Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

All Hail Rossi Ov er 5000 fans packed the famous Le icester Square in London , England, on Thursday, July 22 to meet World Champion Valentino Rossi. In the square, most famous for its movie premiers, the 25 -year-old rece ived a fil m-sta r welco me fro m his ado ring fans. "It was a fantastic after noon all these people make me very we lcome : ' O n the eve ning of July 22, at Home House in Centra l London , HRH Prince ss Anne attende d a special Grand Prix ball w hich was supporting . th e Riders fo r Health charity. Princess Anne is the official patr o n of the charity that is supported by all the MotoG P teams and ride rs. wit h even more peo ple than in previous years," Rossi said prior to leaving for Do ningto n Park to compe te in the Cinzano British Grand Prix. '" live in London, so it' s almost like meeting my ho me fans, alt hough the re were plenty of Ita lians th e re . I love racing in Britain and at Do ningto n Park, and ' A packed house a t Leicester Squa re in Landon came to see Valentino Rossi. AMA Supermoto Opener A No-Go AMA Pro Racing has anno unced today that round o ne of the 2004 AHA Supermoto Championship, scheduled to be held on August 14 in Reno , Nevada, has been postpo ned . T he cham pionship will now begin on August 28, at Copper Mo untain, Co lo rad o. T he Reno event has been reschedu led for O cto be r 2. AMA Pro Racing Supe rmoto series manager Chris Bradley, stated that a number of issues arose between the eve nt organizer. Race Promotion Managem ent (RPM) and the pro mot ional company representing the four Reno-based hotels hosting the race . "We have been informed by RPM that the promo te r gro up would not be able to live up to its agreement fo r th e o riginal scheduled dat e ," sa id Brad ley in an AMA re lease . "Instead of forcing the matter and moving fo rwa rd with an eve nt th at wou ld most likely tional grou p could reso lve their pro blems: ' Both parties have informed AHA Pro Racing that the issues that lead to the postponement could be reconciled by the new date. Cameron Gray of RPM said his co mpan y has offere d to help defray cancellatio n fees incurred by AMA Pro Racing, teams and riders due to this lat e notice. ''At RPM, we fee l an o bligation to help make up cos ts caused by this issue." said Gray. "Part icipants who have incur red fees due to non -re fundable airline tickets or hotel rooms sho uld call Adrienne Wr ight at 303/377-327 8 for more informa tio n. We were ho peful tha t our pro blems co uld be resolved quickly. Unfo rt unately that proved to be impossib le . We ap preciate AHA Pro Racing's willi ngness to wo rk with us. W hile have been compromised. we agreed to header and comprise rounds one and two. The new schedule is as follows: we recognize that it's an inconvenience for everyone in the short ter m, w e're confident res ched ule the race so RPM and the promo- stage a first-class even t in Octob er." AMA Pro Racing confi rmed t ha t the Co ppe r Mountai n eve nt will re main a dou ble- that we 'll be able to resolve the situation and Fujinami Closes On World Trials T itle Raga was given a much disputed five for 12 prior to his second moving rocks at section atte mpt , and even an official protest after the Re psol Montesa H RC's Takah isa Fujinami took anot her imp orta nt step toward securing the 2004 World Outdoo r Trials Champio nship, when he recorded his e ighth victory of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix in Pue rto Pajares, Spain, on July 25. Fujinami's late st win puts him even furt he r ahea d in the overall standings with just o ne round rem ain- ing. Even a confident Adam Raga (Gas Gas) co uld not stop the Japanese rider at Raga's ho me ro und, and was forced to take the ru nne rs up trophy away with him. Dougie Lampkin (Re pso l Montesa HRC) completed the rostrum, but the British ride r was far fro m happy after having held a slice of the lead at the en d of the first lap. Lampkin was not the only d isappo inted ride r, as Marc Fre ixa co uld only manage sixth place at a trial where he had hoped to be o n the podium. As with the ro und in Andorra, the Grand Prix of Spain consisted of only one day, as opposed to the more usual two -day fo rmat. Raga and Lampkin matched each other thro ugh the ope ning hazards with a dab apiece, to post the best score in this eariIy section . Although Fujinami had parted with three dabs to open his account, he was soon to recover some grou nd as he too k another three marks along with Raga at the next sect ion, while Lampkin tasted his first failure of the day. W ith the co urse rapidly climbing fro m its starting he ight of 1400 me ters, the next real test came at section six just before the summit of a grass covered mountain. Raga was head and shou lders above the rest here, his clean ride was unmatch ed all day, althoug h Lampkin came close befo re needing a hefty two to pull himself clear of the final step. Fujinami lost im ponant ground to his riva ls at this point by collecting his first five of the trial. The eventual winner would add tw o more maximums to his score before the close of the lap, to leave him in th ird place and seven marks of the lead at the halfway point . Raga and Lampkin co mmitt ed their own er rors later on the initial loop, but the ir first- lap punch cards showed just two fives eac h, as the pair both recorded 27 marks on observation . However Raga was to be declared th e interim leader, as Lampkin saw two time penalty marks added to his total, after having slight ly exceeded the inte rmediate limit of th ree and a half hou rs for the first 15 hazards . While Raga and Lampkin failed to show any great im pro veme nt on the ir respective morning performances, Fujinami was making a remarkable comeback and riding at a new levelthat not even his closest two rivalscould match. 10 AUGUST 4, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS trial could not get this decision reversed, while Lamp kin adde d to his woes by fiving the very last section of the day to demo te himself from jo int leader to an eve ntual third place . Although Ragawou ld find it hard to believe, his own actions wo uld allow Fujinami to snatch the victory from him by just two marks . Kenichi Kuroyama (Beta) finished a distant fo urth ahead of his Spanish teammate, Albert Cabestany (Beta) , who was very disappo inted with his perfo rmanc on ho me soil. Having had to wait fo r the out come of Ragas pro test, Fujinami was delighte d when he was finally de clared t he o fficial wi nner. "Although I am please d with the victo ry, it is perhaps one that I d id no t expect after riding so badly this morn ing," Fujinami said . "My perfonnance was very much improved dur- ing the second lap , but st ill I did not think that I could win. I was very ne rvous to start w ith, but on the sec o nd lap I focused mo re o n my riding, rather than co ncerning myself with th e pe rformance of the oth er riders. I am d isappointed at the reactio n of Raga, concerning the final result, but I think he already knows this. I have a good pos ition in the overall stand ings, but the re is still work to do at the last roun d, if I am to become cham pion : ' 40th Anniversary Takahisa Fujinam i further tightened his gr ip on his first World Trials Champ ionship title by winning the Grand Prix of Spain.

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