Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I Briefly... Continued from page 7 Team Suzuki MotoGP riders John Hopkins and Gregorio Lavilla each carried a spe cial tr ibute to fallen Australian Suzuki ride r Kirk McCarthy in the Australian Grand Prix on O ctober 18. McCart hy, Irom Melbourne, sufferedserio injuries in a firstus lap Supersport race cras h at the Qu eensland Raceway in August and succumbed to his injuries in hospita l later that day. Hopkins and Lavill honored his memory in the a first Australian GP since the accident , with the ir bike fairings sporti ng a spec ial sticker mad e for the veteran racer. The stickers featured his name , Kirk, and his favorite racing number - 16. "Th e accident was very recent and a very big shoc k lor Australian racing, and especi allylor his Suzuki team ," ractory MotoGP team manager Garry Taylor said, "We 're glad to give them our support in paying our respects to a ride r that severa l of the tea m knew, and who is already sadly missed." British Supe rbike racer Scott Smart will join reigning British su perbike Cham pion John Reynolds in the RizlaSuzuki British Superbike team in 2005, replacing Yukio Kagayama. Scott, 28, wo n three times lor Kawasaki in the series this year, ending up fourth in the series points standings, Scott takes the vacant seat lelt by Kagayama, who has ridde n for the team the past two years. a "Gett ing the ride with Rizl Suzuki was like Christmas coming ear ly for me, and I haven't stopped smiling," Smart said in a tea m re lease. "Rizla Suzuki is a fantast ic team and the mo st pro fessional in the pad- Schwantz, Spies, James and Co. Go Racing anything we needed ; we had complete extra wheels - everyth ing. Had the bike lallen over Raci ng as Team Schwantz Schoo l, the ce lebrity trio 01 1989 AMA Supe rbike Champion Jamie James, 1993 sOOcc Grand Prix Wor ld Champion Kevin Schwantz and 2003 AMA Form ula Xtreme Champion Ben Spies raced to third overali in the 4-Hour Dunlop WERA off Thurs day morning to get the lorks re built at Ohlins, Brembo had sent us some brakes somewhere out there when we were riding it, for one o f our school bikes , just for students to it to fix it . We' d either have ridden it the way it was, or we'd have just stopped." National Endura nce eve nt at Road At lanta on Oc to ber 16. The Michelin-shod Suzuki Gs XR7s0-mou nted team completed 136 laps and finished four laps dow n to overall wi nner Vesrah Suzuki on its GSX-RI000 . The team finished on the same lap as second-placed Velocity Racing and its Yamaha RI at the end 01 the lour-hour race . The idea 01 ru nning in the W ERA endurance eve nt had been kicked aro und (or a w hile amo ng inst ructo rs at the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki Schoo l, which is based at Road Atlanta. "W ednesday night we we nt and comman- deered a GSX-R World Cup bike, and the main reason we did that was because it already had stainless-stee l brake lines on it," Schwantz joked. "It's actualiy a bike that got crashed when they were r unning bikes in for the World Cup, so it was a bit bent up and skinned up anyway, We just threw some new bodywork at it. Ben [Spies] showed up Irom VIR Monday night and was like, 'We gotta do that endurance race,' and kept on and kept caliing. Me and my instructors, especia liy Harry Vanderlinden, Jamie James and mysell, were like, 'Sure, we' li ride it il it gets built, but we don't wa nt to have to work.' Jamie took to look at, and we figured this is a good use lor them, We th rew them on, and every body that got oil the bike said that the brakes we re be tte r than all 01 us." Schw antz started the race and came in du ring a red nag at the 50-minute mar k, then wen t back out lor almost two tota l hours or seat time. "For me , that's probably the longest I've ridden in qu ite some time." Schwan tz said. " D oing tha t endurance race in France a cou- ple or three weeks ago, I did 15 laps, fell oil the bike, then waite d for them while they fixed the bike, then did a full stint alter that. Physicaliy, today felt pretty good . Spies got on after I did, then Jamie James we nt out and rode , and then we threw Ben [Spies] on at the end, hoping that maybe we could gob ble up Velocity Raci ng and catch them Ior sec ond. They built up a pretty good lead on us with pit stops and stull." With the casual approach to the project, the race str ategy was equallyas casual. "We were still talking about what to do as late as this morn ing," Schwantz said. "We had a change to make to the shitter, beca use Ishilt one dow n, five up, and everybody else shifts backwards , We did it whe n we were changing the rear tire at the end of my stint. T his was lun to do. The really run thing about it was there was a comp lete part s tr uck over there, we probably wo uldn't have done much work James rode the middle stint or the race, comp eting in a race for the first time in six years. "The last time I race d was in 1998," James said. "I was happy with my ride. Consider ing we just kinda pieced a bike toge the r, a group or guys just lended a hand and we really had run doing it. Doug Crawford, who works with me at the shop , just dove in there, and we built the bike in a day and a hall and we went racing. Didn't even think abo ut it hard ly, which is probably the only reaso n I did it. That's what it was all abo ut - just going ou t the re and having fun," Spies rode twice, be ing thrown on with 30 minutes left in an effort to run down the seco nd-place Velocity Racingentry. "It was goo d," Spies said. "Everything worked real goo d. The bike was still pret ty m uch stock. We had some suspension on it. but the way they put it on is the way we rode it. I got to ride on tire s with 130 laps on 'em . I tried to stay away from everyone and not pass them too close, I hope I didn't make anybody mad . It was good run. It was good to come out and ride in WERA and ride with all the guys I grew up racing." Bill Syfan Honda's Steve Hengeveld score d a sta rt- to - www.cyclenEWs.com dock. It thor oughly dese rved to take the Championship in 2004 - and now I am part of that and will take this opportunity with both hands and go lor it. I left Kawasaki on the very be st or ter ms. I en joyed my time there and now I am focused 110 perc ent on learning from JR [john Reynolds], the champion, and he lping Rizla Suzuki to develop the new GSX-RI000 into a race winner. Like everyone else in BSB, I have noth ing but respect and admiration for Yuki [Ka gayama] and know I have big boo ts to fill, but with his and Rizla Suzuki's support , I am sure I will be up Ior the job." AMASports, w hich manages amateu r and Pro-Am com petition for the AMA, has announced the nominees for seve ral of the awar ds that w ill be presented at the second annual AMA Sports Awa rd s Banquet, to be held Friday eve ning, November 12, at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Confer en ce Ce nte r in Las Vegas, Nevada. Champions in AMA Sports and ATVA programs from across the country, as well as some of the key media who cove r the m, will be honor ed at this year 's ceremony. Tic kets for the 2004 AMA Sports Awards Banqu et are $75 per person and include admission to the evening's hosted recepti on, dinner, a souvenir program and m emorabilia, and seating for the aw ards cer emo ny. For re servations. contact Sue Mason at 614/856 -1900 , extension 1244, or at smason@ ama-cycle.org. Tic ket inform ation and the banquet schedule will be available soo n at www.AMADireet link.co m. The nominees are: 2004 AMA Sports Athlete or Continued on page , 1 CYCL E N EWS • OCTOBER 27, 2004 9

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