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/128324
Briefly... Ride With Randy Continued from page 9 cash each year. Rev'lt! USA of Ne w York, New York, is supporting th e ser ies with an equivalent of $6000 in merchandise - a Rev'lt! racing suit will be awa rded to the Nat ional Champions of each 125 GP and 250 GP class. Rev'lt! USA will also be awa rding a pair of racing gloves in eac h class at each round, For mo re info rm ation, visit www.USGPRU.net. F o ur rides with Randy Mamola are up for grabs on the two-seat MotoGP Ducati at the World Ducati Weekend in Misano, Italy, on Sunday, May 23. The four highest offers over SOO euros will win the rides . The rides are held in support of Riders for Health's pioneering wo rk in Africa with whoever rides behind Mamola helping enable African health workers to carry on riding motorcycles ove r tough rural terrain, reach ing people in need of vital health care . The fee includes a weeke nd ticket for World Ducati Weekend, use of leat he rs and all protective clot hing, plus medical checks. The fee The trial use of webcams for Interviews and other live coverage of the Wo rld Superbike Championship at Misano in Italy has been deemed a huge success by event promoters and w ill continue fo r the Monza roun d, May IS-16. Seen o nly on th e official website fo r the series, www.worldsbk.com . the huge number of visitors using the interactive area has delighted the rac e organizers, accordi ng to race organizers. Th e w ebcam initiative is one in a series of planned Improvements to www. wo rldsbk.com des igned to give visitors not onty more news and information does not include travel to on World Superbi kes, Supe rspo rt , Superstock and the participating te ams and ride rs, but also to be directly involved. Fidoweb provides live Interviews, video highlights and video IRC chat facilities thro ugh the Interact ive interface on the Wo rld Superbi ke website using a minimum of three exclusive came ras. On the Saturday afte r Superpole, liv inte rviews with e the fro nt-row q ualifying riders from Superbike and the pole sitter from Supersport and from th e eve nt, o r accommodations. The weight limit is 198 pounds. For more information, see www.WDW2004.comand www.riders.org. take place . D uring this session, visitors to the site can put their questions, seeing and hearing the answers the riders give those chosen. O n the Sunday, there are two More on the Aprilia Saga more sessions similarly covered follow ing Elsew here in this issue you will find a co mprehensive repo rt of the financial difficulti s faced by Aprilia. In a move that could e quicken Bombardier RE's interest in acqu iring a controlling interest in Aprilia, its Austr ian-based Rotax subsidiary has signed an agreement with India's He ro Motors to supply engines for a range of scooters, which the New Delhi-based company will be launching later this year in part nership with - Aprilia! In November last year, Ap ri lia boss lvano Beggio signed a renewable eight-year dea l with the Munjal fam ily, who owns Hero Motors, to manu facture Aprilia mod els in India, both fo r sale under lice nse o n the Indian home market, as well as for e xport to Europe and other ma rkets , where the lower prod uct ion costs in India will help to give Aprilia a co mpe titive edge. Aprilia expects to reduce manufacturing costs by betw ee n 20 pe rcent and 30 percent compared to Europe, with the first mod els scheduled to roll ou t of Hero's Indian facto ry in O cto ber this year. Now, under the te rms of an agreement signed on April 21 between Rotax and He ro, these will be powered by Rotax engines that Hero w ill build unde r lice nse in India, with a trio of air-coo led 7Scc to 12Scc models co ming up first, followed by water-cooled 125cc and 175cc luxury scooters targeted for export. Hero and Rotax will also explore the possib ility of sourcing low -cost components for Rota>< engines manufactured in Austria, and will also carry out joint R&D of small-capacity the e nd of the Supersport and tw o Supe rbike races . The Suzuki contingency money that was originally poste d for the April 18 AFM road race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Ca lifom ia, w hich was rained out, will be moved to the July 18 race at Buttonwillow Race way in Buttonwillow, Ca lifornia. The o pen ing rou nd of the SuperHoto USA Nor-Cal Championship will be held on Saturday, May 22, at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bake rsfield, Califo rnia. A $2500 Pro purse will be up for gra bs in the 450 and Unlimited classes. In additio n to the Pro classes, the eve nt willfeatu re eight amateur classes , including 250F, Vet, 85cc, Sportsman, Mini Motard , XRl oo and tw o Novice classes. Th e event will be run In two parts , starting at 8 a.m. Saturd ay w ith amateu r class heats and mains finishing by 2 p.m. The Pro classes and Open Amateu r w ill begin at 4 p.m. and will race under the lights. For enginesin India. In addition Hero w ill likewise export motors from India to Rotax in Europ e for an exploratory pe riod of the next three years , aiming to achieve similar cost savings to Aprilia, this time limited to engines. "The export possibilities fro m th is agreement are immense ," says Hero managing director Pankaj Munjal. "A millio n pow ered two-wheelers are sold in Europe every year, and 70 perc en t of these have engine sizes ranging from SOc to I75cc , the range we are gOing to be Involved ' ~; c We're projecting export sales of up to $90 millionover the next five years , for scooters, e ngines and parts we WIll make here.1n India at Hero. To achieve this, Hero is investing 2.0 billio n rupees ($45 million) to construct and equip a new facto ry capab le of pr oductng up to 400,000 two-wheelers each year, w ith 40 percent of this sum devoted to the engine manufacturing facility. Th e com pany intends to export 20-30 percent of the production of its new plant to the U5A and Europe, and it is target ing a significant slice of the booming India scooter market: currently totaling 885,000 units a year, with Aprilia-derived prod ucts , w hich w ill implement the late st Euro 3 errussions norms, as well as Introduce liquid-cooled engines for th e first time to the Indian two-w hee led sector. Alan Cath cart www.cuclenews.com more infonnation, visit www.supenno- to usa.com . or call 916/408-07S8. Th e National Promote rs Group has anno unce d that race coverage of all 12 rounds of the AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship is all set fo r the th ird straight year as the natio nals, spon sored by Racer X , wi ll be broadcast " live " in streaming audio , via the Intern et , on the official we bsite of th e nationals and t he o nly Continued on page CYCLE NEWS • MAY 19 . 2004 r5 11