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/128641
O'Bi:DXI \ G'G:lce 8 o Continuedfrom page 3 on s Ricky Carmich ael C250cc) and Travis Pa s t ra na C125 cc ) eac h w i ll r eceive $1 5 ,00 0 . The NPG ride r po int f und is financ ed t hrough the suppo rt of: C hevy Tru cks. D unlo p Rad ial Rov er light Truc k Tir es . J akk s Pac ific , THQ . Tho r . Part s Un limi ted . FMF. Du nlop . Ballzee . Pro- X Pisto ns. M ote-Tee ' s. Klotz Sc ott. Bo sch Pow er To ols. Ga to rad e . Pro A ction . CT i. 9 0 9 Hand lebars . Bo y e s en . Tw i n A ir. SBS Brakes. A lpinesta rs . Thor Helmets. Acerbis . Fact o ry Eff ect s. NGK and Sunstar. C o mplime nt ing the N PG payo ut is the $ 100.000 in additional fund s th at C hevy Trucks pay s to the same riders in ea ch clas s. W it h t he add it io nal fund s. C ar m ic hae l a nd Pa st ran a w ill rece ive checks totaling $ 22 ,500 each. incl udes rep resentat ives from organizations suc h as NASCAR . NHRA. CART and rac et racks nat ionwide . ' Ou r aff iliation w ith the NFPA ensures that w e are at the fo refro nt of motorsport safety, ' said Sc ott Ho llings w o rt h, CEO of AMA Pr o Rac ing . in a pr e s s re lease . ' O ur ac tive ro le in th is orga nization allow s us to b est represent th e int er es t s of our stak eholders. and undersco res ou r dedicatio n to race fans and racers that rac et r a ck sa f ety rema i n s u tm o st i n o ur mind s. ' The NFPA w as e sta blished in 1896, and is rec ognized as a w orldwide leader in providing fire . electrical. and life safety to t he public . o o o o o o 8 o T h e 8t h Ann ual Indian & Classic American Iron Daytona Rally w ill be held again at the Klassix A uto Attrac tion on Th ursday, M arc h 8 . This eve nt has att racted as man y at 2 50 classic Harleys and Indians during D ayt o na Bik e W eek in Flo rida . A lth o ugh eve ryone is invi te d to at tend, t he ra lly eve nts are open to pre-1984 and unusual Am ericanmad e motorcycles . Fo r mo re informatio n, call Klas six Auto Attraction at 904/252 3800 . Fo r vendor info rmatio n, call TAM Co mmunicati on s at 203/4 25 -8777 . o AMA Pro Racing has jo ined w ith t he co untry's premi er race sanc t ioning bodies to become a me mber o f th e Nation- o o o o o o o al Fire Protection Association C NFPA), acco rd ing to t he AMA . AMA Pro Rac ing dir ec to r of co mpetitio n M errill V anderslice was appointed a seat on the ' S afe ty a t M o to rspo rt s Venues ' committee o f t he NFPA. rep resent in g the only motorcycle racing entity o n the 33 -me mber pane l. The co m mittee also c c ALAN CATHCART. • • Bordi Gossip The rumors have been flying aro und ever since mid-summer, (l L, By c o o o o o o 8 o CJ o c o 011 o o o o o o when Ducau's finance director Carlo Di Biagi o was appointed to replace Federico Minoli in heading up the Bologna-based sportb ike manufacturer. It had been expected by many that desmoqu attro docto r Massimo Bordi, Ducati's engineering guru who also acted as its General Manager in the days of Cagiva ownership . then played a key part in its acquisition by TPG and the co m pany's dram atic subsequ ent turnaro und , would get the job of replaci ng Minoli as company president , but Ducati 's Am erican-led board evidently preferred form er Procto r & Gamb le executive Oi Biagio as the best man to keep the com pany's revi val on the road. Soon after thi s was announced , rumors began to circulat e with in Italy that A prilia boss Ivano Beggio had offered Bordi the m ost temptin g of co nsol at ion prizes - the chanc e to assume overall contro l of Moto Guzzi. which Aprilia acquired back in the spring and is now in the process of com pletely restructuring . in an effort to resto re it to its former positi on as Italy's most ill ustri ous marque. The belief that 80 rdi had in fact agreed to leave Ducati in order to accept this tumaround challe nge first surfaced pu blicl y ba ck in Ju ly - but the appearance of the man him self at Interm ot 2000, where he personally unveil ed Ducat i's new -gen eration Testa str etta engine, served to deny this - even if he was spotted there deep in conversatio n with Beggio and his num ber-tw o in the Aprili a hiera rch y , Leand ro Sc omazzon! How ev er . It aly'S weekly m oto rcy cle m agazine MOlosp ri n l wasn 't co nvinced, The A me r ica n Tri a ls A s so c iat io n has an no unced t he site an d dates fo r t he 31 st annua l EI T ria l de Espana . The eve nt w ill be he ld in c onj unct io n w it h a roun d o f the N at io nal Trials C ha m p io ns hip o n Ap ril 20 -22 at Reed V alley in Aguanga . C alif o rn ia . rough ly 2 5 mi les fro m Temecula. Fo r mo re info rmat io n , call 7 14/846-1600. WERA has an nounced t hat it w ill add t he fo ll o wing c la sses at a ll N at io nal C h allenge eve nt s in 2001 : 750 a nd 600cc Expe rt Superb ike and a co mbined Expert/N ovice lightweight Tw ins cla ss . In ad di t io n . N o v ices wi ll be r u n ni ng Superstockru les in S port sman Band C c lasses a nd in t he N at ion a l 7 5 0 an d 600cc cla sse s. The Su perstoc k cla sses will replace the c urre nt Pro duct ion cla sses , accordi ng to W ERA. Th e Off· Road For Hope III w ill be he ld o n Fe b ru a ry 2 -4 at t he O c ot ill o W ells State V e hicular Recreat ion Ar ea in O c otillo W ells. C alifo rn ia. w it h the ride rais ing mon ey for th e M usc ular Dystro phy A ssocia tion . Between 800 and 1000 o ff -roa d ve hicles are exp ec t ed to take part in the event w ith tra ils and r uns and headlined in its report of the final World Superbike round at Brands Hatch on October 15 that "Bordi Has Left Ducati ." stating that Ducati management present at the track to receiv e th e World Superbik e Manufacturers' t itle award "refused to deny that Bordi had left Ducati to assume control of Moto Guzzi.' Thi s provok ed an im m ediate and frenzied spate of denials from Duc ati's press office - thou gh st rangel y enough not publicly from the man hims elf. Contacted by m obile phone, Bordi wou ld only say with a laugh that. "I'm still here at Duceti, but if one day I decide to leave, I' ll let you know when I do." As in stay by the phone - maybe? Ducatisti will need no expla natio n of the signifi cance of this im brog li o , but fo r th ose less versed in desmodromi c doings. to a large num ber of their customers throughout the world , Mas simo Bordi is Ducatl, and his loss would send repercu ssions throughout the sport bike m ark et, as well as m ark a m ajor break on the part of the American-o wned com pany with its past heritage, After completing his Mecha nical Eng ineering university thes is on four -v alve desmodromic technology . Bordi joined Du cat i' s engi neering staff in th e m id-'7 0s, and worked his way up throu gh the company. to be ap poin ted successor in 1983 as the then -state-owned com pany's chie f engi neer to the legendary Fabio Tagli oni. After th e Cagiva takeov er 18 months lat er , Bordi got the green light to fast forward developm ent of the company 's first fo ur- valve engi ne des ign, fo r wh ich he was pers onally responsible. The desmoquattro debuted in 750cc form at the 1986 801 d'Or, took victory in the first-ever World Superbi ke race in 1988 , and has since won eight World Superbik e title s as well as established Ducati as a maj or play er in the sport bik e mark et . '!'ho ug h Bord i has alw ays been at pains to recruit a briga de of young engineers to follow in his footsteps - Ducati Corse boss Claudio Oomenicali was one such man and is no longer direct ly responsible for the design of new pr oducts , his in fluence on the company's fut ure di rection In th e sp i rit of Tha nksg iving Week. what are you mos t th ankfu l fo r in th e moto rcyclin g wo rldi' A. The United States hilS the best SupercrDss and meteeress raclng in th WDr d- - - -.._ __. B. The reigning Drld Dad Race fhampiDn is an American- - - _ C. The United States team is once again the MX des NatiDns ChampiDn D. The reigning WDrid Supelbikl! CtiampiDn is an American r---------------~ E. The spirit Df the BarstDw Vegas desert lilC!!. continues tD live an in the term Df this weekend's dual SPDlt ride F. The motDrcycle industry is en'oyi.ng record financiillsuccess cue I e n e'IIV s AMA Board of Trust ees member Carl Reynolds recen tly receiv ed the Dud Perkins Award . the AMA ' s hig hest ind ivid ual honor for service . for his ' tirele ss w ork promot ing motorcyc ling and the AMA. ' ' The D ud Perkins Award is the A M A ' s highe st award fo r service . ' said AM A presid ent Rob ert Raso r, ' and C a rl Reyno ld s' lo ng and d istingu ished se rvi c e to t he asso ci at io n speak s fo r it self. The D ud Pe rk ins Award s is t he ap propriate recogn it io n for a man of his ac hieve men ts. ' Th e Sports Car Racing Associa- tion of the Monterey Peninsula has anno unced t hat it has c o nt ribut ed mo re than $480 .00 0 to 70 charit ies in t he ce nt ral coast of Ca liforn ia in 20 0 0 . The 2 00 0 donat io n brings SCRA MP ' s t hree-year total to mo re than $ 1.5 mill ion and it s 42-year total to nearl y $10 m illion. SCR AMP is th e no n-profit organizat ion t hat ma nages Lag una Sec a Rac e w ay in M o nter ey . C alifo rnia. CN remains immense. and his loss would be a severe blow to cyclenews,com reader po ll question of the week N OV EMB ER 29 . 2000' 9792 . Ducati in terms of R&D as well as prestige. For Begg io and Moto Guzzi, though. attracting Bordi to spearhead the company's turnaround would be a typically astute mast erstroke - even if the Ducati engineer's loyalty to the company he' s worked for all his professional life may yet prevail. One factor that ma y tell against his moving to head up Moto Guzzi is Bordi's passion for racing - a passion that Beggio's specifi c public declar ation that Guzzi will not go racing again under a works banner. means would be unfulfilled should he make the switch. Still . let' s wait to see what happens - if there is indeed no smoke without fire.... TD cast YDur vDte, IDg Dn tD hllp:!!www.cycl enews,cDm. 76 de sig ned fo r Nov ice to Expert off-roa d enthus iast s, acc ording to event prom ot ers. Fo r more informat io n, ca ll 858/49 2- 17 .0% e .I % 1.5% I.e%