From a press release issued by USGPRU:

USGPRU National Championship Round 9 Portland International Raceway GP Results

PORTLAND, OR. – August 11, 2002 – The battle for the USGPRU Western Regional Championship ensued this weekend in the heart of the city at Portland International Raceway this weekend. Hosted by the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association, the venue for the Western Regional Championship could not have presented a better battle ground for the USGPRU event surrounded by downtown Portland, the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River, and Vancouver, Washington.

Nearly 50 racers from as far as Florida, Canada, and Japan flew in for what has heating up to be an intense finale to the West Coast USGPRU Championship. Riders from the South brought the California sunshine with them to warm up the event and yet the electricity in the air over points standings could be cut with a knife.

Qualifying sessions on Saturday for both the 125GP and 250GP events revealed the intense battles to follow during the main events. The top five Qualifying times for the 125GP event were within 1 second placing Josh Herrin on Pole with a 1.16.527 on his Honda RS125. Nobi Iso neglecting to weigh-in was DQ’d and relegated to a last place grid position. 250GP Qualifying subsequently had Iso on Pole with a 1.14.487 with the remainder of row 1 within three tenths of a second.

Herrin, Jake Gwin, Scott McNew, and Mike Orien took the front row for the 125GP event with nineteen riders behind them. As the flag dropped and 23 riders jammed en masse into Turn 1, Iso on his Aprillia RSR125 rocketed to second position to challenge Herrin from the back of the grid. Orien’s hopes of battling with Herrin and Iso were dashed as he low sided in Turn 3 early in the race. McNew on a loaner bike shared several exchanges with Gwin as they battled for third. While Mike McDonough slipped in behind McNew, Steve Wenner charged the field from pit lane having missed the warm up lap to take the fifth spot. A five-way battle ensued for fifth with Wenner, Darrell Baker, Kirk Snell, Phil Krenn, and Brian Ens all in hot pursuit of the lead pack. Multiple exchanges took place with as many as four riders wide going into Turn 7 passing back markers by the eighth lap. Newlywed Britt Arechiga battled with Jonathan Giddens for tenth place. Gwin leading McNew on the tenth lap was disqualified for causing a red flag and calling the 15 lap race short with high side in Turn 4. Iso captured the pole along with Herrin and McNew.

Local racers struggled with the heat as temperatures rose close to 100 degrees for the 250GP event. Iso managed to capture the pole position on Bruce Lind Racing’s Yamaha TZ250 with Wenner on his Honda RS250 along side. Filling out the front row were McNew on his brother’s Honda RS250 and Vincent Rolleri on a Yamaha TZ250. Of 23 entries, only three riders on 125s chose to challenge the 250s on PIR’s high speed track. McNew displayed his signature light-speed launch at the start and led the pack for first two laps. As Wenner and McNew drafted each other for position down the front straight, Iso drafted both of them and catapulted himself from third to first. Rolleri followed closely behind the leaders to hold onto fourth. Mark Watts in the points lead for the Regional 250GP championship and recovering from a recent injury quickly fell behind. A mid pack battle began to develop as John Lee gave chase to Mike Stubbs and Watts from the back of the grid. Joel Manes entertained spectators with a spectacular crash into Turn 1. Wenner miraculously managed to hold off McNew when his handlebar came loose as in the fifth lap. Again the race was called short as a crash in Turn 9 by Joe Pezzente caused a red flag. Rounding out the podium were Iso, Wenner, and McNew, with McNew capturing just 4 additional points to take the West Regional Championship.

The Eastern Regional final Championship round is scheduled at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on August 13-15.

USGPRU sponsors include Infinity Investing, Acid Cigars, CCS/F-USA, Bridgestone, Dunlop, EBC Brakes, GPC Moto, Hjelm Motorsports, Motion Pro, Redline Cycle Imports, REV’IT! USA, Silkolene, Speed Fiber, 888-Fastlap, and VP Fuel.

About USGPRU
The USGPRU is the officially recognized Motorcycle Grand Prix Road Racing US National Championship series. The USGPRU emulates true World MotoGP racing experience and serves to attract young riders to gain experience in a professional environment and provide a path to world-class motorcycle racing. The USGPRU structures events with extended length grand prix racing exclusive to the GP machines, timed qualifying and strong contingency and sponsor support. For additional details, visit www.USGPRU.net



Full results:



125GP – 9 laps

1. Nobi Iso APR RSR125

2. Joshua Herrin HON RS125

3. Scott McNew HON RS125

4. Mike McDonough HON RS125

5. Steve Wenner HON RS125

6. Darrell Baker HON RS125

7. Kirk Snell HON RS125

8. Phil Krenn HON RS125

9. Brian Ens HON RS125

10. Jonathan Giddens HON RS125

11. Britt Arechiga HON RS125

12. Andy Moore HON RS125

13. Ryan Ferris YAM TZ125

14. Steve Korol YAM TZ125

15. Joel Manes HON RS125

16. Jeff Kittle HON RS125

17. Darrin Kuebler HON RS125

18. Brian Hess HON RS125 8 laps

19. Shellie Matthews HON RS125 8 laps

20. Roger Wong HON RS125 8 laps

21. Mike Orien HON RS125 DNF

22. Frank Pate HON RS125 DNF

23. Jake Gwin HON RS125 DQ



250GP – 8laps

1. Nobi Iso YAM TZ250

2. Steve Wenner HON RS250

3. Scott McNew HON RS250

4. Vincent Rolleri YAM TZ250

5. Mark Watts YAM TZ250

6. Mike Stubbs YAM TZ250

7. John Lee HON RS250

8. Mike Lytle YAM TZ250

9. Phil Krenn HON RS125

10. David Matthews YAM TZ250

11. Kurt Husted YAM TZ250

12. Jonathan Giddens HON RS125

13. Brian Chamberlain YAM RZ250

14. Herb Wagner YAM TZ250

15. Joel Manes HON RS250 DNF

16. Frank Pate HON RS125 DNF

17. Darrell Baker HON RS125 DNF

18. Mike McDonough HON RS125 DNS

19. Joshua Herrin HON RS125 DNS

20. Steve Korol YAM TZ125 DNS

21. Joe Pezzente YAM TZ250 DQ

From a press release issued by Speedrag:

Speedrag is pleased to announce the launch of their all-new re-designed website at www.speedrag.com. Complete with more information, more news & events, more products, and their own web forum. Feel free to check it out!

From a press release issued by Eddy Brunet of DXS Diablo/Team Suzuki Canada:

DXS DIABLO/TEAM SUZUKI

Round 6 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship Shubenacadie, Nova-Scotia.

The moody weather allowed us very little set-up time on the track last week-end on the Atlantic Motorsport Park circuit Sunday afternoon. When the sun finally decided to show up we knew there would be at least one race in the dry.

In the 600 Sportbike class, Steve Crevier was starting from the front row on the second spot while Williams was just behind on row 2 in 6th place.

The race started and it wasn’t too long before Crevier took the lead while Jeff Williams was also moving towards the front, when a red flag came out. On the restart, both Crevier and Williams took off from row one, and after a full lap they were first and second. Jeff could not hold the hard charge of Picotte and McBain. Just before the checkered flag, in the last corner, Crevier ran a little wide and saw Picotte steal first place just like Crevier had done to him in the Superbike race opener earlier this season. The team was hoping for a win, and we were so close, but a 2nd place finish for Steve and a 4th for Williams are excellent results. Meanwhile Michael Leon managed to pass 10 riders in that race and crossed the finish line in 15th position.

For the Superbike final, the sun was fighting dark clouds in order to stay with us. It was the last dry race of the day.

Crevier had lost the pole in the last minutes of qualifying when Kevin Lacombe, who was chasing him, bettered Crevier’s time by less than 0.2 second . He also bettered Crevier’s previous lap record by 0.021 second.Jeff Williams was doing very good early in the session, but a half second off the pole pushed him back one row, to the 5th spot.

Then the flag dropped and we were racing. Lacombe took the lead while Crevier was third. A few laps later, Steve took the lead while Jeff was now running fourth. But with about 6 laps remaining, the nut holding the rear clevis on Steve’s GSXR 1000 Superbike came off and he had to pull in the pits. We knew it was over for him, but meanwhile Williams was fighting with Jordan Szoke for the second highest step on the podium. Jordan held him off and Jeff had to settle for the third bottle of Champagne. Good ride, Mr. Williams!

Next round will be held at Mont-Tremblant on August 19th -22nd, followed right away by Montréal’s Molson Indy Superbike Exhibition Race.

See you there!



More, from a press release issued by Honda Canada Fast Company Racing:

HONDA CANADA / FAST COMPANY RACING

Szoke second again

SHUBENACAIDE, NS Honda Canada / Fast Company’s Jordan Szoke earned his second consecutive runner-up finish in the sixth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park last Sunday.

Riding his Honda CBR1000RR Szoke worked himself up from sixth after the first lap to move into second by lap 16 of 22. He then held off a challenge from Jeff Williams to claim second place.

“I didn’t know how close he [Williams] was,” the Brantford, ON racer explained. “Our bike is really fast on the straights, so I’d just try to slow things down in the corners and use the straightline speed to pull a gap on him.”

Despite podium finishes in the past two races Szoke slipped from second to third in the Parts Canada Superbike point standings with 212 points to the 216 of Kevin Lacombe, who won the race at AMP. Two rounds remain in the 2004 season.

“The bike’s getting better but we only had one dry practice session and it’s hard to get a good baseline set-up,” Szoke said.

Szoke had qualified on pole for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike race on his Honda Canada / Fast Company Honda CBR600RR but had trouble shifting from first to second gear off the start.

He then dropped to seventh on the second lap when he was caught out by debris on the track. Expecting a red flag, Szoke eased his pace only to find out the race wasn’t being stopped. He fought back to fifth at the finish and lies fourth in points with 188.

Szoke’s teammate Andrew Nelson also suffered bad luck in the Pro 600 Sport Bike race. He had joined Szoke on the front row by qualifying fourth and grabbed the lead off the start. But a problem developed with his rear shock, and it was all the Kars, ON rider could do to wrestle his bike home in 10th spot.

Nelson is sixth in the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike standings with 150 points.

The trouble in the 600 race left Nelson in a poor frame of mind for Superbike action later in the day, and he managed an uncharacteristic ninth. Nelson is now eighth in the Parts Canada Superbike series standings with 142 points, just four behind seventh place Frank Trombino.

The Parts Canada Superbike Championship moves next to the fast and flowing Circuit Mont-Tremblant in the scenic Quebec Laurentians. The track is expected to suit both the Honda CBR1000RR and CBR600RR and should be the scene of solid results.

From a press release issued on behalf of Dunlop by PR firm Vreeke & Associates:

Dunlop congratulates Ben Bostrom, SuperMoto X gold medal winner

Buffalo, NY-Dunlop Motorcycle Tires congratulates Ben Bostrom on his gold medal victory in the debut of SuperMoto X racing at the EXPN Summer X Games. The race took place at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Sunday, August 8 and Bostrom captured the win with a dramatic flair.

Bostrom, the 2003 AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) Supermoto Champion, gave fans exactly what they paid for: an edge-of-your-seat race capped off with a last-lap pass of Supermoto World Champion Eddy Seel. Significantly, Bostrom’s Dunlop-shod Honda Racing CRF450R was the first of seven consecutive Dunlop-equipped machines across the finish line; in fact, nine of the top 10 finishers took the checkered flag on Dunlop tires.

Broadcast live in its entirety on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, road-racing champ Bostrom was one of several top-name racers from many disciplines, including Supercross/motocross champions Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Ward, Doug Henry and Chad Reed, and motocross/freestyle stars Travis Pastrana, Kevin Windham, Grant Langston, Brian Deegan and Kenny Bartram. Baja desert racing champion Steve Hengeveld and Supermoto standouts Seel, Jurgen Kuenzel, Ben Carlson, Chris Fillmore and Steve Drew rounded out an impressive list of competitors.

The 35-minute Supermoto competition was conducted on a purpose-built course designed by flat-track guru Danny Walker. Approximately 30 percent of the surface was built on dirt inside the soccer stadium complex and included many Supercross-style obstacles. The remaining 70 percent of the course was built in the paved stadium parking lot and showcased numerous flat corners where the riders pitched their machines into lurid slides at nearly horizontal angles, much to the delight of the spectators on hand as well as those viewing the event at home.

EXPN Summer X Games SuperMoto X (450cc) results:

1. Ben Bostrom – Honda

2. Eddy Seel – Husqvarna

3. Jeremy McGrath – Honda

4. Steve Drew – Honda

5. Kevin Windham – Honda

6. Chad Reed – Yamaha

7. Jurgen Kuenzel – KTM

8. Mike Metzger – Honda

9. Mickey Dymond – KTM

10. Jeff Ward – Honda

Fans of Supermoto racing can enjoy the sport’s annual AMA competition starting on September 29 as the 2004 AMA Supermoto Championship airs during prime time on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. EST on OLN (Outdoor Living Network).

From a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

SUZUKI AIM FOR TOP IN GERMANY

Suzuki Castrol head to the German World Endurance fifth round at Oschersleben this weekend 14 points adrift of Yamaha GMT 94 following their crash at the Suzuka 8 Hour, but with double points available, the SERT squad are confident of remaining major contenders for the World Title.

An accident at Suzuka when Australian guest rider Shawn Giles was hit from behind, lost the French team more than 40 minutes, saw their chance of victory disappear, and a narrow two-point deficit on the series leaders increase dramatically.

Practice and qualifying for The 24 Stunden von Oschersleben – one of the most difficult and key events in the World Endurance calendar – starts on Thursday with the main race getting underway at 3pm local time on Saturday afternoon.

The event is the circuit’s centrepiece of its ‘Speedweek’ celebration which attracts a huge crowd from all over Europe and also includes support races from the European Supermono Championship, the German national championship, one-make championships, sidecar races, super moto and an old timers race for classic and historical machines.

The series is currently dominated by Suzuki with 12 of the 25 top teams mounted on Suzuki GSX-R1000s.

Current points (after 4 rounds) 1 Yamaha GMT 94 – 99 points, 2 Suzuki Castrol Team – 85, 3 Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 – 56, 4 Yamaha Austria Racing Team – 51, 5 Seven Stars Honda – 38, 6 Yoshimura Suzuki – 30, 7 Kawasaki Bolliger – 30, 8 Suzuki Jet Team – 30, 9 WRT Honda Austria – 28, 10 Shell Endurance Academy – 23.

From a press release:

It is with great pleasure that Bruce Lind Racing LLC announces that it has signed Nobuyuki (Nobi) Iso as its principal rider for the remainder of the 2004 season as well as next year.

Nobi, who has been employed by Veloce Racing LLC for many years to ride Aprilia GP bikes in America, Has joined with team owner and manager, Bruce Lind, to compete on Yamaha 250 GP machines in the USGPRU Gran Prix Series and other selected events.

In addition, Nobi has aquired the 2002 Aprilia World Gran Prix “customer” 125 that he rode for Team Veloce racing last year to compete in the USGPRU 125 GP class.

The start of this new relationship resulted in dominate wins at this past weekends USGPRU events held at Portland International Raceway.

Iso-san, who is a regular competitor at PIR, had to start from the back of the field (23rd) in the 125 class due to a cold tire induced crash on the first lap of qualifying on Saturday. A great launch at the green flag allowed Nobi to finish the first lap in 6th place. Nobi moved up slowly for the next couple of laps. At the half way flags, he moved past another rider on the entry to turn one and proceeded to hold a comfortable lead until a red flag ended the race.

Thirty minutes later and Nobi started from the pole position for the 15 lap USGPRU 250 GP race.

It looked like a carbon copy of the previous race. By mid distance, Iso turned a 1:12.2 lap and forced his 1995 TZ250 past Mc New and Wenners’ late model RS250 on the entry to turn one for the lead. The race was again ended by a red flag with the Bruce Lind Racing, LLC rider in first place.

Owner/Manager, Bruce Lind sat out this event, saving his equipment and energy for next weekends USGPRU event at the beautiful and challenging Barber Motorsport Park in Birmingham Alabama.

Bruce and Nobi would like to thank all our sponsors who make it possible for us to continue racing.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Mike Solis

Unofficial Results

Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific:
1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R1000)
2. Ken Hill (Suz GSX-R1000)
3. Mark Foster (Suz GSX-R1000)
4. Rob Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Kim Nakashima (Suz GSX-R1000)
6. Chris Siglin (Yam YZF-R1)

Hare Racing Open Superbike:
1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R1000)
2. Ken Hill (Suz GSX-R1000)
3. Mark Foster (Suz GSX-R1000)
4. Rob Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Scott Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000)
6. Chris Siglin (Yam YZF-R1)

Strictly Sport 750cc Superbike:
1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R750)
2. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750)
3. Garry Combs (Suz GSX-R750)
4. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 999)
5. Kim Nakashima (Suz GSX-R750)
6. Robert Campbell (Kaw 636 ZX-6R)

Pacific Track Time/Werkstatt 600cc Superbike:
1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR)
2. Chris Siglin (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Andy Carman
4. Grant Riggs
5. Garth Dillon
6. Tommie Fields

G-Force Performance 450cc Superbike:
1. Tim Wheeler (Kaw 400)
2. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400)
3. Paul Yoshimune (Hon 400)
4. Ross Wells (Yam 400)
5. Craig Sanders (Kaw 400)
6. Erick Crabtree (Hon 400)

250cc Superbike:
1. Jove Shapiro (Yam 250)
2. Cliff Farrar (Yam 250)
3. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250)
4. Tom Dorsey (Yam 250)
5. James Massie (Yam 250)
6. Yuichiro “Tommy” Okuhira (Yam 250)

Lindemann Engineering Open Production:
1. Chris Siglin (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Matthew Harvey (Suz GSX-R1000)
3. Peter Doyle (Suz GSX-R1000)
4. Joey Hrenko (Yam YZF-R1)
5. Joseph Marlin (Yam YZF-R1)
6. Greg Davis (Yam YZF-R1)

City Cycles 750cc Production:
1. Kim Nakashima (Suz GSX-R750)
2. Robert Campbell (Kaw 636 ZX-6R)
3. Bryan Edginton (Suz GSX-R750)
4. Don Rudolfs (Suz GSX-R750)
5. Craig Wierman (Suz GSX-R750)
6. Gary Jaehne (Kaw 636 ZX-6R)

Keigwins@theTrack 600cc Production:
1. Grant Riggs
2. Thomas Montano (Hon CBR600RR)
3. Berto Wooldridge
4. Brian Bartlow (Suz GSX-R600)
5. Douglas Venezia
6. Danny Yamasaki

450cc Production:
1. Ross Wells (Yam 400)
2. Ed Yoast (Yam 400)
3. Dave Norgard (Yam 400)
4. Eddie Lee (Yam 400)
5. Joe Rust (Yam 400)
6. Peter Licht (Yam 400)

Aftershocks Suspension 250cc Production:
1. Yoav Damti (Kaw 250)
2. Jay Kinberger (Kaw 250)
3. Vlastimil Kotyza (Kaw 250)
4. David Crone (Hon 250)
5. Rick Cramer (Kaw 250)
6. Asaf Chibi (Kaw 250)

Scuderia West Formula 1:
1. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750)
2. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 999)
3. Garry Combs (Suz GSX-R750)
4. Garth Dillon (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Paul Reynen (Suz GSX-R750)
6. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz GSX-R750)

Formula 2:
1. Ed Marchini (Yam TZ250)
2. William Morton (Hon RS250)
3. Phil Torres (Yam TZ250)
4. Richard Denman (Hon RS250)
5. Jeffry Hanford (Hon RS125)
6. Richard Snowden (Hon RS250)

Pinky’s Pizza Formula 3:
1. Carlos Neves (Hon RS125)
2. Jeffry Hanford (Hon RS125)
3. Tyler Reiswig (Hon RS125)
4. Michael Jarrard (Hon RS125)
5. Dave Heinricks (Hon RS125)
6. Michael Souza (Hon RS125)

Zoom Zoom Track Days Formula 4:
1. Felipe Cabezas (Suz SV650)
2. Tim Wheeler (Kaw 400)
3. Brian Long (Suz SV650)
4. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 450)
5. Jove Shapiro (Yam 250)
6. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650)

Open Grand Prix:
1. Mark Foster (Suz GSX-R1000)
2. Garry Combs (Suz GSX-R1000)
3. Kim Nakashima (Suz GSX-R1000)
4. Robert Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Scott Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000)
6. Neil Erickson (Hon CBR929RR)

Max Moto / Desmoto Sport Open Twins:
1. Ken Hill (Hon 1000)
2. Brian Long (Suz 1000)
3. Kurt Spencer (Suz 1000)
4. Jeremiah Grant (Suz 1000)
5. Matthew Kurze (Hon 1000)
6. Scott Schwanbeck (Hon 1000)

650cc Twins:
1. Felipe Cabezas (Suz SV650)
2. Brian Long (Suz SV650)
3. Jason Butler (Suz SV650)
4. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650)
5. Michael Metcalf (Suz SV650)
6. Ray Soto (Suz SV650)

500cc Twins:
1. Bobby Lee Broussard
2. Patrick Alzinger
3. Joe Sickle
4. Jonathan Forman
5. Kevin Smith
6. Robert Clifford

Formula Singles:
1. Richard Capps (Yam 600)
2. Gerry Piazza (Yam 720)
3. Scott Anderson (Yam 400)
4. Jeff Schnapp (Yam 727)
5. David Jevans (Yam 600)
6. Ben Welch (Yam 426)

Formula 40:
1. Robert Campbell (Kaw 636 ZX-6R)
2. Richard Denman (Hon RS250)
3. Mike Thompson (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Mark Nelson (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. Gary Jaehne (Kaw 636 ZX-6R)
6. Mike Owiecki (Yam YZF-R1)

Super Dinosaur:
1. Dale Walker (Suz GSX-R1100)
2. Paul Rick Williams (Suz 750)
3. Terry Cheney (Suz 750)
4. Peter Blum (Yam 400)
5. Ross Schlicting (Suz 1100)
6. Paul Kieffer (Hon 600)

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The first signs of “silly season” have arrived in America with reports of Yamaha/Graves Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo leaving the AMA series in 2005 to go ride World Superbike or World Supersport, but those reports are more rumor than truth, according to the young New Yorker.

“I saw that, too, in a couple of places. I’m pretty happy where I’m at right now, to set the record straight,” DiSalvo told Roadracingworld.com Monday. “It’s not like I’m looking to find a new home or anything. The guys over at the Yamaha camp treat me good. That’s where I would like to be next year. My perfect scenario would be to ride Superbike for Yamaha here next year, but what the factory decides to do will determine that.”

DiSalvo said he did not know if Yamaha plans to field a Superbike in the 2005 AMA series.

DiSalvo thinks the rumors of him going to Europe got started when he was seen talking to people from several of the World Championship teams during the AMA/World Superbike event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

“We were speaking to a lot of the teams because we knew a lot of the people there from our time over in Europe. It was kind of all friendly discussions. Like I said, nothing concrete, nothing set in stone,” said DiSalvo.

“Everybody knows I want to be in MotoGP, but I think I want to take the Nicky Hayden route to get there, just try to stay over here in America and win as many Championships as it will take” to get a full-factory MotoGP ride, said DiSalvo.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

In a Cribs feature in the September 2004 issue of Roadracing World, AMA Superbike Championship contender Jake Zemke talked about how he got on the AMA 750cc Supersport podium riding a bike his parents bought, during a season (1998) he financed through credit cards and a line of credit at his local motorcycle shop. Now, said Zemke, that just wouldn’t be possible, and he gave his suggestions for revising the AMA road racing class structure to benefit factory riders and privateers alike.

“There needs to be some place for young kids and privateers to showcase their talent, get some exposure to get some sponsors or get a support ride or whatever it takes,” said Zemke. “Right now the classes are so stacked it’s hard to find a class to do that in. Right now, it looks like Formula Xtreme would be your best bet, but at the same time, to build a competitive FX bike you’re talking a lot of money. That’s not an easy way to go about it. For the average kid and his parents trying to get out there and do something it’s just not feasible.

“Plus, I don’t know if there’s the need for the redundancy of classes we have in the AMA right now. We’ve got too many classes that are too much the same: Supersport and Formula Xtreme, and Superstock and Superbike.

“The way I see it, they need three classes. They need a 600cc Supersport class, a 1000cc Superbike class and then they need to have some sort of privateer class where guys can come up and showcase their talent.

“By doing that you could slim the grids down so there’s not as much problem with backmarkers coming into play at the end of the races. You could cut the grid size down to where it’s actually an accomplishment to make the grid, like it is to make an AMA motocross or Supercross main event. If you can make the gate at a Supercross for the main event, it’s an accomplishment to make it. Same in dirt track, there’s 18 in the main event. It’s an accomplishment to make it. It’s just too easy out there in AMA road racing. It’s too easy to be in the field.

“At the same time, those privateer guys need to be out there, because they need to have a place where they can hone their skills at that level to race in the Superbike class.

“If you limit the amount of privateers who can get in on that side, say you limit it to 24, like they do in MotoGP, and you took all the factory and the factory-support guys who are racing in Superstock and Superbike right now and blended them into one class, you’ve got a deep field, you’ve got a strong field!

“Then, you could take the (purse) money you pay from (24th) down and put it into that privateer class so these guys can go make the same money they are making now, but they have a place they can showcase their talent. They have a place where instead of getting 12th or 15th place in a Superbike National, now they’re winning this other race, and now they’re gonna learn tracks, get exposure, get help, work their way up and maybe get on a support team.

“I also think they need to make it harder to get the licenses, too. You can start with a license, like a Pro Sport license, then you could earn a 600cc Supersport license. Then you could earn your Superbike license.”

From press releases issued by series promoters FGSport Group:

The 24 Stunden von Oschersleben round of the World Endurance Championship takes place over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of August, with qualifying starting on Thursday the 12th of August. The 24 hour race is one of the key races in the World Endurance Championship calendar, and is the ultimate test for the riders, for the teams, and for the bikes they race. Just finishing a twenty four hour race is an achievement.

Toughest and Most Important?
The race is considered such a testing and arduous part of the series that the championship points normally awarded to the top fifteen finishers are doubled; the winners gets fifty points, second place forty points, and so on. With just 14 points currently separating the top two teams in the championship – and with the next two teams split by only four points – the toughest race of the year could also be the most important.

24 Hour Party People
The Oschersleben 24 Hour World Endurance race is the centre piece of the German circuit’s “Speedweek” celebration. Race fans travel from all over Europe to spend a long weekend eating, drinking and enjoying the festivities. The race begins with the traditional “endurance start” sprint across the track, and continues through the night. Some spectators will follow the whole race, moving from corner to corner or spending all night in the grandstand opposite pit lane watching the drama unfold as teams struggle to stay in contention.

There’s More…
The action continues in and around the paddock and campsites, with test rides, trade stalls, music and the now famous “Bikini Bikewash”. There is also a packed support card which includes the European Supermono Championship, German national series, one-make championships, sidecar competitions, Super Moto events and even an “Old Timers” race for classic and historic bikes.

Yamaha GMT94 team manager Christophe Guyot spells out the importance of the Oschersleben race to his team: “The 24 Hours of Oschersleben are of utmost importance for the world title. We have been leading the championship since our Chinese victory at the beginning of May. We are 14 points ahead now, which is not much compared to the possible score in Germany. We are really delighted – we have managed to stay in the lead for three months now! But in Germany there is even more at stake: we can win the title outright, or “neutralise” the situation to so that it all comes down to Italy!.

“We’ve had three pole positions from four starts (1999 – 2001 – 2002) and two wins (2000-2003); we really like the circuit and the organisation is always great. It has become a prestigious event through the years with more and more people coming in. Winning in Germany is THE goal for many other teams, so we’ll have to deal with our rivals’ strong motivation in order to get a third German victory. But the quest for the title remains, of course, our major objective. We are looking forward to a high level of competition as well as breaking our 2003 record of 891 laps completed.”

Yamaha Austria continue to vary their rider line-up; for Oschersleben endurance stalwart Mike Edwards will join the Austrian squad as reserve rider. “I’ve not ridden for the team before although I’ve raced against them many times, also I’m quite interested to find out what the bike’s like.” Mike will also be battling to hold onto his lead in the European Supermono championship while at Oschersleben.

Finally, the Oschersleben weather. Forecasts at the time of writing predict thunderstorms for Thursday and light rain for Friday, with temperatures in the high twenties. It wouldn’t be Oschersleben if the rain didn’t play at least some part in the racing…