Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Knighter Cleans Up in Spain VTM Enduro Factory Team Farioli rider David I'Knight claimed his fourth double Enduro 3class (heavyweight) win of the '05 World Enduro Championship season at the GP of Spain in Gernika on June 5 to extend his lead at the top of the E3 Championship to 39 points after four rounds. Comfortably winning the Enduro 3 class on both days, Knight also finished the event as the fastest overall rider, irrespective of class, on both days. With the event featuring three very different, but also much shorter, special tests than previous rounds of the series, fine weather and four laps of an enjoyable course made for some of the champi- onships closest racing yet. "It's been another great weekend for me, although I kept overshooting corners early on day Tiger Sweeps 'em Walter ''Tiger'' 5trank Jr. dominated round two of the 2005 AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series at the White Rose Motorcycle Club in York, Pennsylvania, on June 5. The White Rose Motorcycle Club is in its 53rd year of promoting Hillclimb, and it put together a fast, wide and safe hill for the 40 riders. Strank only needed a single pass in each class to sweep his first National hillclimb. "I finally got my double," Strank said. "I've been trying to win both classes on the same day for a long time, but someone would always edge me out in one ofthe classes. But today, I got it." Tiger joined Dave Watson and Jeff Thomas as the only riders to win the 540cc and 800cc class on the same day. Watson and defending 800cc National Champion Chad Disbennett chased Strank home in the 800cc class, while John Hamilton Jr. and Phil Libhart rounded out the podium in the 540cc class. Strank has had many victories at White Rose, and he was ready to back up his round-one win with another victory. 5trank lined up on the far left side on his Dr. Bob Racing Yamaha R6 and let the fastest bike in the class loose. He got a straight launch, but he held it on a little too long and caught a lot of air over the breaker; he then spun the rear as he hit the transition. Strank never backed off, blasting up the top half of the hill and over the top jump, stopping the clocks with a run of 5.950 seconds. "It was a good run, but I caught too much air over the bottom breaker," Strank said. "But the bike was pulling and made it up on the rest ofthe hill. I can go faster. There were a lot of things 1could have done better." Strank's run was the fastest of the round, with Ubhart in second with a time of 6.194 seconds. The hill dried out a lot between rounds and began to rut up, adding to the challenge of running in the five-second range. Hamilton clicked off a fast 6. 167-second run to steal second. "The first run was pretty shabby, but I got one," Knight said. "I think it was because I raced a 300cc two-stroke last weekend at Erzberg [Austria) and didn't have any time to go training on my 500 before this weekend. Once I'd ridden a few laps, I was okay and didn't have any more problems. With the special tests being quite short, I really thought that there would only be hundredths of seconds between the top riders, so to win by just over half a minute on day one was good. I found day two was a bit easier, I think it was because I was getting used to the bike again. The only problem I had was that I kept going for a kick-starter thinking it was my 300, forgetting that my four-stroke race bike has a button! I nearly hit a fox in one of the enduro special tests, but apart from that 1didn't have any problems at all." In Enduro 2 (middleweight), Yamaha's Stefan geared, and that was like putting on the brakes. That will always beat you." He was the only rider in the top five to go faster on his second ride. Strank claimed his second straight 540cc win, and then he set his sights on the BOOcc class. The BOO has had problems with the massive amounts of traction on the bottom of the hill. "You are going to come off the line like you are shot out of a cannon." former White Rose winner Libhart said. Libhart was the first BOOcc rider into the six-second bracket, but he would finish the day well off the pace. Once again, Strank would show everyone the way, lining up on the left side of the hill and dropping the hammer on his RI. '" had to feather the clutch across the bottom breaker, because the front end was high, and I wanted to carry the front end across there and set it into the face of the hill," Strank said. "It stayed straight, and the front end was just dancing off the ground because it was really hooked up. That is the fastest run I have ever had here." The crowd roared as his S.639-second time flashed on the board. Strank was the only rider to break into the fives until Disbennett, the last rider of the round, stepped up. Disbennett also chose the left side of the starting box, and he hustled his Triumph twin up to the breaker but caught a rut that sent him into the right side of the hill. He never backed off, though, and he broke the lights in S.897 seconds to end the round. Seven-time Champion Watson was the fastest rider of the round as he put together a 5.B94-second run on his Honda CBR to drop Disbennett to third. "Well I lost the drag race," Watson said. "The 800 was really running good, but I didn't quite hit the breaker as good as I wanted, and here that's the whole race." Disbennett was going for it on the last ride of the round, but it went wrong at the transition and he had to back off and settle for third. it together on the second run," Hamilton Strank's win gives him three wins and a said. "I made a good run through the bottom. Then about 40 feet from the lights, the bike leaned out because we were under- second in the series so far, and he is clearly the man to beat. David L. Patton 12 JUNE 15, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Merriman returned to action after haVing his spleen removed after crashing at the Italian round three weeks ago. Still, the Australian came away with double wins over Frenchman Fabien Plantet. KTM's Planet finished second both days, while Finland's Samuli Aro went 3-3 on his KTM. In Enduro I (lightweight), KTM's Ivan Cervantes of Spain dominated. He topped both days, with Frenchman Marc Germain (Yamaha) and Italian Alessandro Belometti (KTM) finishing second and third, respectively, both days. Great Britain's Paul Edmondson aboard a Honda went 4-4. David Knight remains unbeaten in the World Enduro Championship Series, winning again in Spain. AMA Superbike Schedule To Grow The AMA Superbike Championship will likely have a number of new venues in 2006, according to AMA road race manager Ron Barrick. Barrick had site visits planned to two venues after the Road America round with an eye toward the 2006 calendar. The first visit was to Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa. The second was to New Hampshire International Speedway. Barrick said the Mid-America track principals attended the Infineon Raceway round of the championship. "They weren't familiar with how our series really ran. They were a little bit new to it," Barrick said. "One of the guys that was with them does run a track day school for them at their complex, so he's obviously familiar with it as a former AMA racer. The other gentleman, Ken Haas, one of the top guys at the track, was not real familiar with our series and how things ran and what the show looked like." Barrick said he'd solicited input from various riders who'd ridden the track, so he has "a little bit of an idea what areas might be of a concern going into it. They're interested, we're potentially interested based on how the track visit turns out," he said. On Friday, Barrick was going to NHIS with Kevin Schwantz and Mat Mladin at the invitation of the Speedway. '" don't know what the outcome of the visit will be," Barrick said. ')\II's I can tell you is that we're going up to talk to them and look at the facility." Barrick said there'd been a preliminary drawing made by Eric Wood, son of Jerry Wood, a track safety advisor. "I believe Jerry Wood's son Eric had made a drawing to extend the outer portion of the track, and I have a copy of that," Barrick said. Miller Motorsports Park outside of Salt Lake City is still in its very early stages, but Barrick says they're eager to have a race. "We haven't made the site visit yet," he said. "We haven't discussed a business deal. They're keenly interested in an AHA Superbike event there and we're obviously interested in new, safe road course venues for our series." The track has begun moving dirt and Barrick keeps in touch with track designer Alan Wilson. He'd recently received the latest version of the track diagram with input from both himself and Mat Mladin, with a brief comment from Neil Hodgson as well. Barrick also shot down a few rumors about new dates. One was that Brainerd International Raceway wanted a 2006 date. "I don't really have any news on that forefront," Barrick said. "I personally had no contact with anyone from Brainerd. The former general manager [Scott Quick] had contacted me and said he was going to be involved with another track project closer to the Twin Cities and Minnesota. I haven't heard from him for a couple of months regarding the progress of that project either." Another rumor was that Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca wanted a second standalone AMA date next year. "That had been discussed earlier in the year," Barrick said, "and I guess that's still on the table. SCRAMP and their staff are obviously very busy preparing for the MotoGP. Same on our side, honestly, so we haven't really focused on that for a while. That had come up in discussion before." Track spokesman Ed Nichols said that there had been no request made for a second date. "There are other track projects that aren't moving dirt yet, that we're looking at," Barrick said. One of them is the New Jersey Motorsports Park, Raceplex and Conference Center (www.njmotorsportspark.com). a multipurpose facility in Millville, New Jersey, that will feature a 4.I-mHe road course. The track's website says that construction was to have begun this Spring, with the opening of the Thunderbolt Raceway and completion of the first phase of the project by Spring 2006. Barrick also confirmed that Pikes Peak International Raceway is interested in keeping its days. "They're pretty happy with our event," Barrick said. "It's obviously not a monster, but I guess it's a well-managed facility, and they keep their costs under control." How many races would Barrick like to see? "That's probably a question for the board of directors," he said. Barrick knows the teams use the races as a marketing tool for their street bikes, but he also knows they have budget constraints. "We recognize that just because we find a bunch of places that want races, we can't just throw them on the schedule," he said. "We have to plan and try to pick the best market areas and the safest venues." Henny Ray Abrams

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