Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

During a Yamaha Media Day Tuesday, November 27 at Irwindale Speedway, we asked Supercross legend Jeremy McGrath what he thought of the impending Supercross split between AMA Pro Racing and Clear Channel Motorsports.

“I think…I don’t know,” hesitated a clearly concerned McGrath. “I think for me, personally, I don’t have enough info on the situation to really make a good call. But it seems to me, based on what I know, that Clear Channel has a pretty good stronghold on the stadiums, and I think that’s really important.

“I’m in kind of a unique situation because I have my own team. A lot of the factory teams are associated with AMA which could be one way or the other. I just really don’t know. I hope it doesn’t do what IRL and CART did.

“You’re kind of in a weird situation. The sport’s at its highest all-time level. You know, it’s a bad thing to split, but if you’re gonna split and make changes, it’s a good time to do it – when it’s high. You’d never want to do it when it’s low. I don’t really know what the motivation is behind it. So I can’t really call.”

RW: Is there anything that the participants and team owners in Supercross are lacking that AMA is trying to provide them?

“I don’t know those types of things because the manufacturers…we don’t deal with the manufacturers on a daily basis. The team manager at Yamaha deals with my team manager Larry Brooks. But as far as all of the stuff goes, the inside information, I have no idea,” said McGrath, again trying to avoid taking an early stance on the situation.

RW: Have you heard what any of the other guys in Supercross are thinking or worried about or fear?

“It should be interesting,” admitted newly-engaged McGrath. “This year is gonna be kind of weird because everyone knows that it’s gonna happen. So everyone (AMA and Clear Channel) is gonna be acting on their best behavior trying to get the riders to sway one way or the other. I don’t really know. I’d like to hear a bunch more information before I kind of make some kind of judgement.”

RW: Do you have any fear for Supercross?

“Yeah, I do,” stated the multi-time Supercross Champion. “Yeah, I’ve kind of helped with the sport, and I’m really bummed in a way because it’s great right now. If there was some way they could work it out and do it together, it would be the ultimate decision, but it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. I fear for the sport, for sure. It took a long time to build it up to this and it could wreck it. Who knows.”

RW: Do you think the factory involvement will decide? Wherever the factories go, that’s gonna be the show?

“I don’t think so,” said McGrath. “Because Clear Channel has lock on all the stadiums, they have the big show. AMA has the AMA, but AMA, in my personal opinion, shouldn’t be promoting races. They’re a sanctioning body. What all of a sudden makes them promoters? But that’s just my personal (opinion). I don’t know what’s gonna happen. It just seems, why does the AMA all of a sudden want to be a promoter, you know what I mean?”

On a different note…

RW: What’s the key to getting outside-the-industry sponsors into two-wheel sports?

“You know, I think that it’s very hard to get an outside sponsor,” explained McGrath. “We’ve worked a long time. We’ve created a lot of relationships by networking and stuff like that. For me, it’s a different case because I’ve won so much it’s kind of become a household name. With a lot of the extreme sport movement, it was bound to happen, but it’s a little bit easy to sell me than it is to sell someone else in our sport other than maybe (Ricky) Carmichael now because he’s getting known and Pastrana a little bit, too. I don’t know. We’ve had extremely good luck in that department, and I have a good group of guys working for me doing it.”

RW: What happened to your budding road racing career? (McGrath rode a Yamaha YZF-R6 in November of 2000 during a private Yamaha test at Willow Springs International Raceway.)

“That was a blast!” smiled SuperMac. “I had fun. I was really terrible at it, but I loved it. I mean it’s really hard to trust the tires and stuff because in motocross it’s so opposite, you know. But I had a blast. I’d love to do it again. Me and ‘Gobie’ (Anthony Gobert) and (Tommy) Hayden, we had a fun time out there. It was really cool. I was probably really slow in the corners. I really wanted to drag my knee, and I couldn’t drag my knee. I was afraid to lean it over that far, but I did okay. That was my first time. I’ve never even really ridden a streetbike. I’m not afraid of the speed. I was going as fast as it would go on the straightaways, 160 (mph) or whatever it was. It’s just weird. Just a little bit different for me.”

RW: Did you take Gobert out on the Supercross track and show him a couple of things he was lacking?

“He actually rides Supercross really well. So I don’t have to show him much. For a road racer, he does a good job on a Supercross track,” laughed McGrath.


(Gobert is the former Australian Supercross Champion, dominating motocross in that country before he took up road racing full time.)

American Honda’s Nicky Hayden has donated a set of his leathers to be auctioned off for the benefit of the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund.

“I’ve been reading all of the reports on Roadracingworld.com about the Air Fence and how it was saving all of these guys,” said Hayden in a phone call to Roadracing World. “I thought that it was about time that I pulled my weight. I mean the stuff is out there to protect me, too. I hope that I don’t ever have to use it, but one of my friends might need it. I thought that I could just donate some money, but I thought that this might create a little more energy. Plus it might make a nice Christmas gift for somebody.”

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Hayden has donated a set of his Joe Rocket race leathers to be auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds going to the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund.

The set of Joe Rocket leathers contributed by Hayden were worn during the 2001 AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike race season. The suit has “The Kid – 69” lettered across the seat area, Nicky’s personal leopard logo on the left hip, “Nicky” in chrome letters across the aero-hump with Nicky’s autograph in permanent marker just below. The leathers have not been crashed in but have drag marks on the left elbow, left knee and left hip from where Hayden touched the pavement at Mid-Ohio. The suit also comes with used knee sliders.

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Hayden wore the suit when he won his first of four-races-in-a-row to end the 2001 AMA Superbike season.

The suit is in near-new condition.

Moto Liberty’s Audrey Menarik, a collector of racing leathers, told Roadracing World that Nicky’s suit should go for a nice price.

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“Nicky’s the man right now,” said Menarik from her Dallas-based business. “I would say $3000 to $3500, maybe even more. Let me know when they go up. I’ll be in on the bidding.”

Auction details will be announced this week.

From a press release issued by American Honda:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 28, 2001

American Honda’s Motorcycle Division is deeply saddened to report the death of Peter John Fassnacht, Manager of Rider Education. Mr. Fassnacht passed away Saturday, November 24 of complications resulting from bacterial meningitis. He was 46 years old.

Fassnacht, born and raised in Ottawa, Canada was a passionate motorcyclist and a dedicated advocate of motorcycle rider education.

“It was in the fall of 1970 that he drove my 1966 red Honda 90 in Brantwood Park and he was hooked,” recalled lifelong friend John Sparks. “His first bike was a Honda 175 I believe.”

While earning a bachelor’s degree in biology with honors from Carleton University in Ottawa, Fassnacht was an active volunteer in the Canada Safety Council’s (CSC) motorcycle training program. Upon his graduation in 1977, he became the CSC’s Supervising Chief Instructor for Motorcycle Safety Training Programs and crisscrossed Canada “training the trainers” — professionals responsible for training Canada’s motorcycle safety instructors.

“Peter brought a certain professionalism to everything he did,” said Bruce MacMillan, executive director of the Motorcycle & Moped Industry Council from 1976-1983. “He was well respected among his peers as he was not only an administrator, but also a rider.”

The program flourished during Fassnacht’s time at CSC. During the decade between 1974-1984, over 70,000 Canadian motorcyclists were trained. “Peter was a major factor in making this program happen nationally,” said MacMillan.

“He did it on an absolute shoestring budget,” added Fassnacht’s friend Sparks. “It was a labor of love.”

During Fassnacht’s college years, he also co-founded Simtech, a business devoted to motorcycle accident prevention. Simtech developed motorcycle skills testing equipment under contract to the Canadian government.

Fassnacht furthered his motorcycle passion as a road racer, entering the Simtech Racing team in a 24-hour endurance race in 1979. Though the team did not finish, the next year Fassnacht was back and finished fifth with the Racing Ottawa team.

Fassnacht’s pioneering work in the motorcycle safety movement caught the attention of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) in Irvine, California. The MSF is sponsored by the U.S. manufacturers and distributors of BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Piaggio/Vespa, Suzuki, Victory and Yamaha motorcycles.

Fassnacht moved to the U.S and joined the MSF in 1984 as a consultant in Curriculum Development. He was subsequently appointed Vice President in July 1985, a position he held until August 1995. Fassnacht presided over the MSF as the organization saw substantial growth in the number of motorcyclists trained.

Today, over 2 million riders have been trained in MSF programs since the organization’s inception in 1973.

Fassnacht continued his formal education after moving to California, earning certificates in marketing and communications from the University of California, Irvine.

Fassnacht joined American Honda’s Motorcycle Division in 1995. “Peter was a dedicated and tireless champion of the MSF during his tenure,” said Silvio Carrara, Vice President of Motorcycle Service at American Honda and the company’s MSF Board member at the time. “We were very fortunate to have him join our service engineering group at a time when our business was growing rapidly.”

At Honda, Fassnacht was immersed in an engineering environment well suited to his innate technical and analytical skills. He quickly became a significant contributor to the Motorcycle Division’s dealer technical support effort and was soon developing curriculum for Honda’s dealer technician training programs.

Fassnacht’s background in rider education made him a natural choice in June, 2001 to head Honda’s Rider Education Department overseeing the company’s four Rider Education Centers located in California, Texas, Ohio and Georgia. He was actively directing the effort to broaden the centers’ training programs and was developing plans to further expand Honda’s environmental commitment at the centers, embodied in the recently opened, one-of-a-kind Off Highway Vehicle Environmental Learning Center at the Colton, CA facility.

“Peter was like family to us and he will be sorely missed,” said Honda Motorcycle Division Vice President Ray Blank. “We will remember him for his love of motorcycling, his commitment to rider education, his dedication to excellence, and his quick, warm smile.”

Fassnacht was a member of the American Motorcyclists Association, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Motorcycle Press Guild.

Fassnacht is survived by his wife, Melanie and their two children, Harry, 11 and Lily, 9 and his mother, Ursula Fassnacht and two sisters, Barbara Powell and Kathy Phillips. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the “Fassnacht Children Fund”, c/o Cyndi Troup, 18208 Santa Cecilia, Fountain Valley, CA 92708.

NOTE: A memorial gathering will take place on Friday, November 30, 2001, 6:00PM – 8:00PM at the Torrance Hilton Hotel, 21333 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA on the Penthouse Level. The Torrance Hilton is located on Hawthorne Boulevard south of the intersection with Torrance Boulevard on the west side.

Yamaha tested at Willow Springs Wednesday with both the Yamaha factory Superbike team and the Graves Motorsports team participating. The primary purpose of the day at Willow Springs was to shoot Yamaha publicity photos for the coming season.

Anthony Gobert rode his YZF-R7 Superbike while Aaron Gobert rode a YZF-R6 Supersport machine and Damon Buckmaster rode a YZF-R1 Formula Xtreme racebike.

Anthony Gobert was finished riding his machine before lunch. After lunch, roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich took over the controls of Gobert’s Superbike for a magazine story.

At post time, Tony Romo and Jefferson Burkes were changing the swingarm pivot location in preparation for Ulrich’s fourth session on the bike.

Stay tuned.

Winning Superbike riders are worth every penny they’re paid by their teams.

That’s the conclusion reached by roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich after his eye-opening introduction to Anthony Gobert’s factory Superbike on a 40 degree F day at Willow Springs International Raceway Wednesday.

Riding a factory Superbike slowly is easy, Ulrich found, but the factory Superbike men earn their pay when it’s time to push. Almost infinite adjustments make it possible to walk a fine line between spinning and tank slapping off the corners, but finding that perfect adjustment can be a mind-boggling task.

In short, a factory Superbike has too much power and unbelievable adjustability, and is more of a handful than anyone who hasn’t ridden one can imagine. For details, see an upcoming issue of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology.

From a press release:

Rossi and Ukawa Give RC211V European Debut

Reigning 500cc World Champion Valentino Rossi and teammate Tohru Ukawa tested their RC211V 5-cylinder Hondas in Europe for the first time today.

The test, held at the 4.423km Jerez circuit, in southern Spain, was the first time the 990cc grand prix machine had been put through its paces by Rossi. Ukawa had previously tested the machine in Japan.

Rossi, from Tavullia in Italy, completed 46 laps on the RCV lowering his lap time with each session on the 200HP-plus race machine.

The young Italian said. “The bike is good, and it has great potential. Honda have been very skilful in developing and modifying the machine after the Suzuka test (August 7). They have improved the bike in almost every area that I asked them to.

“Today we just started on the set-up of the bike to suit Jerez and, of course, we have a lot of work to do over the next two days. In general I must say everything is positive.”

Japanese star Ukawa was as impressed as his team-mate. “The machine is much better than at the Suzuka test. Today we worked on set up and I ran 72 laps as part of an endurance test. I have a very good feeling on the machine and, at the moment, I think the machine will give me an advantage when the season begins at Suzuka next April,” Ukawa commented.

HRC Team Manager Mr. N. Nakata said, “Today was the first day of our three-day test so we concentrated on machine set-up for this track. Regarding the RCV, Valentino did 46 laps with a best time of 1:43.1 and Tohru Ukawa made a time of 1:43.5 and covered 72 laps. We are satisfied with the progress we made today, the test programme is on schedule.”

HRC also brought the Honda Gresini Team to Jerez, where newly crowned 250cc World Champion Daijiro Katoh tested the NSR500 V-4 two-stroke he will campaign in 2002. Gresini Honda new-boy Roberto Rolfo made his acquaintance with the NSR250 V-Twin two-stroke he will race next season, alongside teammate Emilio Alzamora.

At the end of the first of three days testing Katoh said of the NSR500, “Everything is so different from the 250 I raced this year. I have so much more power with the NSR500, it’s really fun to ride the bike. But the machine is not set-up for me, riding position, suspension, everything, so I need a lot more time on the bike. The Dunlop tyres are good.”

Rolfo was impressed with his new charge. “I’m very happy with the work I did today with my new team. My general feeling is that the bike is very good, and I have a very good feeling about the way the team work. In general I’m satisfied with my first day on the Honda. Now I have the bike set up for tomorrow.”

Alzamora, who put in a few laps on the NSR250, commented. “The team have changed the riding position for me to test, everything is almost the same as when I got off the bike the last time. This test is just for me to try the new position and get in some track time.”

Team Kanemoto Honda brought their 2002 team to Jerez and team rider, Dutchman Jurgen van der Goorbergh, gave the team’s Bridgestone-shod NSR500 its first shake-down test. Van der Goorbergh, riding the V-4 Honda for the first time, was happy with his first day’s work for the team.

He said, “My first impression of the NSR500 was not a surprise, I expected it to be this good. I expected the huge power but not the smooth delivery. The bike is very stable, particularly under braking, which is very good. I only did 27 laps today as we are setting the bike up for the next two days. The Bridgestone tyres very stable and made the bike comfortable to ride. I’m very happy with that.”

Lap times:

Valentino Rossi, RC211V, 1:43.1, 46 laps

Tohru Ukawa, RC211V, 1:43.5, 72 laps

Daijiro Katoh, NSR500, 1:43.98, 43 laps

Jurgen van der Goorbergh, NSR500, 1:46.68, 27 laps

Emilio Alzamora, NSR250, 1:46.00, 32 laps

Roberto Rolfo, NSR250, 1:46.00, 46 laps

From a press release:

Clear Channel Announces 2003 Points Fund to be a Minimum of $500,000

AURORA, Ill. (November 27, 2001) – Clear Channel Entertainment’s motorsports division announced today that the season-end points fund for its 2003 series will be a minimum of $500,000.

The upcoming 2002 series points fund payout to riders will be $325,000. Under the current sanction agreement between Clear Channel Entertainment and the American Motorcyclist Association, Clear Channel had agreed to pay $133,100 in points fund money in 2002. However, in 2002, Clear Channel Entertainment will actually pay 144% more than the agreement stipulates, bringing the total to $325,000. That amount will increase by at least another $175,000 when Clear Channel Entertainment produces its 2003 series.

Roy Janson, vice president of operations for Clear Channel Entertainment’s motor sports division, said, “We are pleased to again demonstrate our commitment to the riders. The half million dollar mark is a major milestone in supercross history, and this is something we definitely set out to do five years ago.”

The series points fund is paid to the top 20 riders in final series points. In addition to the series points fund, Clear Channel Entertainment will continue to award the privateer riders with the privateer points fund.

Janson added, “Clear Channel Entertainment will maintain its traditional support program for privateer riders in 2002 and beyond with the continuation of its privateer point fund. The fund distributes more than $100,000 annually above the posted purse and point fund payouts exclusively to privateer riders who qualify for 250cc class main events.”

Tuner Scotty Beach’s reaction to Dr. Rob Tuluie’s November 7 posting regarding the Center Of The Universe, which he actually sent on November 8 but which lingered in editorial purgatory until now:


Seeing Dr. Tuluie’s comment in regards to the center of the (road racing) universe put a smile on my face. Of the things I enjoy most in my life are the friendships and acquaintances have with people of higher consciousness. Most notably… Dr. Marshall, Dr. Nutt and last but not least Dr. Robin Tuluie. It is a breath of fresh air to me to be present with these humans who have obviously extended themselves and as a result of that extension have and are making an impression on humanity.

As always.

R. Scott Beach

Racer John Ulrich married girlfriend and team scorer Trudy Sands 25 years ago, on November 27, 1976 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the way home from a WERA 24-Hour.