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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IN THE WIND P42 RIP DANE WESTBY R oad racer Dane Westby passed away on Monday, March 23, as a result of injuries suffered in a streetbike accident in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to a report in the Tulsa World, the 28-year-old died at a Tulsa hospital around 9 p.m. after the motorcycle he was operating crashed. Tulsa Police Cpl. Ross Williams said in the re- port that Westby was riding north around 8:25 p.m. when his motorcycle veered off the right side of the street, crashed into a curb, a concrete wall and a utility pole, and then hit another concrete wall and metal pole. The crash remains under investigation. Westby, known by his fans as the "Wolverine," won his first race at the age of seven at the Gold Rush Cross Country Race in Halett, Oklahoma on a Yamaha PW50. He later made his roadracing debut in 2003. After showing promise at the amateur level in WERA, Westby started doing some one-off races in the AMA Superbike series. He made his full-time debut in 2009, but gained a lot of attention with a second-place finish at Daytona for the Project 1 Atlanta team and landed a spot on the Team Hammer squad the following year. Westby finished a career-best second in the 2012 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion- ship on his self-ran team and made his MotoAmerica Super- stock 1000 debut two weeks ago at the Dunlop tire test at the Circuit of The Americas in Aus- tin, Texas. Westby was the fast- est Superstock 1000 rider at the test as he rode his Yamalube- backed Westby Racing Yamaha to the fourth best time overall. Family and friends gathered in his hometown last Friday, March 27 to celebrate his life. He is survived by his parents, Tryg and Jane Westby, his sister, Scarlett, and his girlfriend Patri- cia Fernandez. PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J NELSON Dane Westby celebrates his first win for his self-ran Yamalube Westby Racing team last year at Barber Motorsports Park. ANDREW PUTT GOES PRO W ith the US National Mo- toTrials Series just two weeks away, Sherco USA and Ryan Young Products have an- nounced the signing of 16-year- old Andrew Putt to team Sherco USA. The Venetia, Pennsylvania native will be competing in the Pro class at all AIReS AMA/ NATC Mototrials Nationals in 2015 aboard the Sherco ST300. He will also compete in Europe in the FIM World Trials Champi- onship Series. In 2012, Putt won the Junior National Championship as well as the Eastern Youth Champi- onship. In 2013, he repeated his victory in the Eastern Youth Championship and finished 4th overall in the Expert National Class riding a 125cc Sherco. Last season the youngster finished second overall in the Expert National Championship. "Andrew has always been a top performer on our team, his work ethic and natural talent are impressive, I am sure he will be very competitive in the Pro Class," said Ryan Young, RYP USA, Team Manager. Putt will join 7-time National Champion, Pat Smage, Bryan Roper, Logan Bolopue and Dan- iel Blanc-Gonnet on the power- ful Sherco Pro team. Shan Moore