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/128381
Raines Tops Oregon National Hare Scrambles A m-Pro Yamaha's Jason Raines came away with the win at ~he Funky Chicken National Hare Scrambles in Elkton, Oregon, on May 29. Raines put his Yamaha into the lead after passing KTM rider Shane Watts two laps into the race. From there, Raines, the defending champ, rode off to victory, his first of the IO-round AMA Sports National Hare Scrambles Series. Watts finished second, but it was close. After crashing a couple of times while running second, Watts had to work his way back up into the position he had previously held, only to have problems with his bike on the last lap. He quickly figured things out but not before Suzuki rider Brian Garrahan had caught up to the Aussie. From there, it was a battle to the finish, with Watts finishing just ahead of Garrahan. Third went to Garrahan's KTM-mounted brother, Pat, who was followed across the finish line by KTM riders Kevin Bailey and Billy Russell, and Kawasaki pilots David Pearson, Ricky Dietrich, Lance Smail and Brendan Ritzman. After three rounds, Brian Garrahan leads Kawasaki's Chuck Woodford by three points in the series championship, S 1-48. Pat Garrahan is third with 44 points, followed by Raines with 41 points and Dietrich with 31 points. Jason Raines crept closer to the front of the National Hare Scrambles Championship Series with a win in Oregon. Toseland Honored World Superbike Champion james Toseland received an award at Silverstone in recognition of his efforts in winning the 2004 title. The Brit was awarded the Guild of Motoring Writers "Rider of the Year Award" for 2004 and was presented the highly stylized trophy (based on an air-cooled, single-cylinder engine) by a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, Alan Cathcart. The trophy resides in the RAC Club in London, so Toseland got an inscribed tankard as a memento. Instigated in 1973, the award was first won by Phil Read, with luminaries from all disciplines of motorcycle sport - such as Marco Lucchinelli, jock Taylor, Graham Noyce, Peter Collins, Barry Sheene, Mike Hailwood, Paul Edmondson, Carl Fogarty and recent three-time winner Valentino Rossi - all past winners. In his acceptance speech Toseland joked - from the safe position of second in the qualifying sheets - that, ''I'm really happy to receive this award because I'd had a word with them to make sure that I got some kind of trophy this year." Gordon Ritchie Stolen Tire Concerns Michelin Michelin recently suffered the theft of one of its latest-technology tires dUring a British Superbike Championship event, and it may cause the company to pull out of all of its motorcycle racing activities outside of MotoGP, according to the French company. An investigation has shown that the theft was carried out by professionals, according to Michelin. "Since what used to be the Superbike World Championship went for the one-tire brand rule, we, at Michelin, started taking part in the British Superbike Championship: Michelin's Nicholas Goubert said in a Michelin press release. "We did that only because we were asked by our long-term racing partner Honda Racing Corporation to be there in order to get ready to prepare the Suzuka Eight Hours. We have enjoyed great success together, winning six out of the first eighth races of the 2005 season, being involved with a single two-bike team. Such a success can only be achieved with great bikes, great riders and of course state of the art tires. Unfortunately, during the last event at Mondello Park, our Michelin truck got broken into and a single tire went missing. Would a 'sneak thief' take all these risks to grab a single tire that he would probably not even know where it can be used? I don't think so! Is it the first time ever that a racing Michelin tire goes missing? No, unfortunately not, but it Is the first time somebocly has broken into one of our trucks in a paddock during a race weekend in order to steal one. "We are obviously very proud of our record in all forms of motorcycle racing and of our technological leadership," Goubert continued. "Given this sort of incident, we are obliged to seriously consider whether we can afford to participate anywhere outside the MotoGP arena with state-of-the-art products. In the meantime, as we have always done, we will try our best to enhance our technology to make sure we keep our technological leadership in MotoG"" Briefly... Yamalha's Jamie Hacking suffered dislocations of both elbows in a bicycling accident on May 28 in Colorado and is scheduled to undergo surgery this week at Dr. Arthur Ting's office in Northern California. Hacking is expected to be out of action for six weeks, which means that he won't be back on track until the Laguna Seca round of the AMA Superstock and Supersport Series in july. Fortunately, for Hacking, if he is healthy for Laguna, he will have only missed this weekend's Road America round of the series. Hacking is currently leading the Superstock Series after five rounds by two points over Yoshimura Suzuki's Aaron Yates. Hacking is second, eighth points behind Tommy Hayden in the Superstock Series. Patrick Murphy, a former AMA communications and contingency manager and a longtime confidant and consultant to former AMA road racing manager Roger Edmondson, died on May 27 at his home in Sacramento, California, after a bout with cancer. Murphy was 57 years old. Murphy was employed by Edmondson's Grand American Road Racing Association full time in 200 I after serving several years as a consultant for the car racing association. Parties interested in making a donation in Murphy's name are encouraged to do so to Camp Boggy Creek, the Boggy Creek Gang, Inc., 30SOO Brantley Branch Rr., Eustis, FL 32736, or e-mail www.boggycreek.org. Reigning World Endurance Champion David Checa is slated to compete in the Italian Grand Prix on june 5 as a replacement rider for the injured Toni Elias on the Fortuna Yamaha Team. Elias underwent an operation in Barcelona, Spain, after fracturing the radius and scaphoid of his left wrist and rupturing the ligaments that link the triquetral bone and the radius together. He also fractured the outside of his left fibula, and his leg was placed in a cast. According to Dr. Xavier Mir from the Instituto Dexeus in Barcelona, who has been responsible for the treatment issued to Elias, the Spaniard will need five weeks to recover from the injuries. Elias' misfortune gives Checa the opportunity to make his debut in MotoGP. This season, Checa competed for a Yamaha team and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Checa competed in the 250cc World Championship from 2000 until 2002, first with Honda and then with Aprilia, taking a best-ever finish of sixth place in his final appearance at the 2002 Valencian Grand Prix. David Checa is the younger brother of Marlboro Ducati's Carlos Checa. Rizla Suzuki's British Superbike Champion john Reynolds is aiming for victory when he returns to racing in the sixth round of the British Superbike Championship at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire, England, on june 5. Reynolds has missed the last two rounds of the series while recovering from a broken right leg. He rode his Rizla Suzuki at an official test at the 2. I-mile-long Croft Circuit last week and was fourth quickest. "I am so hungry to race that I can hardly sleep thinking about this weekend at Croft," Reynolds said in a team release. "If people are expecting me to make a halfContinued on page II CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 8, 2005 9