Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ducati Back To World Supersport F or the first time since 2000, Ducati will take part in the World Supersport Champ ionshiop with the official Ducati Breil team 's H9R being ridden by Lorenzo Lanzi. The team was introd uced th is week in Valencia. Spain . in conjunction with a press launch of the H9R streetbike with the racing ve rsion of the H9R, which was unveiled in its black livery, sporting the logo of new title spons or Italian watch manufactu rer Breil, which will back the team this season. The last time Ducati Corse officially took part in World Supersport was in 2000, when Paolo Casoli and Ruben Xaus won three races with the 148. Ducati also won the Riders' and Manufacturers' titles in 1997 with Casoli and the 748, when Supers port moved to a world level for the first time . "The 2004 season will be a testing year for us, and we chose to have just one rider for the development of the H9R," said Ducati Corse managing director Claud io Domenicali in a team release. "We are entering the championship for the first time in three years , with a completely new bike, and will make eve ry effort to make the H9R competi tive . We t ried to include into th e production bike all the features that we thoug ht it would need directly for racing, and most probably the 749R is the most advanced twin-cylinder bike ever built in the company. Development work has also been carr ied out with Ducati 's long-standing tech nical partner Shell Advance to improve the performance of the bike. "Racing is in our DNA, and the H9R is in our sportsbike product range , so in a way it was a natural decis ion for us to go Supersport racing," added Domenicali. "O ur fans were waiting for us to race the H9R, so her e we are, and we will try to do the best possible this year and develop the bike further with the aim of running a two-rider team in 2005." The 22-year-old Lanzi was chosen to ride the bike, the young Italian stepping up from European Superstock, where he finished second last year. " In our op inion Lorenzo has great poten- tial," said team director Paolo Ciabatti. "last year he did extremely well on the Ducati 999S Superstock, and we should consider that it was his first time on a four-stroke machine . We know that the Supersport Championship has a very competitive field of riders and bikes, but we are sure that our package is good and that the results will come soon . We will also enter Supersport veteran and current Ducati Desmosedici test ride r Vittoriano Guareschi in selected events : at the moment Menu and Ima la are confirmed." MotoGP Entry List 2004 Xaus Okay The FIM has released the latest list of participants for the 2004 MotoGP Championship, which gets unde r way on April IB, at Welkom, South Africa. The WC M team has yet to confirm their riders (o r the new seas on . Spanish road racer Ruben Xaus gave everyone a scare at the PhillipIsland, Australia, Moto GP tests last week when he cras hed at high speed in the Siberia section of the racetrack. The d'Antin Ducati rider was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where he was ke pt for two days before being released without injury. #3 Max Biaggi, lil'/y Hond!!,Camel Honda Team , #4 Alexandre Barros, Brazil, Honda, Repsol Honda "I tried to brake, but 1 couldn't avoid crashing into the tire wall." #6 Makoto Tamada, Japan, Honda, Camel Honda T eam #7 CarlosCheca, SPA, Yamaha Gauloees, Fortuna Yamaha #9 NobualSU Aoki, Ja~, Proton KB, Proton Team KR # I0 Kenny Roberts, USA, Suzuki, Team Suzuki MotoGP # I I RUben )G;us, Spain, Oucati, O'Antin MotoGP # 12 TroyBayliss, Australia, Oucati, Oucati Marlboro Team # I5 Sere Gibemau, ~n, Honda, Telefonica Movistar Honda MotoGP - Ruben Xaus To be confirmed, Harris WCM, WCM Just "Friends" You can loo k for former World Superbike Champ ion and curre nt MotoGP star Colin Edward s and seven- time AMA Supe rcross Champion Jer emy McGrath on the Th ursday, Febru ary 26, airing of the te levision sho w "Friends." In the e piso de, "Rachel Ge ts Jobbed Wh ile Phoebe Gets New 1.0 .," the two multitime champ ions and their wives appear in the background of a scene shot in Central Perk, the coffee shop where the "Frie nds" crew hangs out. "We're in there (or one sce ne with Phoebe [Usa Kudrow) and her hus band ," Edwards said of the episode in wh ich Dakota Fanning guest stars. "They're talking, and we 're behind them." T he two racers and their wives , Alyssia and Klm, appear to be ta lking, but Edwa rds said they were mer ely pretending to talk. Th e app ear anc e came abo ut thr o ugh Edward s and McGra th's friendship w ith Matt LeBlanc, an avid mot orcyclist . Le Blanc rece ntly shot a four-part series o n racing called the "S Coolest Things," concen trating on various motorcycle disciplines. For the supercro ss segme nt, he inte rviewed and rode with McGrath. Edwards shot the cameo during a trip to Los Angeles late in the fall. The trip also included a canyon ride with LeBlanc and his riding budd ies . "One other thing to look for: Edwards advised, "in Joey' s [Matt leBlanc] apartment, he's got a billboard with 4S and 2 on it; mine and Jeremy's numbers ." Colin Edwards will appear on this week's airing of "Friends." 10 MARCH 3, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary Henny Ray Abrams "I was trying a rear tire which I didn't like too much, and I strayed onto the white line ," Xaus explained in a tea m press release. "O n oth er tracks, I could probably have avoided the crash, but there's more grass her e on the run-offs, and so you shoot off. I tried to brake , but I couldn't avoid crashing into the tire wa ll. And although the bike is basically okay, I took a big hit. My right shoulde r hurts a lot, but I'm fine in general although a little bem used beca use I was going well up to that point. lap times were co ming easily, and this means I have to e nd th e te sting session and stay inactive (or the next few days." According to his te am , Xau s was released from the hospital on Feb ruary 20 and promptly flew home to Barce lona, Spain. The team will te st again next month in Catalunya, Spain.

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