Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Raines Wins John Penton GNCC A m Pro Yamaha's Jason Raines posted his /"'\fourth w in of the Grand National Cross Country Series in Millfield, Ohio, on July I I. Unlike most of t he previous nine rounds, this one was a runaway. " I can't eve n figure it out," Raines said . " I come into every race with the same mental outlook, and today I felt like I was just riding like I nonnally do. But each lap the lead would get bigger and bigge r. I t hink some people were pacing themselves for the heat, but I know I train hard, and I wasn't worried , so I just went for it. It got really hot the last two laps, but the fans out there kept us go ing." World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen hung with Raines for the first few laps before letting the Yamaha rider go. Salmine n, competing in his first GNCC race, e nded up crossing the finish line in second place, but he was docked a position for missing a small portion of the track's motocross section. As a resu lt, Salminen was officially credited with thi rd , wh ich moved se ries leader Rodney Smith up from said Salminen, w ho hails from Finland . "I did n't care about Jason - I just tried to ride my own speed. I did get tired; th is was the first time I rode three hours. I'm very happy." Salminen plans to contend the entire GNCC series ne xt year. Smith admitted he did not have anything for Raines on this day. "Jaso n rode great today," Smith said . "I just didn't have it today; I was fighting the bike all day. Freddy [Andrews] went past me and helped pull me along. I had fun racing . I just w ish I had a better start and was able to ge t going." Smith's teammate Fred Andnews finished out the race in fourth , while Parts Unlimited Honda's Scott Summers rounded out the top fIVe. Sixth place went to Yamaha ride r Robbie Je nks, followed by Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowski and Doug Blackwell, then Kawasaki 's Steve Hatch and KTM ride r D .R. Atwood. After lOaf 14 rounds, Smith leads Raines but by just five po ints, 246-24 I. Andrews is th ird with 153, followed by Hatch with 150 and Kiedrowski w ith 142. third to second. Salminen said he had a good time at his first GNCC race. Jason Rai nes posted GNCC w in num be r four in Ohio. "This was a very big surprise fo r me ," Welcome Back, Seattle And Orlando AMA Pro Racing motocross/supercross series manager Steve Whitelock shares that wit h the ser ies set to return to two forme r tory was at the Seattle Kingdome in 1996, when Je re my McGrath edged o ut a hardcharging Damon Huffman in a battle th at went start to fi nish. Seattle's Owest Field is th e home of the NFt:s Seattle Seahawks and supercross markets in Orlando, Florida, and Seattle, Washington. Seattle Kingdome. C lear Channel Entertainment's Motor Sports division and AMA Pro Racing have announced the 2004-2005 THO World Supercross GPffH O AMA Supercross Series sched ule s sentiment: "Seattle and O rla ndo both have a history of hosting outstanding AMA Supercross races. We're pleased to be back in front of those great fans." The series schedule is as follows: sits on the same grounds as the historic December 4 - THQ World Supercross GP (TBA) "The addition of Seattle and Orlando, which were last on the schedule in the late '90s, is great for the fans, teams, sponsors and everyone else in the motorcycle community and supercross industry." - Todd Jendr o December I I - THQ World Supercross GP (TBA) January 8 - Anaheim, California,AngelStadium of Anaheim January 15 - Phoenix, Arizona 8ank One Ballpark , January 22 - Anaheim, Califomia Angel Stadium , of Anaheim January 29 - San Francisco, Califomia, S8C Park Fe bruary 5 - Anaheim, California, Angel Stadium of Anaheim February 12 - Indianapolis, Indiana RCA Dome , February 19 - San Diego, Califomia, QuaJcomm Stadium The last THO AMA Supercross Series race in Orlando was March 29 , 1997 , when Ezra Lusk won the 2S0cc ma in event and Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael won the 125cc main event at the Citrus Bowl. Seattle also offers some interesti ng history, which spans back to the 19 70s. The last T HO AMA Supercross Series race in Seattle was January 30 , 1999, when Larry Ward won the 250cc main eve nt and Nathan Ramsey won the 125c( main event in front of a near sell· out crowd of 60 , 193. Arguably one of the greatest 250cc main events in supercross his- 8 Along with the addition of Orlando and Seattle, the inte rnatio nal venues will be an nounced Channel. shortly, according to Clear "We are excite d to bring the most com petitive supercross lineup to these markets," said Todd Jend ro, director of supercross, Clear Channel Entertainment - Motor Sports. "The ad dition of Seattle and O rlando, w hich were last on the sched ule in the late '90s, is great for the fans, teams, sponsors and everyone else in the motorcycle community and supercross Industry" JUL 21, 2004 • CYC LE NEWS Y February 26 - Atlanta, Georiga, Georgia Dome March 5 - St Lou~, Missouri, Edward Jones Dome MV Agust aiProt on Sign De al The Malaysian car co mpany Proton and Clau dio Castiglion i have signed an inve stme nt agree me nt that w ill allow Proton a sta ke in the control of the company w hile pr oviding the MV AgUSta G roup with ca pital. Th e agr e e me nt conflrms the binding offer ap prov ed by Proton's bo ard of dir ectors on May 25 , in whi ch Pro to n will su bmit a capital incre ase o f Euro 70 million (ro ugh ly $86 million) in MV Agusta. The o bjective of the new partnership is to deve lop the prese nce and incr ease the va lue of th e brands C ag iva , Hu sqva r na an d MV Agusta in the inte rn ation al ma r kets by th e many indus trial and co mme rcia l syn e rgies t ha t the two groups share, acco rd ing to a re lease issued by both co mpanies. Proton , a pub lic company listed in the Kuala Lumpur stock ex change, is on e of th e main Asian ca r manufact urers . March 12· Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Intemational Speedway Owner o f the Lotus brand, the gr oup is March 19 - Orlando, Florida, Cirrus Bowl al ma rkets through ind ust rial alliances April 2 . Irving, Texas, Texas Stadium with pre stigio us companies in the auto- Apri l 9 - Pontiac, Michigan, Silverdome motive industry. The company financials of last year shows revenues for 1.5 billion e uros ($ 1.86 billion), w it h a net profit of 114.5 m illion eu ros ($142 million) and a workforce of over 9000 employees. Apri l 23 - Seattle, Washington, Qwest Field Apri l 30 . Houston, Texas, Reliant Stadium May 7 . Las Vegas, Nevada, Sam BoydStadium 40th Anniversary pursuing an expansion in the internation-

• Cover