From a press release:

Supercuts Agrees to Multi-Year Deal as Title Sponsor of AMA Superbike Event

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Supercuts has signed on as Sears Point Raceway’s newest marketing partner in a multi-year package that includes sponsorship of the raceway’s American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Superbike races and a year-round presence at the newly refurbished facility.

The 2002 AMA Supercuts Superbike Challenge will take place on May 3-5, anchoring Sears Point’s annual spring Sonomafest motorcycle festivities. The contract is for two years – through 2003 – with an option for a third year.

In addition to the race sponsorship, Supercuts will enjoy significant visibility at all raceway events through facility signage and promotions. Supercuts will also receive the designation “Official Hair Salon” of Sears Point Raceway, and a “Cut Above” seating section will be constructed above Turn 8 on the road course at the Extreme Fan Zone Village. During the Supercuts Superbike Challenge weekend, fans will be invited to the “Cut Above” section to pick up a special haircut certificate from Supercuts.

“Supercuts is a dynamic company with a clever, energetic approach to their marketing,” said Steve Page, president and general manager at Sears Point Raceway. “They will be a terrific fit for this event and for the new spirit of this facility.”

As the official hair salon, Supercuts’ name and logo will be included in all promotions, media materials and communications in association with the Supercuts Superbike Challenge. Supercuts will also have full use of the Sears Point Raceway name and logo for consumer promotions and a presence at all main events during the 2002 season at Sears Point.

“We are very excited about our affiliation with Sears Point Raceway,” said Ron Groves, Supercuts’ franchise owner and market representative. “Partnering with Sears Point and the AMA Superbike Challenge allows us to reach our target customer in the dynamic and growing arena of motorsports and at the premier raceway in Northern California. We’re looking forward to working with Sears Point to make the Supercuts Superbike Challenge an exhilarating, high profile event.”

Supercuts, a division of Regis Corporation, has been a leader in affordable haircare for more than 25 years, providing quality haircuts, shampoo and styling services for men, women and children. Supercuts’ stores also sell professional haircare products. Supercuts operates more than 1,500 stores nationwide with 80 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Regis Corporation, based in Minneapolis, currently operates and franchises over 7,200 salons in six divisions throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

This just in from Michael L. Twigg of Twigg Cycles in Hagerstown:


On behalf of the 7th Annual Flat Track Celebrity Golf Tournament, held in conjunction with the AMA Dirt Track Championship Series located in Hagerstown, Maryland, we would like to contribute $1500 toward Roadracing World’s Air Fence Fund for Dirt Track.

Chris Carr has been a participant in our event since its inception. Because of Chris’ continued support, we asked that he direct a portion of the proceeds. Chris remains excited toward your efforts to install air fencing for flat track, and he believes that injuries to flat track racers can be significantly reduced.

The Flat Track Celebrity Golf committee wishes you luck in your future endeavor, and we are honored to be a part of promoting safety in all forms of motorsport racing.

Sincerely,


Michael L. Twigg
Committee Chairman

With five days remaining in the auction to benefit the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, American Honda’s Nicky Hayden’s leathers have received a bid of $3550. Hayden himself came up with the idea of auctioning off a set of his leathers, worn to his race win at Mid-Ohio, with the proceeds of the sale going to the Roadracing World Air Fence fund.

Hayden, currently at Daytona International Speedway for the Dunlop tire tests, is paying close attention to the auction and seems very happy anytime someone brings up the topic in conversation.

A new bidder, “hondaron39”, currently holds the highest bid but “shogunone” and “cmra_5” are still active bidders in the auction that is due to close at approximately 1:30 p.m. Sunday, December 16.

To see pictures of the leathers and read a more detailed description, go to the auction through the following link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1044691248

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking recorded the fastest times in the Superbike and 600cc Supersport categories Tuesday morning during the Dunlop tire tests at Daytona International Speedway.

Hayden grabbed everyone’s attention early-on, with his first flying lap of the day on the 2002 Honda RC51. Hayden turned a 1:50.754 on a race tire, the fastest lap of the test by half-a-second. Hayden made a series of small changes to the bike in between short lapping sessions and went into the lunch break with a best time of 1:50.402 on a race tire.

According to Honda Team Manager Chuck Miller, the 2002-spec RC51 is supposed to be faster, lighter and have better handling but he did not know exactly what had been changed on the bike. Miller said that Hayden agreed that the bike was better in all three aspects. Miller also said that the single 2002 bike would be shared between Hayden, Miguel Duhamel and Kurtis Roberts.

After clocking a 1:50.81 on his last lap of the morning on a 2001 RC51, Roberts said that he was looking forward to getting on the new bike. Roberts, sporting a new Shoei helmet and Teknic riding gear, felt that the new bike was obviously better and faster. Many riders have changed personal equipment sponsors with Joe Rocket and Shoei increasing their presence among AMA professional riders.

Eric Bostrom turned his fastest time of the test so far at 1:51.081 just before becoming Tuesday’s first crash victim. Bostrom lowsided in the second horseshoe when he lost the front. Bostrom said, “It was no big deal. It seemed like I was going too slow to crash.”

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin and crew are continuing to test new parts on their 2002 GSX-R750. According to Yoshimura team members, Mladin, Yates and Hacking all have 2002-spec Superbikes, but Mladin was testing the team’s one-off parts before handing them down to Yates and Hacking for further evaluation. After testing a new, dual-canister exhaust on Monday, Mladin and crew were trying different fairing/windscreen/ram-air intake system combinations on Tuesday.

In the 600cc Supersport world, Hacking spent all morning turning laps on his GSX-R600 with new Crew Chief Jerry Daggett turning the wrenches. Hacking lapped at 1:54.432 to lead all 600cc testers. Other riders who dipped into the 1:54s on their 600s in Tuesday morning’s near-perfect weather conditions included Aaron Yates and Anthony Gobert. The key to Yates’ improved performance was “getting some sleep,” said Yoshimura Suzuki’s Chris Weidl. “Aaron was a little tired yesterday.”

Tuesday Morning’s Unofficial Times:
1. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:50.402
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:50.81
3. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:51.081
4. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998, 1:52.398
5. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:52.434
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:52.489
7. Mike Hale, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.170*
8. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:54.321
9. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.432
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:54.773
11. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.799
12. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.892
13. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.018
14. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.223
15. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.392
16. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.655
17. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:55.935
18. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:57.995
19. Tripp Nobles, Buell Firebolt XB9R, 2:10.972

*Cut chicane on fast lap.

According to a press release from the Daytona International Speedway press office, the public can view the Dunlop tire tests from a special section of grandstands at no charge. For entry and details, prospective spectators should go to Daytona USA, which is located adjacented to the speedway.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

In past years at the Dunlop tire tests at Daytona International Speedway, lap times were gathered by walking around the paddock and actually requesting them from each rider’s crew. The system was “unofficial” to say the least as teams had been know to give less-than-accurate information in the past. At the 2001 Dunlop Daytona tire tests, times are still unofficial but much closer to fact than before. Timing monitors provide lap times for every rider, even differentiating between a rider’s “A” and “B” bikes, thanks to individually indentified AMA Pro Racing transponders on each bike.

“We wanted to test some new software,” said AMA Pro Racing’s Ken Rogers in the scoring tower at Daytona. “We can test the timing system back at the office, but then again we can’t. Here we have real bikes going around a real track. Bobby Lemming (AMA Pro Racing Starter and Equipment Manager) was driving down here (Florida) for the holidays already. So he just hooked up the Pro Racing trailer and brought everything down.”

Rogers said that the new software will improve the amount of information available on AMA Pro Racing’s website as well as work with a new wireless network system for the racetrack. Registration, technical inspection and scoring are now all on the same AMA computer network at races, so a rider’s information has to be entered into the system only once instead of multiple times are multiple locations. Rogers said that the hope is to sell remote receivers and the necessary hardware to teams so that they can also be on the AMA’s computer network at the track. Being on the network will allow teams to receive more information more quickly, including lap times for each rider from every session as well as weekend schedules, revised schedules, announcements, etc. After teams join the network (which Rogers, speaking at VIR last September, estimated to come with a $5000 price tag per team), AMA Pro Racing will provide network access to media representatives at the racetrack.

Rogers said that AMA officials hoped to run the new software at other winter road racing test sessions and ultimately have official, AMA-sanctioned tests.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Buell American Motorcycle Company is at Daytona International Speedway with two testing agendas. After running 2001-spec Buell X-1-based Pro Thunder racebikes Monday, December 10, Buell’s 2003-model Buell Firebolt XB9R arrived at Daytona Tuesday in both Pro Thunder and Lightning Series specifications.

As for the Pro Thunder racers, the bikes have received no serious changes from when the bike first appeared at the 2001 Pro Thunder series finale at Road Atlanta. The Pro Thunder bikes may not be called that for long, however.

Speaking at the International Cycle Show in Long Beach, California on Saturday, Buell Communications Manager Paul James said that the company had not decided if it is going to continue to sponsor the AMA Pro Thunder class, if it is going to have Buell-supported teams in AMA Pro Thunder, have Buell-supported teams in AMA 750cc Supersport or if the company will have any involvement in AMA Pro Racing at all. James said that decisions would hopefully be made before the holidays.

What James did know is that the Buell Lightning Series will continue as part of the 2002 Formula USA National Road Race Series. To that end, Buell brought Richie Morris’ 2001 Buell Lightning racebike along with a nearly stock Buell Firebolt XB9R racer. Buell officials are trying to determine where to put the horsepower limit for the better-handling XB9R so that it can compete directly against the heavier, 95-horsepower-limited Buell Lightnings in the series.

The Firebolt that Tripp Nobles ran Tuesday morning at Daytona was equipped with what will become the official upper and lower race fairings, a racing exhaust system, a modified ECM, a chain drive conversion, a Penkse shock and a steering damper. Buell representatives said that the bike’s rear-wheel horsepower output went from approximately 80 to 90 with just the exhaust and re-mapping. Nobles’ best time on the undergeared Firebolt was a 2:10.972, well off a competitive Buell Lightning time at Daytona.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

According to manager Alan Labrosse, Steve Crevier re-signed with Honda Canada on Friday, December 7 to race in the 2002 Parts Canada Superbike and Yoshimura 600cc Sport Bike series. Crevier won the Championship in both classes in 2001.

Labrosse added that he would not be managing the factory Honda Canada team in 2002 after winning three Championships in the two years that he ran the team. “I guess they felt that they could get the same results from someone else for less money,” said Labrosse in the Daytona pits on Tuesday, December 11.

Labrosse also reported that Michael Taylor had signed to be Yamaha’s lone factory rider in the 2002 Canadian National Series and that Francis Martin would return to Suzuki Canada, leaving the only factory ride left in the Great White North with Kawasaki. Labrosse, who represents Jordan Szoke, said that Kawasaki officials were probably waiting to see if they could get Szoke.

Szoke is reportedly waiting to see if the Austin/Bleu Bayou team can obtain enough sponsorship to buy 2002 Ducati 998s for a privateer Superbike effort in the AMA series before making alternate plans.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jamie Hacking were the fastest on Superbikes and 600cc Supersport machines, repectively, at the Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway Tuesday.

Hayden came out of the gate fast, recording a 1:50.754 on his first flying lap of the day on the 2002-model Honda RC51. Then, in the closing moments of track time, Hayden got a fresh rear race tire and ended the day by going even faster, turning a 1:49.946.

“It doesn’t really count for anything until March, but anytime you’re the quickest it feels good,” said Hayden afterwards. “There at the end of the day track conditions were just right for us. I put on a new tire. It was definitely a race tire, but I was working it, though. The new bike is good. Not one thing in particular stands out about it, but it’s obviously faster.”

Word of Hayden doing 186 mph through the tri-oval on the new Honda quickly went through the pits.

Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert was the quickest through most of the day with a best lap at 1:50.097 on his 2001 YZF-R7 with a race tire, turned during a stint of five laps in the 1:50 range. Neither Gobert nor his crew were concerned with Hayden’s fast lap. “Let us know when he does five of them,” said Gobert’s lead mechanic, Tony Romo. Gobert also added that his 2002 bike would be built in the coming months.

HMC Ducati’s Pascal Picotte continued to make progress on his 2002 Ducati 998 through the day. After sorting out a problem with fuel-injection mapping and running through Dunlop’s selection of test tires, Picotte lapped at 1:50.274 on a race tire. Some other racers said they were sure that Picotte used a qualifier, to which the 1994 Daytona pole-sitter replied, “Let them think we’re on a qualifier. Watch, I’ll qualify at a 1:48 in March.” Picotte testified that Hayden was also on a race tire, saying, “It wasn’t a qualifier. Nicky was sideways everywhere!”

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin spent the morning going through new parts, the afternoon testing tires and ended up fourth-fastest with a 1:50.721 on a race tire. “We’re just meddling through some things right now,” said Mladin mechanic Reg O’Rourke.

After the entire day’s 600cc Supersport times were combined, Hacking left the track with the fastest lap, a 1:54.432. Of the competitors who ran both a Superbike and a 600cc Supersport bike, Hacking spent the most time on his 600, touching his Superbike for the first time at 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon.

“Everything’s going pretty good,” said Hacking. “We just kind of eased into it yesterday. Tomorrow we’re only gonna be running the Superbike.”

Times on the 600cc machines were largely dependent on whether a rider ran alone or worked the draft with other racers.

Miguel Duhamel was the only crasher of the afternoon and was quoted by Nicky Hayden as saying “It was just a nothing, little lowside, real slow in turn one.” Duhamel and his Honda RC51 suffered little if any damage, and Duhamel returned to the track on his CBR600F4i later in the day.

Wednesday marks the third and final day of the tire test. Superbike riders are expected to continue to test tires through the morning before putting on softer rubber and going for fastest-lap honors later. Dunlop’s Jim Allen said that he would hold a meeting Tuesday night to decide how to handle distribution of the qualifing tires. Wednesday’s forecast calls for more perfect weather and more fast laps at Daytona.

Tuesday’s Unofficial Best Lap Times:
1. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:49.946
2. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 1:50.097
3. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998, 1:50.274
4. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:50.721
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:51.081
6. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:51.228
7. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:52.489
8. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:52.633
9. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:53.237
10. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R750 (F-USA spec), 1:53.828*
11. Mike Hale, Honda CBR929RR, 1:53.124
12. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.432
13. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:54.741
14. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:54.799
15. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:54.824
16. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:54.892
17. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.018
18. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.223
19. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.392
20. Mike Hale, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.566
21. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.655
22. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:56.848
23. Tripp Nobles, Buell Firebolt XB9R (Pro Thunder), 1:59.340
24. Tripp Nobles, Buell Firebolt XB9R (Lightning Series), 2:06.825

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert and Aaron Gobert recorded the fastest lap times among Superbike and 600cc Supersport riders, respectively, during the first day of the annual Dunlop tire tests at Daytona International Speedway.

The day started late while the track dried after overnight rains. All riders ran for about one hour on the track before an isolated shower put a halt to on-track activities around 1:00 p.m. At approximately 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the track went green and remained dry until 5:00 p.m., at the end of the day. Most riders started on their 600cc Supersport bikes except for those racers who race in the Superbike class only. Mat Mladin, Eric Bostrom and Pascal Picotte rode their Superbikes all day.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin started the fireworks by recording a 1:51.537 early in the day on a 2002-model GSX-R750 Superbike equipped with a revised engine and a new four-into-two-into-one-into-two exhaust pipe that replaced the four-into-one system from his 2001 machine. Mladin did relatively few laps during the day as his crew spent a lot of time working with his new bike’s rear suspension.

Later in the afternoon, American Honda’s Nicky Hayden roared out of the pits on his 2002 RC51 and was instantly quicker than he had lapped earlier in the day on his 2001 Honda Superbike. Distinguished by its single exhaust canister and army of HRC attendants always near it, Hayden’s new bike carried him to a 1:51.301 almost immediately. Hayden later said that the new bike was very stable on the banking and that it had more power than his 2001 bike.

Then at the very end of the day, Anthony Gobert got fired up and did a string of laps with eight of them in the 1:51s, with a best of 1:51.275 to take the first day’s top honors.

Holding up his end of the family name, 21-year-old Aaron Gobert, in his first time on a 600 at Daytona, made the quickest lap among all of the AMA 600cc stars. Aaron Gobert’s 1:55.085 was 0.2-second faster than the second-fastest time turned by Nicky Hayden.

2001 Formula USA Champion Shawn Higbee clocked the fifth fastest overall time Monday on his F-USA Unlimited Superbike GSX-R750 on Dunlop DOT-labeled tires. Later during the warm afternoon, Higbee became the only crash victim, falling uninjured at the entrance of the chicane. “I was in there pretty good and had a lot of lean angle,” said Higbee. “Then I lost the front big, but I thought I could save it. Then I hit the dirt and I was done. I’m okay, though.”

Pascal Picotte and HMC Ducati crew made steady progress through the day with the 2002 998 and spirits were definitely high in the team’s pits at days end. Picotte’s best lap, 1:53.526, came after just a few laps on the 2002 Ducati 998.

Miguel Duhamel’s new/old Crew Chief Al Ludington was not at Daytona International Speedway Monday. Ludington attended the AMA awards banquet Friday, December 7 in Palm Springs, California and returned home at 3:00 a.m.; Ludington then had to be at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, California at 8:00 a.m. the next morning before flying out of Los Angeles on a “red-eye” overnight Saturday night to Florida. After arriving in Daytona Sunday, Ludington got a call from his wife to tell him that she was about to give birth to their first child. Ludington got back on another plane to return to Southern California and will most likely miss the entire test.

Monday Lap Times (From the AMA scoring system or directly from the rider’s Crew Chief):
1. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 1:51.275
2. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:51.301
3. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:51.462
4. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:51.873
5. Shawn Higbee, F-USA Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:53.134
6. Pascal Picotte, Ducati 998, 1:53.526
7. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:53.634
8. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.085
9. Nicky Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.285
10. Miguel Duhamel, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.406
11. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:55.488
12. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:55.594
13. Mike Hale, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.614
14. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.727
15. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:55.757
16. Kurtis Roberts, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:55.761
17. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:55.890
18. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:58.520

The Dunlop tire tests continue through Wednesday, December 12 with a forecast that calls for above average temperatures and only a small chance of rain.