Take Back The AMA slate candidate John Ulrich won his new seat on the AMA Board of Trustees by a margin of 4.5:1 over incumbent Ellis Robertson, with polling running 894 to 197.

In the South East Region, Take Back The AMA candidate Kevin Schwantz defeated incumbent Carl Reynolds, who was a key figure in the Edmondson vs. AMA lawsuit, which was settled last June when the AMA paid Edmondson $3 million of members’ money.

In the South Central Region, Take Back The AMA candidate Jeff Nash defeated incumbent Ron Widman.

From a press release:

NUTEC ANNOUNCES WSMC CONTINGENCY AND DISTRIBUTION

Nutec fuels has posted over $120,000 in contingency for the 2002 WSMC race season. Starting this weekend, Nutec customers will also be serviced at Willow Springs and most other Southwest road racing events by Freddie Spencer’s High Performance Product Line/Michelin race tire distributor Dale Kieffer’s Racer’s Edge.

WSMC riders interested in using Nutec fuels must pre-order fuel before each event from Racer’s Edge at (702) 257-3808. Pre-ordered fuel will be available for pick-up from Racer’s Edge at WSMC events.

The Nutec contingency program is as follows:
All WSMC classes
1st – $100 + 1 USG Nutec Race Oil
5th – $75 + 1 USG Nutec Race Oil
10th – $50 + 1 USG Nutec Race Oil
15th – $25 + 1 USG Nutec Race Oil
Total Value = over $120,000

Requirements include:
2″ x 8″ NUTEC decals must be displayed on each side of racebike located above the bottom curve of the bodywork.

No suit patch required.

Rider MUST purchase a minimum of ten (10) gallons of Nutec Race Fuel from Racer’s Edge per race event.

No competing brand of fuel decal or suit patch is allowed.

Proof of purchase will be required.

Minimum of 5 starters per class are required for payout

Rider must complete Nutec Contingency form at each event.

Rider can only earn contingency in one (1) class per 10 gallons purchased. If you purchase 20 gallons you can earn contingency in 2 classes, etc.

For more information contact Freddie Spencer’s High Performance Product Line (702) 591-8915 or Racer’s Edge (702) 257-3808.

Kevin Schwantz won his new AMA Trustee seat by a margin of 3.5:1 over incumbent Carl Reynolds, who played a key role in the Edmondson vs. AMA lawsuit that cost AMA members $3 million in a settlement made last June.

Schwantz, the 1993 500cc World Champion, drew 1191 votes to Reynolds’ 331.

Voting in the AMA South Central Region ran almost 3:1 (actually 2.7:1) in favor of Take Back The AMA candidate Jeff Nash, who defeated incumbent Ron Widman.

Nash, who was the 2000 AMA Pro Thunder Champion, won with 619 votes to Widman’s 232 votes.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

After two days of testing on the 2.36-mile infield road course at California Speedway in Fontana, California, Nicky Hayden, Tommy Hayden and Mike Hale recorded the fastest times among Superbike, 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme riders, respectively. Despite cold and overcast weather, lap times fell sharply throughout the day as the racing surface gained more traction through the exchange of rubber for dirt on the racing line.

For the second major off-season test in a row, American Honda’s Nicky Hayden turned the fastest lap of the test on his 2001-spec RC51 while expressing a clear preference for the 2002-model RC51 that he has sampled at each test. On the second day of the two-day test at Fontana, Nicky Hayden spent all of his time on his 2001 bike before turning a 1:26.97 lap time late in the day on a race tire.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff sorted through,” said Nicky Hayden. “We’ve still got more stuff we can try when we come back here for the race. I’m pretty happy, though. Both days went smooth and we learned a lot. I feel that I learned the track as good as I’m going to learn it.

“When you’re fast, of course it feels good, but I don’t want to put too much into it because it don’t really count ‘til the race. Plus it’s just one fast lap. You’ve gotta be able to do 29 of them here, I think. Honestly, it does feel good to keep that momentum rolling, though.”

After a big save immediately preceding a small crash on Monday, Miguel Duhamel turned the second-fastest time (1:27.34) of the two days during a 20-lap tire test. HMC Ducati’s Pascal Picotte backed up his performance at the Daytona tire tests by posting the third-fastest time at Fontana with a 1:27.55. Kurtis Roberts spent most of Tuesday afternoon running American Honda’s sole 2002-model RC51. Roberts was the first rider to get into the mid-1:28s before settling with the fourth-fastest time of 1:27.70. Roberts also completed a successful test of the on-board, two-way Racing Radios system that American Honda debuted at Daytona.

Most of the riders at the Fontana test spent Tuesday afternoon testing tires while others, like Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, continued to look for set-ups and solutions. Bostrom fought a problem with his updated ZX-7RR Superbike while trying to learn to work with his new crew and a track that he does not particularly like. Bostrom added that he had the same problem at Daytona and if he and his team could cure the problem it would allow him to go faster at both tracks. However, Bostrom was not overly concerned with his time of 1:29.3, making him the slowest of the five Superbike riders present, because Kawasaki plans to test at California Speedway again in February.

Dunlop National Road Race Manager Jim Allen concluded Tuesday that California Speedway would not require the construction of any special tire and would probably not even require a dual-compound tread.

Bostrom’s teammate Tommy Hayden led all 600cc riders from the time they rolled off the truck at the test and went home with the fastest time at 1:31.2. The eldest Hayden brother said that he is getting more comfortable on the Kawasaki ZX-6R and gaining confidence in his Championship hopes everyday. Erion Honda’s Mike Hale and Bruce Transportation Group’s Jake Zemke were the only other 600cc riders to join Tommy Hayden in the 1:31s.

Hale started from scratch with a Honda CBR954RR Formula Xtreme bike on Monday and ended the two-day test as the fastest of the four FX riders in attendance with a 1:28.5. Roger Lee Hayden, riding an Erion Honda CBR929RR, chased brother Nicky Hayden, riding a Honda RC51 Superbike, around the track for several laps Tuesday afternoon resulting in a two-second-per-lap reduction of his lap time. Roger Lee Hayden’s fastest time, a 1:29.3, was the second-fastest Formula Xtreme time of the test. Third-fastest FX rider Zemke spent very little time on his CBR929RR after fuel-injection problems on Monday and blown seals on his Ohlins forks on Tuesday.

Although he was the slowest of the 600cc Supersport riders, Kawasaki’s Tony “The Tiger” Meiring did earn his paycheck in his first outing with his new team. Meiring completed 103 laps of the new track Monday and then did 107 more on Tuesday for a total of 210 laps over the two days.

The next AMA team test is scheduled for January 21-23 at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California with Kawasaki and Honda’s three teams expected to attend. HMC Ducati had considered going to Laguna Seca but decided against going next week in exchange for testing during more predictable weather during the last week in March.

Unofficial Lap Times:


Superbike:
Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:26.97
Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:27.34
Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998RS, 1:27.55
Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:27.70
Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:29.30


Formula Xtreme:
Mike Hale, Honda CBR954RR, 1:28.59
Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR929RR, 1:29.30
Jake Zemke, Honda CBR929RR, 1:29.70
Alex Gobert, Honda CBR929RR, 1:32.27


600cc Supersport:
Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:31.20
Mike Hale, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:31.60
Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:31.90
Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:32.20
Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:32.45
Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:33.04

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Maryland Motorsports, the second-place team in the 2001 WERA/GMD Computrack National Endurance Series Lightweight Superbike class, has organized an all-female team to compete in the 2002 WERA endurance series. The team will be called “Sirens.”

With varying levels of racing experience, Shelli Langdale, Audrey Ghia, Jess Morgan, Laura Granato, Marcel Wolf and Beth Wyse will ride Suzuki SV650s in the Lightweight Superbike class in all nine rounds of the WERA series. Sirens’ sponsors include Ed Bargy Racing School and The Plastic Doctor, but the team is pursuing additional sponsorship.

According to a press release from the Sirens’ Public Relations firm, Raven Communications, “The team’s name, Sirens, was inspired by the stories of the Sirens in Greek mythology. The alluring women would use their beauty and enchanting singing to lure sailors to their island, where they would perish on the rocks in the surf. The team felt that Sirens was an appropriate moniker because it represents that the riders are more than just ‘a pretty face,’ but in fact are serious competitors on the track.”

Sirens will open their season with WERA at Grand Bayou Circuit in Belle Rose, Louisiana on April 6, 2002.

For more information about Sirens, call Raven Communications’ Beth Wyse at (704) 321-3226 or go to www.sirenamoto.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Chris Ulrich broke his right collarbone when he crashed a Honda CBR954RR during a press intro being held today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Ulrich said he highsided when he arrived at an infield corner with no front brakes–following a tankslapper exiting the previous corner–and attempted to slow the bike using the rear brake and downshifts.

Ulrich was at the press intro representing roadracingworld.com and Roadracing World.

He crashed mid-afternoon, and at post time was being transported to a local hospital for X-rays.

He was initially diagnosed as having a broken collarbone in the infield medical center at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

With Silverstone as a setting, GSE Racing announced on Tuesday, January 15 that the team has reached a new, three-year deal with HM Plant to be the headline sponsor of the GSE World Superbike team. At the event, GSE introduced HM Plant Ducati riders Neil Hodgson, James Toseland and the team’s Ducati 998RS racebikes to about 100 quests and media members.

GSE Racing’s website quoted Hodgson as saying, “I can’t wait to get going. The budget is there, thanks to HM Plant; I’m at the right age and I’m in the best team that I’ve ever been in. Mentally and physically – I’m ready.

“Last year I proved that I’m a world-class rider. World Championship racing is where I belong and now that I know all the tracks there will be no excuses. I can be World Champion.”

Young Toseland was equally optimistic, saying, “Beating Colin Edwards, Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus last year at Suzuka was the start of a great run for me and this year I can only see it getting better.

“I’m in the best shape that I’ve ever been in and for the first time in ages I’m starting the year without an injury. I want to see the podium a few times this year–that’s my main aim. I’m confident, I’m fit and I’m ready to go.”

HM Plant Ducati also announced secondary sponsors Axo Sport, Motorex, Suomy, Dunlop and tbc. Additional support for HM Plant Ducati will come from Alphabet, Benelli, Born to be Wild, DAF, Dread, Dixon Motors, Henderson Insurance Brokers, MCN, P&O Stena and Showtrax.

According to GSE Racing, HM Plant is the United Kingdom’s “number one independent construction supplier, specializing in the distribution of Fiat-Hitachi and Hitachi heavy machinery.”

The announcement finalizes a three-year relationship between HM Plant, GSE Racing, Ducati and Hodgson through 2004.

From a press release:

Harley-Davidson Introduces Firefighter Special Edition

MILWAUKEE, WI – Cast from the strong and reliable reputation of Harley-Davidson’s Touring line, the new for 2002 Harley-Davidson Firefighter Special Edition salutes the heroes who risk their lives everyday.

Sporting a solid Scarlet Red paint scheme with double gold pinstripes and the renowned characteristic Harley chrome treatment, the Firefighter Special Edition FLHTC Classic Electra Glide, FLHRI Road King and FLHTCUI Ultra Classic Electra Glide are signature red fire trucks on two wheels. Powered by Harley-Davidson’s Twin Cam 88 engine, the Firefighter Special rolls with smooth, supple power. Rubber isolation mounts keep vibrations to the rider at a minimum, while the plush suspension makes the ride into the station comfortable.

Kin to the Peace Officer Special Edition models, the Firefighter Special Editions come with a decal to fit on the bike’s console describing the model as the “H-D Firefighter Special Edition”, while cast wheels finish up an aesthetic treatment that complements the touring model’s classic lines.

The honor of being a firefighter has its rewards, and the only way to order a Firefighter Special Edition is by submitting a copy of an official firefighter identification card when ordering the model through your local dealer

Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the only major U.S.-based motorcycle manufacturer, produces heavyweight motorcycles and a complete line of motorcycle parts, accessories and general merchandise. For more information, visit Harley-Davidson’s web site at www.harley-davidson.com.