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/128620
A Tale of Two Americans ••• what they've done so I .ar So Africa Continuedfrom page 2 The roun d o f the 250cc Motocross World Championsh ip sc hed uled in G dy nia , Po lan d on A ugus t 6 has bee n cance lled , according to the FIM . The FIM Execu t ive Board has ag reed to replac e the eve nt , wi th t he race to be he ld in N a m u r . Belg ium on t h e sa m e date Augu st 6 . into the Motorcycle Hall of Fam e duri ng the A MA Gra nd N ational C hampion ship event in lima, O hio, on June 25 . Werne r won ' t be abl e t o att end the Hall o f Fam e ind uc ti o n cerem o ny, sc hedul ed fo r J uly 8 , be cau se th er e ' s a ro und of the dirt t rac k seri e s th at same da y in Kan sas . ~ ~ .....::? ~~ / Legendary tuner Bill Werner received his med al c ommemorating his induc t io n • Speedway, Italian Style After winning five World Speedway titles in nine y ears during. the I 990 s. Italian engine man ufacturer Giuseppe Marzotto 's OM motors has had to tak e a back seat to its Czech Jawa rival during the first two years of the new Speedway Orand Prix World Championship series. with Jawa. rider Tony Rickardsson from Sweden winn ing the series both .in J998 and '99 . Not since America's Oreg Hancock won in 1997 '(following on the success of his friend and compatriot Billy Hamill in 1996, also on a OM) has a OM rider been crowned World Champion: . That may change for Y2K , though , with a heavily revised .500cc four -valve OM motor which reigning world champion Rickardsson has been recruited to ride , and which powered him to slxthplaceinthe season-openi ng Czech GP on May 6. According to Marzotto himself a world-class rider for many yea rs and multi -time Italian speedway champion rid. ing under the pseudonym of Charly Brown - his new four -valve engine has essenti ally the same bottom end as the old GMmotor, but features a different cylinder head with a flatter valve angle , altered rocker angles, and revised inlet and exhaust porting aim ed at eliminat ing hot spots on the air-cooled , methanol-powered motor, "A coo ler cylinder head gives more power and better acceleration, " he says, "and the altered rocker angles allow us to use different, mo re aggressive cam shafts." Although GM is the reigning World Long -Track champion thank s to Gerd Riss, Marzotto admits that regaining th e Speedway crown is his to p prio rity. "On long -track, it's the engine whi ch mak es th e difference, which is very satisfying for me as an engine manufacturer, but not as presti gious • whereas in speedway, it's the rider ," he says.."Rick ardsson is a great competitor - let' s hope we can give him the tools to retain his title." After several false starts , the titlewi nning OM oval -track eng ine also looks set at last to make it to the street, with th e Borile range of retro singl es laun ch ed at the '99 Milan Show soon to enter han d -m ade •li m ited pr odu ct ion , using a revised version of the GM motor converted to gasolin e, with m ore sub' stanti al cy li nder finning. Maybe it will have a Y2K World Speedway crown to boast of by th e time the first'ones hit the streets. <, ~- \" \" I . , , v: Y. ... ...... \" "I~ <, ..- I \,17 \ I f I , , . f \ I \ \\ J I , 1 ,\ I II ZII - \ I \ • \\ / V \ / \, \ \\ II IY \\ II <, l/. \__~ '(I IT 1\ I \ I »" I I"'-.. r/ I \ \ I . \\ ,, ., .",."/ / j, / \\ ,, 1\\ . I I \ I' \' \ ,-. T- -Co lin Ed w a rd s Race I , Ra c e 2 , - - - - - - - The Ac t io n S ports 2 0 0 0 Stadium Moto cross w ill be held Ju ly 8-9 in Nel son v il le, Oh io, and in A lb an y , Ohi o, res pectively , Fo r mo re inf ormat io n, c all 740 /594-668 5. The Tho u sand Oaks Ya m a ha M in i Motocross Nationals w ill tak e place at Los A ngeles County Racew ay in Palmda le, C alifomia, on J uly 9 . Twenty cl asses wi ll be featured, including an 80cc Pro c la s s . Fo r more informa tion, call 661 /272 -8889 . The Harley -Davidson Motor C o m · p any has announced that it is dropping its applicat ion to trad emark the sound of its V -twin engines - aft e r six yea rs and seve ral thou sand do llars in litigation cos ts. " M o re than six years have passed since we filed our application and there is still no end in si g ht, " sai d Jo anne Bischman n , vice pres ident of marketing for Harley , in a statemen t. ' The process of regi stering this trade mark has beco me more of an issue than the uniqueness of o ur so und and, frankly , we 're tired of thr owing ten s of thousands of do llars out the window on litigatio n." The applicat ion was app rov ed by the U.S , Patent and Trademark Office , w hic h ag ree d th at the so und iden tified Harley-D avid son motorcycle s and disting uis hed th em from oth er moto rcycles , according to Harley. C omp etit ors, however, opposed the application. cyclenews.com reader poll question of the week Which of the fallowing forma ts would..you mas t li ke to"'s ee at the upcoming Laguna Seca road race weekend? A. AMA Sueerbike un on Slilturday, World Sueerbike run on Sunday • B. AMA and World Superbike run separately, but both on Sunday C. AMA and World Superbike combined. with top-pl atin " l1. rider getting first-p lace AMARoints D. AMA and World Superbike combined , with t op-placirig.AMA riller ge hng poin s for his actual position nevvs I 1\ .Jeremy Max Paget, 23, died o n Saturday, J une 3, 2000 from injuries sustained in a mo tocross racin g acci dent at th e H ot S p r i ng s T rac k ne a r O g d e n , Ut ah , i n a n NMAIUSR A Pon c a Ci t y Qua lif ier . Paget is survived by his w ife, Kel lie, par en t s, Kr is ty and D o ug Tall ; Si dney and Ly nette Paget, broth ers and sisters , Ryan Tall. Broo klyn Page t. J ess ica Tr e a s e a nd J u s lin Tre a s e an d gr andpar ents , George and Vera Paget ; M argie and M ax Bryden. Germany San Marino Spaia . 1 • \ The Internatio nal Tribun al of Appeal mAl w ill co nve ne on Friday. Jun e 30 to decide t he fat e of W o rld Su per bik e competi tor N oriyuki Ha ga . Th e TIA w ill meet in Switzerland to judge the appeal lod ged by Haga of the decision to ban him fro m rac ing fo r o ne month followi ng his po siti ve drug test after the South A frican round of the W orld Superbike Se ries on Apri l 2. - / / ~ - .Iapan Great Britain Italy australia Ben Bostrom Race I , Race 2 : - - - --- ---- ... I 1 Th e American Sidecar C ompetition Association (A SCA l is planning an AMA- san ct ioned 2000 S ideca rc ro ss Championship - backed by Bridgestone Tires , Boyesen, Twi n Air and Ural Am erica. Int er est ed parties can contact A SCA at 650/ 365-1653 , To show t hei r suppo rt of the o ngoing efforts of the team , the employees of the Ha rl ey -D avi d so n York, Pen nsylvania , manufacturing facility wi ll be pre sen ting employee -auto grap hed T- sh irt s to all members o f t he Harley· D avidson VR 1000 rac e team at the M id-O hio Superbike Natio nal on J uly 15. The first shipment o f U .S .-sp ecificati on Suomy stree t helmets rec ently left Italy on it s wa y to Am erica, and U .S . impo rt er Ge arbox Internat io nal has arranged for a bo oth in t he M anu f actu rer ' s' Ro w at L ag u na S e c a . Appro xim at ely 60 Bo strom Re p lic a , Corser Re p lic a and Rus se ll Replica helmets w ill be available on a fir st -c ome-f irst -serve bas is, w ith a utog raph sess ions planned for both S aturd ay and S und ay f or tho se w ho wa nt thei r he lme ts signed by t he sta rs th em sel v e s . Su om y r id ers c urre nt ly sc he d uled fo r th e autog raph sessio ns in clu d e Tro y C ors er , Ben B o strom . Aa ron Sligh t, Troy Bayliss, Sc ot t Russell a nd St e v e Rap p . For m ore i n fo o n times, call 800/799 -9444. eN