From a press release issued by Ducati North America:

ANTICIPATION BUILDS AS EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS ARE ADDED TO DUCATI ISLAND 2003 SCHEDULE

Ducati North America, Inc. is pleased to announce several exciting additions to the already long list of attractions on Ducati Island 2003.

Cupertino, CA: When the World Superbike Championship series returns to Laguna Seca Raceway July 11 – July 13, Ducati enthusiasts from throughout North America will be there to celebrate at the eighth annual presentation of Ducati Island, an entire world of Ducati located right in the middle of the racing action between turns 2 and 3 of the world famous circuit. As the event draws nearer, the list of events and attractions on Ducati Island 2003 is growing—and so is the excitement.

Ducati Museum
The gas burning, piston pumping history of Ducati will roll into Laguna Seca as more than twenty vintage Ducati motorcycles converge on Ducati Island for a Ducati Museum exhibit entitled, “Ducati Motorcycles Are Meant to be Ridden.” Although many of the bikes in the exhibit are museum quality, all are ridden and enjoyed by their owners on the open road. The Ducati Museum is made possible by Mr. Steve Allen (Bevelheaven.com) as well as members of “The Bevelheads” who will be on hand throughout the weekend to speak with race fans and answer questions about these unique machines.

Ducati University
Adam Faussett, Western Regional Technical Manager for Ducati North America, Inc. will give an hour-long presentation entitled, “Deconstructing Desmodromics,” explaining the detailed workings of the desmodromic valve actuation system and outlining its many benefits over a traditional spring actuated design. Mark Sutton, Ducati Race Team Technician will present “Racing Revealed,” a behind-the-scenes account of making a winning bike and the inner workings of a Superbike team. Dan Van Epps, Product Development Senior Manager for Ducati Motor in Bologna will make a presentation about the exciting new Ducati Multistrada. As one of the leading product planners on the Multistrada project, Mr. Van Epps will be able to provide an insightful, first-hand account of the development process.

Red Cross Charity Raffle
The American Red Cross will be on hand to conduct a charity raffle. Participants will have the chance to win prizes ranging from a gift certificate for a set of Dunlop motorcycle tires, a Dainese riding jacket, and an autographed Suomy helmet to a variety of Ducati Performance parts and accessories. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Monterey Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Ducati Island 2003 Sponsors
Ducati North America would also like to acknowledge Dunlop Motorcycle Tires, Dainese motorcycle apparel, and Suomy helmets as the official sponsors of Ducati Island 2003 and thank them for their generous support.

Please visit www.ducatiusa.com for more information and news on Ducati Island 2003.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.:

Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson, in Marietta, Georgia, is raffling a fallen soldier’s 1984 FXRT Harley-Davidson with all proceeds going to his wife and two children. The raffle will be held July 19.

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, 33, Bravo Company, 11th Engineer Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division, died while leading his squad in battle April 4 in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Smith, a native of El Paso, Texas, is survived by his wife of 11 years, Birgit Smith, son David Anthony Smith, and daughter Jessica Martha Smith.

Raffle tickets are available for $25 from:
Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson
993 South Cobb Drive
Marietta, GA 30060

Donations are being accepted via check or money order made payable to:

“Paul Ray Smith Assistance Fund”
c/o Lisa DeVane
2528 Carolyn Drive
Smyrna, GA 30080-2552

For more information go to http://www.sfcpaulsmith.com/.

From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

SHAKEY AIMS TO CONTINUE ROLLING AT THE ROCK.

As the British Superbike Championship enters the second half of the season, MonsterMob Ducati ace Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne is hoping to continue his first half dominance starting with this weekend’s action at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northants.

The 26 year old Minster, Isle of Sheppey rider shrugged off a body-battering practice crash to claim a win and a second place in the previous round at Brands Hatch two weeks ago to extend his lead at the top of the standings to a massive 133 points but is anxious to return to winning ways at ‘The Rock’ after his eight straight race victory sequence came to an end in the second leg at Brands after a narrow defeat by the Suzuki of John Reynolds.

“I could have settled for safe points at Brands being injured but I’m a racer and nothing suppresses the pain more that the adrenaline rush that winning provides. I know I only need to follow riders home now but that’s not me, I’m going out to win as always and I would really like to get another double there. My injuries are 90% healed and I’m feeling good” said Shakey who still is feeling some of the after-effects of that high speed smash which caused severe bruising to both feet and his spine.

With nine wins and three second places to his credit out of the twelve races to date, Byrne is comfortably in command of the Superbike series but his team mate Stuart Easton has only one win to his name in the Supersport class this season, an issue he hopes to readdress at the American-style oval.

The young Scot has endured some bad luck in his title defence but still lies second in the standings although he knows that nothing less than a win aboard the team’s 748 this weekend will suffice:

“I reckon I’ve had my share of bad luck and the plan this weekend is to clear off. I need to start closing the points gap on Karl Harris in front of me and the only way I can do that is to beat him” said the 18 year old from Hawick.

However, team boss Paul Bird is hoping his Rockingham jinx won’t strike for the third year in succession after former rider Steve Hislop was injured there in 2001 and last year, Easton developed a misfire when holding a comfortable lead.

“It’s not been the best of places for us, that’s for sure but I’m hoping it’s a case of third time lucky. There’s no reason why we can’t do the business this year and that’s what we’re hoping for. Shakey just needs safe points but try telling him that and Stuart is fired up for a good result also so we just need some luck there for once” said Bird from his Penrith office.

From a press release issued by Proforma:

CRAIG CONNELL HAS SURGERY ON BROKEN ARM

Annandale Honda rider Craig Connell had surgery on Monday, June 30th on the broken right arm that he sustained in a fall at Brainerd International Raceway on Friday, June 27th during AMA Formula Xtreme timed qualifying.

The two-hour surgery was performed by Dr. Arthur Ting, who inserted a rod in Craig’s right humerus (upper arm bone), as well as screws and two wires to stabilize the bone, which was broken in three places. Craig will wear a hard cast for three weeks, from his shoulder to his fingers, to limit movement of the bones and muscles. After the cast is removed, Craig will be able to begin physiotherapy on the arm to regain strength and mobility.

“The accident was unfortunate, because we had really made a lot of progress on both bikes, but the 600 (CBR600RR) in particular, and I was looking forward to doing well on it,” said Connell. “We had changed some things in the front end and the engine felt really strong.”

Connell will join the Annandale Honda team at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the combined AMA/World Superbike event over the July 12-13 weekend, and is expected to return to racing for the team at Round 10 of the AMA Superbike Series at Virginia International Raceway, August 29th through 31st.

Cards and messages can be sent to:

Craig Connell
c/o Annandale Racing
PO Box 529
Cresson, TX 76035
E-Mail – [email protected]

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racer Jimmy Moore is on an airplane en-route from Minneapolis to his home in Eugene, Oregon, where he will decide whether he will undergo surgery there or travel to Fremont, California to see Dr. Art Ting.

The decision will depend upon whether or not Moore’s medical insurance will pay for Ting to do the work or require Moore to use a local orthopedic surgeon.

That’s the word from Moore’s manager, former racer Bill Syfan of Proforma.

Syfan said that contrary to earlier reports from members of his team, Moore has undergone no surgery to date, and that his left arm did not suffer a compound fracture. Moore’s broken upper arm has been set and is in a soft cast, and he is wheelchair-bound due to his fractured right hip. Syfan said that doctors have also decided to allow Moore’s ruptured spleen to heal without surgery.

Moore crashed in turn 1 at Brainerd International Raceway during practice last Thursday, slid 230 yards across grass and hit a 4-inch-diameter tree. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then flown to a hospital in Minneapolis.

Stay tuned for further details as available.

See related posts:
6/27/2003 Moore Hit A Tree After Sliding 230 Yards At BIR

6/26/2003 Jimmy Moore Helicoptered To Minneapolis For Surgery

From a press release issued by WERA:

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing and Barber Motorsports Park made history this past weekend when WERA hosted the first sanctioned motorcycle road race at Barber Motorsports Park. George Barber did his homework and has created the most formidable facility in the U.S. The landscaping, art, buildings, amenities and the entire racetrack itself are superb.

Three hundered plus WERA riders tackled the new venue with WERA Vintage rider #50 Joe Pomeroy, from Simpsonville, SC taking the first checker flag in a motorcycle race at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday. Many other riders would take their first checker at the facility and all left with a great experience under their belt. The weekend was safe and the racing was great with 50+ grids taking the green flag and running six laps for sprints and 14 for Solo events.

The staff at Barber Motorsports Park goes the extra mile and the WERA Officials, Corner Workers and most of all racers went their extra mile to make for a great first weekend of motorcycle road racing! For further information check out the results on WERA’s web site www.wera.com, or call WERA at (770)720-5010.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A lawsuit filed in El Paso County Court in El Paso, Texas by racer Tracy McIntyre against Aprilia USA and Zero Gravity has been settled out of court on undisclosed terms.

McIntyre was disqualified for allegedly running modified cylinder heads on his Aprilia RS250 racebike in an Aprilia Cup race at Road Atlanta in May, 1999. Aprilia technicians later determined that the cylinder heads had not been modified and that McIntyre’s bike was legal, and his results were reinstated.

In his suit against Aprilia and Zero Gravity, (which ran the 1999 Aprilia Cup Challenge for Aprilia), McIntyre claimed that he was barred from competing in subsequent Aprilia Cup races because he would not sign a release of all claims related to his disqualification and subsequent publicity related to his disqualification.

Aprilia USA spokesman Robert Pandya responded to a request for comment via e-mail, writing “Thanks for contacting us regarding the Tracy McEntyre proceedings. However, Aprilia USA can not comment on any of our legal proceedings.”

A phone call to Zero Gravity requesting comment had not been returned at post time.

McIntyre also declined to comment.

From a press release issued by Desiree Crossman:

I want to let everyone know that on Saturday the 5th of July, we will log on to the Hopperracing chat room at 7:00 p.m. CET (10:00 a.m. PDT). So if anyone wants to chat, ask John some questions about racing or whatever just log onto the website, WWW.HOPPERRACING.COM, go to CONTACT and scroll down to the CHAT link. It’s the first time we’re going to be on it ’cause we never know where we are going to be. But for sure, this Saturday is set. Hope a few fans will log on and not some weirdo logging on asking ridiculous questions or making some obsene statement (can get a few of those from time to time).

From a press release issued by Pirelli:

PIRELLI MID-SEASON RACE REPORT:

PIRELLI LEADS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN WORLD SUPERSPORT, AMA SUPERSTOCK, F-USA SUPERBIKE, AND WERA NATIONAL ENDURANCE AMONG OTHERS AT MID-SEASON POINT

Also Dominated Isle Of Man Second Year In A Row

(Rome, GA) Pirelli Tires ended the 2002 race season with some pretty impressive results: 322 U.S. national and regional road race championships including a wad of F-USA and WERA titles, 20 U.S. track records broken, the World Supersport Championship, and total domination of the Isle Of Man. The logical question, even among Pirelli people, was: Can we do it again?

The answer, at least at this season’s halfway point, looks to be yes, they can do it again. Fact is, Pirelli may even surpass some of last year’s achievements.

Young Aussie sensation, Chris Vermeulen, is holding a commanding lead in World Supersport on his Pirelli Supercorsa-equipped factory Ten Kate Honda. Big point leads in WSS have been rare, especially at this point in the season. But Vermeulen, who just turned 21 years of age in late June, has set a blistering pace in this series which is gaining more and more popularity and attention for its hard-fought, paint-swapping action. He’s on a pace to eclipse the record-setting performance of last year’s champion, Fabian Foret, who also happened to be on Pirelli Supercorsas. One other big difference in 2003 is that Pirelli isn’t alone in the top group; five of the current World Supersport Top 10 are Pirelli mounted. (The company’s stock has also been rising in World Superbike. DFX Ducati’s Steve Martin has given Pirelli a number of top-10 finishes, some as high as sixth, in what is still termed a “development season”. The highlight has easily been Martin’s surprise provisional pole in Misano.)

In AMA Superstock, Vincent Haskovec, in his first season on Pirellis and a Hooters Suzuki, is leading the championship with six of 11 rounds completed. The popular Czech also won his first AMA national this year. He’s also not alone at the top: Pirelli riders hold four of the top 10 AMA Superstock points positions with Chris “Opie” Caylor, John Haner, and Mike Ciccotto, in addition to Haskovec.

Matt Wait retains a slim lead in Formula-USA Superbike, but behind him sit a group of other Pirelli riders, including Scott Harwell, Des Conboy, Lee Acree, Mike Himmelsbach, and Dave Stanton, giving Pirelli six of the Top 10 championship leaders in this class. Over in WERA, current champion Vesrah Suzuki again leads the National Endurance Series Overall Points on Pirellis, as do six WERA National Challenge class leaders.

Last year Pirelli set a modern-era record at the Isle of Man by not only winning all six major TTs, but by sweeping the podiums in all of them. Again in 2003, Pirelli riders won all six TTs they entered, captured 16 of the 18 podium positions, and took a staggering 54 of the 60 total Top-10 places available in those six TTs! (No, Pirelli was not the only tire company at the Isle of Man. It may have just seemed that way.)

Racing’s racing, and they don’t hand out championships for half seasons. But as the first half of the season has clearly shown Pirelli is again clearly at the top of the pack, and growing.