Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

" Having only o ne ra ce means only one c hance so there w ill be no room for excu ses . At Suzuki w e already have a bike that is se t up to w in . We c an still wo rk t o improve that over the next few months, but I am personally hop ing fo r great things next year. It will be a big step for me but one that I am looking forward to ." T e a m Suzuk i 's l ine up is almost c o mplete for 2001 w ith Mickael Pich on and now C oppins confirme d for the team. " W e hav e a l re ad y s t a r t e d w orki n g tow ards ne xt sea so n. o ne whi c h w ill be new to everyone but a year in whi ch w e w ill once aga in see Suzuki at th e front. of that I am sure . " team manage r Sy lv ain Geboers said . " W e demand from o ur ride rs their be st e ffo rt s and in retu rn we offer the best sup port and mac hinery. I s trong ly believe that w ith this co mbinati o n Su zuki w ill once agai n be prou d to have a W o rl d C ha mpion Winn ing o n its mac hinery. " Mi c ka el P ic h o n . mea nwhile . missed th e September 3 ro und o f the 2 50cc Wo rld M oto c ro s s Ch a mp ion ship i n Roggenburg , SWitzerl and. after undergoin g surgery o n A ugu st 31 to re pai r his inj ured le ft shoulde r. Pich on , wh o was lea di ng t he W orld C ham pion sh ip at t he ti me of the acci dent at the Belgi an Grand Prix, damaged t he lig ame nt att ac hed to the co llarlbon e. Pichon w as expect ed to be out of action for a mon th. but ret urned to action at th e followinq Grand Prix and has been riding w ith pain-kill ing injections during rec ent weeks trying to hold onto his championship lead. Unfortunat ely, th e injury w as becomi ng inc reasi nqly painful and required im mediat e sur ge ry , accord in g to his team . S yl v ain G eb o e r s , th e S uzuk i te am manager . made the de ci sion alo ng w ith Pic ho n to mov e the surge ry da te fo rw ard . " M ickael now has a sa fe se con d po siti on in the ch ampi on ship, he ca nnot be ov ertak en in the po ints standin gs , " G ebo e rs sa id . " O f cour se , we w ould have like to hav e w on th e c hampio nship. but w e cou ld not have as ked fo r mo re fr om M ickael. He tried to rid e w ith this inj ury. but unfortunately he saw his lead decrea se eac h wee k. The surgery was ca rri ed out as soon as po ss ible. to c ontinue in this co ndit ion on ly make s him w eaker and doe s nothing for him. It was in his best inte res t to have th e su rgery perfo nmed quickly, w e mu st all now sta rt to co nc entrate o n th e W orl d Supercro ss C hampion sh ip an d w o rk mu st start for nex t ye ar Grands Prix now. " Pichon w as also disappo inted at see ing th e possib ility !?D!XJ[si? !1@@[Zg !?~CJ 7J !?8]~@f? fJ@@ 7J Yam aha has a habit of sitti ng on the sidelines and sizing up its co rn petition , and th en mov ing in for the ki ll. Th ey haven't alway s been the m anufactu rer to revolu ti onize the industry, but they are without a doubt the masters of one-upmanship. Accordin g to European sources, Yamaha is bringing a new bike calle d the Fl- J Fazer to the Euro pean m ar k et. On c e aga in, it appears as th ough Yamaha has proven its ability to tak e othe r manufactu rer's co ncepts to an all -new level. Ju st as they did when they introduced th e all-conquering RJ to fight off th e revoluti onary Honda CBR900RR, Yamaha has introduced a new model intended to m ake a run at the com petition. The new Fazer is clearly designed to go u8][JiJiJ8]UD8] after the j ugular of the New 200 I Suzuki Bandit 1200, and th e soonto -be -updated Kawasak i l RX. Th is genre of the mark et is one of the str on gest segmen ts in Euro pe (based on sales) , in part due to th e fact that the bik es are less expensive than hardc ore spo rtbikes, while still offeri ng excellent perfo nmance com bined with everyday co mfort . On paper, th e Fl· ' Fazer loo ks like a bar-room bully with a chi p on its shoulder. It appears that Yam aha has decided that if they' re going to be tru ly competitive in thi s segment of the market, they need to kick the stuffing out of the competition. They tried with the XJR1300SP, Yamaha's current Euro -m ark et biq -bore standard, but this new bike appears to take perfonmance to an all-new level. The Fl·! 's motor isn't an old air-cool ed dinosaur that Yamaha had lying aro und. Instead , it's a slightl y modified YlF·RJ motor. The mot or has been tuned for torq ue, but not at the expense of horsepower. Sources say th at the motor is still goin g to be in th e ! 40 · hor sepower range, further proof of Yamaha 's intentions to beco me co mpet itive in thi s segment. The st yli ng is ob viously in sp ired by th e RJ, wi th th e lin eage apparent in th e upper fairing, cat-eye headli ghts, and ta il section. The bike was appa rently design ed to be an RI for th e ri der who doesn't want to be folded up lik e a pretzel all day - it's a bike that is designed to fill th e roll of sport tourer, urban streetfig hter, and week end canyon warrior. It doesn't look like man y com ers were cut in the producti on of this bike, with th e top-flig ht brakes lifted off the RI , fully adju stable suspension fro nt and rear, and stick y sport ti res. It should be a performer. As yet , no one is say ing if the Fl- J Fazer will be available in the U.S · the Euro -Fazer 600 never was, but it looks li ke the ty pe of bike that the Am erican m ark et would eat up. So keep your fingers crossed. Blake Conner o u o o o o o o o n o o o o o o o n u 1\ of his first w orl d tit le slip aw ay from him . it has been a lo ng har d fo ugh t seas o n which has see n him as the champion sh ip lead e r fo r the m ajority o f t he 16 · rac e seri es. " I have to accept second po sit ion in th e c ham pionship . " Pic ho n sa id . " I think it wa s best to have the su rgery carried o ut as soon as possible . rat he r than wait any long er. It sho uld take about one month to heal and t hen I ca n start w orking on the bike aga in. I have had a pr evio us inj u ry s im ila r t o t hi s o n m y ri ght sho ulde r. It' s not a big o pe rat ion: t hey just att ac hed t he ligament back ont o the collarbo ne and the sho ulder . Yo u ca n ride in tw o o r three we eks, but now I ca n take tim e and let the inj ury heal fully befor e co ming back to rac ing ." A c cord ing t o so u rce s at Am e ri can Ho nda, Nicky H ay de n has inked a de al t ha t w i ll se e h im co n t e s t t he 200 1 AMA /Ch evy T r uc k s U .S . S uperb ike Series on factory RC51 s. Hay den, w ho is currently s eco nd in t he AMA Sup erbike Seri es st and ings in his first full season of Su perlbike raci ng . w ill conce ntra te o n th e S upe rb ike cla ss in 20 01 w ith his on ly 600c c S uperspo rt S erie s o ut ing s et to come at D ayt o na in M arch. Although th e team c urre ntly has Mig ue l DuHamel and Hayden signed up for next yea r, they are s ti ll in d ee p nego t iat io ns w ith Kurtis Roberts for th e 200 J se aso n and it is likely that the you ngest son of thre e-time W o rld C hamp ion Kenny Ro bert s will stay at Ho nda. Yoshimura Su zuk i and Yamaha are also co urt ing Rob ert s . and a decisio n o n his futu re will be made sho rt ly. Fo nmer roa d racer Dorino S e ra fi ni . 9 1. d ied at his home in Tuscany last month . S e raf ini w as t he f ir s t Eu ro pe an 50 0 c c C hamp ion in 1939 and he went o n t o becom e a membe r of t he firs t po st -w ar Ferr ari team after bein g a wa rt ime army c hau ffe ur w ho oft en drove B en it o Mus so lini, th e fa sc ist dictator of Italy. o n th e e arly au tos trada ro ads be tween Ro me and Milan. according to Cycle News co ntributo r All an Robinson. R o b i n s o n a l so re p ort s th e dea th of S i e g f r ie d NSi ss y " Wunsche , 8 4 . bring ing to an end the w orld famous prewa r DKW motorcycle road racing team . R id in g as a n A m at e u r clu b ma n f ro m 1935 , he cam paigne d a 250cc Produ c tio n ................................................................................................................................ ....................... A C C EP TI N G: M otonation is now acc ep ting racer re sume s for the 2001 season. Resumes can be sent to Motonanon . attn : Rider Support Manager. 14168 Poway Rd.. Suite 205. Poway. CA 92064. HIRED: Brian Taylor. as media relations coordinator for KTM Sportmotorcycle USA. effective August 28. Taylor replaces Revelle Harrison. who N A M ED: Thomas C. Wyld. to the position of vice president for govemment relations of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF). by the board P ROMOTED: Mark Kaiser. to division manager. Parts Division LogIStics/P art Center Operations and Export Sales. for Yamaha Motor Corp. ACCEPTING: Race Tech is now accepting racer resumes for the 2001 season. Resumes can be sent to Race Tech. att: Racer Support . 150 1 Pomona Rd.. Corona. CA. 92880 or they can be e-mailed to ridersup- N AMED: Mark Blackwell. as general managerof the Victory Motorcycle MOVED: Progressive Design Inc.. to 102 E. Main Street. Altona, IL 614 t 4, effective immediately. MOVED: American Motorcycle Racing Association (AMRA) to 102 E. Main Street. Altona. IL 6 1414. effectively immediately. BORN: Brayden Scott Powell. to Team Dual Dogs promoter Damon Powell and his wife. Catherine. on August 30 in Northridge. California. Wash ington roa d racer Rob C a rpente r suffer ed serious injuries in a c rash at an OMRRA road race recently at Po rtl and Inte rnational Racew ay. The cras h left C arpenter w ith a bro ken left wrist. brok en left kne e and a shatt ered pelvis , and his righ t foreanm had to be ampu tated. C arpenter has raced in both AMA and Formula USA eve nts . finish ing fifth in a Fo rm ula USA event at Po rt land Int ernat io nal Rac ew ay just a mo nt h ago . Fe ll o w rac e rs and friend s have se t up a fund to help ease t he financial burden of Carpenter 's injuries . To co ntribute . contact : Bank of A meric a. Tw in Lakes B ranch in Federal W ay , W ashi ngton , Ro uting # 125000024, A c c ou n t N am e : J aso n B a rt a. #531 5 1383 42. U " U '1 LJ o n u C o o o o o o (1 was recently named southwest region sales manager for KTM . of directors. effective immediately. port@racetech.com. DKW in Genman and A ustri an rac es and w on his firs t ev ents in 1936 with a bra ce of new 250 and 3 50cc DKW rac ers. In 19 38 , he w a s se le ct ed fo r the newly form ed 3 50c c DKW te am pairing with W al t e r W inkle r , f inis hing t hird in the 350cc Europ ea n C ha m pion ship. Wu n sche w ould later work as an engi neer for DKW, w~ rking o n the four-piston . superch arged eng ine . A ft er becom ing di sill usi o ne d w it h t he Ea s t e rn B lo c re g im e, W unsch e smuggled himself and his fami ly over the bo rder and into W est Genmany wh ere he would race under several diff erent pseudonym s through 194 7 and 1948. He wa s also an accomplis hed Isle of M an TT ra ce r and wa s a mem ber of t he IT Rid ers A ssociation . division of Polaris Industrie s Inc. Blackwell was most recently vice presi- dent of marketing for Arctic Cat Inc. He is also a former factory Husqvarna motocross racer. ACQUIRED: Advantstar Inc.. by DU Merchant Banking Partners. for $900 million. Advantstar produces trade shows. including the Cyc le World Motorcycle Shows, and have offices in Santa Ana. California. CHANGED: The date for the 23rd annual GNC Good Time National at Lake Whitney Cycle Park in Lake W hitney. Texas. to September 28October 1. For more information. call 214/3 51-9900. cy cl e n A cco rdi ng to th e A M A. the airtime fo r the P eor i a TT has bee n cha nge d by ESPN2 . The show wi ll sti ll air on Sep te m be r 18 but it will now be sho w n at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern). D an G erardi . 56. a 1970s motocro ss icon. rece nt ly succ umb ed to ca ncer. The S tamfo rd . C onn ec ti cut . native wa s well known for hi s " It take s knobby ba lls to ride mo to c ro s s " T-shi rt s . He w as also good friends w ith fellow N ew Englanders Doug Henry and J o hn Dow d. Fo r the past 10 years. Gerardi had turned much of his eVIl's S EPTEM B ER 13, 2 000 3 c o I~ I....J ,...... I n U

• Cover