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/128409
What's In The WOReS! Team Green ForSX Team Green, the amateur racing arm of Kawasaki, has announced that it plans to compete in the 2006 Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series with a team led by twotime Arenacross Champion Darcy lange. lange will be joined by Donnie McGourty, Kyle Chisholm and Teddy Maier, with all four rides set to compete in the Supercross Utes class aboard Kawasaki KX2S0Fs. The team was slated to make its debut at the second round of the Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP in Vancouver on December 10. The team, however, has yet to decide which riders will compete in the East or West series events during the season. Overseeing the Team Green Supercross contingent is Billy Whitley, who has managed Team Green's Arenacross program for the past two seasons and formerly led factory-backed Arenacross teams to four championships. Whitley, a former Team Green rider, is looking forward to transitioning over to Supercross with Team Green. "The new KX250F is one of the best bikes I've ever ridden or tested," said Whitley. "We've proven ourselves in Arenacross. Now I can't wait for our boys to get out there and bring home some Supercross podiums." Team Green manager Reid Nordin said that the 2006 Supercross lineup brings some fresh faces to Kawasaki's professional racing efforts. "This is a new era for Team Green." said Nordin. "We're embarking on a new challenge for our program, and we have a great mix of young riders and experienced talent who know what it takes to win. We're con- fident they will do well in 2006." tested a hell of a lot of stuff, though, so we're all confident that we know which way to go. It was good just to ride the bike for three solid days in good weather - I did a lot of laps. so I'm feeling pretty tired after it all. But I'm looking forward to getting the new bike, which is being launched by Honda here this week, and finding a good base setting for it." Toseland's teammate Karl Muggeridge set a 2:00.09, after achieving a best of 2:00.B I on race tires. In race trim, Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga scored a best lap of 2:00.46, making him top Yamaha rider on show. Pirelli staff was arguably more happy with the results of these tests than the top riders, such was the effusiveness of the praise for the new generation of products Pirelli finally got to test. "We only got to test probably 20 percent of the tires we wanted to at the recent Valencia test," said Pirelli racing manager Giorgio Barbier, "so at this test we have tried out something like 10 different rears and I I fronts. This track was very tricky on the front the last time we came here, so we tried a lot of solutions, designed to improve stability, wear and performance. We were able to get the new product to run into the I:S9-second bracket, but not with the older-spec tires. So we are very happy with this progress. Our qualifiers were the same as before, for this test." Gordon Ritchie The 2006 World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) schedule has been released, with four new locations highlighting the schedule, one of which will be a beach race at Pismo Beach in California. The series will begin in January and conclude in September. The series schedule is as follows: January 13·15 - Speedworld MX Park, Phoenix, Arizona February 17-19 - Honolulu Hills, Taft, California March 17-19 - Crazyhorse Campgrounds, Lake Havasu, Arizona March 31-April 2 - Honey Lake MX Park, Millard, California April 14-16 - Racetown, Victorville, California May 19-21 - Clay Peaks, Payelle, Idaho June 9-11 - Washougal MX, Washougal, Washington August 11-13 - Burnt Ridge MX, Washington September 1-3 . Bull Hollow, Monticello, Utah September 29·Dctober 1 - Canyon MX, Peoria, Arizona October 21-22 - Oceano Dunes - Pismo Beach, CA November 3-5 - Mesquite MX - Mesquite, NV (Schedule subject to change) Woods To Team Green Two-time WORCS Champion Nathan Woods has inked a deal that will see him ride factory Kawasaki KX450Fs in 2006. "We're very happy that Nathan Woods will be a part of Kawasaki's Team Green program," said Team Green manager Reid Nordin. "Having Nathan on board with us demonstrates Kawasaki's dedication to winning while continuing to support future amateur champions." The 27-year-old Wood rode a Montclair Yamaha to the WORCS Championship in 2005. Woods grew up racing motocross and participated in one season of Supercross in 1996 before moving to off-road racing full time. Woods was seventh overall in the WORCS series in 2003 and won the title in both 2004 and 2005. "These last two years have been really amazing," said Woods. "I've worked hard to get where I am, and now I'm excited to get the chance to ride for Team Green. I'm looking forward to getting on some new bikes and winning more races. Kawasaki is an outstanding company with a strong rep- utation, and I'm thrilled to be a part of such an exceptional program." Woods expects to compete in the entire WORCS series aboard a KX450F and selected GNCC series events aboard a variety of Kawasaki motorcycles, including a KX250F. BORN: A b8by gltt, ~ Parker McGrath. to _ _ time AHA Superaoss ChampIon jeremy M<:Grath and his wife, Kim, on friday, DeceuN 9. in Southern CalIfornIa. ACCIP11NG: Ceet Racina III1X1!pdr1J I'8SUIIIeI far ZOO6 sponsorship. Resumes can be _ to jasoII@ceetnIdn.com. IGNEDI FactoIy KTM rIder..-d Wa!td Championship contender 1YIa ~ to a IpII/1IOI'IhIp IlOl\tI'1Ct with A1p1neDtt for ZOO6. The South Afrlcln ~ will _ A/plneIlan race ..... and boola for 2llO6. Briefly... Continued from page 9 the professional AMA race series and the other for regional club race series. A significant addition to the program is the WERA series. Specific dates, classes and rules will be announced in early January. Mat Mladin has announced that his Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team has inked a deal that will see Hotbodies Racing as the title sponsor of the team, which will again feature Marty Craggill as its rider. For 2006, however, Craggill will race a GSX-R I000 in the AMA Superstock Series instead of AMA Superbike. "Next year is an exciting time for the newly formed Hotbodies Racing Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki team," said Mladin in a release. "I look forward to moving into the Superstock class, especially knOWing that we will have access to the most dominant looocc motorbike in the world to race on. The Suzuki GSX-R I000 won the World Superbike Championship, the AMA Superbike and Superstock Championships and others in a record-breaking year. Having the chance to supply Marty Craggill with competitive machinery for the 2006 race season brings our chances of becoming a front-running team to a new level." White Brothers Racing announced some changes in the way its company will go forward, with the company now set to "focus solely on expanding its product line of new exhausts, parts and accessories [and] transitioning out of distribution," according to a press release dated December 9. "White Brothers was founded on performance products and accessories, and throughout its 30-year history has created marketleading exhaust systems and accessories. Both Team Yamaha and Team Honda have endorsed our products through their championship-winning seasons, and we continue to build on that success," said Neil Calvesbert. "In order to further underline its status as a high-performance aftermarket company, White Brothers Racing will focus all of its resources on increasing the range of White Brothers brand products and providing its racing partners with the products that can help them win races and championships. White Brothers is committed to its valued customers with the focus on a smooth transition and minimal disruption to the dealers who have supported White Brothers for over 30 years. White Brothers is not stopping doing business, just simply refOCUSing its strategy for the growth of the White Brothers brand. Dealers will gain the most from this change; by aligning its products with both Parts Unlimited and Tucker Rocky, dealers across the country can now expect even more from the White Brothers brand. Both of these distributors are extremely successful in providing retailers the highest levels of support and accessibility. Using that to its advantage will allow White Brothers to concentrate on providing new and exciting high-performance products to both dealers and consumers alike. The future will be very exciting." For more informa- tion on White Brothers, log on to www.whitebrothers.com Clear Channel Entertainment's Motor Sports Division has announced that the third annual MMI/Jeremy McGrath Scholarship contest will run in conjunction with the Amp'd Mobile World Supercross GP/Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross Series. New for 2OOS-06, the MMI (Motorcycle Mechanics Institute) will have Jeremy McGrath personally interview the top three finalists and pick the winner. The scholarship includes full tuition for one student to attend the 57-week motorcycle-training program at either the Phoenix or Orlando campus of MMI. Contestants are required to download the official application from www.mmitech.edu and submit the completed application, along with a two-minute video depicting why he or she deserves to win the scholarship. Applications and videos need to be postmarked by April 7, 2006. For more information, call BOO/S2B-799S. Kawasaki has named Attack Perlonnance as an official marketer of Kawasaki-sanctioned race kit parts to owners of ZX-6RR and Ninja ZXlOR models. Individuals who road race under the Team Green banner will also turn to Attack for technical questions related to the equipment, according to Reid Nordin, Kawasaki's Team Green manager. "The staff at Attack Performance has proved they have the qualifications needed to help keep Team Green's road racers headed towards the podium," said Nordin, who indicated that Attack will provide front-line technical assistance to the .Team Green racers in much the same way as Kawasaki per- sonnel do WIth those who participate in the motocross program. The Team Green effort, recently expanded to include road racing, has posted $12 million in contingency potential as part of the company's Race Reward Program. Attack Performance, based in Santa Fe Springs, California, will primarily use its website, www.attackperformance.com. to dis- play and list the race parts that will be available for each of the Kawasaki Ninja motorcycles. CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 4,2006 13