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/128404
Briefly... Continued from page 7 The opening round of the inaugural K&N Filters BooKoo Arenacross I Championship Series, Powered by Toyota, got under way at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas, November 3-4, and a pair of first-time winners stole the spotlight. josh Woods, on the Team Fun Center/PPG/Suzuki RM-Z4S0, claimed the premier 450cc Pro win on both nights, while teammate Shane Bess swapped second- and third-place positions with BooKoo Honda Proton Oils' Tiger lacey over the two nights of competition. In the 250cc Pro class, it was Team Babbitt Kawasaki's Brad Ripple taking the top position each night, beating teammate josh Demuth and Sana System's Tommy Hofmaster to the line on Friday night, and then backing it up with a win over lacey and Bess on Saturday night. Shane Bess (102) leads the start at the apening raund af the BaaKaa Arenacrass Series in Fart Warth, Texas. AMA Pro Releases 2006 AMA Motocross Schedule A MA Pro Racing has announced its schedule for the 2006 /""\AMA Motocross Championship presented by FMF. The championship will again consist of 12 rounds, beginning with the Hangtown Classic, May 20-21, and culminating at Glen Helen in Southern California, Sept. 9-10. Round seven will again be held at Thunder Valley Motocross Park near Denver. Last year's inaugural event at the facility was an immediate success, generating a large, enthusiastic crowd, excellent racing, and strong local sponsor support. Overall series sponsorship also remains strong, with FMF set to return as presenting sponsor. Reigning champion Ricky Carmichael plans to defend his title in 2006. Carmichael posted another phenomenal motocross season this year by going undefeated and missed out on recording another perfect season by only two motos. Had he not crashed in the first mota at Southwick and again during the first moto at Unadilla, Carmichael would likely have achieved his third perfect AMA Motocross season by winning all 24 motos in the 12-evem series. No other racer has ever accomplished a perfect season in the AMA Motocross Championship. The 2006 AMA Motocross Championship Presented by FMF schedule is as follows': Date Location May 26-21 Hangtown Classic, Sacramento, CA May 27·28 High Point Raceway, Mount Morris, PA Juno 10·11 Motocross 338, Southwick, MA Juno 17·18 Budds Creek MX Park, Budds Creek, MD July 1-2 Red Bud Track-N-Trail, Buchanan, MI July 15·16 Thunder Valley Motocross Park, Lakewood, CO July 29·30 Washougal MX Park, Washougal, WA Augusl 12-13 Spring Creek MX Park, Millville, MN Augusl 19-20 Broome·Tioga Sports Center, Binghamton, NY Soptombor 2-3 Steel City Raceway, Delmont, PA Soptombor 9·10 Glen Helen Raceway Park, San Bernardino, CA -Dates and locations subject to change Kawasaki's Hayden Brothers Test in Japan Kawasaki's Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden got early jumps on the testing season with a two-day test at the factory's test track in japan during the week of October 23. But because their ZX-I 0 Superbikes are still very much works in progress, the brothers concentrated on Superstock, riding one of their own bikes as well as a japanese series-spec model. "Everything was pretty positive," Tommy Hayden said after his return. "It went as we expected going in. I wasn't expecting a full-on test. just over there gathering information from all the testing they'd done so far with their different test riders and things. I think it definitely got us started in the right direction." The original plan was for two days of track time on Kawasaki's Autopolis Circuit, a track Tommy had ridden on but not Roger Lee, who was making his first trip to Japan. "I had a track advantage, but he usually takes a little while to learn tracks," Tommy said. "He picked it up pretty quick." Rain just after lunch on the second day shortened their track time. "Typical kind of initial shakedown test with not a ton of laps," Tommy said. "I think we learned a lot. We got cut off probably the second day about probably three hours short, because it rained after lunch that day. So that wasn't real good. But it was pretty good. We had some good meetings afterwards at the factory, discussing our support, what kind of help we're going to get from them and different things." Tommy said that because the team ran production equipment last year, except for suspension, they didn't need much factory help. But having entered the Superbike wars for 2006, the team's needs are more demanding. "There's a lot of trick stuff that you need for the Superbike that either they're going to have to make for us or help us make," Tommy said. "The list goes on and on: clamps, radiators, and everything. We have a Dirt tracker Nick Cummings, road racer Jason Perez and motocrosser Juss Laansoo have been named the 2005 AMA Rookies of the Year. Cummings earned the honor in AMA Flat Track racing, Perez in AMA Superbike and Laansoo in AMA Motocross. All three riders will be honored at the 31 st annual AMA Pro Racing awards banquet to be held at the Paris Las Vegas on Sunday, November 20. The Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School has added two dates to its 2006 school schedule, increasing the number of schools, held at Road Atlanta, from eight to 10. The schools begin just after Daytona and run to the end of the WERA GNF. With all eight of last year's schools selling out, riders interested in learning the Schwantz way should sign up early. For more information, check out www.schwantzschool.com on the Internet. The 2006 KSSS dates are as follows: March 16-17; April 7-9 (three days); May 18-19; May 29-30; june 24-25; july 4-5; August 28-29; September 4-5; October 910; October 16-17. Unadilla Valley Sports Center, New Berlin, NY July 22·23 Justin Summers from Milton, Florida, was named the Moto-X Report.com Gulf Coast Area Rider of the Year and recipient of the coveted Bailey Award at the third annual U.S. Dealers Challenge. Named for Gary and David Bailey, the award represents excellence in and dedication to the sport of motocross. Summers was selected from among 13 nominees from the Gulf Coast regions of Florida, Louisiana and Texas. Summers races the 65cc and 8Scc junior classes and ran consistently in the top 10 at all the major Amateur Nationals, including Loretta Lynn's, in 2005. He won two championships at Branson and then followed that up with four titles at the U.S Dealers Challenge. list that's pages long and just what things they're going to help us with and what things we're going to be on our own on." Tommy said that Roger Lee's overall first impression of japan was a positive one, and that Roger Lee wasn't intimidated by the local cuisine. "He was a little more experimental than I would've e.pected," Tommy admitted. "I don't think he would've wanted to stay there forever, but we had fun with it." On its return, the team went straight to work getting ready for the first Superbike test at California Speedway just before Thanksgiving. "Definitely, it's not going to be the bike we're going to be racing with, but we'll have enough stuff to get going, enough things to start sorting through," Tommy said. A few weeks after that is the Daytona tire test, and then more intensive testing after the start of the new year, with multiple dates at both Fontana and Mazda Raceway laguna Seca, and more tests throughout the year. Henny Ray Abrams The WBR/Suzuki team reportedly started Supercross testing at its secret test track in Murrieta, California, the week of October 30. In attendance were David Bailey and the entire Yoshimura engine-development crew headed up by legendary tuner Satoshi Momma, among others. According to a release sent by WBR, the team was impressed by the fast times being kicked down by Ryan Sipes and is looking forward to entering the 2006 season with Sipes as a title contender. Other team riders include returning rider Ryan Morais and newcomer Michael laPaglia. Motorcycle enthusiasts around the country can get a head start on holiday shopping by bidding on an exclusive collection of gifts available during the Motorcycle Hall Museum annual online auction. The auction website went live November I at www.motorcyclemuseum.org. The 2005 holiday auction gift collection ranges from one-of-a-kind vintage and autographed items to today's most fashionable moto Continued on page " CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 16, 2005 9