From an e-mail, sent by Joe Davidson:

CCS racer Luis Garcia was injured Sunday April 21st at Moroso Park. His helmet faired okay, didn’t break, but was ground down. He fell at 80-100, with an abrupt touching of the brake lever against another rider just before the first turn, all were accelerating. His bars turned right, sharply, and he basically dove over them and immediately downward.

He was unconscious and coughing up blood when he was airlifted out. On Monday, Luis is still in the trauma ICU, and still in a coma. The ear doc said he looks good, from his perspective, because blood was coming from his ear yesterday, but it had stopped. CAT scans reveal only ‘microscopic’ damage. His swelling is down a lot. His upper arm is apparently broken as well, but it’s minor compared to other conditions, at present (head, spine). On Tuesday, he’s stable, but is more responsive. He’s responding to a doctor who tried to check his eyes. He kept trying to close them. Small step, good sign. Everything else is stable and he’s getting stronger, medicine is doing its job. It could be really any amount of time before he is conscious. They can’t give any time. Please keep him in your thoughts & prayers. He is married and has two young children.

Cards are being forwarded to him by a close friend Luis Wassmann:

Please send cards & letters to:
Luis Wassmann
PO Box 143290
Coral Gables, FL 33114

A PayPal account has also been established to help defray costs of travel, babysitters, etc. during his hospitalization: [email protected]

The account is in the name of Luis Wassmann, a close family friend.

From a press release:

GetAMotorcycle.com 250 Grand Prix Challenge Announced

GetAMotorcycle.com, the leading provider of on-line inventory management for the Power Sports Industry in New England, in cooperation with Clear Channel Entertainment/FUSA and New Hampshire International Speedway today announced the “GetAMotorcycle.com 250 Grand Prix Challenge” to be held during the 79th running of the Loudon Classic Motorcycle races June 14-16.

The race will provide a venue for the purpose built Grand Prix machines and their national caliber riders. GetAMotorcycle.com has guaranteed a $5000 purse for the race.

GetAMotorcycle.com provides online inventory management services and solutions to New England’s largest Motorcycle and Power Sports dealerships.

The company also provides a web based portal and search engine for prospective customers to search current inventories of more than 60 member dealerships. The company also provides their e-Classifieds portal for matching sellers with buyers of used motorcycles and parts.

From a press release:

It’s back to Europe for Steve Martin after tough weekend in Japan

Steve Martin had a tough weekend on his DFX Ducati at the Sugo round of the World Superbike championship.

“We struggled here all weekend,” said Steve after the races. “Pirelli have definitely made improvements to the tyres since last year, allowing me to knock almost a second-a-lap off last year’s lap times. But the fact is that all the teams have made significant improvements since last year, the pace this season is incredible. We’ve still got some development work to do.”

The DFX Ducati team now fly back to Europe for some more testing before the Monza round of the WSB championship. “I knew it would be tough here, the standard of the Japanese wild card riders is very high and many of the teams have tested here several times.

“I’m glad to be going back to Europe where we’ll be at some tracks that we’ve tested at. I hope we can put on a better show at places like Monza and Lausitzring.”

Steve is also looking forward to spending a little time in the countryside around Milan. “I’m hoping to take off for a bit of relaxation after a tough schedule of travelling to the fly-away rounds. Everybody in the paddock is pretty relieved to have finished with this part of the season. It’s tough on the riders with all the flying and also hard on the teams as we all have to work out of boxes.

“But my trip to the country won’t be all about taking it easy, I’ve been training really hard recently and I’ll be taking my mountain bike with me to do some more work on my fitness.”

Steve finished 17th in the first race and 20th in the second race. He was the first rider home on Pirelli tyres in both races.

From a press release:

AMA Applauds Virginia Crackdown on Motorists Who Kill Motorcyclists

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Under a new Virginia law, a motorist who kills a motorcyclist in a traffic incident could lose his or her drivers license for up to a year, in addition to any other penalties imposed, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

The law, which goes into effect July 1, is similar to model legislation developed by the AMA’s “Motorcyclists Matter” campaign and was championed by Jody Patteson, the mother of motorcyclist Adam Svihla. Svihla, 20, was killed riding his motorcycle in Newport News, Virginia, last September when a car turned in front of his motorcycle, causing the crash that took Svihla’s life.

When sentenced in January, the driver was ordered to pay a $200 fine plus court costs for failing to yield the right of way.

Under the new law, judges would be allowed to suspend a motorist’s drivers license for up to a year if the driver is involved in a fatal traffic incident. The drivers license suspension would be in addition to any other penalties imposed.

“The success of getting the law changed is bittersweet because of the reason I became involved in lobbying for the change…,” Patteson said. “I only hope that other families will be spared some of the pain we live with because of the injustice we felt was served by the court system. I know that Adam is smiling down on those responsible for getting this new law passed.”

Patteson said Sen. Marty Williams and Delegate Tom Gear worked very hard to guide the legislation through the Legislature, and the AMA “was extremely helpful all along the process.” Among other things, the AMA submitted testimony on the bill and asked AMA members in Virginia to contact their state lawmakers to support the legislation.

The AMA’s Motorcyclists Matter campaign was founded to reduce the number of accidents involving motorcyclists and motorists, as well as to raise the awareness of motorists of motorcyclists on the road. A major component of the program involves the passage of laws requiring mandatory fines for drivers who fail to yield right of way in collisions, ranging from a minimum of $200 for causing an accident in which another road user is injured, up to at least $1000 if the accident results in death.

In addition, the program seeks mandatory drivers-license suspensions ranging from 30 days to six months, depending on the severity of injuries. Those penalties would be added to any others for traffic violations associated with the incident.

The program also calls on states to develop a course for offenders focusing on the vulnerabilities of motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. And it would encourage the creation of public-nformation campaigns reminding drivers to watch for motorcyclists.

“The unfortunate truth is that a driver’s inattentive left turn, unwary lane change, casual red light ‘run,’ or untimely cellphone call can result in death or serious injury to a motorcyclist,” said Imre Szauter, AMA legislative affairs specialist and coordinator of the Motorcyclists Matter campaign.

From a press release:

On Saturday April 27th Cyclewerkz of Carrollton Texas will be having a grand opening celebration from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., including free dogs and drinks for everyone. The Sportbike Hype guys have been hired to appear to blow off some stunts, and as always there will be plenty of bench racing, discounts and even some free stuff!

Cyclewerkz is the exclusive Metzeler race tire service for all of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. In addition to vending tires at CMRA and RPM racing events, Cyclewerkz also sells all trackside needs at every event!

For additional information please contact anyone at Cyclewerkz, phone (866) 242-8800, (972) 242-8800 or on the web,www.cyclewerkz.com.

From a press release:

Tom Sera, founder of FASTRACK RIDERS Association, announces the sale of his company to Larry Pointer and David Pyles. Tom founded FASTRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION ten years ago with the idea to give motorcyclist a safe environment in which to ride their motorcycles–on a racetrack–to develop their riding skills. His vision gave thousands of motorcyclists the opportunity to experience a “Day at the Track”.

Tom stated “Now it is time for someone else to step in and take the track day experience to the next level! It is a very proud moment for me as I have seen my vision go from a once a month event to several events per month at various tracks. I will still be involved to honor any contractual commitments FASTRACK RIDERS has but on a more limited basis.”

Larry Pointer and David Pyles are lifelong motorcycle enthusiasts dedicated to making every FASTRACK RIDERS day at the track event an experience never to be forgotten. David will serve as President and Larry as Vice President of Operations. They believe the next level is to create a motorcycle racing club for those “Track Day” riders who desire to move into racing after developing the skills to do so during their “Day at the Track” experience. In addition it is their intent to offer track day experiences for all types of motorcycles and motorcyclists.

FASTRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION, based in Southern California, promotes motorcycle safety through “at the track experience training” for all types and levels of motorcyclist. FASTRACK RIDERS may be contacted via [email protected] or 1-877-560-2233.

FASTRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION: The Ultimate Riding Experience!


(Editorial note: Fastrack has held track ride and practice days on the Willow Springs, Streets of Willow and California Speedway road courses, as well as also holding FTA road races at California Speedway.)

From a press release:

SUMMIT POINT CYCLE FEST ADDS CCS TO SCHEDULE

Clear Channel Entertainment’s Motor Sports division announces that Summit Point Cycle Fest, Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, May 24-26, 2002 featuring the Formula USA National Road Race Series will NOW include motorcycle racing classes from Championship Cup Series presented by Lockhart Phillips.

“The addition of CCS also means that we are adding forty additional classes of motorcycle road racing to the festival of racing making this event even more spectacular” said Bill Syfan director of road racing for Clear Channel Entertainment.

“Champion Cup Series is pleased with the opportunity to replace other cancellations in the region with another event at Summit Point Raceway. After numerous riders inquired about additional rounds to make up for the cancellations we were glad give the riders another regional points paying event at the Mid-Atlantic regions home track. After some debate, all parties involved agreed that the inclusion of CCS activity would be beneficial to all, and now it is reality. I cannot tell you how happy we are to be included in the Summit Point Cyclefest for 2002, it is sure to make for one memorable weekend”, says Kevin Elliott, CCS Manager.

For ticket information, please visit www.formulausa.com or call 800-216-7482 to charge by phone. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Pro Racing Director of Professional Competition Merrill Vanderslice has delayed the Appeal Board hearing on the denied protests of Damon Buckmaster’s Yamaha YZF-R7 Formula Xtreme racebike until Tuesday, May 14, more than a week after the next AMA National (at Sears Point) and two days before official practice starts at Road Atlanta.

In addition to scheduling the hearing on a weekday between races, Vanderslice scheduled the hearing to be held in Columbus, Ohio.

Because the Appeal Board hearing has been scheduled mid-week at a remote location instead of, for example, on the Thursday night prior to the next AMA National, at a location near the National, riders and witnesses flying to the hearing will be forced to pay high air fares due to complicated routing or the lack of a Saturday-night layover.

At post time, a Delta Air Lines ticket from Ontario, California to Columbus to Atlanta and back to Ontario in the involved time-frame was priced at about $800, versus about $300 for a round-trip between Ontario and Atlanta. A separate ticket from Atlanta to Columbus mid-week, starting on Monday and returning on Wednesday, was also priced at about $800. Because most teams and riders have already purchased tickets to the Atlanta race, additional routing change fees–typically $100–could also apply.

In the past, AMA Pro Racing has scheduled Appeal Board hearings at the next available AMA National, since all the involved parties have to be there anyway.

Vanderslice also refused to supply the appealing riders with various AMA Pro Racing internal documents related to the formation and interpretation of the rule in question. Several riders requested the documents in an effort to disprove Vanderslice’s contention that the intent of the rule is now unclear; Vanderslice himself either wrote or approved the rule in question.