Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Glen Helen Promotes The Prequel A fter eight years of hosting the openi ng /'"\round of the AMA C hevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship Series , Glen Helen Raceway will instead host the season finale on September 12. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Southern California motocross fans will have to wait until the end of summer to see the big factory guns racing at Glen Helen , In keeping with the tradition of its Mother's Day National, Glen Helen Raceway has organized The Prequel , May 8-9, a fre sh race event that will serve as a huge advantage for the factory teams and riders looking for some last-minute testing before the Nat ional series kicks off. The Prequel will also be an opportunity for the riders and teams to get acclimated to the newly redesigned Glen Helen circuit . The layout for the The Prequel will be exactly the same for the AMA National in September. The Prequel will also mark the first opportunity for many riders to evaluate themselves and their machines if they have been away from the racing scene due to injury. . Glen Helen Raceway Raga Takes Ove r Gas Gas' Adam Raga was perfect at the Grand Prix of Portugal, April 17-18, round two of the World Championship TrialsSeries, winning on both days to take over as the championship points leader. On Saturday, Raga scored a 19 to top Marc Freixa's 23 and the 25 of defending World Champion Oougie Lampkin . On Sunday, Raga was back at it, scoring a 23 to top the 24 of Takahisa Fujinamiand Lampkin's 25, Freixa dropped to fifth on day two. After an absence of two years , World tri- hazards on the course, sections four and ted a series of minor mistakes during the later part of the lap. The scores after the first 15 sections read , Raga on 12, Lampkin and surprisingly Jeroni Fajardo (Gas Gas) on 15. w Fre ixa could not repeat his previous day's Z performance, leaving him in fifth place behind ~; ; Cabestany at this point . _ With the rain now having halted, and a o strong wind blowing across the hills, the sec~ donswere fastdryingas the riders arrived for ::; their final visit of the weekend. The better ~ cond itions promised to create lo w er scores, § and the leading riders' closing performances als returned to Portugal and to a new venue it proved this to be correct. Lampkin started roughly 90 miles southeast of the city of Porto . On day one , Raga held his nerve and rounded out what was a near-perfect lap to take a well-deserved victory, and thus allowing Freixa to record his best result of the series to date by taking the runner-up spot. Lampkin was third, with Albert Cabestany managing to secure fourth place. Fujinami, meanwhile, scored hisw orst result of his current cam paign by dropping to fifth place come the close of play . Raga was obviously delighted at taking his first victory of the season . '1\fter a poor showing in Ireland, I knew I had to come here and gain good results if I am to seriously challenge for the title," Ragasaid. the lap well once again, but for the second day running he sealed his own fate by taking five marks at section six, w hich was now his least favorite hazard on the course. Thankfully for Raga, when he made his mistake in section 10, which ended in the same maximum penalty, he had already created a large enough advantage that this error would not prevent him from winning for the "The conditions here in Portugal were more to my liking, and certainly during the second lap I have been riding somewhe re nea r my best , so the victory is a great reward for both me and the team. My wish now is to co ntinue the same form to morrow, so hopefully I can make it a dou ble victory." Heavy rain played havoc with the organ izers ' plans on Sunday morn ing as they had to hastity reverse the ir overnight modifications to four hazards , as the rain itself had now added the extra severity they were looking for. After much work and with the rain still falling and dense mist covering the highest Motor Corp. and Parts Unlimited , and the riders will share in a hefty $20,000 purse. All top AlMA Pros have already received their written invitations and are in the process of confirming. The professional portion of The Prequel weekend will take place on Saturday, May8, with a similar format to the AHA 12S/2S0 MX Nationals. The day will consist of two 30-minutes-plus-two-laps motos for each of the professional classes. The first race is schedule to start at I I a.m.. with the 125cc AlMA Pro event followed by the 2S0cc AMA Pro race . The Women's Motocross League will also be featured as they start their 2004 season . There will be amateur and pro practice on Thursday, May 6, and a Chaparral private party on May 7. A full amateur program will be held Sunday, May 9, and camp ing is available during the entire period. For more information. visit www.gten- helen .com or call the 24-hour information line at 909/880 -3090 . catch then over take Lampkin, who commit- seven were eased to allow for the difficult conditions. Lampkin made the most of the English-like weather and earned himself an early lead by The Primm MX Collectio n as the presenting sponsor, with co-hosts Yamaha Adam Raga was perfect in the Grand Prix of Partugal round of the Warld Trials Championship. recording just a dab in section three, a feat only matched by Fujinami, and then by being the only rider to escape section four for less than a five. However as the first lap develope d, it was Raga who was emerging as the rider who was becoming stronger section by sectio n, his improving form helping first to 8 APRil 28, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS Controversy? What Controversy? The World Superbike Series press department issued the following release last week regarding a rumor that had started regarding the ser ies' paying off team s ( 0 prevent negative criticism of the series and its spec-tire ru le. The release is as follow s: '1\ UK-based motorcycle magazine rece ntly published an ar ticle re fer ring to 'strong rumors' that a 'bond' has bee n paid by teams to the organ izers [World Superbike] to prevent negativecriticism of tire performance in the Superbike World Championship from reaching the press. We w ish to make it absolutely clear that this insinuation is completely second time in two days. Fujinami posted the best lap of the day, and although it was not low enough to depose Raga, it was low enough to push Lampkin into third place again. Although Freixa did recover to produce a good second-lap score, it was a case of too little too late as Cabestany remained ahead of him to take fourth place, leaving Freixa back in fifth. "I came here to get two good results and to close the gap on the other leading riders , but to win both days and w ith it take the lead in the cham pionship is more than I cou ld have ever hope d for," Raga said. "The sections suited my style, and I have taken full advantage of this and have immediately canceled out the bad results from the last round, This false. No bond o r anyth ing similar exists . The bene fits that the single-sup- now puts me in a great position to challenge as the solution to w hat is arguably the most significant problem currently fac- for the title ." After two rounds, Raga leads the title chase with 68 po ints , one better tha n Lampkin. Fujinami is third with 61 points . 40th Anniversa ry plier tire situation have brought mean that there are no reasonswhatever why any pressure on participants would be considered. These benefits include: equal conditions for everybody, lowe r costs and improved safety levels. It is very interesting also to note that a leading Formula I team manager declared recently: 'In order to limit the costs of the tests... the only solution is to have an exclusive tire provider.' Several journalists have also w ritten about the possibility of having a mono-tire regulation in MotoGp, World Rally and Formula I ing these championships ."

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