Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

u.s. Grand M azda Raceway Laguna Seca could be the site of the 2005 U.S. Gp, if the numbers add up. That's the assessment of Gill Campbell, SCRAMP general manager, who said that MotoGP was one option she was researching as a way of maximizing the track's available dates. "The situation really is we are taking a look to see what it's really, honestly going to take to be able to facilitate a MotoGp,oo she said in a phone interview from Monterey on Monday, April 26 . The World Superbike contract is up this year, but the MotoGP interest is separate from that. "We would be doing that under nonnaJ circumstances," Cambell said. "We 're always looking at what options are out there." In order to host a MotoGP race, the 2.2mile road circuit would have to be improved, but it has to be improved for World Superbike, as well. "We knew, too, that for homologation for World Superbike, if that were to continue, that the track would need to make some adjustments," she said . "It's pretty much an annual deal in order to get the homologation. When we talked to [FIM safety inspector) Claude Danis about a year or so ago , he said no matter which series which runs here, here are some of the things you probably need to do. This is somewhat run of the mill for us to taking a look at doing that. However, for the Prix: Update It's going to be safe, too. It's better than slowing it down." But it will cost. "It's not cheap, and SCRAMP is a nonprofit organization," Campbell said. "We don't have the money to go out there and put $2 million into the track. We're looking at how viable is It going to be . How much support can we think we're going to get from manufacturers or sponsors or even fans? We're trying to work our way through that right now." Just the operations costs of a MotoGP weekend - haybales , personnel, air fence , temporary buildings, porta-sans, etc. would run about $3 m illion. And then - Wayne Rainey there 's the mult imillion-dollar Dorna sanction fee . Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said he would reduce the cost for whoever hosts the U.S. GP. Right now World Superbike is promoted and organized by RPM, an outside promoter, but it falls on Laguna Seca and SCRAMP to fulfill the homologation. Campbell said that researching the MotoGP option was part of the normal business plan . "We do this with every other series that we're in the final year of the contract. What else is out there? Are we doing the best thing for the facility? What's the future goi ng to be? We're exploring every effort. We're doing with [CART] Champ Cars. This is the last year of the existing Champ Car con tract. Is that go ing to be good for our future? It's normal business for us." Last year, the track lost $800,000 on the CART Champ Car race, despite trimming Bad Weat he r Hampers Bostrom Test Co ld temperatures and inte rmittent rainfall kept the Parts Unlimited Duca t i Au st in team from fully ca pitallzi ng o n th eir two -day Michelin tes t session at Road America in Elkhart Lake, W isco nsin. Eric Bostrom managed to ge t in nine laps on Ap ril 20, but with temperat ure s the next day d ro pping dow n to ~9 degrees, Bostro m's AHRMA has announced that it will w aive t he poste n try surcharges for road race and motocross entries at the May 1-2 Sandia Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico . "We want as many people as possible to experience th is wonderful event, and we hope that a few more racers will be encouraged to make the trip if it costs the same to post-enter as it does to pre-enter,,. said David Lamberth, AHRMP:s executive director. Competitors in the May 1-2 ProFlo/Progressive Suspension Historic Cup Series road race rounds at Sandia Motor Speedway can enter the Vintage , Vintage Superbike and modern Sound of Singles/ Battle of Twins/Sound o f Thunder classes for $SO per class . A complete round of AHRMA:s national series is run each day. Entries for either the May I Northwest Malco & CZlPro -Flo postvintage motocross for machines from 1975 to the early '60s or the May 2 Speed & Sport vintage MX for pre-'7S motorcycles at Sandia Motocross Park will cost $3S for the first class and $25 for each additional class. As previously announced, postentries at the May 2 Classic MotorCycle/Metro Racing dirt trac k at Hol Iywood Hills Speedway are just $ 10 per class. In all cases, competitors must be members of both AHRMA and the AHA Memberships will be available at the track. Pre-entr ies closed April 16. For AHRMA info rma tio n, call 6 15/6S 1-367~ or visit www.ahrma.o rg. Will MotoGP ride rs aoon take ta the fatnoUI Corkscrew? "That's going to be e bes comer on the track when they're done. It's going to be cool." MotoGP bikes , the requirements are probably a little steeper.· Last month, Kenny Roberts Jr. inspected the track along with Carlos Checa, Kurtis Roberts and Wayne Rainey, a Monterey resident and supporter of the track. The changes Kenny Jr. came up with would cost about $2 million. And that'S separate from what It would cost to host a MotoGP event. Danis said that tum nine , Rainey Curve, had to be made safer, as did an area along the front straightaway, just to make it wider. "Those two elements are certainly, I know, absolutely going to have to be done," Campbell said. "There's going to have to be some dirt removed in my corners, It Rainey said, adding that there would be viewing facilities added at the top of the corner that would give the best view of the track. "Tha t' s going to be the best corner on the track when they 're done. It's going to be so cool. Brief'Y··· hands w e re numbed to the po int w here working the controls proved difficu lt, so the tea m o pted to wra p up testing in the early afternoon, according to the team. O n April 2 1, Bostrom put in severa l laps o n slicks be fore wet weather forced the 27year-old o nto rain tire s fo r the remaind er of the test ses sion . In spite of the poor co nd i- Its own budgets. Ticket sales were down 30 to 3S percent, but corporate sponsorship was down 70 percent as CART and IRLbattled for open-Wheel supremacy. "So I'm probably being very extra-cautlous in what we do in the future for that very reason," Campbell said . "SCRAMP can't afford to lose money on an event again. We got hurt very badly last year." The facility is owned by Monterey County Parks, and the concession agreement only allows five major events a year. " I'd love to have an unlimited amount of events. It would solve all of my problems," Campbell said. The event would be MotoGP only and wou ld be held in July, around the same t ime as the current AMNWorid Superbike weekend, Campbell believed. But she had n't spoken to the AHA about whether it would wrap around an AHA weekend, as is the current practice with World Superbike. "We haven't talked to AMA," she said. "Certainly we would love to have the AHA involved. 10 be honest, Ihaven't gotten that far." Though RPM promotes World Superbike, SCRAMP promotes the Champ Car and American Le Mans weekends, "so it's not beyond the realm of posslbllity that we would look at doing our own. On the other hand, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that we would bring in another partner," she said. " If MotoGP comes to the U .S., it's got to work for everybody," Campbell said. " It's certainly a premier event. Laguna Seca, Th e Zongshen Team of Ch ina will take part in the Zhuha 6 Hour round of the Wo rld Enduran ce Championsh ip, according to series promote rs. Zon gshe n won the 2002 Wo rld Endurance Championsh ip. Th e full Zon gshen rider line-up has not been con firm ed, but it will include World Superbike co mpetitors Warwick No wland and Piergiorgio Bontempi, and former World Endurance C hampion Stephane Mertens. Among other entries already confirmed are Alf's Motorcycles, Macau Team , Ducatl Hong Kong, Arlen Ness and local teams Wan U Da , Dee Team and Xichao Dachang Foshan Hong Xing. The race will be held on May 2 during the Ch inese May Day holiday season. " For me, this race is very special ," Nowland said. "Fo ur years ago , I joined the Zongshen Team , and no one had ever heard of the Zongshen name. It has been a great experience to be a part o f the team's growth, and to return to the home o f Zongshen and take part in this historic event is something I am very proud of. I am looking forward to it. I am always out to beat GMT Yamaha and , of course, my Le Mans winn ing team, Suzuki France . It will be a great fight!" that's our mission statement Is to produce world-class events. Obviously, another advantage that the Monterey area has is that it is a destination. Laguna Seca is a world-class facility, and it deserves to have the bes t of the best." Now it's just a matter of dollars and sense. Henny Ray Abrams tio ns, team man ager Tom Bodenbach felt po sitive about the track time. "When we set up t he da te at Roa d America with Michelin, we knew it was a gamble for this tim e o f th e year," Boden bach said. "The weather ce rtainly didn't tu m ou t the way we woul d 've hoped, but at least we got to put in so me time o n th e track, and we did learn a few th ings." www.cyclenews.com A convent ion between the FIM and the FIVA (Federation Intematlonale des Vehicules Anciens) was signed recently at the headquarters of the Automobile-Club de France , Place de la Concorde in Paris, according to the FIM. FIM president Francesco Zerbi and FIVA president Michel de Thomasson signed this document, wh ich aims at having close collaboration and mutual support in the modem and historical aspects of the motorcycle. "Th is convention recognizes the FIM as the international authority over all aspects of motorcycle activity for Continued on page J J CYCLE N EWS • MAY 5, 2004 9

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