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
8 wlJ~~ 00 model could be made to wo rk for bo th disciplines. o o o o o o o Good new s fo r Yamaha 's new YZ2 50 F four-stroke: The FIM also announced that starting in 2003 , thumpers with displacements between 175 and 250cc will be allowed in the 125cc class (as they curre nt ly are in AMA co mpe ti t io n). In addition, four-stroke s with displacements betw een 350 and 400cc will be allowed in the 250 cc class, and four-strokes w ith displace ments between 4 50 and 650cc will be allowed in the 500 cc class. The AMA currently allows four-strokes up to 550cc in the 250cc class. O Dick O'Brien . longtime Harley-Davidso n f actory rac e te am manager. and Sammy Tanner , w ho dom inated th e wee kly haif-mile racing at southern California's Ascot Park in the 1960s , have been selected for inductio n into the Dirt Track Hall of Fame. The ceremonies will take place during the September 1-3 Hall of Fame Labor Day W eekend Classic at the Illinois St at e Fairg ro unds in Springfield. Illinois. The weekend will offe r race fans a first in dirt track rac ing histo ry, three back-to-beck points-paying rounds of the AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Tr ack C hampi o ns hips . On Frida y night a G rand National Short Track will take place at a brand new facility at the fairgrounds. On Saturday, the 3rd Annual $100 ,000 Dirt Track Hall of Fame Race will take place on the mile oval, w ith a National also slated to run on the mile on Sunday. O 'Brien's induction into the Dirt Track Hall of Fame will no doubt be wit nessed by more than a few riders w ho are already in the Hall of Fame and w ho rode on the Harley-Davidson team during -his t enure as Harley-D avidson' s te am manager from 1958 until his retirement in 1982. A who's who list of dirt track racers com pete d under O'B rien' s superv ision during that period, including Carroll Resweber, Bart M arkel, Roger Reiman, M e rt Law w ill , M ark B re l s f o rd , G a ry Scott, Jay Springsteen and Randy Goss. Joining O' Brien as a member of the first Hall of Fame class of the new millennium is Tanne r. D ubb ed "Th e Flyi ng Flea" because of his diminutive stature, Tanner, O O O O O O O O O O O D O O O O O D o O o o o o o o o o o o o o who hailed from Texas, burst onto the dirt tr ack scene in the late '50s. It' s fitting t hat hi s indu c tion t akes pl ac e at t he Springfiel d M ile , an event he w on in 1964 . In 19 6 6 , Tanne r score d t hre e G rand N at io nal vi c tori es , w in ning at Ascot, and on the half-mile ovals at Heidelberg, Pennsylvania, and Elkhom, Wiscon sin. He fini shed third in th e po int s standings that year, topped only by fellow Hall of Fame members Bart Markel and Gary Nixon. Four ot her Dirt Track Hall of Fame induc t ees wi ll be annou nce d in upcoming weeks. Anthony Gobert may b e back in 50 0cc G rand Prix racing at the Briti sh Grand Prix, according to Team Proton KR Modenas team manager Chuck Aksland. The Australian. who was made available when the Bimota W orld Superbike team suspended operations recently, is in discussio ns w it h t he t eam t o rid e t he newe st versio n of the Moden as KR3 at the British Grand Prix on July 9, Aksland said . " W e are t ry ing t o get a secon d rider and three names have em erged , Luc a IC adalo raJ. S imo n [C raf arJ. and Anthony," Aksland said on Monday, June 26 from the team's headquarters in Banbury , England . " If Jo hn [Koci nski ] wa s available, he'd be on the list too." Kocinski is currently under co ntract to Vance & Hines Ducati. Of the three, Gobert would seem the most likely. given his ability to get the best out of any machinery. In his relatively short intema tional career, Gobert has raced for the facto ry teams of Kaw asak i, D ucat i, M uZ , Su zuk i, and , most recently, Bimota, the bike on which he wo n one leg of the World Superbike round at Phillip Island, Aust ralia, earlier this year. This season. the two versions of the Modenas have been raced by the relatively inexperienced Spaniard David de Gea and the team is looking for someone to ride the bike to it s limits . " W e need somebody who 'll ride the crap out of it, " team ow ner Kenny Robert s said at last weekend's Dutch n in Assen. Hoiland, where Gobert 's name first surfaced, "and we know he [Gobert) will. " Anot her factor in Gobert 's favor is tires . Gobert has always expressed a preference for Du nlo p t ire s , as has Craf a r . th ou gh Cadalora is just the opposite, prefe rring Mi che lin . A lso , the qui xotic It alian has teste d the Modenas this year, as we ll as the newest wo rks Ducati , but has told friend s he has little inte rest in racing . "We're looking and talking and we should know within a couple of days , " Ak sland said. The FIM released a provisional calendar for the 2001 World Championship Grand Prix season that looks very similar to the 2000 calendar. The most conspicuous absence for American race fans is the lack of a United States Grand Prix. The potential orga nizers of the race are continuing their search for a suitable facility, but 2002 now appears to be the target date . M eanw hile , there are again three races in Spain - Jerez, Catalunya, and Valencia - and two in Japan, the season-opener at Suzuka and Motegi, late in the year. The season ends in Malaysia in November, the latest anyone can remember the series co ncl uding . Nine of the tracks are subject to being re-homologated for t he 2001 season, though they' re all expected to pass. The provisional calenda r is as f oll ow s: A pr il 4 - S uzuka, Japan; April 22 - We lkom, South Africa; May 6 - Jerez, Spain; May 20 - Le Mans, France; June 3 - Mugello, Italy; June 17 Catalunya, Spain; June 30 - Assen, Hoiland; July 15 - Donington Park, England; July 29 - Sachsenring, Germany; August 26 - Brno. Czech Republic; September 9 - Estoril, Portug al; September 23 - Valenc ia, S pain; Oc t o be r 7 - J ac arep agua, Brazil; Oct ober 2 1 - Motegi, Japan; October 28 - Phillip Island, Australia; November 11 - Sepang, Malaysia. PACE Motor Sports has announced that it has reached an agree ment w it h Lockhart-Phillips USA for title sponsorship of the Unlimited Superbike class, the premier racing clas s in the Fo rmula USA Wre nchead.co m N at io nal Road Race Series. The clas s will be off icially titled the Lockhart-Phillips USA Unlimit ed Superbike Championship and will include all remaining events on the 2000 season schedule as well as the 200 1 and 2002 race seasons . "We are very pleased to have a prominent co mpany like Lockhart- spec if icall y for yo unge r rid ers . For mo re in fo rmati on , call 909/941-1901 or 909 /941- 1705 (fax). OPENED: RevSt uff' s home page on the W orld Wide W eb. The site ca n be fo und at t he fo llow ing add res s: http :/ /www.revstuff.com. OPENED: A new quarter-mile flat track at Comp etit ion Park in San Jacinto, California. The track is now open fo r practi ce on Wednesday afte rnoons from 5 to 10 p.m. Admission is $ 15. For more inf ormat ion, ca ll 909/ 654 -2 126. In relate d, news, th e Southern Califo rnia Flat Track As sociation has sc heduled two race meetings at ttie new track . The dates for the events are July 22 and August 19. For more information, call 858 / 277-1591. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: A t Mo nterey Peninsula Pow ersports in Seaside, California, on Thursday, July 6 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. AMA 600cc Supersport road racer Kurt Marmor is scheduled to appear. For more information . call 217/7 44-6659. CANCELED: The Atterbury Hare Scrambles, sc heduled for July 9 . has been canceled and the eventwill not be rescheduled. APPOINTED: Bob Beyer, as marketing manager fo r Shoei Helmets, effec tive immediately. For more info rmation, call 909 /5200500. OPENED: Go Gina Extreme Sports' home page on the Wo rld W ide W eb . The site ca n be fou nd at the fo llow ing address: htt p:/ / www .gogina.com. . Phillips USA join us as title sponso r of the Unlimited Superbike class," PACE's Dan Krolczyk said. " We look forward to sharing our reso urces in joint promotion s to publicize the W renchead.com National Road Race Series and Lockh art-Phillips USA's extensive line of high-performance products." Events remaining on the 2000 Fo rmula USA roa d race sc hedule are: August 4-6 - Portland International Raceway; August 25-27 - Pocono Intemational Raceway; October 21-22 Daytona International Speedway. The YWha's in charge here?" question remained unanswered with the stopon June 24, page of the 500cc Dutch but eve ry indication was that the riders were in charge. Television monitors made it clear that rain was falling hard enough to make racing on full slicks perilous, and when th e rid ers . led by rac e lead er Valentino Rossi , cros sed th e finish line at the' end of the fourth lap they put their hands up to signal that th ey we re stop ping the race. The co rner marshals had already displayed the oil flags to warn of a wet track and the red flags came out almo st im med iat el y . Th e re exi st s , it seems, an unwritten agreement betwee n race contro l and the riders that race control will stop the race as soon as the riders think it unsafe. It' s unlikely such an agreement would ever be formalized. The lack of a mandatory wet practice session was also employe d for the first time in A ssen. In the past, when the race was red-flagged a mandatory 20-minute wet practice session was ordered. Too oft en the track would immediately dry and the practice wo uld only delay the start of racing. It happened mo st rece nt ly at t he Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez in May and the rule to end the wet practice session ' came o ut of the Spa nish meeti ng. The Dutch race was red-flagged on the fourth lap at abo ut 2:10 p. m. and t he re-start went off prompt ly at 2:45, with most of the front-runners choos ing an inter mediate front tire and a slick rear. n Altho ugh Am ericans Randy Mamola and Kenny Robert s helped found Riders fo r Healt h in England, the organi zatio n hasn't had a beachhead in the U.S. But now Puget So und de aler Ji m Bo ltz is working with W ashington stat e dealers, Cycle Barn Sport s Riders Club (CBSRC) and t he W ashingt on M ot o rcy cle Road Racing A ssociation CWMRRA) to launch RfH. RfH calendars and stickers are currently being sold at W MR RA races and pro fi ts from " Interm itte nt B illy Rid es Again" - new CD from Seattl e rock band Nobo dy Home go to Riders for Health. A Kenny Roberts Jr. signed helmet is currently on display at Lynnwood Cycle Barn in Lynnwood , W ashington and it w ill be raff led off w ith the w inner slated to be anno unce d at t he S eattle Int ernational Raceway in Kent, W ashington on Oct obe r 1. Fo r more in fo rm at io n, call Jim Boltz at 425/92 1-1112. W eekly Friday night motocross at Competition Park in San Jac into , California, w ill begin on Friday, July 21 . Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with practice at 6 p.m. Racing will begin at 7: 15 p.m. No member ship is required and CMC rules w ill ap p ly . For mo re info rmat ion , c all 909 /654-2 126 or 949/367-1 14 1. 2 .JULY 5, 2000 ' cue I e n e _ s ------~ Con tin ued on page 114