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/128314
Suzuki []wn§ Th e Racetrack Last season was exceptionally successful for the Suzuki Motor Corporation, especially in racing. Suzuki won a total of 3S titles in 2003 with models such as the GSX-R600 , G5XR750, GSX-RI000 , RM85, RMI25 and the RM250 providing the means. Suzuki invited all of its 2003 championship ride rs to Hamamatsu, Japan, on February 21 to be honored at an awards ceremony and dinner in their honor. Suzuki understands how important its many achievements on racetracks around the wo rld are to the company's brand image. Here is a list of Suzuki's major 2003 titles and the winning ride rs: AMA Superb ike Champion Mat Mladin; AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Be n Spies; AMASuperstock Champion Josh Hayes; AMA 125 East Supercross Champion Branden Jesseman ; WERA National Endurance Champions Tray Batey, Mark Junge and John Jacobi (pictured center row, sixth to eighth fro m left); N HRA Pro Stock Drag Race Champion Geno Scali (pictured center row, fourth from left); World Endura nce Champions Jason Pridm ore, James Ellison and Jimmy Lindstrom ; Europea n Superstock Champion Michel Fabrizio; British Superstock Champion Andy Tinsley (pictured back row, third from right); Isle Of Man Formula I and Senior TT winner Adrian Archibald (pictured front row, second from left); Isle Of Man 600 and 1000 TT production winne r Shaun Harris; Le Mans 24 Hours , Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours and Bol d'Or 24 Hours winners O livier Four, Vincent Philippe (pictured front row, first and second from right), Philippe Dobe and Brian Morrison (not pictured) ; Australian Superbike Champion Craig Coxhell;Australian Superst ock Cham pion Leigh McKenzie; German Superbike Cham pion Stefan Ne bel; German 450 Enduro Champion Thomas Ramsbacher (pictured back row, behind the towering John Jacobi); All Japan Roadrace Champ ion Keiichi Kitagawa (pictu red back row, third from left); All Japan IB 125 and IB250 Motocross Champion Hayato Ueda (pictured back row, second from left); AllJapan Motocross IA250 Champion Akira Narita ; All Japan Motocross Ladies 85 Champ ion Saya Suzuki (front row, center); Spanish Formula Extreme Champion Jose David De Gea; New Zealand Production Superbike Champ ion Andrew Stroud ; and New Zealand Sports Production Champion Craig Shirriffs. Also pictured is the 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz (front row, far left); executive vice preside nt , Suzuki Motor Corporation , S. Nakano (fro nt row, third from left); and president & COO, Suzuki Motor Corporation, H. Tsuda (front row, third from right). C\J (J) Q) 0) CO o, E e LL •• Smith Optics has announc ed that Travis Pastrana has joined its roster of top motocross athletes. The motocross! freestyle star has signed a two-year deal to represent Smith. Pastrana has made a name for himself in the sport, winning nume rous contests including taking the gold medal in freestyle MX three years in a row at the X Games, most recently at the 2003 competition. This year, Pastrana is staying busy compe ting in select AMA Supercross eve nts and will ride in this summer's X Games , Gravity Game s and the Vans Triple Crown . Rece ntly, Pastrana changed gears and equipme nt for his debut in the 2004 SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Sno'Drift Pro Rally event during the last weekend in January in Atlanta , Michigan. Pastrana drove a Subaru WRX rallycar, and on the second day of racing he finished seven of the 12 stages inside the top 10 stage times . "We are really excited to welcome Travis to the moto team ," said Mark Phares , Smith Optics' GM of Moto rsports. "This is definitely one of the biggest things that' s happened to the MX division at Smith, wh ich boasts an already winning lineu p including Sebast ien Tortell i, Mike Brown, the Alessi bro thers and Kenny Bartram . We see Travis as one of the pre-eminent athletes in the sport and are looking fo rwa rd to supporting him in his future endeavors." ~ ~ C -e To cast yo ur vote, log on to www.cyclenews.com. WEb INSiYE Cyclenews. com reader poll question of the week ~ T he World Supe rbike Cha m pio ns hip has been under the mic roscope a nd t he subject of much preseas o n sk e pticism , but when t he talk stopped and t he racing commenced, how do yo u t hin k the action was ? A. Excellent racing, it shou ld be an exciting season. B. Good, not great, but definitely worth watching . C. When does MotoGP start? On-line poll results from last week This year 's Grand National Cross Country Series is one of the most competitive eve r, and with the popu lar Palatka, Florida, ro und coming up, who do you think will win the title? Rodney Smith already won the first ro und in Texas. Rodney Smith 189 (15.27%) Barry Hawk Jr. 325 (26 .25%) Scott Summersl75 (14.14%) Mike Kiedrowski III (8.97%) Jason Raines 127 (10 .26%) Chuck Woodford 26 (2.10%) Steve Hatch 35 (2.83%) Fred Andrews 35 (2.83%) Shane Watts 126 (10.18%) Robbie Jenks 22 (1.78%) Randy Hawkins 2 I (1.70%) Brian Garrahan 21 (1.70%) Doug Blackwell 13 (1. 05%) Jimmy Jarrett 4 (0 .32%) Cole Calkins 8 0.65% Total Re lies: 1238 www.cyc lenews.com CYCLE NEWS • NlARCH 10,2004 97