Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Schwantz vs. Rossi Valentino Ro~si shows that he can also ride a bit of supermoto. The theoretical became the actual last weekend in Italy. The question of who would win a race between World Champions Kevin Schwantz and Valentino Rossi was finally answered - sort of. The pair went head to head in three supermoto races and in rally cars at "MOMI: Motorcycles and Legends: Passion said. "The track was really slippery. but you could ride. and it was only fair that the look to your left and you could see the other guy crossing the line. and you knew if fans who came here despite and on Saturday. with an even bigger crowd on Sunday. "They estimated over 50.000 for the two days. It's amazing to see the popularity that kid's [Rossi] got." said Schwantz , who himself is no stranger to popularity. out of the corner. you had him beat or if he kicked your ass. I think we were within a tenth or two of each other," At the end of the day. no cars or bodies were torn up. Schwantz thought that Max Biaggi's recent supermoto crash that ended with a broken leg instilled a note of caution . "Everybody hit walls and knocked tires out a little bit. We didn't tear up any cars. A couple of guys fell. but nobody got hurt, nobody got beat up," Henny Ray Abrams Spectacle," a combination exhibition/competition co-organized by Rossi's father. Graziano , in Pesaro, Italy. not far from Rossi's hometown of Tavullia. Who won? Both and neither. "After I went to Barcelona for the Grand Prix this year, I went to Italy. went to Dainese for a couple days and then I went down and hung out in Rimini and talked to Graziano [Rossi]. and he said, 'We're thinking about doing a motorcycle show. Can you come?'" Schwantz said. ' ~n d he went and showed me where they were going to build the course and how they were going to do it. So I said, 'Y h. sure I'll come over ea and ride. It'll be fun." Constructed around the convention center that housed the motorcycle show were circuits for various activities - rally car, supermoto, go-karts , minibikes. quads. freestyle. vintage motorcycles and produc- tion motorcycle test rides. Only two interested Schwantz : supermoto and rally cars. The supermoto races were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but Schwantz saw an opportunity for another race - an all-star race in the wet on Sunday. "It was me and Valentino and Casey Stoner and Peter Oettl and a couple of other guys [including Mauro Sanchlni] about six of us," Schwantz said. 'And I said. 'Hey' ... I stopped the middle of the track. I said, 'Hey, if we we're out here and it's wet and it's not ice, let's race right now. We don't want to get dry and then have to get wet again. So let's line 'em up.' They were like. 'Ohhhh, okay, good Idea,' So we race . and Casey [Stoner] fell and Valentino [Rossi] fell, and I passed one guy and I won . Wasn't much of a race ." Schwantz said with a laugh. "I enjoyed that like a madman!" Rossi the weather could he see a supermoto race." Rain didn't stop 15.000 spectators from showing up to Saturday; Rossiwon one on his Yamaha YZF450 and 125cc World Champion Andrea Dovizisio won the other. Schwantz ended up finishingsixth and seventh on his Wagner Motos RMZ250-chassised. DRZ450-motored supermoto bike. The supermoto track was short: Lap times were around 22 seconds. And because it had rained, the dirt section was never used. The "Challenge of Champions" rally car course was roughly the same length with about the same lap times , and it was too narrow for cars to compete side by side. The racing was head to head and against the clock. with two start-finish lines used . "They'd split the lap and they 'd start you in two different spots , and then you'd take off at the same. " 5chwantz said. "Y could ou tell by watching the start-finish line who was getting an advantage, and we ran either three- or five-lap sprints," Schwantz shared his Mitsubishi with Graziano Rossi.On the first day, Graziano lost to his son, Valentino, who was in a Subaru, and Italian rally champion Andrea Navarra (5ubaru) beat former World Rally Champion Colin McRae (Mitsubishi). In the final showdown. Navarro beat Valentino Rossi. On the second day in the semifinals, Schwantz and McRae raced and Valentino lined up against MotoGP rival Loris Capirossi world with his fighting third place in a recent round of the AMA 250cc Motocross Championship . and cracked the top three in While Mike Alessi is coming to race in select ed rounds of the 2005 World MX2 Motocross Championship. he might have to miss the open ing round in Zolder, Belgium, according to KTM team boss Kurt Nicoll. There is a chance that Alessi will miss the first round, but will race the two following rounds in Spain and Portugal, and then anoth- The news that Alessi will do some rounds of the series has already brought great interest to the World Championship Series. and it's the first time a podiumfinishing 250cc AMA rider has er round later in the series. Alessi himself is in his rally car debut. "The first one was the very first race of the day and [McRae] goes . 'I didn't think this was a race . because the first day we just kind of gone and 10 DECEMBER 1,2004 • the recent Bercy Supercross in France. practice,''' always given him so much credit for his motorcycle riding ability... I did that track day at Brands Hatch and he showed up. They were like. go out there and show Colin around. I was out there first second gear. thinking he was just going to be putting. I ended up having to ride pretty hard to get away from him. He's pretty fast on a motorcycle." For the final, Schwantz raced Capirossi, and Capirossi won "just by a little bit. It was really close . As you crossed the line you could Rossi tries his hand in a rally car. Nicoll. however. is looking at the big picture and does not want to see another young rider miss out on competing in Europe due to Alessi's participation . "If the first GP is as oversubscribed as in previous years, then it would be unfair to put raced in the Grand Prix series Windham, since Kevin a top-three rider from America has raced in a GP in Europe for more than a in a wild card who has no intention of racing the whol e series." Nicoll said. "Many riders rely on a first GP start in order to get their place in a GP team . In this case we will ask Youthstream if Mike [Alessi] can race Spain and Portuga l. In the case that the first GP is not as full as in previous years. he could also race the first GP." Geoff Meyer Haga Still Not Announced Noriyuki Haga's remarriage to Yamaha and its World 5uperbike team has still not been announced or consummated , and the only reason seems to be that he is still under contract with Renegade Ducati, his 2004 employees. Despite rumors of Renegade holding him to the very end of his contract, unless Yamaha buys him out in some form , Yamaha racing supreme Laurens Klein Koerkamp (who still isn't mentioning Haga by name) said: "Many people seem very worried about the current situation w ith the second rider. Sometimes it seems we are the only ones who are not." Gordon Ritchie decade. CYCLE NEWS done 5chwantz said. "There were lights and starts and finishes and all that. I beat him the first time , I think, kind of by fluke. We went to dinner late Sunday night and he said, 'You know. the bad thing about it, I was actually trying to beat you,' Whether he said that because I've Sebastien Tortelli and Greg Albertyn rode the 1999 U.S. GP. It will also be the first time ing of the AMA 125cc Motocross Championsh ip. "I want to do as many GPs as possible." Alessi said. The 16-year-old Californian stunned the the next corner or just coming There were two supermoraces in the dry on More on Alessi's GP Plans keen to do as many races prior to the open - was in 40th Anniversa ry

• Cover