From a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing:

Carl Fogarty’s sporting knowledge will be demonstrated when he appears on next week’s Question of Sport quiz programme, to be broadcast on BBC1 at 7.00pm on Friday 17 January.

Foggy’s sense of sport was put to the test when he joined Everton Manager, David Moyes and team captain Ally McCoist, to battle out their sporting trivia supremacy against the trio of Andy Cole (Blackburn Rovers and former Manchester United and England striker), Matt Dawson (Northampton Saints, England and British Lions scrum half) and team captain and former champion jockey, Frankie Detorie.

Filmed in Manchester last month, Foggy commented on the longest running sports quiz show in the world, “Being on the show was just great fun and Sue Barker and all the lads in the teams are great people. I’ve been on the panel and also their mystery guest a few times before but it’s still fun.

“You have the audience around you but you forget you’re actually being filmed as it’s all so relaxed. We rattled through the programme and hardly had to do any re-takes during the filming, which goes to show how professional, relaxed and confident everyone is.

“You could really feel the competitiveness though and I was desperate to win as I can’t stand losing, but I guess everyone will just have to wait until next Friday to find out if we did win or not!”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

John Haner set a new track record at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana, during Saturday qualifying for the Grand Bayou Festival of Speed, an independent racing event produced by the Church of Speed. Haner ran a 1:12.926 in the first half of Heavyweight Expert qualifying on his Suzuki GSX-R750.

After getting a late start, the day’s schedule was further delayed when a rider crashed on cold tires exiting pit lane during the first Expert practice. The rider was initially unconscious, and an airlift was called in, but he was awake by the time he was transported.

In Heavyweight Expert qualifying, Haner’s record lap time put him on the pole. Vincent Haskovec was second-fastest with a time of 1:14.006, but he crashed his AMA Superstock Suzuki GSX-R750 and ended the qualifying session with a red flag. Haskovec was uninjured, but will have to race on his Superbike-spec GSX-R750.

Greg Moore, who is running his first race as an Expert this weekend, qualified third in Heavyweight with a time of 1:14.409 on his Suzuki GSX-R750.

In Middleweight Expert, Moore took the pole on his Suzuki GSX-R600 with a lap time of 1:15.196. Haner was second on a Yamaha YZF-R6, running a 1:15.461, while Dave Ebber ran a 1:16.816 on a Suzuki GSX-R600 to qualify third.

Bradley Champion ran a quick time of 1:16.193 on a Suzuki SV650 to take the pole in Lightweight Superbike. The Lightweight field consisted of only six qualifiers. Martin Musil, another new Expert, was second-fastest with a time of 1:18.632. Chris Normand qualified third with a lap time of 1:20.169. Musil and Normand were also on Suzuki SV650s.

The races on Sunday will consist of 20-lap Expert and Novice races for Lightweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight classes. There will also be a second Expert Heavyweight race that is 25 laps in length and has a slightly higher payout than the other races.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The Kawasaki MotoGP team is joining Suzuki for a five-day test at Sepang in Malaysia. The test reunites former Red Bull Yamaha WCM teammates Garry McCoy (now riding for Kawasaki) and John Hopkins (now riding for Suzuki).

Also attending the test are the Suzuki World Superbike and AMA Superbike teams, with Gregorio Lavilla, Mat Mladin, Aaron Yates and Ben Spies riding GSX-R1000s.

The trip to Malaysia is Spies’ first long plane ride. The youngster has said in the past that he doesn’t like to fly. As a result, Spies has driven to every AMA race he has competed in, travelling in a pickup truck/RV combination with his mother.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

This weekend’s Grand Bayou Festival of Speed, January 11-12, at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana will be the first major event put on by local racing team Church of Speed. The competition is to include road racing, drag racing and a stunt show.

The road racing portion of the Festival of Speed is open to racers who have a license with any of the major road racing organizations. Graduates of a racing school offered by the Church of Speed will be eligible, as well.

Saturday, January 11, will consist of practice and qualifying. The 20-lap races will be held on Sunday, and will include Heavyweight and Middleweight classes for both Experts and Novices. A Lightweight race will be combined Expert and Novice.

Organizers say that in each Expert class, the winner will receive $1000, while second place wins $500 and third gets $400. The payback goes through 10th place.

The feature race of the weekend will be a second Expert Heavyweight race. The race length will be extended to 25 laps, and the winner will receive $1200. Second place earns $750 and third receives $450. The winnings for the rest of the top 10 finishers will be the same as the shorter races.

In races with at least 40 entries, there will be a $300 holeshot award.

The Church of Speed expects to raise the money through entry fees and participating sponsors.

In the Novice classes, the winner will receive products from sponsors of the weekend, including EBC brakes and Silkolene. The winner will also get three sets of tires from the vendor of their choice.

All races will feature a LeMans start, in which riders are positioned on one side of the starting grid, with their bikes lined up on the other side. On the start, they have to run across the track to their bikes.

According a track spokesman, the cornerworkers for the weekend will consist of both veteran Church of Speed workers and many of the cornerworkers from the track’s car racing and track day events.

Haybales have been placed in impact zones throughout the track and both Airfence and haybales will be used in turn 14. The right-hand turn leads onto the front straight, which doubles as the runoff area for the track’s drag strip. Riders have to pass through a gap in a concrete wall that lines the drag strip, making the turn the primary safety concern at the facility for motorcycle racers.

From a press release issued by Ducati:

CAPIROSSI MAKES FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT TO DUCATI FACTORY



Loris Capirossi finally appeared in Ducati colours today as he made his first official visit to the Italian manufacturer’s factory in Borgo Panigale, Bologna.

Capirossi and Australian Troy Bayliss will spearhead Team Ducati Marlboro in the 2003 MotoGP championship with the Desmosedici as they bring the famous Italian name back to the elite class of motorcycle racing for the first time in over thirty years.

The Italian, to all effects a Ducati rider only from the start of this year, toured the factory and the museum and met Ducati Motor Holding Chairman, Federico Minoli, and CEO, Carlo Di Biagio, as well as receiving a warm welcome from the entire company.

“We are very proud to have Loris officially with us” declared Federico Minoli. “It is a great moment for Ducati because it opens up a very bright future. The real test however will be the race-track and the entire company will be cheering for him in April at the first round of the championship in Japan. Having an Italian rider on an Italian bike is a dream come true, we are both from Emilia-Romagna and we both share the same passion for racing”.

After setting excellent times in pre-season testing at Jerez and Phillip Island in November and December, Capirossi spent a couple of weeks in Australia on holiday with his wife Ingrid, and the 29-year-old from Castel San Pietro returns to Italy justifiably upbeat about his first season with an official factory team in the second year of MotoGP.

“I have in fact felt part of Ducati since the start of the year” declared Capirossi. “I have had an excellent reception here, the company is really well-prepared, full of professionals and we are making a lot of progress together. It is a pleasure to form part of a motorcycle manufacturer like Ducati and I am sure we can obtain some great satisfaction together”.

Loris, together with Troy, will next be in action at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit where Ducati Corse’s pre-season testing programme continues from January 20-22.

From a press release issued by Suzuki:

SUZUKI TAKE A ROLLING START TO THE NEW SEASON

Team Suzuki opens the 2003 testing season next week, with five days at Sepang near Kuala Lumpur. And the MotoGP team riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins will have plenty of company–-with a full house of Suzuki four-stroke racers circulating the Malaysian GP circuit.

For the GP team, the first tests of the new year start an intensive programme in the run up to the first race of the 2003 season – the Japanese GP at Suzuka on April 6. This is the second championship season for the new premier MotoGP class, the 990cc four-stroke prototypes; and also for Suzuki’s booming fuel-injected V4 GP bike, the GSV-R.

2000 World Champion Kenny Roberts will be returning to the machine that he put on the rostrum at Rio last year. The new Suzuki had came to the tracks a year earlier than planned, for a season of race-development.

Since the last race, intensive development work at the factory has incorporated all the lessons learned, to upgrade every area of performance for the maturing GSV-R. Malaysia gives the experienced Roberts his first chance to assess the latest improvements.

Team-mate Hopkins, several times a production-racing champion in the USA and a top rookie on a two-stroke last MotoGP season, will be renewing the acquaintance he made with the GSV-R in tests at the same track last year, after the end of his impressive debut MotoGP season riding a 500cc two-stroke.

The team regulars will be joined by Suzuki factory race-department tester Kosuko Akioshi.

The MotoGP machine they will test is still an interim prototype – built around last year’s successful machine, but with revisions throughout.

“We have a a long list and full test schedule for all the new components, from chassis, suspension and tyres to different engine characteristics and other details,” said team manager Garry Taylor.

“With several alternatives in all areas, and any number of combinations to try, we’re scheduled to test from Monday to Friday. That’s probably more time than we need, but you need to make allowances for the weather out there.

“It’s part of out continuous development schedule – a step along the way, rather than the final version that we expect to race,” added Taylor. “That will continue to evolve in the coming months.”

The MotoGP squad will be joined on track also by World and US factory-backed Superbike teams.

Spanish rider Gregorio Lavilla will be testing the latest GSX-R Superbike, in preparation for the 12-race season that starts in Spain on March 2.

The California-based US Yoshimura Suzuki team are also testing at Sepang. Former triple champion Mat Mladin and team-mates Aaron Yates and new recruit Ben Spies will be testing their AMA Superbike Suzuki GSX-R machines for the forthcoming season.

The MotoGP team has further tests scheduled at Phillip Island in Australia in the first week of February, before starting a programme of Spanish tests at the end of that month.

From a press release issued by FIM:

Road Racing World Classic Series

Main rules and calendar for the 2003 season

A series of races counting toward the FIM Road Racing World Classic Series for riders will be organised as of 2003. The International Classic Association (INCA) is the coordinator of the Series. The main points of the Regulations are the following:

Riders must hold a valid licence. The practice schedule includes 2 qualifying sessions of 30 minutes each, or 1 free session of 20 minutes and 2 qualifying sessions of 20 minutes each.

The length of the races will be of 45 km min. and 50 km max. (determined by the FIM and INCA after publication of the calendar). The final time schedule will be determined by the organisers in the Supplementary Regulations, subject to FIM approval.

For each race, Series points will be awarded following the current scale of Road Racing World Championships (25, 20, 16, 13 , 11 etc.). All races except one (the worst result for each rider) will count for the FIM Road Racing World Classic Series classification.

The series is open to production and factory machines with 4 stroke engines which were produced solely for racing used in the period up to and including 1972 or replicas thereof with a capacity of 351- 500 cc. Road based models will not be allowed. Number plates: black numbers on yellow backgrounds to be used.

Only original parts or copies relevant to the period may be used unless specified. There will be no weight restriction. Tyres must be of a treaded type only and of standard production pattern. No additional cutting of the pattern is allowed. Specially produced wet tyres are not allowed.

The use of fairings which will catch and retain oil / petrol is compulsory. These fairings must not be fitted with drain plugs. These must be removable to permit scrutineering.

The full Regulations will be shortly available on the FIM website (www.fim.ch, Rules and Codes, Road
Racing).

See below the calendar and the INCA address.
Date, Country, Circuit
March 30, Great Britain, Silverstone
June 8, Austria, A1-Ring
June 28, Spain, Albacete
July 13, Great Britain, Donington Park
July 27, Germany, Sachsenring
August 3, Netherlands, Assen
August 17, Czech Rep., Brno (tbc)
August 31, Czech Rep., Most

INTERNATIONAL CLASSIC ASSOCIATION (INCA)
Kingscrest, Lower Moor Road, Coleorton, Leicestershire LE67 8FJ

Tel: 011-44-1530-813-925, 011-44-1530-223-611, FAX 011-44-1530-813-925, 011-44-1530-224-300

From a press release issued by BIR:

BIR to Make History with the ‘Big Race’

All-motorcycle drag race expected to feature 1,000 racers, all major manufacturers

BRAINERD, Minn. – The largest motorcycle drag race in history is scheduled this summer at Brainerd International Raceway, featuring a $150,000 purse and as many as 1,000 drag bikes from both domestic and import maunfacturers. The event is scheduled for July 21-27.

The BIR Big Race will be a historical event because the total payout is the largest ever and it’s the first all-motorcycle race that will involve every major manufacturer. The top racers from the All Harley Drag Racing Association, National Hot Rod Association, AMA/Prostar Series and affiliated racing groups around the world will compete on BIR’s quarter-mile drag strip.

According to BIR officials, the key to the event is when domestic bikes face off against the imports. Harley-Davidson dragsters, for example, rarely race against the imports, but the BIR Big Race’s Pro Stock category will feature separate ladders for domestic and import drag bikes, with the winners of each facing off in the finals.

“Nobody’s ever attempted anything like this in the history of drag racing,” BIR President Bill Singleterry said. “We’ll have the fastest drag bikes and the best riders from around the world competing for big prize money. For those who love motorcycle drag racing, it doesn’ get any better than the BIR Big Race.”

The race will feature 12 classes, including everything from the fastest racers in the Top Fuel category down to Junior Racers. All racers will be competing for substantial prize money. Friday of the event will feature a separate $35,500 E.T. Shootout, which is the largest Sportsman payout in motorcycle drag racing history.

“We felt the time was right for an event like this, especially since it coincides with the 100th anniversary of Harley-Davidson,” Singleterry said. “Harley will have a substantial presence at this event, as will every other major motorcycle manufacturer.”

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, nearly 200 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.

For more information, visit the BIR Big Race Web site at www.birbigrace.com or contact PR Coordinator Geoff Gorvin at 218-821-9513.