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/397402
IN THE WIND P28 CHAMPIONS ALL! T he 2014 VP Racing Fuels AMA Pro Hillclimb series champions were crowned at the 65th running of the Devil's Stair- case hillclimb hosted by the Day- ton Motorcycle Club on Sunday with Vinny Nuzzolilli, John Koes- ter and Matthew Walker clinch- ing championships in Unlimited, Xtreme, and Pro Sport classes, respectively. Nuzzolilli broke the points tie he shared with Jay Sallstrom af- ter seven rounds of a hotly con- tested series. Coming into round eight they had 160 points each, with four wins to Sallstrom's credit and three to Nuzzolilli's. A second-place finish put Nuzzolilli ahead of Sallstrom's fourth-place for the top spot in Unlimited Class hillclimbing. Koester dominated the Xtreme class for the second year in a row, with five wins and 163 points out of a possible 175 after seven rounds. He easily netted enough points with a fourth-place on the day to finish well ahead of his nearest rival Sallstrom. Walker took the Pro Sport title in his rookie year with the series. He won rounds five through sev- en and, despite missing round four, finished the series nine points ahead of his nearest rival Kyle Welch. Phil Libhart took the wins in round eight in both expert classes, accomplishing the feat at Oregonia two years in a row. Libhart set fastest times of the day: 7.898 seconds in Unlimited and 8.285 seconds in Xtreme. Libhart shared the Unlimited- class podium with Nuzzolilli and Koester. Robby DeBusk and Nuzzolilli flanked Libhart on the Xtreme podium, the pair finishing second and third, respectively. Nathan Prebe won the Pro Sport Class at Oregonia in only his second appearance in the series. Kyle Welch stood on the second step of the podium, fol- lowed by Devin Sweitzer in third. Jeff Whitehead Vinny Nuzzolilli wrapped up the Unlimited Class Hillclimb Cham- pionship on Sunday in Ohio. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF WHITEHEAD WORLD SUPERS: APRILIA HOPEFUL T he day-by-day changes in the prospects of Aprilia remaining in the World Superbike Championship in 2015 seem to have taken an upswing despite widespread pessimism at the Magny-Cours round. "The final decision has not been taken yet, but I am quite optimistic about still being there," said Aprilia racing chief Romano Albesiano. "The official team will be involved in MotoGP, so we are talking with a partner, with a team, that can be supported in World Supersport next year. The first option for us is Red Devils because they are already a customer; we have to give them the priority." It seems that although no formal decision has been made, Marco Melandri is now heading to MotoGP, to join Aprilia's MotoGP efforts. "Our plan is to bring Marco to MotoGP," said Albesiano. "We still have to fix this, but basically this should happen. The World Superbike riders will be a team decision." Gordon Ritchie Marco Melandri looks to be headed to Aprilia's MotoGP team for 2015. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE