Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

American Honda has renewed its multi-year sponsorship/marketing/licensing deal with Universal Studios.

“Universal will be one of the team sponsors. Actually, all of our sponsors are the same on road race,” said American Honda Team Manager Chuck Miller Wednesday. “(The deal) was up for renewal, we have renewed, and we will continue our relationship with them – both on a sponsorship level as well as a marketing and licensing level. So it’s kind of a double-edged attack on our relationship and what we’re doing with them.

“Supercross, motocross, road race, all the same. Logos will be on the bikes, logos on the trucks, value to the team and marketing value also back to the company, as far as through our licensing agreement making toys and games and hats and whatever.”

Over the last two years, fans have become familiar with the promotional activities of the American Honda race teams for Universal Studios feature films such as The Mummy Returns, The Skorpion King, etc. But the relationship between American Honda and Universal will bear new fruit this holiday season.

“Actually, if you go into Target and K-mart, you’ll see bicycles, games and toys, everything with ‘Honda Racing’ – with our logo and the Honda name and our sponsors – on all of it,” said Miller. “This Christmas is really the big year that all the stuff is hitting retail. That also was one of the factors in continuing the relationship, to continue to nurture it.

“We’ve already seen the bicycles and skateboards and stuff in the stores. There’s like three different bicycles.

“There’s also this really cool thing they have, it’s an engine. It’s a Honda engine made out of plastic that you bolt onto your bicycle. I remember I used to have one when I was a kid. You rev it up and it goes, ‘BRRRP! BRRRP! BRRRP!’ really loud. So kids can bolt this on their bicycles and go riding down the street, and it mimics a motorcycle sound. It’s pretty cool, actually. It’s just a noise maker, but they’ve got different notes, too. They’ve got CR (two-stroke and four-stroke motocross) sounds, they’ve got road bike sounds.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

American Honda held a two-day test session November 25-26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada for new Honda riders and teams to become acquainted before heading to the Dunlop tire tests at Daytona next month.

“Just to get everybody familiar working with their new crew. Nothing in particular. Just got new team members (working together) and everybody out there riding around and getting to know each other,” said American Honda Team Manager Chuck Miller. “It was in conjunction with the AMA awards ceremony. We were all out there, so we just went out to the speedway there as well to get a little bit of track time. It was windy and chilly, but we got some good track time. Again, more of it was just to get everybody in synch with each other; we’ve got some new team members this year. Before you can get into the deep testing and development, it’s more of just getting the personalities lined up and helping teach the new guys where everything goes in the truck. We’ve got the real testing starting at Daytona, then we have a pretty aggressive test schedule through the off-season to try and get prepared for (the season opening race at) Daytona.”

Taking part in the test were American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Ben Bostrom; Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts, Jake Zemke and Roger Lee Hayden; Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Marty Craggill and Jason Curtis of the No Limits Motorsports Honda squad.

Honda only had one 2003 CBR600RR available, and the bike was shared by several riders. “Everybody rode it,” said Miller. “We had a few items we wanted to start Miguel with to test. Again, it was cold, and we weren’t there from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or anything like that. The first day was kind of a slow start, and Miguel kind of rode it the first day. The second day, Ben and Jake and Roger. I think everybody but Marty ended up throwing a leg over the thing and taking it out for a little bit. Nothing real significant except that it was the first time they had all been on it. So it was nice to get everybody a little bit of time on it before we get to Daytona. We only have one, but we’re hoping to get our other ones here in the near future so we can all be testing on them at Daytona.”

“It was a street bike that they just put bodywork on; it had suspension and a pipe,” said Zemke of the CBR600RR test bike. “Miguel rode that quite a bit. Ben rode it a little bit, a few laps. I got like 10 laps on it, and Rog, I think, got four or five laps on it.

“It was good. Daytona (the race) could be tomorrow, and it would be just fine. (laughs) The thing is awesome, actually. I only rode it for 10 laps and the tires were completely roached by the time I got on it, but the thing was completely unreal! The thing is really, really good. Once we have time to play with it, them boys are in trouble this year, I think.

“We were just sorting through some stuff we already had,” continued Zemke on his 954 testing. “We tried a couple of things, a different set of forks, stuff like that. Just kind of fine-tuning it really. Not really anything new to throw at the thing, just trying to make what we’ve got a little better.”

Conditions were not ideal as the test was hampered by low temperatures, but more importantly, by the strong winds that have been ravaging the southwest United States recently. “The wind out there was unreal!” said Zemke. “The wind was just howling; it was blowing like mad! The first day was really bad. I think it was gusting to like 50 (mph). It was blowing you all over the place, so we didn’t really ride that hard. The second day, it was only blowing about 25, so it was a little bit better but it was still pretty bad.”

The conditions may have caught Kurtis Roberts out as he crashed the first day, injuring his thumb enough to not ride the second day. “He jammed his thumb. Nothing more than that,” said Miller. “It was sore, and again, the conditions were poor out there with the wind blowing. There wasn’t much testing going on. It was more just kind of some riding and joking more than anything else.

“It was sore the second day. He decided not to ride because the conditions were the same. He had just come from Vegas the week before. We had done some testing with him out there. He had very little to gain, so he opted to sit out the second day.

“He didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal. He could move it, it wasn’t swollen, it wasn’t blue, nothing like that. So we don’t anticipate any problem there, and he is planning on coming to Daytona. Nothing major at this point at least.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Kawasaki’s Andrew Pitt are testing today at Suzuka Circuit in Japan.

After picking up his AMA Superbike Championship hardware Saturday, November 23 at the AMA Pro Racing awards banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hayden flew to Japan for a two-day test on the Honda RC211V MotoGP machine November 26 and 27 at Suzuka.

Hayden previously tested the RC211V at Motegi Twin-Ring November 13-14 and has tested at Suzuka on a RC51 Superbike in December of 2000.

Hayden will share the Suzuka track with Australian Pitt and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. Pitt will not be joined, however, by countryman and teammate Garry McCoy. According to sources in Europe, McCoy is having surgical hardware removed from the leg he broke during testing prior to the 2002 season.

After the test in Japan, Hayden will fly to Europe where he will ride December 2-3 at Valencia in Spain. There, Hayden will be joined by fellow Honda MotoGP racers Max Biaggi, Daijiro Kato, Tohru Ukawa, Sete Gibernau and 2002 MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi.

A few days later, Hayden will resume testing at Jerez in Spain before taking a holiday break until late-January.

After the Honda riders leave Valencia, Yamaha’s Olivier Jacque, Carlos Checa, Alex Barros and Marco Melandri will move in for three days of testing December 4-6.

From a press release issued by Infineon Raceway, formerly known as Sears Point Raceway:

Thanksgiving Food Drive Reels In More Than 1,000 Pounds of Food for FISH

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Infineon Raceway made a donation of more than 1,000 pounds of non-perishable food items to Friends in Sonoma Helping (FISH) following the facility’s 2nd annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.

The food will be used by FISH to assist needy Sonoma Valley residents during the 2002 holiday season. Infineon Raceway has generated more than 2,000 pounds of non-perishable food items over the last two years with its Thanksgiving Food Drive. FISH supplied more than 1,900 households with three days of groceries in 2001, and more than 2,500 calls for food requests continue to come in each year.

Those who donated at least three non-perishable food items in 2002 were rewarded with a ticket voucher good for one admission to the raceway’s AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge qualifying on Friday, May 2 (2003). In addition to Infineon Raceway, other partners in the program were: Destination RKA in Healdsburg, Maverick Media, home to Froggy 92.9 FM, The Fox 101.7 FM and Magic 97.7 KMGG in the North Bay, Sonoma County Mary’s Pizza Shack restaurants and Bay Area Cycle Gear locations.

Next up on the community calendar at Infineon Raceway will be the 2nd annual “High Speed Blood Drive” on Tuesday, Jan. 21, from noon-6 p.m. In association with the American Red Cross and “The Bone (107.7 FM in San Francisco)” Infineon Raceway will open its gates to help the Red Cross meet its blood demands. To help get hearts pumping before giving blood, those who visit the raceway between noon and 5 p.m. will be treated to a rare “hot lap” around the world famous Infineon Raceway road course by a professional racecar instructor. For more information, please contact Diana Rose by e-mail at [email protected] or at (707) 938-8448, ext. 118.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Former World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss will not get to run #21 in MotoGP in 2003. The #21 currently belongs to Suzuki’s John Hopkins.

Bayliss explained the situation in his online diary entry for today, on www.ducati.com, writing, “if anyone’s looking for me in the paddock, you’d better look for #12. I wanted to keep #21 but can you imagine someone coming into Superbike and asking me to give up #21? So next year I’m #12 and in the last three years I’ve been, #1, #2 and #21, so it’s just 21 backwards. I sort of wanted #32 as I won the British Championship with that, but anyway, I’m #12 from now on. When it comes down to it, it’s only really a number, it’s not that important, but I reckon it’ll look pretty good, just look for the red bike with #12 on it going round and round in circles… that’ll be me.”

From a press release issued by AMA:

AMA THREATENED WITH EXPULSION BY FIM PRESIDENT

PICKERINGTON, OHIO — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) announced today that it has been threatened with expulsion from the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), the world-wide motorcycle sanctioning body based in Geneva, Switzerland, by Francesco Zerbi, President of the FIM.

Zerbi’s threat to expel the AMA, which is the sole U.S. affiliate of the FIM, was contained in a November 20, 2002, letter to AMA President Robert Rasor. The letter was Zerbi’s response to AMA Pro Racing’s objection to the FIM’s efforts to unilaterally impose its authority, rules and sanction on the 16-event 2003 AMA Supercross series.

The AMA and AMA Pro Racing have sanctioned Supercross since 1974. Under the terms of a contract with Clear Channel Motorsports, the primary promoting organization for AMA Supercross, AMA Pro Racing has the exclusive rights to sanction and manage the series. Neither the AMA nor the FIM is party to that contract.

The FIM, however, notified AMA Pro Racing that it must conduct those events according to FIM rules and under the direction of an FIM official. AMA Pro Racing’s objection to the FIM’s demands resulted in Zerbi’s expulsion threat.

“The AMA has been a loyal, supportive member of the FIM for over 30 years and has always placed the interests of motorcycle sport among our highest priorities. We intend to continue in our role as the national federation representing American motorcyclists to the FIM,” said AMA President Rasor. “If the FIM management persists in this extreme and unjustified approach, we’ll vigorously fight those efforts to expel the AMA from the FIM.

“The AMA agrees with AMA Pro Racing’s position that the FIM lacks the authority to hijack AMA Supercross for its own interests,” said Rasor, “and we’ll stand behind AMA Pro Racing’s efforts to use all necessary means to protect AMA Supercross, the world’s premier Supercross series, from unwarranted interference.”

From a press release issued by OMRRA:

OMRRA is pleased to announce the following Board of Directors and Advisory Board for 2003.

President-Frank Berthold
Vice President-Jim Kennedy
Vice President-Christopher Howard
Secretary-Roxanne Pense
Treasurer-Pirkko Haavisto
Rider Representative-TJ Janss
Worker Representative-DeAnna Olson-Fry
Board Member At Large-Les Green
Board Member At Large-Gina Howard
Board Member At Large-Simon-Pierre Smith
Board Member At Large-Herb Wagner
Advisory Board Member-Kurt Fry
Advisory Board Member-Dale Pestes
Advisory Board Member-Shawn Roberti
Advisory Board Member-Tom Young
Operations Manager – Janice M. Logan

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

PICKERINGTON, OHIO –

Paradama Productions, Inc., d/b/a AMA Pro Racing, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking an injunction against Clear Channel Motorsports. The complaint seeks enforcement of the Supercross Sanctioning Agreement signed by AMA Pro Racing and Clear Channel Motorsports in March 2002, which stipulates that AMA Pro Racing maintains the exclusive rights to sanction Clear Channel’s events included in the AMA Supercross Series.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, stems, in part, from Clear Channel Motorsports’ allowing the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) to take over sanctioning and rules-enforcement for Clear Channel’s events included in the AMA Supercross Series.

“Clear Channel Motorsports, along with the FIM, are attempting to combine the AMA Supercross Series with smaller events in Europe and create a new series under the FIM banner. Undoubtedly, this is not in the best interest of American racers, teams or Supercross fans,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. “We will not stand by idly while AMA Supercross is dismantled in this fashion. Outside meddling in AMA Supercross will only result in a weakened series as well as confusion among all parties.”

AMA Pro Racing is an independent subsidiary of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) responsible for managing the AMA Supercross Series on behalf of the Association. The AMA is a 270,000-member not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to pursue, protect and promote the interests of motorcyclists, while serving the needs of its members. Under the terms of the contract between AMA Pro Racing and Clear Channel Motorsports, AMA Pro Racing maintains the exclusive right to sanction all 15 Clear Channel Motorsports-promoted rounds of the 16-race AMA Supercross Series. Neither the AMA nor the FIM is a party to that contract.

“Our agreement with Clear Channel is unambiguous in this regard,” said Hollingsworth. “Clear Channel does not have the right to allow the FIM to sanction any event in the AMA Supercross Series or to commandeer the 28 years of AMA Supercross and rename it the FIM World Supercross GP. The FIM has repeatedly failed in its attempts to organize a world supercross championship and should not be able to create one this way. AMA Supercross will continue into the future and will maintain its standing as the world’s leading Supercross series.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Both the Yamaha factory AMA Supersport team and the Graves Motorsports Yamaha AMA Formula Xtreme team are finishing the second day of a two-test today at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Damon Buckmaster, Aaron Gobert, Jamie Hacking and Jason DiSalvo are shaking down their 2003 YZF-R6s in preparation for the Dunlop tire tests scheduled for early December at Daytona International Speedway.

Buckmaster, Gobert and Hacking are also testing their Formula Xtreme YZF-R1s at Fontana but will not ride the bikes at the Daytona tire test. The AMA Formula Xtreme class does not race at Daytona.

From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

CARMICHAEL BECOMES FIRST RIDER IN 15 YEARS TO WIN BACK-TO-BACK AMA PRO RACING SPEED CHANNEL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

PICKERINGTON, Ohio The 2002 AMA Supercross and AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. 250 Motocross Champion Ricky Carmichael was named 2002 AMA Pro Racing Speed Channel Athlete of the Year Saturday, Nov. 23 at the AMA Pro Awards Banquet in Las Vegas. The presentation to Carmichael of the Speed Channel Athlete of the Year Award was the highlight of the evening’s gala, where Carmichael was given a commemorative Rolex watch. In winning the highest honor given each year by AMA Pro Racing, Carmichael becomes the first rider to earn the award in consecutive years since co-winners Ricky Johnson and Bubba Shobert accomplished the feat in 1987. James Stewart, Jr., Chris Carr, Nicky Hayden, David Watson, along with Carmichael were the nominees for this year’s Athlete of the Year.

AMA Pro Racing also awarded Motorcycle Hall of Famer Dave Despain with the Sportsman of the Year Award and the Award of Mechanical Excellence went to four-time AMA Grand National champ Chris Carr’s longtime mechanic Kenny Tolbert.

The Athlete of the Year Award capped off a remarkable year for Carmichael. The Havana, Fla., native, who turns 23 this Wednesday (Nov. 27), won 11 of 16 rounds in the 2002 AMA Supercross Series en route to winning that championship for the second year in a row. RC then completed the single best season in the history of AMA Motocross. He reeled off 24-straight moto wins and 12 overalls for a perfect season in the 250 division. It was the first time that a rider had gone undefeated in AMA Motocross. In addition, Carmichael broke numerous AMA racing records along the way, including the longest winning streak in AMA professional motocross and breaking Bob Hannah’s long-standing record for the most career victories in AMA 250 Motocross.

“It was a year I’ll never forget,” said Carmichael, who has earned an amazing eight national championships in his six seasons of pro racing. “I want to thank Honda for being 100 percent behind me. I also would like to thank AMA Pro Racing, the NPG and Clear Channel for providing us riders with a great opportunity to race in front of thousands of the best fans in all of racing.”

Carmichael went on to say that he hopes to make another strong run at both AMA Supercross and AMA Motocross titles again in 2003.

The AMA Pro Racing Speed Channel Athlete of the Year has been awarded annually since 1976 and prior to that had its origins in the old Rider of the Year and Most Popular Rider of the Year Awards, which date back to 1938.

Highlights from the 2002 AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet will air on Speed Channel’s Bike Week, Tuesday, December 10 at 7 p.m. and again at 12 a.m.