From a press release:

Cyclestar.com Set To Begin Online Pro Bike Auctions

Cyclestar.com is proud to announce the online auctioning of some of the fastest motorcycles in the world from teams like Pro Circuit, Yamaha of Troy, Team ECC, and Team Moto XXX starting Wednesday, October 15th. In the next few weeks, the sale of road racing bikes will start with teams that will soon be announced. These are not replicas but actual bikes ridden in competition. For more information about the bikes go to Cyclestar.com and click on the “Pro Shop” star. A portion of the proceeds will go to the teams to help support their racing efforts and the remainder going to helpful rider support organizations such as the “Clayton Memorial Foundation” and the “Road 2 Recovery.”

If you’re looking for a special gift, check out our selection of jerseys signed by the “MX Stars” of racing starting with James “Bubba” Stewart.

Another featured item on the site will be contests giving away great items like this month’s Pro Circuit Gear Bag or Backpack of your choice. Just go to Cyclestar.com and click on the “Pro Shop” Star for more information and details on the auctions.

Cyclestar.com is a new web site offering an alternative to newspapers and classified trade magazines as a place to sell your pre-owned Motorcycle, ATV, Snowmobile or Watercraft. In addition, Cyclestar.com will specialize in listing motorcycle dealerships including their inventories as well as parts and accessories manufacturers and their product lines.

Cyclestar.com will provide information connecting enthusiasts with the Powersports industry from some of the biggest names in motorcycling. News from ESPN, Motoworld, Racer X, Speed TV, Roadracing World and others as well as event information from the AMA and Clear Channel will keep motorcyclist up to date with the pulse of the industry. You’ll find links to most of the manufacturers of Motorcycles, ATV’s, Snowmobiles and Watercraft as well as “New Trucks and Trailers”. Looking for magazines? Cyclestar.com has 60 covers on the “Magazine Rack” of the most popular publications with links to all their sites and a banner on the home page providing live webcasts during events.

From a press release issued by series organizers:

Klaffi prepares for final push

Klaus Klaffenböck and passenger Christian Parzer must win the final race of the season at Magny-Cours, France to stand any hope of snatching the title from rivals, Steve Webster and Paul Woodhead.

The Austrian duo, however, remain realistic about their chances. “We have a slim chance but we need to sort out some of the engine problems we’ve had in the last two races,” said the vastly experienced Klaffenböck.

The 2001 World champions led the championship race for four rounds following their sole win at Monza, Italy in round two and have since been the epitome of consistency with a further seven podium placements.

“Anyway, we’ll certainly try hard,” added Klaffenböck who has notched up 16 race wins at world level in a career spanning six years.

The Yamaha R1 machine with an LCR chassis, run by the two Austrians from the town of Wels, has also proved extremely reliable: they remain one of only two teams to score points at every round of the series. [Mike Roscher and Adolf Hänni the other team to hold the distinction]



More, from another press release issued by series organizers:

Webster – “Taking nothing for granted”

Steve Webster and passenger Paul Woodhead head to the final round of the 2003 Superside World championship at Magny-Cours, France needing only one point to secure the title.

Webster, gunning for a record ninth world title, remains careful to err on the side of caution. “We are not taking anything for granted,” said the affable Yorkshireman. “It has happened before in the past with Rolf Biland only requiring one point from the final round – and he lost out.”

Klaus Klaffenböck and Christian Parzer are the only ones who can spoil the party but the experienced Austrians, who are 24 points adrift of their British counterparts, know that they must win the race to stand any chance whatsoever.

Webster and Woodhead have been the dominant force in 2003, having won six of the nine races so far. They will also be looking to maintain their amazing qualifying record: nine out of nine pole positions so far.

Should they succeed at the French circuit – a 15th place finish will do the trick – it will be the British partnership’s second world title, to add to their triumph in 2000.


More, from yet another press release issued by series organizers:

Steini targets hat-trick of wins

Jörg Steinhausen and Trevor Hopkinson are aiming to continue their fine end-of-season form and sign off the 2003 campaign with a third win.

The German-British pairing have enjoyed mixed fortunes with two non-finishes matched symmetrically by two comprehensive wins on the Italian peninsula, at Misano Adriatico and Imola.

“We felt the pressure but rode hard and were very pleased to win the race,” said Steinhausen after his Imola victory. “We will be looking for another win in the final round at Magny-Cours.”

The win was made even more special by the fact that the duo had to make a mad dash to Germany to compete in the national championship – which they won – despite lining up 18th on the grid at Hockenheim.

Steinhausen and Hopkinson may not be able to improve on their third place in the overall standings, but the 2002 runners-up will not hold back in their quest to clinch their third win of the season at the fast 4.411km/2.757-mile circuit located near the town of Nevers.



Yet another press release from series organizers:

Abbott on the victory trail

Reigning world champions, Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs, are looking to end the season on a high and record their first win of the 2003 season.

The 2003 season has not been so rich in success although the British outfit have been on the podium three times with a best-placed second in the opening round at Valencia, Spain.

Winning remains the priority for Abbott and Biggs and the duo will endeavour to record a victory, to add to the three race wins achieved en route to the 2002 world title.

The Eastern Airways-backed outfit will have their work cut to defend fourth place in the overall rankings. Fellow Brits, Tom Hanks and Phil Biggs [Jamie’s brother] along with the Dutch father and son pairing, Martien and Tonnie van Gils, are hot on their heels with only four points separating the three teams.

Last year’s crowning moment will always remain special. “It was great to win the title after so many years,” said Abbott, who will relinquish the number one plate. “The way in which we did it, at Imola last year, was as exciting as it gets and it will live in everyone’s memory forever.”


Still another press release issued by series organizers:

Hanks looks for French repeat

Tom Hanks and passenger Phil Biggs have already tasted success at the Magny-Cours circuit in France – venue for the final Superside World championship round of the year.

The British duo, who currently lie fifth in the overall standings, recorded an impressive victory in the French championship round at the same circuit at the end of August.

“We learnt the track and found out where our weak spots are, so that is all that is left to sort out when we come back,” commented Hanks, who will be looking for that elusive first win of the season.

Hanks and Biggs narrowly missed out on the top rung of the rostrum in the sweltering heat at Misano, Italy in June where they finished only 0.422s behind winners, Jörg Steinhausen and Trevor Hopkinson.

The Halton Fabrications team will be focusing on clawing back the two points which separate them from Steve Abbott and Jamie Biggs, holders of fourth place overall. Will the summer testing at Magny-Cours pay off?

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Vincent Haskovec will be replaced by Adam Fergusson in this weekend’s Toyota 200 at Willow Springs.

Haskovec was scheduled to ride a Lion Racing GSX-R1000 built by HyperCycle’s Carry Andrew.

“I’ve been sick for 10 days,” Haskovec said today. “The Willow Springs 200 is one of the toughest races in the world. It’s one shot, one rider so you’ve got to be good to go for almost two hours. I tried it last year and I know how it was, and the pace is gonna be faster for sure this year.

“I don’t want to look foolish, this is my track, and if I do badly I’m gonna feel very bad. So we all decided it’s better if somebody is gonna replace me, so it’s gonna be Adam Fergusson.”

Haskovec said that Fergusson is flying in for the race, from Australia.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

By John Ulrich

This is my personal opinion, as an individual.

On Monday, Roadracingworld.com posted an opinion piece by Trudy C. Ulrich, President and Publisher, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

And yeah, I’m married to her, and, yeah, she has a son, Chris, who races. I met her in a college copy-editing class, and Trudy has been involved in motorcycle road racing over the last 27 years, doing everything from driving a box van full of bikes and equipment (and toddlers) cross-country to racetracks, to scoring endurance races, to handling the books for a race team, to retrieving injured racers from hospitals. Over the years, she has heard plenty of complaints about how AMA Pro Racing does business, from racers she interacts with on a daily basis, and she is a card-carrying AMA member. Since it went into business 13 years ago, she has handled the business side of Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Last year, she handled the establishment of the Roadracing World Action Fund, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation designed to promote the use of soft barriers at racetracks through educational programs, including demonstration deployments. During the process of getting non-profit, tax-exempt status for the Roadracing World Action Fund, she learned that a non-profit cannot transfer any of its assets to a for-profit company if doing so will give the for-profit company a competitive advantage.

She quickly formed the personal opinion that AMA non-profit had given AMA Pro Racing, its for-profit subsidiary, a competitive advantage in the race promotion and race sanctioning marketplace by transferring AMA non-profit assets to AMA Pro Racing, a company which has lost money every year during the decade it has existed, not only in the form of annual operating deficits, but also in the form of money paid to defend and ultimately settle a lawsuit related to AMA Pro Racing’s business activities. One estimate of the amount of money AMA Pro Racing has cost AMA non-profit since its founding is $8 million. In theory, the way AMA Pro Racing advocates tell the tale, AMA Pro Racing was supposed to make money to support AMA non-profit’s important activities, including government relations. In actual fact, the money AMA non-profit has spent shoring up AMA Pro Racing and paying for its legal miscues could have paid for a lot of government relations activities.

At any rate, since forming her opinion, Trudy has written three versions of the editorial which was finally published earlier this week. The first version was written about six months ago. The second was written about three weeks ago. And she finished the final version last week.

For months, I have been telling her that posting her editorial opinion would bring accusations that she was fronting for me, that I had written the piece and was hiding behind her byline. I have told her that because I currently hold an elected seat on the AMA non-profit Board of Directors, posting her editorial would bring criticism from AMA Pro Racing supporters on the AMA non-profit Board.

However, Roadracingworld.com frequently posts opinion pieces written by not only staff members but also readers. Ultimately, she has as much right to express her opinion on a website she owns as anybody does. And so the piece was posted.

As I predicted, the criticism has been swift in coming. Proponents of AMA Pro Racing have accused me of writing Trudy’s editorial, and of hiding behind her byline. They have called her personal opinion lies, and have accused me of being a liar. They have accused me of seeking (how, I do not know) personal profit by running Trudy’s editorial.

Let me point out right here that nobody who is seeking personal profit would spend the kind of time and money I have—we have—on funding the majority of the inflatable soft barriers currently in use at road races in this country.

And let me say that while I did not write Trudy’s editorial, and while I do not personally agree with everything she says in that editorial, I do agree with about 90 percent of it. I think she makes very valid points, and I think that AMA Pro Racing is a freewheeling cancer that continues to eat away at AMA non-profit’s money, reputation and good will. AMA Pro Racing operations—the stuff AMA members encounter at the races and when trying to deal with headquarters staff—are a disgrace. The lack of accountability—from top to bottom—is appalling. In its interactions with what its advocates like to call “stakeholders,” AMA Pro Racing operates as a continuing, non-stop drama, with the biggest recent example involving renewal negotiations with AMA National Motocross Promoters.

And as seen again in this case, AMA Pro Racing’s instant, predictable reaction to any criticism is, A. It’s a lie; B. You can’t believe (insert name of critic here), he’s just seeking personal gain; C. It never happened; D. We didn’t do it.

Officiating is inconsistent, with a few examples following: Billy Joe Bob (a made-up name representing the majority of non-factory riders in the paddock) gets fined $100 for running down pit lane at 52 mph instead of 50 mph (and never mind that the radar speed display placed at the head of pit lane to allow riders to judge their speed often does not pick up and display the speed of approaching bikes), while Miguel Duhamel gets fined nothing for throwing rocks on an active racetrack. Chuck Chounaird gets completely thrown out of an AMA National for having valves that were cleaned using Scotchbrite; factory riders get fined money and points but keep their finishing position for such offenses as illegal cylinder head machining; non-stock, low-pressure oil pumps; and being underweight. Half the 250cc Grand Prix field was sent home for not getting within 112% of pole the first time timed qualifying was used for the class—never mind that most of practice had been rained out—at Fontana last year, with AMA Pro Racing taking the position that allowing riders who had not properly qualified, to race, presented a liability problem. Yet this year at Barber, riders who failed to make the cut in qualifying were allowed to race, with no explanation of what happened to that liability problem. Which way is it?

The claim that “stakeholders” will be allowed to comment on new rules is a sham; facing complaints that they recently enacted a new rule on short notice without allowing any comment, AMA Pro Racing first claimed that they didn’t have to allow comment because it wasn’t a rule, it was a regulation (look up those two words in a dictionary), then, facing the obvious complaint that a rule is a regulation and vice versa, claimed that they didn’t have to allow comment on operational rules, only on technical rules. Which isn’t what they said when they announced their new policy of allowing comment on proposed new rules.

Almost a year ago, the Board of Directors of AMA non-profit, acting as the shareholders of AMA Pro Racing, ordered AMA Pro Racing to improve operations by hiring a new operations chief by the end of the first quarter of 2003. We’re now in the fourth quarter, and the same guys are making the same mess of operations.

There have been some improvements. Timing and scoring is less screwed up—because the timing and scoring crew shows up earlier, an idea it took two years to get AMA Pro Racing to accept–and the system is usually working when official practice starts, and we just won’t talk about the guys who for some reason weren’t timed in qualifying sessions at a recent race.

But overall, AMA Pro Racing is far from what it should be, and it remains a drain on AMA non-profit in terms of money, prestige, reputation and staff time. It will continue to be a drain on AMA non-profit as long as it is managed the way it is managed now, and as long as its core group of entrenched bureaucrats remains in place, insulated and protected by a separate AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors that is not accountable to AMA members.

That’s what I think, and I’m not hiding my opinion.



See related post:

10/13/2003 Opinion: Time To End Misappropriation Of AMA Non-profit Assets by Dissolving AMA Pro Racing, Firing Everybody, And Starting Over

From a press release:

Motorsports Safety LLC / Fastrack Riders Announce Online WERA West Coast Survey

San Juan Capistrano, CA — Motorsports Safety LLC, the parent company of Fastrack Riders Association, announces a web-based survey to determine the amount of interest in a WERA West Coast Racing Series.

David Pyles, President of Motorsports Safety LLC says, “It’s no secret that we have had discussions with WERA, but unlike last year where we got the cart before the horse in announcing a deal with AFM North, we are going to do our homework and verify if there truly is enough interest in having a WERA West Coast Series. Last year, we had a deal worked out with AFM North, and then determined the cost of scheduling most of our events at California Speedway was beyond the average racer’s budget. So in the end, the deal fell through.”

Larry Pointer, Director of Operations for Motorsports Safety LLC, states, “This survey is directed towards club racers on the West Coast that might be interested in a national racing series like WERA. If you are a club racer or seriously considering becoming one, then by all means go to the site and fill out the survey.”

The survey will be up for only two weeks, so be sure to take the survey sooner than later. “If we get a very positive response, we will go forward. If not, we will revisit the opportunity for next year.” David Pyles concludes.

The survey is located at http://www.werawest.com

From a press release issued by Team Oliver Yamaha:

Rich Oliver’s Mystery School sponsored Rich Oliver and mechanic Robert Ward are headed south to the beautiful Willow Springs International Motorsport Park in Rosamond Ca. The “fastest road in the west” will be home this weekend to the Roadracingworld.com 250/50, and also the Toyota 200 mile unlimited event.

Rich comments, “Right away I could tell this race was quite different, as the management of Willow Springs actually called me to invite us down to race. They arranged our parking and have lots of media set up to interview us when we get there. We are even going to be a part of the video production covering both races. At least we are actually wanted there, unlike at the AMA events! Also, the purse for each race is the highest amount we have seen all year.”

Rich knows the competition for the Roadracingworld.com 250/50 race will be tough. He had these thoughts, “The huge purse will bring out everyone who rides these Grand Prix machines well. They could come from all over the country and even overseas. It’s really the last chance this season to professionally race the bikes, and to go for the highest purse on the super challenging Willow 9 turn track. It should be tight.”

As far as the Toyota 200 mile event goes, Rich thinks that the Yamaha TZ 250 that the team has used all year with such domination will be on the edge of reliability. “We have so much power pumping through that motor now, that I’m not sure it will hold together for the whole 200 miles. It’s up close to 100 horsepower and that’s quite a bit above stock. It will be a miracle if it holds for the complete race, I think the first thing to go will be the wrist pins. They could snap and cause a huge explosion, but at least I won’t cover the track with oil like a four stroke would! We don’t have quick wheel change equipment so our pit stops will be a little slow, but we are easy on tires, so we may not have to stop as often. I think we can run pretty good pace for as long as my little engine pulls me along. I just don’t know what to expect, but that’s not going to stop us from giving each race everything we’ve got. That’s what we always do.”

From a press release:

Vincent Haskovec Set To Race Willow Springs’ Toyota 200

Popular Czech rider finished on podium there last year; looking to improve in ’03

FLORENCE, Ky., (October 15, 2003) – Fresh off being one of two riders invited for a successful AMA Superbike test session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Formula One road course, Vincent Haskovec will roll out his own Suzuki GSXR 1000 this weekend at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park for the annual Toyota 200, part of the WSMC Toyota Cup Road Race Series weekend at the challenging Southern California track.

Haskovec enjoyed a successful AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship campaign this summer, finishing on the overall podium in the Superstock class and in the top ten overall in the premier Superbike class. He returns to the Toyota 200 this year as a defending overall podium finisher (3rd) and is looking forward to improving upon his efforts of last year.

“Willow Springs is special to me in that it’s the first track I ever raced when I came here from Czechoslovakia,” said Haskovec. “It’s a fast track with good flow and I’m very comfortable racing there. I look forward to getting back on a bike and racing this weekend.”

Haskovec also added that the Toyota 200 is “One of the most difficult races in the world.”

“In the afternoon the wind blows so severely that it becomes difficult to do 80 laps,” he said. “So not only does the race require intense mental focus, it also takes an extreme toll on your body. Strength and endurance will be key if I hope to make it back on the podium this year, hopefully on the top.”

Action gets underway at Willow Springs on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 & 18, with qualifiers for the Toyota 200. Sunday’s (Oct. 19) races will feature the RoadracingWorld.com 250 Grand Prix, followed by the Toyota 200. For more information on the race weekend check out willowspringsraceway.com.