Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Lockhart-Phillips USA is raffling off a Suzuki TL1000R project bike with the proceeds going to the Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund.

The raffle was announced at the February 16-18 Powersports Dealer Expo in Indianpolis; $10 raffle tickets first went on sale February 16 in Indianapolis and will be sold until July 14. The plan is to hold the drawing for the bike during the AMA/World Superbike weekend at Laguna Seca.

The Lockhart-Phillips USA Suzuki TL1000R project bike is a rolling showcase of the company’s sportbike parts and accessories inventory. The bike to be raffled includes an engine built by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry, an Akropovic exhaust, Dynojet Power Commander II, Performance Machine wheels, Dunlop D207GP tires, Race Tech suspension, Attack Performance rearsets and triple clamps, LP’s own anodized bolt kit and a custom paint job.

Raffle tickets can be purchased by calling (800) 221-7291 or online by clicking on the following link…

http://www.lockhartphillipsusa.com/ticket.htm

By following the link, you will also be able to read Lockhart-Phillips’ statement on the raffle, see pictures of the bike, view a complete list of the bike’s features and see an incredible, four-photo sequence of Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates crashing headfirst into Air Fence during last year’s AMA 600cc Supersport race at Sears Point.

For more information about the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, following the special links on the www.roadracingworld.com homepage.

*Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Even though Anthony Gobert was the fastest Superbike rider in recent, off-season tests at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca and California Speedway, the reformed wild child realizes that it will be a tall order to win the 2002 AMA Superbike Championship because he will be one of only a few of the Superbike pilots to also be racing in the Supersport (formerly 600cc Supersport) division.

In 2002, there will be nine top-level Superbikes on AMA grids. Only three of those nine Superbike riders will be asked to also campaign the Supersport class–Gobert and Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Aaron Yates and Jamie Hacking.

What complicates the double-duty effort of Gobert even more is that there will be six double-header Superbike races in 2002, on some of the most physically demanding tracks on the circuit.

“It’s going to be really, really tough,” said Gobert.

“That’s why I’ve kind of upped my (physical training) program for this year quite a bit. I’m hoping that will carry me through. I kind of feel more comfortable on the bikes, both the machines now. So I think I’m going to save a little energy just being more comfortable and not having to try as hard.

“But definitely, like Mat (Mladin), Nicky (Hayden) and Eric (Bostrom) who are only riding Superbikes, they are the three main guys that are going to be the toughest to beat this year. It kind of goes both ways, though.

“Sometimes it’s a bit of an advantage being out on the 600. But at places like Sears Point and Mid-Ohio, places that are non-stop, then I think it’s a big disadvantage to ride the 600. It’s just something I have to do, and to be honest, I would really, really love to win both. I don’t know if anyone has ever won both, but that would be pretty awesome for myself and Yamaha.”

Although riders have won multiple AMA Championships in the same season before, winning both the AMA Superbike and 600cc Supersport Championships in the same season has only been done once in AMA history. Honda’s Miguel Duhamel accomplished the feat in 1995.

From a press release:

WOMEN & MOTORCYCLING EXHIBIT TO APPEAR AT DAYTONA USA DURING BIKE WEEK

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum announced today that the traveling version of its acclaimed “Women & Motorcycling” exhibit will be on display at DAYTONA USA during Bike Week 2002.

DAYTONA USA, located at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, will showcase the Women & Motorcycling exhibit from Monday, March 4 through Sunday, March 10.

The exhibit, which will feature a number of intriguing motorcycles, centers around colorful illustrated panels, packed with information about the role of women in American motorcycling. The panels include timelines depicting milestones from the past century, quotes from notable women past and present, and the names of more than 1500 women who are currently active in various aspects of motorcycling. The goal of the Women & Motorcycling exhibit is to show visitors that many women have contributed to the evolution and growth of motorcycling, from the sport’s earliest days.

DAYTONA USA is a unique, interactive motorsports attraction, featuring a variety of hands-on activities that highlight both advanced technology and historical elements — a high-energy experience designed to appeal to everyone, regardless of their racing knowledge or enthusiasm. For more information about DAYTONA USA, visit www.daytonausa.com or call (386) 947-6800.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

American Honda-sponsored race teams are testing at Willow Springs International Raceway today, alternating test sessions with press intro sessions for journalists sampling the 2002 Honda RC51 streetbike.

The combo press-intro/team test is unprecedented in recent history.

Honda teams taking part in the test include American Honda’s Superbike squad, Erion Honda and Bruce Transportation Group Honda.

From a press release:

NEW SUZUKI FINISHES FIRST ROUND OF TESTS

Phillip Island, Australia, February 21st.

SUZUKI’S new four-stroke GP racer completed the first round of tests at the Australian GP Circuit today, with no hitches and steady progress. Now the Telefonica Movistar Suzuki team and riders are eagerly awaiting the next stage of development of the all new MotoGP machine.

Regular riders Kenny Roberts Jr and Sete Gibernau, along with factory tester Yukio Kagayama, battled high winds at the circuit, but still managed to bring the first part of the programme to a successful conclusion.

Now the team takes a short break while the factory race department incorporates important changes to the machine’s settings and electronics. The next stage of the high intensity development takes place at the Catalunya GP circuit outside Barcelona early next month, where the new bike will be seen in public for the first time.

The machine, powered by an all new fuel-injected 60-degree V4 engine of 990cc, is one of the new generation of Grand Prix motorcycles built to new regulations, pitting four-stroke prototypes against the established 500cc two-stroke GP bikes. Although originally intended to race in 2003, Suzuki’s first prototype showed so much progress that the programme was put forward by a full year to join the other MotoGP pioneers in the first season of the new class.

Over the past three weeks it has been tested at Sepang in Malaysia, and at Eastern Creek and Phillip Island in Australia. During that time factory engineers have been working flat out to take the bike from first prototype stage. The team has established a clear direction of development of both engine and chassis. Now the factory has a chance to make bigger changes to comply with its requirements.

“These tests were merely extended shake-down runs,” said team manager Garry Taylor. “It’s important that people understand that the bike is still at the very early stages of development, and as a result we are still making fairly fundamental changes rather than small refinements. This means there is a certain reaction time to our requests, none of us expected to leave Australia with the whole job done.

“We have been dogged by bad weather in Australia. The first day at Phillip Island was still, but we had a lot of problems with birds on the seaside circuit. The next two days were very windy, which meant we weren’t able to complete as many laps as we would have liked.

“At the same time, we’ve learned a lot and made a lot of progress – and also proved that the new bike has tremendous potential. The team’s mood is still very positive and importantly we are coming away with both riders fit and strong.

“We are realistic enough to know that the bike is still very new and includes a lot of engineering and electronics that are still at the prototype stage. There is a lot to be done before it is fully ready to race, and time is short. But everybody involved – from the riders and mechanics to the factory engineers – is deeply committed to achieve success as soon as possible, and we have taken the first step.”

The bike’s next outing will be in Spain, filming a TV commercial, for sponsors MoviStar, before joining the “open to all” IRTA test at Catalunya on the second week in March, where they will meet the rival four-strokes and two-strokes for the first time.


Kenny Roberts: Unleashing the potential

“We’re under no illusion, there is a lot to do before this bike is ready to race, we’ve started the work and the first stage is over. Now we wait for the factory to make the changes we’ve asked for, to take the bike to the next level. Everybody is working really hard and we need to keep up the pace to the start of the season and then for the rest of the year. The machine goes well and sounds fantastic. The potential is there, and we are working on achieving it.”


Sete Gibernau: Bad weather, good experiences

“Of course the weather was frustrating. It would have been so nice to run strings of laps in good conditions at Phillip Island, but that wasn’t possible. We still managed to achieve quite a lot. There is such a positive feeling in the team, and the bike is obviously a big step forward. The engine is very strong and that is our big area of concentration. We need to get a throttle response right so we can use all of that power.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A report on motogp.com that John Hopkins crashed his Red Bull Yamaha during testing at Estoril yesterday was incorrect.

The report, also issued via the MotoGP news service, was picked up by several websites in the U.S.

Asked about the reported crash via cell phone, Red Bull Yamaha Manager Peter Clifford said, “It’s news to us.”

Clifford passed the phone to Hopkins, who said he had run off the track once, but did not fall.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

During the recent AMA team test at California Speedway, we asked three-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin if he had any plans to race Suzuki’s new XERO V4 MotoGP four-stroke after the AMA season’s early end in August.

“I don’t think so,” said the 29-year-old Australian. “I highly doubt I’ll get a run on that bike. Suzuki seems to have their plans and their riders that they want to have involved in that. It’s not something I look to. If it happens then maybe I’ll do it, maybe I won’t. I’ll just have to see what the deal is at the time and how they wanted to structure a race or two.

“But I have plans to go home at the end of the year straight after the last race and do a little bit of racing in the National Championship at home. So we’ll just go over and do that and have a bit of fun and mess around.

“I’ve got a lot of things going on back home now. It would certainly be good to go over and do a bit of racing and to do a bit of racing back in front of the Australian fans, too. It’s been a long time, six or seven years now. It’s something that I certainly aspire to do some day when I finish racing professionally out of the country. I certainly want to go home and do some racing.”

Mladin has also said that when he retires from professional racing that he would like to run Suzuki road race and motocross teams in Australia.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Loris Capirossi turned the fastest lap time on the final day of the two-day IRTA team test at Estoril in Portugal, Thursday. Capirossi turned a 1:40.126 on his West Honda Pons NSR500 in winds so strong that some teams ended their tests early. High winds were believed to have been a contributing factor in the crash that broke Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy’s leg Wednesday.

McCoy was flown by private plane to Austria where physicians are assessing the damage to the fractures in McCoy’s right tibia and fibula, about an inch above his ankle. It is unknown if McCoy will miss the opening round of the 2002 MotoGP season scheduled for April 5-7 at Suzuka in Japan.

McCoy’s Red Bull Yamaha teammate, American John Hopkins, reported that the winds at Estoril for the second day of testing, Thursday, “were pretty bad and were blowing me all over the place”. Hopkins compared the winds to those often encountered on windy days at his home track, Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California. The winds limited Hopkins and the Red Bull team to only three hours of track time on Thursday.

Hopkins said, “It was a pretty good day. We got a pretty good time despite the wind. I did a 1:42.3 today compared to the 1:42.2 I did yesterday. That’s two-and-a-half seconds faster than I went the last time we tested here!

“I’m really happy. I’m definitely getting used to the bike and having a lot of fun on it. It’s been good riding with all of the different riders here and hanging with them.

“I’m flying home tomorrow. I’ll be there for four or five days before I leave again for a test in Barcelona.”

Best Lap Times From Thursday At Estoril:

1. Loris Capirossi, West Honda Pons NSR500, 1:40.126
2. Daijiro Katoh, Team Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR500, 1:40.743
3. Shinya Nakano, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 YZR500, 1:40.831
4. Alex Barros, West Honda Pons NSR500, 1:41.040
5. Jurgen v.d. Goorbergh, Kanemoto Honda NSR500, 1:41.056
6. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton Team KR – KR3, 1:41.201
7. John Kocinski, Team Marlboro Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:41.274
8. Carlos Checa, Team Marlboro Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:41.345
9. Norick Abe, Antena 3 Yamaha d’Antin YZR500, 1:41.390
10. Olivier Jacque, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 YZR500, 1:41.757
11. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton Team KR – KR3, 1:42.096
12. Max Biaggi, Team Marlboro Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:42.126
13. Sylvain Guintoli, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 YZR500, 1:42.265
14. John Hopkins, Red Bull Yamaha YZR500, 1:42.379

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Sam Fleming
Reporting From Spain

According to conversations I had with a Speed Channel film crew working in Spain, Speed Channel (formerly Speedvision) will be broadcasting AMA, World Superbike and MotoGP races in a similar format and time slots in 2002 as it did in 2001.

Apparently the massive amount of requests that the Speed Channel received from motorcycle enthusiasts was partly responsible for the channel maintaining the level of motorcycle programming.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Red Bull Yamaha’s Garry McCoy had mixed results in the first day of the IRTA MotoGP team test at Esotril, Portugal, on Wednesday. One lap after McCoy turned the fastest time of the day on his YZR500 at 1:40.185, just 0.1-second shy of Max Biaggi’s 2001 pole position time, McCoy crashed and broke his right tibia and fibula.

The first day of the test saw many crashes due to what some riders felt was a dirty racetrack. According to MotoGP sources, crashers included Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 riders Olivier Jacque and Sylvain Guintoli and Pramac Honda’s Tetsuya Harada. Jacque and Guintoli escaped serious injury, but 1993 250cc World Champion Harada broke his left collarbone.

Team Fortuna Honda Gresini’s Daijiro Katoh was second-fastest on his Honda NSR500, less than a tenth of a second slower than McCoy’s time. Katoh was followed by Yamaha riders Shinya Nakano and Jacque and West Honda Pons’ rider Alex Barros.


MotoGP Lap Times:

1. Garry McCoy, Yamaha, 1:40.185
2. Daijiro Katoh, Honda, 1:40.274
3. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, 1:40.918
4. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, 1:41.210
5. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:41.226


250cc Lap Times:

1. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:42.216
2. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:42.268
3. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:42.585
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:43.213
5. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:43.289