From a press release issued by series organizers:

SHUBENACADIE, NS Kevin Lacombe scored his first Parts Canada Superbike Championship win of the season at Atlantic Motorsport Park on Sunday.

The Granby, QC racer started from pole on the Lacombe Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 and grabbed the lead when Steve Crevier ran into difficulties with his rear shock just past the halfway point of the race. From there Lacombe raced untroubled to his second career Parts Canada Superbike victory.

Brantford, ON’s Jordan Szoke placed second on the Honda Canada / Fast Company Honda CBR1000RR, just ahead of Jeff Williams of Harrowsmith, ON on the DXS Diablo Racing Team Suzuki GSX-R1000.

“It was a perfect weekend, I’m pretty happy,” Lacombe said. “Everything was just awesome this weekend. Everybody did a great job. Hopefully, we’ll get it right for the next two rounds and get second in the championship.”

Lacombe’s win moved him from fifth up to second in the Parts Canada Superbike point standings with 216 points, four more than Szoke at 212.

Runaway series leader Pascal Picotte endured a rough outing on his Team Yamaha / Picotte Performance Yamaha YZF-R1. After initially taking the lead the defending AMP winner and series champion suffered damage to his gear shift lever and struggled to a sixth place finish.

Picotte had been trying to earn his record tying fifth straight Parts Canada Superbike race win.

The Granby, QC rider retained a strong lead in the standings, however. He now has 287 points, 61 more than Lacombe with only two rounds remaining in the season. A rider can earn a maximum of 56 points at a Parts Canada Superbike round.

Crevier finished 22nd at AMP on his DXS Diablo Racing Team Suzuki GSX-R1000 and failed to add to his point total. He slipped to fifth in the standings with 168, one less than Calgary’s Clint McBain in fourth. McBain suffered a loose steering damper on the Coors Light Racing / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000.

In other action at AMP, Picotte extended his lead in the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike standings with his fourth win of the season. Picotte took his Yamaha YZF-R6 past Crevier’s Suzuki GSX-R600 in the run to the flag. McBain was third on a Suzuki GSX-R600.

Mississauga, ON’s Rudy Raposo also added to his lead in the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike standings with his first victory of the season. The Yamaha rider came back from a morning warm-up crash. Sean Heydorn of Aurora, ON placed second on a Honda CBR600RR and Val D’Or, QC’s Erick Beausejour was third riding another Honda CBR600RR.

The Parts Canada Superbike Championship resumes at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant Aug. 20-22.

This weekend’s event will be televised on TSN on Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. EDT and on Quebec’s RDS on Oct. 9 at 11:30 a.m EDT. The action will also appear in one-hour format this fall on TORONTO1 and A-Channel stations in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

Results of Sunday’s sixth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS, showing finishing position, rider name, hometown and type of motorcycle:

1.Kevin Lacombe, Granby, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1; 2. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON, Honda CBR1000RR; 3. Jeff Williams, Harrowsmith, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 4. Francis Martin, Rock Forest, QC, Kawasaki ZX-10R; 5. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1; 6. Pascal Picotte, Granby, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1; 7. Matthew McBride, Mississauga, ON, Kawasaki ZX-10R; 8. Craig Connell, Tingalpa, Australia, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 9. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON, Honda CBR1000RR; 10. Hugo Brisson, St-Sauveur, QC, Kawasaki ZX-10R; 11. Stuart Nodell, Ajax, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R; 12. Bill Card, Wellesley, ON, Honda CBR600RR; 13. Jeremy Burgess, Halifax, NS, Suzuki GSX-R600; 14. Dave Young, Woodstock, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 15. Yannick Morin, Repentigny, QC, Kawasaki ZX-10R; 16. Fred Silver, Greenwood, NS, Kawasaki ZX-6RR; 17. Sebastien Michel, St-Jerome, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000;18. Terry Steeves, Douglas, NS, Yamaha YZF-R6; 19. Andrew Murray, Bedford, NS, Kawasaki ZX-6RR; 20. Terry MacPhee, Upper Rawdon, NS, Honda CBR600RR; 21. John Russell, Rothesy, NB, Yamaha YZF-R6; 22. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 23. Clint McBain, Calgary, AB, Suzuki GSX-R1000

Parts Canada Superbike Championship point standings after six of eight rounds, showing position, rider name and point total:

1. Pascal Picotte, 287; 2. Kevin Lacombe, 216; 3. Jordan Szoke, 212; 4. Clint McBain, 169; 5. Steve Crevier, 168; 6. Craig Connell, 163; 7. Frank Trombino, 146; 8. Andrew Nelson, 142; 9. Jeff Williams, 139; 10. Francis Martin, 138; 11. Matthew McBride, 112; 12. Bill Card, 64; 13. Chris Peris, 56; 14. Stuart Nodell, 51; 15. Hugo Brisson, 40; 16. Matt Binns, 32; 16. Yannick Morin, 32; 18. Dave Young, 26; 19. Peter Holzinger, 25; 20. Jean-Francois Cyr, 21; 20. Brian Nielsen, 21; 22. Michael Leon, 18; 22. Chris Murray-Audain, 18; 24. Brent Strong, 15; 25. Darryn Wilbur, 14; 26. Tim Easton, 13; 26. Jeremy Burgess, 13; 28. Larry Orde, 12; 29. Fred Silver, 8; 30. Sebastien Michel, 7; 31. Corey Sherman, 6; 32. Mike Zottmann, 4; 32. Zenon Nelson, 4; 32. Terry Steeves, 4; 35. Andrew Murray, 2; 35. Elie Daccache, 2; 37. Bruce McDonald, 1; 37. Terry MacPhee, 1

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Ben Bostrom won the Super Moto X race (and gold medal) at the X Games Sunday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Bostrom, a full-time AMA Superbike road racer for American Honda who won the AMA Supermoto Championship in his spare time last year, passed reigning FIM Supermoto World Champion Eddy Seel in the final corners to capture the victory.

Seel took second, and multi-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath finished third.

Bostrom’s victory came on a course described by ESPN.com as 70 percent “Supercross-style dirt section” and 30 percent pavement.

Unofficial Results:

1. Ben Bostrom, 22 laps
2. Eddy Seel, -3.586 seconds
3. Jeremy McGrath, -11.119 seconds
4. Steve Drew, -13.729 seconds
5. Kevin Windham, -16.038 seconds
6. Chad Reed, -16.905 seconds
7. Juergen Kuenze, -28.942 seconds
8. Mike Metzger, -31.601 seconds
9. Micky Dymond, -60.468 seconds
10. Jeff Ward, -74.216 seconds
11. Kenny Bartram, -113.265 seconds
12. Steve Hengeveld, -129.606 seconds
13. Gary Trachy, -199.497 seconds
14. Doug Henry, -3 laps
15. Ben Carlson, DNF
16. Grant Langston, DNF
17. Travis Pastrana, DNF
18. Chris Fillmore, DNF
19. Thierry Van Den Bosch, DNF
20. Brian Deegan, DNF

LAP RECORD FOR LACOMBE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From a press release issued by series organizers:

SHUBENACADIE, NS Kevin Lacombe claimed pole position for this weekend’s sixth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park and set a new track record in qualifying Saturday.

Riding the Lacombe Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 the Granby, QC rider recorded a time of 1:08.247 around the 1.6-mile road course in the waning minutes of the session. The effort knocked Steve Crevier off the pole and beat the Maple Ridge, BC rider’s four-year-old lap record of 1:08.268.

Crevier settled for the second starting spot on the grid for Sunday’s race with a time of 1:08.439 on the DXS Diablo Racing Team Suzuki GSX-R1000. Calgary’s Clint McBain was third at 1:08.649 on his Coors Light Racing / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000 and series points leader Pascal Picotte will complete the front row for Sunday’s race after touring the track at 1:08.652 on his Team Yamaha / Picotte Performance Yamaha YZF-R1.

Lacombe is the first racer other than Picotte to claim the $500 MPM Array Pole Award this season.

“We didn’t have any practice on the Superbike because it was raining, so we kept the same set up from [the previous race at] Mosport,” commented Lacombe. “The last time out we just put a soft tire on the rear and I went for four big laps and ended up first with a new lap record and the pole. The team did a great job and we’re just going faster and faster every weekend.”

Picotte stretched his Parts Canada Superbike series lead to 90 points by qualifying fourth and receiving a series point. His closest rival Jordan Szoke will start seventh on Sunday aboard the Honda Canada / Fast Company Honda CBR1000RR. Lacombe, Crevier and McBain, meanwhile, all gained ground on Szoke in a tight battle for second in the standings. Only six points now separates those four riders.

In other action at AMP, Szoke came out on top of a wild final flurry to claim pole for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike feature on his Honda CBR600RR. The Brantford, ON racer posted a time of 1:13.142 with just seconds to go in the session. Crevier wound up second on a Suzuki GSX-R600 with a time of 1:13.298 and McBain was third with a 1:13.371 on his Suzuki GSX-R600.

Series leader Picotte dropped to fifth in the late stages of the session on his Yamaha YZF-R6.

Points leader Rudy Raposo of Mississauga, ON grabbed pole for the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike feature at AMP with a time of 1:14.189 on his Yamaha YZF-R6.

Feature races in all three national classes will go Sunday. The bikes will be on the track for practice at 9:00 a.m. with the first race, for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike Championship set to go off at 1:00 p.m. The Parts Canada Superbike round is slated for a 3:00 p.m. start.

This weekend’s event will be televised on TSN on Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. EDT and on Quebec’s RDS on Oct. 9 at 11:30 a.m EDT. The action will also appear in one-hour format this fall on TORONTO1 and A-Channel stations in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

For more series information, visit www.cdnsuperbike.com

Qualifying times from Saturday for the sixth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS, showing qualifying position, rider name, hometown, type of motorcycle and qualifying time:
1.Kevin Lacombe, Granby, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:08.247; 2. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:08.439; 3. Clint McBain, Calgary, AB, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:08.649; 4. Pascal Picotte, Granby, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:08.652; 5. Jeff Williams, Harrowsmith, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:08.857; 6. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:08.876; 7. Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:09.016; 8. Francis Martin, Rock Forest, QC, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:09.413; 9. Matthew McBride, Mississauga, ON, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:10.334; 10. Andrew Nelson, Kars, ON, Honda CBR1000RR, 1:10.423; 11. Fred Silver, Greenwood, NS, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:11.207; 12. Jeremy Burgess, Halifax, NS, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:11.534; 13. Craig Connell, Tingalpa, Australia, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:11.628; 14. Hugo Brisson, St-Sauveur, QC, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:11.739; 15. Stuart Nodell, Ajax, ON, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:11.986; 16. Yannick Morin, Repentigny, QC, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 1:12.470; 17. Bill Card, Wellesley, ON, Honda CBR600RR, 1:12.501; 18. Dave Young, Woodstock, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:12.675; 19. Andrew Murray, Bedford, NS, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, 1:12.993; 20. Zenon Nelson, Bowmanville, ON, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:13.300; 21. Terry Steeves, Douglas, NS, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:13.830; 22. Sebastien Michel, St-Jerome, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:13.892; 23. Terry MacPhee, Upper Rawdon, NS, Honda CBR600RR, 1:14.277; 24. John Russell, Rothesy, NB, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:14.328

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

John Barr, a 35-year-old policeman from San Diego, died Saturday afternoon after crashing during a track ride day at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Barr was involved in a single-bike accident between turns 8 and 9 on the short infield course at California Speedway, which is a low-speed section of track, and didn’t hit anything but apparently highsided and landed on his chest. Barr was riding in a session for Group 2, a mid-skill-level riding group for experienced riders.

“Fastrack offers its condolences to the family, and to his friends,” said Fastrack’s Larry Pointer, who was still visibly shaken Saturday evening. “This is the first fatality at a FastrackRiders event, since the beginning of Fastrack, over 10 years. I’m not sure what else to say, we’re still a little shell-shocked.”

Roadracingworld.com offers its condolences to John Barr’s family and friends, and wishes him Godspeed.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racer Jimm Groshong crashed in turn 9 on the out-lap of an AFM practice session at Infineon Raceway Saturday, sliding into a bare wall and sustaining fatal injuries. In a cruel twist of fate, Groshong, who was second in AFM Formula 40 points, was a close friend and racing buddy of Rich Thorwaldson, who sustained injuries that ultimately proved to be fatal in a crash at Infineon Raceway earlier this year. Thorwaldson hit a dirt embankment after running off the track to avoid a crashed competitor.

AFM uses the original 8a-9-10 turn layout of the Sonoma, California racetrack and does not use the chicane installed in that area to reduce speeds and improve run-off for AMA Pro Racing events. After the fatal incident, practice resumed on the same AFM course, bypassing the AMA chicane. Races scheduled for Sunday will also be run on the AFM course, although AFM officials are talking about switching to the AMA configuration for an AFM race in October.

According to a rider in the same Practice Group 5 session, Groshong was attempting to go around the outside of another rider and got out into the marbles on the outside of the corner. No Airfence sections, sections of other types of soft barriers or even haybales were in place where Groshong impacted the wall, according to the rider we spoke to.

At post time, calls to Infineon Raceway spokesman John Cardinale and to AFM President Joe Montoya seeking additional information and comment had not yet been returned.

Roadracingworld.com estimates that about 15,000 riders hold road racing licenses in the United States, and about another 30,000-50,000 people participate in track rides, with hundreds of races and track rides held each season. In a bad year, 3 or 4 riders die from injuries sustained in racetrack crashes.

This is already a bad year.

Roadracingworld.com offers its condolences to Jimm Groshong’s family and friends, and wishes him Godspeed.

From a press release issued by series organizers:

SZOKE RULES THE WET

SHUBENACADIE, NS Jordan Szoke made a late surge in the final session to set the quickest time in practice Friday for this weekend’s sixth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park.

After his Honda Canada / Fast Company team made a set-up change to his Honda CBR1000RR the Brantford, ON rider went out in the final two minutes of the session and recorded a time of 1:15.712 around the 1.6-mile circuit.

Szoke’s effort knocked local ace Fred Silver out of the top position. The Greenwood, NS rider settled for second on his Kawasaki ZX-6RR with a time of 1:15.978.

Frank Trombino of Kleinburg, ON was third fastest at 1:16.008 on the Brooklin Cycle Yamaha YZF-R1.

Rain plagued action throughout the day and the final Superbike practice was run on a wet track.

“I had this crazy idea to lower the triple clamps way down and I went back out and the bike felt 40 per cent better,” said Szoke of the changes made to his motorcycle. “I don’t mind riding in the rain. I would rather race in the dry but we haven’t had any dry set-up on the Superbike.”

Silver won last year’s Amateur 600 Sport Bike event at AMP and was thrilled with his effort on home turf on Friday.

“I’m like a kid in a candy store right now,” he said. “This is like a dream come true for a regional racer, to be out here with the top riders in Canada and to be able to run with them. It is the rain and it’s not their track, but this is still just too much fun to say.”

Calgary’s Clint McBain was fastest in the morning Superbike practice and his time of 1:16.549 on the Coors Light Racing / Blackfoot Suzuki GSX-R1000 stood up for fourth best overall.

Parts Canada Superbike Championship points leader Pascal Picotte did not post a time on Friday. The Team Yamaha / Picotte Performance Yamaha rider from Granby, QC comes to AMP with an 89-point lead over Szoke in the standings. There is a total of 56 points available from this weekend’s race.

In other action Friday, Trombino set the fastest time in practice for the Hindle Exhaust Pro 600 Sport Bike competitors, recording a 1:11.742 on his Brooklin Cycle Yamaha YZF-R6 on a drying track.

Rock Forest, QC’s Francis Martin was second at 1:13.551 riding the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki ZX-6RR and Silver placed third at 1:13.774 on another Kawasaki.

Nauwgewauk, NB racer Rick Langille paced International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike practice on his Yamaha YZF-R6, setting a lap time of 1:14.206. Dominic Lavoie of Levis, QC was second with a 1:14.343 on his Kawasaki ZX-6RR and Guelph, ON’s Tyler Kennedy was third quickest at 1:15.212 on his Honda CBR600RR.

Qualifying for all three national classes will take place Saturday afternoon with races on Sunday.

This weekend’s event will be televised on TSN on Oct. 2 at 3:30 p.m. EDT and on Quebec’s RDS on Oct. 9 at 11:30 a.m EDT. The action will also appear in one-hour format this fall on TORONTO1 and A-Channel stations in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

This just in, from a press release issued by FastrackRiders:

FastrackRiders apologizes for the short notice, but there has been a change of track courses. Fastrack will NOT be running on the AMA track at California Speedway August 7th and 8th, and instead will be running on the infield course. If you are signed up for either Saturday or Sunday, you are welcome to call us at 949-574-9883 to cancel or tell us that you will still be coming to the trackday or reschedule for another one of our events. The cost is less for the infield course and you will be refunded the difference. We will have two garages available to us, normally one comes with the infield course. Sorry for the inconvenience.

From a press release issued by the AMA:

AMA OPPOSES SHUTDOWN OF 4 MILLION ACRES TO OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLES

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has expressed its opposition to a federal court ruling this week that has the potential to shut down an additional 4.1 million acres of the California desert to all off-highway vehicles.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston issued a ruling that could end all off-highway motorcycling and ATV riding in areas of the desert that are designated critical habitat for the desert tortoise, which is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Illston’s ruling reverses an opinion by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that had allowed activities including cattle grazing and motorized recreation on some tortoise habitat controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management within the 25-million acre desert.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by opposing forces in the debate over access to the desert: AMA District 37 and the Center for Biological Diversity. The AMA district organization argued that the Bureau of Land Management should look into other factors leading to a decline in the tortoise population, most notably, diseases affecting the tortoises’ upper-respiratory systems and their shells. The district asked that the BLM be ordered to consider some 900 pages of research pointing to the diseases as primary causes of tortoise deaths when developing its plan for recovery of the species.

Meanwhile, the Center for Biological Diversity argued that restrictions on motorized recreation and cattle grazing imposed by the BLM did not provide sufficient protection for the tortoise.

In ruling against District 37 and in favor of the Center for Biological Diversity, Illston essentially decided that no matter how minor a role off-highway motorcyclists and grazing cattle play in the decline of the tortoise, the BLM is obligated under federal law to eliminate those activities throughout the tortoise’s critical habitat.

“This ruling completely ignores the fact that off-highway motorcycling and ATV riding have played little, if any, part in reducing the tortoise population,” noted Nick Haris, AMA Western States Representative. “Motorized recreation is already extremely restricted on most of the tortoise habitat land. In fact, motorized vehicles are either banned entirely or restricted to using existing routes and ways in nearly every part of the desert.”

“The amount of public land available for recreation has shrunk dramatically over the years, until today, the areas available for open riding amount to a mere 2 percent of the overall desert,” Haris added. “Closing an additional 4.1 million acres to all off-highway vehicles would be another giant step toward eliminating this legitimate form of recreation from the desert.”

AMA District 37 will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an effort to get Illston’s ruling reversed.

From a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki:

Yuki shows everyone else the way round Croft

RIZLA SUZUKI star Yukio Kagayama was head and shoulders ahead of the competition in (Thursday’s) official British Superbike test at the new for 2004 Croft venue in North Yorkshire.

Yuki, just back from finishing runner-up in the prestigious Suzuka 8-hour endurance race, wasted no time in applying his ability to learn tracks to break the outright lap record and take the fastest time of the day according to the team’s unofficial timing.

British Superbike Championship leader John Reynolds finished one-second behind Yuki but well ahead of most of his rivals as he familiarised himself with the circuit where he has tasted victory champagne in the past.

The 10th round of the British Superbike Championship continues at Croft on Sunday August 15th, with JR hoping to extend his 73-point lead in the Championship.

Yukio Kagayama:
“Not so bad day at office. This is a fast circuit with some tight turns and this suits me. This is first time I am racing against other riders where we all learn track from new for the first time and I am happy to be fastest today. What matters is next weekend and I want to be fastest to win both races. It has been too long for me not to win races, this feeling I do not like and will make better soon.”

John Reynolds:
“I broke myself in gently and by the end of the day was pretty happy with the direction we were going in. At the start we made a few adjustments to the forks that didn’t help and ended up going in the other direction towards the end of the day. I think we will be in good shape when we start practice for the round in just over a week.”

Dave Marton, team chief technician:
“Yuki showed everyone the way round Croft today, he was just pure awesome how fast he got to grips with the circuit and his bike. JR tested a few new parts and by the end of the day he was on the pace and finished just behind Yuki but at the front of the chasing pack according to our stopwatches.

“Our Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 is well suited to this fast, twisty and well surfaced track. Today’s test has encouraged us all, we have tested new parts and tyres and we will be working hard to try and use the data to our advantage next weekend.”