From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Foggy Chooses Young Italian For Misano World Superbike Race

Carl Fogarty has chosen young Italian rider Lorenzo Mauri to replace the injured James Haydon on the FP1 for this weekend’s seventh round of the World Superbike championship.

Mauri was recommended to the Foggy PETRONAS Racing team boss by Ducati chief Davide Tardozzi, who has used the rider for test purposes and has been impressed by his set-up ability and determined attitude. A translator will work with the FPR team throughout the weekend.

Carl said: “I thought it might help to have an Italian on the bike at Misano, which is a difficult track to get used to. And I wanted someone who was going to grab his chance by the scruff of the neck and really ride this thing.

“A few British names had been mentioned, but nobody who I really wanted. Davide told me that Mauri is as fast as the guys who are winning European Superstock races and that he is absolutely revving about the opportunity. He has got nothing to lose and we have got nothing to lose so, you never know, something just might happen.”

The 26-year-old from the Como province of Italy is currently competing in the Italian Superstock championship with the GB team. Last year he was 12th in the same championship with a best-placed finish of fourth at the Oschersleben event.

FPR’s James Haydon was ruled out of action for a minimum of two weeks with a prolapsed disc in his neck, following a crash in Germany. He is expected to be back in action for the eighth round of the championship at Laguna Seca on 13 July.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Following a new round of fines and points penalties related to illegal Supersport racebike modifications, AMA officials were not able to explain to reporters just what it now takes to get disqualified from an AMA National.

However, Roadracingworld.com has learned that racer John France was black-flagged out of his 250cc Grand Prix qualifying session at Pikes Peak and was threatened with immediate disqualification and expulsion from the premises.

France’s crime was using a slingshot to fire a paintball at a friend and missing, hitting a member of the TV production crew instead.

Hours after the paintball incident, AMA Pro Racing officials black-flagged France out of his qualifying session and threatened him with immediate disqualification and banishment from the racetrack.

Cooler heads prevailed and France was allowed to race, although he was told that he faces a fine of a yet-to-be-determined amount.

No official statement on the situation has been released by AMA Pro Racing.

Phone messages left Wednesday morning seeking comment from AMA Pro Racing’s Ron Barrick and Merrill Vanderslice had not been returned prior to post time.

France has declined comment.


This just in: Merrill Vanderslice returned the call, and what was said follows:

Roadracingworld.com: We understand there was some sort of incident with John France and a paint ball at Pikes Peak that nearly saw France disqualified and kicked out of the track. What happened as far as AMA Pro Racing taking action against France?

Merrill Vanderslice, AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition: “We got a radio call from (TV Producer) Chet Burks – I say ‘we,’ Ron Barrick did – that France had shot a paint ball in the paddock and hit one of the production TV camera men in the eye. You can imagine what we thought, that that certainly wasn’t a good situation. That sounds very unprofessional, sounds dangerous.

“At the time the radio called in, I believe 250 GP qualifying was going on. And Ron had John black-flagged, went and talked to him and said, ‘We heard this, and we’re disqualifying you and you need to pack your stuff and get off the premises.’

“After that Greg Esser came to Ron to kind of plead John’s case a bit, told him – again you really need to be talking to Ron, because all of this goes through him. I’m getting this myself second-hand. But Greg said that, you know, it was not malicious, they were playing around with someone else who was egging John on to shoot this thing, and he missed and hit the fence and it sprayed in this other guy’s eye.

“All of that doesn’t really matter much. The fact remains is he’s shooting paint balls with a slingshot in the paddock, hit somebody – somebody could have got hurt. It’s not something we expect professional racers to be doing in the paddock, as well. I mean, that’s a high school/junior high prank somebody does.

“So, Greg said that John certainly didn’t mean anything by it and all that, and he hoped that he (Barrick) would talk to John about it.

“Greg rides with John to the races. It was going to be a problem with Greg getting a ride home and that sort of thing, continuing rides in the future.

“So Ron had a word with John, and John said, apparently, it was a very stupid thing to do. John came to me and said the same thing. ‘I didn’t mean anything by it. I was playing around. It was dumb, a very stupid thing to do. It won’t ever happen again.’

“I left it to Ron to decide from there. Ron decided to let John continue to race, that he was going to be watched, that a possible fine was going to be levied. I don’t know anything after that. I don’t even know if Ron’s had time to mess with it any more.”

Roadracingworld.com had tried to contact Barrick at his home office in Virginia Wednesday morning.

Vanderslice explained, “He’s on a plane to Italy right now. He’s a jury member on a World Superbike event this weekend. He will be back Monday night.”

From a press release issued by CRA:

The Central Roadracing Association is approaching another exciting round of racing at Brainerd International Raceway, June 21-22. Many National and regional racers are expected to show, being as the CRA race falls the weekend before the AMA National Event.

Current point leaders, Brett Donahue, Scott Ruehle, and Jason Hobbs will dice for the points lead, while facing challenge from National racers. Racer registration is still open, so join us for a fierce and exciting racing weekend!

CRA has 3 scheduled races following the June race:
July 19-20 Brainerd Intl Raceway
August 23-24 Midamerica Motorplex
September 12-14 Brainerd Intl Raceway

Also, opportunities are available for those interested in volunteering throughout the weekend. If you would like more information on the CRA, please visit www.cra-mn.org or phone (612) 332-4070

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

CCS racer Geoffrey Allen and wife Judy had a son, Geoffrey Allen Jr., May 20 in Manassas, Virginia.

From a press release:

PleasureLand RV Center, BIR agree to a major sponsorship package for the 2003 racing season

BRAINERD, Minn. – Brainerd International Raceway and PleasureLand RV Center officials today announced a major sponsorship deal whereby PleasureLand will have a significant presence at BIR this year.

PleasureLand, Minnesota’s largest RV dealership, with locations in St. Cloud, Anoka and Fargo, N.D., signed a one-year sponsorship deal that includes naming rights to BIR’s year-old 160-site RV park, which will now be called the PleasureLand RV Park. The park encircles beautiful Lake BIR, with it’s landscaped shoreline and scenic fountain. The park sits in the shadows of BIR’s main grandstand.

The PleasureLand-BIR deal also includes title sponsorship of BIR’s Show & Go event, which will now be called the PleasureLand RV Center Show & Go. The July 3-6 event has been a mainstay at BIR for 16 years. It features classic cars that compete in drag racing and a spectacular car show. The drag racing categories include King Street, Real Street and Outlaw.

“We’re very pleased that PleasureLand has agreed to a major sponsorship,” BIR General Manager Scott Quick said. “This sponsorship is a significant piece of the puzzle, and PleasureLand was an obvious choice for us. They were always No. 1 on a very short list of prospective sponsors for this package. We’re looking forward to a long relationship with PleasureLand RV Center.”

PleasureLand’s three locations feature a selection of more than 450 new and pre-owned diesel homes, mini homes, travel trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, expandable trailers, fold-down camping trailers, and truck-mount campers. PleasureLand also offers service, parts and accessories.

“The Pleasureland RV family is very excited about this exclusive sponsorship” said Dan Pearson, owner of PleasureLand RV Center said. “It supports our business principles of local involvement and promoting the RV lifestyle.”

BIR is a subsidiary of Michigan-based Sports Resorts International Inc., a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ exchange (SPRI). Now in its 34th season, BIR is one of North America’s largest racetracks, featuring 800 acres of rustic camping, 159 full-service RV sites and on-site condos. BIR is about 120 miles north of the Twin Cities, and it now has a new concrete drag strip that is one of the flattest and fastest in the country. Visit www.brainerdraceway.com.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

There is no plan for American Honda’s Ben Bostrom, Miguel Duhamel or Kurtis Roberts to race in the World Superbike races July 10-13 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, but the possibility has not been ruled out, according to team sources.

“We’re still kind of up in the air,” Chuck Miller, American Honda Racing Teams Manager told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday. “To tell you the truth, right now there is not a plan to participate in WSB.

“We’re still having some discussions. I’m going to tell you no, right now, but if you see something change then…anything is possible, certainly. We’re still having discussions about it. Tentatively, no Honda (AMA) riders will ride the WSB event. We will concentrate on the AMA.”

Miller said that several factors, particularly the risks involved, weighed into the decision to exclude his riders from the event. “There’s a cost. There’s a risk. There’s a marketing value. There’s a lot of different reasons, obviously,” said Miller. “At this point, we want to focus on the AMA, where all of our guys are in the (Superbike) Championship hunt for that series. That’s where we have our most marketability as well. That’s why we’re going to stick with AMA only.”

Miller said that the plan was tentative and that anything could happen. But when asked what factor would change his plan, Miller said, “I don’t know. Right now, I’m not sure if there is a factor that would change it.”

As for published reports indicating Bostrom and Roberts would join series regular Duhamel in the AMA Supersport race Friday, July 11, Miller said, “Still discussing it. Nothing for sure is planned there. Miguel is for sure (going to race Supersport). That’s the only for sure at this point. We’ve had discussions about it and talks, but no final decision on it has been made at this point.”

Miller explained that some of the same factors that are leading him to hold his riders out of the World Superbike races are leading him to include Bostrom and Roberts in AMA Supersport at Laguna Seca. “Marketability, it’s local, easy to do. We can haul another truck up there with the extra equipment if we want to,” said Miller. “It’s on Friday, so it kind of spreads the weekend out a little bit so it makes it a little easier for the guys to do that. We’re still talking with the guys about that. No final decisions have been made for sure.”

Miller also said that Honda officials in Japan had not asked for any American Honda Superbike riders to participate in the Suzuka 8-hour July 31-August 3 even though it falls within a month-long break in the AMA Superbike schedule.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert will sit out the AMA Championship event at Brainerd International Raceway June 26-29 due to injuries suffered in a recent crash. But the 22-year-old Australian, who rides in Supersport and Formula Xtreme, expects to be near 100 percent fitness for the Laguna Seca AMA event July 10-13.

“It looks at this point like I’m screwed. It’s not official yet, but I’ve pretty much called Brainerd off,” said Gobert Tuesday on his way home from an examination at Dr. Arthur Ting’s Fremont, California office. The appointment was a checkup following June 9 surgery to screw and plate together bones in Gobert’s left wrist and thumb, broken in a crash during practice at Road America June 6.

“The problem is they had to put aside the tendons for the thumb, and that sort of creates a bit of tightness and tension in the thumb,” said Gobert via cell phone from the back of a taxi on the way to the San Jose, California airport. “He (Dr. Ting) said if I ride at Brainerd, I will more than likely displace the bone, and he’ll have to operate again and put them back into alignment, and I’ll miss Laguna and the rest of the year. I was going to try to ride at Brainerd, but I’ll probably have to miss it.

“I’m not worried about it,” said Gobert. “I’m bummed out that I can’t ride, because I really was looking at the (Supersport) Championship this year, even though I was consistently finishing in third place.

“I’m still looking at the Championship because there are still five races to go, and that’s a long time. And the points are tight, and I was getting better every weekend. I feel like I had just taken it to a new level, you know, at Pikes Peak? I feel that I lifted up a level, then this happened. I’m not disappointed, because I’m pretty confident when I come back it won’t take a race to get back into it. As long as I don’t have a wrist problem. As long as I can use the clutch, I’ll be alright.”

Gobert has finished on the AMA Supersport podium three times in 2003 and even though he didn’t race at Road America is still third in the Championship standings. Gobert’s deficit to Supersport points leader Jamie Hacking grew from 12 to 39 points at Road America, however.

On his way out of Dr. Ting’s office, Gobert said he was introduced to Suzuki MotoGP racer Kenny Lee Roberts, who was there “to get his shoulder looked at.”

On Wednesday, Kneedraggers.com Yamaha’s Matt Wait has an appointment to have Dr. Ting examine his right scapula, which was broken in two places by a crash last Saturday, during qualifying for Formula USA races at New Hampshire International Speedway.

From a press release issued by BMW:

BMW Motorrad BoxerCup – Round 5
Circuit de Catalunya Grand Prix
Final Summary – That’s Racing!

Baseball legend Yogi Bera once said “It ain’t over till it’s over”, that adage perfectly summarizes Round 5 of the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup held at the picturesque Circuit de Catalunya, located on the Medetereanan coast of Spain, just north of the city of Barcelona. With track temperatures soaring to 116 degrees Fahrenheit, the 15 lap sprint would be a test of skill and stamina for the international field of 36 riders. The usual suspects filled the grid for Saturday’s race, with Austrian Thomas Hinterreiter posting a session best qualifying time of 1:58.587 seconds to take the pole. Hinterreitter was joined on the front row by series points leader Roberto Panichi (I), Markus Barth (D) and Sebastian Legrelle (B). The second row was lead by VIP entrant and former World 250 GP rider “Fast” Jurgen Fuchs (D). Also on row two were Richard Cooper (GB), Fernando Cristobal (E) and Andy Hoffman (S). The top 12 qualifiers were rounded out by Norbert Rebholz (D), Brian Parriott (USA) Peter Ottl (D) and Laurry Fremy (F).

It’s Panichi again…or is it?

Italian Roberto Panichi, appearing to have been shot out of a cannon, got the holeshot as the riders left the grid for lap one. Panichi continued to build on his lead as the laps clicked away, surging to as much as a :5.786 second lead. A pack of 6 riders, Hinterreiter, Legrelle, Cristobal, Hoffman, Barth and Cooper, swapped positions in the early going, but could not seem to gain ground on the Italian. This group was separated by as little as 0.35-second, making for some of the most exiting racing since the nail-biting BoxerCup race in Daytona in March of this year. Panichi had just about checked out for good from the field when he suddenly lost the front end on turn 7 and crashed out of the race. Feeling dejected and disappointed, Panichi commented “It was just a stupid mistake on my part. I got a little too far over on the turn and touched my cylinder head to the ground and the next thing I know, I am in the gravel area.”

The group of 6 riders left at the front of the race was quickly reduced to 5, as Spanish rider Fernando Cristobal crashed from the fourth position, one lap after Panichi’s mishap. With Panichi and Cristobal out of the race, new race leader Thomas Hinterreiter was left to pick up where the Italian left off. And pick up he did, stretching out a nearly 7-second lead going into the final two laps of the race. Belgian Sebastian Legrelle would make a hard charge on Hinterreiter in the final 3 laps, but could never close the gap to less than 3 seconds as Hinterreiter took the checkered flag. Legrelle would finish 2nd, 3.567 seconds behind Legrelle. Andy Hoffman got a fantastic drive out of turn 13 to edge Markus Barth by a scant 0.033-second at the line to steal 3rd place. Richard Cooper would round out the top 5, finishing 0.511-second behind Barth.

Team USA Turns It On

BMW Motorrad Team USA would show the most improvement among the field of 36, as riders Brian Parriott and Jason Perez would improve by 9 and 7 places, respectively, from their order of finish in last weekend’s round 4 at Mugello, Italy. Parriott crossed the line 7th with Jason Perez finishing 10th. “I got a really good start for the first time since Daytona, that really made the difference for me today,” stated Perez. Perez further commented, “Coming into the race I was really disappointed with my qualifying (19th). I made a couple of mistakes today that cost me a couple of places, but I’m really happy with my finish.” Equally pleased with his performance, Parriott felt he could have caught the lead pack had it not been for one thing: Turn 5. Reflecting on his difficulty in handling Catalunya’s downhill left hander, “Every time I’d begin to separate from the group, I’d get to 5 and just not hit the right brake point,” stated Parriott. In fact, French rider Guillame Dietrich made a daring inside pass on Parriott in turn 5 on the final lap of the race to steal 6th place from the young Californian. “It feels really, really good to score some decent points again. The real difference for me this weekend was that I learned the track pretty quickly and that we raced on consecutive weekends. With a practice coming up this week at Sachsenring and then consecutive race weekends at Assen and Spa, I think I can move up in the points a few places,” stated Parriott.

Also happy with Team USA’s performance was BMW Motorrad Team USA crew chief Richard Dampf. “We’ve all been working really hard since Daytona and it was good to have it payoff for us today,” stated Dampf. “It has been a tough road for us since Daytona. Coming to Europe and competing with the level of talent in the pits and on the grid is a real challenge. I’m happy for the team to have placed so well this week,” stated Dampf. No stranger to racing himself, Dampf was the mastermind driving force behind the popular “Battle of the Legends” race series organized by BMW in the late 90’s. In fact, the genesis of today’s BMW Motorrad BoxerCup has its roots in the “Battle of the Legends” series.

Speed Channels White Joins The Action

Participating in round 5 of the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup was Speed Channels Greg White. The trackside reporter for Speed Channel broadcasts of AMA Road Racing events and host of the very popular Speed Channel Two-Wheel Tuesday”Greg’s Garage”, White was impressed with the quality of the competition. “You’ve got some really good talent competing in this series”, stated White commenting on the BoxerCup field of pilots. “Guys like Panichi, Barth, Hoffman and our own Brian Parriott from the USA have competed at some of the highest levels of road racing competition in the world. You even have an ex-250 GP racer in Jurgen Fuchs who’s running as a VIP rider that sweetens the field even more. I can’t believe how fast these guys can ride such a heavy bike.” White was also on the grid for the inaugural race of the 2003 season in Daytona and plans on racing in Spa as well as the season ending race in Brno, Czech Republic. “Any time you can join a race weekend like MotoGP, I’m there. It’s a lot of fun coming here and racing with these guys and getting to hook up with some old friends like Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins and Colin Edwards of the MotoGP circuit. I just wish I had a little more time on the bike to improve my results. It’s pretty tough to do 2, ½-hour qualifying sessions and then go out and race. But it was still fun and I could feel myself getting better each time around the track. BMW has been really great to us this weekend and I look forward to coming back for the race in Spa.”

On to Assen

The BMW Motorrad BoxerCup moves to Assen for round 6, as part of the world famous Dutch TT weekend of race action. BMW racing history is rich at Assen, with Klaus Enders and Ralf Engelhardt winning a world championship for BMW with a sidecar outfit here in 1973. The Dutch TT weekend is equally renowned for the “Night of Assen”, as 200,000+ race fans flock to this small city 160 Km from Amsterdam to celebrate through the night prior to the race. Assen marks the 4th time this season that the BMW Motorrad BoxerCup joins the MotoGP race series on it’s schedule. Race day is Saturday, June 28th, and will be run on the same day as 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP World Championship races. Watch for updates and results on www.BMWMotorrad.com.

From a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Pramac Honda Team Press Information
Montmelò – Catalunya – (Spain)
Private Tests
Monday 16 June 2003

Tarmac sizzles at private post-race tests at Montmelò

Scorching heat – 56°C on the ground in the afternoon – really pushed the determination of the Pramac Honda Team to the limit as they went out once again to test their Bridgestone tyres.

After his fine seventh place in yesterday’s race, Makoto Tamada again did his bit to help develop the new tyres, and he clocked up 67 laps on the Montmelò circuit. Best time: 1:45.3.

His work programme included an in-depth examination of the range of tyres used for the last two races at Mugello and Catalunya: they gave excellent results and showed the Tokyo tyre manufacturer’s technicians that they are working along the right lines. In actual fact, the technicians wanted to improve the balance of the bike with the clear aim of improving performance even further.

Shinichi Itoh was once again back on the saddle of his Pramac Honda Team RC211V bike. The micro-fracture he received during the IRTA tests in March, right here at Montmelò, had kept him away from the MotoGP for about two and a half months. Even so, he has already taken part in two Superbike races in Tukuba and Suzuka, Japan, again on Bridgestone tyres, and today he made his ‘return’ on the five-cylinder machine.

Shinichi put in 72 laps, getting a feeling once again for the exuberant power of the RC211V and posting an excellent 1:46.3. The official Pramac Honda Team test rider mainly concentrated on trying out new Bridgestone prototypes, and provided some useful information for future development.

After this intense day of tests, Itoh will be going back to Japan but it won’t be long before he is back in the old continent for another round of tests.

Makoto Tamada – 67 laps – 1:45.3

Shinichi Itoh – 72 laps – 1:46.3