Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

\.....; 'l m @ D JJp [1@[JiJ@rBl1@[JiJ D@ @f?@I§!l[JiJ@@ 1!ll f?D@ @DD@[JlJfJ!12I----~rB @ KTM' s J oel Sm ets c linch ed t he 500cc World Mo toc ro ss Championship a few week s ag o, an d A ugust 2 7 saw the other t wo MX GP c h a m p s g et d e c ided . KTM ' s G r a n t Langston went I-I at the fi nal round of th e I 25 cc Series in Heinol a , Finl and, and PAMO Hond a rid er Frederi c Bolley did likewise at th e 250 cc Series' penu ltimate ro und in Teuts chenthal , Germany, clinching th e title a round ear ly to suc cessfully defend his '99 crown . Langston had li ttle trouble taking his vic tory, while the sec o nd -p lace d rid er in the 12 5cc Ch ampionsh ip , Jami e Dobb, struggled aga in t o k eep the 18 -year -old in sight on his KTM . Dobb went 2 -5 fo r third o ve rall, wh ile Danish Yamaha rider Br ian J orgen sen cl aimed a 3 -3 sec ond ov er all. Langston is now on 4 78 po ints c om pa red to Dobb' s 404 po ints. Americ an Mike Brown fin is h ed t h ird i n th e champ ionship race with 339 points. T he 250cc battle was set to come do wn to th e last round in Switzerl and next weekend , but Boll ey 's brilliant I - I moto t ally, and a poor 9 -8 res u lt by Co rona Suzuk i 's M ickael I David Watson (Hen) and Phil Libhart CBSA) co nquered " The W all " at East Palestin e. Ohio. in round 11 of the 2000 AMA National Champi onship Hillclimb Serie s on Augu st 27. W atson put together a 3 .2B9-second run on his final ride to edge Tiger Strank (Kaw) and defend ing Na tional Champi on Ted Wilkins (Htx) in the 540cc class. In the BOOcc class. Libhart scor ed a come-frombehind win over Jeff Thomas (Yam) with John Hamilton Jr. (Tri) rounding out the top three. Mike Corder (Kaw) topped the 125cc Pro cla ss at r o und one o f t he CMC TransCal Series in the Pacific Northwest region , at Alb any M otorsports Park in Albany. Oregon . August 27. Ryan Metzler (Suz) and Ty Lacey (Suz) rounded out the top th ree. In the 250cc clas s. Lacey won over Metzler and Gary Terlec k i (Suz), while Terlecki won the Vet (25+) Pro division. Despit e rumor s circ ulating in the European p res s , B en Bost rom has no t sig ned a c o nt rac t wit h A prilia f o r the 2001 W o rld Superb ike C hampio nsh ip. "N ot true," said Bostrom' s manager Fred Bramblett. " I'm going over for Assen this we eken d to have meetin gs, but we're starting wit h Ducati. Sure Aprilia has contacted us, but so has every other manufacturer. I will have co nve rsa tion s w ith everybody," Former Wo rld Superbike star, Grand Prix racer and AMA Superbike N ational w inner Anthony Gobert retumed to racing action on August 27 , competing in the bergh's tim e. Since he has not raced r, 500 since last year, though he tes ted th'J Red Bull Yamaha earlier this season, his performance impressed Tearn Proton KR folk mightily, accord ing to team manager u C huck Ak sla nd . W ill is w as de lig hte d . ( j "The new bike is definitely better than the '.-.I last year's, and good enough now to get better race res ults than it has achieved so far," he said. "The engine is similar, except f or a muc h bette r t hro t tle response. The old one was a bit savage when you opened the throttle. Now it's a lo t smoot her, " he c ont in ue d , " The biggest difference is the chassis and the handli ng . N ow t he bike holds th e line much better. I desc ribe d it tha t now it looks at the ripple-strip on the inside of the co rners, where the old one was look ing at the strip on the outside - always te nding to run wide. " C hanges to M k3 are a revised engine layout, saving length and allowing a shorte r chassis. intended to resto re the good handling of the M k1 mach ine w hile reta ining the imp roved eng ine performa nce and re liabi lity o f Mk2 , W illis admitt ed he needed to build his speed, but said his expectati ons were high, especially for the final round of the year at Phillip Island, " I know the circuit rea lly wel l. and past re sult s show you don 't necessarily need a V4 for a good result there - Takuma Aoki put a V-twin Hond a on the rostrum . A reali st ic goa l with the new bike is to finish in the middle c...,) of the V-fours... but I'm hoping to do a bit i U bett er than that," he said. CJ I _ LJ Pich o n who led m uch of th e ser ie s, gave the title to Bolley a week early . Se c ond pl ac e in G erm a n y w e nt to New Zeal an d er Josh Copp ins o n a S uzuki , with 4 -3 resu lt s , while th ird was Irish Honda ri der Gord an Cro ck ard . In th e 2 50 cc series po ints st andings, it' s Bo lley w ith an unbeat ab le 410 points, Pich on has 367 , w ith Coppin s th ird on 3 25 po in ts. " I' m of course ve ry happy w ith th is title ," Bo ll ey sa id . " Even if I took it one GP before the end of the season , it wa s m o re difficult th is yea r than last year. Mickael was really strong; he surp ri sed me a lot. Many people to ld m e tha t it's more d ifficult t o get a sec o nd t it le than a first on e, an d I can c onfirm thi s." Somewhat lo st in the weeke n d 's racing news wa s th e m ean ingles s 500 c c GP in H alle , Holland, wh er e Sm ets on c e again w on both motos . With a round rem aini ng , the cham p leads second -place Marnicq Bervoet s by an in su rm ountab le 153 po ints, 54 9 -39 6 . Geoff Meyer A ust ral ian Superbike Serie s round at Eastem Creek. Gobert qualified fourth on a Honda C BR929RR and finished fifth in the first race before retiring in the second with me c han ical pro b lems . The t w o Sup erb ik e rac es w er e w on by Sh awn Giles (Suz ), Gobe rt 's yo unger broth er , Alex , also had mech anical probl em s in the Superbike races, but o lde r Gobert brother, Aaron . won both of the 250 cc Producti on events at Eastern Creek. Pro Stock mot orcycle drag racer Dave Schultz wa s recent ly diagn osed wi th co lo n c anc e r. and w as sc hed ule d t o undergo surgery to remove the tumor on August 25 . Approximat ely th ree and a half w eek s after surge ry , Schultz w ill underg o chemothe rapy . " I don 't kno w how to wear it yet." Schultz said after his initial diagnosis . "The doctor to ld me that if I needed to race, it would have very little impact on our plan of attack , so I elected to be where I was most comfortable immediately after learning of it - at a racetrack. I wanted to be in a big crowd." In the days before the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd, M innesot a, Schul tz underwent extensive test s followed by a CT scan to deter mine his physical cond ition after a slow downh ill slide with what he thought was simply the flu. Schultz said that the cance r has been in his body for some time, and t hat to a certa in exten t , he ignored the pain for some time - somethin g his doctor t o ld him i s co mmon among athle tes . The ca nce r may also have sp rea d to othe r o rga ns like his lungs, liver and kidneys. "Just knowing I'm going to be parked has given me a lot to do, " Sch ult z said , "J ohn Smit h wi ll o o o o ~ J LJ J o ride my bike at Indy and is scheduled indefinit ely. Sunoco knows about the cancer, They've assured me that I have the ir support 100 percent. w hatever I decide t o do , whether I race o r put someone else on the bike. They say my health is the most important issue, and not to let it be jeopardized due to my obligations . I co uldn't ask fo r a bette r spo nso r." A website has been created fo r updates on Schultz as we ll as e-mail communic ation, at www.sunocodave.co m. o J 'l 'l " U Hansyllan Motorsports annou nced the sig ning o f Coca -Cola as th e titl e sponsor of the final round of the 2000 AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike Championship Sept ember 29-0ctober 1 at Wi llow Springs Int ern at io nal Raceway in Rosamond , C alifornia. S uzuki wil l also present the eve nt. "We ' re incred ibl y excited to have Coca-Cola as a premier sponsor, " co mmented Dan Mole, one of the event's pro moters. "Coca-Cola has recog nized that the specta cular growt h of Superbike racing is attracti ng significant numbe rs of people , enough t o make it worth their whil e to become involved , " Mole also said Hansyllan has co llaborated with Coca-Cola, AM /PM Mini-mart s. and Suzuki Motorcycles to develop a promo tion that will include displays in nearly 350 AM / PM sto res. o o The 2000 AMA A mateur, Youth & ATV N a ti o na l Hillclimb Championships de t erm in ed 15 N at iona l C hampion s August 12- 13 in Beaverdale. Pennsylvania. Greg Thompson of Danville, W est Virginia, not only wo n the National Championship in the 600cc class, but also eamed Au stra lian road racer Mark Willis will make a return to Grand Prix rac ing o n September 3 in the Portugue se GP, riding the latest version of the Modenas triple he rode at the back end of last season. W illis is expected to finish the season on the bike, though he may be obliged to miss the followmq GP at Valencia due to prior commitme nts with the Yamaha Motor France endurance team, racing at the 24-hour Bol d'Or the same wee kend . The deal comes after successfu l tests followinq the Czech Republic GP, where Luca Cadalora raced the improving Mk3 M odenas for a second time, The day afte r the race, Dutch Honda V -tw in rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh tes ted the M odenas, fitted with M ichelin tires rather than the Michelin front/Dunlop rear used by Cadalora, and lapped at a speed that would have been seco nd fastes t in the race the day before . Had he fitted the spec ial one-lap Mi chelin qualifying tires he had used in practice, van den Goorbergh said he wo uld have been able to out -qualify his ow n usual V -tw in easily. W illis tested on the same day. and got to withi n half -a-seco nd of van den G oo r- 8 o LJ (I Li o o o o o o o Dcocw[bCB[t'Iooo...---- - - - - o n LJ n (' >=< U n -..J ~ J LJ c ue I e n e 1N S SEPT EMB ER 6 , 2000 1 o

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