From a Formula USA press release:

Pocono Cycle Fest Returns to Pocono Raceway

Motorcycle Racing and Stunt Shows August 22-25 with all new SuperTicket

AURORA, Ill.- Formula USA proudly announced an all new VIP SuperTicket for The Pocono Cycle Fest August 22-25, 2002. With the addition of Thursday racing including the 200 Mile Team Challenge to the Pocono Weekend, fans can now buy the SuperTicket valid for 4-event days for just $35 in advance which includes the following:

* Thursday August 22nd

–Multiple CCS and National Road Race Series practice and 200 Mile Team Challenge.

* Friday August 23rd

–Multiple CCS and National Road Race Series practice and racing.

* Saturday August 24th

— CCS Racing & National Road Race Series practice & qualifying, plus XSBA qualifying

* Saturday Night

o Pocono Cycle Jam Live Concert and Miss Pocono Contest

* Sunday August 25th

–XSBA Finals, Formula USA National Road Race Finals and Parade Lap

“The Pocono experience is like no other and the new super ticket is one of our best values in any of our series. The advance ticket includes four days of racing, a parade lap, and a free concert,” said Dan Krolczyk, Senior Director of Marketing for Clear Channel Entertainment – Motor Sports’ motorcycle division.

SuperTicket prices are just $35 in advance and $40 at the gates effective Thursday, August 22nd through Sunday at 6AM. Additionally a Sunday only pass is available for just $30 in advance and $35 Sunday at the gate.

This schedule of events highlights the return of Formula USA National Road Racing to Pocono Raceway. The four-day event features multiple classes of championship motorcycle racing from Formula USA’s National Road Race series, an eight-round pro series that begins and ends the season in Daytona, Fla.

Pocono Raceway’s gates will open on Thursday at 7:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday’s racing will feature practice and qualifying for the National Road Race Series with Sunday’s format featuring the main event. Racing will feature the Lockhart Phillips USA Superbike class of high-speed national champions and the Pro Honda Oils 600 Sportbike class. Both classes of racing pits motorcycles tuned to exact specifications resulting in extremely close racing that’s exhilarating for fans.

Additionally, the XSBA (Xtreme Sportbike Association) will showcase a sportbike freestyle performance/competition on both Saturday and Sunday. Imagine your typical street-sportbike doing a 100mph wheelie with the rider SITTING ON THE HANDLEBARS! XSBA features 120 mph wheelies, slow-speed burnouts, and 75 mph ‘leaps of faith’ where the rider actually leaps off the back seat – it’s an all-new style of extreme motorcycle stunts featured at National Road Race Series events.

While the bikes are whizzing by on Pocono’s legendary tracks the infield is peppered with vendors and exhibitors from the motorcycle industry and fans also have access to sections of the professional racers pit areas where they can get up close and meet the pro riders and see the industry’s most technologically advanced motorcycle rockets!

In addition, anyone with a valid motorcycle license is also invited to try the demo rides on some of the industry’s latest factory creations.

Kids (12 and under) can see the entire event for free, and adult tickets start at $30 for Sunday only or $35 for a 3-day pass in advance. Motorcycle enthusiasts can actually take a ‘parade lap’ around Road America’s turns and straight-aways when they purchase a 3-day ticket in advance from Ticketmaster. Camping is available on site for just $10 per person.

The track events will be run at 10AM Thursday through Sunday and will end approximately at 6PM daily. For more information, call Ticketamaster at 215-336-2000, call the Pocono Hotline at 800-216-7482, visit www.formulausa.com.

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

PRIDMORE WINS LOCKHART-PHILLIPS FORMULA XTREME TITLE ON A TIEBREAKER

After nine rounds and hundreds of miles of racing, the 2002 Lockhart-Phillips Formula Xtreme Series ended in a tie between Attack Suzuki’s Jason Pridmore and Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Jake Zemke. Pridmore earned the championship by virtue of a tiebreaker–Pridmore won two races during the season to Zemke’s one. The championship completed a triumphant return for Pridmore, who was a top Formula Xtreme rider in the 2001 series, but was forced to miss most of the season after suffering a broken leg.

“People don’t know how hard it is to come back from some of the injuries I put on myself,” said the 32-year-old Pridmore from Ventura, Calif. “I wouldn’t say that I’m always the most positive person, but racing’s what I love to do and I love the team I’m with and sometimes I want to win more for them than I do myself. The competition this year with Jake and Damon — I knew this was going to be a wild and wacky weekend (at the VIR finale).”

Pridmore won two of the nine rounds in the series. He rode his Attack Suzuki GSXR1000 to victories at Pikes Peak International Raceway and Road America and earned six podium finishes. The son of three-time AMA Superbike champion Reg Pridmore, Jason has four-career AMA Formula Xtreme wins placing him sixth on the all-time wins list for the series. Pridmore adds another AMA championship trophy to his mantle, he was the AMA 750 Supersport champ (now called Superstock) in 1997.

Pridmore’s title brings Suzuki its second-straight championship in the burgeoning Formula Xtreme Series, which launched in 1997 as a spin-off of the old SuperTeams competition. Pridmore hopes to defend his title next year. “I’d like to be back with Attack Suzuki (next year), this championship probably didn’t hurt things today,” said Pridmore. “I’d like to come and defend the title that’s for sure.”

Pridmore dedicated his championship to a friend David Holman. “He was a great kid and great friend and had an accident down in Costa Rica jumping down a water cliff and broke his neck and passed away in January. I told his Dad I was dedicating this season to him.”

From an e-mail, which expresses the personal opinion of a reader:

The last two weekends of the 2002 AMA season were both exciting and amazingly disappointing for me to watch. My problem wasn’t with the racing itself, no, that was top notch as usual. What had me practically screaming into my television set were the turnworkers at Mid-Ohio and VIR. In Mid-Ohio, I winced as Aaron Yates was left pinned under his bike bleeding like a vampire victim for what seemed like minutes on end. When two turnworkers finally did arrive they both picked up the bike and proceeded to stand there with the bike!! NEITHER BOTHERED TO ATTEND TO YATES!! What the heck was going on? He finally managed to get up on his own and proceeded to leak blood like a sieve as he ran across the track by himself to safety.

Then at VIR, I watched in complete amazement as Nicky Hayden’s bike sat for minutes on end (sound familiar?) before anyone bothered to check on it, or *hey* pick it up (I know, radical thinking on my part). Then the RC-51 that costs more than most of us make in a year bursts into flames and THERE ARE STILL NO TURNWORKERS!! Finally, someone bothers to show up, and Nicky has to put the thing out himself.

I have the distinct pleasure of racing AFM, with the best turnworkers around. That is probably why I was so confused by what happened at Mid-Ohio and VIR. I have never seen it take so long for turnworkers to get to a crashed rider in AFM (or WSB or GP, for that matter). With all of the hoopla this year about track safety, you’d think the AMA would put a little more emphasis on (1) having enough turnworkers so it never takes more than a few seconds to get to a crashed rider, and (2) turnworkers that know their job. Well, maybe in 2003?

Sincerely,
Stephen Robinson
San Francisco, CA

From a press release issued by 3M:

3M PUSHRODS MOVE ENGINE PERFORMANCE TO NEW LEVELS

ST PAUL, Minnesota–3M, a company known for innovation, has brought to market a new class of pushrods for high performance automotive engines. In lab tests and on-track competition, the pushrods, made of continuous fiber reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composite (AMC) material, have consistently outperformed steel, titanium and other metals. Stiffer and more durable than steel at about half the weight, 3M(TM) AMC Pushrods reduce flexing and extend service life, allowing engines to run longer at higher rpm – a key advantage in competition.

Shawn Higbee, three-time Professional Road Race Champion/Development Rider, Buell Motorcycle Company, says “AMC Pushrods are definitely helping me have confidence that I’ll continue winning when I go to the track.”

About 3M Metal Matrix Composites
3M Metal Matrix Composites is a program of 3M Company. For more information, please call 1-888-650-5116 or visit our website at http://www.3M.com/mmc.

From a press release issued by USGPRU:

Will Morton Takes Well Fought Win in USGPRU Final at Thunderhill in 105+ F Heat

Nobi Iso Airlifted After Horrifying Crash in Turn 8 on Final Lap

Sean McNew Treated for Two Broken Ankles Sustained in Saturday Practice Highside

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 – Willows, CA – Round Three of the USGPRU (United States Grand Prix Riders’ Union) Western Region – 125GP National Championship was contested August 9-11 at Thunderhill Park Raceway in tremendous heat exceeding 110F at times during the three day event.

Riders battled heat, dehydration and track tempuratures that exceeded 150F all weekend and consumed enough water and Gatorade to fill a swimming pool.

On race day 18 riders took to the grid as temperatures rose above 105F. “I think the bulk of us were running the Medium Compound (Dunlop “C”) rear. You pretty much had to. It was hot… I stopped paying attention because it was depressing me, but it was 100+ easy. All I know is I ended up with a 155 main!” said Quentin Wilson. Will Morton rode a flawless race in unbelievable heat to take the win after a 48 km battle with Veloce Racing’s Nobi Iso from Japan when Iso crashed in Turn 8 on the final lap forcing a red flag.

“In the race Nobi and Will (Morton) pulled ahead of Nick (Moore) and Carlos (Neves), then Stewart (Aitken-Cade) and I. By the time I got by Stewart I was half a straight-away behind Carlos and Nick. That’s pretty much how it played out,” recalled Quentin Wilson.

The heat was getting to everyone and as the 54km long race wore on the riders began to drop. “By the halfway-mark, I felt like an ice-cream cone left out in the sun to melt,” said Tiffanie Ragasa.

Morton was nose to tail with Iso as Nobi led the last lap on the #35 Veloce Racing Aprilia. As the two riders entered the fastest corner on the track (turn 8) Nobi put his wheel into the dirt and unable to recover his line took him off the track at triple digit speeds where he was thrown from the bike tumbling dozens of meters from the track and layed unconscious for 20 minutes while emergency medical personnel awaited the helicopter to transport him to Enlow Trauma Center in Chico, CA. “You really have to cook that corner to get the drive up the hill,” noted fellow front runner Quentin Wilson. Will Morton who was just a few bikelengths behind Nobi when he went down recalls, “Nobi was pushing real hard and I was having to push the rear tire all over in the corners, I had a tough time keeping up with him. He was real consistent and smooth but I could see Nobi was having a tough time in that corner so I was going to set him up there and try to make the pass in the last lap but I was too far behind him to make the move as I had not seen the white flag the previous lap; it was flown from so high above the track we couldn’t see it.”

As the Helicopter lifted off from the infield outside turn 11 the entire 125GP Paddock (nearly every rider and crew member) watched on from the adjoining fence a few feet away from the tight right hander that served as the makeshift helipad while their friend and competitor was flown from the track.

“He (Nobi) was conscious when leaving [the track], Jonathan [& Saiko were] heading to the hospital… Initial reports were that he was fine, we’re all waiting to hear from Jonathan,” said John Rabasa.

“We went to the hospital right away to check on Nobi but he was asleep when we got there and I didn’t have the heart to wake him. The doctors said he was doing well and that he was lucky he had such good protective equipment on or it would have been much worse,” said Series Director Jonathan Flack. “I talked to Spiros Gabrilis (Nobi’s Team Owner at Veloce Racing) on Monday night and Nobi had just gotten home. He was discharged from the hospital with a broken tibia at 11:00 am Monday morning and although he’s a bit fuzzy on the whole incident he’s doing very well. Among his first questions apparently was whether he had DNF’d or not… classic Nobi. He slept all the way home and went right to bed after he got in but otherwise he’s alright. Portland is out of the question but we all hope he decides to come down to the track and hang out with us that weekend – I don’t think he can golf with his cast!”

Earlier in the weekend Sean McNew had also been seriously hurt when his bike highsided him in the ultra high speed turn 6. Sean would return to the track the next morning with both legs casted and two broken ankles. Sean was in good spirits and disappointed not to be able to race. Riders all came by in the morning as they prepared for qualifying to wish him their best as he prepared to depart for home. “He is a tough guy, and he had a good attitude which is half the battle,” said Wilson.

Newcomer Douglas Moore half joked, “There comes a time in ones life where you ask the question why? For me I that question came as I was sitting in the 105+ heat of Friday mid afternoon… Feeling very dehydrated and on the brink of hurling into the Garbage can I wondered why I was there and then I realized . . . I’m racing a 125!”

Peter Hofmann, the noted 125GP rider, also returned to the track on Saturday for the first time after a year recovering from a serious crash in Italy during the European Championships last season to ride the Gray Matter Racing – Ian E. Race Engineering Honda. “It was great to finally ride a few laps after so much time away from the track. The GMR – Ian E., BPS Honda was very fast and I’d like to thank Jonathan Flack for inviting me to ride. I hope to spend more time in the saddle and getting back up to speed.”

The USGPRU would like to thank CCS and their staff for another fantastic event. The whole CCS crew did a fabulous job all weekend. From Tiffiney to Kevin and all the others in between. Another thanks to all the medical staff at Thunderhill Park for their quick and professional response to events involving Nobi and Sean.


Rider Notes and Comments:
From Quentin Wilson –
“We are all SO psyched for Portland. Thanks again to everyone that was helping me at the track. Stuart for dragging my mungy Honda around, Rabasa and the Jacksons for letting me use the shade and tools, Will and Carlos and Jonathan and Peter for advice. Oh yeah, Peter Hofmann managed to drag his lazy ass out to the track on Saturday and do a few laps aboard Jonathan Flack’s 125! It was really good to see him, I hope it gets his juices flowing to get a bike and come play next year.”



FINAL RACE RESULTS – 10 laps of 11 Completed
1.) William “Will” Morton, Honda; 2.) Carlos Neves, Honda; 3.) Nick Moore, Honda; 4.) Quentin Wilson, Honda; 5.) Stewart Aitken-Cade, Honda; 6.) John Rabasa, Honda; 7.) Mike Orien, Honda; 8.) Marcus Henderson, Honda; 9.) Phillip Krenn, Honda; 10.) Jerry Berkey, Honda; 11.) Nobi, Iso, Aprilia; 12.) Tiffanie Ragasa, Honda; 13.) Jeff Lim, Honda; 14.) Melissa Shimmin, Honda; 15.) Jonathan Flack, Honda; 16.) Herb Wagner, Honda; 17.) Douglas Moore, Honda; 18.) Scott Jackson, Honda

From a press release:

Canyon Country, California.

No Limit Motor Sports finished their first full year as an AMA Road Race team in fine fashion. Riding 2002 R-1 Yamahas in the formula Xtreme class, No Limit riders Lance Isaacs and Jason Curtis exceeded expectations of the team owners, Ben and Dianne Curtis.

The final event of the season at VIR resulted in a sixth place finish for South African Lance Isaacs, and an eleventh place finish for Jason. This places the veteran Isaacs in fifth place overall, and Jason in ninth place for his rookie year. The entire No Limit crew worked hard to try and find the right combination of engine and suspension that would make the Yamaha into a racing motorcycle, even without access to factory ‘kit’ parts or technical assistance, the team was able to place both of the R-1s on the top ten listing.

No Limit Motorsports is looking forward to an even better year in 2003, and will be making announcement within the next few weeks about their plans for next season. This first year in the AMA paddock was a treat for No Limit, and both Ben and Dianne Curtis, team owners, enjoyed all the new friends they have made, and appreciate the eye opening introduction to professional road racing, AMA style.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz resigned his position on the AMA Board of Directors, via letter distributed at a Board meeting at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio Monday.

In the letter, Schwantz said that he was resigning because he had moved from North Carolina back to Texas, and now lives outside the Southeast Region. Schwantz was elected to represent the region in January, and won by a 3.5:1 margin over incumbent Carl Reynolds.

After reading a published report that Schwantz had moved his primary residence back to Texas, an AMA member from Georgia filed a formal complaint challenging Schwantz’s continued service on the Board.

Schwantz maintains a second residence in Atlanta, where he stays while conducting Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School sessions at Road Atlanta.

Schwantz will continue to serve on the separate Board of Directors of AMA Pro Racing.

The replacement for Schwantz on the main AMA Board has not be announced.

From a press release issued by series organizers:

SZOKE CLINCHES SUPERBIKE TITLE

SHUBENACADIE, NS – Jordan Szoke wrapped up the 2002 Parts Canada Superbike Championship in dramatic fashion Sunday, winning his fifth race in a row.

After running off the track on the opening lap and dropping down to 11th place the Brantford, ON rider charged through the field, taking the lead from Coors Light Racing/Fast Company Suzuki teammate Francis Martin on lap 10 of a scheduled 24.

Szoke was holding a narrow lead over Martin when the race was red flagged on the 18th lap due to a crash by Philip Onisto. Owen Weichel placed third on the Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki.

“I like a challenge and coming through the pack was a lot of fun,” said Szoke, who also won the Canadian crown in 1998. “We’ve got a very talented bunch of riders out there and charging through the pack was very satisfying.”

Szoke earned 52 points for the win and for leading the most laps in the race, giving him 316 points in the Parts Canada Superbike standings.

Weichel was the only rider with a mathematical chance of catching him coming into the weekend, but is 102 points behind at 214 with one round remaining. A maximum of 56 points is available at each event.

Szoke almost saw his bid to clinch the title hit trouble just two turns into the race when Orion Motorsports Honda rider Frank Trombino fell and pushed Szoke off the track. While Martin moved into the lead Szoke recovered and started his charge. He was fifth after only three laps and took second place on lap 7. He grabbed the lead entering turn 1 at the start of lap 10.

The win was Szoke’s fifth in a row and fifth of the year, equalling the marks set by Steve Crevier in 1992.

In other action at AMP, Crevier made a brilliant return to racing by edging Orion Motorsports Honda teammate Kevin Lacombe for victory in a thrilling Yoshimura 600 Sport Bike feature at AMP. Class points leader Clint McBain was fifth for Blackfoot Suzuki and now leads Lacombe by only six points, 219-213, heading to the season finale at Shannonville Motorsport Park Sept. 1.

Jeff Williams led all the way to claim the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Open Sport Bike win on his Diablo Suzuki. Points leader Martin retired the Coors Light Racing/Fast Company Suzuki halfway through the race and saw his advantage in the standings drop to just 11 points on McBain. McBain was fourth on the Blackfoot Suzuki.


Results of Sunday’s sixth round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS, showing finishing position, rider name, hometown and type of motorcycle:

1.Jordan Szoke, Brantford, ON, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 2. Francis Martin, Sherbrooke, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 3. Owen Weichel, Huntington Beach, CA, Kawasaki ZX-7RR; 4. Steve Crevier, Maple Ridge, BC, Honda RC51; 5. Ugo Levert, Lorraine, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 6. Benoit Pilon, St-Jerome, QC, Yamaha YZF-R1; 7. Jean-Francois Cyr, Joliette, QC, Yamaha YZF-R6; 8. Bruce McDonald, Mt. Albert, ON, Yamaha YZF-R6; 9. Gaston Labrie, Montreal, QC, Suzuki GSX-R1000; 10. Philip Onisto, Bolton, ON, Suzuki GSX-R750; NF. Michael Taylor, Toronto, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1; NF. Kevin Lacombe, Granby, QC, Honda RC51; NF. Darryn Wilbur, Maple, ON, Yamaha YZF-R1; NF. Frank Trombino, Kleinburg, ON, Honda RC51

Time of Race: 21:24.000
Margin of Victory: 0.291 secs.
Fastest Lap: Jordan Szoke, 1:08.270 on lap 4

Parts Canada Superbike Championship point standings following the sixth round at Atlantic Motorsport Park Sunday, showing position, rider name and point total:

1.Jordan Szoke, 316; 2. Owen Weichel, 214; 3. Francis Martin, 191; 4. Kevin Lacombe, 145; 5. Frank Trombino 144; 6. Michael Taylor, 138; 7. Jean-Francois Cyr, 132; 8. Benoit Pilon, 127; 9. Philip Onisto, 103; 10. Ugo Levert, 102; 11. Darryn Wilbur, 88; 12. Bruce McDonald 87; 13. Tim Easton, 49; 14. Jeff Williams, 48; 15. Steve Crevier, 36; 16. Gaston Labrie, 35; 17. John Brundl, 29; 18. Geoff May, 29; 19. Dave Young, 27; 20. David Klassen 27; 21. Nick Ienatsch, 21; 22. Michael Leon 21; 23. Matthew McBride 19; 24. Jerome Plourde, 18; 25. Greg Boki, 15; 26. Clint Hines 15; 27. Tony Bouffard, 12; 28. Dave Hodge 12; 29. Mike Desmarais 10; 30. Joel McDonald, 4; 31. Jim Proulx 4; 32. Pauly Sherer, 1

From a press release issued by Mat Mladin’s publicist (the part about the GSX-R1000 is at the end):

SECOND FOR MLADIN IN SEASON FINALE AT VIRGINIA

The AMA Chevy Trucks US Superbike Championship drew to a close this weekend with the final race of the season producing the closest finish of the 16-race series with Mat Mladin placing second after a photo finish at Virginia International Raceway.

In a dramatic 28-laps, the second Superbike National of the weekend was stopped on three separate occasions due to crashes, the first of which involved newly crowned champion Nicky Hayden.

The final restart saw Mladin and his Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 take the lead position on the track, but was closely followed by Team Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom. The two were inseparable with Mladin leading by the narrowest of margins across the line in the closing laps. At the end though, Bostrom was able to get into Mladin’s slipstream and pulled up alongside to take the win by an amazing 0.0001 of a second, after Mladin had led the field across the line on 17 previous occasions.

The result meant that for the first time since 1996, Mladin had not won a race during the season and concludes one of his most frustrating years of his racing career, where he has suffered personal injury along with suspension and tyre problems.

“It was a disappointing finish because I really did want to win a race, but it really did hit home that we have a lot of work to do to be competitive for next year,” said Mladin. “A lot of people felt that I was disappointed because I came second, but I was more so because of the way that we came second. On that little straight we should never get passed by any bike let alone another four-cylinder 750.

“I’m happy with the way that I rode. I feel that I’ve been riding well all year and I’m glad that I put in a good ride at the last race as it meant a lot to me. The last race was pretty fast. I’m not sure what sort of tyre Eric (Bostrom) had in, but he was certainly a lot quicker than he was in the other one. The suspension parts that we had this weekend were different to what we had all year and it made a big difference, at least for the first half of the race anyway.”

Earlier in the weekend Mladin had set the second fastest time during qualifying and momentarily led the first of the Superbike Nationals on Saturday, before being forced to retire from the race while holding down second place when his rear tyre chunked badly.

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden took the race one victory and in the process wrapped up his first AMA Superbike Championship. The joy of Saturday ‘s result quickly faded as he crashed out oftoday’s race on lap seven.

Today’s result sees Mladin finish in seventh place overall in the championship.

The three times AMA Superbike champion returns to Australia during the week where he will attend the upcoming round of the Formula Xtreme series at Oran Park. While he is in Australia he will also be making a race appearance at the final round of the Formula Xtreme at Eastern Creek Raceway on September 29 where he will ride a Suzuki GSX-R1000 under the Mat Mladin Motorcycles
/Yoshimura/Suzuki banner.