Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2000 09 13

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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O w 1 O ECiJcD o --- M ik e Brown (Ho n) closed out the FIM O O O K i ng (Hu s) . B erv oets won the seco nd moto ov er Sw ede Jonny Lindhe (H us), Aa lto ne n, Peter Johansson (KTM) and Erwin Machtlinger NOR). The 500cc W orld C hampi ons hip 125 cc M o t oc ro ss S erie s o n a wi nning not e. The Ten ne ssee resi dent won both mot os at t he G erman G P in G aildorf. o n Sep t em ber 3. American ride rs, in fact. grabb ed the first tw o p o s it ion s in t he f ir st mo to w ith B ro w n w inning and Trampas Parker ITM) finis hing second . Third in the mo t o went to Great Brit ain 's Carl Nunn (Ya m) , wh o w as fo llowed by Italy 's Alessio Chiodi (Hus) and Great B ritain's Tom Church (Kaw ) . In t h e seco nd moto , Philippe Dupasquier (T M ) took secon d t o B row n, w hile third we nt t o newly c rowned c ha mpio n G rant Langston (KT M) . Langsto n finished o ut th e se ries wi th 4 93 po ints , fo llowed by James Dobb (KTM) wi t h 4 19 , B r o w n wit h 3 7 9 an d Luigi Seg uy w ith 282 . cla sses co ncl uded w it h Smet s w ay ou t in f r o nt w it h 5 8 3 p oi n t s , f oll o w ed b y B erv oet s wi t h 431 , J oh ansson wi th 397 and Bart o lini w ith 369. O O O O O O Dougie Lampkin (M on) e nded t he W o rld T rials C hamp io n sh ip season the w ay yo u'd exp ec t him to , with a do ub le w in i n t h e f in al ro u n d a t S a in t Ju li a , A ndo rra , S eptember 2-3. The order of finish fo r th e top fo ur w as the same on bo th d a y s . w it h L a m p ki n bea t ing J a p an ' s Takah isa Fuj i nami . Spai n ' s Mar c Colomer , and M arc Freix a in the tiny nation on the border between Spain and France. The fina l res ults also mirrored the order o f the top fo ur in the c hampionship. o o o o o o ~ The final rou nds of the FIM W orld Champ io ns hi p 25 0 a n d 500 c c M o t o c r o s s S erie s w ere held in Rogg enb urg , Sw itzerland, on S ept em ber 3 , where Pit Beirer (Yam) and M arnicq Be r voets came away with the overall wi ns , In the 250cc class, B eirer was unabl e to land a mot o w in, but his 2-2 mo to finishes were consis te nt enough to give him th e class w in. Yves Demaria (Ya m) won t he f irst moto , but suffe red a D N F in th e second moto - which was won by M ickael M aschio (Kaw) . M as c hio ' s 4 - 1 earned him ru nner-up ho no rs . w hile C laudi o Federici 's (Yam) 3 -4 ea rned hi m thi rd overal l. Aft er easily w inning the first 500cc rnoto, series cha mp Joel Smets looked to be headed f o r ano t her o verall win , but a crash in t he seco nd m o t o erased tha t idea . Inst ead . Bervoet s came out o n to p w it h 3 -1 moto finishes. In t he first rnoto, Andrea Bartolini (Ya m) finished second to Srnet s . follo w ed by B e rv o e t s . Miska Aaltonen (H u s) and D arry l Steve Crevier (He n) won t he Part s C anada S uperb ike C hamp ion sh ip w ith a second-place finish in the season finale at S hanno nvi lle M o t o rsp o rt Park in S hannonville , O nt ar io , C anad a o n S ept ember 3 . Cre v i er f ini s h ed be hi nd J ordan Szo k e ( H en) t o cla im a re c o rd fifth C anad ian N at ion al S upe rb ike tit le . " I'm so stoked, " the 35 -ye ar-ol d Crevier said . ''I' m o n top o f the w orld rig ht now. It' s been a tough year.' Michael T a y lo r (Kaw) ended up thi rd in th e race and sec ond in the c hampionship. The Yoshimura 600 Spo rt Bike title . me anwhile, wen t to Owen W ei ch el (Kaw) , topping Crevier by le ss than a bikelength to win the race . Fr a nk T rombino (Yam) capt ured t he Ope n S po rt B ike crown with his fo urth race wi n of th e season . 8 o ° ~ o o ~ o o o o o o o o o o o o o o The fed eral Bureau of Land M a nagement has re lea s ed its reco m me nded recreatio n management gu ide li ne s for BlM-adm inist ered land in Colorado. The gui del ines cou ld lead to great er re stric tions o n off-hig hway v e hicles (O HV s) , ac c o rd ing t o th e AMA. Th e pub lic no w h as unti l S ept ember 2 2 to co m m ent be fo re final g uidelines are issued . U nti l loc al t rav el - ma n ag em ent p la n s a re in place, t he proposed gUidelin es t ell BlM o ff icials to restric t OH V use " t o prevent the unacceptab le proliferat io n of roa ds and trails that have cause d , o r w ill lead to , reso urce damage . " Th e gu id elines also call on land ma nage rs to put a high priority on developin g lo cal travel-management plans , and on involving the public in developing local ro utes 'and trail s. In developing the trav el-man agem en t plans , the guide line s te ll land managers to allow OHVs to trave l only in areas that meet th e cri t eria for an "open" designation and that meet standards for protecti ng the environme nt. The g Uide lines are de sign ed to allow a variety o f rec reatio nal oppo rt unities w hile preventi ng da mage to the land, the BlM said . B ut t he BlM also noted th at it is worki ng on a strate gy to add ress OH V issues, w hich w ill be anno unce d lat er. To see the recommended recreation guidelines and t o co mment, you can log on to t h e Bl M ' s Colo rado websit e at www.co.b lm .gov and use the elect ro nic response form there. You ca n also comment by wri ting to: Bu reau o f l and M anageme nt , A ttn : Rec rea tion G uide lines , C o lo rad o Stat e Offic e / CO 931 , 2850 You ngfield St .. l akew ood, CO 80 2 15. Claudio Federici , the fact ory Yam aha moto cro s se r , has si g ne d anot he r con tract wi t h Ya maha fo r the 200 1 season wi th an op tio n fo r 2002 , The Italian is c ur rently fift h in the 250cc World M o tocro ss C ham pion ship. Federici wi ll be part o f the Ya ma ha B e lg ard a t eam nex t se ason , a team that is s uppo rte d by the D e C arli Rac ing Team. M eanwh il e , afte r w eek s o f s pec ula t io n co nceming the fut ure o f C o ron a Suzuki's Joshua Coppins, Tea m Suzuk i's W orl d M ot oc ross effort has anno unced that C oppins and th e team hav e agreed to terms for 200 1 W orld 250cc M otocro ss C hamp ionsh ip. Coppins has inke d a one-year contract that w ill see the N ew Z ealander ride for the Sy lvain G eboers-managed team fo r a fu rt her year. " I am very pleased to resign w ith Sylvain and Team Suzuki ," C oppins said in a re lease iss ued by the team. " We hav e bee n t oget her fo r four years no w . They have seen me im prove as a rider each year and I owe a lot of that to them as well as my own determ ination to succeed . I know how the team works and they k now me . W e all wo rk v e ry w ell -t oqe the r so it didn't mak e any se ns e to consider a move to another team and have to sta rt all over aga in learning t he bi ke. Suzuki has good organization, good suppo rt from th e fact ory in J apan , good suspension , so it makes sense to want to be part of that. " Cop pins is c urrently third in the 250 cc W orld Ch am pion ship. The 20 01 W orld M ot oc ro ss C hamp io nshi p s w ill be run for the firs t time w it h a new Single-race format, with all three classes - 125 , 250c c and the O pen class - runni ng tog ether at trip lehead er Grand s Prix. It ' s so met hing Coppins thinks is a good deal. " It's goin g t o be new for eve ryo ne,' the Kiwi sa id. &)5DOW &)@fIJ0@UD [ft@[J' W @[J'DciJ &)GD[j)@[f0 Assen has always held specia l significance for m ost of the Wo rld Superb ik e team s and rid er s - ma inly becau se th e Dutch round comes at contract time, when the handshakes, if not the ink, are put in plac e for the follow ing season . This y ear was mu ch of the same , with the rumor -mill run ni ng non -stop . Th e foll owing - in alphabeti cal order - is a look at the expected rider line up for the major World Superbik e team s for 200 1. , A p ril ia Axo: Tro y Co r ser and prob ab l y Al essandro A ntonello. Cor ser and Ap rilia hav e option s on each other, and, after th e positive results, Cors er m ay be co nsi dered Bayli ss, in his strange way of look ing pleased and non plussed all at once , took the news of his full -time adopti on as evenly as ever. Ducati Infostrada : Troy Bayliss and either Carl Fogarty, Ben Bost ro m , Neil Hodgson or even Juan Borj a. Bayliss bec ame the first unsigned 2001 Superbike rider to be offic ially confirmed as a fact ory pi lot , wit h the official press release paying speci al att ention to the fact that, since he j oined the World Sup erbi ke ci rcus at Monza, he has been the highest scoring rid er, taking 187 points (th at is until his no-p oints weekend at Assen; see page 26 ). Fogarty is still m aking his mi nd up about what to do : race or reti re - and to help him mak e his mind up Ducati will give him a t est at th e end of September , not th e end of Novem ber as they fir st cla im ed. "I feel a lot stronger now than I did after Brand s Hatch" said Fogarty . "So we'll see how I get on there before I ma ke any final decis io ns. I'll do it with no media or anyon e else there so that I can worry about th e rid ing and noth ing else." Team man ager David e Tardozzi co nfirme d that Fogarty would be given a test, but not the venue it will be conducted at. " We can test anywhere, but the main thi ng is that Carl can make hi s own mind up : T ardozzi said . "Until recentl y I was pushin g him to come back but I know that he mu st be co m plet el y m otivated and ready to co me back in his own m ind. I personally want Carl to com e back , but to wait too long for his deci sion means tha t we wi ll be askin g any other to p riders to wait on him, whic h is not fair on them . I can' t say who I would like to have in the team if Carl is not there. I don't even want to giv e yo u a shortlist." " Yeah it's great t o h ave a j ob li ne d up fo r next y ear already and to get a chance to do the full series: he said. " I'm hap py. but it' s noth ing to get too excited abou t yet. I need to get th is year done with first." Neil Hodgson m ay j oin th e team if th e INS squ ad from Eng land do es not go World Superbike raci ng, but another rumor has INS running both Hod gson and Ruben Xaus, t o give the Spanish yo ungster a first season in Sup erbike away from th e glare of the factory team . Castr ol Hond a: Colin Edw ards and m ayb e Aa ron Slight, though m ore likely a replacem ent. Honda app ears to be in more turmoil than anyon e, with the Castrol Honda team very m uch rum or ed to be without Slight next year, With all Hond a's raci ng pro grams about to co me und er the win g of Hond a Motor Eu rop e, and seri ous c ut bac ks expected in the GP raci ng bud gets, Alex Barros was onc e mor e in the frame fo r Sli ght' s ride in 200 I. With Sete Gibernau now looking certa in to be go ing to the MoviS tar Suzuki squad , his nam e was beinqscratched from the li st of possib le RC51 pilots , but Tadayuki Ok ada is tip ped by some, ruled out by others. A meetin g at Honda Motor Europ e in Rome on the Frid ay after Assen was expected to be crunc h time. Ben Bostrom would be a hot tip if he were anythin g but American . Fuchs Kawa sa k i : A ki ra Ya naga wa a n d Greg or io Lavill a/H itoyasu Izutsu (Chris Wal ker or lain Ma cp~ erson as outsi de bets). Yanagawa is locked into the seco nd year of a tw o-year contract, leaving only one saddle for Eckl to fill . "I wou ld li ke to keep Grego rio for another yea r," Eckl said. "He has not had a fair chance this season due to inju ry , and he has been showing some good form when he has been fit . But it is not only my deci sion . The factory are pushing for lzutsu to join the team , but I do not want two J apanese riders - plu s next year wou ld be har d for him because it is his first year in the world series. " lain Macpherso n really wants to rid e a Sup erbik e, but it is important for m e to keep a stro ng rider in the Sup ersport team. lain is a real racer and I'm co nvince d he wou ld be a good Sup erbi ke rid er, but I would pr efer him to be in the Supersport team ," 2 vv sa unwise to opt out. S EPTEM BER 13,2000' cue • e n e Rum or s ci rc ul ated th e Assen paddock to the tune that Chris Wal k er , seem ing ly den ied a c ha nce to rac e World Sup erbike with Suzuki, had signed for Kawasaki • but even his own personal manager rubbi shed that theory . Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki: Pier -Francesco Chili and Stephan e Chambon. Chambon now gets his chance to ride a Sup erbike after mi ssing out last seaso n. Not officia lly confirm ed quite yet, everyone from the Corona team was nonetheless adm itting that th e co m p lete rider line-up was sealed , i f not qu ite signed. Chili will return fo r hi s thi rd y ear of Suzuki World Sup erbik e competition. Yama ha World Sup erbike: Nori yukl Haga, and maybe one oth er, depend ing on what Yam aha's race department wants to do . "I am not sure what Yamah a want to do next year: said David e B rivio , who would like t o run a t wo -r ide r World Superbike team . with Haga the cent erpiece . Wi th a rumored six Yamah a 500s in GPs nex t season, then Haga coul d well move on, but with most of the current crop of championship contenders snapp ed up alr eady , losing Haga would be somethi ng of a body blow to their Superbike hopes. Californ ian Ben Bostrom , m eanwhil e, was ti ght-li pped about his pl ans for 2001. "Sorry, but I'm leaving all that to my mana ger Fred Brambl ett : Bramblett was confi dent , if vague , abou t Bostr om 's lik ely pl ace of em ployme nt in 200 I . " We've been talkin g t o a few World Superbik e t ea ms about puttin g some th ing together for Ben in 200 1. He's also had a few offers from th e AMA series and the GP cham pionships , but Ben came here with th e desire to do well and win th e World Superb ike Champion ship . Yes, amo ng other things , we have been talkin g with Du cat i about Ben going back into the Infostrada team for next year." Sources close to the Ducati squad have comme nted that it may be too much of a pride-swallowing exerc ise for Ducati to acce pt Bostro m back afte r dem ot in g him earlier in the year, but those rum ors were refueled when hi s team coo rdinator was spied entering the SBK team bus with some Du cati top brass. Gordon Rit chie ' , ) i I s I 3- " 1 1 J v ,

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