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/128331
Briefly... A MA Speedway Round for Victorville F or the fi rst time in many years, the best riders in all of American Speedway Motorcycle racing will be returning to the So uthe rn California high dese rt fo r ro und two of the AHA Natio nal C ham pio nship Speedway Series . Wheel to Wh ee l Raceway on the San Bernard ino Co unty Fairgrou nds in Victo rville will be the site of th e August 7 eve nt . The men behind the ret urn of speedway to V ictorvill e are co- prom ote rs How ie Ze chner of Raz Video - th e lo ng-time prod ucer of speedway vide os cove ring t he spo rt in America , and Fast Fridays Speedway (Auburn, California) promoter Dave Joiner. The pair has pulled together a championship field of top riders, including the likes of re igning AMA National Champi on and World Grand Prix contender Greg Hancock (pictured), Billy "The Bullet" Hamill, "Flyin'" Mike Far ia, Scott Brant , "Fast Eddie" Castro, Charl ie "The Edge" Venegas, Chris Manch ester and many more for th is special event. Hancoc k, th e 1996 World Spee dway Ch ampion, and Hamill, 1997 World cham p, both spent much of the ir teen years honing their worl d-class skills as Seco nd Division riders at the former Speed way USA o n the Vict o rville fairgrounds in the 1980.. Faria, a form er AHA Na tional Champion who now resides in Reno. N evada. isone of the w inningest riders the history of Ame rican Speedwa y. Throug h th e 1980s Round six of the A MA Progressive Insurance Grand Na t ional Championship Short Track event scheduled fo r Atomic Speedway in O ak Ridge, Tennessee , was postponed due to rain and has been resc hed ule d for Saturday night, July 24. He avy rains in the area have forced th e change . Cu rrentticketholders will have their tickets honored for the July 24 eve nt, which will begin at the traditional 7:30 p.m. starting time. "We' re very sorry to lose the connection with the Honda Hoot [wh ich took place in Knoxville and the surrounding area during the original date] , but the and early I990s , he was the mo st popu lar rider ever to set a steel shoe on the legendary Speedway USA track. Speed way first w eather caused havoc with their event as came to V icto rv ille well," said Bruce Bobe r, AMA Pro Racing Flat Track Ser ies manager. Heavy rains began in the area the morning of the event dr iving the teams on toward Uma, Ohio, fo r the AMA Grand National half-mile at the Allen Cou nty Fairgroun ds. The com- in August of 1985 w hen Spe ed way USA was built o n th e fairgrounds . Th e first year the track on ly featu red Second and plete rundown on that event starts on page 40 of th is issue. Third D ivision rac- ing and thus on ly attracte d a few Duca ti No rth Am e r ica has announced a new summer financing pro gram called curious locals and a handful of har dcor e fans from th e San Be rnardi no and O range County areas. In its second year the track w as given a D ivision One Ame rican Moto rcycle Associat ion sanct ion, and professional speed way took the area by storm. It rapidly became the "Saturday Night Th ing to Do" for locals and traveling Speedway fans alike, and near capacity crowds jammed the joint eve ry week. The trac k stayed in operation until July 27, 1996. The o pening rou nd of the three-race Pastrana Sixt h At Pikes In only his third professional rally race, Travis Pastrana finished sixth in class at the 2004 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb this weekend on June 26, the Suzuki factory rider driving a Vermont SportsCar-pr epared Subaru WRX STi rally car. and ready to run on Saturday morning. Pastra na set out on the mostly gravel , 12.Smile, IS6-tu rn course and opted to play it safe, drive conservatrvely and make it to the summit unscathed. AMA National Ch amp ionship Speedway Seri es will be held at Fast Fridays in Auburn on August 6. For many th is will be Ameri can Speedway's best riders ' only appearance in Southern California for 2004 and thus your o nly o ppo rtunity to see America 's best in AHA cham pionship competi tio n. For more infonnation , check out www.fastf ridays.com on the Internet. New World Motocross Rules For 2005 Pastrana and his co-driver M ichael A meeting of the Motocross/Supermoto Grand Prix Commission was held at the French round of the Motocross World Championship in St Jean d'Angely on June 26 with the following decisions made in regard to the 200S championship. - MX I and MX2 classes: 30 entries in each class (instead of SO entries in MX2 as in the 2004 Championship); 26 riders will be entered by Youthstream, two by the FMNR and two by MSMA(plus two reserve riders by the FMNR). If the FMNR andlor MSMA do not exercise Fennell nearly had a clean run , but with less their right to enter riders, Youthstream The mountain, however, proved to be a worthy adversary for the 20-year-old rookie rally dr iver. Before tackling the tradi tiona l "We took no chances, really. I know I could have gone muc h faster, but I really wanted to make it to the top . It was an abso lute blast," said Pastrana. bottom -to-top run on Saturday, Pastrana raced on shorter sections of the mountain as part of the SCCA Pro Rally portion of the event. The second stage was held Friday at 3 a.m . on a section of Pikes Peak never before used for racing. The early morning hours meant comp lete darkness, damp roads and patchy fog. may then complete the entry list; in this case, the FMNR and MSMAmust inform Youthstream IS days at the latest before than a mile to the finish, Pastrana carried too mu ch speed into a tight hairpin left. His car left the roa d, hit a large ditch and rolled , eventually land ing on its wheels. Pastrana and Fennell w ere unharm ed in the stunt, but the car sustained heavy damage. The Vermont SportsCar rally team feve rishly repaired the damag ed Subaru in order for Pastrana to co mpete in the main event the following morning, th e ru n for the Pikes Pea k International HiliClimb Champ ionship. Although spo rting some o bvious battle scars, the car was fully repaired by the team Pas trana's conservative drive was good enough for a sixth-place finish in the SCCA Pro Rally Open Class. "The occasi onal mishap will happen for an inexperience d rally driver like Travis, but I think Travis handled it very we ll and had a clear head the next day for th e all important run to the top; that shows real talent," said lance Smith, team director and owner of Vermont SportsCar. the event. • All the entries must be sent to Youthstream. - Closing date of entries for the first Grand Prix is January 31, 2OOS. - Closing date of entries as from the second Grand Prix: four days before the event (the same as this year). - The final entry list will published by the FIM. www.cyclenews.com the "Y u Deserve a Duca ti" deal. The proo gram was inspired when Ducati staff overhea rd Eric Bostrom saying to a fan, "Do n't you th ink you deserve a Ducati too?" Now that dream can be reality with excellent financing on all Ducatl models. It is the company's most wide -ranging financing effort and comes during the pea k ofthe riding season. T he program begins June I, 2004 , and w ill co ntinue through August 31, 2004 . Interest rates are as low as 2.99% APR fo r 36 months o n all new 200 3 and prior mod els. For lowe r payments, custo mers can choose the 4.99% APR for 60 mo nths option. The 2004 models are also eligible for 3.99% APR for 36 months or S.99% APR for 60 months (e xce pt 749R, 999R, Monster S4R, and 749 Dark)." Finally , for models not listed above, Tier I + applicants can receive 6.99% APR on the STANDARD Ducati - E"Trade Consumer Finance Corporation ("ETCFC ") Program. Riders have no more excuses about not being able to afford the Ducati they deserve. With every Ducati model included in this offer, customers can ride the bike they want at an affordable price . In addit ion , up to $2000 of popular Ducati Performance accessories and apparel (covering the entire ra nge of Ducati motorcycles) can be financed with the purc hase of any new Ducat i. Visit www.ducat iusa.com or call 1-888DUCATI2 to locate t he near est Ducati dealer. "F inancing subject to Tier I credit approvallhrough PTRADE Consumer Finance Corporation not all applicants willqualify. : Financing roles and terms may vary based on credit qualifications and are subjecI to change wilhout notice. Payment examples; 2.99% APR (or 36 monthly payments o( $29.08 per $/000 borrowed; 4.99% APR (or 60 monthly paymenls 0($18.87 per $1000 borrowed; 3.99% APR (or 36 monlhly payments o( $29 .52 per $1000 borrowed: 5.99% APR (or 60 monthly poyments 0($19.33 per $1000 borrowed. 10% down poyment is standard (or all programs. May nor be combined with any other offer: void where prohibiled. Offermay be discontinued or extended without prior nonce . See porticipoting U.S. Ducatideolers (or details (available in U.S. only not available , in Puerto Ric o). CYCLE NEWS • JULY 7,2004 9