From a press release issued by T.A.R.R.C. Race Director Gary Stiles:

Team Arizona Road Race Club has added the 250cc Grand Prix class to the list of classes paying an Expert purse.

The 250GP payout will be as follows: 1st $500, 2nd $250, 3rd $150.

250cc Grand Prix riders may also compete for their share of the over $3200 in cash purses in the AZROADRACING.COM Unlimited GP.

The next T.A.R.R.C event will be held at Arizona Motorsports Park on November 29-30.

For more info check out our website, AZROADRACING.COM

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

2003 World Superbike Champion and soon-to-be D’Antin Ducati MotoGP racer Neil Hodgson is expected to appear and sign autographs at the Ducati UK display at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the National Exhibit Center in Birmingham, West Midlands, England November 14-15.

For additional information on the show, which is scheduled to run from November 14 through November 23, go to www.motorcycleshow.co.uk.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Calabogie Motorsports Park, a new Alan Wilson-designed road course, is currently under construction in Calabogie, Ontario, Canada, about 30 miles west of Ottawa.

The track was designed, according to its website, to be used primarily for club-level car and motorcycle track days with all of the operational and safety requirements needed for club-level racing incorporated into the design. However, there are no provisions for the “operational facilities, paddock space or spectator amenities” required to host a professional racing event.

The main course is 3.05 miles long and can be divided into two courses, a 1.74-mile West course and a 1.38-mile East course, which can be run simultaneously. The width of the track was not mentioned, but the entire facility covers 250 acres and is located inside of a 4600-acre forest. The location of the track inside of dense woodlands is important for it to meet existing noise level requirements, which are reported to be the strictest in North America.

Calabogie Motorsports, the privately held company which owns the track, has gone so far as to contract SS Wilson Associates of Toronto to create a noise model and monitoring plan to insure it meets all requirements. SS Wilson Associates were “instrumental in establishing and drawing up the City of Ottawa’s noise policies,” according to the track’s website.

Calabogie Motorsports Park has been completely rough graded but still needs final grading and safety zone development before paving can begin. No completion date has been announced.

Alan Wilson has designed several road courses in use in North America including: Barber Motorsports Park, BeaveRun Motorsports Park, Carolina Motorsports Park, Arizona Motorsports Park, Mid-America Motorplex, Gingerman Raceway, the infield road course at Pikes Peak International Raceway, the infield road course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the re-design of Mont-Tremblant.

For more information, go to www.calabogiemotorsports.com.

From a press release issued by Infineon Raceway:

NASCAR, NHRA Highlight Diverse 2004 Schedule at Infineon Raceway

SONOMA, Calif. – The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will highlight a diverse 2004 main-event schedule at Infineon Raceway that also includes the best in sports cars, motorcycles and dragsters.

The Big O Tires 2004 Racing Season will again be headlined by the Dodge/Save Mart 350 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, June 25-27, the highest-attended single-day sporting event in Northern California. Robby Gordon, who swept both NASCAR road-course races in 2003, returns as the defending champion in his Cingular Wireless Chevrolet.

The NEXTEL Cup weekend will also feature the NASCAR Elite Division, Featherlite Southwest Series, as well as the popular Motorock Trans-Am Tour, which will run its feature immediately following the Dodge/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 27.

The racing won’t be limited to the excitement of NASCAR, as the unmatched speed and power of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series will also invade Infineon Raceway for the 16th straight year with the FRAM Autolite Nationals, presented by Supercuts, July 30-Aug. 1.

Other premier events include the AMA Kawasaki Showdown, featuring the best in motorcycle racing on the 12-turn road course, April 30-May 2, as well as the Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma American Le Mans Series, July 16-18. The Grand Prix will showcase some of the world’s most exotic sports cars, including Porsche, Audi, Ferrari and Corvette. The event is presented by the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa.

Other events on the main-event calendar for 2004 are the Ferrari Challenge (March 20-21); 18th annual Wine Country Classic Vintage Car Races (June 5-6); and the Team Superstores NHRA Summernationals Division 7 Drag Races (July 2-4) over Fourth of July weekend.

In all, there will be eight great weekends of main-event action planned on both the twisting road courses and world-class quarter-mile drag strip. The eighth event scheduled for the 2004 season will be announced during a press conference in December.

Race fans and competitors will also see plenty of facility enhancements, mainly designed to ensure competitor safety. It continues the raceway’s comprehensive modernization plan, which began in September, 2000. Hillsides at Turns 1 and 6 (Carousel) have been graded, giving racers additional runoff, and the bridges at both turns will be replaced. Moreover, the road course has been fully repaved.

“We’re excited about the terrific lineup of events on our 2004 schedule,” said Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway. “Our fans will have a chance to see the top competitors across the spectrum of motor racing. We’re also excited to unveil the latest facility improvements that will further enhance the raceway experience.”


2004 MAJOR-EVENT SCHEDULE:

* Ferrari Challenge: March 20-21
* AMA Kawasaki Showdown, featuring the Supercuts Superbike Challenge (Sunday main event). There will be main events on both Saturday and Sunday. The weekend is presented by Cycle Gear: April 30-May 2
* TBA: May 14-16.
* Wine Country Classic Vintage Car Races: June 5-6
* Dodge/Save Mart 350 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup: June 25-27
* Team Superstores NHRA Summernationals Division 7 Drag Races: July 2-4
* Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma American Le Mans Series, presented by Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa: July 16-18
* NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals, presented by Supercuts: July 30-Aug. 1.

For ticket information, please call 800-870-RACE (7223), visit www.infineonraceway.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, Nov. 21.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Dennis Noyes

With no fanfare and no press relations personnel on hand from the FGSport group, the first tire tests of the new era of World Superbike are being run at Valencia, Spain.

After two days of testing, Fila Ducati riders Regis Laconi and James Toseland are lapping consistently in the 1:36 range on Pirelli slicks. Best unofficial time provided by a Solo Moto journalist on site was a 1:36.5 by Laconi.

Neil Hodgson was the quickest rider in this year’s World Superbike races at Valencia with a time of 1:35.007 on Michelins but the still-standing race record lap of 1:34.649 set by Ben Bostrom on Dunlops dates from spring of 2002.

The Petronas team is also present with Troy Corser doing the tire testing on the 900cc Triple while former 125cc World Champion Alessandro Grammini is testing a YZF-R1 Yamaha for Yamaha Italy. A YZF-R1 from Yamaha France was also being tested by two Spanish riders.

Top Supersport teams present are Ten Kate Honda, Alstare Corona Suzuki and Belgarda Yamaha. Conditions are chilly and dry and all teams are in and out frequently, testing a great variety of new tires and compounds.

Tomorrow we hope to have a credible list of lap times and obtain some comments from the teams and Pirelli technicians.

FGSport, owners of the commercial rights of the World Superbike, World Supersport and European Superstock Championships, reached an agreement with Pirelli to supply all tires for all three classes in 2004 and 2005. FIM regulations regarding the number of tires available to each team and the system for distribution are pending.

Due to these regulations five of the six members of the MSMA (Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association) have said that they will not directly support a factory team in the Superbike class. Ducati is the only MSMA member that has announced plans to compete, but Honda will be present unofficially with their new CBR1000RR in the Ten Kate Honda team. It was expected that Suzuki would do the same via the Alstare Corona Suzuki team, but the team is not running a Superbike at Valencia and rider Gregorio Lavilla told me yesterday by phone that Francis Batta has not yet been able to reach an agreement to run the GSX-R1000 in 2004.

Yamaha France has shown great interest in the class, but has of yet not made a commitment to race. Kawasaki will not support a works team, but the new ZX-10RR will be present run by the Italian Bertocchi team.

From a press release issued by Pirelli:

2003 WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP IS PIRELLI’S SECOND IN A ROW

(Rome, GA) With so much attention being focused on its being named the spec tire for World Superbike, it can be easy to forget that Pirelli has been winning world championships straight up in multi-brand competition – not to mention its total domination of the last two Isle of Man TT meetings.

The latest example is the 2003 World Supersport Championship, the 600cc component of the World Superbike series for DOT rubber. Pirelli and its Supercorsa radial captured their second championship in a row this year in the series that’s been lauded for its extremely-close, paint-swapping action. (There were those who thought its racing was tighter and more competitive on a regular basis than World Superbike.) Coming off its 2002 championship with Fabian Foret on the Honda Factory Ten Kate team, Pirelli and Ten Kate won again this year with the just-turned 21-year-old Aussie, Chris Vermeulen whose victory made him the youngest-ever World Supersport champion. (Foret, who had moved to Kawasaki for the 2003 season, is coming back to Pirelli in ’04 as a member of the Yamaha Belgarda team with Jurgen van den Goorbergh.) Vermeulen rode extremely hard and well, and in fact his biggest competition late in the season came mostly from teammate and fellow countryman, Karl Muggeridge, also on a Honda CBR600RR.

Gaining more strength as the season wound down, Pirelli racers dominated the last three rounds. They took first and second, with Muggeridge and Vermeulen respectively, at the ninth round in Assen, swept the tenth-round podium at Imola, again with Muggeridge beating Vermeulen (who clinched the championship), and van den Goorbergh on the Belgarda Yamaha R6.

And at the final round in Magny Cours, Pirelli swept the first four positions, with Vermeulen, Muggeridge, van den Goorbergh, and Sebastien Charpentier on the Honda France CBR.

When the last checkered flag had flown, Pirelli Supercorsas claimed not only the 2003 Championship but also third place for van den Goorbergh, and fourth for Muggeridge (thanks to his late-season charge). Vermeulen had won by a huge 64-point margin over Stephane Chambon in second. Van den Goorbergh missed second in the championship by a single point, with Muggeridge only two points back of him a testament to the closeness of the action, and the supremacy of the Supercorsas.

From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Walker signs for Foggy PETRONAS Racing

Carl Fogarty today revealed fans’ favourite Chris Walker as the new rider for his Foggy PETRONAS Racing team in the 2004 World Superbike championship.

And the 31-year-old from Nottingham, England, will have an immediate chance to put the FP1 – the first Malaysian superbike – through its paces when he joins new team-mate Troy Corser at the team’s two-day test in Valencia, starting tomorrow.

Walker, universally known as The Stalker for his gutsy and aggressive style of riding, finished sixth in the 2003 championship with six podium finishes and replaces fellow-Brit, James Haydon, at FPR.

And four-times World Superbike champion Foggy, believes that his new man will be a key factor in his team’s bid to turn the progress made in their debut season into tangible results next year.

Carl said: “This is a great signing for us and Chris will bring a lot to the team. Everyone knows he is fast and that he always gives 110 per cent, which is all I can ever ask for. I am hoping that he will also help Troy by providing more competition within the team. I think Chris’ style is more suited to a four-cylinder bike and, having been on our triple, it definitely behaves more like a four than a twin. So I am hoping that the FP1 will really suit him and that both riders will be up there in the top three. And I have always said that I want a British rider in my team, and Chris is by far the most popular rider in Britain today.”

Chris said: “I am really excited about this opportunity. It is going to be a challenge, but it will be an inspiration to be working with people like Carl and Troy – there are world champions everywhere in this team! And it meant a lot to me to know how much Carl wanted me to join. Carl and chief engineer Steve Thompson have told me all about the potential of this bike and there is no doubt it has the capability to improve more than any other bike on the grid next year. So who knows where we might be finishing by the end of the season.”

The Valencia test will be the first test of Pirelli tyres, which all teams will be using for next year’s championship.

Walker career highlights:

2003 – 6th, World Superbike championship, with HM Plant Ducati. Six podiums

2002 – 9th, World Superbike championship with Kawasaki Racing. Best result: 4th

2001 – 500cc GPs with Shell Honda. Best result 12th

2000 – 2nd, British Superbike championship, with Crescent Suzuki. 2nd WSBK round at Donnington, twice 3rd at Brands

1999 – 2nd, British Superbike championship with Kawasaki UK

1998 – 2nd, British Superbike championship with Kawasaki UK

1997 – 2nd, British Superbike championship with Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha

1996 – Debut season in British Superbike championship with Old Spice Ducati

1995 – 1st British 250cc championship, 2nd in 250cc Supercup, with Padgetts GP Racing

1994 – Shell National Clubmans Championship