Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki is racing at the annual WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia this weekend, but instead of star rider Steve Rapp challenging the lap record, the team is continuing its history of using the event to evaluate new talent.

“We have a long, storied history of talent tryouts at the WERA GNF,” said Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry.

The team signed current rider Matt Furtek after a tryout at the 2002 GNF and evaluated John Hopkins and Ben Spies at the 1999 GNF. Hopkins went on to win the 2000 AMA 750cc Supersport Championship and the 2001 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship for the team and is currently completing his second year in the MotoGP World Championship. Spies rode for the team in 2000 and 2001, winning an AMA 750cc Supersport race, and just won the 2003 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship on a Yoshimura Suzuki.

This year Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki (a.k.a. Team Hammer, Inc.) made the talent evaluation program official by starting the Team Hammer Talent Search Presented by Alpinestars. Two finalists in the 2003 Team Hammer Talent Search Presented by Alpinestars, Chris Siglin and Greg Moore, have fully-sponsored rides for the Suzuki Cup Finals held in conjunction with the WERA GNF and are being evaluated by the team.

“They get to ride our GSX-R750s on our Michelin tires, work with our mechanics, do their best, not fall down and just have fun,” said Perry. “They don’t have to worry about anything on the bike or busting their own tires. They just have to worry about their riding.”

“It’s awesome,” said Brookwood, Alabama’s Moore, when asked what he thought of the Team Hammer Talent Search. “It’s definitely something you don’t get to do every day. The team is really helpful, nothing negative, no pressure. They just want me to go out there and have fun. I like that. I’ve already learned a lot. I’m usually on my own at the racetrack and working hard just to change my own wheels and tires. It takes a good bit of stress off of me to not have to work on my own bike.”

“It’s great to have all of the help, the knowledge that’s available, and the equipment is just top-notch,” said Clayton, California’s Siglin. “It’s overwhelming. I have three guys there to help me, and it’s usually just me and Kenny Norman, my normal mechanic. Plus the availability of the Michelin tires and getting the feel for testing new compounds of tires. That’s new to me. I’m usually practicing on last weekend’s race tires. It just gives you that extra bit of confidence.”

As part of the program, finalists Moore and Siglin both got new Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki leathers, custom-made by Alpinestars. “It’s a nice suit,” smiled Siglin. “It’s the suit you see Rapp and Chris Ulrich and all the Pro riders wearing, the suit that’s not available for purchase by the public.”

“They’re awesome,” Moore said of his new Alpinestars leathers. “They fit really sweet.”

When they showed up at Road Atlanta, Siglin and Moore found their names on the team bikes they’re riding, and on lockers inside the rider lounge of the team’s semi-truck.

In addition, 2002 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Cup Champion John Haner is defending his title in a one-off ride with the team. “(Team Owner) John Ulrich gave me the opportunity to ride one of his Suzukis in the 1000cc Cup race, and I mean to take advantage of it. I won it last year on the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000. He helped me out with that and I won. This year it’s my turn to take the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the win on TV and return the favor.”

Furtek will compete in this year’s GSX-R600 and GSX-R750 Suzuki Cup finals and test a GSX-R600 built to 2004 AMA Formula Xtreme specifications “if we get far enough ahead in the game,” according to Perry.

From a press release issued by California Speedway:

OPTIONS FOR KING TACO 500 AND KING TACO 200 ACCOUNT HOLDERS

FONTANA, Calif. (October 29, 2003) — Pursuant to CART Champ Car’s release today regarding the cancellation of the King Taco 500, the following options are available for account holders with tickets to Sunday’s event. In addition, Saturday’s King Taco 200 NASCAR Winston West Series race has also been cancelled. Below are the ticket options:

1. Apply money toward a 2004 California speedway event – the face value of the ticket will be applied to a purchase for any 2004 event by the account holder;

2. Donate the money to the American Red Cross Southern California Fire Disaster Relief Fund – the face value of the ticket will be donated in the account holder’s name;

3. Use their tickets for this weekend’s event at Phoenix International Raceway – PIR is making a special offer for guests to redeem their California Speedway tickets at the PIR Gate 3 Ticket Office for this weekend’s NASCAR events;

4. Refund to account holder only – refund will be conducted in the manner in which the tickets were purchased, i.e. if purchased by check, then a check will be refunded; if purchased by credit card, a credit will be given.

The speedway’s website at www.californiaspeedway.com currently has a form on it for account holders to download and fill out if they want to select option 2 or 4. The form must be returned to the speedway by November 14th.

From a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

Last race marks end of the beginning

Sunday’s GP of Valencia closes a hectic 2003 season for Proton Team KR. While rivals have contested some of the most competitive blue-riband racing ever, the unique England-based racing manufacturers have been engaged in an even greater struggle.

The task is as before: to design, build, develop and then race a fully independent specialised Grand Prix motorcycle, against the full might of the Japanese and Italian factories.

The challenge of 2003 came with the new 990cc MotoGP four-strokes, now in their second year. Former triple 500cc champion and racing legend Kenny Roberts swallowed hard at the much greater costs and technical complexities, then decided to make his own high-tech V5 four-stroke.

The season began as engineers were still destruction-testing the first batches of engine parts. After testing only on airfields, the bike saw its first proper race-track at Le Mans, where it ran in practice for the fourth round of the year. The testing and development programme began directly – not in private, but in the full heat of the GP season.

The new bike started fitfully, but almost day and night work by the team and back at Banbury saw it become steadily faster and more reliable over the coming races. At the 13th round, the howling Proton KR V5 scored its first points, when Nobuatsu Aoki was 14th in the Pacific GP. It was only the seventh time the bike had raced, and the result came in the Japanese heartland of the dominant racing factories.

Two races later team-mate Jeremy McWilliams was a strong 11th in Australia, underlining a late-season turning point for the infant racer.

Aoki and McWilliams will race basically the same machines at the final 2003 round at Valencia, but the end of the beginning is also the beginning of stage two. Both riders will stay on after the final Spanish round for two days of testing a brand-new chassis . the first of a series of evolutionary developments that will take the V5 motorcycle on from first prototype towards fully competitive racer.

“We’re looking forward to this race so we can get on to the next step,” said team manager Chuck Aksland. “We’ll be testing a new frame that is more towards the 2004 machine, back to back with the old one.

“We take that information back, then build it in to the bike we will test at the beginning of next year with some redesigned engine components – the cylinder head will be the first, with more modifications coming probably after the first few races,” continued Aksland.

“The whole motorcycle will be tidier for the 2004 version . but it’s more evolution than a complete overhaul,” he revealed.

“We’ve raced the four-stroke for six months. We’re confident we can make the chassis performance better. We know we need more engine performance, and we’re working on that right now.”

The Valencia GP is the 16th round, and the third race in Spain. It closes off a season already won by defender Valentino Rossi (Honda).

Nobuatsu Aoki : something special
I’m feeling better after some problems in Australia after I hurt my neck. Now we come to the end of a very interesting time – even in the flyaway GPs, we got small step by step improvements. I can really see the progress, and I know the factory has made a very very big effort. I expect more improvements for Valencia, so I am optimistic. And also looking forward to testing on Tuesday and Wednesday with the new chassis. I have been with this bike from the very first, so it is something special to me, and I hope I can continue with the development.

Jeremy McWilliams : grabbing my attention
I hope this won’t be my last race with this team. I would dearly love to continue with this project. Some of the flyaway races showed a lot of promise for the future of the bike, and it’s grabbed my attention again. Valencia is a very stop-start circuit, and that’s quite difficult for us. There’s no problem getting the bike stopped and into the turns, but we get hurt on exit speed. We need a little more grunt! But Motegi is also stop-start, and I’m certain I’d have been in the points there, but for a braking problem. After the boost in Australia, I know I need to finish in the points again.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Futoshi Watanabe and Takao Fukuda, of the Keno Bike Japanese national endurance team, will race a Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the WERA National Endurance Series event Friday at Road Atlanta.

The ride was set up by Vesrah President Mr. Aki Tamura, who sponsors both Keno Bike and Vesrah Suzuki, the three-time WERA National Endurance Champions.

Watanabe and Fukuda, who finished second in a six-hour race at Sugo this season, will ride as Vesrah Suzuki II in the Heavyweight Superstock class. They will ride the GSX-R1000 Vesrah Suzuki used to win the 2002 Championship.

According to Tamura, who is attending the races at Road Atlanta, Watanabe and Fukuda are considering racing in the 2004 WERA National Endurance series full-time.

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

Irwindale AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship Event to Proceed

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Oct, 29, 2003) — AMA Pro Racing and Irwindale Speedway have confirmed that the AMA Red Bull Supermoto Championship event scheduled for Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway this Saturday will take place as planned. Massive wildfires in Southern California forced organizers to consider postponing the event.

AMA Pro Racing Associate Director of Commercial Development Chris Bradley says that proceeding as planned was a joint decision reached by the promoter, track and AMA Pro Racing. “Obviously, we want to be sensitive to the conditions in Southern California,” said Bradley. “We understand how serious this situation has been and our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the fires. This decision was not reached lightly. We looked at the circumstances as they stand right now, discussed it among all parties, spoke to some of our participants and ultimately decided to move forward with the event.”

Bradley said there was strong support to hold the race. “Many members of the motorcycle industry, which is largely based in Southern California, called and encouraged us to not cancel the race,” said Bradley. “Additionally, we’ve heard from fans and riders who asked us to keep it intact.”

Irwindale Speedway is located about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and was never threatened by the fires. Local news reports have stated that improving weather in the region has allowed firefighters to gain ground on the flames and shifting wind patterns are beginning to blow the smoke and haze out of the area.

The event promoter is planning on raising money for local fire relief charities through a raffle at the race. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase items donated by series and event sponsors with all proceeds going to local relief efforts.

For ongoing updated information contact Irwindale Speedway at (626) 358-1100 or visit www.supermotowest.com.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Michael Ross

According to an article in the September 26 issue of General Aviation Magazine, Honda Motor Corp. is ready to unveil an innovative business jet. Chief Project Engineer Michimasa Fujino revealed details of the eight-to-12-passenger twin jet in a 17-page paper presented to the American Institute of Aerodynamics and Astronautics on July 14 in Dayton, Ohio.

After extensive customer surveys, Honda found that chief among desirable attributes in a business jet was cabin comfort. To that end Honda engineers dispensed with the usual design of mounting the engines at the rear of the cabin which requires a space-robbing carry through structure to support them and instead devised an innovative over-the-wing engine pylon to support the Honda designed turbofans.

Typically over-the-wing engine pylons have suffered from flutter and drag problems but Fujino’s paper says that the Honda wing design is stiff enough to eliminate flutter and clever enough to provide the necessary lift while providing the efficiency of a clean wing. This is apparently achieved through pylon sweep and an angle that directs boundary layer airflow toward the wing root.

Specifications for the Honda jet include a T-tail attached to a 41-foot graphite composite fuselage with a cabin height of 4′ 11″ with a flat floor. Max takeoff weight is reported to be 9200 pounds with a range of 1100 miles at 482 mph. Flight testing is expected to begin this year

From a press release:

Road America had its 25th-annual run in support of the American Cancer Society Saturday, October 25 on the big, 4-mile track (see www.roadamerica.com). Local road racer and SuperMoto competitor Wes Orloff of Salem, Wisconsin participated in the event in honor of his mother, Sally Orloff, who is a breast-cancer survivor. However, while most competitors donned shorts and T-shirts for the 4-mile run on the track, Orloff competed in full Alpinestars leathers, Alpinestars SP1 gloves, and a helmet.

The reason for the unusual running apparel? “It all started as a joke among my road racing friends, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it might be a great way to raise awareness of the American Cancer Society through my group of peers I was trying to get donations from” Orloff stated. “I think that anyone who has ever pushed a bike out of a gravel trap in the middle of the summer in leathers could appreciate what we were trying to do! We were also lucky enough to get support from within the industry, specifically Alpinestars and the Superbikers2 regional SuperMotard series. “

Orloff completed the 4-mile run on Road America’s track in a little over 38 minutes. “The first 3 miles went pretty well, as my Alpinestars leathers were surprisingly comfortable and I was able to average 8:30-9:00 minute miles. The last mile from Canada Corner and up the front straight hill was pretty killer, though…but we made it for a good cause.”

Orloff was able to raise over $1000 in pre- and post-race donations for the American Cancer Society.

To donate to the American Cancer Society by phone, call 1-800-ACS-2345.

From a press release issued by XT Racing:

As the 2003 race season draws to a close, XT Racing is proud to announce that we will be offering three levels of sponsorship for a select group of racers in the upcoming 2004 season. The 2003 season has been a very good one for us both as racing team and as a business. We created our 2004 sponsorship program with the hopes that XT Racing will be able to give something back to the community which has helped make it what it is today.

We are currently accepting resumes from anyone involved in any form of organized motorcycle road racing.

XT Racing
ATTN: Sponsorship
1065B Nine North Drive
Alpharetta, GA 30004

In addition to the sponsorship program, XT Racing will be holding a lottery where an additional 2 Ultra-Lap timing systems will be given away absolutely free. Submission of your racing resume automatically enters you into the drawing for these two systems.

The deadline for submission of racing resumes is December 31, 2003. All resumes will be reviewed in the order they are received and at the discretion of XT Racing. Interested parties should not phone or write about the status of their resumes. Any questions about the 2004 sponsorship program can be sent to [email protected]. The three tiers of sponsorship and those receiving the sponsorships will be announced at the end of January, 2004.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Competitors in the Suzuki World GSX-R Cup finals October 17-19 at Magny-Cours, France got no practice before the first timed qualifying session and only forty minutes of track time before the first race.

“They shorted us two practice sessions this year. The first time they hit the track was a qualifying session,” said American Suzuki’s Morgan Broadhead, who accompanied the American contingent of Chris “Opie” Caylor, Tray Batey and Corey Eaton to France.

In 2002, Suzuki World GSX-R Cup racers got two, 20-minute practice sessions and two, 20-minute timed qualifying sessions before their two sprint races. This year, riders got two, 20-minute qualifying session before running their races.

The Suzuki World GSX-R Cup ran with a FIM World Endurance race in 2002 and with the FIM World Superbike Championship in 2003.

The lack of practice was a factor in the performance of non-European Suzuki GSX-R Cup racers who had never been to the Magny-Cours track before, according to Caylor and Batey.

“The biggest problem was the small amount of practice we had to learn the track,” said Caylor, who finished sixth overall in the competition, the best-finishing American.

“There was no practice,” said Batey. “It was like, ‘There’s the track, now go qualify.’ We were racing against guys who had done 24-hour endurance races at the track.”

In addition, Caylor said the GSX-R750 supplied to him, from a fleet of supposedly identically-prepared machines, was “a dog. I couldn’t even stay in the draft of people. All the American bikes were dogs. I was second- or third-slowest on the trap speed sheets in every session. My bike was 14 kph slower than the top guys.”

Broadhead said discussions are currently under way to possibly bring the Suzuki World GSX-R Cup finals to Australia or to America, to run in conjunction with the AMA event at Road Atlanta in September 2004.

“We would explore that [AMA event at Road Atlanta],” said Broadhead.