Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2000 10 25

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 EJITlCO o --- last t hree round s of the AMA Sup erbike Series . S mit h sc ored a t op- 10 f inish aboard t he V R1000 in 199 8 at the Las V eg as round , posti ng an eigh th -p lace finish . In 1999, he race d the VR 100 0 in a one-off ride at Phoenix , replac ing his br oth er-in-law Scott Russell. Smith qualifi e d o n the seco nd ro w and f inis he d 10th . " This is great , " S mith said in a Harley pr ess release. " I' m lo oking forw ard to working wi t h Pa scal and the guys on t he Harl ey-D av id son VR 1000 race team. Wh ile it w as nice to know I had opt ions th is year, I made it clear to my manager t hat this is w here I wan te d t o be . Harl ey-Dav id so n has given me chanc es in the past tw o years to show my skills. That has meant a lot to me. I look fo rward to being part of the tea m, and G od -willi ng, give them the re sults they deserve . " Paul Edmon dson (Kaw) wrapped up t he AMA Hare S cr am b le s Nationa l Champion ship tit le after finishing third at t he se ries final in Bloo mingd ale, M ic higan, o n October 15 . The win went to Doug B lackwell (Yam), w hile GNCC c hamp Shane Watts t o o k se co nd. Blac kw ell finished out the sea son in second place. " I' m not usually an emotional person, but I've got to say I did feel a bit funny as I crossed t he line, " Edmondson said after winning his first U.S . championsh ip. " The combination of pure relief and sens e o f ac hie vement w as q uit e hard to conta in. " O O O O O O O 8 o It to ok a co uple rest art s to get t he job d o ne , b ut Charlie Venegas finally ea rne d his f ir st ca reer U .S. Nation al Sp eedw ay C hampionship at the Orange County Fairgrou nds in Cost a Mesa, Californ ia, on O c t ob er 14 . For mer Br it ish League speedway race r Josh Larsen w as seco nd , and 19 92 U. S . N at io nal Cha mp io n C hris Manches ter w a s t hird . o o o A nother Harley hire. John Baker has been named Di rect or of Racing, ass umin g f ull re s p o nsib ility fo r t he Harl ey D av id s o n VR 10 0 0 S up e rb ik e e ff o rt , according to Harl ey-D avi d son . In this new ly crea te d po sit ion, he w ill oversee an d d i rect the d evel opment o f the VR 1000 , and have responsibility for the S uperbike tea m and rid ers, as well as program partne rs, sponso rs and privateer and deale r race programs . " O ver t he past 90 years , w inning on t he race track ha s b e en an i mp o r t ant p art o f Harley-D avidson ' s herit age," said Vi ce Pres ide nt of Ma rket ing J o an n e B i s chm ann. "W e are committed to continuing that racing tradi tion. " Baker, 32 , has b e en i nvo lv e d wit h Harl e y -D av id s o n M otor Com pany' s Engineering and Bustness Planning groups since 1993. Most recently , he w as i nst r um e nt al in th e development of Harley- Davidson 's long rang e st rate gic bu siness plan . Prio r t o ° 8 Ia n Trettle was one of th e big w inners a t the 6 t h A n nua l B ra n s o n US A M o tocro ss Ch amp ion ship held in Galena, Mi ssou ri, October 6-8 . Trettle rode his Cobra to t he Pee W ee (7 -8) S to c k and M odified, and Pee Wee Ope n class wi ns , th en saddled up his KTM to win t he 60 cc (6-8) St ock and M odified classes . T e dd y Maier was t he top M inibike racer, win ning t he 85 cc (1 4- 16) St oc k .an d M odifie d, and S upermini cl asses , wh ile Nat han Dav enport (Kaw) topped t he 125 c c S t oc k , M o dif ie d and Open cla sse s. o 8 o o Tommy Clowers wo n bot h nights of t he Vans T r i pl e C ro w n of Free st yl e Motocros s at t he Balt imo re A rena, in Balt imo re , Ma ryla nd , O ctober 13 -1 4 . Ke nny Bart ram and M ike J o ne s t o ok runner- up honors . O O o Road racer Mike S mit h will jo in Pascal Picotte on the Harley-Davidso n V R1000 S u p e r bi k e race team fo r the 20 0 1 A MA/Chevy T r uc ks U .S . Su pe rbike S erie s , accord ing t o Har ley-D av id son, The 3 3 -ye ar-ol d Sm it h won fo ur AMA Bue ll Pro Thunder races during the 2000 season, sc oring v ictor ie s at Ro a d At lanta , Road America, Pike' s Peak and W illow Springs . He has 13 ca ree r AMA 6 00cc Supersport vic tories (second on t he all-time A M A 60 0cc . Supersport win li st ), an A M A Su perb ike pole po siti on and a Formula USA Championshi p to his credit. Sm ith also has p revi ous experience w ith the V R100 0. He rode for th e Harley-Davidson te am in 1998 , filling in fo r an injured Thom as Wilson during the O O O O O O O O o "He's Pastrana with a fairing!" Photographer Joe Bonnello, describing road racer Valentino Rossi. that. Baker played a key role in managing the launch and limit ed product ion run of th e 19 9 4 VR 1000 Superbike . He al so held the position of Platform Manager for the recently introduce d Buell Blast midsize mo to rcy cle . Baker has exte nsive experie nce leading Harl ey -D av id so n ' s external suppliers and co nsult ant s in vari ous engine prog rams and brings additional manufacturing experience from his prev iou s emp loyme nt at C ummi ns Engine C om pany. " I'm excite d abo ut this new opportunity and look forw ard to w orking with the V R1000 Superbike team in movin g th is proje c t fo rward , " sai d Baker. B ak e r ho ld s a B a c he lo r ' s d e g r e e in Mechanical Engineering from t he University of Dayt on , Ohi o, and an M BA fro m M arquett e University. Y a maha has off icially co nfirmed that it wi ll field a two-rider team for t he 2001 AMA S upe rb ike se r ie s , co ns ist ing o f new ly signe d An tho ny G o be r t and returning rider Tommy Hayde n. Bot h wi ll race the Yamaha YZ F-R7 in Su perbike, as we ll as theYZF-R6 in 600cc Superspo rt. " I'm looking forw ard to building a fut ure with Yam aha , " G obert said in a Yamaha pres s release . " A nd I' m really exc ited to race the R6 in the 600 class. " G o bert re ce ntly ra ced a Te am Virgin Yamaha R7 in sev eral British Superbike eve nt s, and the final round of the W orl d S u p e r b i k e C hampions hip a t B r and s Hatc h o n O c to ber 15 . Tommy Hayden rej o i ns Team Yamaha fo r 20 01 aft er finish ing six th in the A MA/Chevy The Noriyuk i Haga Saga, which had dragged on since the South African round of the World Superbike Championship on Ap ril 2, was finally resolved after a meeting of CAS (the Court of Arbitration in Sports ) on Wednesday, October 11, j ust prior to the start of th e Brands Hatch meeting in England. Given back his 20 points from the first Kyalami race by CAS, it appeared on first read that Haga's cham pionship hopes had been rekindled, but the sting in the tail-end of the new judgment was a three-week ban, which commenced the day before first practice at Brands Hatch, This ruled the Ja panese rider out of the final race and confirmed Colin Edwards as the 2000 World Superbike Champi on even thoug h Haga had been deemed to serve one week of his ban already this season, Ending the sorry sto ry with not so much a bang as a muted whimper, the modified punishment came as something of a surprise to most observers, who had been betting that Haga would still lose all his Kyalami points, and be put on some form of probation or suffer a suspended sentence. For Yamaha, it was a depressing start to the Brands Hatch weekend, with its ready-to-rock Superbike team suddenly faced with the Truck s Supe rbike Serie s , and fourth in the A MAIPro Honda O ils 600cc Supers p o rt S e ri e s . " It' s gre a t to . b e w ith Yamaha again th iS yea r ," Hayd en said. " I plan to buil d on last year's cons istent resu lt s wi t h w ins, and hope fully a championship. " Regarding teamm ate G obert, Hay d en added , " W it h An th ony on t he team, it shou ld be an exci ting season. " A cc o rd i n g' to Larry G r iffi s , Yama ha M ot o rsports Rac ing Divi sion Manager, " W e ' re glad to have To mmy bac k and we wel c om e Ant ho ny t o .t h e te am t here's su re to be so me great races th is year. " It now appea rs as t hough th e Hayden family has been cleared of any w rongdo ing on a Northwe st A irline s fl ight from M emphiS, Tenn e sse e , to O w ensb oro , Kentuc ky . A cc ording to a story in t he O w e ns b o ro M e s s eng er-Inqu irer, th e U n i t e d St a t e s Att o rne y ' s Offi c e in Louisv ille has det ermined that the grou p of Owensboro res idents - including road race rs Nicky and Roge r L e e Hayden - did not interfere w ith crew membe rs o r en dange r t he sa fe ty of o t her passengers on a N o rth we st A irl in es fligh t as or iginally reported. The Haydens we re among th e passeng ers w ho w ere original ly deta ined in th e inci d ent . The decisio n not to file federal charge s was made W ed ne sd ay , O ct o be r 1 1, af te r seve ral mem ber s of the office review ed t he FBI ' s inves t igat ive f ile , as s is tan t U .S . att orney M a r i s a Fo rd t old th e ne w s p ap e r . " It wa s clear from t he i r awful tr uth that not only had they lost their last chance of a titl e reprieve (however tenuous), but had traveled all the way to Brands only tohang around watching the action, rather than being part of it . Yamaha Europe's Motorsports manager, Laurens Klein Koerkamp , was philosophical at losing a battle he had fought so hard to win. "We respect and acknowledge the CAS decision," he said. "They listened to what we had to say and went about their business in a very professional, neutral manner. They effectively reduced the punishment that was imposed by the F1M. It' s a great disappointm ent to suffer a complete loss right at the end of the season, but the most disappointin g thin g is that everyone - not ju st Yamaha - has had to wait so long for this final j udgment, because we had to adhere to the FlM's procedures." Haga was especia lly disapp ointed to lose out at such a lat e stage. "It is very hard because I was expecting to race this weekend," Haga said. "I would still have liked to race, even for no points, for the sake of the team and fans I have in Britain • partly because the last Brands race did not go to plan at all." Gordon Ritc hie 8~QJ[ill[bC9[?~------ 8 o ° o o 2 OCTOBER 25, 2000' cue I e n e _ s

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