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/128352
Briefly... Rossi Gets His Own M I The 11th annual Three-Hour Endurance Motorcycle Ice Race to benefit the Steel Shoe Fund has been scheduled for January 23, 2005. Th e race w ill o nce again be held in front of Gimmers Sunset Marina on Lake Kosh konong, near Fo rt Atkinson , Wisco nsin. Th ree classes will be offered: Lightweight ( I25-2oocc), Middleweight (20 1-400cc) and Heavywe ight (40 Icc and above ). Signup will be between 8:30 a.m . and 10 a.m. Entry fee is $125 per te am , with a max imum of four riders per team. Ent ry fee includes a souvenir Pro Plate Team Number Plate . Team numbers are on a first-come, first-served basis (num bers 1-10 are reserved fo r the top 10 from the 2004 event). For more information o n the race , call 262/754-0686, o r email steelshoe@wi.rr.com . In the event of weather issues. there will be a special raceday hotline with last-minute race info. Tha t number is 920/563-5702 . R e ce ntly crowned MotoGP Wo rld Ch amp ion Vale ntino Ross i made a historic journey to Y amaha's hea d office in Iwata, Japan, last we ek to visit the facility an d the peopl e that suppo rted his 2004 cam paign. In the process, he rece ived a pe rso nal "t hank you" fro m the com pany's pres ident, Mr. T. Hasegawa, in th e form of his very own Yamaha M I. The Italian arrive d at Yamaha Motor Com pany's Communication Plaza by helicopter and was greeted by the huge ap plause of management and fact o ry staff upo n his arrival. After receiving a person al message fro m Hasegawa, Rossi then made a num ber of appearances th roughout th e Yamaha co mplex before part icipat ing in th e official press co nfere nce . It was th en that Hasegawa presented Rossi with a certificate of ownership for a YZR-M I - the very YZR-MI w hich he piloted to his sixth Wo rld title. "Vale nt ino Rossi is more th an th e wo rld's best mot o rcycle race rs: He is a person ality that is not limited to just the confines of the MotoGP champio nship," Hasegawa said. "Fro m the moment yo u wo rk w ith Rossi, you instantly becom e a fan , an d yo u are natu rally dr iven to give mo re than 100 percen t to support him. It is th is very trait and his ability as a rider tha t led to him winning th e World title in his first year. Because of this skill and perso nality, I am prou d to presen t Valent ino w ith the YZR-M I as a sign of our ap preciatio n for his efforts th is year." A very happy Rossi said: "This is th e (Above) Valentino Rossi greets workers at the Yamaha factory. best gift I cou ld w ish for. I must say thank yo u to Yamaha and Mr. Hasegawa for giving me my very own MI to take hom e , I'm not sure w he re I w ill kee p it, maybe next t o my bed , o r maybe in a safe at a bank!" Rossi was then ta ke n on a private to ur of the Yamaha prototype facto ry, wh ere the compo nents of his YZR-M I are produced , befo re attending an official Yamaha cha mp ions hip celebrati on dinner in his honor in nea rby Hamamatsu. GSE w ill be the only Ducati-suppo rted team in the British 5uperbike Ch am pio nship in 200 5, with the team slated to run Dunlo p tires o n its ex-factory 999s . Leon Haslam will be joined o n the team by fellow Brit James Haydo n. Both riders partici pated in the recent World Supe rbike tes t at Valencia in Spain. Rossi was given a gift certificate good for one Yamaha YZR ·Ml MotoGP racer from Yamaha president T. Hasegawa. Lange Perfect at Hampton Arenacross Team G ree n/Richmond Racing Kawasaki's Darcy Lange was the big w inne r at round fou r of the National Arenacross Serie s in Hampton, New York, November 19-20. The defending series champion won every ma in eve nt over the cou rse of the weeke nd, and he also won bo th Dash Fo r Cash races . The four wins give Lange a to tal of 12 victo ries thus far and a healthy po ints lead . O n Friday night, Lange won the 125cc main event, ahead of Team FBC Ho nda rider Shane Bess, his first podium of year, and Shogun Yamaha's Josh Demuth. In the 250cc main event, Lange too k the checke red flag ahead of Demuth and Shogun's Chad Johnson, respectively.The fl n- ishing order was the same in the Dash Fo r Cash. The next night it was pretty muc h a re peat fo r Lange. T he Kawasaki ride r too k the win in the 125cc main, followed by Team TUF Honda rider Branden Jesseman in second and Demuth again in third . In the 250cc main, Lange was followed across the finish line by his team mate Jeff Northrop and De muth . The Dash For Cash race was an all-green affair, as the en tire Team Green/Richmo nd Racing Kawasaki tea m fou nd its way onto the po dium. Lange too k mo st of the lo ot, fo llowed by Kawasaki rider Evan Laughridge and North rop . Darcy Lange was unbeatable a t the Hampton Are n a cro ss. Ducati Committed to V-Twin Ducati's new electronics package - com plete w ith an ent ire new w ir ing loom , centralized CPU to benefit we ight distribution, and mor e adjustability in th e potential ignition and injection settings in each gear - was in use at the Vale ncia test in Spain, and it is anot her prod uct of the fact that the Pire lli tires are not yet at the level of top range Michelins or Dunlops. The fact is that after a seaso n of wo rk, eac h team has to make its bike wo rk aro und the tires. allowing for an ea rlier break away and less o utright sidegrip than oth er types. Davide Tard ozzi and te chn ical bos s Ernesto Marine lli bot h confirmed tha t this was the main re aso n for the new e lectro nics system . Now Ducati can tun e the EFI in each gear to reduce wheelspin - although each stresse d that it is not any fo rm of tract ion control, as it just alters the engine characte ristic dep ending o n (what appears to be at least) the spee d of throttle o pen ing and the part icular gear selected at eac h time . Therefore, in higher gear s, mo re to rq ue can be applied, as the rear will have fewer ten dencies to step out - an inte res ting and rule- friendly way to overcome w hat they see as a bigge r probl em for them then for the fo ur-cylinde r machines. Wh en asked if the new technical rules in 2004 and this particular probl em we re the beginning of the end for the big tw in forma t in World 5uperbi ke, and if they may have to go back on their ea rlier com ments about not racing any version of their MotoG P rep lica V-four, Tardozzi gave a ste ely, if friendly stare and said, ''I'm sure Ducati w ill always be able to build a co mpetitive V-tw in for World 5uperbi ke." And, for emphasis, he said it tw ice . Gordon Ritc hie www.cyclenews.com Th e final details of the Corona Ex t r a title spon so rship fo r the World Superbike Cham pionship are be ing worked out in Rome , Italy, at the headquarters of FGSpo rt . Francis 8att a, the boss of the Alstare Co ro na Suzuki team, was said to be working out th e fine de tails of an agreement that would see his company, highly ade pt at public relations and promotions under the su pe rvision of his wife Patricia, take over many prom otion al aspe cts of Wo rld Superbike racing fro m 200 5 on . Ten Kate Honda, as yet without a major sponsor for next year 's Worl d Supe rbike Cham pionship , is, according to rum o rs, working o n a deal with a Japanese tobacco subsidiary co mpany. A link w ith Came l has bee n ruled ou t due to its present Moto GP sponsorship, but another JT brand, perhaps fo rm er NASCAR Cup sponsors Winston, is more likely. Ten Kate personnel refused to co mme nt o n any such rumors at the recent World Superbike test in Spain. Euros port cab le tele vision and Yo uthstream have signed a three-year agreementto broadcast the FIM Motocross (MX I and MX2) and SuperMoto (SI and 52) World Champion ships through 2007 . Eurosport, available in 19 different languages , re aches 98 million ho mes and 240 million viewers across 54 countries, according to Youth stream. All the motocross GPs will be broadc ast live o r delayed on Euro sport cha nnels, and Eurosport will be the exclusive spo rt chan ne l broadcaster fo r MX I and MX2. News and highlights of all motocross GPs will also be shown within Eurosport 's program "Moto rs port Week End" and o n the Euros portnews channel. As part of th is agreement, Sportltalia, Italy's terrestrial sports channe l, will broadcast all Continued on page J' CYC LE N EWS • DECEMBER 1,2004 9