With thirteen weeks till the start of this year’s Isle of Man TT Races, entries for the world famous event have already started to be received by the Manx Motor Cycle Club. The closing date for entries is the 24th of March 2005 and historically, the majority of completed forms will be received in the final week before the closing date, but already some of the ‘star names’ hoping to make their mark on this years event have sent theirs in.

Winner of the 2004 Production 600cc event Ryan Farquhar has entered all five races backed by the ‘Works’ MSS Discovery Kawasaki team, and he will be looking to add to that win at this years event. He is joined on the entry list by two of the fancied newcomers attending this year’s event Les Shand from Scotland and Englishman Paul Shoesmith.

Other notable entries received so far include former Manx Grand Prix stars Roy Richardson and Davy Morgan, French World Endurance star Bruno Bonhuil and one of the sensations of TT 2004, Italian Stefano Bonetti.

In the Sidecar Class local aces Nick Crowe and Darren Hope have been quick off the mark to get their entries in and they will be hoping to take the fight to fellow locals Dave Molyneux and Dan Sayle this year, having taken a brace of second place finishes behind the pairing last year.  Among others, joining Crowe and Hope on the entry list at this early stage are Sidecar racing stalwarts Roy Hanks and Dave Wells.

David Cretney MHK, Minister for the Department of Tourism and Leisure and Chairman of the TT Co- Coordinating Committee commented:

“Once the entries start coming in for the TT, it signals the beginning of another years TT racing. It is encouraging to see some of our newcomers amongst the early entries and we are very optimistic that overall this year’s entry will be amongst the strongest assembled for the TT for some time. Everyone involved in the event is working very hard at present and all in all it is shaping up to be a tremendous Isle of Man TT Races.”

Any rider wishing to obtain the entry forms and supplementary regulations for this years event, should contact the Manx Motor Cycle Club by e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone on 00 44 1624 644647.

AMA Superbike Motorcycle Racing begins at
Daytona International Speedway

As in Nascar with Daytona being the first event of the season it is only fitting that AMA motorcycle racing also begins at Daytona International Speedway.

Jason DiSalvo from Stafford, New York has been preparing for this premier event over the winter months with testing in California, Nevada, and Florida.  Jason finished 5th in SuperSport and 4th in SuperStock in the 2004 season. Jason won the 600 SuperSport race in Daytona at the beginning of last years race season.  A climatic conclusion to the 2004 season saw Jason finish 1st in both the SuperSport and SuperStock events at Virginia International Raceway.

Coming into the 2005 season Jason is excited with the new Yamaha R6 and R1 explaining that both bikes are capable of winning championships.  During winter tire testing at Daytona in January, Jason set the fastest times on both the 600 SuperSport and 1000 SuperStock.  His top speed of 193.2 miles per hour placed him 3rd overall with only 2 SuperBikes having faster trap speeds.  Jason is currently in Florida racing Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Formula USA Series in preparation for the AMA SuperBike season opener which takes place March 9th and 10th.  Speed Channel, which is 210 on your cable channels (WNY), will carry a live television broadcast beginning at 3:30PM on Thursday, March 10th. 

Jason’s winter preparation has placed him in a position to again be a front runner at this Daytona race.

Five-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin starts his 2005 title assault on March 12 at Daytona in Florida aboard his Yoshimura GSX-R1000 Suzuki.

You can download the latest March calendar of Mat, pictured during pre-season testing, by clicking on the MEDIA button at the top of the page then scrolling down to WALLPAPER.

It is available in several different sizes or it can be used as your personal wallpaper on your computer for the month.

www.suzuki-racing.com

Thursday, March 3rd marked the 1st round in the Triumph Thruxton Cup series, hosted by AHRMA at Carolina Motorsports Park. Race winner Ted Cobb, beat out 2nd place finisher Tim Joyce, in the 13 rider field by a comfortable margin.

“This series should be a great showcase for the Thruxton’s” said Cobb, “the bikes are a blast to ride and handle quite well.” 

The Thruxton Cup series heads to Daytona International Speedway, on March 7th & 8th for the next 2 races.
Triumph’s “hired gun”, 2 time World Superbike Champion Doug Pollen, will ride the factory Thruxton around the high banks.

Cobb also said,  “I think Doug still has a couple of fans out there that will come to watch the race, it’ll be a good show, that’s for sure.”

More information on the Thruxton Cup series can be found at www.ahrma.org .

Honda of Houston will be showing LIVE coverage of all the Daytona action on all 8 of our 42′ Plasma TVs!

Below is the schedule:

Thurs March 10
2:00 pm Daytona Bike Week 2005 Superstock & Supersport (LIVE) NR

Sat March 12
10:00 am Daytona Bike Week 2005 Superbike & Daytona 200 (LIVE) NR

We will also have the raffle tickets for sale for the Ride for Kids CBR1000RR Repsol giveaway on hand!

We are now open at our New Location (12655 West Rd @ 290) Houston, TX 77041
phones: 713-467-2426 and 800-997-4297

Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) is excited to announce that we will be bringing our Community Center and associated services to selected AMA Superbike Championship, Supercross and Prostar events in 2005.

The MRO Community Center is a 52′ trailer customized to allow for community events at the track, including a 50’x 20′ covered outside play area for children, with a separate seating area for parents to use for ‘hanging out’. Many of you already had the opportunity to enjoy the Community Center and associated services when it was brought to the Birmingham Superbike event in the Spring of 2004.

The MRO Community Center is presently scheduled to be set up at the following events:

March 9-12 Daytona International Speedway (Superbike, Supercross)     

April 22-24 Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, AL (Superbike)

September 2-4 Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA  (Superbike)

November 11-13 Gainesville, FL (ProStar)

 
The Community Center has become a ‘hub’ for members of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series community, as they travel week to week, setting up camp in the infield of racetracks across the country. Typical weekend activities include small group bible studies, showers and birthday parties, Bible Club and childcare during races, and open play time for kids.

“We are thrilled to have the MRO Community Center at our World Finals,” said Keith S. Kizer, President of AMA/Prostar.  “MRO is a vital part of our series, providing spiritual guidance and comfort to our racers and sponsors. We look forward to having our children’s needs met through the MRO Community Center.” 

At the AMA events listed above, MRO will offer its services to AMA REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS ONLY. In order for us to plan for proper staffing, please contact Missy deSouza at the MRO office at 800-424-8138, or by e-mail [email protected] if you are interested in bringing your family, so that we may have correct information about the children/ages we are expecting.

Racers Pub in Riverside, CA will be hosting the Daytona 200 and Superbike races on March 12 at 8 a.m. Join us for great food and drinks, great door prizes from Yamaha, and a raffle for an Inland Line – X spray-on bedliner with 100% of the proceeds going to the Roadracing World Action Fund.

Racers is located at 3812 Pierce St. Unit B, on  the corner of Pierce and Magnolia. For more information please call Racers at 951-689-1932 or Inland Line – X at 951-354-2519.

AMA SPORTS TAPS KEN SAILLANT FOR TRACK-RACING POST

PICKERINGTON, OHIO — AMA Sports, the amateur and pro-am competition division of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), has announced that Ken Saillant will join its staff as Track Racing Manager on March 21, 2005.

In his role with AMA Sports, Saillant will oversee operations of flat-track, Supermoto, roadracing, ice racing and speedway disciplines. He’ll report to AMA Sports Senior Director Douglas Neubauer.

“Ken has a wealth of knowledge and experience to contribute to AMA Sports, along with his passion as a true racing enthusiast,” said Neubauer. “Adding Ken to our team is the next step in shaping our programs to better serve the racers who are the life-blood of motorcycle competition.”

A racer himself in the 1980s, Saillant became a race promoter under the name Fast Track Racing. He promoted the 1997 AMA Amateur Nationals and co-promoted (with the AMA) the 1998 and 1999 events. In 2000, he became Race Director for the AMA Sports Dirt Track Grand Championships. Since then he’s worked with regional and national ice racing, dirt-track, and speedway competition, and as an assistant director of AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. Saillant also has represented AMA Sports on the AMA Congress track committee.

 “Two days of testing, we built the bike on the spot at the track, and the guys didn’t even sleep.  They worked all night.  We started testing but had many mechanical gremlins, tried to get the fuel maping right, tried to gel the motor, brakes, and everything.  We didn’t make any fast laps; just trying to learn the track and the bike.  And when the race weekend came we thought that the bike would be dialed in but we didn’t have many parts and we were a bit down on speed.  But the team was gelling really well.  It’s a great team, really fantastic.”

“But of course it rained and we only had one good bike so we sat out to not risk wrecking our good bike.  In the second session, I bedded in the brakes for two laps and then I crashed!  I’m not sure what the problem was, but the mechanics said it was something with the swingarm or something.  I didn’t get hurt but the bike was wrecked pretty bad.  And the next time we really got to ride the bike was Friday morning in the wet.  And that was fine.  I still didn’t want to crash the bike, but we managed to be 6th fastest in the wet.”

“We took our first dry laps in the afternoon, and we were very conservative and ended up deep in the grid.  We were quicker in the Saturday morning warm up, but still conservative.  During the first race the setup was a bit wrong for the dry/wet conditions.  We ended up finishing 12th across the line, but 16th in aggregate.  We learned alot in the race, but for the second race we had a mechanical right at the start and didn’t get to race.  But we expect to have good parts by the Valencia test and for the Philip Island race.”

“Overall, it’s so nice to be back in World Superbike.   The compettion level is great, there are 20 guys out there really going fast.  And being back here with them had me smiling.  Even when we were having a tough day, I was happy”

Keep it on two.

“Honda Racing Rides Rocket!”

With the start of the much anticipated 2005 AMA Superbike Series at Daytona International Speedway, just a few days away, Randy Robison, President of Joe Rocket® Sportsgear is pleased to announce an official sponsorship agreement with American Honda’s Road Race Team. The two year agreement with Honda’s legendary Red Riders will see America’s leading sport bike apparel brand outfit the entire team in Joe Rocket designed gear.

“The Honda Team sponsorship is a milestone in the evolution of the Joe Rocket brand”, said Robison, “and we are very proud to be associated with Honda and their commitment to excellence”.

“Our agreement with Joe Rocket is a natural extension of their long term sponsorship of team riders Jake Zemke and Formula Xtreme Champion Miguel Duhamel” said Chuck Miller, Manager of Honda Motorcycle Sports, “Joe Rocket’s dedication to making championship caliber gear makes them a valuable addition to our program”.

“The authenticity of the Joe Rocket brand is directly demonstrated by this sponsorship agreement and reflected by Honda’s trust” said Bruce Parker, Marketing Director for Joe Rocket. “I expect the synergy between Joe Rocket and Honda will see this agreement as a stepping stone to future success”.