Friends And Fans Of Injured Racer, Writer Papa Thiam Honor Him With Action Fund Donations

Friends And Fans Of Injured Racer, Writer Papa Thiam Honor Him With Action Fund Donations

© 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Roadracingworld.com Action Fund has grown by $3100 thanks to donations made in honor of injured racer and writer Papa Thiam.

Thiam, known not only for his published work in Roadracing World and Sport Rider but also for his postings on the WERA.com BBS, was seriously injured June 9 at Summit Point Raceway when he crashed and hit an unpadded tire wall at Summit Point Raceway. Thiam is paralyzed as a result and is now starting rehab.

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick C. Bittner have contributed $2900, enough to buy a complete section of Air Fence. In making the donation, Fred Bittner wrote, “My wife and I have been considering contributing to the fund for some time now, and Papa’s accident really brought into high focus the immediate need to enhance riders’ safety on the track. We met Papa through the Reduc Sportbike Association, and I enjoyed being out on the track with him in an environment where fun, speed and safety are equally emphasized. But if you crash, you’re really only as safe as the kind of barrier you crash into, and for me, that means Air Fences should be deployed on all tracks where a rider could be seriously injured. We ultimately came to the conclusion that a ‘proliferation from the top down’ approach is the most efficient and effective way to get that done, and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank John Ulrich and Roadracing World for leading the way and also to encourage others to do the same via a donation to the fund.”

Others donations in honor of Papa Thiam include $100 from Team Bozo and $100 from John Ulrich, founder of the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund.

“Some of Papa’s best writing has been on the WERA BBS,” said Ulrich, whose latest donation adds to his original $2900 donation, “where he has proven to be an insightful participant and observer of life at the racetrack. He now faces the most difficult challenge of his life, but has the benefit of support from his family, his fiance Lisa, and the many people who met him and became his friends at the racetrack and on the BBS. I asked what I could do to help, and Papa, always looking toward the greater good, suggested that I donate in his name to the Action Fund. I urge others to join me until the day comes when no crashed racer has to hit a rigid tire wall or dirt embankment or stack of wet haybales or concrete barrier instead of a section of properly deployed Air Fence or Alpina Air Module. And thank you, Papa, for being an inspiration in the face of adversity.”

Other recent donations to the Action Fund came from young Texas racer Logan Young, who donated $100, and his parents, Sherrie and Bob Young, who matched that amount, adding to their donations made last year.

Donations made to the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund for road racing use now total $187,594. Donations made for dirt track use now total $17,827. The Roadracingworld.com Action Fund has requested that AMA Pro Racing provide a plan for procurement and deployment of Air Fence for dirt track but as yet has not received any useful information in return.

An accounting of money collected and spent by the Roadracingworld.com Action Fund appears at the bottom of this post.

The list of road racing contributors now reads:
Anonymous $9450
Erik Buell/Buell Motorcycle Company $5800
Trent Thompson/Paramount Racing $5000
Wegman Benefit Fund/Gordon Lunde Sr. $5000
Brooks Gremmels/Shogun Motorsports $4150
Ken Hill $3351 (eBay auction of Bostrom leathers)
Dynojet Research $3200
Steve Brubaker/Race Tire Service $3000
Patrick Roskam/HangingOff.com $3000
RPM $3000
John Ulrich/Roadracing World $2900
Aprilia USA $2900
American Suzuki Motor Corp. $2900
Ducati North America $2900
Jonathan Glaefke $2900
Susie and Bruce Meyers/BCM Racing Ducati $2900
Performance Machine $2900
Dunlop Motorcycle Tire Co. $2900
Max McAllister/Traxxion Dynamics $2900
Tom Chauncey/Team Wreckless $2900
Willow Springs Int’l Raceway $2900
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick C. Bittner/In Honor of Papa Thiam $2900
Wendell Phillips/Lockhart Phillips $2500
Robb Meier $2152 (eBay auction of Mat Mladin AGV Helmet)
Advanced Motor Sports/In Memory of Dirk Piz $2000
Lindemann Engineering $2000
Marcus McBain $2000
Stephen Barnes $1825 (eBay auction of Duhamel Shoei race helmet)
L.A. Bikers/labiker.org $1760
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing $1700
Dennis Smith/Sport Tire Services $1500
Gearbox International $1500
Marc Salvisberg/Factory Pro Tuning $1450
Bob Dragich/Roadracing World $1450
Fred Renz/Yoyodyne $1450
Andre Espaillat $1325 (eBay auction of Barnacle Bill leathers)
Bob Blandford/N.E. Sportbike Assn. $1100
Chuck Warren/Arclight Suzuki $1000
Jim Rashid/4&6 Cycle $1000
Scott Willock/In Memory of Larry Schwarzbach $1000
Don Emde/In Memory of Cal Rayborn $1000
Jason Pridmore’s Star Motorcycle School $1000
Mark E. Dobeck/Techlusion Performance Group $1000
G.M.D. Computrack Network $1000
California Superbike School $1000
Tachyon Racing/Tachyon Sports Injury Research Foundation $1000
Team Pro-Motion Sportbike Club $1000
Anthony and Aaron Gobert $1000
Andrew M. Cross $1000
Andy Kettle/Honda of Milpitas $1000
Dale Pestes/Tuff Dog Racing $1000
Sheila Barnes $1000
Anonymous $1000
Barnett Tool & Engineering $1000
Linda, John & Susanne Hopkins/In Memory of Roy Hopkins $895
Jason Routhier $810 (eBay auction of Jamie James leathers & boots)
Intrepid Café Racers $775
Marcus Mc Bain $760 (eBay auction of Ruben Xaus Suomy helmet)
Yoshimura Racing $750
Team Daemon Racing $600
Derek and Gordon King $600
CMRRA $537
Don Lemelin/Scuderia West $500
Kevin Erion/Erion Racing $500
Pinky’s Pizza of Walnut Creek $500
Doug Gonda $500
Jerry Wood/Penguin School $500
Mike Canfield/Chandelle Motorsports $500
Jim Davis/J6 Racing/In Memory of Dirk Piz $500
Jim Di Salvo/Alien Racing $500
Dale Kieffer/Racers Edge Performance $500
The Plummer Menapace Group $500
Reg Kitrelle $500
Specialty Sports Ltd/Teknic $500
Ronnie Lunsford/Northwest Honda $500
Bob Holcomb $500
Aaron Yates $500
James D. Randolph $500
OMRRA $500
Terry Knott $500
Shawn Higbee/Team KWS/Millenium Technologies $500
Harley Davidson of Reno $500
Walt Schaefer $500
Gary Christopher/American Honda $500
Full Spectrum Design $500
Indigo Sports $500
Ed Robinson/Robinson Partners $500
MotorcycleUSA.com $500
Anonymous $412 (eBay auction of Team Honda autograph helmet)
Bill St. John/Project Monza $400
Tom Drumm $400
Empty Pockets Racing $400
Jerry Jirkovsky $330
“Old Slo Gene Templet”/CMRA $325
Eric Kelcher/Blockworks $320
Ice Holes $301
Richard Hood/Reptillian Racing $300
Edward S. Siccardi, Jr. $300
Dan Fischer/Copier1.com $300
David Finniff $300
Marietta Motorsports $300
Brendan Guy $300
Dean Scarpa $300
Anonymous $300
Kurtis Roberts $300
James Siddall/World Sports/Corbin Grand Prix $300
Zachry Lee $300
N.I.T.R.O. (Northern Illinois Touring and Riding Organization) $300
Martin Von Wyss $300
In Memory of Charles Wooldridge, Sr. $300
Brian Parriott $300
Thomas Patch $300
James Lickwar $290
Texas Sport Bike Association $260
Scott Fisher/Fisher Technical Services $250
Chris Pyles & Beth Walters $250
Peter Hively $250
Brian Mitchell $250
Al Ludington $250
Tim Simpson $250
Spectrum Motorsports/VJB Racing $250
David Roy, Ducati N. America $250
Debbie Roy/Frenotec $250
Joshua Hayes $250
Gina Nadeau $250
Jeannne Pyles $250
John Ross/Ross Racing $250
Brian Cincera $250
C. Renard Fiscus $250
Bruce & Edith Lind $250
Andre Espaillat $250
Aramel Racing $250
WMRRA $250
Bo Poulsen $250
Walter S. Pasicznyk $250
Leo Sulpy $250
Putnam Park $250
Papa Thiam/WERA BBS $200
Bill Capshaw/ICE Motorsports $200
Scott Decker $200
Terry Embury $200
Jim “Dutch” MacKenzie/WERA BBS $200
Scott Jenkins/Desmoto-sport $200
Cliff Nobles $200
Jodie York/RPM Cycles Ventura/WSMC #11 $200
Mostro.org/Jeffrey Fillmore $200
Jeff Bowis $200
Rich & Lynda Alexander/In Memory of Dirk Piz $200
Nils Menten $200
Melissa Tomlinson/G-Man Racing $200
DP Enterprises $200
Jeffrey S. Stathes $200
RPM $200
Wayne Nielsen/sportbikeworld.com $200
Dennis Woods/Doppio Racing $200
Tom David $200
Sierra Sportbike Association $200
Terry McKeever $200
“Barnacle” Bill Burns $200
Scott Greenwood/New England Performance $200
Roger Lyle/In Memory of Jimmy Adamo $200
Big Show Racing/Chicago, IL $200
John and Richard Haner/Haner Motor Sports $200
Crew & Friends of the R/V Point Sur/In Memory of Stuart Stratton $200
Ken & Joan Snyder/Team Snyder Racing $200
Patrick Flora $200
Michael and Sammy Garofalo $200
Ned “Peanut” Brown/NESBA/TPM $200
Logan Young $200
Bob & Sherrie Young $200
Chris Kelley/California Cycleworks $150
Robb Mc Elroy $150
Tim Chin/Team Bandit $150
Ed & Catherine Sorbo $150
Damon Buckmaster $150
Chris Hamilton/Grand Prix Direct $150
Marc Palazzo/Synergy Racing Honda $150
Stuart Stratton/Stratton Racing $150
Hewitt & Prout Attorneys at Law $150
Calhoun Clark $150
Hal Coughlin/Central Vermont Motorcycles $130
Thomas Pfuner/I & E Innovative Homes Racing Team $130
Jim Williams/13x.com $125
David Boosales/WERA BBS $125
Pete Martins $125
SpaCovers.com $120
B.O.S.S. ’02 Raffle $116
Road Atlanta Crash Truck Crews $111
Gar’s Sports Center 50/50 Raffle $105
Chris Normand/Firestorm Racing $101
Lucky Deleoni $100
Pat Stricker $100
Gary Rand/In Memory of Rusty Bradley $100
Michael Roberson/WERA BBS $100
Sean Jordan/WERA BBS $100
Army of Darkness $100
Stuart Gregg $100
Pinky’s Pizza/Lippman Racing $100
Bob Szoke $100
TyrSox $100
Ron West/Omzig Productions $100
Joe Facer $100
Preston Rash $100
Geoff Maloney/GP Tech $100
Melissa Berkoff/Neighbor Of The Beast $100
Caesar Gonzales/WERA BBS $100
Dorina Groves $100
Dorina Groves/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Philip Rusin/RC51.net $100
Allen “Spence” Spencer $100
Matt Wadsworth $100
Dean N. De St. Croix $100
Tony Tugwell/TZ250.com $100
Bart Fuqua/Team LGC $100
Brian Stokes/Marietta Motorsports $100
Chris “Opie” Caylor/Marietta Motorsports $100
David McElvain/NEDoD $100
Vance Hacecky $100
Patrick Mee $100
Dave and Jason Parker $100
David Brown $100
Steve Moonitz/Team Squid Pro Quo $100
Jake Swan $100
Chris Story $100
Chris Eklund $100
Randy Ball/WERA BBS $100
Mark Hellvig $100
Gary Schilling/On Time Racing/WERA BBS $100
Steve Sumner $100
Laura Granato/WERA BBS $100
Norm Viano/Lawdog Sports Mgmt $100
Kevin Jordan/Jordan Motorsports $100
Val Gregory/In Memory of Dirk Piz $100
Dave Gess $100
Rob Berlind $100
Paul Black $100
Steve Hewitt $100
Mike Ciccotto $100
Tripp Nobles $100
Scott Rehl $100
Steve & Lorraine Aledort $100
Jeff Rozycki/29dreams.com Racing $100
Chris Ulrich/In Memory of Russ Paulk And Toby Jorgensen $100
Giorgio Milesi/Galfer Brakes USA $100
Al Lyons/CMRRA $100
Linda Hopkins $100
John Hopkins/In Memory of Jamie Bowman and Toby Jorgensen $100
Vicky&Michael Menard $100
Silvia Salenius/Ducati.net Online $100
HG Racing/AMA Pro Thunder $100
Red Fox Racing $100
Greg Ruffin $100
John Donald/PTC Racing $100
Larry Pegram $100
Pamela Skaff/WERA BBS $100
J.D. Hord/Meccanica Corse Racing $100
Mark Sutton $100
Steve Scott/LRRS#47 $100
Eric Putter $100
Jim Doerfler $100
Ira Englebardt $100
Joe & Nancy Fenech $100
Earl Hayden $100
Chuck Sorensen $100
Jeff Wilson/American Suzuki $100
Adam Vella/Webcrush Racing $100
Chuck Gault/Motobama $100
Gary Longren $100
Stephan Hottenrott $100
David Kunzelman $100
C.R. “Critter

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