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/128401
Vermeulen's Debut A ustralian Chris Vermeulen finished a creditable I Ith in his first MotoGP race on his home track of Phillip Island, the site of the Australian Grand Prix on October 16. Only on the last lap did he lose 10th to John Hopkins, and it was in the later stages of the races that he learned the most. "I've got to learn a lot about the lot of time on these bikes, and that's the key point - to make it work for you. "Winning the World Supersport Championship was great, and winning World Superbike races is a big thing," the 23-year-old said continued, "but this was engine-management system to try and definitely a big highlight for look after the tires a little better, because me in my career. Just sitting on one of my hero's bikes, in I was a little aggressive with them," he said. "The last seven laps would have been a lot quicker if I had more experience. I was catching Makoto Tamada, Toni Elias and Shinya Nakano, and if I could have just got to the back of them, I could have learned a lot from them. But we didn't quite get there." Vermeulen admitted it was inexperience Troy Bayliss - it was a great feeling. Just riding one of these bikes was the most enjoyable thing about the weekend. It's just a lot bigger than World Superbikes. Being at my home GP first was a big thing, because I that made setting up the bike more difficult. "The team gave me a bike that was very easy to ride and very comfortable," he said. "I've got to make it a little bit race. I had the full support of the crowd, and when we did the sighting lap, everybody more racy now. If I had a winter's testing was cheering when I went around. But under my belt, I'm sure I could go a lot everything is bigger and seems a lot more quicker. Race times, I'm about 1.5 seconds important." Vermeulen said he learned more this a lap away from guys like Valentino and Nicky [Hayden]. But that 1.5 seconds is the hardest to get. If I could pull back a second of that after one winter, I'd be quite happy. But these guys have spent a was the only Aussie in the weekend than he did during the entire World Superbike season. "Just the difference in the things that you can do with the bike and learning from these Crump To America for USA vs. The World A strong international field highlighted by former World Speedway Champion Jason Crump and riders from five nations has been assem- bled for the fifth annual USA vs. The World motorcycle speedway race scheduled for October 28 at Fast Fridays Speedway in Auburn, California. Created by Fast Fridays promoter Dave Joiner in 200 I, USA vs. The World has become the traditional finale of AMA Speedway each year at Fast Fridays, and this year's event has what looks to be its strongest field ever. Crump, the 2004 FIM World Speedway Champion and current World number two from Australia, will headline Team World. He'll be joined by the likes of his English teammate Joe Screen from the 2005 Knockout Cup Champion Belle Vue Aces of British League Speedway and Italian Speedway legend Armando Castagna, who will serve as team captain. Team USA will counter with a solid squad, every member of which ranks among the top lOin the 2005 AMA National Championship Speedway Series. Bart Bast, who ended the 2005 AMA National Series with a career-best number five AMA ranking, will captain an American team that also includes AMA number three Charlie Venegas and former AMA National Champion Mike Faria. USA vs. The World features six-rider teams, and the World squad will seek its first-ever victory in an event that first ran in 200 I. The closest-ever finish in the event came in 2003, when a tie was bro- ken by a sudden-death runoff won by American Bobby Hedden over Australian Steve Johnston. Last year's result was a 78-69 American victory. More information on USA vs. The World 2005 is available from Fast Fridays Speedway at 530/530-7223, and tickets can be purchased online at www.fastfridays.com or at the gate. 10 oaOBER 26, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS guys," he said. "They ride these bikes very well. I think after a bit of time I'd like to say that I could race against them. We'll wait and see. My goal is that I'd love to be in this paddock next year, and hopefully by then I'd have had a couple of GPs under my belt and full winter testing program and try and be a little bit more competitive." Now, he said, he was looking forward to next week's Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul. "It's a track nobody knows, so it will make it more level," he noted, "but I still have a lot to learn with the bike. My goal there will be to improve on what I did here, so to get a top-10 would be cool." Henny Ray Abrams Who Will Join Hodgson? The Other Bostrom? The World Superbike Championship may be where Ducati finds its second rider for the AMA Superbike Championship. Neil Hodgson could be paired with a familiar face, according to Ducati World Superbike and AMA Superbike team manager Paolo Ciabatti. more... let's say with Ben, things worked a little better than with Eric. With Eric it was okay. There was always something, some strange feeling that things were never 100-percent right. He could go extremely fast and sometimes very slow. We never, together, came to James [Toseland]," Ciabatti said. "We talked to him, and eventually he has maybe a possibility to go with Honda to replace [Chris] Vermeulen or as a second rider [replacing Karl Muggeridge]," he said. "Basically, our option changed maybe for Regis [Laconi]. I've been speaking to Reuben [Xaus]. We have had some contact with Kurtis Roberts and also with Ben [Bostrom]." understand what to do, and this is also the reason why we decided together that if he had another option, he wanted to go, he could just go, fine. With Ben it was more of an understanding of him, the bike, the team, when he was in World Superbike. Then, eventually, he didn't have a very good season in 2002, and we couldn't afford three riders in 2003, and we had to make a choice. It would sound strange that you have a Bostrom's Renegade Koji Honda squad won't con- Bostrom for two years and then you have another tinue in World Superbike, but it's believed he'd like to Bostrom. Apart from this peculiarity, I wouldn't see any problem. I think he [Ben Bostrom] just has the motivation. And Ben has been riding very hard this year on a team that was not exactly what I think he expected, but judging from how hard he was trying and then, unfortunateiy, trying hard, he crashed a few times, but I normally don't really judge the riders from a riding style. I wasn't a former rider; I leave it to other people "We have a few options, as you know, one being remain in the championship. "I think, most likely, in my opinion, it could either Ben or James [Toseland]," Ciabatti said. But Toseland has made it clear he wants to stay in World Superbike. "We talk very openly, and he said, 'Thank you very much,'" Ciabatti said. "I think James is still very young and he knows very well all the tracks. He's been there for many years, since he was in World Supersport. And he likes it and he thinks he really hasn't proven his full potential. I understand his position. We just said, 'Fine, we'll keep the door open for you, but we will look at other possibilities. n, Ciabatti said they still had about two weeks to make a decision, and they had several very good prospects. The irony of one Bostrom replacing another wasn't lost on Ciabatti. "They are different kind of riders," he said. "For sure, Ben has been with Ducati for a few years, and Eric as well, but let's say that in a way, with Ben, it was on the team to go out on the track and see how peo- ple are riding. And everybody, not only Davide [Tardozzi], told me that he was really riding very, very good - unfortunately on a bike that was not up to the same level of a factory machine. I think it's an opportunity that we are strongly considering." Ciabatti also said that Hodgson would be getting a new crew chief. Gabrielle Rancaccio, James Toseland's race engineer of the past two years, would be moving to the United States. Hodgson would also be joined by fellow Brit Paul Alec, a mechanic who's been working for Carlos Checa the past two years. Henny Ray Abrams