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/128330
Aprilia I:[]r§e Still Viable? Co njectu re that Aprilia's financial w oes might impact its participatio n in Grand Prix racing. in whic h the Italian manufacturer is the mainstay of the 12Scc and 2S0cc classes, with well over half the bikes on the grid in both catego ries, has been allayed by the reve lation that the parent Aprilia company surprisingly owns a mere 15 percent interest in its own Aprilia Corse race department. In fact, ApriliaCorse is a Swiss-registered company in which Aprilia race boss Jan based firm, which is owned by British-based private equity fund OIC Capital Partners, concerned to ensure the continued viability of these support classes by taking care that such specialist two-stroke GP racers connn- ued to be manufacture d, albeit in such limited quantities - just 50 bikes for the 2004 season, between the two classes. l ess certain is the future of Aprilia's R53 three-cylinder MotoGP project, without the development and running costs of wh ich, Aprilia Corse would have shown a profit for 2003 . Witteveen will fight hard to ensure the pro ject stays the course , on the grounds that to cance l it now wou ld be to throw away the upward of Euro 30 million (about Witteveen himself owns a substantial (controlling!) interest. The annual budget for Aprilia Corse this year equals Euro 38 million Oustunde r $46 million), of which Euro 32 million (about $38.7 million) is taken care of by outside sponsorship, the lease of works-specification racebikes to outside teams , and outright sales of customer bikes and spare parts . This leaves Euro 6 million (about $7.2 million) to be paid for by Aprilia itself, presumably offset in the company's Reynolds, Haslam Split BSB W ins accounts against sales promotion and marketing - but in the event that the new owners of Aprilia would chose not to continue this arrangement, word has it that Witteveen already has a potential white knight investor lined up to take over the entire race operation, including the R&D department, and move it to Spain. Inevitably , such a step would have the fingerprints of GP promotor Doma allover it, with the Spanish- $36 .3 million) already invested in the bike, especially with the all-new three-cylinder motor developed by Aprilia itself coming on line later this year, which it's hoped will make the pair of white bikes sponsored by MS cigarettes and ridden by two of Britain's three MotoGP riders , Jeremy McWilliams and Shakey Byrne, competitive at last . Alan Cathcart A Victory For Off-Roaders In a unanimous decision. the Supreme Court upheld a Utah District Court rulingdismissing claims brought in 1999 by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) and other antiaccess groups against the Bureau of Land Manageme nt (Bl M), according to the BlueRibbon Coalition. The suit targeted BlM 's alleged inaction in managing off-highway vehicle access . SUWA:s dema nds to close im mediately nine popular O H V rec reation areas were rejected by the Rizla Suzuki's John Reynolds and Renegade Ducati's leon Haslam split wins in the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch on June 20, with Reynolds extending his championship points lead while riding with a broken collarbon e. Reynold came to the seventh round of the series with the collarbon e he broke just two weeks earlier figuring to limit his effort , but instead he left Brands w ith a 29-point lead in the series standings after earning his 50th career win. "I am disappointed not to have won both races," Reynolds said. "In the second race w e had the same excellent set up as the first. I had a big lead and was very com fortab le on my Rizla Suzuki GSX-RIOOO. It was giving me good feedback, was easy to ride, and the Dunlop tire was providing plenty of grip. But around lap 12 I fe lt the rear start to slide , and it got worse as the race wore on, forcing me to drop my pace , and eventually I finished 8 seventh . We found out alterwards we had picked up a slow puncture - which is just pure bad luck. "Overa ll though, this has been a very positive we ekend. At the start of the week I would have settled for two top -e ight finishes and some points. Instead I got the 50th race win of my career and extend ed my champ ionship lead. A bit unexpected, but very we lcome. Now I can spend another two weeks letting my bro ken collarbone heal and will go Utah Distr ict Court, but that decision was reversed by the 10t h Circuit Court of Appeals. Both the Bl M and the O HV groups pet itioned for review with the Supreme Court. The Court granted review and heard argument in March of this year. "Need less to say, we 're delighted ," said Bill Dart , executive director of the BlueRibbon Coalition. BRC led a coalition of O HV ent husiast groups that successfuHy pe titioned for defen- to Knockhill determined to w in more racesin of O HV management. "We are pleased the justices rejected the 'management through litigation' model that is popular with anti-access groups," Dart added . The case before the Supreme Co urt tumed on a fairlycomple x jurisdictional point , acco rding to the BRC. The Administrative Procedure Act allows lawsuits to compel full fit ness. Than ks to my ent ire team for its support this weekend and providing me with the best Superb ike in the world ." Reynolds to pped Ducat i-mo unte d Sean Emmett in the first o f the two w e t races, w ith Kawasaki-mounted John McGuinness finishing third. In the second race , Haslam beat Emmett, with Rizla Suzuki's Yuko Kagayama finishing third. JUNE 30, 2004 • CYCL E NEWS dant -intervenor status to aid BlM's defense nondiscret ionary act ions that have been unlawfully w ithheld or unre asonably delayed . 40th Anniversa ry The OHV groups convinced the District Court that SUWA:s claims we nt far beyond this standa rd and we re really attempting to dictate the everyday act ivity of the Bl M. Thus, the case focused on the degree to which private parties dissatisfied with govern ment action can sue the agency under an alternate "failure to act" theory. Justice Antonin Scalia said SUWA:s argument wou ld insert the court into the day-to day operations of the age ncy and "would divert BlM 's energies from other projects throughout the country that are in fact mo re pressing. While such a decree might please the environmental plaintiffs in the present case, it would ultimately operate t o the det riment of sound environmental management." "We have raised the se arguments w ith limited success since the mid-1990s, and it is reassuring to see the Court has ultimately agreed with our analysis," noted Paul Turcke, the Boise , Idaho, lawyer acting as lead counsel for the O HVgroups. "This case was never about limiting legitimate review of formal agency decisions, but will clarify that disgruntled and well-funded special inte rest groups cannot interfere with the o ngo ing adm inistra- tive proc ess simply by claiming the agency is failing to act," Turcke concluded . According to BlueRibbon Coalition sources, there are numerous ot her cases at various levels of the federal court system that will be affect ed by this ruling.