Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

8 WEJ~dJ o Andrew Short, Davi Millsaps and B J H untsinger were the big w inners at O O n u O O O the 29th running of th e W int er N ati on al Ol y m p ic s in G aine sv il le, Flo r ida , he ld November 23-26 . Sho rt (Kaw) won the A Expert classes to take the D unlo p Silver Tire Awa rd and Pro-Circuit Platinum Pipe aw ards; M ilsaps C Suz) was th e w inner of the Fox Racing Bronze Boot in the yout h d ivi si on; and Hunt sin ger C Suz) won t he Scot! US A Golden Goggl e Awa rd in t he Amateur div ision . Doug Dom oko s, better known to legion s of motorcycle racing fans as "The Wheelie King' , was kille d along with a flight instructor when the ultralight plane that the two men were flying crashed in Murrieta , Califo m ia, on November 26. Dom ok os was 44 years old. Witnesses to the crash, which occurred near Bear Creek Field, a dirt st rip used pr ima rily fo r ul tralights , sai d that the cra ft was between 300 and 1000 feet above the ground when it went to a tight tum . The wing appeared to tear, causing the craft to plu mm et. News of Domokos' death sent an im mediate shock wave throughout the motor cycle com munity, which had come to revere him as one of the industry's ma ster showmen. Born in Niles, Michigan, Dom okos grew up to race motocro ss in the '70s and began m astering the techniqu e of balancing his motor cycl e on the rear wheel. It didn't tak e long for him to realize that performing one-wheeled stun ts could be his tic ket to ride, acco rding to his good friend, motorsports announ cer Larry Huffm an. "I remem ber the first tim e I saw Doug perform ," Huffman said. "He was j ust phenomenal, and I told him, 'Kid. you're going to be a star,' He just smiled and told me, 'I already am a star." Domok os' abiliti es gained him national prom inence, even landing him factory support from the Kawasak i and Honda factorie s, as well as the AT K mot orcycl e company, throughout his career. His perform ances extended beyond the reach es of supercr oss events and motorcycl e sho ws, as his abilit ies were displayed on national televi sion several times. He set and reset whee lie world rec ords while performing around the worl d, and he co ntinues to hold the world's record for th e hi ghest wheeli e ever perfor m ed, at op the Emp ire State Buil ding in New York. "His final perform ance was at Temecula Motorsports in California on" November 4 , and he was just as awesome as ever," Huffma n O Grand Prix road race rs O sa m u Miyazaki and Lucio Cecchinello have been 8 O disqualified from t he resu lts of the Pacific Grand Prix, held at Twi n Ring M ot egi o n Oc to ber 15. after their moto rcycl es failed p o st -r ace FIM f ue l te s t s. B o th r ide rs requ est ed a co unter-test, bu t t ha t test c onfirme d t he orig inal tes t re su lt s and b o t h hav e b e e n e x c lud ed from t he result s. C ecchinello finished fourth in the 125cc G rand Prix and M iyazaki was 10th in the 250c c rac e. No appeal wa s lodged and the decision is final, acco rdi ng to the RM. O O o 0 0 AMA Pro Racing has anno unce d the final nominees fo r the AMA S p e edvision A t hlet e of t he Y ear A w a rd , w hic h recog nizes ou t standing ac hieve ment in motorcycl e spo rt by AMA Pro Racing rider s . Race rs und er con siderat io n fo r the award, w hich w ill be presented D ec ember 8 at t he AMA Pro Raci ng A w ard s B an quet in L as V eg as, N e v ad a, a re : AMA C he vy Tru c k s U .S . M ot o c ro s s Cha mp ion Ricky Carmichae l ; AMA Progre ss iv e Insu ranc e U.S . Flat Tra c k Ch am pion Joe Kopp; AMA EA S po rt s U .S . S up e rc ro s s Cha mpion J e r e m y McGrath ; AMA C hevy Trucks U .S . Superb ike Ch amp ion Mat Mladin ; and AMA Pro Hond a Oil s 600 Champion and eSportbike.c om Form ula Xtre me Champi on K urtis Ro b e r ts . Fo r the y e a r 2000 . t he awa rd foc use s for t he f irs t ' ti me o n ride rs participating in AMA Pro Racing seri es. In the past , A me rican riders in overseas competit io n have also been eligible for the award . " We' re obv io usly ext rem ely proud of Am e ricans w ho have eamed champions hips in ot her arenas - race rs like Kenny Ro berts J r. in the FIM 500cc Road Racin g World Ch am pio ns hi p and C o l in Ed w a r d s i n Wo rld S uperb ike . " said AMA Pro Racing C EO S c o t t Holl ing sw orth in an A M A p re s s releas e. " The ir achievements are recognized wo rldwide, and they'll be hono red at o ur aw ards banq uet. as w ell . But we felt that it wa s impo rtant for thi s awa rd to recog nize ride rs compe ti ng in t he w ide range of AMA Pr o Racing activitie s in thts co untry , w hich rank amo ng the top O O O O 0O O O o 8fX]@@@)O@00 (jj)[jJ ~o @. :::.. . =o@::.. =:.-.::oG=-=@ ::. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Thousands of motorcyclists , ATV enthusiasts and others interest ed in motorized recreat ion mobilized th is year in respo nse to Presid ent Clinton' s plan to manage so-ca lled roadless area s within th e nati onal forest system . And the results of their efforts can be seen in the final draft of the roadless plan , released in m id-November, according to the AMA . The U.S. Forest Service reportedly received more than 1,6 m illion comments on the controversial proposal , which threatened to shut off access by many Americans to nearly 60 mil lion acres of pub lic land. an area nearly equal in size to the state of Wyo m ing. And thousands of tho se comme nts came from off -highway m otorcyclists and ATV riders, who atte nded public hearings and sent in letters, faxes and emails, according to the AMA . Although the lands involved are designated as roadless, the AMA pointed out from the beginning that they contain thousands of miles of tra il s now open to motorcycles and ATVs, along with a network of dirt roads that serve as feeders and connectors for those trails. Those roads also provide access to locations and trail s used by hunters, fishermen, campers, fo ur -wheel -drive enthusia sts , mou nta in bikers, equestr ians and hikers . Clinto n's initial proposal for management of these lands incl uded options that would have shut out nearly all types of recreatio n, and a draft plan rel eased in the sp ring still appea red likely to choke off acce ss to these lands over a period of years. But comments from recreation groups clearly had an impact on the final draft. notes the AMA. Although the final draft, which is expected to be approv ed by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman in mid-December, still c alls for a ban on construction of new roads on these lands, it specifically allows for maintenance and even recon- 2 D ECEMBER 6, 2000' cu e I e n e said. "Doug should always be remembered as a tru e professional. He was a very honest person. He always lived life on the edge. He was a risk -taker who did thing s his way .' Dom okos is surv ived by his fiancee' Michelle Kennington, and 2year-old son Nic holas. Funeral arrangem ents and memorial inform ation were not available at press time . motorcycle race series in th e world . ' The wi nner of t he A MA A t hlete of t he Yea r Award w ill be annou nce d the eve ning of D e c em be r 8 at t he AMA Pr o Rac ing Awards Banquet Las Vegas. Ticket s for t he banquet. w hic h is o pen to all A MA Pro Raci ng fans. are s till ava ilable . Fo r m ore in f o r m at ion , c a ll D e e W h it e at 614 /856-1900 , ext. 123 2. SFX M otor Sports has annou nced that it will again incorporate the Vans Triple Crown into its 200 1 EA Sp orts Su percross presented by Sp eed Stick season . The Triple C rown will co nsist of the second rou nd in Ana heim , C alifom ia, on January 20 , Irvi ng , Texas. on April 21 and Las Vegas. Nevada. o n M ay 5 . Vans w ill award $ 500, 000 to the race r who can win all thr ee rounds of t he Triple C rown. The fed eral En vironment al Prot ection Age ncy is taking st eps to clamp d ow n o n e m is sio ns f ro m o ff- hi g hway mot o rcycles and ATVs, and may set new , st ricter standards fo r streetbikes. acco rding to the AMA. On Novem ber 17, EPA Ad ministrat o r C arol Bro wn er signed an off iclal do cum ent decla ring that off-road motorcycles . ATV s, and s no w mo b iles cause air po llut ion . That declarat ion is the first st ep in a proc e ss th at wi ll lead to . prop o sed e mission standards fo r those ve hicle s, the AMA says . Currently those cl ass es of vehicles don 't nee d to meet _ struction of existing roads und er some cir cumstances. And it also allows for reconstruction of existing trails and construction of new trails for a variety of purposes , including m otoriz ed recr eation. "Nothing in this rule is intended to prohibit the auth orized construct ion or ma intenanc e o f moto rize d or n on - mo torized trails : the final draft states. "Getting recogniti on of motorized recreation as a legitimate use of these lands is a vital step for motorcycle and ATV riders : said Ed Moreland , Wash ington r ep resentative for t he AMA . " When this proposal was first introduced , it looked as though we coul d be left out enti rely. Now, we have a clear plac e in th e pl an t o man ag e t h ese lands.' The AMA cautioned, how ever, that t he fu ll impa ct of th e ro adl ess p lan won't be known until two other initiati ves being developed by the Forest Service are finalized. Th e agency recently released its Planning Regulation s for manag ing federal lands, and it is expected to release a Forest Road Management plan soon. Tog eth er, tho se proposals will determine the future of motorized recreation. as well as other recreational act ivities, on national forest land. In addition, the roadless plan remains highly controversial , par ti cularly beca use of rest rictions placed on timber harvests in the affected areas and the Forest Service 's last-m inute decision to appl y the rules to the Tongass National Forest in Ala ska beginning in April 2004. '"' s Those provi sions cou ld result in legal and legislative challenges to the plan. But when it comes to recreation interests, involvement in the public-comment pro cess clea rly had an impact. "Without the input of recreation groups ," said Moreland, " the regul at ion s imposed on vas t roadl ess ar eas of our national forests could have been much more restrictive. We know th at thou sand s of m ot orcycl ists participat ed in the proc ess, and they were jo ined by snowm obile riders, moun ta in biker s, hikers, four -whee l -drive enthusiasts , ro ck climbers, equestrians, people who enj oy public waterways . and others. Tog ether, we all made a difference."

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