From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

AMA PRO RACING ON TV THIS WEEK

(All times Eastern)


AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship, Steel City Raceway, Delmont, Pennsylvania – Friday, Sept. 17, 3-5 p.m. – ESPN2

AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series – Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia – Thursday, Sept. 16, 3 a.m. – SPEED Channel

AMA Progressive Insurance Flat Track Championship, Black Hills Speedway, Rapid City, South Dakota – Friday, Sept. 17, 3 a.m. – SPEED Channel

AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia – Superbike Race 1, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2-3 p.m. – SPEED Channel

AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia – Superbike Race 2, Sunday, Sept. 19, 3-4 p.m. – SPEED Channel

AMA Chevrolet Motocross Championship, Glen Helen Raceway Park, San Bernardino, California – Sunday, Sept. 19, 11 p.m.-1 a.m. (Sept. 20), –
ESPN2

AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia – Superbike Race 1, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 12-1 p.m. – SPEED Channel

AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia – Superbike Race 2, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2-3 p.m. – SPEED Channel

All times subject to change. Check local listings

From a press release issued by CCS:

CCS at VIR to Pay Double Points

Due to the cancellation of the Championship Cup Series event presented by Lockhart Phillips USA originally scheduled at Summit Point Raceway’s Shenandoah Circuit October 8-10… The next CCS round of racing at Virginia Int’l Raceway scheduled for September 25-26 will award double points for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. The event however will only pay single points for the Southeast Regional Championships. The event will remain a two-day event, and the weekend schedule will remain as posted.

Due to this turn of events however, CCS will re-open pre-registrations for the VIR event. Pre-Entries will now be accepted for the September 25-26 VIR event until 5:00 pm (Central Time) September 20th. Pre-Entry forms and On-Line Registration are all available on the “Forms” page of www.FormulaUSA.com.

Visit FormulaUSA.com and CCSracing.com for more details about racing and track days near you.

From a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

MOTEGI – HOME RACE FOR SUZUKI

Suzuki’s mighty GSV-R MotoGP prototype goes home this weekend – for the fastest-ever racing Suzuki’s only race this year on Japanese soil.

The two factory machines, ridden by 2000 World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr. and team-mate John Hopkins, will be wearing their blue-and-white factory colours with pride, after a season in which steadily growing strength culminated in a best-of-year performance at the last round, the Portuguese GP.

The Suzukis had again qualified strongly in the top ten, and though Roberts dropped back with a minor but costly mechanical ailment, Hopkins claimed a personal career-best sixth place – only six tenths of a seconds from wresting fifth from rival Carlos Checa.

Now the team is bringing the bikes home, to race under the direct supervision of senior Suzuki factory racing and management personnel. Riders and crew have a strong resolve to reward their presence with another demonstration of the traditional racing marque’s growing strength in the MotoGP class.

Suzuki has a good record at Motegi, with Roberts claiming victory in 1999 and 2000. Hopes are high for a return to success in 2004.

“It’s a favourite track for both riders, and it’s also a track where we expect the Bridgestone tyres to perform very well,” said team manager Garry Taylor.

“Ever since Kenny’s pole position at Rio five races ago, our qualifying and race results have been getting consistently better,” he continued.

“John’s motivation is sky high at the moment, as he showed with a really impressive ride at Estoril, and a richly deserved career best finish. And I know that Kenny’s determination will be renewed after his disappointment in Portugal.

“We’re all looking forward to the race,” said Taylor.

The Motegi Twin-Ring circuit is an imposing and rather austere venue. Overlooked by the unused control tower for the banked oval track, the MotoGP bikes use a different circuit and a different pit complex, on the other side of the pit straight. The bikes run mainly out of sight and out of earshot, the track passing out beyond the banking through an underpass, then returning through a similar tunnel for the final corners.

From 2000 until last year, the race at Motegi was known as the Pacific GP, and was the second race of the year in Japan. This year, Suzuka was dropped from the calendar awaiting safety modifications, and Motegi resumed its inaugural 1999 title of Japanese GP.

The 12th of 16 rounds, the first of the end-of-season flyaways is separated from the following back-to-back trio in Qatar, Malaysia and Australia by a weekend’s break.

KENNY ROBERTS – SEE WHAT MOTEGI BRINGS:

“We’ve been working this season to get the bike the best possible track by track, and problems apart, we’ve made the most of what we have. Especially we’ve improved corner speed, though the nature of Motegi – U-bends and short straights – means that’s not so valuable there. But I’ve had good results at the track before with Suzuki – like beating Mick Doohan in the rain in 1999, my second GP win, and beating Rossi the next year. We’ll work to get the bike to its best, and see what the conditions bring.”

JOHN HOPKINS – AIM FOR THE TOP:

“I like Motegi – it’s kind of all action, hard braking, and I’ve always had fun there. Not so much last year, with my first turn crash and some bad consequences, but that’s past now. This season has really been coming together over the last races. We have the bike working real good and the Bridgestone tyres keep getting better. I just missed out on the top five at Estoril. That’s my aim for this race too.”

ABOUT THIS RACE:

After a false start in the Sixties, with races run for smaller classes only, at Suzuka and Fuji, the Japanese GP proper started at Suzuka in 1987, and has bee n on th e calendar ever since – this is the 18th running. Apart from an inaugural visit to Motegi in 1999, it has until now taken place at Suzuka. Last year’s fatal injury to Daijiro Kato saw that circuit struck off the calendar, and this year’s national race returns to Motegi, where since 2000 a second Japanese race has run under the title of Pacific GP. North-east of Tokyo in a scenic hilly area, Motegi is a spectacular all-in-one motoring and racing area, incorporating both racing and road driver education, kart tracks and a major mainly motorcycling museum.


ABOUT THIS TRACK:

The Twin Ring is actually two circuits – the US-style banked oval, with its own pits, grandstands and infrastructure, and the 2.98-mile road-racing track, with pits and paddock within the oval, and the track looping out under the banking through one underpass, returning through another for the final chicane back onto the short pit straight. Precise computer-designed corners loop the track back and forth within the oval, with more of the same outside – slow corners linked by short power-burst straights. It seems a sterile design, but there is enough rise and fall in the terrain to inject interest. “It’s a surprisingly fun track,” said double winner Kenny Roberts Jr.


GP DATA:

Twin-Ring Motegi
Circuit Length: 2.983 miles / 4.801 km
Lap Record: 1:48.885 – 98.631 mph / 158.732 km/h. V Rossi (Honda), 2004
2003 Race Winner: M Biaggi (Honda)
2003 Race Average: 43:57.590 – 97.721 mph / 157.267 km/h.
2003 Fastest Race Lap: see lap record
2003 Pole Position: Biaggi 1:47.696
2003 KENNY ROBERTS: 15th, qualified 19th (Suzuki)
2003 JOHN HOPKINS: DNF, qualified 16th (Suzuki)

From a press release issued by CCS/Formula USA:

CCS at Shenandoah Cancelled October 9-10

Update (Sept 15, 2004)

The Mid-Atlantic regional Championship Cup Series event presented by Lockhart Phillips USA originally scheduled at Summit Point Raceway’s Shenandoah Circuit October 9-10, which includes a Lockhart Phillips Sport Rider Day on Octover 8, has been cancelled due to more construction delays with the new facility.

After a track inspection on Monday by Kevin Elliott – Senior Director of Road Race Competition for, the new circuit at Summit Point (with it’s SCCA mandated barrier placements), concluded that a few areas of the facility are not adequate for motorcycle racing at this time. In further conversations with Bill Scott, he has agreed to make improvements to insure the safety of motorcycle riders, but those improvements cannot be done before the October CCS date.

All CCS motorcycle events at Summit Point Raceway had been moved by Bill Scott Racing from the original 2.1 mile Summit Point Circuit to the Shenandoah Circuit in 2004 including the events scheduled for October 8-10.

Bill Scott Racing and Summit Point Raceway management expected that Championship Cup Series would have been the first group to race at the new facility when CCS motorcycle racing returned after the original construction delays at the Shenandoah Circuit on October 9-10.

Bill Scott of Summit Point Raceway commented that “We really enjoy having the CCS events here, and we are dissappointed this has happened, we will do everything we can to make sure that the future events are a success for all of us.”

Visit FormulaUSA.com and CCSracing.com for more details about racing and track days near you.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Think AMA Pro Racing would never end a season prematurely by canceling the final race of a Championship? Think again, because it’s been done before–last year, in fact.

The 2003 AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship ended prematurely with the cancellation of the final round at Kenworthy’s Motocross Park in Troy, Ohio due to rain and flooding.

The race at Kenworthy’s was originally scheduled to take place in the middle of the season, July 12-13, but rain and flooding forced that event to be postponed until September 12-13. More rain and flooding plus other commitments for the AMA motocross riders and teams, however, led AMA Pro Racing to cancel the event and end the season one round short.

Grant Langston was awarded the 125cc AMA Championship even though he would have had to defend a seven-point lead over Ryan Hughes at the final round.

If the 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike series were to end without the race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Mat Mladin would win his fifth AMA Superbike Championship by 42 points over Jake Zemke, Tommy Hayden would take the AMA Supersport Championship by 11 points over teammate and brother Roger Lee Hayden and Aaron Gobert would gain the AMA Superstock Championship by five points over teammate Jamie Hacking and Tommy Hayden. Miguel Duhamel has already clinched the AMA Formula Xtreme title.

The last AMA Superbike series event AMA Pro Racing cancelled was the September 14-16, 2001 event at Willow Springs International Raceway, the penultimate round of that season, following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the resultant grounding of all civilian aircraft.

From a media advisory issued by Willow Springs International Raceway:

MOTORCYCLE ROADRACERS GATHER FOR TOYOTA 200
QUALIFICATIONS/WARM-UPS THIS WEEKEND AT WILLOW SPRINGS

Who: Top motorcycle racers from throughout the west

What: Qualifying for 3rd Annual Toyota 200
9th Round of Toyota Cup Formula One Motorcycle Series

When: Friday, Sept 17 – Toyota 200 Qualifying & Practice 8am
Saturday, Sept 18 – Practice & New Racers from 8am
Sunday, Sept 19 – RACE DAY from 8am
Toyota Cup Formula One Race approximately 2pm.

Where: Willow Springs International Raceway
3500 75th Street West
Rosamond, CA
Antelope Valley Freeway (SR14) to Rosamond Blvd. Exit
West approx. 6 miles to track.

Why: In a prelude to October’s big Toyota 200 race, you’ll
find many top riders on hand this month to secure their
slot in the starting grid of roadracing’s richest
weekend. Anyone who starts the race is guaranteed at
least a $1,000 payday and to the one rider who travels
200 miles the fastest and smartest, that paycheck will
total $50,000!

Last month’s Toyota Cup action saw Jeremy Toye lose
his points lead after mechanical problems cut his race
day short. 2003 Toyota 200 winner, Josh Hayes got the win,
while 2nd place finisher, Robbie Dowie, assumed the overall
lead by the narrowest of margins . a single point.

Expect an adrenalin driven weekend of excitement only
at Willow Springs!

Prices: $10/person includes pit pass, parking and camping for all
three days. Children 8 and under are free with paid adult.

From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

FINAL FIVE RACES WILL DECIDE PREMIER TITLE DESTINY

This MotoGP season always looked like it would be the tightest of contests. The three main protagonists believe the fight will not be resolved until the very last of this 16-round season at Valencia in Spain. But there will be plenty of action to come before that.

Motegi marks the start of the five-race title run-in with a series of ‘flyaway’ races where the predominantly European-based teams embark on a month-long stay in the middle and far-east in late September and October with four races in five weeks. Then the last round at Valencia – back in Europe.

Apart from the logistical nightmare of transporting the hundreds of tons and machines, spares and tools, the teams and riders hardly have a let-up between races – and whichever rider gains early momentum in these vital races, is likely to gain an advantage in morale as tiredness and jet-lag take their toll.

The current MotoGP series leader is Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who heads Sete Gibernau (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) by 29 points. Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) lies 22 behind Gibernau. One of these three will win the title. Colin Edwards (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) on 111 points is the only man to have scored points at all races so far – and despite a mathematical chance of overall honours, he cannot properly be considered a title contender.

Naturally, the man on top starts the run-in at an advantage, but Motegi, north west of Tokyo, is a track that will suit the Honda RC211Vs of Gibernau and Biaggi. The 4.801km Twin Ring Motegi track built in 1998 is made largely of constant-radius second and third gear turns – precisely where the RC211V excels with its smooth drive and seamless power.

With eight right-hand corners and six left, Motegi has an exceptionally smooth surface and there is no camber. Set-up requires a bike stable both under fierce acceleration and equally severe braking. Front/rear balance and suspension settings are key.

But the track also features gradient and a spectacular tunnel. The back straight is downhill into a tight right-hand bend. And although the main straight is only 0.762km long, the tunnel between turn five and the 130R turn more than makes up for a long main chute in terms of spectacle – and rarity value. No other MotoGP track boasts a subway section.

There are still 125 points to be won in the remaining races. And although Biaggi fell on the first lap of the Portuguese Grand Prix two weeks ago, the Italian could not be further from abandoning his World Championship aspirations.

“Racing at Motegi is something that will help me get over what happened in Portugal,” said Max. “Not only because I like the track, but also because I like being in Japan, I have a lot of friends there and an exceptional fan club. As regards the GP itself, I aim to do a good race like I did last year. I have worked very hard with the team on the bike, none of us have rested for a second.”

His team-mate Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V) riding on Bridgestone tyres said, “I can’t wait to ride in Japan. I love Suzuka and this year there was no race, but at last the Motegi race has come around. I left straight from the Portuguese GP to spend a bit of time at home but now I’m eager to get out onto the track. The bike is going well and the tyres have improved considerably. My aim is to get a fantastic result in Japan.” He was cruelly disqualified from last year’s event after tangling with Gibernau.

Sete said, “I am staying focused on myself and am thinking about each race as an independent one. I cannot think about what track I like or which one is better for my RC211V because each race will be determined from the speed with which we are able to get the bike set up correctly. It will be important to know how to cope with the pressure and Valentino is very good at this. Until now he has been world champion, I have never before found myself in this situation, and with each day I learn to be a better rider and with me my team betters itself also.”

His team-mate Colin Edwards is fond of Motegi, “The atmosphere is good, and this year it will be the only MotoGP race in Japan so I think it will be a huge event. My favourite part of the track is the tunnel exit, you come our of it and you meet a series of 4 corners: right, left, right, left… It’s fun! And it’s a nice atmosphere here too. Some people don’t like to race in Japan, but I’ve raced at Suzuka many times and I love coming to Japan.”

Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) comes here after a podium finish in Portugal. “I like the track and I have very happy memories of the first time I rode a Honda RC211V there back in 2002 and won the race,” he said. “We arrive in Japan in good spirits after the race in Portugal. It was a very important race for me, and the end to a good weekend. There are now five races left and I approach every one the same as I have done all season. I want to do the best I can in every race. I’ve ridden for Honda for many years and I’ve won for them in 8-hour races and in Grands Prix and I know how important it is to win a home race for a manufacturer.”

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) returns to racing after missing Portugal with a broken collarbone. “I’m really looking forward to getting back into action this weekend,” he said. “Portugal was so painful really. Not because of my collarbone, which now feels pretty good, but because it was so hard to see the guys out there, and me not being able to mix it. I like Motegi – the tunnels are cool – and want to look at the race as being the first race of the next part of the season. There have been some good parts to this year but it hasn’t gone totally to plan. I so want to finish the year on a high and I’ll be doing everything I can to make that happen.”

In the 250cc title fight Dani Pedrosa (Telefonica MoviStar Junior Team RS250RW) leads with 209 points from Randy de Puniet on 182 and Sebastian Porto (Aprilia) with 173. Consistency is the key this year.

Pedrosa has finished every race but one, with four wins among those finishes. De Puniet has finished every race with one win, and four valuable second places. Porto has failed to finish twice. This title run-in could easily prove to be as tight and exhilarating as the premier class finale.

Dani said, “Motegi is one of my favourite circuits and the one I am most looking forward to out of all the remaining rounds this season. I like it because the track surface is perfect, there are no bumps, and it’s is a circuit with plenty of hard braking and acceleration. And I think Hiro on his home turf will be able to help me to get my references at the start.”

Hiroshi Aoyama (Telefonica MoviStar Junior Team said, “Ever since I left home to start the season I’ve been looking forward to the Grand Prix of Japan. I will have all my family and friends there, it is a Honda circuit, where I have spent a lot of my career racing, and it won’t be a case of learning the circuit as it is at every other Grand Prix. It is also the most important race of the year for me.”

Tony Elias (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) currently lies fourth overall and is now back to form after winning in Portugal. “Motegi is one of my favourite race tracks – it suits my style – lots of tight corners where you brake hard going in and then get on the gas quickly coming out. Now I’m feeling more comfortable with the new chassis I know it will help me at Motegi. I can’t wait for the race. I have a good feeling about it and I have had success at Motegi before.” He won here last year.

Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) needs a strong result here. “Motegi is a strange place, the track has two parts. I really like the fast uphill corner and the chicane but many parts are not as technical and it’s a little difficult to pass in places. I had a good race here last year and if we get a reasonable set up I will make up for my bad day at Estoril.” Robby was tenth at Estoril and second to Elias here last year.

In the 125cc category Andrea Dovizioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R) is the points leader, as he has been all season. He is the only Honda rider in the top ten of the World Championship standings. Julian Simon (Angaia Racing Honda RS125R) and Simone Corsi (Team Scot Honda RS125R) are 13th and 14th.

Dovizioso was cruelly robbed of a result in Portugal by a puncture from a screw on the track. “What happened to me at Estoril cannot be changed,” he said. “So I have to get the most out of Motegi. I’m very confident going to Japan it will be a good race for me. Our bike is very good now and particularly at a stop-go track like Motegi it has really good acceleration. That will be important on Sunday.”

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

While rain during this weekend’s AMA Superbike event at Virginia International Raceway, in Danville, Virginia, looks to be a certainty, according to weather forecasts for the area, remnants of Hurricane Ivan could cause serious problems for the event.

“Oh, yeah. I think we can count on some rain,” VIR spokesman John Gardner told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday. “According to the weather people, by the time it gets here it will be down to tropical depression size, so there won’t be that much wind. The question is going to be how much rain we get and how big the storm is and how much it will deteriorate once it gets over land.”

According to meteorologist Jeff Haniewich, in the Tuesday, September 14, online edition of the Danville Register Bee daily newspaper, “The current track from the National Hurriance Center has (Hurricane Ivan) making landfall Thursday morning near the Mobile (Alabama) or Biloxi (Mississippi) area and then coming towards southwest Virginia by Saturday. If this track comes true, then we should see lots of heavy rain, but there are still computer models that have the remnants pushing a little further west and that would take the torrential downpours towards Kentucky and Tennessee.”

Traditionally, hurricanes gradually lose their strength, dropping to “Tropical Storm,” “Tropical Depression” and finally thunderstorm strengths, according to measured wind speeds, after making landfall. These storms are still dangerous, however, producing extraordinary amounts of rain, which can cause flooding, the most dangerous part of a hurricane.

Tropical Storm Allison made landfall near Houston, Texas in 2001, skirted the Gulf Coast and traveled up the Eastern Seaboard, causing heavy flooding which killed 41 people over the 12-day life of the storm after it made landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.

VIR is located within a few hundred yards of the Dan River, which, according to the National Weather Service’s Significant River Flood Outlook, is currently categorized in “occurring/imminent” flood status.

“We’re watching it close. Every weather report we get seems to be a little bit better. It has it arriving a little bit later and further west. But even so, you know how these things work,” said Gardner.

Asked if the track had any contingency plans, Gardner said, “I’m not sure. We have another race scheduled two weeks after that, a big race (VIR 400 Grand Am auto race), and I imagine the track is booked the weekend in between (CCS Regional event). I really don’t know. That’s between the track and the AMA. I haven’t been privy to any such conversations.”

Phone calls to VIR General Manager Cal Frye and AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick had not been returned at post time.

Of all of the racetracks on the AMA Superbike series, VIR is one of the most compatible with racing motorcycles in the rain. Heavy rain, however, could cause standing water in the corners too deep to ride through or visibility problems for riders and safety workers.