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/128345
Raines Clinches Hare Scrambles Title T eam Suzuki's Do ug Blackwell was the overall winner at the ninth round of the AMA National Hare Scrambles Series in Lynnville, Indiana, on October 3, but It was Am-Pro Yamaha's Jaso n Raines who sported the biggest smile at the end of the day. Raines wrapped up a second-straight series title with a run ner-up finish on the tough and dusty Lynnville course. With no rain to speak of for the entire month of September, the 12.8-mile cou ...e. which was set up in the Lynnville Park coal pits, was covered with dry silt. making visibility for anyone but the front riders very poor. Considering the fact that most of the cou rse consisted of single-track, everyone knew that a good start would be imperative . and at the start it was Blackwell who emerged through the first corner with the lead. followed by Raines, T hro ttlehead.co m/ Kawasaki's Josh McLevy and Kawasaki Team Green's Chuck Woodford . From there on , the top five could do nothing more than I follow the leader. At the finish. it was Blackwell taking his fir>! Na tio nal Hare Scrambles win of the yea r. fo llowed by Raines, McLevy and Woodford . "Today was pretty bo ring:' Raines said. "Doug got the holeshot and led from start to finish. I got second off the line and rode second fro m start to finish. After the fir>! road section, I thought , 'Man, this is going to be dustier than I thought! ' Once we got into the lappers, you 're gelling double the dust . but today was a good day for Do ug: he rides great out here and I'm real glad to see him win out here. " I was real nervous coming in here," Raines added. "My main focus was to win the championship and get that o ut of the way so I could fo cus o n Ja son Raines finished sec o nd to Doug the last two GNCCs. So, my hat's off Blackwell at the L n nville, Ind iana, y to Do ug, Chuck and everybody who Notional Ha re Scra m bles, but he finished this race. It was tough today." clinched his seco nd co nsecu tive title , Supermoto Finale for Bally's AMA Pro Racing has announced that the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship finale - the AMA Red Bull Supe rmoto -A-Go-Go - w ill be held at Bally's in Las Vegas, Nevada. o n Saturday. Novem be r I3 and will run in co njunct ion w ith the AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet that will take place the ne xt day at Paris Las Vegas. The two at tached hote ls are located on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip . "We 're thri lled to bring the AHA Red Bull Supermoto A-Go -Go to the Strip in the heart of Las Vegas," said Chris Brad ley. AMA Superrnoto Series manager. "O ur friends at Red Bull know how to throw a great party. and th is even t will be huge : ' Riders expected to compete in the finale I include former AMA Motocross champs jeff Ward , Do ug Henry. jeremy McGra th and Travis Pastrana ; three-time AMA Superbike Champion Do ug Ch andler and former SOOcc Wo rld Champion Kevin Schwantz from road racing; and fre es tyle motocross lege nd Mike Metzge r. Up-and-co ming supermoto stars such as Chris Fillmore . Ben Carlson and Mark Burkhart and a few promi nent regula rs from the international ranks . Jurgen Kunzel, Kurt Nicoll and Alexand re T hiebault, are also expec ted. "Last year we had interest (ro m severa l World Champi ons hip com petito rs, but they weren't eligible to race based on the q ualifying criteria ," Brad ley said. "This year the rules allow FIM Worl d com petiters to race in the AMA Supermoto finale. This should lead to a number of additional big name ride rs co mpeting alongside the pro minent lineup of riders already slated to race ." AMA Supe rbike racer Be n Bostro m won last year 's winner-take-all Supermoto class title at the AMA Red Bull Supermoto-A-Go Go cham pio nship finale, while former AMA Motoc ross Champion Grant Langsto n won the Supermoto Unlimited-class lit le. Both are expected to return to Vegas. The AHA Red Bull Supermoto-a-Go-Go will pay double po ints for the first five finlshers in bo th the Supermoto and Supermoto U nlim ited classes. Th is year's event will have free adm ission with pit passes available fo r purchase. www.cyclenews.com Briefly... Ryan Sip"" and Kyle Chisolm were the big winn ers at the 28t h ann ual Kawasaki Race of Champions at Raceway Park in Englishtown , New je rsey, O ctober 2-3. The Kawasaki-mounted duo took top hono rs in the Pro classes . Chiso lm to pping the 12Scc class and Sipes the 2S0cc class. They also traded po sitions in both classes. with Chiso lm finishing sec o nd in the 2SOc class c and Sipes taking sec o nd in the 125cc class. Yamaha Mot or Germany has com pleted its lineup for th e 2005 Supe rsport Wo rld Ch am pionship with the signing of Broc Pa rk e s to race alongside fellow Austra lian Kevin Curta in , acco rding to the team. Curtain signed a one-year ext ens io n to his current dea l and Parkes signed on the do tte d line at the final ro und of the series in France on O ctober 3. Cu rtain, the winner of 12 Nat ionallitles and two World Superspo rt races , finished th e 2004 seas on in sixth place . wh ile Pa rkes . 22. en ded his seco nd full seas on of Wor ld Supe rs port racing as runne r-up to Karl Muggeridge , finishing on the podium five times. Yamaha Mot or Germ any will cam paign the update d, 2005 mo del YZF-R6. "I can't wait to tes t the new R6 w he n we go to Q ata r in Dec emb er," Curtain said in a team release . "O ur cur ren t bike is alrea dy very fast and able to challenge for wins, but the modifications to the new bike look like making it even easie r to ride, which is very impo rtant in World Supersport racing : ' Parkes is also looking fo rward to riding with the team. ' ~ft er finishing second this season, I'm really moti vate d to go one better ne xt year," Parkes said. "Having bee n around the paddock for the last few yea rs, I have got to know the guys at Y amaha Ge rmany and I know that they are a good team and my best o ption for winning the title. After spen ding the last two years at Ho nda, my aim is to follow in the footsteps of Valentino Rossi and take the 2005 Supersport title with Yamaha: ' According to an e-mail fro m road racer Richie Morris, he's opted to retire as a result of a serious leg injury sustained during practice at Road America in April. "I have my left wrist fused now:' Morris said. "It isn't too bad, but a knee wo uld be the wo rst joint to have fused in you r entire body. Hopefully. the tibia will hold up o r they will come up with something else. Iwasn 't too worried about it at first as I have overcome injuries before . and I actua llywent to Lou don in june to try to ride. But I couldn't even make a lap. Then I was sure I would be re ady for Las Vegas. Now. every time I go to the do ctor the news gets worse. Right now I just want to get health y enough to operate o ur ho rse ranch and hopefullybecome a successful team owner. It will be hard going to the races and not be on a bike. but I knew the day was co ming. I just didn't want it to end like this. At least I can look back and say the last race I ran, I was on the pole and had a good lead in the race before an engine failure . So that makes me feel like I left th e spo rt stillcompetitive . Also, when I get depressed about the situation, alii have to do is look at the film of me and Scott Russell at Dayton a in 2001. We both are lucky just to be around breathing air after that : ' Continued on page 9 CYC LE N EWS . OCTOBER 13,2004 7