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/128327
Hawk Lands First-Ever Moto-X-Country Win T he first-ever Moto-XCo untry race went into the record bo oks, o n May 30, with a familiar name atop the Pro class - Am Pro Yamaha facto ry rider, Barry Hawk. The defen ding AMA Gra nd Natio nal Cross Country Ch ampion ro mped home w ith a win after 4S minutes of intense racing . "It was really, really fun," Haw k said . "Me and Jimmy [jar rett] had a good batt le out th ere . I'd love to do this again." Hawk act uallydid do it again, as the champion from nearby Smithfield, Pennsylvania, raced th ree differe nt classes throughout the afte rnoo n. Plenty of ot her riders race d, too, as the all-new even t offered over 30 classes for am ate urs of all ages and all bike sizes. Many of the competitors were motocrossers who had raced the Team Gree n Spring Nat ional on the High Point MX track, and they seemed to enjoy the transition to off-road . Moto-X- Cou ntry merged off-road racing and mo tocross. Riders left the start in rows based on their class, and the starts were dead-engine. T he fastest riders finished five laps of the four-mile track. Th e co urse did feature woods trails, but an extensive grasstrack sectio n and a set of dou ble jumps made the motocrosse rs feel at home, too. "It was a lot of fun out there," said Tom Carson , a fo rm er Natio nal-leve l motocro sser and GNCC racer, w ho topped the ind ustry class. "T he cou rse had a good mi x of terrain, and the t rails were wide eno ugh where you didn't even need to run hand guards . I liked the jumps, too." The racing took place o n Saturday aftern oo n, freeing up the High Point motocros s trac k fo r Pro practice . Heavy rain on Friday turn ed the Moto -XCountry trac k into a mud bog, but sunshine on Saturday and extensive do zer wo rk turned the soil into dust-free tract ion. M etzger's Air Show The Mike Metzger Air Show is going on to ur this yea r. Metzger is go ing to be touring se lect cities around the United State s. Accompanying him w ill be two guest riders at each location , along with special gues t DJs and musical gro ups. Each city the riders will be differe nt. Metzger and the ride rs will be performing backflips and oth er tricks off specially designed metal ramps that were constructed for this purpose. Briefly... Continued from page " dar is as follows: June 6 - Pfluckuff, Germany; June 13 - Jaanikese , Eston ia; June 20 - Cesis. Latvia;July I I - Zabok, Croatia; July IB Samokov, Bulgaria; August B - Kegums, Latvia; August 15 - Mosco w, Russia; Septembe r 5 Neeroet e re n, Belgium. Parts Unlimited has signed up to be the title sponsor of this year's Parts Unlimited WERA GNF a nd Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta in Braselto n, Georgi a. The world 's largest distributor of aftermarket mot orcycle parts (and the sponso r of a grea t many prom inent race eve nts) has signed o n as the title spons or for the even t that is sched uled for O ctober 12-17 for 2004 . "Ove r many many years, the WERA GNF has grow n to be a huge eve nt that d raws a tr emendo us crow d. The location - right at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, where seemingly every road to the north twists and curves as if made fo r motorcycling - along with the track and the facility, com bine to make the event a mustattend for sportbike e nthusiasts in the area," said Parts Unlimited VP Greg Blackwell. "We have a tre mendous num ber of dealers who are very ded icated to that segment of the sport, and we are very excite d and pleased to play such a prominen t ro le in presenting bo th the race and all of the exciteme nt that goes w ith it." The Women's Motocross and Supercross Foundation (WMXF) has annou nced that a total of $7000 was presented to Motor Racing O utreach (MRO) and the Asterisk Mob ile Medical Unit. "We presented $3500 to each o rganizatio n at th e THQfAMA Supercross Awards Banquet," said WMXF treasu rer Megan Barnhart. "It was a combination of monies donated to the Jason Cia rletta Fund and proceeds from various WMXF fundraising efforts. T he professional supercross and motocross comm unity has been very suppo rtive of our fundraising efforts for Jaso n. Hopefully these funds will provide a , lot of help to both MRO and the Asterisk Mobile Medical Unit. Both organizations provide critical serv ices to ou r sport, and Jaso n's family wanted them to be the beneficiaries of any mon ies raised in his name ." Jason Ciarletta was a 19-year-o ld professio nal supercross racer who was killed in a crash at the San Diego Supercross o n January 24. Ciarletta's family specified that all monies raised in Jason's name be split equally between MRO and the Asterisk Mobile Med icai Unit. Add another title to Nicky Hayden's bio - co uturier! The 2003 Moto GP Rookie of the Year and 2002 AMASuperbike Cha mpion is des igning outerwear and has just launched an on line store at his official website, www. nickyhayden.com. The on line store was created in an effort to accom modate the many req uests for Nicky Hayden "gear" the site had bee n receiving since its launch early last year. "I am really glad to finally get something like this off the gro und," Hayde n said. "It too k a lot of work, but it' ll be coo l to see how people like it . It's just a combination of st uff that I really like to wear - with a little extra flavo r added in!" For mo re informatio n, visit www.nickyhayde n.com. Brainerd International Raceway has announced that Ducati North Ame r ica will be th e title spons or of the AMA Chevrolet U.S. Superbi ke Championship, scheduled for June 25-27 o n BIR's th ree-mile road co urse . T he eve nt will be called the Trofeo Ducati U.S. Supe rbike AMA Champi ons hip. The Trofeo Ducati is the sevent h round of the I I-race www.cyclenews.com cham pio nship se ries. "Racing is abo ut passio n, th e hea rt of the Ducati brand ," said John Po rter, dire ctor of marketing for Ducati North Ameri ca. "We are sponsoring the Braine rd ro und of the AMA Superbike se ries to ce lebrate th at passion with ou r fans, in the unique BIRven ue." Ducati plans to make the BIReven t a special destination fo r Ducati dealers , owners and race fans in genera l. Ducati owners from thr ough out the co untry w ill be invited to th e eve nt and will have special viewing and parking areas. During th e event, Ducati has plans for a bike show, activities and co ntests, an owner's club dinner, and , possibly, a num be r of bike to urs through out the Brainerd Lakes area . Ducati's sponsorship will mean added visibilityfor its three Minnesota dea lers as well: Delano Sport in Delano and Moto Primo deale rships in Minneapolis and Burnsville. "We could n't be happier that Ducat i signed o n as title right spo nsor," said Scott Q uick, BIR gene ral manager. "O ur AMA Superb ike race has always been very po pular with our fans, but Ducati's sponsorship will give it greater ex posure and , mo re impo rtantly, inject a sophisticate d, internatio nal flair that w ill e levate th is event to a new level. It's a grea t thing for ou r fans, and we loo k forwar d to a lo ng-te rm relatio nship w ith Ducati North America." Pit Pro will be on hand at the Mamm oth Moto cross from June 17 through June 27 to assist motocrosse rs. For mo re inform ation, call 661/ 255-5 101. Susan Murphy, the wife of Laguna Seca AMA and Wor ld Supe rb ike race promoter Dan Murphy, drowned while swimm ing in Ginger Wood s Lake in Valley, Nebraska, at he r brother 's cabin o n Monday, May 3 1. The funeral was scheduled for June 2 at 3 p.m. at Buthe rus Love Funeral Home, 4040 A Street, Lincoln, N E 6B510, 402/4BB-0934 . In lie u of flowers, there has been a mem orial fund set up in Susan's name thro ugh Colorado Business Bank. Do nations can be sent to the Susan Murphy Outreach Fund, Colo rado Business Bank, c/o S. Freimuth , PO Box B779, Denve r, CO B020 I. Yamaha's Damon Bu ckm a ster had successfu l surgery on Thursday, May 27, to repai r his broken left scaphoid, his previously planned re turn to racing at Brainerd Internati ona l Raceway, June 26-27, still intact. "The pin went really w ell," Buckmaster said before boarding a plane at the San Jose International Airport. The surgery was performed by Dr. Art hur Ting at the Frem o nt Surgical Cen ter. "He [Dr. Ting] is not anticipating any real problems." Buckmaste r suffered a nondisplaced fracture of the scaphoid du ring Pro Hond a Oils Supe rspo rt pract ice at Barber Moto rspo rts Park two weeks ago. He rode to a ninth-place finish in the Repsol Supe rstock race , but he chose not to race Supe rspo rt. A week later, at Pikes Peak International Raceway, he practiced on Saturday, but he was fo rced to with draw because of the pain and discomfort and possible co mplications from furth er injUry . Buckmaster said Dr. Ting told him the rec overy time was up to him but that he was anticipating a re tu rn at Brainerd on June 2S-27. "It may hurt a little bit at that point ," he said. "It's not going to fall apa rt . It's just up to me . How I feel with it." Whether he' ll spectate and support his team mates at Road America next weekend is up to Y amaha. "I told Yamaha that if th ey wo uld like me to, I will, just to be presen t," he said, "but it's up to the m. If they say no , I won't ." CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 9, 2004 13