Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Free practice sessions for WSMC riders at Willow Springs drew nine riders on Saturday and 37 on Sunday, for a total of 46 on the weekend.
Willow Springs owner Bill Huth held the free practice days December 26-30 as a thank-you to members of WSMC, the track’s own racing organization.
Saturday participation was held down by cold and rainy weather in Southern California.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Three-time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kenny Leroy Roberts turns 50 years old today.
Roberts currently runs his own Grand Prix team, Proton Team KR; his oldest son, Kenny Lee Roberts, won the 2000 500cc World Championship; his youngest son, Kurtis, won the 2000 AMA 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships.
The Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund rose to $165,952 for road racing and $15,545 for dirt track on the strength of repeat contributions and two online benefit auctions.
Jim Lindemann/Lindemann Engineering added $1900 to his earlier donation of $1000, with $900 of the new donation designated for dirt track Air Fence and $1000 for road racing. Other new road racing donations included $100 from Daryl Tschoepe/RatBike Racing, $75 from Paul Nonno, $44 from John Coleman and $25 from North American Synergy Co.
In online auctions held on eBay to benefit the fund for road racing Air Fence, Brooks Gremmels/Shogun Motorsports bid $3650 for a set of Nicky Hayden’s race-winning Joe Rocket leathers, while Robb Meier bid $2152 for Mat Mladin’s September 11 Tribute AGV helmet, which Mladin wore when he won the AMA Superbike Championship at VIR in September. Gremmels had earlier contributed $500 to the Air Fence Fund.
The list of dirt track contributors now reads:
Chris Carr $2900
Yuasa Battery $2900
Steel Shoe Fund $2900
Continental Tires $2900
7th Annual Flat Track Golf Tournament $1500
Lindemann Engineering $900
Tor Kovacs $300
Gerald & Ann Carr $200
Dorina Groves $200
Mr. & Mrs. C.H. Wilcox $100
Michael Sturdevant $100
Jeff Wilson $100
Debra Fay $100
Glynn & Holly Hewitt/In Loving Memory of Darell Davis 96w $100
Wrenn H. Smith $90
Jack Alexander/In Memory of Toby Jorgenson $50
Rick Matheny $50
www.flattrack.com $50
Pro Plates $50
John Tucker $25
Old59R $20
Stewart Barber $10
The list of road racing contributors now reads:
Anonymous $9450
Erik Buell/Buell Motorcycle Company $5800
Trent Thompson/Paramount Racing $5000
Wegman Benefit Fund/Gordon Lunde Sr. $5000
Brooks Gremmel/Shogun Motorsports $4150
Dynojet Research $3200
Steve Brubaker/Race Tire Service $3000
Patrick Roskam/HangingOff.com $3000
John Ulrich/Roadracing World $2900
Aprilia USA $2900
American Suzuki Motor Corp. $2900
Ducati North America $2900
Jonathan Glaefke $2900
Susie and Bruce Meyers/BCM Racing Ducati $2900
Performance Machine $2900
Dunlop Motorcycle Tire Co. $2900
Max McAllister/Traxxion Dynamics $2900
Tom Chauncey/Team Wreckless $2900
Willow Springs Int’l Raceway $2900
Wendell Phillips/Lockhart Phillips $2500
Robb Meier $2152
Advanced Motor Sports/In Memory of Dirk Piz $2000
L.A. Bikers/labiker.org $1760
Dennis Smith/Sport Tire Services $1500
Gearbox International $1500
Marc Salvisberg/Factory Pro Tuning $1450
Bob Dragich/Roadracing World $1450
Fred Renz/Yoyodyne $1450
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing $1450
Bob Blandford/N.E. Sportbike Assn. $1100
Chuck Warren/Arclight Suzuki $1000
Jim Rashid/4&6 Cycle $1000
Scott Willock/In Memory of Larry Schwarzbach $1000
Don Emde/In Memory of Cal Rayborn $1000
Jason Pridmore’s Star Motorcycle School $1000
Mark E. Dobeck/Techlusion Performance Group $1000
G.M.D. Computrack Network $1000
California Superbike School $1000
Tachyon Racing/Tachyon Sports Injury Research Foundation $1000
Team Pro-Motion Sportbike Club $1000
Anthony and Aaron Gobert $1000
Andrew M. Cross $1000
Andy Kettle/Honda of Milpitas $1000
Lindemann Engineering $2000
Marcus McBain $1500
Dale Pestes/Tuff Dog Racing $1000
Sheila Barnes $1000
Anonymous $1000
Linda, John & Susanne Hopkins/In Memory of Roy Hopkins $895
Intrepid Café Racers $775
Yoshimura Racing $750
Team Daemon Racing $600
Derek and Gordon King $600
CMRRA $537
Don Lemelin/Scuderia West $500
Kevin Erion/Erion Racing $500
Pinky’s Pizza of Walnut Creek $500
Doug Gonda $500
Jerry Wood/Penguin School $500
Mike Canfield/Chandelle Motorsports $500
Jim Davis/J6 Racing/In Memory of Dirk Piz $500
Jim DiSalvo/Alien Racing $500
Dale Kieffer/Racers Edge Performance $500
The Plummer Menapace Group $500
Reg Kitrelle $500
Specialty Sports Ltd/Teknic $500
Ronnie Lunsford/Northwest Honda $500
Bob Holcomb $500
Aaron Yates $500
James D. Randolph $500
OMRRA $500
Terry Knott $500
Shawn Higbee/Team KWS/Millenium Technologies $500
Harley Davidson of Reno $500
Walt Schaefer $500
Gary Christopher/American Honda $500
Full Spectrum Design $500
Indigo Sports $500
Ed Robinson/Robinson Partners $500
Bill St. John/Project Monza $400
Jerry Jirkovsky $330
Ice Holes $301
Richard Hood/Reptillian Racing $300
Edward S. Siccardi, Jr. $300
Dan Fischer/Copier1.com $300
David Finniff $300
Marietta Motorsports $300
Brendan Guy $300
Dean Scarpa $300
Anonymous $300
Kurtis Roberts $300
James Siddall/World Sports/Corbin Grand Prix $300
“Old Slo Gene Templet”/CMRA $300
Eric Kelcher/Blockworks $320
Zachry Lee $300
N.I.T.R.O. (Northern Illinois Touring and Riding Organization) $300
Martin Von Wyss $300
In Memory of Charles Wooldridge, Sr. $300
Brian Parriott $300
Thomas Patch $300
James Lickwar $290
Texas Sport Bike Association $260
Scott Fisher/Fisher Technical Services $250
Chris Pyles & Beth Walters $250
Peter Hively $250
Brian Mitchell $250
Al Ludington $250
Tim Simpson $250
Spectrum Motorsports/VJB Racing $250
David Roy, Ducati N. America $250
Debbie Roy/Frenotec $250
Joshua Hayes $250
Gina Nadeau $250
Jeannne Pyles $250
John Ross/Ross Racing $250
Brian Cincera $250
C. Renard Fiscus $250
Bruce & Edith Lind $250
Andre Espaillat $250
Aramel Racing $250
WMRRA $250
Bo Poulsen $250
Walter S. Pasicznyk $250
Papa Thiam/WERA BBS $200
Bill Capshaw/ICE Motorsports $200
Scott Decker $200
Terry Embury $200
Jim “Dutch” MacKenzie/WERA BBS $200
Scott Jenkins/Desmoto-sport $200
Cliff Nobles $200
Jodie York/RPM Cycles Ventura/WSMC #11 $200
Mostro.org/Jeffrey Fillmore $200
Jeff Bowis $200
Rich & Lynda Alexander/In Memory of Dirk Piz $200
Nils Menten $200
Melissa Tomlinson/G-Man Racing $200
DP Enterprises $200
Jeffrey S. Stathes $200
RPM $200
Wayne Nielsen/sportbikeworld.com $200
Dennis Woods/Doppio Racing $200
Tom David $200
Sierra Sportbike Association $200
Terry McKeever $200
“Barnacle” Bill Burns $200
Scott Greenwood/New England Performance $200
Roger Lyle/In Memory of Jimmy Adamo $200
Big Show Racing/Chicago, IL $200
Empty Pockets Racing $200
John and Richard Haner/Haner Motor Sports $200
Crew & Friends of the R/V Point Sur/In Memory of Stuart Stratton $200
Ken & Joan Snyder/Team Snyder Racing $200
Chris Kelley/California Cycleworks $150
Robb Mc Elroy $150
Tim Chin/Team Bandit $150
Ed & Catherine Sorbo $150
Damon Buckmaster $150
Chris Hamilton/Grand Prix Direct $150
Marc Palazzo/Synergy Racing Honda $150
Stuart Stratton/Stratton Racing $150
Hewitt & Prout Attorneys at Law $150
Hal Coughlin/Central Vermont Motorcycles $130
Jim Williams/13x.com $125
David Boosales/WERA BBS $125
Pete Martins $125
Road Atlanta Crash Truck Crews $111
Chris Normand/Firestorm Racing $101
Lucky Deleoni $100
Pat Stricker $100
Gary Rand/In Memory of Rusty Bradley $100
Michael Roberson/WERA BBS $100
Sean Jordan/WERA BBS $100
Army of Darkness $100
Stuart Gregg $100
Pinky’s Pizza/Lippman Racing $100
Bob Szoke $100
TyrSox $100
Ron West/Omzig Productions $100
Joe Facer $100
Preston Rash $100
Geoff Maloney/GP Tech $100
Melissa Berkoff/Neighbor Of The Beast $100
Caesar Gonzales/WERA BBS $100
Dorina Groves $100
Dorina Groves/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Philip Rusin/RC51.net $100
Allen “Spence” Spencer $100
Matt Wadsworth $100
Dean N. De St. Croix $100
Tony Tugwell/TZ250.com $100
Bart Fuqua/Team LGC $100
Brian Stokes/Marietta Motorsports $100
Chris “Opie” Caylor/Marietta Motorsports $100
David McElvain/NEDoD $100
Ned “Peanut” Brown/NESBA/TPM $100
Vance Hacecky $100
Patrick Mee $100
Dave and Jason Parker $100
Tom Drumm $100
David Brown $100
Steve Moonitz/Team Squid Pro Quo $100
Jake Swan $100
Chris Story $100
Chris Eklund $100
Randy Ball/WERA BBS $100
Mark Hellvig $100
Gary Schilling/On Time Racing/WERA BBS $100
Steve Sumner $100
Laura Granato/WERA BBS $100
Norm Viano/Lawdog Sports Mgmt $100
Kevin Jordan/Jordan Motorsports $100
Val Gregory/In Memory of Dirk Piz $100
Dave Gess $100
Rob Berlind $100
Paul Black $100
Steve Hewitt $100
Mike Ciccotto $100
Tripp Nobles $100
Scott Rehl $100
Steve & Lorraine Aledort $100
Jeff Rozycki/29dreams.com Racing $100
Chris Ulrich/In Memory of Russ Paulk And Toby Jorgensen $100
Giorgio Milesi/Galfer Brakes USA $100
Al Lyons/CMRRA $100
Linda Hopkins $100
John Hopkins/In Memory of Jamie Bowman and Toby Jorgensen $100
Vicky&Michael Menard $100
Silvia Salenius/Ducati.net Online $100
HG Racing/AMA Pro Thunder $100
Red Fox Racing $100
Greg Ruffin $100
John Donald/PTC Racing $100
Larry Pegram $100
Pamela Skaff/WERA BBS $100
J.D. Hord/Meccanica Corse Racing $100
Mark Sutton $100
Steve Scott/LRRS#47 $100
Eric Putter $100
Jim Doerfler $100
Ira Englebardt $100
Joe & Nancy Fenech $100
Earl Hayden $100
Chuck Sorensen $100
Jeff Wilson/American Suzuki $100
Adam Vella/Webcrush Racing $100
Chuck Gault/Motobama $100
Gary Longren $100
Stephan Hottenrott $100
David Kunzelman $100
C.R. “Critter” Gittere/WERA BBS $100
John Light/Lightsmith Racing $100
Ken & Arlene Block (Ed Sorbo’s Mom) $100
Chris Link/CMRA/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Josh Steinberg $100
Broad Squad/CCS NE $100
Logan Young $100
Bob & Sherrie Young $100
Ann Sands $100
Troy Green/www.TG-Racing.com $100
Colin Fowler $100
Asphalt & Gas $100
CelentoHenn Architecture + Design $100
Norm McDonald/CMRA $100
Andrew S. Mueller/WERA BBS $100
Mary Miskovic $100
Mark Van Hoff/The Plastic Doctor/WERA BBS $100
Anonymous $100
Mauro Cereda/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
James B. Norwood/Bad Iguana Racing $100
Bakersfield Yamaha $100
Matt Gerard/In Memory of Gordy Lunde Jr. $100
MMCZYK/Concerned Fan $100
Kendall Davis/WERA #326 $100
Jerry Daggett $100
Miller’s Modern Garage $100
TFS Racing $100
Sabrina Phillips 100
Jane Phillips $100
Twin Cities Yamaha $100
Fernando Peris $100
Louis Gagne $100
Peter Christensen & Stasia Moore $100
Paul D. Harrell $100
Manny Otmane/Team Hooters $100
Rich Desmond/WERA BBS $100
Larry Lawrence $100
Tony Iannarelli $100
Marcel Fortney $100
Tim Fowler $100
Dennis Hurst/Deken Power $100
Tommy Bright/Logistics & Information $100
John F. Penrose $100
Russ & Lisa Dancho $100
Leonard Lloyd $100
Blake/www.BadWeatherBikers.com $100
Loren Chun, $100
Joe & Pam Axberg $100
Paul Sedillo $100
Robert C. Vester $100
Dale W. Dandrea $100
Bob Domenz/3D Racing $100
Justin Blake $100
Berde Brothers Racing $100
Ted Johnson/Last Chance Racing $100
Bruce Liddle $100
Schenk Racing $100
John Lemak $100
Donald P. Randolph $100
Ken & Lori Hill/Rt. 6 Sales & Service, $100
Alex Peabody $100
Joe Kimble $100
Anonymous $100
MZ Scorpion Cup Racers $100
Todd Telkamp/Bent Racing $100
Jeff Caco $100
Wrenn H. Smith $100
Daryl Tschoepe/RatBike Racing $100
Larry Spektor/In Memory of Toby Jorgenson $80
David Yesman $80
Tyson Kamp $75
Vito Dionisio/WERA BBS $75
Joe Davidson/Comet Racing/In Memory of Toby Jorgensen & Jamie Bowman $75
Paul Nonno $75
R.J. McLeod $60
George Gervasi/Projekt9 Racing $60
Christopher Gosch $60
Kelly Thornton $58
Erica B. Smith & John F.X. Walsh $55
Stephen Bauman $55
Max Buxton/NEDoD $50
Nelo Hakola $50
Tyler Sandell $ 50
David J. Kopfinger $ 50
Aaron Loyd $50
Martin Voelker $50
Steve Hopkins $50
Louis DeBlois $50
Leigh Taunton/EMGO $50
Randy Sinisi $50
Danny Hull $50
Team Skidmark Racing $50
Ryan Meskimen/WERA BBS $50
Erik Astrup $50
Paul Zavada $50
James Greeson/WERA BBS $50
Victor Mokler $50
Steve Clark/J. Guthridge/Tight Squeeze Racing $50
Nate Olsen $50
Anthony Moey $50
Dustin Miller $50
Steve Martinez $50
Jason Temme/Serpent Racing $50
Mike Hodgson/WERA BBS $50
Chris Borre/Motorcycleroadracer.com $50
Richard Barker/AIM/In Memory of Dirk Piz $50
Mike Reish/Reish Dot Net $50
Kenyon Kluge/K2 Racing $50
Darin Nichols/Team Unit $50
Richard Davis $50
Allen Lyon/Ducati.net Online $50
Eric H. Mathy $50
Steve Breckenridge $50
Jim Race/Speaksy Racing $50
James Aragon $50
James Hayton/Kochenbaulz Racing/WERA BBS $50
Anthony D’Augusta $50
Norm Brown $50
Isaac Ward $50
Jason K. Michelson $50
Qi Guo/WERA BBS $50
Schaefer Brothers Racing $50
Tommy Lancaster/Tommy Built Fireplaces $50
James Gaal $50
Rod Mahr/Follow the Helmet Racing $50
Charles Brothers/CMRA $50
Francisco Prats $50
Keith Mc Cammon $50
Rick Haskins $50
Larry, Janice & Jimmy /Moto Liberty $50
Friends & Family/Firestorm Racing $50
Akos Feher $50
Brian Cox/CMRA#318 $50
Greg Gorman $50
James E. Schaefer $50
Kevin Hanson $50
Nick Tulloh/In Memory of Jimmy Adamo $50
Robin Clark, $50
Carl Liebold, $50
Peter Young, $50
John Walsh $50
John Caudle/Thanks to Grigg Racing $50
Jim Frost $50
Jack Giesecke $50
Mark Anzalone $50
George M. Noeth $50
Greg Avello/Milwaukee H-D/Buell Racing $50
Bernard Ayling $50
Charles Helming $50
Andrew Culpepper $50
Wayne Gaylord and Dorothy Urbanski CCS Novice SE #424 $50
John Coleman $44
Rod Klebsch $40
Mark Crane, $40
Don Moody $35
Andy & Kate Kupfer, $35
Lindsey Leard $30
Dave Deggendorf/WERA BBS $30
Bob Elam $30
The Heidepriems/WERA BBS $30
Kimberly Scheffel/rider/race fan/pit keeper $30
Bryan Norton $30
Scott D. Cortese $30
Stephen Warburton/Ducati Online $30
John Scherer $30
Charles Lederer $30
Greg Gabis $29
Ripley Howe $29
Mark Hatten/Meccanica Corse Racing $29
Ted Angle $25
Susanne Hopkins $25
Nolan Ballew $25
Josh Loberant $25
Charles Tomes $25
Jon DeMent $25
Timothy Wilson $25
Mark Novak $25
Rene Ferron $25
Sean Patrick Brisini $25
Richard Korol $25
Eric and Christine Loranger $25
Dee Moses $25
Kyle Kirschenmann/Bayou Riders of Louisiana $25
Marc Asmus $25
Mike Henry $25
Henry Hallmark $25
Ronnie Reyes/CMRA $25
Kathleen McLaughlin $25
John Jancoski $25
John C. Pfeiffer $25
Bernis B. Conatser $25
Tony Day $25
Harlan Weishahn $25
Chad Littrell $25
David Osser $25
Margaret Corra $25
Kerry Lynn Hanley $25
T. Kershaw $25
Allan Karman, $25
Anonymous $25
Peter Gallant $25
Jeff Mc Bride $25
Squirrel/YTAK Racing $25
Chuck D./Fosters $25
Louis Acosta $25
Jay Barfield $25
Everett B. Miller $25
James Lane $25
Erik H. Mathy $25
North American Synergy Co. $25
Rob Armstrong/Maryland Motor Sports Racing $20
David Smith $20
S.C. Pittman $20
Jamieson D. Yonker $20
Garret Swearingen $20
Darrin Zumbaum $20
Andy Lenz/CMRRA $20
Dave Harrison $20
Jeff Harrison $20
Sled/Cross $20
David L. Osser $20
Carlos Bonds $20
Team Backbone/CMRA/In Memory of Buddy Walker $20
Pellack Family $15
Michael W. Morgan $10
Irwin Arnstein/CMRA $10
Frank Shacklee/CMRA $10
John & Arlene Gerard/In Memory of Gordy Lunde Jr. $10
Becky Rechek, $10
Lee D’Amico $10
Johnny Newell, $10
Christopher Clark $10
Anomymous $10
Jan Steven/Carpet Dog $5
Anonymous $5
Joe Knight $5
Erik Schmitt/CMRA $1
To pledge a contribution, call Roadracing World at (800) 464-8336 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, when operators will be standing by. Credit cards accepted. Pledges can also be made by e-mailing [email protected]. Make checks payable to Roadracing World, and mail to P.O. Box 1428, Lake Elsinore CA 92531. Money raised will be used for buying Air Module/Air Fence sections, as well as for deployment expenses and for shipping, tax and import
*Air Fence is a registered trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.
From a press release issued by Willow Springs Raceway:
Willow Springs and Fastrack Riders Affirm 2002 Dates
Willow Springs International Motorsports Park management and Fastrack Riders recently finalized a schedule for 2002 that includes an unprecedented 30 dates at the historic motorsports park.
Because of concerns that the Fridays prior to Willow Springs Motorcycle Club races might not be on the Fastrack Riders 2002 schedule, Willow Springs Raceway owner Bill Huth made arrangements to ensure those dates would be dedicated to WSMC members and those interested in becoming better acquainted with the raceway and its motorcycling programs. Details of the tentative plan were provided in a previous press release, which outlined a program targeting new riders as well as experienced racers. Now that the Fastrack Riders dates have been confirmed, that plan is no longer necessary.
“My main concern is always that we have the very best instruction available to our riders,” said track owner Bill Huth. “We have some of the best schools in the world out here – Keith Code, Reggie Pridmore, Fastrack Riders, and the WSMC New Racer School are among the top groups that use this facility. I just wanted to be sure we had something in place for our riders on those Fridays that would measure up to our regular programs. Now that we’ve confirmed Tom [Sera]’s dates, that’s no longer a problem.”
WSMC events run on the third Sunday of each month. Fastrack Riders events will run on the Friday prior to those weekends, as well as other selected dates.
For more information, contact Willow Springs
International Motorsports Park at 661-256-6666.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Former AMA Superbike racer Kerry Bryant has been hired as Director of Sales, Marketing, R&D by Jardine Performance Products, a division of Summit Industries based in Corona, California.
Bryant recently resigned from White Brothers, where he was long-time Director of Operations.
Bryant can be reached by phone at (909) 371-1744 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
The MRA Rules Committee will hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on January 4 in the Denver area, at a location to be announced (call 303-530-5678 to learn location). According to an MRA mailing to members, the meeting will include discussion of proposed 2002 season rule changes.
Proposed changes listed in the mailing include:
–Allowing a moving start (instead of the current no-movement-allowed start) as long as the rear axle does not cross the grid mark (ironically, the rule proposal cites AMA rules allowing a moving start even though AMA is moving from a moving start to a no-movement-allowed start for 2002).
–Reconciling contradictory rules regarding red-flag scoring.
–Breaking championship points ties by using the number of race wins.
–Listing all riders who do not show up on the grid as a DNS; listing riders who show up on the grid but don’t finish as a DNF; requiring riders to complete 1/2 race distance to be awarded points; determining if Race of the Rockies riders must show up on the grid to be eligible for purse money.
–Allowing air-cooled, two-valve Twins under 905cc and air-cooled, two-valve pushrod Twins of unlimited displacement in Middleweight Supersport.
–Changing SuperTwins GTU rules to require street-based case/frame combinations.
–Restricting Twins classes to four-strokes only.
–Splitting SuperTwins into three classes:
Lightweight SuperTwins allowing liquid-cooled, four-valve 650cc; air-cooled, two-valve 750cc; and Aprilia Challenge bikes. (Editor’s note: No explanation was given as to how adding a RS250 class will work with the “four-strokes only” proposal).
Middleweight SuperTwins allowing liquid-cooled, four-valve 750cc; air-cooled two-valve 950cc; air-cooled pushrod 1200cc.
Open SuperTwins allowing unlimited modifications.
–Removing “exceptions” now listed for SuperTwins GTU.
–Removing the “unlimited origin” clause for Lightweight Superbike for Singles or renaming the class Lightweight GP.
–Establishing endurance classes as Lightweight, Middleweight, Heavyweight and Unlimited Superbike, using Race of the Rockies rules.
–Changing dollar amounts for claiming parts.
–Allowing protesting riders to do so anonymously, thus denying protested riders the right to confront (or even know) who has accused them of cheating or otherwise violating rules.
From a press release:
Pacific Track Time Announces 2002 dates, Expands to Four Venues
Pacific Track Time, an upscale provider of track days with operations in Gilroy, California, announced their 2002 schedule today. Venues for 2002 will include Laguna Seca, Thunderhill Park, California Speedway, and the Streets of Willow Springs.
Todd Robinson, Director of Sales and Events, said, “We’re excited about covering both Northern and Southern California in 2002 with 27 dates. I
couldn’t be more pleased with the way things have come together and we’re looking forward to bringing our upscale approach to even more riders in the coming year”.
According to Robinson, the 2002 schedule will include:
Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway – Monterey, CA
January 2, 2002
January 3, 2002
December 18, 2002
December 19, 2002
December 20, 2002
Streets of Willow Springs – Rosamond, CA
March 19, 2002
March 20, 2002
April 16, 2002
April 17, 2002
May 21, 2002
May 22, 2002
September 17, 2002
September 18, 2002
October 22, 2002
October 23, 2002
California Speedway (short course) – Fontana, CA
February 1, 2002
February 2, 2002
Thunderhill Park – Willows, CA
June 27, 2002
July 23, 2002
July 24, 2002
August 21, 2002
September 2, 2002 LABOR DAY
October 9, 2002
October 10, 2002
November 5, 2002
November 6, 2002
More information is available from Pacific Track Time at (877) 809-2170 or on the web at: http://www.pacifictracktime.com
Pacific Track Time’s sponsors include Sidi, Arrow, Bohn, Wood-Ease, Evoluzione, SharkSkinz, and Ferodo.
EMGO International will sponsor Chris “Opie” Caylor in the AMA 750cc Supersport series in 2002.
Georgia-based EMGO International imports motorcycle parts and accessories and is owned by Emil Gomez.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By David Swarts
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin has won the AMA Superbike Championship for the last three years straight. So during the Dunlop tire tests at Daytona, we asked some of the other Superbike racers, what is it going to take to beat Mladin?
“It’s gonna take…you don’t really have to win every weekend to be the Champion,” said Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Jamie Hacking. “It takes consistency and being smart. When you know you don’t have it that weekend, just back off. You just don’t have to win every weekend.”
“Well, we don’t know if Mat’s the guy to beat,” pointed out Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts. “Mat has the number one plate, but you never know what could happen from Daytona on. Mat’s bike might blow up. The problem is if you think about just one guy, you’ve only thought about one guy. Someone can always crop up, and you weren’t expecting him and it kind of plays with your mind a little bit. Well, I’m not counting anyone out, and I’m not saying anyone’s the guys to beat right now. There’s however many factory Superbikes, and anyone of us can win the Championship. So it’s a matter of getting ourselves ready and, you know, we can beat anyone and they can beat us. Who knows who’s going to be the guy. Just gotta train hard this winter and get ready for the season.”
“It’s going to take consistency,” feels Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, the 2001 Superbike Championship runner-up. “We’re going to have to win a lot of races, and the ones we don’t win we’re going to have to finish on the box. Obviously, that’s what Mat’s done to win the Championship, and we’re going to have to do just that to take it away from him.”
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates had a longer list of needs to beat his teammate, saying, “Just being prepared, being ready and being consistent, going out there and riding hard, not throwing the bike down anywhere and being comfortable on the bike, having a good set-up and all. That’s the main thing. Just being ready for the race.”
“It’s gonna take…(long pause)…I’m going to have to try to finish every race and I’m going to have to finish every race either on the podium or close to it,” said Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert. “Mat Mladin is the Champion. He deserves everything he’s earned and got. He’s a hard guy to beat. On any day, I’ve proven that I can beat him, on a day. I beat him for a Championship in Australia in 1994. So I do know that I can beat the guy. It’s just a matter of I haven’t had the full package to do it. I’ve been letting myself down or the bike’s been letting me down. I do feel as long as we have no problems and finish the races and win some races, then that’s how were going to do it.”
“You don’t have to beat Mat,” Pascal Picotte said answering a question that he hasn’t had to answer in quite a while. “I mean you have to beat the whole team, the whole Suzuki Yoshimura crew. He’s a helluva rider. He’s doing an awesome job, but he does have a great team behind him. That’s the way it goes. You can’t just put a good rider on a motorcycle and expect him to win the Championship. It takes time. You gotta build a strong relation with your team, learning the bike, knowing the bike, really be comfortable 100% on it. When you have everything, you’re in a position to win the Championship. I think I’ll definitely have the equipment to beat him a couple of times. I hope so. But as far as winning the Championship, we need to build a momentum from the first race on and hopefully be a little stronger every weekend on.”
From AHRMA media and PR man Matt Benson:
I don’t know who your “insiders” are, but after reading a couple of posts on the Roadracing World website regarding the possibility of AHRMA running some AMA Pro Thunder rounds, I could find no one at our national office or in our road race program who has been contacted by the AMA about this. One of our road race officials noted that Pro Thunder and AHRMA’s Battle of Twins classes are too dissimilar to be easily mixed, and that at high-profile venues such as Mid-Ohio and Daytona we are already pressed to get our own program run on time.
With regard to Jonathan Glaefke’s post, when it comes to safety AHRMA’s record–for Vintage or modern racing–is second to none.
From racer “Super Dave” Rosno of Team Visionsports and Visionsports Riding Schools:
I’ve been watching everything unfold with the AMA Pro Thunder series possibly moving to AHRMA. Having raced a little bit of everything, I would have some concerns as a competitor.
AHRMA is a nice organization full of wonderful people. It is a “family” racing atmosphere that was originally set up for racing vintage motorcycles. At one time, some of those bikes were thought of as oil-puking machines that were, well, old. Now, they are still old, but they are beautifully prepared machines that are reliable.
The trick comes in with traffic in two forms: Traffic on the track and traffic in the number of races at an event. As AHRMA is relatively low-key, so, this is a good organization for a “recreational racer”, a guy who races infrequently or is not “racing” at a quick pace. Some of those riders just enjoy the opportunity to get their unique machines on the track. Because of this, some of the speed differentials between those slower riders and the faster riders is extraordinary.
I have ridden a 400cc Honda in AHRMA events off and on for quite some time. I usually ride it in the fastest session. The bike makes just a bit over 50 horsepower, and I have had closing speeds on bikes while on the brakes that I though was about 40 mph. Take a 110+ horsepower Buell out and just watch what happens.
AHRMA has a great number of races during their events for the various classes of bikes spanning decades of racing in addition to several modern “alternative” classes for Singles, Twins, Triples, and two-stokes. There are only so many minutes in the day to get these races completed.
So, my question is, how will Pro Thunder riders be separated in order to maintain their safety, along with other riders, in practice sessions? Will the AMA Pro Thunder series be relegated to an eight-lap race among 17 other races during a day? Will it be combined with other races? Heats during the day for grids or qualifying? I can’t see any space for it.
Beyond these simple concerns there are more. Will the AMA send a tech staff and equipment to support the AMA Pro rules for fuel, engine concerns, and the like? Indeed, the AHRMA staff is very nice, but I did not see them enforce published rules for the MZ Skorpion Cup series time and again.
AHRMA is “Fun on Old Wheels”. OK, and now some newer ones, too. But Pro Thunder is PRO. As I see it, there potential problems, but the most serious is the possibility of rider injury.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Free practice sessions for WSMC riders at Willow Springs drew nine riders on Saturday and 37 on Sunday, for a total of 46 on the weekend.
Willow Springs owner Bill Huth held the free practice days December 26-30 as a thank-you to members of WSMC, the track’s own racing organization.
Saturday participation was held down by cold and rainy weather in Southern California.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Three-time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kenny Leroy Roberts turns 50 years old today.
Roberts currently runs his own Grand Prix team, Proton Team KR; his oldest son, Kenny Lee Roberts, won the 2000 500cc World Championship; his youngest son, Kurtis, won the 2000 AMA 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships.
The Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund rose to $165,952 for road racing and $15,545 for dirt track on the strength of repeat contributions and two online benefit auctions.
Jim Lindemann/Lindemann Engineering added $1900 to his earlier donation of $1000, with $900 of the new donation designated for dirt track Air Fence and $1000 for road racing. Other new road racing donations included $100 from Daryl Tschoepe/RatBike Racing, $75 from Paul Nonno, $44 from John Coleman and $25 from North American Synergy Co.
In online auctions held on eBay to benefit the fund for road racing Air Fence, Brooks Gremmels/Shogun Motorsports bid $3650 for a set of Nicky Hayden’s race-winning Joe Rocket leathers, while Robb Meier bid $2152 for Mat Mladin’s September 11 Tribute AGV helmet, which Mladin wore when he won the AMA Superbike Championship at VIR in September. Gremmels had earlier contributed $500 to the Air Fence Fund.
The list of dirt track contributors now reads:
Chris Carr $2900
Yuasa Battery $2900
Steel Shoe Fund $2900
Continental Tires $2900
7th Annual Flat Track Golf Tournament $1500
Lindemann Engineering $900
Tor Kovacs $300
Gerald & Ann Carr $200
Dorina Groves $200
Mr. & Mrs. C.H. Wilcox $100
Michael Sturdevant $100
Jeff Wilson $100
Debra Fay $100
Glynn & Holly Hewitt/In Loving Memory of Darell Davis 96w $100
Wrenn H. Smith $90
Jack Alexander/In Memory of Toby Jorgenson $50
Rick Matheny $50
www.flattrack.com $50
Pro Plates $50
John Tucker $25
Old59R $20
Stewart Barber $10
The list of road racing contributors now reads:
Anonymous $9450
Erik Buell/Buell Motorcycle Company $5800
Trent Thompson/Paramount Racing $5000
Wegman Benefit Fund/Gordon Lunde Sr. $5000
Brooks Gremmel/Shogun Motorsports $4150
Dynojet Research $3200
Steve Brubaker/Race Tire Service $3000
Patrick Roskam/HangingOff.com $3000
John Ulrich/Roadracing World $2900
Aprilia USA $2900
American Suzuki Motor Corp. $2900
Ducati North America $2900
Jonathan Glaefke $2900
Susie and Bruce Meyers/BCM Racing Ducati $2900
Performance Machine $2900
Dunlop Motorcycle Tire Co. $2900
Max McAllister/Traxxion Dynamics $2900
Tom Chauncey/Team Wreckless $2900
Willow Springs Int’l Raceway $2900
Wendell Phillips/Lockhart Phillips $2500
Robb Meier $2152
Advanced Motor Sports/In Memory of Dirk Piz $2000
L.A. Bikers/labiker.org $1760
Dennis Smith/Sport Tire Services $1500
Gearbox International $1500
Marc Salvisberg/Factory Pro Tuning $1450
Bob Dragich/Roadracing World $1450
Fred Renz/Yoyodyne $1450
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing $1450
Bob Blandford/N.E. Sportbike Assn. $1100
Chuck Warren/Arclight Suzuki $1000
Jim Rashid/4&6 Cycle $1000
Scott Willock/In Memory of Larry Schwarzbach $1000
Don Emde/In Memory of Cal Rayborn $1000
Jason Pridmore’s Star Motorcycle School $1000
Mark E. Dobeck/Techlusion Performance Group $1000
G.M.D. Computrack Network $1000
California Superbike School $1000
Tachyon Racing/Tachyon Sports Injury Research Foundation $1000
Team Pro-Motion Sportbike Club $1000
Anthony and Aaron Gobert $1000
Andrew M. Cross $1000
Andy Kettle/Honda of Milpitas $1000
Lindemann Engineering $2000
Marcus McBain $1500
Dale Pestes/Tuff Dog Racing $1000
Sheila Barnes $1000
Anonymous $1000
Linda, John & Susanne Hopkins/In Memory of Roy Hopkins $895
Intrepid Café Racers $775
Yoshimura Racing $750
Team Daemon Racing $600
Derek and Gordon King $600
CMRRA $537
Don Lemelin/Scuderia West $500
Kevin Erion/Erion Racing $500
Pinky’s Pizza of Walnut Creek $500
Doug Gonda $500
Jerry Wood/Penguin School $500
Mike Canfield/Chandelle Motorsports $500
Jim Davis/J6 Racing/In Memory of Dirk Piz $500
Jim DiSalvo/Alien Racing $500
Dale Kieffer/Racers Edge Performance $500
The Plummer Menapace Group $500
Reg Kitrelle $500
Specialty Sports Ltd/Teknic $500
Ronnie Lunsford/Northwest Honda $500
Bob Holcomb $500
Aaron Yates $500
James D. Randolph $500
OMRRA $500
Terry Knott $500
Shawn Higbee/Team KWS/Millenium Technologies $500
Harley Davidson of Reno $500
Walt Schaefer $500
Gary Christopher/American Honda $500
Full Spectrum Design $500
Indigo Sports $500
Ed Robinson/Robinson Partners $500
Bill St. John/Project Monza $400
Jerry Jirkovsky $330
Ice Holes $301
Richard Hood/Reptillian Racing $300
Edward S. Siccardi, Jr. $300
Dan Fischer/Copier1.com $300
David Finniff $300
Marietta Motorsports $300
Brendan Guy $300
Dean Scarpa $300
Anonymous $300
Kurtis Roberts $300
James Siddall/World Sports/Corbin Grand Prix $300
“Old Slo Gene Templet”/CMRA $300
Eric Kelcher/Blockworks $320
Zachry Lee $300
N.I.T.R.O. (Northern Illinois Touring and Riding Organization) $300
Martin Von Wyss $300
In Memory of Charles Wooldridge, Sr. $300
Brian Parriott $300
Thomas Patch $300
James Lickwar $290
Texas Sport Bike Association $260
Scott Fisher/Fisher Technical Services $250
Chris Pyles & Beth Walters $250
Peter Hively $250
Brian Mitchell $250
Al Ludington $250
Tim Simpson $250
Spectrum Motorsports/VJB Racing $250
David Roy, Ducati N. America $250
Debbie Roy/Frenotec $250
Joshua Hayes $250
Gina Nadeau $250
Jeannne Pyles $250
John Ross/Ross Racing $250
Brian Cincera $250
C. Renard Fiscus $250
Bruce & Edith Lind $250
Andre Espaillat $250
Aramel Racing $250
WMRRA $250
Bo Poulsen $250
Walter S. Pasicznyk $250
Papa Thiam/WERA BBS $200
Bill Capshaw/ICE Motorsports $200
Scott Decker $200
Terry Embury $200
Jim “Dutch” MacKenzie/WERA BBS $200
Scott Jenkins/Desmoto-sport $200
Cliff Nobles $200
Jodie York/RPM Cycles Ventura/WSMC #11 $200
Mostro.org/Jeffrey Fillmore $200
Jeff Bowis $200
Rich & Lynda Alexander/In Memory of Dirk Piz $200
Nils Menten $200
Melissa Tomlinson/G-Man Racing $200
DP Enterprises $200
Jeffrey S. Stathes $200
RPM $200
Wayne Nielsen/sportbikeworld.com $200
Dennis Woods/Doppio Racing $200
Tom David $200
Sierra Sportbike Association $200
Terry McKeever $200
“Barnacle” Bill Burns $200
Scott Greenwood/New England Performance $200
Roger Lyle/In Memory of Jimmy Adamo $200
Big Show Racing/Chicago, IL $200
Empty Pockets Racing $200
John and Richard Haner/Haner Motor Sports $200
Crew & Friends of the R/V Point Sur/In Memory of Stuart Stratton $200
Ken & Joan Snyder/Team Snyder Racing $200
Chris Kelley/California Cycleworks $150
Robb Mc Elroy $150
Tim Chin/Team Bandit $150
Ed & Catherine Sorbo $150
Damon Buckmaster $150
Chris Hamilton/Grand Prix Direct $150
Marc Palazzo/Synergy Racing Honda $150
Stuart Stratton/Stratton Racing $150
Hewitt & Prout Attorneys at Law $150
Hal Coughlin/Central Vermont Motorcycles $130
Jim Williams/13x.com $125
David Boosales/WERA BBS $125
Pete Martins $125
Road Atlanta Crash Truck Crews $111
Chris Normand/Firestorm Racing $101
Lucky Deleoni $100
Pat Stricker $100
Gary Rand/In Memory of Rusty Bradley $100
Michael Roberson/WERA BBS $100
Sean Jordan/WERA BBS $100
Army of Darkness $100
Stuart Gregg $100
Pinky’s Pizza/Lippman Racing $100
Bob Szoke $100
TyrSox $100
Ron West/Omzig Productions $100
Joe Facer $100
Preston Rash $100
Geoff Maloney/GP Tech $100
Melissa Berkoff/Neighbor Of The Beast $100
Caesar Gonzales/WERA BBS $100
Dorina Groves $100
Dorina Groves/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Philip Rusin/RC51.net $100
Allen “Spence” Spencer $100
Matt Wadsworth $100
Dean N. De St. Croix $100
Tony Tugwell/TZ250.com $100
Bart Fuqua/Team LGC $100
Brian Stokes/Marietta Motorsports $100
Chris “Opie” Caylor/Marietta Motorsports $100
David McElvain/NEDoD $100
Ned “Peanut” Brown/NESBA/TPM $100
Vance Hacecky $100
Patrick Mee $100
Dave and Jason Parker $100
Tom Drumm $100
David Brown $100
Steve Moonitz/Team Squid Pro Quo $100
Jake Swan $100
Chris Story $100
Chris Eklund $100
Randy Ball/WERA BBS $100
Mark Hellvig $100
Gary Schilling/On Time Racing/WERA BBS $100
Steve Sumner $100
Laura Granato/WERA BBS $100
Norm Viano/Lawdog Sports Mgmt $100
Kevin Jordan/Jordan Motorsports $100
Val Gregory/In Memory of Dirk Piz $100
Dave Gess $100
Rob Berlind $100
Paul Black $100
Steve Hewitt $100
Mike Ciccotto $100
Tripp Nobles $100
Scott Rehl $100
Steve & Lorraine Aledort $100
Jeff Rozycki/29dreams.com Racing $100
Chris Ulrich/In Memory of Russ Paulk And Toby Jorgensen $100
Giorgio Milesi/Galfer Brakes USA $100
Al Lyons/CMRRA $100
Linda Hopkins $100
John Hopkins/In Memory of Jamie Bowman and Toby Jorgensen $100
Vicky&Michael Menard $100
Silvia Salenius/Ducati.net Online $100
HG Racing/AMA Pro Thunder $100
Red Fox Racing $100
Greg Ruffin $100
John Donald/PTC Racing $100
Larry Pegram $100
Pamela Skaff/WERA BBS $100
J.D. Hord/Meccanica Corse Racing $100
Mark Sutton $100
Steve Scott/LRRS#47 $100
Eric Putter $100
Jim Doerfler $100
Ira Englebardt $100
Joe & Nancy Fenech $100
Earl Hayden $100
Chuck Sorensen $100
Jeff Wilson/American Suzuki $100
Adam Vella/Webcrush Racing $100
Chuck Gault/Motobama $100
Gary Longren $100
Stephan Hottenrott $100
David Kunzelman $100
C.R. “Critter” Gittere/WERA BBS $100
John Light/Lightsmith Racing $100
Ken & Arlene Block (Ed Sorbo’s Mom) $100
Chris Link/CMRA/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Josh Steinberg $100
Broad Squad/CCS NE $100
Logan Young $100
Bob & Sherrie Young $100
Ann Sands $100
Troy Green/www.TG-Racing.com $100
Colin Fowler $100
Asphalt & Gas $100
CelentoHenn Architecture + Design $100
Norm McDonald/CMRA $100
Andrew S. Mueller/WERA BBS $100
Mary Miskovic $100
Mark Van Hoff/The Plastic Doctor/WERA BBS $100
Anonymous $100
Mauro Cereda/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
James B. Norwood/Bad Iguana Racing $100
Bakersfield Yamaha $100
Matt Gerard/In Memory of Gordy Lunde Jr. $100
MMCZYK/Concerned Fan $100
Kendall Davis/WERA #326 $100
Jerry Daggett $100
Miller’s Modern Garage $100
TFS Racing $100
Sabrina Phillips 100
Jane Phillips $100
Twin Cities Yamaha $100
Fernando Peris $100
Louis Gagne $100
Peter Christensen & Stasia Moore $100
Paul D. Harrell $100
Manny Otmane/Team Hooters $100
Rich Desmond/WERA BBS $100
Larry Lawrence $100
Tony Iannarelli $100
Marcel Fortney $100
Tim Fowler $100
Dennis Hurst/Deken Power $100
Tommy Bright/Logistics & Information $100
John F. Penrose $100
Russ & Lisa Dancho $100
Leonard Lloyd $100
Blake/www.BadWeatherBikers.com $100
Loren Chun, $100
Joe & Pam Axberg $100
Paul Sedillo $100
Robert C. Vester $100
Dale W. Dandrea $100
Bob Domenz/3D Racing $100
Justin Blake $100
Berde Brothers Racing $100
Ted Johnson/Last Chance Racing $100
Bruce Liddle $100
Schenk Racing $100
John Lemak $100
Donald P. Randolph $100
Ken & Lori Hill/Rt. 6 Sales & Service, $100
Alex Peabody $100
Joe Kimble $100
Anonymous $100
MZ Scorpion Cup Racers $100
Todd Telkamp/Bent Racing $100
Jeff Caco $100
Wrenn H. Smith $100
Daryl Tschoepe/RatBike Racing $100
Larry Spektor/In Memory of Toby Jorgenson $80
David Yesman $80
Tyson Kamp $75
Vito Dionisio/WERA BBS $75
Joe Davidson/Comet Racing/In Memory of Toby Jorgensen & Jamie Bowman $75
Paul Nonno $75
R.J. McLeod $60
George Gervasi/Projekt9 Racing $60
Christopher Gosch $60
Kelly Thornton $58
Erica B. Smith & John F.X. Walsh $55
Stephen Bauman $55
Max Buxton/NEDoD $50
Nelo Hakola $50
Tyler Sandell $ 50
David J. Kopfinger $ 50
Aaron Loyd $50
Martin Voelker $50
Steve Hopkins $50
Louis DeBlois $50
Leigh Taunton/EMGO $50
Randy Sinisi $50
Danny Hull $50
Team Skidmark Racing $50
Ryan Meskimen/WERA BBS $50
Erik Astrup $50
Paul Zavada $50
James Greeson/WERA BBS $50
Victor Mokler $50
Steve Clark/J. Guthridge/Tight Squeeze Racing $50
Nate Olsen $50
Anthony Moey $50
Dustin Miller $50
Steve Martinez $50
Jason Temme/Serpent Racing $50
Mike Hodgson/WERA BBS $50
Chris Borre/Motorcycleroadracer.com $50
Richard Barker/AIM/In Memory of Dirk Piz $50
Mike Reish/Reish Dot Net $50
Kenyon Kluge/K2 Racing $50
Darin Nichols/Team Unit $50
Richard Davis $50
Allen Lyon/Ducati.net Online $50
Eric H. Mathy $50
Steve Breckenridge $50
Jim Race/Speaksy Racing $50
James Aragon $50
James Hayton/Kochenbaulz Racing/WERA BBS $50
Anthony D’Augusta $50
Norm Brown $50
Isaac Ward $50
Jason K. Michelson $50
Qi Guo/WERA BBS $50
Schaefer Brothers Racing $50
Tommy Lancaster/Tommy Built Fireplaces $50
James Gaal $50
Rod Mahr/Follow the Helmet Racing $50
Charles Brothers/CMRA $50
Francisco Prats $50
Keith Mc Cammon $50
Rick Haskins $50
Larry, Janice & Jimmy /Moto Liberty $50
Friends & Family/Firestorm Racing $50
Akos Feher $50
Brian Cox/CMRA#318 $50
Greg Gorman $50
James E. Schaefer $50
Kevin Hanson $50
Nick Tulloh/In Memory of Jimmy Adamo $50
Robin Clark, $50
Carl Liebold, $50
Peter Young, $50
John Walsh $50
John Caudle/Thanks to Grigg Racing $50
Jim Frost $50
Jack Giesecke $50
Mark Anzalone $50
George M. Noeth $50
Greg Avello/Milwaukee H-D/Buell Racing $50
Bernard Ayling $50
Charles Helming $50
Andrew Culpepper $50
Wayne Gaylord and Dorothy Urbanski CCS Novice SE #424 $50
John Coleman $44
Rod Klebsch $40
Mark Crane, $40
Don Moody $35
Andy & Kate Kupfer, $35
Lindsey Leard $30
Dave Deggendorf/WERA BBS $30
Bob Elam $30
The Heidepriems/WERA BBS $30
Kimberly Scheffel/rider/race fan/pit keeper $30
Bryan Norton $30
Scott D. Cortese $30
Stephen Warburton/Ducati Online $30
John Scherer $30
Charles Lederer $30
Greg Gabis $29
Ripley Howe $29
Mark Hatten/Meccanica Corse Racing $29
Ted Angle $25
Susanne Hopkins $25
Nolan Ballew $25
Josh Loberant $25
Charles Tomes $25
Jon DeMent $25
Timothy Wilson $25
Mark Novak $25
Rene Ferron $25
Sean Patrick Brisini $25
Richard Korol $25
Eric and Christine Loranger $25
Dee Moses $25
Kyle Kirschenmann/Bayou Riders of Louisiana $25
Marc Asmus $25
Mike Henry $25
Henry Hallmark $25
Ronnie Reyes/CMRA $25
Kathleen McLaughlin $25
John Jancoski $25
John C. Pfeiffer $25
Bernis B. Conatser $25
Tony Day $25
Harlan Weishahn $25
Chad Littrell $25
David Osser $25
Margaret Corra $25
Kerry Lynn Hanley $25
T. Kershaw $25
Allan Karman, $25
Anonymous $25
Peter Gallant $25
Jeff Mc Bride $25
Squirrel/YTAK Racing $25
Chuck D./Fosters $25
Louis Acosta $25
Jay Barfield $25
Everett B. Miller $25
James Lane $25
Erik H. Mathy $25
North American Synergy Co. $25
Rob Armstrong/Maryland Motor Sports Racing $20
David Smith $20
S.C. Pittman $20
Jamieson D. Yonker $20
Garret Swearingen $20
Darrin Zumbaum $20
Andy Lenz/CMRRA $20
Dave Harrison $20
Jeff Harrison $20
Sled/Cross $20
David L. Osser $20
Carlos Bonds $20
Team Backbone/CMRA/In Memory of Buddy Walker $20
Pellack Family $15
Michael W. Morgan $10
Irwin Arnstein/CMRA $10
Frank Shacklee/CMRA $10
John & Arlene Gerard/In Memory of Gordy Lunde Jr. $10
Becky Rechek, $10
Lee D’Amico $10
Johnny Newell, $10
Christopher Clark $10
Anomymous $10
Jan Steven/Carpet Dog $5
Anonymous $5
Joe Knight $5
Erik Schmitt/CMRA $1
To pledge a contribution, call Roadracing World at (800) 464-8336 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, when operators will be standing by. Credit cards accepted. Pledges can also be made by e-mailing [email protected]. Make checks payable to Roadracing World, and mail to P.O. Box 1428, Lake Elsinore CA 92531. Money raised will be used for buying Air Module/Air Fence sections, as well as for deployment expenses and for shipping, tax and import
*Air Fence is a registered trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.
From a press release issued by Willow Springs Raceway:
Willow Springs and Fastrack Riders Affirm 2002 Dates
Willow Springs International Motorsports Park management and Fastrack Riders recently finalized a schedule for 2002 that includes an unprecedented 30 dates at the historic motorsports park.
Because of concerns that the Fridays prior to Willow Springs Motorcycle Club races might not be on the Fastrack Riders 2002 schedule, Willow Springs Raceway owner Bill Huth made arrangements to ensure those dates would be dedicated to WSMC members and those interested in becoming better acquainted with the raceway and its motorcycling programs. Details of the tentative plan were provided in a previous press release, which outlined a program targeting new riders as well as experienced racers. Now that the Fastrack Riders dates have been confirmed, that plan is no longer necessary.
“My main concern is always that we have the very best instruction available to our riders,” said track owner Bill Huth. “We have some of the best schools in the world out here – Keith Code, Reggie Pridmore, Fastrack Riders, and the WSMC New Racer School are among the top groups that use this facility. I just wanted to be sure we had something in place for our riders on those Fridays that would measure up to our regular programs. Now that we’ve confirmed Tom [Sera]’s dates, that’s no longer a problem.”
WSMC events run on the third Sunday of each month. Fastrack Riders events will run on the Friday prior to those weekends, as well as other selected dates.
For more information, contact Willow Springs
International Motorsports Park at 661-256-6666.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Former AMA Superbike racer Kerry Bryant has been hired as Director of Sales, Marketing, R&D by Jardine Performance Products, a division of Summit Industries based in Corona, California.
Bryant recently resigned from White Brothers, where he was long-time Director of Operations.
Bryant can be reached by phone at (909) 371-1744 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
The MRA Rules Committee will hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on January 4 in the Denver area, at a location to be announced (call 303-530-5678 to learn location). According to an MRA mailing to members, the meeting will include discussion of proposed 2002 season rule changes.
Proposed changes listed in the mailing include:
–Allowing a moving start (instead of the current no-movement-allowed start) as long as the rear axle does not cross the grid mark (ironically, the rule proposal cites AMA rules allowing a moving start even though AMA is moving from a moving start to a no-movement-allowed start for 2002).
–Reconciling contradictory rules regarding red-flag scoring.
–Breaking championship points ties by using the number of race wins.
–Listing all riders who do not show up on the grid as a DNS; listing riders who show up on the grid but don’t finish as a DNF; requiring riders to complete 1/2 race distance to be awarded points; determining if Race of the Rockies riders must show up on the grid to be eligible for purse money.
–Allowing air-cooled, two-valve Twins under 905cc and air-cooled, two-valve pushrod Twins of unlimited displacement in Middleweight Supersport.
–Changing SuperTwins GTU rules to require street-based case/frame combinations.
–Restricting Twins classes to four-strokes only.
–Splitting SuperTwins into three classes:
Lightweight SuperTwins allowing liquid-cooled, four-valve 650cc; air-cooled, two-valve 750cc; and Aprilia Challenge bikes. (Editor’s note: No explanation was given as to how adding a RS250 class will work with the “four-strokes only” proposal).
Middleweight SuperTwins allowing liquid-cooled, four-valve 750cc; air-cooled two-valve 950cc; air-cooled pushrod 1200cc.
Open SuperTwins allowing unlimited modifications.
–Removing “exceptions” now listed for SuperTwins GTU.
–Removing the “unlimited origin” clause for Lightweight Superbike for Singles or renaming the class Lightweight GP.
–Establishing endurance classes as Lightweight, Middleweight, Heavyweight and Unlimited Superbike, using Race of the Rockies rules.
–Changing dollar amounts for claiming parts.
–Allowing protesting riders to do so anonymously, thus denying protested riders the right to confront (or even know) who has accused them of cheating or otherwise violating rules.
From a press release:
Pacific Track Time Announces 2002 dates, Expands to Four Venues
Pacific Track Time, an upscale provider of track days with operations in Gilroy, California, announced their 2002 schedule today. Venues for 2002 will include Laguna Seca, Thunderhill Park, California Speedway, and the Streets of Willow Springs.
Todd Robinson, Director of Sales and Events, said, “We’re excited about covering both Northern and Southern California in 2002 with 27 dates. I
couldn’t be more pleased with the way things have come together and we’re looking forward to bringing our upscale approach to even more riders in the coming year”.
According to Robinson, the 2002 schedule will include:
Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway – Monterey, CA
January 2, 2002
January 3, 2002
December 18, 2002
December 19, 2002
December 20, 2002
Streets of Willow Springs – Rosamond, CA
March 19, 2002
March 20, 2002
April 16, 2002
April 17, 2002
May 21, 2002
May 22, 2002
September 17, 2002
September 18, 2002
October 22, 2002
October 23, 2002
California Speedway (short course) – Fontana, CA
February 1, 2002
February 2, 2002
Thunderhill Park – Willows, CA
June 27, 2002
July 23, 2002
July 24, 2002
August 21, 2002
September 2, 2002 LABOR DAY
October 9, 2002
October 10, 2002
November 5, 2002
November 6, 2002
More information is available from Pacific Track Time at (877) 809-2170 or on the web at: http://www.pacifictracktime.com
Pacific Track Time’s sponsors include Sidi, Arrow, Bohn, Wood-Ease, Evoluzione, SharkSkinz, and Ferodo.
EMGO International will sponsor Chris “Opie” Caylor in the AMA 750cc Supersport series in 2002.
Georgia-based EMGO International imports motorcycle parts and accessories and is owned by Emil Gomez.
Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By David Swarts
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin has won the AMA Superbike Championship for the last three years straight. So during the Dunlop tire tests at Daytona, we asked some of the other Superbike racers, what is it going to take to beat Mladin?
“It’s gonna take…you don’t really have to win every weekend to be the Champion,” said Mladin’s Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Jamie Hacking. “It takes consistency and being smart. When you know you don’t have it that weekend, just back off. You just don’t have to win every weekend.”
“Well, we don’t know if Mat’s the guy to beat,” pointed out Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts. “Mat has the number one plate, but you never know what could happen from Daytona on. Mat’s bike might blow up. The problem is if you think about just one guy, you’ve only thought about one guy. Someone can always crop up, and you weren’t expecting him and it kind of plays with your mind a little bit. Well, I’m not counting anyone out, and I’m not saying anyone’s the guys to beat right now. There’s however many factory Superbikes, and anyone of us can win the Championship. So it’s a matter of getting ourselves ready and, you know, we can beat anyone and they can beat us. Who knows who’s going to be the guy. Just gotta train hard this winter and get ready for the season.”
“It’s going to take consistency,” feels Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, the 2001 Superbike Championship runner-up. “We’re going to have to win a lot of races, and the ones we don’t win we’re going to have to finish on the box. Obviously, that’s what Mat’s done to win the Championship, and we’re going to have to do just that to take it away from him.”
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates had a longer list of needs to beat his teammate, saying, “Just being prepared, being ready and being consistent, going out there and riding hard, not throwing the bike down anywhere and being comfortable on the bike, having a good set-up and all. That’s the main thing. Just being ready for the race.”
“It’s gonna take…(long pause)…I’m going to have to try to finish every race and I’m going to have to finish every race either on the podium or close to it,” said Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert. “Mat Mladin is the Champion. He deserves everything he’s earned and got. He’s a hard guy to beat. On any day, I’ve proven that I can beat him, on a day. I beat him for a Championship in Australia in 1994. So I do know that I can beat the guy. It’s just a matter of I haven’t had the full package to do it. I’ve been letting myself down or the bike’s been letting me down. I do feel as long as we have no problems and finish the races and win some races, then that’s how were going to do it.”
“You don’t have to beat Mat,” Pascal Picotte said answering a question that he hasn’t had to answer in quite a while. “I mean you have to beat the whole team, the whole Suzuki Yoshimura crew. He’s a helluva rider. He’s doing an awesome job, but he does have a great team behind him. That’s the way it goes. You can’t just put a good rider on a motorcycle and expect him to win the Championship. It takes time. You gotta build a strong relation with your team, learning the bike, knowing the bike, really be comfortable 100% on it. When you have everything, you’re in a position to win the Championship. I think I’ll definitely have the equipment to beat him a couple of times. I hope so. But as far as winning the Championship, we need to build a momentum from the first race on and hopefully be a little stronger every weekend on.”
From AHRMA media and PR man Matt Benson:
I don’t know who your “insiders” are, but after reading a couple of posts on the Roadracing World website regarding the possibility of AHRMA running some AMA Pro Thunder rounds, I could find no one at our national office or in our road race program who has been contacted by the AMA about this. One of our road race officials noted that Pro Thunder and AHRMA’s Battle of Twins classes are too dissimilar to be easily mixed, and that at high-profile venues such as Mid-Ohio and Daytona we are already pressed to get our own program run on time.
With regard to Jonathan Glaefke’s post, when it comes to safety AHRMA’s record–for Vintage or modern racing–is second to none.
From racer “Super Dave” Rosno of Team Visionsports and Visionsports Riding Schools:
I’ve been watching everything unfold with the AMA Pro Thunder series possibly moving to AHRMA. Having raced a little bit of everything, I would have some concerns as a competitor.
AHRMA is a nice organization full of wonderful people. It is a “family” racing atmosphere that was originally set up for racing vintage motorcycles. At one time, some of those bikes were thought of as oil-puking machines that were, well, old. Now, they are still old, but they are beautifully prepared machines that are reliable.
The trick comes in with traffic in two forms: Traffic on the track and traffic in the number of races at an event. As AHRMA is relatively low-key, so, this is a good organization for a “recreational racer”, a guy who races infrequently or is not “racing” at a quick pace. Some of those riders just enjoy the opportunity to get their unique machines on the track. Because of this, some of the speed differentials between those slower riders and the faster riders is extraordinary.
I have ridden a 400cc Honda in AHRMA events off and on for quite some time. I usually ride it in the fastest session. The bike makes just a bit over 50 horsepower, and I have had closing speeds on bikes while on the brakes that I though was about 40 mph. Take a 110+ horsepower Buell out and just watch what happens.
AHRMA has a great number of races during their events for the various classes of bikes spanning decades of racing in addition to several modern “alternative” classes for Singles, Twins, Triples, and two-stokes. There are only so many minutes in the day to get these races completed.
So, my question is, how will Pro Thunder riders be separated in order to maintain their safety, along with other riders, in practice sessions? Will the AMA Pro Thunder series be relegated to an eight-lap race among 17 other races during a day? Will it be combined with other races? Heats during the day for grids or qualifying? I can’t see any space for it.
Beyond these simple concerns there are more. Will the AMA send a tech staff and equipment to support the AMA Pro rules for fuel, engine concerns, and the like? Indeed, the AHRMA staff is very nice, but I did not see them enforce published rules for the MZ Skorpion Cup series time and again.
AHRMA is “Fun on Old Wheels”. OK, and now some newer ones, too. But Pro Thunder is PRO. As I see it, there potential problems, but the most serious is the possibility of rider injury.
