Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

o o After falling just short last year, Kawasaki Team Green's Destry Abbott was determined to take the 2000 A MA National Hare & Hound Championship, and with his win at the Wild Rockies round in Wells, Nevada, on September 23 , that's just what he did. Two races still remai n in the eight-round series, but Abbott' s win - his fifth this year clinched the cro wn early: It was the first National title of Abb ott 's career, Finishing second in Nevada was last year's cham p and Abb ott' s teamm ate Brian Brown, who has not yet won this ye ar. He was fo llowed ac ross t he lin e by yet anothe r Kawasaki rider - Shane Esposito , from a few hours away in Sparks - with Yamah a riders And y Grider and Ty Davis completing the top fiv e, Heading into the So Cal Me's seventh round in Luceme, Califom ia, this October, Abbo tt leads the points chase with an insurmountable total of 168, 22 ahead of Brown's 146. In third, with 128, is Davis, the only rider other than Abbott to have won a round thus far. out weekend and visitors are encouraged t o re se rv e t he i r roo ms now. Severa l even ts are planned for that wee ke nd in Las V egas. suggesti ng that hotel accommo dations may be hard to fi nd as t he date appro aches . A representa tive fro m t he Las V eg as Reservat io n Syst em said t hat as t he THQ U.S. Open gets clo ser. hotel space w ill be limite d. " Don 't wait until th e last minute or your choices and price level s wi ll be very limit ed, " the rep resentative sta ted . " A lso , mo st hote ls req uire a Frid ay ni ght stay in orde r to reserve Sat urday. Tho se fans planning to arrive on Saturday will be mo re limited on hotel ava ilabil ity and sho uld re consid er their arrival date . " Hot e ls that are near th e eve nt incl ud e t he Luxo r . Excali bur . Hilton, Tro picana, M onte Carl o, M and alay Bay , Rio , Flamingo and Alladin. To mak e reservation s, call the Las V egas Reservations System at 800/233 -5594 , ca ll the hot el d ire ct ly , or lo g o n t o www .t rav elsca pe.com. To purchase eve nt tick et s, call Tick etmast er at 702/474-4000 , cal l Chaparra l M ot o rsports at 800/841 -2960, or log on to WWW.ussx.com. Am erican Suzuki M ot or Corpo ratio n has an no unced t hat f ant asyrace r .com wi ll spo ns o r a Hol e shot A w ard at th e RM Cup to be he ld o n O ct ober 7 -8 . The holesho t aw ard wi ll be awarded to each rider in the 125 and 250cc Pro class w ho is the first ride r to a specified poi nt near the first turn. Benfield Sp o rt s Int ernat ional. the Lo ndo n, Eng land -ba sed mark et ing company th at promoted the Individual Sp eedw ay G rand Prix Series t his yea r, has announced that t hey w ill be " re -Iaunc hing t he spo rt's team W orl d C hampionship in 2001 . The inaugu ral Speedway World Cup w ill t ake place over a ' seven-day per iod in Poland nex t July and w ill involve five-man teams from 12 nat ions . Eig ht co untries wi ll be seeded throug h to t he SWC w ith four more q ualify ing through prel imin ary roun ds . The first three meeting s , from wh ich the winne rs wi ll progress to the final, w ill each featu re teams from fo ur of the pa rt ic ipa ting co untries. The ' Last Chan ce Race-O ff' and the Final w ill , for the first time, be co ntested by five teams w ith five-man races. John Postle thw aite , c hief exe cutive of BSI , said: " A ll majo r spo rts , and es pec ially soccer, have th e final stages of their team championships taking part in o ne ho st country over a s pec if ic p erio d o f tim e . W e beli e v e spee dway sho uld do the same. It wil l be a cele b ra tio n , a fe st ival , a f un we e k of speedway duri ng w hich we wi ll ende avor to capture the att entio n of the med ia and spo rti ng pu bl ic t h rou gh out th e world . There w ill be an openi ng cere mony at the fi rs t m eet ing an d a clos ing cere mony afte r the final. " at t he Enci nit as G ol f C o ur se in ne arby Encinitas. A host of motorcyclist s will be involved . includ ing Scott Parke r. Jeremy M cGrath, M ik e Kidd, Kenn y Rob ert s , Ch ris C arr, Jason Pridm ore . Gary Nixon and others . Fo r mo re info rma t io n . call 877 /207-46 53 . BSI has also an nou nced th at the FIM S peed way Grand Prix Series w ill move o ut of Europe for the first tim e next year as they have announce d plans fo r an Au st ralian round of the series to be held on Ma rch 10. "This is a major step forwa rd fo r the SGP, wh ich is already enjoy ing a w o rldw ide audie nc e on televis io n, inclu di ng Cha nnel 7 in Au stralia ," said J ohn Po stlethwaite , c hief executi ve o f BSI. " It is important for the cred ibility of th e SGP, a W orld C hampi on ship event. to exp and beyond Euro pe and thi s w as always one of our prime objectives . I am not at liberty to con firm the ve nue for the Grand Prix of A ustral ia jus t yet because we are still eng aged in conversat ion w ith t he authori ties i n two ci ties . " D avi d White, chief executive off icer of M otorcycle A us t ralia , sa id : " We ar e absolutely delig hted at the pro spect of sta gi ng th e inaugural Aust ralian Grand Prix in 2001 . W e fu lly expect the eve nt t o ge nerate huge interest he re in Au stralia given th e recent success of Au st ralian rid ers and the dramatic increase in publi city that the Speedway G rand Prix has been achieving on te lev ision. " Po st let hwait e says th at the Speedway Grand Prix Series w ill co nsist of seven rou nds in 20 0 1, one mo re than this year. Du e to a new ly impose d curfew on the Lodi Cycle Bowl , the remai ning Lod i M .C . flat track even t s o n t he sc hed ule will beg in 90 minutes earlier t han t he ir regu lar tim e . For more info rmati o n, ca ll 209/951-3294 . Sea n Wilson , of Maple Va lley , Washingto n, died of injuries fol lowinq a dualsport acc iden t on September 17. Wi lson was a fo rme r nati ona l number eight in th e A MA H a r e S c r a m bl e s S e r ie s , and a c h amp ion o f t he Pa cifi c Nort hwe st M otorcycle A ssociation se ries . He is surv iv ed by his wi fe , S han no n . Le tt ers o f con do le nces may be se nt to : Au rora S uzuki. 7409 Au ro ra Ave N .. Seattl e, WA 98 103 . Both of the Italian constructors involved in W orld Sup erbike racing - Du cati and Apri lia - tested at the M ugello circuit in Italy o n September 18 - 19 w ith bo th b ri ngi ng something new to the track. Ducat i's new version of its V -twin · called the 99 6R wa s ridden by bo th Troy Bayliss and Ru eben Xaus at M ugello, according to Cycle News correspondent Paolo Go zzi. The new bike features a revised bore and s t ro k e and a new eng in e ca paci ty o f 998cc. In addition, it gets a new timi ng sys te m and new valves, simila r to that s ho wn o n th e p rodu ctio n mod el at the In t e r m ot S h ow las t we e k . Th e m o s t impo rt ant new de vel op ment , howeve r , may be the bike ' s electronic , handlebarmo unte d g e ar shift. U s ing te ch no logy derive d from F1 car racing , Bayliss and Xa us t e st e d a sys te m w ith a bu tton mounted on the handleb ar with w hich they co uld shift ge ars, neg ati ng the use o f a clutch bec au se of a new automatic syste m controlled by an o n-board co mpute r. Bay liss lapped at 1:53 .8 85 at Mugello. Aprilia, meanw hile, also showed up with a new eng ine for Troy Corser. The Austra lian lapped at 1:54. 1 wit h the new bike, despite testing for only one day and w ithout using qualifying tires. " W e made a ste p forward ." sa id C o rse r of the new eng ine . The tea m may use the new bike in the final round of the series at Brands Hatch on O ct ober 15. Larry Kennedy and Ro ge r A tt ebu ry o f Ken nedy Rac ing and Sta racer f ram e s have formed a new flat track racing associatio n that caters to the ce ntrally located racers. The new association is called the National Flat Track Racing A sso ciation and wi ll host a ' serie s of events orig i na ti ng fr om i t s h om e-b a s ed 81 Speedway in Wi chita , Kans as. Fo r more info rmation, con tact Ke nnedy o r Attebury at 3 16/ 9 4 3 -6 92 9 , o r e -m ail th em a t http:/ / www.sta racer .com . Reservation s are still open for a celebrity golf tournament to be held o n Friday , Oct obe r 6 in co njunctio n with the Wrenchead.com National Dirt Track Series race at t he D el M ar Fairgrounds in D el M ar, Cali f orn ia . The D e l M ar M otorc y cle Cel ebrity Golf Tourn ame nt pres ent ed by D eutsche Financial Se rvice s w ill be held . "" ~ . " " .. '" MARRIED: Road racer Mark Hatten to his longtime girlfriend, Lesley Puntenney, in Delaware, Ohio. on September 9. Hatt en is a two-time AHRMA SuperMono 2 Champion and an AMA Pro Thunder racer. NAMED: Denny Hartwig. as public relations manager for the EA Sports Supercross Series, by Sf)( Motor Sports Group, effective immediately. CO RRECTION: We mistakenly misspelled the name of Suzuki's new 2001 Intruder model. The correct name of the bike is the Intruder Volusia 800. named after the County in Florida in which Daytona International Speedway resides. C ORRECTIO N: Or rather a clarification. with regard to the Continental dirt track tire item run in Issue #38. We said that AMA National Technical RES CHEDULED: Due to Hurricane Gordon. the Gold Cup Series Ca lifornia n Jason P rid mo re goe s into the Willow Sp rings race on October 1 unsure of what lies ahead in his racing future . With the Yoshimura Su zuki team set t o rep lace him with Ja mi e Hacking , Pridm ore' s not sure where he w ill be in 20 01. " I really do n' t have any idea right now , " Prid mo re said from his home in Ventura. " I'm hoping S uzuki has so methi ng for me because I really like th e company, but I'll kee p my optio ns o pen. " Th e re hav e been ru mors t ha t Su zuki wo uld f ield a Fo rmu la Xtreme bik e and another GS X-R600 o ut of the Yo shimura Suzuki tru ck, and that Pridmore w ould get t ha t rid e . " I rea lly don ' t know wh at's go ing to happen, but it w ou ld be nice to get a chance to ride the ir [Su zuki] new bike, " Pridm o re said . motocross in Florida ha s underg one some schedule changes . With Gainesville being held on September 24, the schedule is as follows: Dade City (October 1) : MX of Marion City (October 8), Pax Trax (October 15): Thundercross (October 22): and Gatorback (October 29). The Winter National Olympics, meanwhile. will run from November 20 to November 25 at Gatorback in Gainesville, Florida. Inspector Rob King was not available for comment. but King did in fact call us after the story went to press to confirm that a bulletin had been sent out with regard to the Continental Tire ban. King basically then read the bulletin to us to state the sanctioning body's position, but he did not C ANCELED : The October 29 AMA District 12 Hare Scramble, due to offer any additional comment on the matter. ACCEPTING: O'Neal Racing is now accepting racer resumes for the 2001 season. Resumes can be sent to O'Neal Racing USA. 9600 Topanga Canyon Blvd.. Chatsworth, CA 91311, attn: Dave Brown. ACCEPTING: GP Racing Suspension Specialties is now accepting racer resumes for the 2001 season. Resumes can be sent to GP Racing. 22 Hudson Falls Rd.. South Glens Falls. NY 12803 or emailed to robmann@gp-racing.com. HIRED: Ken Lee, as associate creative director of Vreeke & Associates. effective immediately. Lee first entered the motorcycle industry as a staff writer for the now-defunct Cycle magazine in 1979. ful~lIing a variety of editorial positions including Road Test Editor and Senior Editor until 1986. After making the transition to advertising, Lee worked on a number of accounts. most notably Honda motorcycles and power equipment. Suzuki motorcycles and Mazda. Most recently. Lee worked in the field of school administration as the Superintendent of a private school. and has also been a Contributing Editor for Rider and American Rider magazines. Lee can be reached by email at klee@vreeke.com PROMOTED: Kim Hutmacher, to export sales of Factor Effex. effectively immediately. For more information, call 661 /255-56 11. ext. 100. . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. ...... .. .. .... .. .. .. .. O' O'O' "" land-owner issues. according to Rob Gollan of Pirate Promotions. ACCEPTING: Sinisalo Pacific is now accepting racer resumes for the 2001 season, Resumes can be sent to Sinisalo Pacific, 27833 Avenue • Hopkins. #2. Valencia, CA 91355. ACCEPTING: Perfo rmance Engineer ing is now accepting racer re sume s for the 200 1 season. Resumes can be sent to Performance Engineering, 1333 Pine Ave.. Suite B, Orlando, FL 32824. A c c o rding t o th e FIM , th e World Supercross Championship will con sist of just three rounds this year - and the re is not a U .S. round scheduled. The th ree roun ds are as fo llow s : Ro und 1, Pari s , Fran ce · O ctobe r 2 1: Ro un d 2. To rino, Italy - N o v e mbe r 4 ; Ro u nd 3 , Leipzig, Ger many . N ovember 25. CN AUTOGRAPH SIGN ING: At San Diego Harley-Davidson in San Diego. California. on Friday, October 6 from 6 to 10 p.m. Multi-time AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker is scheduled to attend. RESIGNED: Douglas Muellner, from his position as product line manager for Tucker Rocky Distributing, for personal reasons and to explore ot her areas. Mu ell ner ca n be reach ed at 21 4 / 4 7 8 -9208 o r dougxr600@ aol.com O' .. cue I e n eVIl's OCTO BER 4, 2000 3 o o o o o o o o o o 8 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 8 8 o o o o o o

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