Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Hey, A Supermoto Schedule A aron Cleans Up Colorado Trials AMA Pro Racing finally annou nced its 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship schedule on May 25, w ith the series set to begin on August 14 in Reno, Nevada, and co ncluding in Las Vegas, Nevada , in Nove mbe r. In between, the series will visit four other cities (one is a doubleheader roun d) to make up the seven-ro und se ries. As was the case in 200 3, the championship's inaugural year, the 2004 sched ule remains fall-based . In part , this was done to allow top- level riders who compete in other AMA Pro Racing and World Championship events the greatest opportunity to part icipate in AMASupermoto, according to the AMA. Chri s Bradley, AMA Pro Racing's Supermoto Se ries manager stated t hat involvement by many of the world's top riders is one of the series ' greatest strengths. "Last year, we saw some of the biggest has qualified for a main event in any of the regular-season events lea ding up to the last round. Forme r FIM World Champions and any rider who has earned points at an FIM World Cham pionship event in the current season will also be e ligible to enter the season finale in Las Vegas. Television remains an integral part of the championship . Brad ley stated that Outdoor Life Netwo rk (O LN) will conti nue to televise AMA Supermoto and that efforts to air the champ ionship in select markets worldwide are in the works . "O bviously, television is ve ry important to this champ ionship and all of its part icipants," said Bradley. "O LN did a fantastic job in covering the series last year, and we're th rilled that thei r involve ment will cont inue in 2004. We have established a key part nersh ip with TWI to so licit global distribut ion for AMA names in motorcycle racing participate in Supermoto similar to w hat we have in place AMA Supermoto,' said Bradley. "The finale for ou r AMA Chevrolet Supe rb ike Champ ions hip. Success in such global markets willadd even greater value to each of the alone featured an am azing ro ste r of major tal- ent, and the racing reflected that extraordi nary level of competition. The goal for this year was to structure the champions hip, including whe re and when the eve nts woul d be he ld, to kee p that momentum going." In March, AMA Pro Racing announced a change to the championship st ructure designed to en courage part icipation from top riders while still rewarding those who com- team s, riders and m anufacturers part icipating in our championship. " mit to the entire serie s. M irroring a tradition- al cumulative- points champions hip while still placing emphasis on the season finale, points will be awar ded to the top 20 finishe rs in eve ry 2004 event w ith double points available to top finishers at the cham pionship finale. A team championship will also be up for grab s in 2004 in both classes: AMA Supermoto and Supe rmot o Unlimited . Additionally, eligibility for the champ ionship finale w ill be grante d to any rider who Hodgson To Return S ix-time Champion Geoff Aaron won both days of the AMNNATC National Trials in Cotopaxi, Colorado, May 29-30. The trials proved to be one of the toughest that some of the com petit ors had ever seen , but the extreme sections only seemed to bring out the best of the Gas Gas-mounted Aaron, who easilywon bot h days. Finishing second both days was fellow Gas Gas rider Ryon Bell. South African Brent Ie liche too k third on Saturday and sixth on Sunday, w hile Montesa's Chris Florin finished fourth on Saturday and third on Sunday. Fifteen-year-old Cody Webb had a steady weekend by ro unding out the top five both days. After four rounds, Aaron leads the points standings w ith 120, followed by Bell with 92 and Florin with 82. World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgso n will ret urn to action at the Mugello Circuit in Italy, June 4-6, for ro und four of the MotoGP World Championship, the British rider using the break betw een races to recuperate from the broke n ribs he suffered at the Fre nch Grand Prix at Le Mans when he crashed his Team d'Antin Ducat i. Japan Out, Qatar In For World Superbike? The World Superbike calendar for 2005 loo ks quite similar to this year's in terms of the Europea n rounds, but one diff renc e will be e apparen t on the long haul. With no Japanese ro und looking like ly, there is expected to be a Qatar race starting off the season in Februa ry, before the next race in Valencia, Spain. Ther e may or may not be a C hina roun d, but the World Endurance eve nt appare ntly 8 left much to be desire d. Laguna Seca in Monterey, California , is still a stro ng possibility, depending on whethe r or not the re is any more move ment in the MotoGP stories which have the ot her Wor ld Champ ionship taking place ther e as early as next year. Another race in the United State s is a desire, but a suitable track is still the prob le m. Gordon Ritchie JUNE 9, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversa ry ''Actually, I feel much bette r, although I am not com pletely recovered yet," Hodgson said. "I long for getting back to action, and I will make it to Italy full of hope , but I won't know for sure how re cover ed I am until I ride my Ducati again. I feel op timistic, and I believe this little rest has been good to me: '

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