Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

-- new nat track motorcycle racing d iviI'"'\sion will be added to the 200 5 World Championship IC E Racing Series this winter. The new Mad Dog class will be open to four -stroke production motorcycles of up to 150cc in displacement. Most ma jor manufacturers have a suita ble make of off-road machine sitting in their dealers' show- tion off-road mot orcycles available to the general public. Stock, unmod ified frames must be used with original eq uipmen t engines/ trans- rooms. After successfu l testing during the 2004 season. ICE officials determined the size and power output of these machines was nearly perfect for competitive nat track racing in the extremely tight confines of an ice hockey arena. "W ith a little tweaking by some creative racers, this class is going to be awesome," ICE/WSRA president Gary Densford said. Racers 18 years and older can compete in the Mad Dog class. Experienced 16 and 17 year olds may also be eligible to race with the required parental consent fo rms. The Mad Dogs will join ICE's three existing World Championship d ivisions : Nitro Speedway Bikes (Iuel-burning, brakeless speedway motorcycles), Unlimited O utlaw Quads (highly modified oval track racing ATVs) and Xtreme Open Speedway Karts (o pen four-stroke, fuel-burning , offset oval track racing karts), Up to 12 racers will compete in each Mad Dog main event for 10 laps. Racers simply need to install the mandatory Silver Rockets Racing Studs in the tires, and they're good to go. The Mad Dog general technical rules are rather simple: Machines must be produc- the original location. Engines must be four-stroke, single cylinder, not to exceed 155cc in displacement . Aftermarket performance pipes, wheels/tires, and shocks /springs to lower and adapt the bikes lor nat track handling are permitted. Only unleaded gasoline is allowed. All machines must be equipped with front and right num ber plates and numbers lor scoring . Every rider competing will be scored and awarded World Championship points lor his or her efforts on the ice. At the end of the 2005 series , the first ever champion 01 the Mad Dog d ivisio n w ill be duly crowned. Manulacturer points will also be tallied to dete rmine a World Championship-winn ing brand. For additional information on all things ICE, contact Densford at 843/234 -2777 or email ice @icespeedway.com . The 29th annual ICE World Championship Ice Racing Series schedule is as follows: missions mou nted in December 18,2004 - Everett Events Center, Everett, Washington January 8, 2005 - EXCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota January 15 - Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colorado ' January 28/29 • TucsonConvention Center, Tucson, Arizona ' February 4 - The Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada February 18• Sarnia Entertainment & Sports Centre, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada February 19 - The Coret Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada February 25 - Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, NewJersey ' TBA - Grande Finole Triple Crown Event ' Triple Crown Event Dates are subject to change. Laconi in MotoGP Test According to motogp.com . the official website of the MotoGP World Championship, Regis Laconi will join up with the Ducati Marlboro team at Jerez in Spain next week for t he latest series of tests with the Ducati Desmosedici GP5 - the team's first o uting using Bridgestone tires. The Frenchman will also join regu lar team riders Lo ris Ca piross i and Car los Checa for a two-day sess ion at Valencia . "The tearn have asked me to go and ride at Jerez and Valencia to test the new MotoGP bike," said Laconi, who finished runner-up to James Toseland in the WSB Series this season. "I acce pted because the preseason is just starting, and they need me to lend a hand. I had the op portunity to test the Desmosed ici at Mugello in October, but it rained for the whole day. This time I'll have five days on the bike, and it's a case of getting as much information as I can in order to help the team develop the 200S Desmosedici." Laconi added that his co llaboratio n with the MotoGP was just a one-off opportunity as he contin ues his own prep aratio n for the 2005 World Superbike series. "Obviously, I am an official Ducati rider, but there is no need to read between the lines," Laconi told motogp.com. "It is nothing more than a brief helping hand - I'll have enough work this winter with the Supe rbike program, w hich has aiready started." Everts Punished Eight-time Wo rld Moto cross Champ io n Ste fan Everts has be e n told tha t if he is involved in another riders' strike o r anything else that brings the sport into d isrep ute, he will be banned Irom th e spo rt for as lo ng as two years . The Belgian lege nd, wh o threw his goggles at fellow racer Mickae l Pichon during the South African Grand Prix then block ed the French rider minutes lat er, was also fined . Everts and Pichon we re also fined for being involved in the 10-minute riders' strike at th e same event. The FIM fined the pair 10,000 Swiss Francs ($B600 U.S.) each for the strike inciden t, and Everts was placed on one-year pro batio n and fined an add itio nal 15,000 Swiss Fran ces ($ 12,900 U.S.) for his incide nt with Pichon . - --- - - - ; Briefly... Mad Dogs Invade ICE A ~ Stefan Everts is in ho t water with the FIM. www.cyclenews.com Regis Laconi will test with the Ducati MotoGP team. < - . Continued from page 9 the mo tocross and supermoto roun ds live or on same-da y delay. "It's a superb mo ment for o ur sports," FIM pres ident Francesco Zerbi said in a release. "Uke I have always said, while the businesses are different, every discipline has the same value for the FIM, and this agree me nt confirms that. Motocross and superm ot o are very specta cular sports and deserve to have this very high television coverage. O ur promotional partner, Youthstream, has worked hard pro mo ting these sports and is successfully reaching the FIM's goal to increase the sport value, the notoriety and the television exposure, and create a fullworldwide calendar. We thank Eurosport again fo r confirming their commitment to all motorcycle sports. Together with Youthstream we hope Eurosport will make an excellent promotion for motocross." Giuseppe Luongo, the president of Youthstream, says the new deal willtake the sport to another level on the world market and looks forward to seeing the sport boom due to this new level or exposure. The Honda of Houst o n/ FMF Texas Win ter Racing Series has announ ced contingency fro m Kawasaki that will offer a payo ut of $5 1,700. To add furt her support, Houston Yamaha is posting $26, 100 in dealer contingency for all five rounds of the series. Houston Yamaha will pay riders who have purchased race bikes from either its north or south location . The HoH/FMF Winter Series has now posted over $12 1,000 in contingency, according to series promoters. For more information, visit www.freestonemx.com. Federal land managers in the Sierra Nevadas he ld a public workshop to d iscuss their off-highway vehicle (O HV) route designation process, according to the BlueRibbon Coalition. Over 40 recreationists and other interes te d part ies attended the event tha t was hos ted by the Plumas Nationa l Fo re st . Th e 19 Natio nal Forests in California have initiated a statewide invento ry to map all ro utes o r tra ils used by w hee ledvehicles such as mo torcycles, ATVsand mountain bikes. The goal is to even tually designate roads, trails and areas for OH V use using project level planning guide lines outlined in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Numerous leaders from various recreation groups were at the Oroville meeti ng to make sure th at the Fo rest Service was pro ceeding wit h a fair and open proc ess. Western represe ntat ive for the Blue Ribbon Coalition Don Amado r said, "I think the Forest has made a com mitment to t he recreation comm unity that their voice woul d be heard. I also feel that the agency made a wise choice in de laying the issuance of inter im Forest Orde rs until the public had a chance to fully review the rou te inve nto ry. Designating roads, trails and areas is somet hing the Forest Service shou ld have been do ing since the late I970 s. Recr eation ists support efforts to bett er manage our public lands, but I do n't think they w ill support a short circuited or tru ncated NEPA process that affects land scape level closures withou t due process." Continued on poge J 3 CYCLE NE WS • DECEMBER I , 2004 11

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