Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Suzuki Castrol Wins Albacete Eight-Hour T eam Suzuki Castrol's Vincent Philippe down the field, as Kawasaki Diablo, Shell Endurance Academy, Suzuki Fagersjo-el and 5apeurs Pompiers chased sixth place. Fagersjo-el suffered an electrical fault that led to its demise after a long pushin for Paul Young. The others His teammate, Kitagawa, and Keiichi Kitagawa won their second added: "We must do something special for the next round, the Suzuka Eight-Hour race, because the level of World Endurance Championship round of the season, this one coming in the night race in Albacete, Spain, at the A1bacete Eight-Hour. With the win, Team Suzuki Castrol now leads the World Endurance Championship by 19 points over Bolliger Team Switzerland, 55-36. The Philippe/Kitagawa duo was fastest in both practice and qualifying. They led from competition the start and were never seriously chal- The first hour saw a battle for honor between Suzuki Castrol and local heroes Folch Endurance, as Philippe and Keiichi Kitagawa flies through the night en route ta Ribalta swapped the lead winning the Albacete Eight-Haur in Spain. repeatedly. Yamaha Austria's Gwen Giabbani settled into a over the rest of the field, a lead that the team comfortable third place, while Kawasaki extended hour by hour through the race, Bolliger and Yamaha Phase One Endurance Folch Endurance and Yamaha Austria continfought for fourth position. ued to trade places for the next five hours. The first round of pit stops allowed A similar fight was developing further Suzuki Castrol to break away and build a lead lenged, topping the Yamaha Folch Endurance 23 team of Kenny Noyes, Dani Ribalta and Salvador Cabana by three laps. In turn, the Yamaha Folch team was another three laps clear of the third-place team, Yamaha Austria 7. "In the first relay, it was quite difficult to get past Folch Endurance, and I was thinking of the championship and not just this one race," Philippe said. ''This is a very good result for us in the championship." there is very high. We hope to get a special engine from the Suzuki factory, and I will be competing in the Suzuka 300km race next month with Vincent Philippe continued for preparation." MX TV To OLN AMA Pro Racing announced last week that the 2005 AMA Motocross Championship will be telecast on the Outdoor Life Network after spending the past several seasons on ESPN. In making the announcement, John Farris, AMA Pro Racing vice president of commercial develop- ment, said OLN will be a great home for AMA Motocross. "OLN is building a strong reputation as a network committed to high-quality action sports," Farris said. "From coverage over the past two years of the AMA Supermoto Championship to such varied programming as the Tour de France and the Dakar Rally, OLN has created a unique niche in sports TV: We're glad to be associated with the network." Former AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross Champion David Bailey will iead the announcing team for the OLN telecasts. "We're thrilled that David will hosting our coverage," Farrs said. "His experience as a racer coupled with his overal knowledge of the sport is unparalleled." According to the AMA, the 250cc class races will generally be telecast on Saturday following the race, with the 125cc class races airing the following Thursday. Exceptions will be made in the month of July to accommodate OLN's Tour de France coverage, the AMA says. 'i\MA Motocross is a great addition to OLN's arsenal of action sports programming," said Marc Fein, senior vice president of programming and production. "'t's got all the action, adrenaline and competition OLN viewers crave." swapping places until the closing minutes of the race, with Sapeurs Pompiers finishing sixth, Shell Endurance Academy seventh and Diablo eighth. Yamaha Phase One seemed set for a sure fourth place until the final hour, when suspected engine problems brought them into the pits for a diagnostic check and then in again to cool the bike down, allowing Bolliger Kawasaki through to take the position. Suzuki No Limits & RT Motor Team finished in ninth place, just ahead of fellow Italians Suzuki Fabi Corse. Hawk Hauls Barry Hawk didn't let an off weekend in his schedule go unfilled long - and he's glad he didn't. He picked up $1000 of the purse for winning round three of the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals, presented by DP Brakes, in Wellsville, Ohio, on May 22. Run in nearly ideal condi- tions over a technical course in Wellsville, the Team Am-Pro Yamaha/FMF/MSR YZ250 racer got a decent start and quickly worked his way into the lead. After that, Hawk consistently put time on the rest of the field, though a last-lap crash cut into that lead and put him 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Jimmy Jarrett at the end of the two-hour event. Martin Wins Canadian Superbike Opener Francis Martin returned to the winner's circle at the opening round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Shannonville Motorsport Park on May 22, the 1999 series champion grabbing the holeshot and leading every lap of the IS-lap race on the DXS Diablo Performance Suzuki G5X-R I000 to score his first victory since winning the 2003 season finale at Shannonville. Frank Trombino finished second on the Trombino Yamaha Racing Yamaha YZF-R I, almost three seconds behind Martin. Jordan Szoke was third on the Fast Company Honda CBR IOOORR. "It's just awesome to come back here and win," Martin said after his seventh career National Superbike win. "I'm pretty sure we have a good chance at the championship. We're looking pretty good right now." Martin and Trombino set a furious pace in the open- ing laps of the race, with Martin establishing a new lap record of I:4.902 on just the second lap. Trombino stayed about a second behind the Suzuki rider for most of the race before developing tire troubles. "We made a bad call by going with the soft compound," Trombino said. "I thought it would have lasted, but it went away about halfway through the race." Szoke ran a lonely third for much of the race but 12 JUNE 1,2005 • CYCLE NEWS was caught by a three-rider battle in the late going. The two-time Canadian Superbike champ only just held off Steve Crevier for the final podium position. Crevier was forced to start from 21 st in the 24bike field on the Diablo Performance Honda CBR IOOORR but made a forceful charge through the pack. He was closely followed across the line by Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R I000 teammates Ciint McBain of Calgary and Kevin Lacombe, in fifth and sixth, respectively. Pascal Picotte suffered a rough start to his bid for a third straight Parts Canada Superbike crown. "I felt good," Hawk said. "We made some changes from the Ohio [GNCC] race last week to this week - actually made some pretty drastic changes suspen- sionwise to my bike, just to try. We came out here, and it works pretty well. It seems like I can be a little more aggressive now like I need to be." Defending series champ Jarrett, on the other hand, didn't enjoy such a comfortable gap over his nearest pursuer - $200 holes hot winner Doug Blackwell. The two racers banged bars almost continuously over the final lap, with the Andrews Cycle/Kenda/Moose-backed Jarrett edging the M2R1Maxxis/SCRsponsored Blackwell by three seconds at the finish. Series newcomer Charles Mullins was in contention for second on his BridgestoneiWiseco/MSR YZ250 but ended up fourth. Brian Garrahan rounded out the top five on his Rentoneonline.com/NorCal Motorsports/Moose RM250. Mark Kariya Picotte fell in practice Sunday morning, injuring his left wrist and ribs on his right side. He managed to qualify IBth for the Superbike feature on his Picotte Performance Yamaha YZF-R I and then rode a brave race to eighth, finishing just behind the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-I OR of Tom Kipp. In other action at Shannonville, Crevier edged McBain for the win in the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sportbike race. Crevier took his DX5 Diablo Performance Honda CBR600RR past McBain's Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R600 with two laps to go and nipped him to the line by .361 of a second. Trombino placed third on the Trombino Yamaha Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 after starting from the pole. CORRECTION: In last week's issue of Cycle News, our Bikes of the Stars featured what we were told was Chad Reed's MarzocchjfBBR Mini. That bike, however, does not belong to the factory Yamaha racer. Nor does Reed have any affiliation with those who built the bike. "We don't have a relationship with them and this is not Chad's bike," Reed's manager Bob Moore said. "We have no deal with them. Chad is a Yamaha rider, and he uses only Yamaha products." OPENED: AFC Racing and Parts, located at 2309 S. Alma 5t in San Pedro, California. On June 4, a grand opening will be held at the facility. For more

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