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/128614
Dest ry A b b ott (Kaw ) won his fourth race of the 2000 National Championship Hare and Hound Series at round five of t he serie s in J erich o , U t ah, M ay 13 , Brian Brown (Kaw) was an extremely close seco nd. followed by Russ Pearson (Yam), Shane Esposito (Kaw) and Andy Grider (Yam), Abbott leads the series points standings convincingly. Having driven all night aft er racing at the N at iona l Hare and Hou nd , Shane Esposito (Kaw) was t he overall winner in Sunday. M ay 14's racing at the Virgin ia City Grand Prix in V irginia City, Nevada. It was the 30th and final running of the event. Espo si t o wa s f o ll ow ed by Damion Galford . Craig Wesner and Patrick Garrahan . The chaos of t he rece nt rain-plagued Spanish Grand Prix may be a thing of t he past if t he mov e men t t o ins ti t ute pit stops at the World Championships is adop ted . A mon g the propone nts is Te lef o nic a M o v iS t ar S uzuki' s Kenny Robert s Jr.. the 500cc World Cha mpi on ship leader wh o surviv ed the sto psand-starts at the Jerez circuit to claim his second G rand Prix wi n o f t he y e ar . Robert s Jr. thinks that allowinq the riders to come in and change tires , instead of stopping the race for an unspecif ied time, would not only add excit ement to the program, but also make for a more concise prog ram. And he's not alone. ' UnofficialIy, my gu y s Ith eTelefo nica M ov iS t ar S uzuk i team] t houg ht it w as a go od idea, - Roberts Jr. said. • And Carmelo l Ezpeleta , the man ag ing di rect or of D o rna , the G P ri gh t s ho lde r s ] also thought it was a good idea, unofficially. If a ride r wan ts to come in and cha nge tires. it makes complete sense. I don 't think we'd have troub le pushing it for next year. He added that teams wou ld have to know soon so they could begin designing and buildinq qui ck- cha nqe fork s and swingarms. Suzuki has already begun the p roces s , ac co rding t o Robe rt s Jr. Roberts Jr. pointed out that there were a number of other factors that wou ld have to be c o nsid ered , in c lud ing the p it ent rances and exits . "It 'd be bette r fo r TV ," Rob erts J r. said . " Seeing a rider ru sh in , slid e down , r ide it into the garage. As long as the rules are fair fo r everybody, I'd be happy . - As for t he ar g um ent that th e rid er s need a' 15 mi nute w et w eath e r pr actice se ss io n before resumi ng t he rac e, Rob ert s Jr. says, "I don't think we've made a change in t he 15 -minut e pr act ice , exc e p t at Je rez, wh ere we softened t he bike up, and that bac kfired . " U nder normal cir- 2 MAY 24. 2000' cue I e cum stances, it take s the FIM two years to institute a new rule. The except ion is if it's for safety , which this is, it could easily be argued. " I'm not the only guy to think about this," he said. "I want to help the sport and thought this is the way to go." W edding bells with Ducati. According to a press release from Ducati, an American cou ple w ill tie t he k not o n the fro nt straight at the Misano Circuit in Italy during t he World Ducati Weekend , scheduled for Ju ne 9-1 1 in Italy. In addit io n to the we dding ce remony, several o ther f es t ivities have been pl ann ed , including the presentation of the first two MH900e mode ls that were sold over the Internet. There will also be a Sot heby's auct ion at the event. 'With proceeds of the sale go ing to Riders for Health and the Clinica M obile. Competition Park in San Jacinto, California. is now under new management , accordi ng to a press re lea se fr om t he track. Former motoc rosser Ron Tumer has been named general manager of the faCility and will be running the day-to-day operations of the track. New plans for the facility include the addition of tw o new tracks. speci fically designed for V et riders. Fo r more information, call 888/ 550-6686. Italy now has a new law requiring moped riders to wear helmets, according to the AMA . Pr ev io usly , hel me ts .w er e only required for minor s and riders of mopeds over 125cc. Italy is the last co untry in the European Union to pass a helmet law for mopeds. Acco rding to Progressive Motorcycle Insurance , custo mers can now purchase their motorcycle insurance online at www.progressive.com. AMA 125cc Westem Region Supercross Ch ampion Shae Bentley is the late st rider to join the OMS Ltd.. management t eam. " I' m really ha pp y wi th my new Supercross title and feel I'm ready to take my ca reer t o the next level and tha t 's what OMS will help me do," Bentley said. "I really want to do all I can to lengthen my caree r and . aft e r talking with Bo b M oo re (O M S accou nt executi ve), I've leamed a lot about how to help ensure my future success in racing. I really trust and respect Bob and all of his experience.- Vance & Hines D ucati's Troy Bayliss and St eve Rapp will be featured in a Chevy Trucks 5 -10 catalog that will be distribu ted t hro ugho ut the United Stat es. The team took part in a photo shoot at the May 6-7 Sears Point National. n e _ s " How' d you li ke talking to her naval for most of the season?" PACE Awards Banquel emcee Art Eckman, to verlically challenged Supercross floor announcer Terry Boyd, in regards 10 willowy fellow announcer Jamie Lillie. Action Group Intemational, the promoting bod y for t he Wo rld C ha mp io nship Motocross Series, recently issued a press rel eas e with q uotes f rom g roup bo ss Giuseppe Luongo . Luongo talked primarily of his impressions of the triple-header format following the first-ever race to be run this way, in Valkenswaard , Holl and , April 9 (all of the 200 1 rounds will feature all of the GP classes). According to Luongo, the Dutch promoter doubled his ticket sales fro m the year before, and he was ge nerally happy wit h t he debut . W hen asked if he would reconsider his plan to run a single final moto for each class, Luongo respo nde d in the negative , alt hough he mentioned he would consider retaining two motos per class if the FIM were to combine t he 250 and 500 cc divisions. " W e must have a v ery att rac tive spo rt w ith fights between the riders," said Luongo. "I think the more you split t he champions. the less you have this possibility." PACE Motor Sports annou nced the attendance figure for the Formula USA race at W illow Springs in Rosamond, Californ ia, on Ap ril 30 too late to make our last issue. The att endance, according to PACE. was 10,680. M ot oc ro ss W est and M ot ocr o ss East edito r Kirk Layfield suffered a broken arm and tom tricep muscle in a cras h on April 30 and underw ent surgery on M ay 5. Cards and lett ers can be sent to layfield at 1802 Biscayne Dr.. O rlando . FL 32804. Reco rding ar tis t Patty Cabrera has bee n signed on t o sing th e N at ion al Anthem at the AM AIChevy Trucks National M ot oc ro s s S eri es o pe ne r at G len Helen. May 12. Cabrera has produced two albums in both English and Spanish and is a native of Riverside, California. There wil l be an FMF p ipe-test day at Jack Frost/Big Boulder Traxx in Pocono, Penns y lva nia , o n Jun e 13 . Tea m FMF/ Honda riders Brock Sellards, Danny Smith, Casey Lytle and Michael Brandes w ill be on hand . as w ill RRP riders Ty Wallace and Kevin Crine. The Razorback Riders and D ick M ann, along with AHRMA. have confirmed that this year's ISDE Reunion will be heid S ept e mb e r 30 -0ct ob e r 1 in C as s, Arkan sas. A new sletter will be sent out sh o rt ly w it h mo re inf ormat ion on the event. For additional information prior to that, call Bart W inters at 50 1/ 64 6-1168 . Althoug h Doug Dubach may use a few special parts on his Team White Brothers Yamaha VZ426F during selected rounds of the AMAIChevy Truck s 250cc National Motocross Championships, he will not be campaigning Jimmy Button' s factory bike. The Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club will run the Cycle Gear 80cc Exhibi· tion class in conjunct ion with the Hangtown M ot ocro ss Cl assic , M ay 20 -2 1. One mot o will run on Satu rday with the other taking place on Sunday. The race is " The first r eader who can correctly identify the three former racers in this photo will win a Cycl e News T-shirt. Entries can be submitted vi a ma il to Cycl e News, Attn: Contest , 3505-M Cadill ac Ave., Costa Mes a. CA 92626. E-ma il entries ca n be sent to : Editor@CycieNews.com