Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I Briefly... What's Up With Michael Jordan ichael jordan will have an AMA team for 2005 , but no contracts have been M signed with riders, manufactur ers or tir e companies. acco rding to Clear C hannel's Kenny Abbott. "The jordan Team has proposals fro m several manufactur ers, and we've yet to de cide on all of the ride rs for 2005 , and as Continued from page II Over the course of last season, Jason Pridmo re Jasan Pridmore and Michael Jordan? Probably 5 0. formed a frie ndship with jordan, with Pridmore helping the bas ketball legend with his riding and jordan financing Pridmore's 200 4 tea m for the final two AMA of our country aboard a motorcycle." said Ken Bowersox, directo r of flight crew operations. "We' ll really miss his skilland expertise . but we all envy him in some way for heading off in a new direction." "Cheryl and I willattempt to consummate a dream we first envisioned over 25 years ago: ' Carey said. "O ur 22-plus years of public service in the United States Air Force and NASAhave been incredibly rewa rding, and soon as we come to an agreement we' ll release that information to the press," Abbott said. "We owe it to our sponso rs to short of funds. The pair also share s a passion for golf. do that. Pridmore recently accom pa- "Th ere' s a lot of com petition out there in 2005, and we want to make sure we 're in the best condition to contend and be a nied jo rdan to the seasonending Vale ncia GP. So it seems the rider most likely ful to our coun try ove r tho se years. Please join us in ou r hopes that America will con tinue her push for the stars , a quest that represents the single best hope for all 01 viable team ," Abbot continued. "People to secure his place on the our futur es." have made a lot of speculation regarding 2005 jordan team is jason the team, but there are no confirmed deals as of right now." Pridmore. Some manufacturers submitted forma l written prop osals, and there have bee n discussions with others throughout the season. ':All of the manufacturers wou ld provide a certain level of comm itment, but w e have to choose the propo sals that are going to best suit the long ter m and short te rm goals of jord an's te am," Abbott said. races when the team ran If Pridmore does jo rdan, th e team almost assuredly Suzukis and w ith we hope we've contr ibuted something use- Mon st e r Mob Ducati team ow ner Paul Bird has annou nced that his four-year partnership w ith Du cati Corse will come to an ride for would be on Dunlop end w ith th e team's part icipation in the tires since those have been Pridmore's past sponsors, though none of that is confirmed. jordan will also likely keep Mont ez Stewa rt , w ho rode the jumpman23.co m Yamahas in this year 's Supersport and Superstock championships. As to w hen an announcement might be made, Abbott said, "As soo n as things are finalized." Henny Ray Abrams Northrop, Lange Split Worcester Arenacross Wins Kawasaki rider jeff Northrop had a big weekend at the third rou nd of the Na tional Ar enacross Series in W orcester, M assa chusetts, N ovember 12- 13. Northrop swe pt both 125 and 2S0cc mains Friday night and wen t 2-3 on Saturday night. His consist ent performances propell ed him into second place in the ser ies points standings , but he is still a ways behind series leader Darcy Lange, who came back to win both main events on Saturday night after going 2-5 on Friday night. After th ree round s, the de fending champ, Lange, has recorded eight wi ns and amass 226 points, and Northrop is now in second w ith two w ins ed and 166 points. Chad johnson, whose best finish in Worces ter came in the final 2S0cc main eve nt Saturd ay night where he finish ed second, is third in points with 163. Jeff Northrop co me aw a y with a pa ir of Arenacros s w ins in Worcester, Ma ssa chusetts . 3Bth runni ng of the Macau Moto rcycle Grand Prix on November 20. Monste rMob willenter two Ducati 999 Superbi kes in the Far East race for riders john McGuinness and Stuart Easton, after wh ich the team w ill take another direction for the 2005 season. For the past four yea rs, Monste rMob has taken part in the British Superbike Championship, claiming two titles along the way. In total , the team won 34 rounds of the British Superbike Championshiop and two World Superbi ke races at Brands Hatch in 2003. "It was an extremely difficult decisio n to take to leave Ducati," Bird said in a team release . 'And it rea lly left a lump in my throat whe n I tho ught of w hat we have accomplished ove r the last four years . However, we realized that the time had come to do something differe nt. Quite simply, we needed a new challenge for 2005 , when we aim to extend our team to run three Superbikes in BSB - and that is going to be one really big task. I would like to thank Ducat i Corse, and in part icular Paolo Ciabart l, for everything they have done for us since the start of our relationship, because w ithout the ir contribution, none of this success wou ld have been possible. And a big thanks also to Ducati UK, who have given us their help and support over the past four years." Ciabatti, Ducati Corse Supe rbike prog ram director, added, "We are really sorry that our collaboration with Paul Bird Motor· spor t has come to an end. In wi nning tw o Biaggi on His Feet Max Biagg; took his first steps after surgery to repair his fractu red left ankle , accord ing to a posting on his w ebsite (www.max-biaggLcom). Biaggi was operated on by "two extra spec ialized medical crews" in Lyon, France, on Tuesday, November 9 and was able to walk the next day, according to Dr. Claudio Costa. "This morning , Max [Biaggi] has been checked and the drainage has been removed," Costa said. "He could make a few steps with the crutches, and soon alter, he started to make some small movements with his foot . Everything is going well, and tomorrow he'll be at home. " The injUry is expec ted to keep Biaggi out of the late- Novem be r Hond a tests in jerez and Valencia, Spain. "It will be a toug h winte r," Biaggi said on his site. "But I'm ready to [make] any sacrifices in order to be fine lor the first testing session of the new year, you can bet on it." Biaggi broke the ankle while test ing his Supermoto Honda at the "II Sagittario" track in Latina, Rome , on Saturday, November 6. He 'd been testing with an eye toward racing in the Italian round of the Supermoto World Championship on November 21. The Roman crashed in a slow turn, breaking the fibula of his left leg. An examination by Dr. Costa showed a micro-fracture of the little bone of the ankle, and the decision was taken to imme- diate ly undergo surgery in order to rec over as quickly as possible, Biaggi's rac ing future hasn't been announced, but it's widely accepted that he' ll be joining Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda team . Biaggi was expected to spearhead the development on the Honda RC211v: a machine that was heavily criticized for being deficient in key areas after Honda lost the development skills of Valentino Rossi and crew chief jeremy Burgess. The injury, and follow-up rehab, means he 'll miss the five days of test ing that begin in two weeks, but he won't lose any additional track time . A moratorium on testing mandates that tea ms can't test between December I, 2004, and january 20,2005 . BSB titles with Steve Hislop and Shane Byrne , they have given us a lot of success in the UK and proved to be a very capable and professional team . But above all we would like to thank them for bringing honor and credit to Ducati in BSB ove r the past lour years . We wish Paul, Phil, Stuart and every body in the team all the best lor the futu re." Plans are at an advance d stage for Bird to run the three riders in the 2005 British Superbike Championship using Honda machinery. Already signed is Gary Mason, who w ill be joining the team's junior rider Michael Laverty on the CBRIOOORRs, with the third rider still to be announced . "We are speaking with a numb er of ride rs about the vacant position and we have had lots of interest ," Bird said. "Hope fully, we can conclu de this deal Continued on page J5 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 24, 2004 13

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