Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

WSMC racer Tyler Paulson (WSMC #6) is opening a motorsports bar and grill called Hells Kitchen Motorsports Bar, at 32685 Ortega Highway in Lake Elsinore, California. The phone number is (909) 609-3390.

Paulson has scheduled a grand opening for Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1 from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with live music on Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and features a big screen TV and pool tables.

An e-mail sent to various WSMC racers by the new establishment read:

“It’s finally here! The Grand Opening of Tyler Paulson’s (#6) Motorsports Bar and Grill. Show up and support his new venture or he won’t sponsor your racing next year!!! If the restaurant does well that could mean big contingencies in Tyler’s best races!!

“For those of you non-bikers…come on down and support live music and great BEER!

“Call number on flyer for any other details.

“See you there!!”

From a press release issued by the FIM:

Mies, January 27, 2004

Superbike World Championship
Supersport World Championship
2004 Provisional Entry List


Superbike World Championship

N° Rider Nat. Machine Team
4 Troy Corser AUS PETRONAS FP1 Foggy PETRONAS Racing

5 Piergiorgio Bontempi ITA Suzuki GSX 1000R Zongshen Team

6 Mauro Sanchini ITA Kawasaki ZX10 Team Kawasaki Bertocchi

7 Pier Francesco Chili ITA Ducati 999R Team PSG-1

8 Ivan Clementi ITA Kawasaki ZX10 Team Kawasaki Bertocchi

9 Chris Walker GBR PETRONAS FP1 Foggy PETRONAS Racing

12 Warwick Nowland AUS Suzuki GSX 1000R Zongshen Team

16 Sergio Fuertes ESP Suzuki GSX 1000R MIR Racing

17 Chris Vermeulen AUS Honda CBR 1000RR Ten Kate Honda

TBA Honda CBR 1000RR Ten Kate Honda

19 Lucio Pedercini ITA Ducati 996R Team Pedercini

TBA Ducati 996R Team Pedercini

20 Marco Borciani ITA Ducati 999R D.F.X. Racing Team

23 Jiri Mrkyvka CZE Ducati 996R JM SBK Team

24 Garry McCoy AUS Ducati 999R Team Caracchi

TBA ESP Ducati 999R Team Caracchi

25 Alessio Velini ITA Yamaha YZF R1 UnionBike GiMotorsport

41 Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati 999R Team Renegade Ducati

52 James Toseland GBR Ducati 999R Ducati Fila

55 Régis Laconi FRA Ducati 999R Ducati Fila

91 Leon Haslam GBR Ducati 999R Team Renegade Ducati

99 Steve Martin AUS Ducati 999R D.F.X. Racing Team

2004 models homologation procedure in progress



Supersport World Championship

N° Rider Nat. Machine Team

2 Stéphane Chambon FRA Suzuki GSX 600R Team Alstare Suzuki

4 Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh NED Yamaha YZFR6 Team Yamaha Belgarda

8 Alessio Corradi ITA Honda CBR 600RR Team Italia Megabike

11 Kevin Curtain AUS Yamaha YZFR6 Yamaha Motor Deutschland GMBH

15 Matteo Baiocco ITA Yamaha YZFR6 Team Lorenzini by Leoni

18 Denis Sacchetti ITA Honda CBR 600RR Team Italia Megabike

19 Walter Tortoroglio* ITA Suzuki GSX 600R Celani Team

20 Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Suzuki Team Alstare Suzuki

22 Stefano Cruciani ITA Kawasaki ZX6RR Team Kawasaki Bertocchi

23 Broc Parkes AUS Honda CBR 600RR Ten Kate Honda

25 Giovanni Bussei ITA Ducati 749 R SL Racing

31 Karl Muggeridge AUS Honda CBR 600RR Ten Kate Honda

37 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN Suzuki GSX 600R Team Alstare Suzuki

57 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Ducati 749 R Ducati Breil

76 Max Neukirchner GER Honda CBR 600RR Team Klaffi Honda

TBA ITA Suzuki GSX 600R Moto 1

93 Christian Kellner GER Yamaha YZFR6 Yamaha Motor Deutschland GMBH

94 Yaron Salinger ISR Honda CBR 600RR IRT Team

95 Eli Chen ISR Honda CBR 600RR IRT Team

99 Fabien Foret FRA Yamaha YZFR6 Team Yamaha Belgarda

116 Sébastien Charpentier FRA Honda CBR 600RR Team Klaffi Honda

* Only European rounds

2004 models homologation procedure in progress

From a press release:

WEBSTER GEARS UP FOR NEW SEASON

Nine times World Champion Steve Webster is a step closer to racing in the new British Sidecar Championship as his Suzuki machine began to take shape on Monday ­sporting the GSX-R Suzuki manufacturer livery design.



Webster’s machine was given its manufacturer look over the weekend and the Yorkshire ace took delivery of the bodywork on Monday, from the specialist M & M paintwork concern in Stoke-on-Trent.



“The bodywork looks fantastic,” said Webster. “The manufacturer colours and the clean, white image are a great base to add my personal sponsor and partner brands for the 2004 season.”



He continued: “We’ve been looking at designers’ illustrations over the past few months but to see the machine complete is impressive. Tim Reeves said the same about his Suzuki paintwork last week and I’ve heard from Ben Birchall and Stuart Woodard and they’re impressed with their Yamaha looks.”



Webster will race in the 14-round championship with passenger Paul Woodhead as a major Sidecar Championship joins the British Superbike programme for the first time in more than 15 years.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A dispatch from a U.S. Army Lt. we know in Iraq:

Just wanted to send out a note to all to let you know how things are going. Things are about the same here. I’ve been busy with a couple of things–I was the investigating officer in a 15-6 investigation, after someone lost a pair of night-vision goggles, and I had to go the range to qualify, as it is one of those “everyone must do this before redeployment” tasks. The range is about a 25-minute drive from our living area and is in one of the outer areas of Baghdad. It’s pretty empty out there. The range is at the site of an actual range. It was part of a military compound at one time. Of course, the entire place was bombed to bits.

It is just so sad. There are squatters living in the wreckage–flocks of sheep, little shanty towns, people poking in the rubble. While we were shooting a bunch of little kids came up to us. They barely know any English but they can say “chocolate”, “water” and “money”. They are completely filthy and only half-clothed and completely unsupervised on a Monday morning. I gave them some dried apples I had. The crazy part, though, is that they think soldiers are great. Even though they live in the midst of all that squalor they waved at us and gave us thumbs-up and ran along behind our vehicles as we left.

And I saw an old man in traditional Arab dress poking in the rubble with a stick. But when he saw us driving by he looked up and waved. Apparently they don’t all blame us, which is nice to know. But it just makes me sad to go out.

The worst part is most of these people didn’t live any better before we bombed. It just makes you realize how much of a disparity there really is between the palaces of Saddam and the lives of the ordinary people.

Of course, driving anywhere makes me nervous. I was in an uparmored HMMWV and we still drive like bats out of hell in the middle of the road and stay as far away from the curbs as possible. The day after we were at the range they found an IED on the road right outside the range, right where we were the day before. And even uparmored HMMWVs are no match for certain IEDs. Three soldiers were killed and two were wounded just north of the city a few days ago when the Bradley they were in, which weighs about 25 tons, mind you, was blown on its side by an IED. It blew the turret off the Bradley and blew its tracks off. It was a huge IED.

Well, I am off to dinner so I will close for now. I hope all is well with everyone. Take care until the next time.



And a related message from freelance publicist Dorina Clarke:

Please put a link on the site, for IAFSupport.org

It stands for International Armed Forces Support and it’s a place where people can go and sign up to be a pen pal to a soldier in the Middle East who doesn’t have friends or family to correspond with. It’s something I feel pretty passionate about and would love to see the motorcycle industry get involved with.

There’s also a site called Operationmilitarysupport.com
similar to the other but has more information about sending care packages and needed items that soldiers would love to get while deployed.

From a press release:

Racer Perry Melneciuc has announced his new road racing school.

With three schools already completed, Jennings GP Nov. 17, 2003, Roebling Road Dec. 1, 2003 and Jennings GP Jan 17, 2004 we look forward to our upcoming weekend at Jennings GP Feb. 14-15. This would be a great time for racers to come out and warm up for Daytona!

The focus of our school is personalized instruction. We limit the number of riders to 36 each day to ensure everyone is provided the maxium amount of on track time.

We cater to first time students requiring very individualized instruction, as well as track day enthusiasts and licensed racers looking to improve their riding skills, motorcycle set up and ultimately their lap times.

2004 Schedule
Jennings GP Feb. 14-15
Roebling Road TBA Jennings GP Apr. 17-18
Jennings GP Feb. 14-15
Barber Motorsports Park TBA
Talladega GP TBA

Check out our website at rpmtrackschool.com or call Perry at (239) 369-5701.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

John Hopkins underwent surgery Monday, January 26 to plate bones in both ankles, injured when he came up short on a set of triple jumps and crashed during practice for a Supercross Crossover Challenge race in San Diego Saturday.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Art Ting performed the surgery.

Hopkins is expected to stay at Ting’s clinic in Fremont, California until Friday, undergoing rehab and being treated with a bone growth stimulator.

Hopkins typically trains two or three days a week on motocross bikes when he is at home in California and was a successful motocross racer before he took up road racing.

Road racer Jeremy Toye also crashed in San Diego, during the actual Crossover Challenge race, hitting the face of the third jump in the same set of triples that did in Hopkins, and also broke both ankles. Former WSMC Overall Champion Toye did not undergo surgery and has casts on both ankles.



More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist, Larry Lawrence:

Hopkins recovering from surgery

RAMONA, Calif. – Suzuki MotoGP rider John Hopkins is recovering from surgery on both ankles injured Saturday, Jan. 24, in a practice session for the Suzuki Crossover Challenge held during the AMA THQ Supercross Series race at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium. Hopkins came up short on a jump and injured both ankles.

Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Arthur Ting performed the surgery on Hopkins yesterday. It is expected that the young rider will be walking within two or three days and will be able resume his cardiovascular training on a bicycle next week.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” Hopkins said. “I practice motocross riding almost everyday. It’s a big part of my training. I thought it would be fun to participate in this exhibition race sponsored by Suzuki in my hometown area. I feel bad for my team since this could potentially keep me from a couple of tests. It’s certainly been a learning experience.”

Hopkins plans to return to testing as soon as possible. He’s hopeful to be 100% for the upcoming tests in Phillip Island on February 23.

The Californian promises to be fit and ready to race the all new Suzuki GSV-R by the time the MotoGP season opens in South Africa on April 18.

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

AMA PRO RACING EXTENDS SYMPATHY TO FAMILY OF FALLEN RIDER

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Jan. 26, 2004) — AMA Pro Racing offers heartfelt condolences to the family of Jason Ciarletta, 19, of Riverside, California. Ciarletta was fatally injured Saturday night during a race at the AMA Supercross event in San Diego, California.

“Our hearts and prayers are with Jason and his family during this difficult period,” said Steve Whitelock, AMA Pro Racing Motocross/Supercross Series Manager.

Ciarletta crashed during a qualifying heat in Saturday’s event, round four of the 16-round series. Trackside medical personnel accompanied by EMTs were with Ciarletta within seconds of the crash. Ciarletta was transported to Sharp’s Medical Center.

“All of us in the Supercross racing community are taking this hard,” said Whitelock Monday morning. “We’re a tight-knit group and this affects everyone involved with our series. I’m confident Jason’s family will receive a great deal of emotional support in dealing with their loss.”

Whitelock confirmed that this was the first fatality in the 31-year history of AMA Supercross racing.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Insiders say that AMA Pro Racing may shorten the Superstock race at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) from 15 laps to 10 or 12 laps, to reduce the chance of catastrophic tire failures or other problems with 1000cc Superstock bikes this coming March.

This year’s race will be the first Superstock event allowing 1000cc motorcycles, which are required to run stock 17-inch wheels.

Sunday and Monday’s AMA and Daytona-organized tire test with Dunlop, Michelin and Pirelli teams convinced officials that all three suppliers have the 16.5-inch Superbike tire situation well in hand, and thus the Daytona 200 is expected to run as planned with an unmodified format.

But the Superstock race is another matter, with officials doubting that 1000cc Superstock bikes will go the now-scheduled 15-lap distance on fuel and worried that more 17-inch Superstock tire failures like the one that sent Jason DiSalvo on his head at over 170 mph in December–and which triggered this re-test–will be a problem.

How to deal with privateers entering stock-wheeled 1000cc Superstock bikes in the Daytona 200 is an unresolved question, with one suggestion being that officials require the use of 16.5-inch wheels and tires specifically made for Superbike use.

Stay tuned…

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Newly appointed AMA Supercross/Motocross Series Manager Steve Whitelock is at the tire test at Daytona International Speedway Monday to help AMA Pro Racing evaluate the information from the test and determine a course of action for the Daytona race.

“I do have a lot of experience with the road race stuff,” Whitelock, the former FIM Technical Manager for World Superbike, told Roadracingworld.com. “Scott (Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing) asked me to come down and maybe be a little bit of an advisor to Scott, help him understand.

“Scott and I don’t get enough time to always get together, and this was a good occasion because he was coming, and I had the time, and tomorrow we’re going to have a big AMA Pro (Racing) meeting. So it worked out really well.

“I’m here just because I know all of the European tire engineers who are here. I’m just kind of being an expert witness, if you want to call it that.”

Asked for his understanding of the current situation with tires at Daytona, Whitelock said, “I think what’s happening here is we’re making sure everyone’s going to be safe for the race. That’s all. They’re (Dunlop) just here to make sure. They had a problem, yeah. They fixed one of the problems. Now they’re working on fixing the second part. I think it’s going to be OK. I think we’re going to be alright. It’s just to err on the safe side then err on the wrong side.”

Whitelock said he would not regularly serve as an advisor to the road racing side of AMA Pro Racing because he is “far, far too busy” with his Supercross duties.

Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec shredded a DOT-labeled Michelin Pilot designed for a GSX-R600 and run on Haskovec’s GSX-R1000 during testing today at Daytona International Speedway. Haskovec did not crash and rode back into the pits following the incident.

“We had a 600 tire that was pretty shredded up,” said Valvoline EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry. “AMA said we couldn’t bring a 600, and those guys (Michelin) wanted us to test 600 tires. So we put one on a 1000 with a 600 wheel and tested it. They wanted to see how long it would last, and it lasted nine laps on a GSX-R1000. We shredded it up pretty bad, but we didn’t have anything that lost air. We also chunked another 600 tire and had a chunk come out of a 1000 tire on the 15th lap. Both of the 1000 long-distance runs we made, his fastest lap was on the 15th lap.”

A 16.5-inch rear slick tire on Eric Bostrom’s Ducati also lost tread during testing of various compounds and constructions, including qualifying tires. The tire did not lose air and Bostrom did not crash.

“That’s testing,” said Michelin’s Jim Rhodes when asked about the problems, including Bostrom’s. “There’s a difference between colds and heart attacks. We had colds, Dunlop had a heart attack. There’s a big difference between rubber coming loose or chunks coming out of a tire and a catastrophic failure.”