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/1542339
Briefly... fwrN'*tr1 Cofirinuad lrom p,'ge l, p€rformance, ligtrt weigttt and ecthetk apped." The bike's oftering b anticiPad to raiso iuktamial funds for its intonded rider. All proceeds go directly to The \tbgrmn Ben- oft Fund, a 50 I (c)(l) nonproft orSanization establisM to aid fallen motorcycle racers, for Mncerlt's o(clusive benefit. For more informa- tion. vkit www.racetay'ormade.com. The auc_ tion clos€s Harch l. Graves Motorsport has signed ls-year-old road racer losh Hai?in ro compete in the AHA Superspoft Series for 2@6. Herrin will race in the WERA National Challenge Series until Hay 23. At that point he will turn l5 and will b€ elidble to compete in lhe AMA Pro Racing National Series, aboard a 2006 Yamaha YZF-R6 prepared by Team Graves Yamaha- Herrin won the 2004 USGPRU l25cc Nation- al tirle at (he a8e of 14. Prior to that, Herrin ra(ed minibikes and YSR5oS and was invited to compete in the World Mini GP Fe.ti\.al at the Valencia, Spain, circuit, ridinS a mini GP bake, Herrin finished sixth and l3(h in that event and was the top-sco.ing American. ln 2005, Graves Motorsports supported Herrin's championship season in WEM, the youngster ridinS his Graves-prepated YZF-R6 to the 600cc Sup€rs-tock and C Superbike Expen titles at th€ WERA GNE "Josh's results are already beyond our expectations," Chuck Graves said. "He's not only 6st, he's immedi- atet Iart at every track. lt's rare for a riden especial at losh's ate, to l€arn new tracks so quickly. The kid has us all excited to see how Iar he can go in h-rs career as a racer, and we're lucky to be there at the right time to help him." Herrin, a lfth{rader from Oublin, Georgia, said: "l grew up in Callfomia watch- ing my hther lPhil Herrin] road-race, so his suppon has been core to ,ry successes ever since I started racinS when I was 7. We're used to being a family at the track, and now I feel as though I iust have a bigger family behind me, with Chuck's team and Yarnaha and everyone else helping out." The Hld-Ohio S.hool, the hiSh-Perform- ance drMng firm oMned and operated by Truespons ln<.. will add motorcycle-ridint instruction to its curriculuh when it launches The Mld-Ohio Motorcycle RidinS khool in April. The school, based at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, will be a divi- sion ofThe Mid-Ohio School. The currkulum will include Motorc,,cle Safet,, Foundation courses for betinning and experienced riders, as well as advarrced cornering and per{orm- ance t ack-riding proSrams. The addition of motorcyclinS instruction will make The l"lid- Ohio School the lirst motoBports school of its kind in the country ofiering both ridinS and driving proSrams, according to Mid-Ohio. "This is a move we've been phnning for qlite a while, and the growth in motorcycle sales and dle riiint demand for quality ridint instruction ]r|ade the timing right," said Trues- ports presidem Michelle Trueman-Gaioch. "The Mid-Ohio Motorcycle RidinS School is one more element in a larger strategr for Truespons lrl<. to make Mid-Ohio a compre" hensive traininS facilit), appealing to both two- and four-wieeled audiences." American Suzuki has announced a r€organiza- tion oI its manaSement team at fu Brea, Cali_ fornia, headquarters and the company's man_ ufacturing facilit,, in Rome, GeorSia. Rod Lopusnak has rejoined ASMC as (he ATV operations mana8er and will be stationed at $e Suzuki Manufacturint of Atnerica CorP. (S|'4AC) faciliq/ in Rome; Steye Bortolamedi, formerly the dealer network manager for the motorcycle/ATv division, has been named advertisinS manaSer; Glenn Hanten will move into the new position of communica- tions manq8er, responsible for workingwith media for the introduction of all-new motor- cycles and ATvs; Dirk Gould, sales support manager, who currently overseet the retail fidance department, will take on additional responsibilities to assist vice president Mel Harris with sales programs and budSetint; sales development manater Bob Mueller adds data analysis to his current list of respon- sibilitier, which includet the suzuki Extended Protection program ar well as tracking of cus_ tomer satisfaction and other survey data. CORRECTION: In our Anaheim ll Supercross coverage, we stated that Ricky Carmichael earned hi5 49th career Supercross-class win, when in fact it was his 42nd. ln compilint the stat. we inadvertently counted Carmichael's seven-win 2005 season twice. ANNOUNCED: Lisa Delaney has announced the launch of a new mar- keting. advertising and public-rela- tions agency in Newpon Beach. Cali- Iornia. Delaney CrcatiYe was founded in 2003 but has recentl), expanded to the west Coast. The company offers its services to the apparel. motorsports, surf, skate, snoq automotive and motorcycle industries. For more information. call 949/500-6752 or visit www.delaney- ANNOUNCED Xbux, as the thle sponsor of the AMA District 37 Big 6 Grand Prix Series for 2006. ETtr. rlg r r \'( I I ln just his seond full season on the National Arenacross circuit, 23-year-old Kevin Johnson v/gn his flrst main event when he swept round six ofthe series in Baltimore. The likeable and modest native of Albuquerque turned Pro in 2001 and har been riding for Tennessee- based Team Faith for the past two sea- sons. He also supplements his income by riding freestyle. Johnson is t),pical of the talented and hungry young riders on the circuit trying to earn a way into the Supercross rank, Johnson alked about his wins and his goals at the Oklahoma round in Guthrie. cn: How did it f€€l to g€t Uour tirst winP kwinjohnsonl Well, I was a little sur- prised by it. I got a good stan and didn't do anything dumb. I iust put in 20 consis- tent hps and some of the other guys had some bad thinp happen. Brock [Sellards] stalled his bike and Chad flohnson] didnt get the best of starts, and I got out early and iust put down consistent laps. I iust have to praise God that he made me feel better, because when we got there on Thurcday, I didnt even think I was gonna be racing, I felt so bad, cn: How did gou gEt into ArcnacnossP keviniohnson: I aqtually grew up racing 60s and 80s in Arenacross and we used to come to the National Arenacross events in Dallas and Oklahoma when I was a kid. My dad used to race dirt track and so he knew Mike Kidd [founder of the National Arenacross Series and for- mer dirt tracker] and so we got into the Arenacross Series early on. But, last year was my first full year with the series. cn: Do gou consid€r gours€ll an An€nacnoss sp€cialist? keviniohnsonl I feel really comfortable indoors and I enjoy Arenacross - Supercross too - and I think I am Proba- bly better at indoor stuff. My whole life we did a lot of racing indoors in Colorado and different areas growing up, where a lot of Amateur kids don't get to ride any kind of Supercross. I had an older brother who rode Supercross, so I was riding a real Supercross track at gur house when lwas a 125 lntermediate. So I had a few years of practice before I ever went racinS. I feel strong outdoors, too. lt's iust a little more work, and I iust need to buckle down and 8et in shape. cn: What ar€ Uoun Plans for Sup€rcnoss? keYiniohnsonl I am going to do the whole East Co6t series this year. I did it last year and had a couple of top IOs here and there. I finished l6th overall and I missed the first round because I was riding Arenacross. Hopefully, I will turn some heads over there and we will see what happens, a a cn: Wh€n th€ BooKoo s€ri€s brok€ awag, was thcr€ ang thoughts about which series to 9o with? kevinjohnson: From the start, I told Brian O'Rourke [team owner] that I just wanted to be on Team Faith and be a part of it, wherever they went. He talked it over with a bunch of people and I think that they came to the conclusion that they have a Sood relationship with the people running this series and wanted to stand by them - we are a faithful bunch and we have been ministerinE with this group of riders for a long time, and we iust wanted to stay where we were at. I think it has tumed out well for us. cn: What is Uour goal for th€ r€st of th€ U€ar? keviniohnson: I have tried to keep it the same for all year, I iust want to put everything l've got into each race and iust leave it on the track. When I come offthe track and I know that is all I could do, then I will try to be happy about it- I definitely feel I can run with those guys now, and I think I can beat them now too; where before, I was thinking I was as fast but I didn't know for sure. I want to win more races; but if I don't, I iust want tg leave it on the track. Shon tfioorc 4 \ --t t I t Kevin Johnson: Making Waves tl , l 16 FEBRUARY 8, 2006 . CYCLE NEWS