Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racer Rich Conicelli has quit racing and is going to work for Dunlop as a Test Engineer.

“I won’t be racing anymore,” said Conicelli in a phone call to Roadracingworld.com.

Conicelli will be testing Dunlop tires at the company’s Huntsville, Alabama test facility, starting on Monday.

From a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

ABE TO REPLACE INJURED MELANDRI FOR VALENCIA GRAND PRIX

The Fortuna Yamaha Team has announced today that Norick Abe will ride as a replacement for Marco Melandri at the season-closing Valencia Grand Prix in Spain on Sunday 2nd November. Melandri will undergo an operation to his right shoulder on Monday 27th October in Forli, Italy so will be forced to miss the last round of the 2003 MotoGP World Championship. Abe will compete in Fortuna Yamaha Team colours for the third time this year, having already stepped in to replace Melandri at the season-opening Suzuka and Welkom races in April.

Twenty-eight-year-old Japanese rider Abe is a former GP regular who finished sixth in the 2002 Championship. In 2003 Abe has ridden as Yamaha’s factory test rider and competed in several rounds as a wildcard.

MotoGP rookie Melandri suffered a dislocation to his right shoulder and haematoma to his left heel when he fell during last Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. The 21-year-old was in the midst of a mighty battle amongst the top three riders when he highsided and fell from his M1 machine halfway through the race.

Melandri made a characteristically quick recovery, with his dislocated shoulder popped back in place at the circuit clinic even before the race was over. However, further examinations in Italy this week have revealed that the damage to the young Italian’s right shoulder cap is worse than was initially diagnosed, and that an operation is necessary for it to heal correctly. After consultation with Melandri and the team it was agreed that it made sense for Melandri to undergo surgery now so as not to risk further injury and to ensure a full recovery in time for the 2004 pre-season testing in January.

“I’m feeling quite okay, I have a little bit of pain in my shoulder but not all the time,” said Melandri today. “Since I got back from Australia I have had an extensive check-up with Doctor Costa and a shoulder specialist who operated on my left shoulder two years ago. The check-up revealed that everything around my shoulder is broken, and that only an operation will repair it for good. I had exactly the same operation on my left shoulder and that is absolutely fine now, so I know that it will heal without a problem.

“To ride a MotoGP bike you must be 100 per cent fit. The four-strokes are so heavy to control and your shoulders carry a lot of that weight. If I tried to ride in Valencia it would be very painful and I wouldn’t get a good result. I’m going ahead with the operation now because it will give me time to recover and to be in perfect health for the start of 2004. After the operation I will need one month of rest, one month of physiotherapy, and one month of training. I’m sorry to miss Valencia but this way I will be ready to ride again in January.”

News of Melandri’s progress after his shoulder operation on Monday will be issued next week.


Name: NORICK ABE

Born: 7 September, 1975 in Tokyo, Japan

Number: 17

First GP: 1994 500cc Japanese Grand Prix (retired)

Career:
1993 All Japan GP500 Champion
1994 500cc World Championship debut
1995 9th 500cc World Championship
1996 5th
1997 7th
1998 6th
1999 6th
2000 8th
2001 7th
2002 6th MotoGP World Championship

From a press release issued by KTM:

WORLD PREMIERE:
KTM-SUPERBIKE CONCEPT “RC8” RELEASED AT TOKYO MOTORSHOW.

The RC8 CONCEPT BIKE underlines KTM’s long term vision for the road.



SHE DOES NOT COME IN PEACE – SHE COMES FROM KTM.

For the RC8, we brought our riders to the design table as well as the best technicians and designers. Our aim: The ultimate weapon for ambitious street-fighters.

That means: A radical concentration of its mass around the compact 75° V2. Innovative details are everywhere: The seat is the tank, keeping fuel at the machine’s centre of gravity. Dry sump lubrication allows the entire exhaust system to sit precisely where it has the least influence on dynamics. Directly under the engine.

The fairing is designed to produce: The least possible crosswind drag. The result: No crosswind oscillation, spell-binding agility, and aggressive steering ability.



FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION – FORM FOLLOWS FICTION.

Our design approach is very simple. At KTM, an air duct is always – first and foremost – an air duct. First the function, then the beauty. But anyone who stands and beholds her can tell that we don’t give the appearances short shrift.

Her powerful lines and extreme reduction to the basics characterize her as a unique, wild and emotional motorcycle. A striking statement for our future on the road.



Technical Specifications:

Engine: KTM LC8 engine
Displacement: 999.8cc
Frame: Tubular chromoly space frame
Dry weight: approx. 175 kg
Transmission: 6 gears, dog-clutch engagement
Top speed: 280 km/h

From a press release issued by 1-888-FASTLAP:

STOKES NOMINATED FOR AMA SPORTS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

MARIETTA, Ga.- 1-888-FASTLAP racer Brian Stokes hopes to add the AMA Sports Athlete of the Year award to his list of accomplishments in only his first year of professional road racing, after being announced as one of the six nominees for the prestigious award.

Stokes, who races a Suzuki GSX-R750 in the AMA Pro Racing Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Series, has been selected as the road racing nominee for AMA Sports Athlete of the Year.

AMA Sports is the world’s largest motorsports-sanctioning body, sanctioning over 4000 amateur and pro-am events every year in over 12 different forms of motorcycle and ATV racing.

The AMA Sports Athlete of the Year award, which is new this year and will become an annual tradition, is given to a racer that has outstanding accomplishments in AMA Sports events. Six nominees are chosen from among the hundreds of racers who participate each year in AMA Sports events.

“It’s a big surprise,” said Stokes of his nomination. “It’s a huge honor to be considered for this. The list of riders that were nominated along with me is impressive; I’m in really good company.”

Stokes won the AMA Road Race Horizon Award earlier this year after taking two victories during the AMA Sports National Championships at Mid-Ohio. He considers the accomplishment to be the best of his racing career, and Stokes feels that being named the AMA Sports Athlete of the Year will be just as significant.

“I raced motocross for ten years, so I know how difficult it is to be involved in some of the other nominees’ sports,” commented Stokes. “Just being mentioned among the best in motorcycle racing as a whole would be great, and a good way to end the season. Winning this would be good motivation for me in my quest to win an AMA National championship next year.”

The AMA Sports Athlete of the Year will be named during the AMA Sports Awards Banquet on Friday, November 21, in Las Vegas, Nev.

From a press release issued by Ducati North America, Inc.:

DREAM MACHINES: DUCATI LAUNCHES THREE NEW CONCEPT BIKES IN TOKYO



Inspired by the Sportbikes of the 1970s, Ducati’s Three SportClassic Prototypes are the Stuff of Enthusiast’s Dreams

Tokyo Motorshow, 22nd October 2003 – “Our dreams live in the legends of racing, in riders like Paul Smart who helped us to write some of the most wonderful pages in the history of world motorcycling. Our dreams live in the simple and classic lines, the rich details and the colours of those trail-blazing Ducati sport bikes of the 1970s.

“The three bikes that we are unveiling today represent the perfect mixture of winning technology – always a Ducati hallmark – with the timeless beauty of Ducati Design. Paul Smart, Sport, GT – three motorcycles designed to wet the appetites of enthusiasts everywhere, giving our Ducatisti, we hope, something to dream about. The bikes you see today are one-off items. They are not for sale. And yet, at Ducati we know that dreams sometimes come true.”

It was with these words that Federico Minoli, President of Ducati Motor Holding, presented the company’s three concept bikes to the press at the opening of this year’s Tokyo Motorshow.

Whilst all three machines embody the same essential concept, timeless Ducati design linked with high performance, the individual designs, named Smart 1000, GT 1000 and Sport 1000 offer three particular expressions of Ducati heritage while utilizing the latest and most innovative Ducati technologies.

The Smart 1000 is inspired by the 750 Imola on which Paul Smart rode to victory in the historic 200 Miles of Imola in 1972. The Smart 1000 bike brings the spirit of its predecessor back to life with levels of performance able that surpass the expectations of today’s most demanding two-wheel enthusiasts.

The GT 1000 is a sport bike eminently suitable for everyday use, striking a perfect balance between the comfort of a two-seater and the performance of a two-cylinder Desmo. Tradition and stylish elegance are merged seamlessly in this machine, made even more interesting by high-spec components and by the handling and safety typical of present-day Ducati motorcycles.

The Sport 1000 is a gutsy “Café Racer”. Ducati through-and-through, with a coat of bold Ducati yellow paint, the Sport delivers timeless good looks and excitement that fans and enthusiasts expect of all Ducati sport bikes.

All three bikes are equipped with the Desmo 1000 DS engine and cut a stylish figure with the unmistakable tubular trestle frame, characteristic of models made in Borgo Panigale. State-of-the-art engineering solutions make these three machines benchmarks in terms of technology, design and performance.

Founded in 1926, the Ducati Company is a maker of sport motorcycles with powerful “desmodromic” engines characterized by innovative design and cutting-edge technology. The Ducati range of bikes covers five market segments, differing in terms of technical specifications and customer profile: Superbike, Super Sport, Monster, Sport Touring, and Multistrada. Ducati bikes are sold in more than 40 countries around the world, mostly on the European and North American markets. Ducati has won eleven of the last thirteen World Superbike Championship titles and notched up more individual race wins than all the other competing marques put together. For more information on the company, visit our website http://www.ducati.com.





DUCATI SPORTCLASSIC

Only one sport bike manufacturer designs motorcycles that can make enthusiasts dream. Welcome to a new Ducati family of concept bikes – The SportClassic – motorcycles that capture the essential beauty, timeless style and emotion of the original Ducati sport bikes of the 1970’s. Even though they reflect the best of the past, they incorporate the latest Ducati technology and engineering, creating a thoroughly modern motorcycle that lives up to today’s standards of road-going performance.

Ducati sport bikes of the 1970’s were typically long and low in stature, with fairings and tanks with curving lines that forced the eye to sweep from front to back and side to side. The shapes of the body combined with colors ranging from bold, monochromatic yellows and blacks to subtle silver, blue and green hues giving the bikes a sophisticated yet muscular look. The bikes made a powerful visual statement whether parked or in motion. Above all, these were essential, purposeful-looking motorcycles, harmonized by quality components.

Tubular frames wrapped the engines that were left proudly exposed for all to see, exploiting the beauty of their cooling fins and polished cases. Twin rear shocks and wire wheels with their radiating spokes laced to chrome or alloy rims were essential to the “look” of the period. Moreover, no bike was complete without long, elegant chrome silencers or black-painted, race-inspired exhaust systems.

Although classically inspired, these are modern Ducati motorcycles, so they must be powerful, handle confidently and be exciting to ride everyday.

The PaulSmart, GT and Sport are all powered by the advanced Desmo 1000 DS engine. The torquey air-cooled 90º L-Twin is the perfect match to power these sport bikes. Slim between the legs and exposed for all to see, the latest two valve Desmo system, fuel-injection, computer controlled engine management and Ducati Testastretta technology ensure that the 1000 DS engine is powerful, dependable and thrilling to ride.

Of course, the entire SportClassic range exploits the beauty of the signature Ducati tubular Trellis frames. The mitered and welded ALS 450 tubing gains its renowned strength and rigidity from complex triangulation and the integrity of quality material.

The entire family uses only the best suspension components. Fully adjustable and built with quality throughout, unique swingarms and suspension layouts ensure their look matches the classic appeal of the bikes, while still delivering the superior road holding and performance you expect from of Ducati.

With bikes that are as capable as the SportClassic, great brakes are fundamental. The high quality Brembo “Serie Oro” four piston calipers are used, gripping huge 320mm discs up front for strong and consistent stopping power. Performance is further enhanced with steel braided brake lines front and rear.

As you would expect from a motorcycle inspired by the original icons of Ducati sport motorcycles, every element and component is built with only the highest quality materials and engineered with performance as a priority.

Three classics, three dream machines:

DUCATI PAUL SMART 1000


Inspired by Paul Smart’s 750 Imola Racer, the new Smart 1000 captures the verve of the original and fulfills the performance demands of today’s sport rider.

DUCATI GT 1000


A sport bike to be ridden everyday – with a balance of two-up comfort and Desmo Twin performance – the new GT 1000 combines heritage styling, quality components and modern road manners.

DUCATI SPORT 1000


Bold “Café Racer” style in bright Ducati yellow paint. Timeless beauty with all the performance you expect from Ducati

These are motorcycles to make enthusiasts dream. Right now, the project exists only in show bike form – conceptual projects to ponder, unique and not for sale. But as all Ducatisti know, sometimes dreams become reality. Ducati wants to hear your thoughts on these remarkable new motorcycles. Visit www.ducati.com to check out the bikes up close; then take the SportClassic Survey and give Ducati your input.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

G.A.M.E. (Great American Motorcycle Experience), which organized and provided the purse for AFM races held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 20-21, has bounced several prize money checks issued to competitors, due to insufficient funds.

G.A.M.E. organized the event, which featured motorcycle drag racing, super motard, motocross, dirt track, road racing and more, and according to the company’s website (www.great-motorcycle-exp.com.) provided a $300,000 purse for the event

Several racers have complained that they had checks returned, and, when they called the Las Vegas bank the checks were drawn on, were told there were no funds available.

After being contacted by Roadracingworld.com, AFM President Joe Montoya replied yesterday vie e-mail, with the following instructions for racers with bad checks:

“I just talked to the main guy at GAME. Here’s what folks holding checks need to do:

“Call the GAME office or e-mail, [email protected]. Give them your check number and amount. Give your name and address. You will receive a cashier’s check by mail.

“I was told that some sponsor checks were late in coming and that is why the funds ran out. AFM still has to settle with GAME. They owe us close to $20k. I believe that they’ll make it right. I told them that quick handling of this matter was critical if they wanted us to return in ’04.”


AFM has had at least one previous experience with an independent promoter of an AFM-sanctioned race writing bad checks or simply not sending purse checks. An AFM-sanctioned, Budweiser-sponsored 6-hour at Riverside Raceway in 1981 ended with several teams and riders not getting their purse checks, including race co-winner Ron Pierce.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Motorcycle Division Marketing Manager Mark Homchick has left Kawasaki Motors Corp. U.S.A.

Homchick, a former racer and a former motojournalist, was a long-time Kawasaki employee.

A Kawasaki spokesperson said that Homchick had resigned two or three weeks ago but that she did not know why Homchick left the company.

Roadracing World was unable to contact Homchick for comment.

No further details were available at post time.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail:

Back in June I had a guy contact me about buying my bike. He said he was sending me a $12,000 Bank of America cashier’s check. I asked him if he wanted to see pictures of the bike, he said he has seen the bike before or a replica. He told me that the check was to be cashed and for me to hold out my share which was $6300. He wanted me to send the rest via Western Union quick collect to a shipping company. The bank I cashed the cashier’s check with never checked to make sure the check was good even after I mentioned holding the check to clear. It did have a watermark and it looked totally good.

So I received the change of $5700 and sent the money off. Well, the next day the guy called me and said that there had been a problem with his company and they where going under. He said he would not be able to purchase the bike. He told me to keep $1500 for my inconvenience and send the rest of the money back to him. So I went to the bank and the bank said they where waiting for the check to clear. I was like “What the hell, you should have done that three days ago.” They didn’t give me the rest of the money.

Later that afternoon I received a call from the bank stating that the check was fraudulent. So now I’m paying the bank back $5700 plus interest, which amounts to about $6600 and it’s cost me a whole season of racing.

I was the third person this happened to in western North Carolina and none of the banks knew about the scam. I don’t know when the scam started but if anyone can help me figure out a way to stop this shit from happening to someone else I will be more than happy to help.

Please, if you read this don’t buy anything from overseas and don’t sell anything overseas, either.
Watch for ATVs, I found the same problem with some guy in Austria trying to sell Yamaha YFZ450s for $4000 new with free shipping. I e-mailed him and he said they had clean titles and all thepaper work but never explained why the ATVs were so cheap.

Keep an eye out, you never know

Thanks, Roadracing World for a great site and mag, I’m OUT.

Eric J. Douglass
WERA, CCS #537
Franklin, North Carolina



And now, some reader reaction:

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail:

Regarding the guy from NC who got burned: Seems he has an issue with his bank. Unless he has the amount of money in his own accounts, how did the bank allow the check to be drawn upon? If I were him, I’d do some checking with the state banking commission, FDIC and or some other banking authority.

Just doesn’t seem right this guy has to cover that amount of money for a flaw in bank procedure.

Lee Block
Morgan Hill, California

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Former CCS racer Dennis McKenna and wife Cheri had a son, Hayden Meade McKenna, October 15 in Aurora, Illinois.