Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

<, D a v i d Watso n ( Hon) rep e ated la st we e k's sw eep of both the 540 and 800cc classes in round six of the AMA N ational Cha mp ion ship Hillcl imb S eries . Watso n tamed Luc ifer's Ladder, in East Palest ine, Ohio, on June 25, to increase his poi nts leads in each clas s . Jeff Thomas (Yam ) chased Watson home in the 800cc class with John Hamilton Jr. ITri) finishing th ird. In the 540cc class , Tiger Strank (Kaw) ended up second with Paul Pin· sonnault (Ho n) finishing th ird, despite suffering an ank le injury . T he 33 rd annual Mammoth Mountain M otocro ss was held Ju ne 22·25 in M ammoth Lak es , Californ ia, with mo re tha n 4000 rider visits and 1300 entries and pic t ure -perfect co nd it ions all fo ur day s. Yamaha factory rider David Vuillemin wo n all three Pro classes - 125 cc, 250cc and Op en Pro · a feat previou sly accompl ished o nly by Ric k Johnson , J oh nny O 'Mara and Warren Reid. The to p Mi ni rider was Team Green 's James Stew. a r t , who won the 80cc ( 14 · 16) and Sup erm ini classes. Results are posted at the official W eb site: www.mammothmo· tocross.corn. whi ch as w e went to pre ss one d ay aft er the rac e , had alread y received mo re than 2000 hits since the event. G eoff Aaron (G -G) t o o k t he w in in rou nds 7 and 8 of the AMAINATC Trials Ch amp ionship series at the Trials Training C ente r in Sequatc hie, Ten nessee, J une 24 -25 . O n Saturday , G eo ff was brilliant and do minated the co mpetitio n with a low score o f 49 aga inst cha llenge r Ryon Bell 's (Mon) second-be st 63 . O n Su nday , A a r o n seemed t o s t r ug g le an d tra iled Bell after the firs t two loo ps. He pulled himself toget her w ith so me excel· le nt rid e s o n the th ird and f in al lo op , includin g a b rill iant rid e in th e slippery rocks of the to ugh final sec tion to tie Bell at 76 po ints each . Aaron took the win via t he tiebreak rule by having the most cleans. The eve nt topped off a full week of trials competition including the firstever AMAINATC Youth Natio nal C hampions hip s, hosted by the So ut heast ern Trials Riders Association . The big wi nner at the 15th A nnual Steve Mc Q ueen M em o r ia l Vi ntage MX i n Euge ne, Oregon , o n J une 25 wa s Hondamo u nted Joe Casey , w ho wo n the 125 cc, 250cc and Over-30 Expert class es . The race was the sixth rou nd of the AHRMA W estern Regional Series. The 2 50cc W orld Cha mpionsh ip Motocro ss S eries round sch eduled for Poland on August 6 has been replaced by a round in N amur , Be lgium , on the same date . N amur will hold a d ou ble G P , as the 500cc class was already scheduled to rac e there on the same weekend . W it h the Moto cross d e s Nati ons loo ming o n Sept embe r 10 in Saint J ean d 'An gely, Fran c e, g o ss ip is turnin g to which ride rs will make up th e U.S. team. N am e s m ention e d o ften in cl ude M ik e La Rocco , Ric ky C ar mich ae l and Kevin Wi ndham , but we'll have to wa it for the Several legends from the American motocross scene of the '70s and '80s took part in the Yamaha Race of Champ ions at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardin o, Califomia, Jun e 24·25. The brainchi ld of Vintage Iron's Rick Doughty, the event was held in conjunction with the Vintage Iron World Championships, which drew 537 entries. The YROC pitted several forme r factory Yamaha stars most of them former AMA national champions· against one another aboard factory -prepared Yamaha YZ125s, 250 s and 426Fs in a three-mota forma t, with each rider riding a diffe rent mod el machine in each mota . Three-time AMA 125 cc Nat ional Champion and two -time AMA 500cc Nati onal Champ ion Brae Glov er emerged with the overall victory in the inaugural eve nt, r ebo un d in g for two - straig ht mo ta wins on Sunday after losing by a whisker to former U.S. GP of Motoc ross winner Marty Moates on Sat urd ay . Former A MA Superc ro ss Ch am p ion Mike Bell put toge ther a consistent 3-2 -2 string for second overall, whil e Moat es held on for thir d overall. "Shoot, I guess that means I'm older than asphalt. At least there' s still dirt." Off-road legend LaffY Roeseler during a recenl Baja Bound lour, moment afler explaining how he has been racing a certain seclion of Ihe course since before 11 p11ved r011d was pul in 10 11ccess Ihe same area. Ital ian Claudio Federici got hi s ma iden win on June 25 at the 250cc MX GP in Lucenec, Slovakia, riding to 4 - 1 mota finishes. The DeCarli Yamaha rider won in muddy conditions, and took the moto-two win by nearly 25 seconds despite a qualifying crash the day before. Finishing second overall was Winfield Kawasaki's Pit Beirer, the Germa n who was the fastest qu alifier and who won the f irst mota. Th ird was Frenchm an Mickael Pichon, who leads the points standi ngs on his Corona Suzuki. The overall victory at the hot, dusty, wi nd y . 12 5cc MX GP in San Sev erino , Italy , on the same day also went to an Italian , with Husqvama rider Tho mas Traversini taking the win via 3·1 mota finishes. Second went to Fr en chman Luigi Seguy, who rode his Yamaha to 2·4 placings, with Brit on James Dobb taking third overall o n his KTM . Dobb' s teammate Grant Langston, from South Africa , won the first mota but placed 10th in moto two, and he still leads in the points standi ngs. The 500cc GP took place on the same day in Iffendic, France, where KTM 's Joel Smets (pictured) continued his domination of the class with dual moto-wins.The rest of the podium was filled with Yamahas, as Andrea Bart olini and Mamicq Bervoets traded seconds and thirds , with Bartolin i taking second overall on the tie-breaker. Smets' cham pionship lead over Bervoets is a commanding 70 points. official dec isio n. W hat ever t he tea m , it looks to face some stiff co mpe tition, primari ly from the ho me tea m. The French Federat ion recently an nounced the pre selection fo r the event w ith eight names: t hree for the 125cc class (Frederic Bol ley, St ephane Roncada and Luigi Sequy) and five fo r the 25 0cc and Open classes (Yves D emaria, Mi ck ael M aschio, Mi ckael Pich on, Sebastien Tortelli and D avid Vui llernin). Surprisingly, France has never won th e pr e stig iou s ev e nt. The o ff ic ial selec tion w ill be announce d befo re end of J uly. The last French M XdN was held 12 yea rs ago in Vill ars so us Ecot. For more inf o r m at io n on th e even t. c he c k out www.actio n-qroup .co m. and for informa tion o n the city, visi t www.angely. net. Sc uri compe ted in the Ya maha D eale r Series, and G len Helen will hold a parade lap in his hono r at the next round on Ju ly 9 . There w ill be no entry fee fo r t he parade lap. Cards and letters for Scurr's family can be sent care of Hahm M oto rsports, 125 East Ball Rd.. A naheim, C A 92 80 5. I <:» The FIM recent ly iss ued a press release w it h the antic ipated o ff ic ial annou nceme nt th at ne xt yea r' s W orl d Champi o nship M ot o cro ss S eri es w ill feature a single final for each of th e three classes at eve ry ro und. There had been so me d iscu ss io n o f co mbi ni ng th e 2 50 and 500cc di vi sion s and re tai ning th e twomoto fo rmat , but this will not be the cas e. The F1M also said that each of the circ uits sc heduled to ho st a t ripleheade r ro und n e xt y e ar w ould be re -in spected to assure that its infrastructure is adequate. n L., o o [J o o LJ o o o o ~QJ[WD)(B[?I0000..-------I' > Th e event was considered a complete success by Yam aha offici als , who sta ted that th e event would be back next year. Zachary Daniel Scuri , an employee in the sales depart ment for Anahei m, Califo rnla'a Hahm Motorsports, wa s killed in a riding accident in San Bema rdino , Cal ifo rn ia. at Glen He le n Raceway' s o pen practice day o n Thursday. June 22 . While jumping a tabletop , Scuri, 23 , was thrown approximately 80 feet into a d irt wal l. His funera l was he ld on Monday, June 26. r r. According to the FIM , the manufacturers are req uesting that an effort be made to • ha rrnon ize " the M X and enduro c lasses in w orld co mpet it io n. Presumably, this would be to ass ure that a single w (\ cu e I e n e _ 50 • JULY 5, 200 0 1

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