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/128333
Briefly... Fuel Penalties to Kopp, Atherton Reversed A Kawasaki public relations man Me l Moore rem ains in intensive care in San Jose, Cali- fornia, after a se rious streetbike cras h on Wednesday, july 7, while en ro ute to Monterey, California, from his Southe rn Califor nia home for the combinatio n World Superbike/AMA Superbike round at Mazda Raceway LAguna Seca . Moore suffered tw o broken verte brae in his neck and tw o broken vertebrae in his lower back in the accide nt but has suffered no para lysis. In addition, both of his lungs were collapsed , and he has broken all of the ribs in the fron t MA Pro Racing has /""'\announced that it has reversed the penaltie s assessed to Jo e Kopp (pictured ) and Kevin Atherton at round sixof the AMAProgressive Insurance Flat Track Championship held at Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, O hio, on june 26. The penalties were tihe result of illegal fuel found in the m otorcycles of both ride rs . In reversing penalties, AMA section of his rib cage. jerry Surber, cre ator and founder of the Grand Nat ional Championship (GNC) of motocross announced today that jeff Pray will now head up th e management and market ing of the GNC and all of its associated events . "It gives me a grea t deal of pr ide and pleasure afte r 30 years to turn the Pro Racing director of com - pe t itio n Mer rill Vanders lice said that there was concern over over th e management and marke ting of the the way the fuel was handled during testi ng. "We con ducted an GNC to jeff Pray," said Surbe r. "Wh en the opp ortunity came up to pass the to rch afte r a brief distractio n earl ier this year, I was internal review of the steps that were taken in eager to take advantage of an offe r from jeff to allow this to happen. jeff is the first p e ~ n that has ever bee n, in my eyes, -qualified to buy the GNC. I have no do ubts wha tsoever that jeff w ill take the GNC to a higher leve l th an it has ever bee n befo re and put the fun back in moto cross ." jeff Pray, presi de nt of the Dallas-based manufacturing company, PIN, is eager to start impleme nting new programs into an already solid-based sanctio ning GNC body. the hand ling of the fuel samp les and de te rmined that the sam ples we re not originally sealed to our sta ndards," said Vanderslice. ':A.ccordingly, we made the decisio to reverse the penalties." n A field test at the Lima rou nd determined that the fuel was not in comp liance with AMA Flat Track rules. An independent lab co nfirmed the fie ld te st, but the co ncern over the handling of the fuel pro mpting AMA Pro Racing to make its ruling, acco rding to AMA Pro Racing. "We follow a rigid protocol and must have absolute confidence in our testing in this partic ular instance, we did not, " said Vanderslice. Th e 23 points that were taken from each rider have been reapplied to the ir respective championship totals. "This is an exciting time for our team . W e process fro m start to finish. Unfo rtu nately, Gobert To Motocross In Oz Anthony Gobert is making a comeba ck to on his Motorex KTM 4S0SXR - all beh ind one of the Ki ng siblings - Y amaha-backed Darryll o r Ho nda-mo unted Shayne . motocross. Th e former Australian Motocross It 's a situatio n that has Marmon t - who is and Supe rcr os s Champio n turned Wo rld Superbike, Gran d Prix and AMA Super bike Ame rica-bo und in 2005 - in a state of frustra- race r races in the nex t ro und of the Maxxis the challenging Appin layout . "I've been getti ng close r to th e King bro th ers all the time, and I felt really good at Co nondale [Qu ee nsland] in rou nd five," said Marm ont, who also won the 2003 Australia n tion, and one in which he hopes to remedy at Australian Moto cross Champ ionship at the Appin circuit o utside Sydney o n july 18. Gobe rt , who was one of the brightest stars in Australian Mo toc ross until his move to road racing some 10 years ago, w ill co mpete against some of the toughest competi- Supercross title. "In the first few ro unds, I tors in Australia. Included in the sixth rou nd strugg led a bit, but o nce I got my bike set up to my liking, the results have started to of Motocross co me - and no w I'm r eady to win . And what C hamp ions hip will be Aussie Supe rcr oss Champion jay Marmont and form er Wor ld Motocross Champio n Shayne Ki ng. All three riders will have their work cut out fo r them, tho ugh, as th ey'll go up against for mer Grand Prix winner Darryll King. "This will be my first visit to Appin since a bette r place to do that than in front of my ho me crowd o n Sunday? However, Appin t he Maxxis Australian tained in an attempte d suicide atte mpt on qu it e soft because there 's been a bit of rain - I can't wait." Motocross Champ ionship at Appin. The 2 1-year-old fro m Towradgi in New Former Grand Prix road racer Jaroslav Hules died in hospital from injuries sus- not sure what will be served up. If it stays har d-packe d, I'm not so sure how well the Ki ngs w ill fare - but then again it cou ld be train ing a bit re cen tly, but my race pace is prob ably the biggest question mark. But first I'llget thro ugh practice and get a feel fo r it all KTM's jay Marmont is planning a coup d'e - was created to promote fun and enthusi- asm fo r performance ath letes so that they co uld showcase and perfect th eir abili ties and aspirations of becom ing pro ride rs themselves," Surber said. Eff ective immediately, both th e GNC Final and GNC Good Times National will be moved from the ir current location at Mosier Valley USA in Euless, Texas, to Oak Hill Motoc ross Park in Decat ur, Texas. Saturday, july 3. The 30-year-old Czech ride r had not race d since his final Grand Prix appearance in the 250cc race at Valencia last yea r and was rep ortedly suffering from severe depress ion. Hules made over aro und late ly." After five of eight ro unds, Marmont is third in the Pro O pe n sta ndings with 170 points, 26 be hind 1996 Wo rld SOOcc Mot ocross Champio n Shayne King's No Fear Hon da C RF4S0 R. At the top, defe nding champion Darryll King (C DR/Boost Mobile/Yamaha YZ450F) has accumulated 229 points. Geoff Meyer 100 Grand Prix appea rance s in th e 125cc and 250cc classes, with best finishes of sixth and eighth, resp ectively. can be a very unpredi cta ble circ uit, so I'm mini masters eve nt in 1990, so it's going to be a real eye -o pe ner," said G ob ert . "I've been tat in the sixth roun d of th e M axxis Au stralian have quite a challenge a1head in con tinuing and building on the legacy that jerry and Liz started and made part of th eir lives for the past 30 years." Surber created the GNC and host ed its first even t in 1976 at the Astrod ome in Houston, Texas. "The GNC South Wales , w ho wo n the inaugural Au straJ ian Supercro ss Nationals earlie r this year in sublime fashion, has finished second in the past th ree Pro O pen mo tocross outings www.cyclenews.com Former AMA Supersto ck Champ ion Jimmy Moore will return to racing in the 2004 AMA Chevrolet Super bike Champ io nship as early as the Mid-Ohio ro und, acco rding Continued on page , J CYCLE NEWS • JULY21 ,2004 9