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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Myers was popular at DoC - his arm in a cast after crashing his Benelli Tornado on Mad Sunday at the Isle of Man. The world famous GP auction started early at 4 p.m. this year and earned $24,000 more than last year by 9 p.m. Eurosport pundits Randy Mamola, Toby Moody and Julian Ryder assisted a profes- sional auctioneer at the gavel. Mamola thanked them, but they responded that he does hard graft, carting pillions on the two-seat Ducati. Mamola revealed that when he carried F1 god Michael Schumacher around Mugello recently, Juan Pablo Montoya texted him a request. Afterward he showed it to Schumie: "Scare the scheisse out of him," Schumacher said. Two fans paid thousands of dollars for the Ducati hot seat, after Mamola prom- ised to dial in the exact level of fear requested. The roster of MotoGP stars was incredible. Makoto Tamada said his Konica-Minolta leathers were on good form; Marco Melandri has shown heroic ability to recover from injury, and his courage was rewarded with top dollar for his red Honda leathers. Dani Pedrosa, the British GP winner, was charming on stage, joking about England's chances in the World Cup. Loris Capirossi was too injured to come, and Shinya Nakano was a victim of the flu. Both of them, however, donated top gear. It was great to see Kenny Roberts Jr. fighting fit. The 2000 World Champion auctioned a special helmet bifurcated by his own and his dad's designs. A Hollywood stuntman turned director, meanwhile, is planning a MotoGP movie with a plot involving the Team Roberts' bike with a mysterious sponsor called Venture Petroleum. Spot the decal on the race bike! We didn't see as much of Nicky Hayden's skin as last year, when Eurosport's Suzi Perry coaxed him out of all but his boxers. Fortunately, Zoe Coleman pulled the shirt off his back, drawing a goodly sum. No racer in my memory has the charisma of Valentino Rossi. Fears he was too injured to appear were quelled when he walked on stage like Michelangelo's David. His bandages hinted the pain he'd suffer en route to second place on Sunday. Have you ever ridden with a bro- ken throttle wrist? Arrgh! As mentioned above, Cecchinello impressed all with a donation of $9100 worth of fuel for Zimbabwe Riders'. The Italian was warmly thanked by program director Ngwarati Mashonga. Who was the belle of the ball? The Texas Tornado - Colin Edwards. He knows how popular he is in Britain and wore a super glove with the St. George's cross to delight English football fans nerv- ous about the World Cup outcome. Edwards' leathers sold for a high of $7300. After selling a woodie bike, Edwards pretty much closed down the auction by tossing hats into the crowd. About all that was left were the Colemans to sell Rossi's num- ber-46 banner. MOTO POLITICS For years there's been a groundswell among people in rich nations that "something must be done" about debt, disease and poor infrastructure in Africa. The Group of Eight, (G8) the most developed countries, take part in debt relief, but most of it applies to ex-Soviet bloc countries and Iraq - not Africa. Economist Jeffrey Sachs argues for road building, but more has been promised than delivered. "Crisis, what crisis?" say World Health Organization offi- cials in Africa. "We have no transport crisis in Africa." Perhaps not, in air-conditioned confer- ences in capital cities. It's a different story in villages. Two months ago my father's cousin, a 50- something missionary I'll call Deena, came home on furlough to the United States. She says that after 30 years in rural Nigeria (one of Africa's oil-rich countries), "It's still very hard to get things transport- ed to our village." Kayode Ajayi, Riders' deputy opera- tions director, is a Nigerian currently serving at the UK Daventry office. "AJ," as we call him, agrees transport is a bottle- neck for rural people, including farmers. Attempting rural development, or attacking AIDS and other diseases with- out paying attention to transport is like planning the 1944 D-Day invasion of Europe without landing craft to ship sol- diers across the English Channel. Western nations must back disease eradication in Africa - not just out of charity, but in self- interest. In today's era of mass air travel, it is essential to stop disease at the source, before Avian Influenza, Ebola - or whatev- er we call the latest cooties - infect us all. Ngwarati Mashonga (pronounced en- gwa-rati), Riders' program director in Zimbabwe, brought good news on his third visit to Day of Champions: "Zimbabwe is one of three countries in Africa in which the rates of HIV and AIDS are coming down." Part of the reason has to be Riders' health outreach. It's just 10 years since Riders' was weaned from its useful learning partner- ship with Save the Children Fund (SCF). The Princess Royal Anne, is Riders' high- est-level supporter. The former Olympic horse jumper has developed an interest in lifesaving motorcycles. Impressed by Riders' innovative techniques for running motorcycles "zero-breakdown" in even the remotest parts of Africa, she agreed to become a patron in 1998. Riders' is a registered charity in sever- al countries (501(c) 3 in the United States as Riders' for Health II), and can also be called a nongovernmental organization (NGO). But it operates in more creative ways than most charities and NGOs, C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 19, 2006 33 British Grand Prix winner Dani Pedrosa holds a World Cup football. One of the Riders' for Health sidecars. (Above) Randy Mamola is flanked by Enduro.Africa.com's Simon Smith (left) and Riders' for Health's Ngwarati Mashonga. (Right) Andrea Coleman greets the long line of specta- tors at the Day of Champions at Donington.