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/128351
AII-Aussie Assault for Foggy's Team arl Fogarty has signed the Australian duo of Garry McCoy and Steve Martin to ride in his Foggy Petronas World Superb ike team for 200S, the pair taking over for the departed Troy Corser and Chris Walker. "I am very pleased to have been able to C replace our riders from last year, who fin- ished ninth and I Ith in the championship , with two guys who finished sixth and seventh. We were very impressed by the stan dard of riders that were interested in join- ing us next year, which provided a few headaches. But, out of all of them, I felt Garry and Steve were the hungriest for success - and with points still to prove. "Garry is a very exciting rider, with a proven pedigree, who I think will adapt well to our bike. He has a radical style, and he has won GPs on a high rewing two-stroke machine. The FP I 's power characteristics are probably closer to that type of machine than the Ducati he rode last year. Steve is probably the most underrated rider on the world scene. He wants to be noticed, and now it's up to him to make people sit up and take notice. He is a gutsy competitor, with good setup abilities, who suffered with reliabilityproblems last year, so he was the narne that nobody mentioned - but they willnow." The 32-year-old McCoy completed his first season in World Superbikes this year, finishing sixth in the championship and winning his home race at Phillip Island on a A lessi To Grands Prix in 2005 Never one to not make news, KTM's Mike Alessi has decided to compete in the fi rst three Grands Prix of the 200S World Motocross Championship - the Belgian Grand Prix on April 4, the Spanish Grand Prix on April 17 and the Portuguese Grand Prix on April 24. The youngster, who finish ed Xerox-backed Ducati. Dur ing his Grand Prix career, McCoy won five SOOcc GPs, finishing a best of fifth in the 2000 World Championship. "I am really looking forward to it," McCoy said in a team release . "It is still only early days for the FPI but , from the results the team has been achieving lately, it's clear it has potential. I never set myself targets - I just go out to win. But I am really hoping to do better than last year as I now know a lot of the tracks that I didn't know in my first season , wh ich made it really tough . I am also really pleased to have Steve as a teammate and the chance to share information in trying to get the bike up there challenging for podiums ." The 3S-year-old Martin is a former Australian Superlbike Champion who spent three years in World Superbikes w ith a Pirelli FOGGY SIGNS MCWY AN» MARTIN SHOGtc•.. development team before the spec-tire rule went into effect in 2004. This year, Martin finished seventh in the World Superbike Championship on a Ducati with five podium finishes and three pole positions. "I am really excited by this opportunity, the opening round of the Dutch champ ionsh ip that will be held a week before the op ening round of the World Motocross Champion ship in Zolder, and wou ld be great preperanon,' Nolle said. Geo ff Meyer on the podium in only his second AMA 2S0cc Motocross champ ionsh ip race this year, says he is looking forwa rd to his Europ ean appe arance . "I will be doing the open ing three rounds of the World Motocross Champ ionship," Alessi said. " I am excite d about the pros pect of racing in Europe . I e njoyed the race I attended in Belgium this year and found the people to be very friendly." Harry Nolle of KTM men tioned that it might be a goo d ide a for the Americ an to do a tune- up race in Holland just prior to the Grand Prix open er, although at this stage it is not sure if the teenager will race in Holland. "I told him he shou ld also do 12 NOVEMBER 24, 2004 • C YCLE N EWS and I am going to give it everything I have got ," Martin said. " I know the team has a great bunch of guys and a great bunch of technicians who will be right behind me and I am sure that we can challenge consistently for podiums and better my seventh place in last year's standings. I have seen the FPlout on track, and it clearly handles really well and had good pace for only its second year of racing. It improved a lot during last season , and I am sure that the improvement will continue and that we will be on the pace for 2OOS." The pair is slated to ride the bikes for the first time at Valencia in Spain, November 16-18. Harley Get s Green Light on M useum Harley-Davidson reached a major milestone in plans to br ing a museum to its hometown. as the Milwaukee Common Council approved the sale of 20 acres at sixth and Canal streets to the company. In related news, the Council approved property rezoning, site redevelopment guide- lines and the creation of a Tax Incremental District , according to Harley. "We are absolutely thrilled with this outcome and express our gratit ude to the Milwaukee Common Council for its vote today," said Lara Lee, Harley-Davidson vice president responsible for museum development. "We also appreciate the tremendous support we've had during this process from Mayor Barrett and from the greater Milwaukee community. Har ley-Davidson is excited to be moving forward with its museum development in the Menomonee Valley ." Company plans call for a three-phase development. Phase I w ill consist of 110,000 square feet for the museum and related facilities, including a retail store, meeting rooms , banquet space and a restaurant - at an estimated cost of $60 million. Harley-Davidson plans to begin Phase I construction once the Milwaukee 40th Anniv er sary Department of Public Works facility currently located on the site is moved . The city of Milwaukee has committed to move the facility by February 2B, 2006, and the museum is expected to be completed two years later. The Company's target is to open the museum to the public in 2008. Subsequent phases envision the addition of the Harley-Davidson corporate archives, a restoration shop, additional exhibit space and other future develop ment , for a total of 230,000 square feet over all the phases and an estimated total investme nt of $9S million. "The quality of the Harley-Davidson Museum experience will be first-class in every respect, creating lifelong memories for visitors from around the world and generating significant economic benefits for Milwaukee," Lee said. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce has estimated that the Museum will generate $78 million in annual spending to help grow the local economy and $12.3 million in annual state and local tax revenue . The Museum is estimated to draw 3S0,OOO annual visitors, according to Harley-Davidson.