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/128631
Jim J arrett (Suz) sco red th e overa ll win at the combined AMA Hare Scrambles and Grand National Cross Count ry Series round in Mil lfield, Ohio, September 10 . Chuck Woodford (Kaw ) finis he d seco nd , f o ll o wed by Doug B lackwe ll (Yam) and Fr e d A nd re w s (Kaw), John H am ilton Jr. (Trt) sco red his first win of the year, taking the to p spot in the 540cc class at ro und 12 of the AMA Nati onal Cha mpio nsh ip Hillcl imb Se ries in Steel C ity , Pennsylvania, o n Septemb er 10 . Jeff Thomas (BSA ) and D avid W at son (Hon) ro unde d o ut the podium . Paul Pinsonnault (Hon) return ed to ac tio n aft er fract uring his heel in June to finish fift h behind 1999 class c hampio n Ted Wil kins (Rt x), David Watson (Hon) scored the day' s f as t e s t t ime o n t he Bu sh k ill V al le y M o to rcycl e Club hi ll t o g rab his fifth 800cc win of the seaso n and his secon d straight at Freemansburg. Thomas (Yam) rep eat ed hi s 540 cc fini sh in second place w ith Tiger S t r a n k (Kaw) finishing a career-high third. The Yamaha o f Mon tc lair t eam of Ty Davis, Terry Fowler, and Nick and ' Russ Pearson took to p honors at the IMS Pro Series 24 Hours of Glen Helen (Racew ay), in San Bernardino, Califo rnia , S e pt em be r 9-1 0 . A ft e r 8 2 lap s , totaling 800 miles, the YZ426 F-mounted tea m finished 11 minute s ahead of the runne r- up tea m mad e up o f Jimmy Lewis . Jeff Willoh , Drey Dircks and Tod Sciacqua (Honda CR25OJ. Au st ralian road racer Anthony Gobert has inked a deal tha t w ill see him ri de t he num be r one Vi rg in M ob il e Yamaha R7 in th e next fo ur round s of the British Superbike Series, accord ing to the tea m. Gobert w ill joi n the British Superbi ke squad as replacement for the injured Steve H islop, who is slate d to unde rgo surgery today to try and alleviate nerve damage to his lef t shoulde r and will miss the remainder of the season , G ob e rt w as sc hed uled t o f ly t o Engl an d o n S e pt em ber 12 t o beg in prep arati on for the next ro und of the series on Sept ember 17 at Mallory Park 2' S EPT EM B ER 2 0. 2 000' t wo ro unds o f th e W o rl d S uperb ik e series they have been a part of as W ild C ard s and I kn ow t hat t he y are very good bikes," Gobert said. "W hen I was offe red the chance to ride the Yamahas for the team against the British Super. bike reg ulars I jump ed at the chanc e. The UK series is very comp etitiv e and I can't wait to get ou t the re on a good bike t o show w hat I am capabl e of. " Team boss Rob McElnea added: " With Steve now out of action for the rest of t he ye ar I am pinch ing myself that we w ere s t ill ab le t o land someo ne o f A nt ho ny ' s ski ll and t alen t t o ride o ur bike s . He is fu ll-on to rac e the V irg in Mobile Yamaha R7 and we will not only field him in the final three rounds of the British series , but also plan to give him an o uting in the last W o rld Supe rbike round at Brands Hatch on October 15. " Gobert w ill partner multiple Isle of M an IT w inner David Jeffer ies on the sec ond red-and-black bike , Jefferie s co ntinues to sub fo r Paul 'M arra' Brown w hile his broken right wrist heals. So far in 2000, G o b e r t ha s ri d de n a f act o ry Bimota in Wo rld Superbike, a Modenas in 500 cc G ra nd Pr ix a nd a Ho nda CB R929 RR in the Australian Superbik e Ser ies. Kawasaki's factory road race team opened the doo rs on it s immaculate race shop in Lake Forest , Californ ia, on Friday, September 8, allow ing members of the motorcycling press to poke aro und , w at c h a cr ew memb e r ru n a Kawasaki Superbike engine on the dyno, and chat wit h crew members, including crew chief s Gary Medley and AI Ludington , and racers Doug Chandler and Eric Bost ro m, The open ho use was held in conjunctio n with an Employee Appreciatio n Day at Kaw asak i' s headquarte rs, located a mile and a half away fro m the race shop. After giving the press a tour of the race shop, the team made it s way over to the Big K's main office in Irvine, California, whe re they mingled under the race truck 's awnin g and at e lunch w ith Kawasaki employe es. " Since the race shop is off-site, we wanted to give the employees a chance to see w hat we' re all about," said team manager M ike Presto n. As fo r the Kawasaki race shop, it is truly immaculate . W ith Kawasaki tak ing its road racing effort in house at the cue • e n eVIls "It's okay to party." Joel 5me/s, when asked aI /he FIM mtuturass awards banque/ how his inj ured elbow was feeling. e nd o f la s t y ea r aft er mo re t han a decade o f havinq Ro b M uzzy run the team, a new s hop w as need ed an d Kawasaki cut no corners in making their facility to p-notc h. Since the team basic a lly st art ed fro m t he g ro und up in December of last year, every piece of equipment in the facility is brand new , incl uding both the S upe rFl ow chas sis dyn o and engine-only dyn o, The team res umes it s racing duti es , Sept emb er 29-0ctobe r 1, in the AMA/U .S, Superbike S e ri es finale at W illo w S pring s Raceway in Rosamond, California. They we re also slated t o test at the facility on September 11-1 2, W ith the 6 00 c c S upe rspo rt Champ io nship we ighing in the balance, Doug Chandler still isn't ce rtain if he will be aboard a fact ory Kawasaki 600cc Super. sport bike fo r the final round at Will ow Springs on Oct ober 1. With teammat e Eric Bo s tro m se t to fac e a hord e o f Honda-mo unted riders all helping Kurtis Robert s, there's a chance that Chandler w ill be called into duty to help Bostrom. "I don 't know yet, " Chandler said at the Kawa saki team functio n at the co mpany' s headqu art er s in Irvine , Cali forni a, on Sept ember 8, " It hasn't been decided yet," The team also announced that Bostrom w ill continue to ride both th e S upe rb i k e and 600 c c Su pe r s po r t Kawasakis at W illow , and w ill not conce nt ra te so le ly on t he 6 00 as so me thought he would, " Like he told me, he w ou ldn 't be a man if he did n't go out t he re a nd try t o win b oth rac e s , " Bo strom cr ew chief AI Ludingt on said. Bost rom is hot off his first AMA / Che vy Trucks U.S, Superbike win of the year at Pikes Peak in Fount ain, Colorado. Kurtis Roberts g oe s t o W ill o w S prin g s in Oct obe r t ry ing t o w in t he 60 0c c Su pe r s port t it le , but at least t hat' s all he' ll have t o wo rry abo ut. Ro be rt s in ke d a tw o -ye ar de al w it h Am er ican Ho nd a last we ek to rid e in both the AMA/ Chevy Trucks U.S Superbike Championship and the AMA 600cd Pro Honda Oils Supersport Series. "I' ~ completely happy," Robert s said . " We got w hat we w ant ed and it wo uld be hard to leave Honda." A s fo r what team he w ill be riding fo r, Robert s said: "f re ally d o n' t know , It cha nge s all the time, I think my Superbike will be paint; ed in Ke v in' s [Erio n] c ol ors and wil l co me o ut of the Honda truck . The 600 will come out of Kevin's truck." R obe rts~ t he youn ge st son of th re e-time W orld C hampion Kenny Robert s and the brother of 500cc W orld Championship points leader Kenny J r.. current ly lies second in the AMA 600 cc Supersport Series wi th th e champio nship set to be decided a\ Willow Sp rings Raceway in Rosamo nd. c California. on October 1. • Triumph's 2001 Bonneville will bEl int ro d uce d t he A mer ican rnot orcyltnq public for th e first tim e at the Del Mar Concou rs and M ile, October 7-8 at the fairgrou nds in Del Mar , Cali fo rnia. The Bo nnev ill e mod el , o ut o f pro du ct io n sinc e 19 8 8 and not impo rted t o the Uni t ed S t at es s inc e 19 83 , was f i rs~ introduced in 1959 . Named in hono r 0' 1 the many land-speed reco rds attaine by Tr iumph be tw een 1957 and 195 8: th e Bo nne v ill e we nt o n t o c a pt un sco res of victor ies on dirt tracks, ro a ' courses and desert race s in the '60s and was Am erica' s best se ll ing " bidbo re" mot o rcyc le durin g that peri o&' accord ing to Triumph. The helmet that Kenny Roberts J r ! w o re las t y ea r in th e S ou th Afr ic an Grand Prix has been donated to Riders for Health to be auctioned off as a fundraiser . Riders f or Health pr ovide s off road motorcycles, training, and suppo services to medical staff in small A frican co untr ies that ere oft en lacking in med ic al ca re and transportat ion syste ms The raffle ticket s are being sold by mem bers of WMRRA, the Cycle Barn Spo