Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

In response to positive public reaction, Aprilia is considering selling the head-turning Blue Marlin concept bike in the U.S. for the 2003 model year. As debuted at the Milan motorcycle show in September 2001, the concept bike featured a full-power RSV1000 Mille engine, top-notch suspension pieces and brakes, and OZ wheels, wrapped in 1960s retro-musclebike styling.

“It’s my understanding that they are considering (the Blue Marlin) for a 2003 model,” said Aprilia U.S.A.’s Robert Pandya in an e-mail to Roadracing World. “However, the spec (Ohlins or not, OZ or not, etc.) has yet to be decided. Reaction to the bike in the U.S. has been very positive. Personally, I hope they bring it in. We need at least one bike where the headlight turns with the handlebars!”

From a press release:

MARLBORO YAMAHA TEAM TESTS
Phillip Island, Australia
November 27/28/29/30 2001

MISSION ONE ON TARGET AT PHILLIP ISLAND

The Marlboro Yamaha Team entered into MotoGP’s new four-stroke era at Phillip Island this week, conducting four days of promising development work on the all-new Yamaha YZR-M1 racer.

Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa rode alongside Yamaha tester John Kocinski during the tests, the trio completing almost 600 laps on five different YZR-M1s. The three riders met every target assigned for the four-day session, including lap times and durability, and will continue testing at Sepang, Malaysia, next week.

This week’s tests are of particular significance, for this was the team’s first outing with the YZR-M1 since the last-ever 500 World Championship concluded earlier this month. Both Biaggi and Checa are now totally focused on the YZR-M1.

The Phillip Island outing also gave the riders their first chance to acquaint themselves with several new staff, including YZR-M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda and new team technical director Ken Suzuki. Yoda was delighted with progress during his first track days with the crew.

“The team last tested the four-stroke at Brno in August when Carlos did a very impressive race simulation time,” said Yoda, who used to be responsible for 500 GP engine development and was project leader of the YZR250 during its successful World Championship campaign in 2000. “We established our target for this session from that performance and I’m glad to say that we have achieved that goal. Like Brno, we’re not aiming at one-off fast laps but at consistent race-distance performances from the bike, the riders and the tyres. I’m very happy with this week’s work and I’m enjoying working with the team. Both Max and Carlos are giving excellent feedback and I’m looking forward to continuing our work at Sepang next week, where we will have the same kind of target, taken from the race pace at this year’s Malaysian 500 GP.”

For obvious reasons of secrecy during this crucial interim period between the last 500 championship and the first four-stroke-based MotoGP series, the Marlboro Yamaha Team has decided not to reveal lap times from Phillip Island and Sepang, but both Biaggi and Checa are quietly confident after their Island outing.

“Last time I rode the M1 during August my main priority was still to get the best out of the 500,” said Biaggi, who finished second overall in the final 500 World Championship. “So this was the first time I could dedicate all my efforts to the four-stroke. I’m enjoying the process of adapting my riding style to suit the bike, especially getting used to the four-stroke’s extra engine braking, and once I’ve fully achieved that process I think I’m going to enjoy riding the M1 more than I enjoyed the 500. The four-stroke’s power delivery is much smoother than the 500’s, and though the chassis is similar to the 500’s, it’s not identical.”

Biaggi’s only real problem during the tests was with the local wildlife – on the second day he collided with a seagull, breaking a windscreen, and later he had to take avoiding action when a hare ran on to the track.

“These tests have been very useful,” added the Italian. “I’m very happy with the new staff that have joined the team to work on this new project, I think that we now have the best group I’ve ever worked with. The factory is working very hard and they have an excellent reaction time – next week we will have some more new parts to test at Sepang. That session will be very interesting because Sepang is a very different track from Phillip Island. There’s a lot more heavy braking there, so we’ll be working on getting that right. Sepang is also very tough on tyres, largely due to the hot conditions, so we’ll be able to do a lot of work on tyre endurance. Tyres will be particularly important from now on because there’s more than one tyre manufacturer involved in our championship.”

Checa, who has made no secret of his enthusiasm for the four-stroke project, was very happy with his pace at the Island. “This was an important test for us because it was the first time we’ve been able to fully concentrate on the four-stroke without having to go back to racing the two-stroke,” said the Spaniard, who recorded impressive lap and race-distance times when he rode the YZR-M1 at Brno during August. “Like Brno we’ve been focusing on running consistently fast laps and looking at where the M1 performs better and worse than the 500, so we can improve the bike in every possible area. It’s been tough, because concentrating so hard for four days isn’t easy, especially when you’ve so much stuff to try. But I’ve enjoyed myself and it’s been good
to start working with some new staff within the team.”

Yamaha have made various detail improvements to the powerful YZR-M1 over the past three months, and much of the Phillip Island tests were focused on evaluating different specification engines and chassis.

“We spent some time mixing and matching the various different combinations,” said Marlboro Yamaha Team manager Geoff Crust. “We have several different engine and chassis specs, so we’ve been playing with them between the five different bikes we’ve got here. This is the first time since August that Max and Carlos have ridden the bike and it’s their first chance to focus totally on the four-stroke, so they’re concentrating on getting used to the bike and learning its character. They’re forgetting the 500 and learning a whole new package.

“We’ve also done a lot of work here with Michelin. We assigned one day to tyre testing alone, trying some development tyres which we’ve never used before, and continuing to focus on race pace, rather than one-off quick laps. The results are promising and we’ll continue learning at Sepang next week.”

The Australian weather mostly smiled on the team this week, though the morning of the last day was lost to rain and a few light showers interrupted proceedings on Tuesday.

Next weeks’ Marlboro Yamaha Team tests at Sepang run from December 6-8, then the squad takes a well-earned break before resuming testing in Europe in January 2002. Next season’s inaugural MotoGP series kicks off with the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on April 7.

Aprilia is featured on episode # 2113 of the nationally syndicated television show Motorweek, which airs today on PBS.

Motorweek, the PBS television show billed as “Television’s Original Automotive magazine”, attended the Formula USA round at Pocono International Raceway and reviewed an Aprilia Mille and Aprilia RS50.

Motorweek is seen on PBS affiliated stations across the nation, with a schedule listed at http://www.motorweek.net.

“We were happy to host Motorweek at Pocono,” said Aprilia Marketing Coordinator Robert Pandya in a press release. “The producers were introduced to the performance heritage of Aprilia during an FUSA race, where the smell of race gas and competition was in the air. I think they were blown away by the level of excitement at that event. It’s pretty cool to see Aprilia featured on one of the top automotive programs in the country.”

Two weeks after the November 30 PBS debut of episode #2113, the same show will air on Speedvision.

AHRMA has revised its 2002 schedule yet again, moving Mid-Ohio in addition to the previously-announced replacement of a tentative September date at Second Creek Raceway with one at Sandia Motorsports Park and listing a date at Summit Point as tentative.

3/1, DeLand Airport, DeLand, FL
3/4-5, Daytona International Speedway
4/6-7, Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, Hallett, OK
4/26-28, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, CA
5/4-5, Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond, CA
5/26-27, Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point, WV*
6/22-23, Grattan Raceway Park, Grattan, MI
7/20-21, Mid-Ohio, Lexington, OH*
8/17-18, Putnam Park Road Course, Mt. Meridian, IN
9/7-8, Sandia Motorsports Park, Albuquerque, NM
10/5-6, Talladega Gran Prix Raceway, Talladega, AL
* = Tentative
Info, (615) 851-3674, (913) 268-4401, www.ahrma.org

From a Suzuki press release:

ALSTARE’S DOUBLE ASSAULT IN 2002

2002 World Superbike Championship – November 29.

Team Alstare Suzuki is happy to announce that it will continue to contest both the Superbike and Supersport World Championships in 2002 as Suzuki support team.

Alstare is happy to reveal its new plans and rider line-ups for the 2002 race season.

The Superbike challenge will be spearheaded by Spaniard Gregorio Lavilla, who will ride a GSX-R750, that will undergo continuous development with Team Alstare Suzuki. Twenty-eight-year-old Lavilla has vast experience in the Superbike World Championship and is already looking forward to the team’s first tests. He will be Team Alstare Suzuki’s sole rider, but the team feels that the knowledge and experience it gained in 2001 will allow the Spaniard to feel right at home from day one.

Team Alstare Suzuki’s Supersport title attack will once again be taken up by Japanese rider Katsuaki Fujiwara aboard the 2002 Suzuki GSX-R600. His teammate will be Frenchman Stephane Chambon. Fujiwara had the unluckiest season of his career in 2001 and is eager to show his true worth in 2002.

His teammate Stephane Chambon had a hard year on the Superbike in 2001 and is happy to return to the class in which he won the Supersport World Series title in 1999. The combination of Fujiwara and Chambon will make Team Alstare Suzuki Supersport a force to be reckoned with in 2002.

Both teams will be testing before Christmas and further information will be made available when all plans will be finalized.

Rider Profiles

Gregorio Lavilla
Date of Birth: 29 September 1973
Nationality: Spaniard

Career Highlights

2nd in Spanish 125cc Championship – 1992

Spanish 600cc Champion,Spanish 750cc Champion – 1994

12th in World Superbike Championship – 1998

8th in World Superbike Championship – 1999

10th in World Superbike Championship – 2000

10th in World Superbike Championship – 2001


Katsuaki Fujiwara
Date of birth: 27th March 1975
Nationality: Japanese

Career highlights:

1st in Suzuka 4 hr race -1992

3rd in All-Japan 250cc Championship – 1994

3rd in All-Japan 250cc Championship – 1995

5th in All-Japan Superbike Championship – 1996

2nd in All-Japan Superbike Championship – 1997

9th in All-Japan Superbike Championship – 1999

9th in Superbike World Championship – 2000

12th in World Supersport Championship – 2001

Stephane Chambon
Date of birth: 10th August 1965
Nationality: French

Career highlights:

French 250cc Motocross Champion Three times winner of the “Guidon d’Or”

Five Supermotard titles

1st in 125cc French Promosport Championship

1st in French Superbike Championship – 1996

1st in French Supersport Championship – 1996

4th in Supersport World Series – 1997

3rd in Supersport World Series – 1998

1st in Supersport World Championship – 1999

3rd in Supersport World Championship – 2000

12th in World Superbike Championship – 2001

From a press release:

AMA Pro Racing names Director of Timing & Scoring

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Ken Rogers has joined the AMA Pro Racing staff as Director of Timing and Scoring. Rogers, who has been working with AMA Pro Racing as a contractor since 1997 in the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championships and EA Sports AMA Supercross Series, will guide AMA Pro Racing’s substantial investments in the timing and scoring area of race operations.

Rogers will lead the continued development of timing and scoring applications as it pertains to on-site needs, television, media, the Internet and racing teams for all AMA Pro Racing disciplines, including the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, the AMA U.S. Supercross Championship, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship and the AMA U.S. Flat Track Championship.

“The relationships I have built with other top sanctioning bodies such as IRL, CART and NASCAR will to serve as a great resource to us as we continue to build our timing and scoring systems. There are some functions and features we can develop with our integrated television packages that nobody else is doing,” said Rogers.

“We’re happy to bring Ken on as a full-time staffer for AMA Pro Racing,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. “We are making significant commitments to new technology and applying it to the overall presentation for all of our championship series and Ken is an ideal choice to guide that evolution.”

Before working with AMA Pro Racing, Rogers implemented a computerized scoring package with the Motorcycle Roadracing Association (MRA), a Colorado-based organization that promotes local road racing. Prior to the MRA he had been involved with the timing, scoring and overall event promotion of running races and triathlons for over 15 years.

Rogers is a former elite runner and was a member of the Nike National Team in the early-1980s. He has been a motorcyclist most of his life and began road racing in 1992 and went on to win an MRA endurance racing title with teammate Ricky Orlando. Rogers was a past president of the MRA, an instructor with their new rider schools and is a former Sportsman of the Year. He still finds the time to occasionally race his Yamaha TZ250. He and his wife, Melissa, reside just outside Boulder, Colo., and have plans to move a little further west to Steamboat Springs, Colo., early next year.

Kawasaki is testing at Willow Springs International Raceway today, with riders Eric Bostrom and Tommy Hayden.

From a press release:

AMA ANNOUNCES DATES FOR 2002 AMA VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE DAYS

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced the dates for next year’s AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days events.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West will be held April 26 – 28, 2002 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California. AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days will be held July 19 – 21 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

The AMA previously had announced that Spanish motorcycles will be the Featured Marque at both 2002 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days events — marking the first time the Association has awarded the distinction to the motorcycles of an entire country, rather than a single manufacturer. Both events will feature an exhibit
of classic Spanish motorcycles and memorabilia, hosted by the Spanish Motorcycle Owners Group (SMOG).

Motocross legend Jim Pomeroy, who was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999, will serve as Grand Marshal of both events. Riding his Bultaco to victory in the 1973 World Motocross Grand Prix, Pomeroy became the first American to win a world-championship motocross event — and the first rider to win a Grand Prix on a Spanish motorcycle.

The first annual AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days event was held in 1992; the inaugural AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West event was held in 1997. Motorcycles previously honored with the “featured marque” distinction include BSA, Honda, Norton, Penton, Vincent and, most recently, Indian.

The AMA will announce more details about the 2002 AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days events in the coming months. For more information, visit www.AMADirectlink.com or call 1-800-AMA-JOIN.

From a press release:

HARLEY-DAVIDSON DELIVERS THE NEW V-RODÔ TO U.S. DEALER NETWORK

All-New Bike Will Arrive in Showrooms this Week

MILWAUKEE, WI (November 27, 2001) – The trucks are rolling and the initial shipment of Harley-Davidson’s VRSCA V-Rod will begin to arrive in showrooms in the U.S. this week. Equipped with the all-new Harley-Davidson Revolution liquid-cooled 60° V-Twin powerplant and custom, dragster-inspired looks, the V-Rod is pure American muscle.

The Harley-Davidson VRSCA V-Rod was introduced during this summer’s Harley-Davidson Dealer Expo in Los Angeles, and has been praised by the press and public for its groundbreaking styling, strong and smooth powertrain, and innovation. The V-Rod has already won the Motorcycle Design Association Open Class Trophy, a Popular Science “Best of What’s New Award”, Popular Mechanics Magazine design and engineering award, and the Motor Cycle News (England) Bike of the Year Award. Manufactured at Harley-Davidson’s Kansas City assembly plant, the V-Rod is the first model in an entirely new line of performance custom motorcycles.

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 or to find the dealer nearest you, visit Harley-Davidson’s web site at www.harley-davidson.com.

The parking lot of Taco Bell? The field behind Scotty’s house? Next to the AMA museum in Pickerington, Ohio? On the lawn in front of the JamSports building in Chicago? Where?

Enough frivolity: The latest press release on Clear Channel Motor Sport’s relentless march toward locking up every decent stadium that has hosted a Supercross race in the U.S. follows:

Minnesota’s Metrodome Signs a Three-Year Supercross Deal with Clear Channel Entertainment

AURORA, Ill. (November 28, 2001) – Another major stadium has been added to the list of venues that have signed multi-year agreements with Clear Channel Entertainment’s motor sports division for the 2003 Clear Channel Entertainment Supercross Series, as Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey (H.H.H.)
Metrodome has agreed to a three-year agreement with Clear Channel Entertainment. Clear Channel’s EA SPORTS Supercross will extend its eight-year tradition of thrilling supercross fans in the Twin Cities into 2005.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC). It opened in 1982 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins and University of Minnesota Gophers.

Since 1982, the combined attendance at Metrodome events exceeds 55 million people, making it the most versatile and heavily used stadium in the nation.

Standing 16 stories high, with 64,000 seats and 115 suites inside a heated dome, the upper Midwest has no better choice for stadium events of such epic proportions as EA SPORTS Supercross.

Dennis Alfton, director of operations for the MSFC, said, “Clear Channel Entertainment’s Supercross event has become a Midwest tradition every winter since 1994. Since Clear Channel Entertainment brought EA SPORTS Supercross
to the Metrodome, the event has averaged 56,002 fans, coming from everywhere in the Midwest including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas and Canada.

The excitement and enthusiasm that surrounds this event is one that the Twin Cities is elated to continue through its long term relationship with Clear Channel Entertainment.”

“This is another chapter of terrific news for supercross enthusiasts everywhere, and another demonstration of a great stadium management team
securing the best in motorcycle entertainment. The supercross in the Metrodome has always been a terrific event in the heart of the season, and
the Twin Cities’ three-year commitment to our supercross is an honor,” said Charlie Mancuso, president of Clear Channel Entertainment’s motor sports division.