit. His pro career began in 1975, and after app rox imat ely 400 races he isn't don e ye t, as his 10th-place finish in the 2003 AMA nationa l series te st ifies . Th e popular Michigan racer also has found success on pave me nt , most notably in the early '80s on Ha rley-D avidso n's " Lucife r's Hamm e r " Battle of the Twins race r, as well as a fift h in the 1986 Daytona 200 o n a Yamaha. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003 . porate directors are elected by the corporate membersh ip a nd serve two -year terms. The AMA board of directors meets four t imes a year. The Tony D, Motocross School will begin its 23rd year of operation with schools in Texas, Arizona and California in 2004. For information and all the 2004 da tes , call 4 10/635 -69 16 or visit www.to nydmxschool.com. Croft w ill host a round of t he British Superbike C hampionship in 2004 after successful negotiations between the racetracks. The C roft round will mark the first time the series has visited the North of England. "Wh en first contacted by Croft, we were re luctant to give up our BSB meeting th is July," said CEO of Rockingham Motor Speedway Ashley Pove r. "How eve r, I had a meeting with C roft director Trevor ChaytorNorris, and we have agreed that, for on e year only, the Rockingham BSB round would mov e to Croft. BSBwill be back at Rockingham in 2005 . We are loo king at giving this meeting a 'Days of Thunder' makeover w ith more o rr-track en tertainment and a live band that wi ll appea l to a w ider bike audien ce. Th is agreement is a comme rcial deal for Rockingha m in what is proving to be an e xtremely busy year fo r us." Chaytor-Norris said: "C roft is del ighted to have done a deal w ith Rockingham w hich e nables a round of the most prestigious national motorcycle championship to come to the North of England for 2004. Th is deal will be a boost for the championship w ith a ne w ve nue o n the calendar and offer live racing to a region starved of top-quality motorcycle sport. A round of BSBw illcomplement the other major motorsport championships he ld at Croft, including the British Touring Car Championship and the British Formula Three Championship. Croft has a long trad ition of motorcycle racing and very much looks fo rw ard to welcoming the teams, competitors and spectators for what will be a fabulous weekend of mo to rcycle actio n." Afte r lo ng delays and construction setbacks in building a flat-track race arena, So, California Flat Track Association has announced the opening of a one-quarter mile flat track at Perris Raceway in Pe rris, Californ ia. Race promo ter Bruce Sanford plans to run eight race programs under a So. Calif. Flattrack Champi onship Series . Each event will cons ist of 17 dirrerent classes of modern and vintage classes . The first race is scheduled for Sunday, March 14. Acco rding to Sanford , Perris will be the home tra ck for the SCFTA. The track is located on the old motocross track facility. It is also open for practice every Saturday, according to Sanford . Vmoto has announced that it w ill hold a pre seaso n te ch and tune d ay on Sunday, March 21 , at Mazda Lag u na Seca Raceway. An open practice sess ion will be available for all Vmo to Class 3 and 4 rac e bikes . The Vmoto tech team w ill be available Sunday morning from 8 to I I a.m. fo r complete tech inspectio n, and t he track w ill be open to motorcycles for a practice ses sion starting at noon. Although this practice session will www.cyclenews.com not be sound-restricted, you are encouraged to test with mufflers . The sound meter will be set up fo r your information only. The entry fee fo r this event is $75 wit h your paid 2004 Vmoto membership. Scan d inavian Brake Systems (SBS) is posting over $ 180,000 in prize certificates fo r ride rs who use SBS products and displa y SBS st ickers in upco ming WERA, CCS and FUSA mo torcycle racing se ries-sanctioned races . With t he 5BS Road Racing Contingency Program for aut ho rized e ve nts, top finishers will be able to redeem awarded certificates at any Parts Unlimited dealer. Four-time Daytona 200 wi nner Mig uel Duhame l has signed up w ith the C armichael Training Systems, a leader in remote-based endurance coaching, where he will work one-on-one w ith CTS coach Dean Golich . "Yo u need mo re than just the ability to go fast on a motorcycle to beat the other guys I think a desire to win is what motivates me the most," the 36-year-old Duhamel said in a re lease issued by CTS. Golich, meanwhile, w as impressed by Duhamel's desire to con tinually imp rove . "He re you have one of the be st technical riders in the world," said Gol ich, "and yet he 's still striving to im prove; so if we can increas e his aerobic conditio ning and get his phys ical abilities ho ned to optimal performance, he 'll continue to stay atop the AMA Superbike rank ings." California State Parks and the Off-H ighway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission will hold a public meeting in Sacramento on February 21 to gain input to help outline and recommend priorities for the future of Californ ia's orr-highway recreation program. The meeting will also include information regarding the grant process and discuss trends likely to affect off-highway programs in the future . The meeting will be held fro m 9;30 a.rn. until 5 p.m . o n Saturday, February 2 1, at the Clarion Hotel, 700 16th Street, Sacramento. Through its Stakeholders Roundtable and other forums, Californ ia State Parks and its Orr-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division have demonstrated that many pos itive accomplishments can be achieved through meaningful and open dialogue. To ensure an adequate num ber of handouts are available, any person interested in attending is asked to RSVP to Laurie Taylor at 916 /324-580 I o r by e mail at ltayl@ parks .ca .gov. Yoshimura Suzu ki's Ben Spies is almost fully recove red from the ho rrific injuries suffered when his rear tir e blew out at 186 mph at Daytona Inte rn atio nal Speedway last October. The spill and slide severely abraded his elbow, shoulder and buttocks. After a few days in the hospital, Spies drove home to Texas where he underwent more surgery and extensive rehab. "My arm's completely fine now ," he said. "I have all the st re ngt h bac k in it. My bac k's fine. My butt, sometim es it might get a little bit raw, and when I slide around o n the sea t, I have to pick up my butt and move it over rather than slide it over. It's not hurting my lap time at all. We should be fine going toward Daytona." CY CLE NEWS . FEBRUARY 25. 2004 15

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