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/128606
______J C-----. t... co r-.'~ .-. -, J l-----"----J--' American Ryan Hughes, of the Pamo Honda team, was denied permission to ride the first moto at the FIM World Championship 250cc MX Series opener in Talavera, Spain, March 19, when his bike arrived 20 seconds late to pare ferme (impound) 10 minutes prior to the start of the first moto. u " l '1 U C o J o o o o 8 o o The FIM's MX chief, Wolfgang Srb, handed down the stiff penalty. "Rules are rules," Srb said, " and I don't care if it is number one or number 99. His bIke was late, and he may not start." Pamo boss Paul Kaspar was not happ with the ruling, contending that the heavy crowds prevented Hughes' tuner from getting to impound on time. "All three mechanics left the awning [the Pamo Honda pits] together, and Ryan's mechanic was right behind the mechanics of [Frederic] Bolley and [Mark] Jones as they tried to push the bikes through the crowd of VIPs and spectators who had bought tickets for the paddock," Kasper said. "These people should not have been there." The incident proved costly for Hughes, who returned to wjn the second moto. The day belonged to Irishman Gordon Crockard, who won the first moto and fought back from a bad start and a stalled engine to finish fourth in the second mota and claim the overall victory. In the first mota, Crockard put his Cas Honda into the early lead and held off defending champ Frederic Bolley - who won both motos at this track last year - for the last three laps to take the win. Bolley took second, followed by Suzuki's Mickael Pichon, Kawasaki's Mickael Maschio and Suzuki's Josh Coppins. Hughes gated fourth in the second moto and, 15 minutes into the race, took over the lead when leader Maschio crashed and suffered a concussion. "I came here focused on winning both motos," Hughes said. "In the end, I only won one, but I can also say that I still have a 100- percent record." Yamaha's Yves Demaria ended up finishing second in the moto, followed by Pichon, Crockard and Paul Cooper, on a Husaberg. Bolley did not finish the moto due to mechanical problems, and German Pit Beirer had an off day, finishing sixth in the first moto and getting taken out in a first-turn pile-up in the second moto. Crockard jumps out to an early lead in the s.eries point standings with 33 points, followed by Pichon's 30. Despite being a spectator in the first moto, Hughes is tied for third with Cooper with 20 points each. The FIM World Championship 500cc MX Series also got underway on March 19, but halfway around the world in Broadford, Australia, where KTM's Joel Smets (pictured) won both motos going_away. In the first moto, Yamaha's Mamicq Bervoets rode to a ~econd-place finish, while Australian riders Andrew McFarlane and Michael Byrne grabbed third and fourth, respectively. New Zealand's Shayne King, on a KTM, took a break from the EA Sports/AMA Supercross Series to compete in Australia and finished fifth, ahead of brother, Darryll, on a Husqvarna. Darryl! King stepped it up in the second moto to take runner-up honors behind Smets, while Bervoets held on to finish third. Fourth place went to defending champ Andrea Bartolini, who finished seventh in the first moto on the factory-backed Yamaha. Shayne King crossed the finish line in seventh. After the first round, Smets enjoys an eight-pojnt lead over Bervoets, 40-32. Darryll King is third with 27 points, followed by Bartolini in fourth with 22. Alex Hodgkinson and Geoff Meyer According reports in the Minneapolis Star home mortgages last summer, the Star Motorcycles to keep the company afloat, Tribune, the chief executive officer of Tribune reports. Kilpatrick. who surren- according to the Star Tribune. Norton Motorcycles Inc., Robert M. dered to authorities on March 16, 'was Kilpatrick Jr.. has been charged with mul- also charged with two counts of offering CRC will kickoff its 23rd annual Tri tiple counts of theft by swindle, forgery forged checks totaling $24,000 on the Race Series on March 26 at Los Ange- and credit fraud. Kilpatrick allegediy fiied account of a previous employer. At the les County Raceway in Palmdale, Califor- false personal financial information - same time that Kilpatrick was getting the nia. Round two of the series will be the including forged 1040 and W2 forms - in mortgages, a hoiding company he owns Golden Bear Grand Prix on April 2 at loaned more than $600,000 to Norton LACR with the series set to conclude on 8 o 8 o order to obtain more than $860,000 in April 9 at Edwards Air Force Base in Rosamond. California. For more information, call 661/272-8889. The AMA has announced that Hooter'. restaurants will be providing support at the AMA Western Four-Stroke National Motocross Series rounds. The series kicks off at Speedworld MX Park in Phoenix, Arizona, March 25-26. For more information. call 623/546-1206 . ..................•.........•...................................................•.•...........................................••...... J O· OPENED: Race-planet.com's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.race-pianet.com. OPENED: Belstaff North America's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the foilowing address: http://www.belstaff.com. o OPENED: Teknic Gear's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the fonowing address: http://www.teknicgear.com. O ·OPENED: Performance Engineering's home page on the World Wide season. http://www.peracing.com. LAUNCHED: A new magazine catering to women motorcyclists, Woman Rider. by Ehlert Publishing Group. ~ Web. The site can be found at the following address: O. O o c (I o OPENED: Pacific Crest Pipe Repair's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.piperepair.com. APPOINTED: Les Washbon to the position of motorsports technician for the Duniop Motorcycle Tire Division, effective immediately. Washbon is a former AMA dirt track racer, who most recently worked for Troyer Inc.. a race car manufacturer. Washbon wiil focus on supporting Dunlop's Supersport racers while working closely with Dunlop's road race manager, Jim Ailen. SIGNED: A sponsorship agreement between WERA and Metzler Tire in which the WERA National Challenge Series 600cc Novice Production class will be backed by the tire company. WERA has aiso inked a deal with Michelin in which that tire company will sponsor the 750 and 600cc Superstock classes. For more information, call 770/720-5010. MOVED: EVS Speed Protection's headquarters, to 1640 West 228th Street, Torrance, CA 80501, 608/752-8423. FORMED: CitiBeemers, a BMW motorcycle club in New York City. For more information, see their website at the following address: http://www.gsridemyc@yahoo.com. HIRED: Three-time World Champion Luca Cadalora to be a test rider for the Ducati World Superbike team. Cadalora's testing duties will begin in April. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Kensington Motorsports in New Hudson, Michigan, on March 31 from 7 to 8 p.m. Team Chevy Trucks Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael. John Dowd and larry Ward, and Team SplitFire/Pro Circuit's Nathan Ramsey and Nick Wey are scheduied to attend. For more infonmation, call 248/446-0000. A Crosstraining 101 school at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee has been scheduled for April 1819. For more information, call 423/942-8688. · CORRECTION: The correct phone number for the Trailblazers is • 714/962-7028. : · RESCHEDULED: The Wild Piglet Family Enduro and the Wild Boar HIRED: Road racer Chip larkby by VFR Technologies Inc.. a Chicago- : Moose Championship Enduro, to April 1-2 in Coalinga, California, due to based software and systems testing company. VFR Technologies has : : inclement weather on the original date. been a supporter and ,sponsor of larkby for the past two racing seasons. : :« •••••••••••••••••••••••• ~;_.; ••••• ~ •• ;.~ ::i ~~ •.... :~ ;•. li ...•• i •••••...••••••••••••.••••••••••••••• : !.,: 2 MARCH 29, 2000' c ycle n e _ s The Houston, Texas, R.ide For Kids event will be held on April 30, starting at the Sheraton North Houston Hotel with registration set to begin at 8 a.m. As with all Ride for Kids events, proceeds go to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. For more information on the Houston ride, call 800/253-6530. According to a press release from Dunlop, the tire company is more than doubling its contingency postings for the 2000-racing season. The brand will distribute a potential total of $524,025 through almost every road race series in the country. For more information, call 805/226-9410. RESCHEDULED: The Monster Mountain MX Park event from April 8-9 to April 22-23. 8 o o o SIGNED: A deal between No-Toil Industries and the European KTM motocross team of Joel Smets and Peter Johansson for the 2000 racing · · · · Road racer Karl Harris . who crashed during the World Supersport test in Valencia, Spain. last week, suffered a compression of the T6 vertebrae - and not a fracture as originally thought. Harris' teammate Christiano Migliorati suffered a fractured collarbone and a shoulder separation in a separate incident. --------Continued on page 94