Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... Strijbos Out of Action T eam Suzuki Hawkstone Park in England on March 6. "I had been told to rest for one week, and now 1 hope that on Friday I can start to do some cycling or slowly AMA Pro Racing has announced an opportunity for AMA members to receive an all. access SuperPass, granting entry to every event on the AMA Pro Racing calendar, in exchange for a $2S00 donation to the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center. The custom-built Asterisk Mobile Medical Center is used throughout the THQ AMA Supercross Series and AMA Motocross Championship events as a qUick.response assessment and treatment facility. The center is fully staffed by medical personnel, and relies almost motcer-osser Kevin has reorganized his preseason commit- Strijbos is facing a five-week layoff after a practice crash in the United States resulted in strained ankle liga- ments and is now likely to make his first ments, according to Suzuki. The 18-year-old Belgian was scheduled to visit doctors in Belgium on Friday, February 4, and it is expected that he will need three to four weeks race appearance of the year at use the ankle again with some physio," exclusivety on donations to cover opera- before he can resume training on his Strijbos said in a team release. "I am not RM-Z4S0. Strijbos caught his right foot in the rear wheel of the four-stroke and was too worried about the injury. I was rid- tional costs. "Every dollar we raise from AMA members will go directly towards the operation and maintenance of the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center," AMA Pro Racing director of safety and logistics Hugh Fleming said. "Our goal is to not only help maintain the high level of medical treatment afforded by the center, but also to reward those AMA forced to prematurely curtail his California practice trip. News of the crash at the Suzuki test track in Corona, California, filtered through to the Belgian team, which initially feared a repeat of the injury disaster almost one year ago that ended the 2004 campaign of its lead rider, Joel Smets. Fortunately, initial medical examinations in Europe revealed a less serious ailment. Strijbos ing quite well in America and enjoyed my time there. I hope to go back at the end of this season. I will miss the first few international races of the year, but there is no reason to expect any trouble before the first Grand Prix. I think I should be able to come back at Hawkstone. " Strijbos will again join Smets on the factory Suzuki team. The first Grand Prix takes place at Zolder, Belgium, April 2-3. members who make a donation with special VIP-type access at the races." "This is a great inside look at all forms of AMA Pro Racing events and at the same time help the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center with its mission to provide on-site medical care for the racing community," said Dr. John Bodnar, director for the medical center and trackside physician for the Supercross and Motocross on its website. The schedule for the 200S World Endurance Championship has been officially confirmed by the FIM. The five-race championship will begin in Holland and end in Italy. The schedule is as follows: Assen 500 A1bacete 8 Hour March 28 - Assen, Holland May 21 - Albacete, Spain Arenacrosser Tommy Hofmaster is on the road back from the spleen, hand and eye injuries that he suffered in the opening round of the National Arenacross Series, and he's slated to race again in the final round of the series in Columbus, Ohio, February 11-13. "I really have to thank everyone around me for being so supportive throughout this whole healing process," Hofmaster said. "I really want to say thank you to Paul Lindsey of MotoworidRacing.com/PPG/Suzuki for supporting me this whole time. I am looking forward to getting back into the mix of it on the track, which is what I miss most about racing - mixing it up." The Winston Ten Kate Honda team completed a three-day test at the Almeria circuit July 31 - Suzuki, Japan Oschersleben 24 Hour August 13-14 - Oschersleben, Germany Vallelunga 200 September 2S - Vallelunga, Italy CBR600RR. All these new ingredients are mixing well together already. We've worked hard on the CBRI OOORR superbike over the winter. but it's been evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. Last year was a development year with Chris Vermeulen, but we were competitive towards the end of the season. I think that Chris and now Karl Muggeridge, who tested in November, have found that the overall package has been improved in certain key areas. We now head for two more days testing at Valencia, where we already have some data on both bikes from last year. Hopefully, the weather will be warmer and we will get a much clearer idea on how our preparations for the season are going." Ducati Motor Hoiding, S.p.A. announced recently a new organization structure in view of an internal reorganization of the company's technical area. Claudio Domeni- cali, in addition to his consolidated role of Ducati Corse managing director, has been appointed to the position of product director. Domenicali will manage all the resources involved in strategic planning, development, marketing, design and product quality. Gigi Mengoli is appointed assistant product manager, a position that will see him involved in specific projects as well as giving support for Domenicali in his new job, advising him in the growth of the structure and the processes that will guide Ducati product development in the years to come, according to Ducati. Mengoli will also take on the role of president of the Ducati Foundation, which will be formed with the aim of collecting, evaluating and spreading the history of Ducati - from the museum to the technical archives, from restoration projects to theme exhibitions. Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse technical director, takes on the new position of Ducati Corse director general with the responsibility of managing all Ducati Corse operating activities, and he will continue to report to Domenicali. Federico Minoli, chairman and managing director of Ducati Motor Holding, said: "I am convinced that our new organization structure will combine the wis- dom and the unique nature of the technical solutions developed over the course of our history with the potential and the efficiency of a method today successfully applied within Ducati Corse and which I would like to become the future standard for the entire company." This restructuring is completed in southern Spain in preparation for this with the appointment of Cristiano Silei, who, year's World Superbike and World Supersport Championships last week. As well as being the first time the four-man team has taken to the track in its new Winston col- after two years spent as director of strategic ors, the Almeria test also represented the Suzuka 8 Hour tier," he said. "We aJso have some new mechanics and, of course, the new way for racing fans or companies to get an Series. In addition to supporting safety efforts in racing, AMA members who make a $2S00 donation to the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center will receive an AMA Pro Racing SuperPass, good for entry to over 70 AMA Pro Racing events nationally. This includes race and pit access to the THQ AMA Supercross Series, AMA Motocross Championship, AMA Superbike Championship, AMA Supermoto Championship and AMA Flat Track Championship. Other benefits include a plaque and recognition by AMA Pro Racing World Endurance Schedule Set manager Ronald ten Kate declared himself happy with the three-day exercise. "For the Supersport team, we have two new riders in Karsuaki Fujiwara and Sebastien Charpen- first opportunity to test Ten Kate's winter development of the Honda CBR IOOORR and the new CBR600RR, which has been heavily revised for 200S. Cold weather restricted testing time on both machines, but team planning and product development, returns to the position of commercial director of Ducati Motor Holding, a role he successfully held from 1997 to 1998. The Father of Supercross, Michael Good· win, was arraigned for the murders of fellow racing promoters Mickey and Trudy Thompson on October 28, 2004, but on February Conlinued on poge 9 CYCLE NEWS • FEBRUARY 16, 2005 7

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