From a press release issued by Honda:

New Men at Honda Begin 2003 Preparations at Valencia Today

The inaugural MotoGP season drew to a close on Sunday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, at Valencia, the fourth race over an arduous five-week period for the teams and riders. For two of the world’s top premier class riders, however, the 2003 season began today, at the same venue.

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Italian Max Biaggi, runner-up in the MotoGP series and Spaniard Sete Gibernau tested RC211V Hondas at the 4.005km circuit. Both riders return to Honda equipped teams for next season’s 16 round series and will race the latest versions of the five-cylinder, 990cc four-stroke that they tested today.

The two men spent the day acquainting themselves with the characteristics of the machine that won 14 of the 16 races in the 2002 MotoGP World Championship.

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At the end of what was just a shake down test for the riders, before the serious winter testing action begins, both men were pleased with what the day had revealed for them.

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Max Biaggi: “Today was just my first taste of a new machine. It is a little bit different, but I am pleased with the decision I have taken. We tested the measurements of the bike, such as the handlebars, footpegs and levers, to see how I fit onto it. I was simply trying to understand the character of the machine on this track, and because we have just raced here it was comfortable for me. It will take time to get experience on this bike, everything is very new to me, and I will have to get used to its different sensations.”

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Sete Gibernau: “It’s been really exciting, just jumping on this bike you can tell that it has been winning, and it is definitely a bike that works well in many different areas. It is a very well balanced machine, and as a rider I am satisfied, and I feel confident for next year. With Telefonica MoviStar I believe we have chosen the best team and the best bike, and whilst we still have to get the motorcycle to suit me and my riding style, I feel that with a lot of hard work over the winter, we can be very competitive.”

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This season Italian Valentino Rossi won 11 races aboard his RC211V on the way to a stunning MotoGP title win. Rossi’s Repsol Honda team-mate, Japanese rider Tohru Ukawa, won one race on his RCV, eventually finishing third in the series. Brazilian Alex Barros scored two memorable victories aboard his West liveried RC211V, including last Sunday’s 30-lap Grand Prix of Valencia.

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Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in from John Anderson:

Mid-Atlantic CCS racer Mark Johnson and multi-time Mid-Atlantic CCS Regional Champion Samantha Cotter got engaged this past Saturday evening in front of a large group of Mid-Atlantic racers.

Mark is a former Regional Amateur Champion and currently rides a Honda RS250. Samantha has been GP Singles Champion 3 years running on her Honda RS125. The couple is always at or near the top of the lightweight categories.

Under the guise of Samantha’s 30th birthday, the group assembled to celebrate and for some bench-racing when Mark stole the show and proposed.

Congratulations Mark and Samantha from the whole WCW posse!

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Rodolphe Coiscaud

There is no wasted time in the MotoGP universe, and just two days after the Valencia GP many contenders tested their new bikes on the last track of the 2002 Championship. Three brands of bikes were on the track on the same time after a complete day spent, among other things, to change the colors of the fairings–except in the case of the Kawasakis.

Yamaha had four machines on track with Carlos Checa, Alex Barros, Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacque, while Honda tested with two riders who have returned to Honda, Max Biaggi and Sete Giberneau.

Alex Barros had an impressive day on the ex-Biaggi M1, turning the same time he did on his RC211V in MotoGP qualifying three days earlier: 1:33.6. Yamaha officials were happy to get Barros on the M1 so soon after he beat Valentino Rossi on the 4-stroke Honda machine.

“I’m pretty impressed by the performance of Alex today,” said Herve Poncharal, Tech 3 team manager. “The bike was really good for him, but he wasn’t really sure before he would be comfortable on it. There’s a lot of work to do but the M1 is at the same level of the RCV, close in terms of performance and potential.”

Barros was quicker than everybody else on the 2.5-mile track Tuesday even though Max Biaggi rode his new weapon, the ex-Barros RC211V. Max was the only other rider to turn a time under 1:34, his best lap a 1:33.9.

“This is the first taste of a new machine for me and I’m very pleased with this opportunity. I have a personal idea of this bike now but I cannot say more because I have an agreement with Yamaha until the end of this year,” said Biaggi.

Max was smiling after his run and it was the same happy look on the face of Sete Giberneau, who also took his first ride on the V5 Honda. The new teammate of Daijiro Kato really liked his new machine. “The bike is a real racing bike, easy to ride,” commented Giberneau. “I don’t want to speak too much but prefer to prove my facts with the times on the track. I did a good year with the Suzuki on the begining of the 4-stroke era, but this bike and the team are really a good in my career stage.”

The Kawasaki team tested its new rider Garry McCoy, his contracting decided by the headquarters men in Japan even though team manager Harald Eckl prefered to test the Frenchman Regis Laconi, who does yet not have a ride for next year.

“I’m happy to ride a 4-stroke,” said McCoy. “I did nothing crazy during this first test, just wanted to feel 100% great on the bike and it’s more friendly to ride than the 2-stroke. Now I know I need to change my riding style and for this we will have a long test schedule, but before then I will go to Austria to have an operation on my leg and my left scaphoid.”

Australian McCoy will be running alongside the former Supersport rider Andrew Pitt and Alex Hoffman who is on the way to be the test rider for this project. The next test for the Ninja will be next week in Sepang with the Suzuki squad, which will test a new engine in the GSV-R. The times of the Kawasaki riders were 1:35.4 for Pitt and 1:36 for McCoy.


Honda also tested at Valencia with Roberto Rolfo, who finished third in the 2002 250cc Grand Prix season with a Honda NSR250.

Roberto Rolfo ended his season with a last ride on his works Honda NSR250, and compared it to the new RSW250 customer bike for sale to private teams and riders in 2003.

Rolfo compared the two bikes with the same number of laps on each, turning a 1:37.7 with the factory NSR250 and turning a 1:38.0 with the 2003 prototype RSW250.

“The bike is OK,” commented Rolfo, “the engine is quite different on the RSW but the potential is good. It’ll just require work on it and today was just a test to finish the year.”

Rolfo doesn’t know which bike he will be on next year and awaits the decision of Fortuna, his main sponsor, as to which solution they will offer to him. The matter may be settled by how much it costs to run a RSW250 versus an NSR250.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Garry McCoy, Andrew Pitt and Alex Hoffman tested with Fuchs Kawasaki at Valencia today.

Two different versions of the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP racebike were seen at Valencia on Tuesday, one with conventional exhaust pipe placement and one with the exhaust system routed up underneath the seat.

McCoy has signed to ride for Kawasaki in 2003; Pitt is also thought to have signed, with Hoffman in line to ride for Kawasaki’s MotoGP test team.

Yamaha also tested at Valencia today, with Carlos Checa, Shinya Nakano, Olivier Jacque and new signing Alex Barros.

The Kawasaki team will run on Dunlop tires while all the official Yamaha teams use Michelin.

On Monday at Valencia, journalists rode various Honda racebikes, ranging from the RC211V and NSR500 MotoGP racebikes to Colin Edwards’ Superbike World Championship-winning RC51 to the CBR600F4i ridden to the 2002 Supersport World Championship by Fabien Foret. Included among the “journalists” were former 500cc GP star Randy Mamola and former 250cc GP racer Jurgen Fuchs.

Wednesday, Ducati takes over the track for the first of two days of scheduled testing with the Desmosedici MotoGP racebike, with riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Dorna Sports, the rights holder to the FIM-sanctioned MotoGP World Championship series, entered negotiationing with International Speedway Corporation (ISC) to hold a Grand Prix event on the infield road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway after also evaluating Watkins Glen in New York and California Speedway in Fontana, California.

“We are in preliminary discussions in bringing an event to the Homestead-Miami Speedway, but that’s where we stand right now. They are very preliminary,” said ISC Director of Corporate Communications David Tallie on Tuesday, November 5. “We have met with them (Dorna) a couple of times, but we have no date, no timetable as to when something may or may not happen.

“Certainly, it’s a great series, and we’d be excited to be able to host something like that at Homestead or any of our facilities that they might be interested in if it makes sense for us and it makes sense for them. Having the opportunity for motorcycle fans in the U.S. to see an event like this would be great, again not just for ISC or them but for the fans in the area.”

While Tallie said he was unable to comment on published reports that a U.S. GP would be held at Homestead starting in 2004, he did say “I can tell you from what I know that they (Dorna) initially contacted us, and they were interested in…I think they looked at California (Speedway), Watkins Glen and Homestead. And they did their evaluation process, of which I don’t know what their evaluation process is, but I know they looked at all three and decided that through that process that they seemed to be very interested in Homestead.

“So that’s where we stand right now. I don’t know when future meetings will take place, but we’re certainly interested in their product and they’re interested in our facility in Homestead, or at least that’s the way it looks right now. So we’ll continue conversations, but as I say, no date decided, no timetable as to when something might happen, whether this happens next year or the year after or whenever.”

Asked how long negotiations had been going on, Tallie said “I would assume that it’s been going on for a while if it’s true that they have looked at California, Watkins Glen and Homestead. I assume they did evaluations on those, and it probably took time. Again, I’m guessing because I don’t know what their evaluation process is. It may be just looking at the length of facility or the location. That’s something you’d have to talk to Dorna about. I wasn’t given a specific time as far as how long we’ve been talking to them.”

Tallie called Roadracingworld.com back moments after the initial phone interview to clarify how Dorna “looked at” and “evaluated” the three facilities, saying, “We don’t know whether their (Dorna’s) evaluations involved going out to the specific track or not. That’s something that you’ll have to talk to them about. As I say, I only know that they were only interested in those and have since narrowed down their interest into Homestead. But I don’t know if they physically, I can try and find out, but I don’t know if they physically went out to California, Watkins Glen and Homestead or whether they just gathered information on track size, number of grandstand seats and certain other things that they were looking for and then decided that Homestead was the way they wanted to go.”

Asked if Jim France was leading the negotiations for ISC, Tallie said “I don’t know that he’s leading the negotiations. I know that he is one of the principals here at ISC that they are talking with. Now whether there’s a room full of people or not? As you know, Jim is very interested in motorcycles. So he certainly has an interest in this, but I don’t know that he is the only one in a room talking.

Asked if he knew if the discussions involved a multi-year agreement between Dorna and ISC, Tallie said “I don’t know. Again, it’s very preliminary. So I don’t know that they’ve graduated to that yet. I think, obviously, if we think that it’s going to be a successful event, then sure we’d like to wrap it up as far in advance as we can, but I don’t know that they’ve graduated to that yet. Obviously, you can imagine that there are a lot of points that need to be addressed.

Asked about any modifications that have to be made to Homestead in order to host the event, Tallie said “I don’t. I assume that that is part of the discussions. If in fact modifications do need to be made, then certainly that’s part of the conversations that are going on know.

Asked if ISC would promote the event or just rent out the facility to Dorna, Tallie said, “There again, I don’t know. I’m not privy to the conversations that are going on, but I imagine that all of that is part of the meetings that are taking place or have taken place.

Asked if the Grand Prix event would be combined with an AMA Superbike race, Tallie said, “I don’t know that. As I say, it’s very preliminary. So a lot of the details are still up in the air.”

Calls to Homestead-Miami Speedway and California Speedway did not produce any additional information, but a call to former racer and current race promoter Henry Degouw did. Degouw, who has been promoting CCS regional races at Homestead and other Florida tracks for several years, said, “I’ve been pushing for them to look at this track for a long time, and they finally did. I find it would be quite adaptable for a GP with very little to do. It looks like they, after looking at it, agree.

“I’ve been talking to Mike Trimby (Secretary General of IRTA) about this course at Homestead for a long time. That’s my only involvement. I’ve been saying, ‘Hey, if you want to do a GP in the U.S., take a look at Homestead.’ That’s it.

“We race there, as you know, regularly, and I’ve raced all over the country. I find it one of the safest and by far the nicest tracks in the whole country. It was easy for me to push that racetrack.

“Mick Doohan looked at the track. They’re (Dorna) supposed to be coming over the first week in December. I have invited them, since we’re (CCS Florida Region) going to be at Homestead December 7-8, I have extended them an invitation to come see the track with bikes on the course.

“I believe Carmelo Ezpeleta (CEO of Dorna Sports) will be there, also Claude Danis (President of the FIM Road Racing Commission), Mick Doohan hopefully, and also the rider rep for IRTA, (1982 500cc World Champion)Franco Uncini. My understanding is that they are all coming over. I’m not sure Mick Doohan is, but I believe all the others are.”

Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Team Suzuki’s Atsushi Watanabe won the All-Japan Road Race Series Superbike Championship with a third-place finish in the final round of the series Sunday, November 3 at Suzuka Circuit. YSP Racing & Presto’s Wataru Yoshikawa won the 20-lap race on his Yamaha YZF-R7, two seconds ahead of his teammate Takeshi Tsujimura.

Watanabe was more than 60 seconds behind at the finish, but after Championship contender Makoto Tamada dropped out of the race on the second lap, Watanabe only needed to finish eighth or better to win the title if Yoshikawa won.

Suzuki MotoGP GSV-R prototype rider Akira Ryo earned pole position with a 2:07.188, but Tsujimura turned the fastest lap of the race, a 2:08.436 on lap three.

Forty-seven riders started the season-ending Superbike race, and 34 finished.

Team Jha’s Hideyuki Nakajoh won his fourth All-Japan 125cc Championship on a Honda RS125R, Tekkyu Kayoh of Hitman RC Kohshien Yamaha won his second All-Japan 250cc title on a TZ250, Ryuichi Kiyonari of Team Kohtake RSC Honda won his first ST600 Championship on a CBR600F4i and JSB/S-NK Champion Tatsuya Yamaguchi of Honda Dream Fill Racing (Honda CBR954RR) was also a first-time All-Japan Champion.

All-Japan Superbike Round Nine Race Results:

1. Wataru Yoshikawa, SBK, Yamaha YZF-R7, 20 laps, 43:14.451
2. Takeshi Tsujimura, SBK, Yamaha YZF-R7, -2.178 seconds
– Keichi Kitagawa, PRT, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -6.399 seconds
– Tamaki Serizawa, PRT, Suzuki Tornado S-1, -9.288 seconds
– Yoshiteru Konishi, PRT, Honda CBR954RR, -54.335 seconds
3. Atsushi Watanabe, SBK, Suzuki GSX-R750, -60.174 seconds
– Masao Okuno, PRT, Honda CBR954RR, -60.693 seconds
4. Tatsuya Yamaguchi, JSB, Honda CBR954RR, -61.299 seconds
5. Osamu Deguchi, JSB, Honda CBR954RR, -61.675 seconds
6. Akira Tamitsuji, JSB, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -82.447 seconds
7. Chojun Kameya, JSB, Honda CBR954RR, -82.903 seconds
8. Makoto Tokinaga, SNK, Yamaha YZF-R7/R1, -90.914 seconds
9. Takuma Yamamoto, JSB, Honda CBR954RR, -91.334 seconds
10. Ken’ichiro Nakamura, SBK, Honda RC51, -101.633 seconds

34. Yukio Kagayama, PRT, Suzuki GSV-R, -4 laps

41. Akira Ryo, PRT, Suzuki GSV-R, -18 laps, DNF
42. Makoto Tamada, SBK, Honda RC51, -19 laps, DNF


Final 2002 All-Japan Superbike Championship Point Standings:

1. Watanabe, 148 points
2. Yoshikawa, 140 points
3. Tsujimura, 127 points
4. Tamada, 120 points
5. Yuichi Tamada, 85 points
6. Yamaguchi, 68 points
7. Tamitsuji, 68 points
8. Deguchi, 48 points
9. Hiroaki Kawase, 46 points
10. Nakamura, 38 points

Rich Oliver sent this in after attending Buster Roberts’ funeral:

If you, the reader, will indulge me, I would like to tell you about a friend of mine. I went to say goodbye to him today, and to thank him for a few things he did that changed my life.

You see, he was partly responsible for me not ever giving up, and he taught me that having fun was the secret to going fast.

I met Buster in 1988, out on the ranch in Hickman. We knew each other a little bit already then, from seeing each other at the races, but this was my first time out to Kenny’s. I had just been signed up to race for the Marlboro USA team, and Kenny told me I had better start to ride in the dirt and to get my ass out there and get going. So that’s what I did and it was hard. Kenny is pretty darn fast, and so was everyone else out there. So I crashed and crashed, I had so many elbow scrapes that I had scabs on top of my scabs. But you know, I’d be lying there in a heap, spitting dirt out of my teeth, and Buster would come over and just say something like, “Hey Oliver, get your ass up!”

But he was smiling. Buster was a man who could laugh with you, but he would never laugh at you. He always encouraged me to keep going, keep trying, he always took the long view, and would tell me that it was going to take time and to just be patient, I would get it.

So I worked at it and got better, I learned and I
started to relax, and found out that the more relaxed and the more fun I let myself have the faster I went.


Buster was cool, because sometimes he would ride over to the dirt track from his trailer on his little kick-around motorcycle and watch us race each other on minibikes. One of those times he told me, “you know Oliver, when you got here you couldn’t ride worth a shit, but you’re starting to get with it now.”

Kinder words were never said.

Years later we would hang out in his little trailer where he lived, talking about everything under the sun. He would tell me about his girlfriend from Japan and I would talk about my latest. He was as good a judge of a woman’s character as it turns out. I liked him a lot because of that little trailer. He was happy there, and had what he wanted. One day I asked him why he didn’t live in the house with Kenny and his family, but he just said he liked it in the trailer better. I like to be in my own castle, too.

Buster was always really fair about how he would pull for Kenny Jr., Kurtis and Tyson. But he would cheer for you too, even if you weren’t family. He loved to watch a good battle on the track and would care more about how hard you tried than if you finished first or second.

I’ve had to pick myself up this year a few times, and Buster has been there in my mind saying, “Oliver, get your ass up!”

I’ll keep getting up Buster, until my time comes, too.

I don’t really know what kind of a father Buster was, or what kind of a husband he was, but he was a really good man to me. And I’ve found there aren’t too many of those around.

I wonder where he is now, has he shed his comfortable but worn out body for something better? I think so. He can probably fly faster up there than anyone on a racing motorcycle can fly down here. But we’ll keep trying to catch up.

Rich Oliver

From a press release issued by Yamaha:

YAMAHA UNVEILS 2003 MOTOGP LINE-UP AND NEW SPONSOR

The Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has signed a new sponsorship agreement with multinational tobacco company Altadis. The agreement will see two of Altadis’s leading cigarette brands assume title sponsorship of Yamaha’s factory efforts in the 2003 and 2004 MotoGP World Championships.

Yamaha’s in-house factory squad will be re-named the Fortuna Yamaha Team. Fortuna is Spain’s number one cigarette brand and is sold in a number of other countries. The Gauloises Yamaha Team will also benefit from the full technical support of the factory; the Tech 3 managed outfit continuing its sponsorship from Altadis’ international Gauloises brand under the “umbrella” Yamaha-Altadis Agreement. Gauloises’ international expansion is constantly increasing with 65-percent of its sales currently exported.

FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM
* Spaniard Carlos Checa will lead the team’s assault on the MotoGP Championship in his fifth consecutive season with Yamaha, his second season aboard the four-stroke YZR-M1. The hard-charging 30-year-old, who finished fifth in the 2002 classification, will be aiming to use his experience on the M1 to challenge hard for the 2003 title.

* Checa will be joined in the team by newly-crowned GP250 World Champion Marco Melandri. The 20-year-old Italian will make the step up to the premier class on Yamaha’s four-stroke YZR-M1 machine. Melandri is the latest in a long line of 250cc World Champions to graduate to the top class and follows in the footsteps of the current cream of MotoGP including Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Valentino Rossi, Olivier Jacque and Daijiro Kato.

GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM
* The team has signed Alex Barros to ride full-factory YZR-M1 machines in 2003. The experienced Brazilian has shown a rich vein of form in 2002, particularly since switching to four-stroke machinery for the final four races.

* The team’s long-term French rider and 2000 season 250cc World Champion, Olivier Jacque, will ride alongside Barros aboard the YZR-M1 in the all-four-stroke class.

COMMENTS ON THE NEW LINE-UP
Mr. Lin Jarvis (Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing B.V.)
“Yamaha is very pleased to have cemented a relationship with Altadis. Altadis has been an excellent supporter of MotoGP over the last few years and is an innovative and exciting company. We are looking forward to a fruitful partnership. With both teams covered under this agreement we should be able to achieve Yamaha and Altadis’s mutual objectives both on the racetracks and in the market place.

“Our new rider line-up is strong with a good blend of youth and experience. We are counting on Carlos to fulfil his potential and take the M1 to the next stage in terms of development and results. Melandri is an exciting new signing for the future and he’s proved he has the talent and determination to do well.

“The Gauloises Yamaha Team has also made an excellent new signing in Barros. He has had an incredible end to this season and we are sure that his experience will benefit the team enormously. We are confident that Olivier Jacque will continue to develop on the M1 and show some of the aggressive, race-winning form that we know he’s capable of.”

Davide Brivio (Director, Yamaha Factory Team)
“Our thanks go to Altadis and we look forward to working with them in 2003 and 2004. I am confident that we’ll have two good years.

“Carlos knows what he has to do next year. Yamaha has placed a lot of faith in him and we know that he’s ready to show the balance of consistency and speed needed to fight for the Championship.

“It will be very interesting for all of us to work with Marco and help him to take the next step in his career. He has already achieved a lot at just 20 years of age and we’ll provide him with the best possible environment to adapt quickly to the M1. He’ll be working with an excellent crew including Crew Chief Fiorenzo Fanali whose experience will be invaluable.”

Hervé Poncharal (Team Principal, Gauloises Yamaha Team)
“This is very good for us. The umbrella deal between Yamaha and Altadis further strengthens our relationship with both companies. Gauloises has been a very good partner for us and we are confident that with this new line-up, and with Yamaha and the M1, we’ll be able to deliver the results we are all looking for.

“Alex Barros has been incredible this season and I am sure that he’ll fit in well with our team and adapt quickly to the M1. I think that Olivier too will adapt well to the bike with a full winter test programme and will be running up front where he belongs from the beginning of next season.”

Fabrice Bourgeois (Sponsorship Manager, Altadis)
“This umbrella deal between Altadis and Yamaha is the logical continuation of the ambitious, long-term strategy we have pursued since our arrival in MotoGP in 2000. With our two leading brands, Fortuna and Gauloises, now title sponsors of Yamaha’s two top teams, and our strong trackside presence, Altadis has positioned itself as one of the major players in MotoGP.”

Hiroshi Oosumi (General Manager, Yamaha Motorsports Engineering Division)
“MotoGP has become an even greater focus for Yamaha. We are very satisfied with our 2003 line-up of an excellent sponsor, two top teams and four very capable riders. Our engineers are continuing to work extremely hard to maintain the momentum we have built up with the M1 project and to keep improving our performance.

“Yamaha is also considering the possibility of an additional entry in the 2003 MotoGP championship with a satellite team, although this will depend on a number of factors due to be confirmed shortly.”

From a press release issued by the AMA:

EPA Extends Comment Period for Streetbike Emissions Rules

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has extended the comment deadline on the agency’s proposed emissions standards for street motorcycles, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

The comment deadline of Nov. 8 has been extended to Jan. 7, 2003.

Comments may be submitted by referring to Docket A-2000-02 and writing to: Margaret Borushko, U.S. EPA, National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2000 Traverwood, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; or by e-mail to [email protected].

To see the proposed emissions standards, go to the “Protecting Your Right to Ride” section of the AMA website at www.AMADirectlink.com.

The EPA is about to implement revised national emissions standards for new road motorcycles that would require those bikes to meet strict emissions standards beginning with 2006 models. The federal standards would be the same as those adopted by the state of California, but would go into effect two years after California’s standards.

The first phase of the new national standards would go into effect in 2006 and the second phase would be in place for 2010.

The AMA has been involved in the rule-making process from the beginning, including testifying before EPA officials on Sept. 17.

The new standards are expected to result in an increased use of fuel injection and catalytic converters on new motorcycles. Some motorcycles sold in the United States already meet California’s strict 2008 standards, which are the same as the planned federal EPA 2010 standard.

The new California standard that begins with the 2004 model year, and the planned federal standard that would take effect for the 2006 model year, require new road-going motorcycles to emit no more than 1.4 grams per kilometer traveled of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides and 12 grams per kilometer of carbon monoxide.

The California standard for 2008, that would also be the national standard beginning in 2010, sets a limit of 0.8 grams per kilometer of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides and 12 grams per kilometer of carbon monoxide.

The current federal emissions standards for street motorcycles are 5.0 grams of hydrocarbons and 12 grams of carbon monoxide per kilometer traveled.

Concerning off-highway motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, the EPA announced in September new emissions standards that would be partially phased-in in 2006. Full compliance would be required by the manufacturers in 2007.

To see the new rules, go to the “Protecting Your Right to Ride” section of the AMA website at www.AMADirectlink.com.

From a press release issued by AHRMA:

AHRMA West Coast Roadrace Update

Due to circumstances beyond the control of AHRMA, the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West event at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma , Calif., and the Corsa Motoclassica event at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, Calif., will not take place in 2003. Here are the facts surrounding each:

Sears Point – VMD West

The AMA and Infineon ( Sears Point ) officials were not able to reach agreement on the 2003 event. Exact reasons behind this were not disclosed to AHRMA. Since AHRMA is a subcontractor for the AMA at Sears Point , AHRMA is not and was not involved in the negotiations.

Upon being notified of the loss of VMD West, AHRMA contacted Sears Point to inquire into the possibility of AHRMA securing the Sears Point venue. Unfortunately, all dates for the 2003 season were already allocated to other organizations. AHRMA has requested to be considered for a date for 2004, but it is impossible at this point to know if this will work out or not.

Willow Springs

In assembling its 2003 schedule, AHRMA had included Willow Springs at the direction of the past promoter of the event, and scheduled it for the same weekend as in 2002. Unfortunately, the promoter did not act in a timely manner to secure his date with Willow Springs. AHRMA made efforts to help the promoter secure an alternate date as well as to secure a date at the adjacent Streets of Willow facility, all to no avail.

Other California venues contacted

Upon discovering the above venues were not available to AHRMA for 2003, the following tracks were contacted, none of which had dates open:

·Buttonwillow
·California Speedway
·Laguna Seca
·Thunderhill

It should be noted that AHRMA has spoken to the above venues for consideration for dates in 2004. Based on information that AHRMA now has, it appears that both Buttonwillow and Thunderhill may be serious candidates for 2004 events. It is naturally too early to speak for 2004 dates, but AHRMA is committed to doing everything within its power to secure dates within California for the 2004 season. The northwestern portion of the United States is also being considered for a possible date on the 2004 schedule as well.

If you should have any questions on this, feel free to contact the AHRMA national office.

AHRMA’s 2003 national schedules will be available in mid-to-late November.

David Lamberth, Executive Director