Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Universal Studios/American Honda’s Nicky Hayden was the fastest of all riders in AMA team testing Tuesday at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca with a lap of 1:26.54 on his Dunlop-race-tire-equipped RC51 Superbike. Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden led all 600cc Supersport riders with a 1:29.7 on his Joey Lombardo-tuned ZX-6R, while Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Jake Zemke posted the fastest Formula Xtreme lap time on his 2002 CBR954RR with a 1:28.0.

“I was actually surprised to be fastest,” admitted Nicky Hayden, the AMA Superbike points leader. “The day didn’t really go that good. We got on the track late, but I almost got 69 laps in. I always try to end with 69 laps, if I’m close.

“Right at the end of the day, I did some low 1:27s on a tire that had over race-distance on it. I thought I was going to put on a new tire and get into the low 1:26s, but I kind of got frustrated. I tried harder and went slower. This afternoon, I think I rode too hard and was over charging some of the corners. I think tomorrow I need to slow down a little bit and smooth out.”

Nicky Hayden’s fastest lap time and Kurtis Robert’s second-best lap time (1:26.71) were thought by Honda’s crew to have come while chasing HMC Ducati’s Doug Chandler. Chandler finished the day with the third-fastest lap time, 1:26.75 (although the Honda team timed Chandler at a 1:26.4), and the biggest smile of the day.

“It was a better first day than I expected,” revealed Chandler. “I expected to be within one second of the fast guys, not be with them. I still feel rusty. I’m still in good shape. I didn’t change anything in my normal winter-time routine. It’s just these Superbikes are so unique that nothing helps you stay sharp with these things. But I think I will improve with each time I get on the bike and start building up my confidence. This bike is so nice; the way it makes power is really good.”

Chandler also said that having Gary Medley as his Crew Chief was a big plus, adding, “It just makes the transition easier. I mean, having somebody that I’ve worked with before really helps.”

HMC Ducati is planning to issue a press release on Medley joining the HMC crew before the week is out.

Yamaha’s Anthony Gobert made the fourth-fastest lap (1:26.78) of the test on his YZF-R7 while trying to dial in his new Ohlins suspension. Gobert said that he is still less than 100% fit following his Daytona Supersport crash.

Fifth-fastest Superbike rider was Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom with a 1:27.0 on his ZX-7RR. Bostrom spent his day getting an even newer version of Ohlins’ gas-charged forks to work as well as the forks he used to win the 2001 AMA race at Laguna Seca.

Miguel Duhamel spent the first day of his test finding a normal baseline setting for the RC51 that he raced at Daytona and another baseline for the back-up RC51 that he and Roberts will share in 2002. Duhamel recorded the sixth-fastest lap with a 1:27.6 on Dunlop race tires.

Team Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin turned a 1:27.7 for the seventh-fastest time even though his injured left elbow is slowing his riding. Mladin said that he is having trouble when braking and accelerating out of left-hand corners.

Mladin’s teammate Aaron Yates took his GSX-R750 Superbike out for five laps at the very end of the day with a best of 1:29.2. Jamie Hacking did not ride his Superbike Tuesday at Laguna Seca.

Tommy Hayden led all 600cc lap times despite spending much of his day in the pits. “We did a bunch of carburetor work today,” said Tommy Hayden. “We didn’t get a whole lot of laps in because that takes a lot of time making those changes and switching them in and out. I think we learned a lot off that, and tomorrow we’re going to start working on chassis set-up.”

The second-fastest Supersport rider was Hacking with a 1:29.9 in his first outing with new Crew Chief Tom Houseworth. Hacking’s teammate Yates tied for third-fastest with Bruce Transportation Group’s Jake Zemke at 1:30.0.

Of the five Formula Xtreme riders present at the test Tuesday, only two reported lap times to Roadracingworld.com. Zemke took the fast-lap honors with a 1:28.0 in his first outing on the new 2002 Honda CBR954RR. Zemke was followed closely by Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Damon Buckmaster’s 1:28.2 on his YZF-R1/R7 hybrid.

Both of the Erion Honda CBR954RRs ridden by Mike Hale and Roger Lee Hayden were sidelined by mechanical problems Tuesday afternoon. Without a CBR954RR to ride, Zemke’s Bruce Group teammate, Alex Gobert, rode a 2001-spec CBR929RR for only a few laps and did not offer a lap time.

Testing resumes Wednesday and is planned to continue through Thursday, but Honda’s Duhamel said that if Wednesday goes well for the Honda men, they may leave after day two of the test.

Tuesday’s best unofficial lap times:

1. Nicky Hayden, Honda RC51, 1:26.54
2. Kurtis Roberts, Honda RC51, 1:26.71
3. Doug Chandler, Ducati 998RS, 1:26.75
4. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R7, 1:26.78
5. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki ZX-7RR, 1:27.0
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC51, 1:27.6
7. Mat Mladin, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:27.7
8. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR954RR, 1:28.0
9. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R1/R7, 1:28.2
10. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R750, 1:29.2
11. Tommy Hayden , Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:29.7
12. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:29.9
13. Aaron Yates, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.0
14. Jake Zemke, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:30.0
15. Mike Hale, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:30.9
16. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:31.05
17. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:31.06
18. Roger Lee Hayden, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:31.1
19. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:32.36
20. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:32.64

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

1993 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kevin Schwantz raced in the Sea Otter Classic bicycle races at Laguna Seca March 21-24. Schwantz entered the Master 30+ Category 4/5 road race and finished 51st out of 150 entries. Starting on the Laguna Seca road course, the Sea Otter Classic 57-mile road race left the track to make three laps around Fort Ord before returning to finish on the racetrack. Schwantz’s time was three hours, nine minutes compared to the winner’s time of two hours, 43 minutes.

Schwantz also competed in the Sport Class 35-39 division of the Sobe Cross Country race and finished 21st out of 250 entries. Schwantz’s time in the mountain bike race was one hour, 21 minutes compared to the winner’s time of one hour, 13 minutes.

“I competed on two wheels for an entire weekend at Laguna Seca without falling off,” joked Schwantz Tuesday at Laguna Seca. “I think the last time I did that was in 1993 or something. It’s been a long time.”

From a press release:

WERA’s New N. Florida Region Kicks Off With A Bang

With the new North Florida racetrack for 2002 WERA added a North Florida Region to the Sportsman Series for 2002. This Region includes Roebling Road Raceway in Southeast Georgia and the North Florida track as well as the July Road Atlanta event and the traditional Cycle Jam at VIR. March 23/24 saw well over 225 riders converge on Roebling Road for the inaugural event for this Region.

Mother Nature cooperated and gave us blue skies and sunshine with perfect race weather in the 60s Saturday and 70s Sunday. Racing was good, accidents were few and 17 races on Sunday ended at 5:58 p.m. – a great weekend of racing for all who attended!

Some outstanding rides were put in by #99 Geoff May in the A Superstock and Formula 1 Expert Classes; #973 Jim Stroud in the C Superstock Class; #204 Jeff Belue in the B Superstock Class; #75 Sandy Noce in the Formula 2 Expert Class and #11 Giovanni Rojas took his first Expert win in the C Superbike Class. The Novice races saw some good racing as well. In C Superstock #71 Dave Weber too the win; Formula 2 saw #326 Kendall Davis take the win; #72 Jeff Walker took the C Superbike and B Superbike wins with #318 Keith Brooks taking the Formula 1 win.

Riders came from as far as Canada, Michigan and Wisconsin to compete with riders from the Southeast and many new riders up from Florida.

WERA would like to thank all the riders for a great job this weekend – the corner workers and Officials for helping make this such a smooth weekend for all!

From a press release:

March 29, 2002

Practice starts at 9:00 a.m.
Practice ends at 5:00 p.m.

March 30, 2002

Practice starts at 9:00 a.m.
Practice ends at 5:00 p.m.

March 31, 2002

8:30 a.m. Riders Meetings (at tech garage)
9:00 a.m. One round of practice; Open GP, Lightweight, Heavyweight, Middleweight

Race Schedule:

1. 250 GP/125 GP/Ducati 748 Cup/Formula Singles
2. 750 Superbike/Open Superbike/Open Superstock
3. Formula 40/500 Superstock
**Lunch Break**
4. Novice Race
5. 600 Superbike/Twins Heavy 750(cc)-Open
6. 750 Superstock/Twins Middle 501(cc)-749(cc)/500 Superbike
**15 Minute Break**
7. 600 Superstock/Aprilia 250
**15 Minute Break**
8. Open GP

For more information, call (877) 560-2233, (714) 669-1468, FAX (714) 669-1465, www.fastrackriders.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

There will be approximately 1500 linear feet of Airfence and Alpina air module protective barriers for the AMA races at California Speedway April 5-7. Andy Coffey, Director of Airfence Safety Systems Australia, was in Fontana, California, March 22 assembling the facility’s newly-acquired 500 feet of Airfence Bike product in preparation for the upcoming motorcycle events.

The latest 500 feet of Airfence Bike, together with the AMA’s 35 existing sections of Airfence and Alpina air module, bring the total amount of safety barriers available for use during the AMA Yamaha Superbike Challenge to nearly 1500 linear feet.

For more information about inflatable safety barriers, go to www.airfence.com, or to www.alpina.at.

* Air Fence is a registered trade mark of Airfence Safety Systems Australia.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.



This just in:

We have been looking for a way to get in touch with Nicky Hayden or the Hayden family. Our daughter is 9 years old and is crazy about Nicky. She met him at Road Atlanta on her 8th birthday. Nicky was more than gracious. He took the time to speak with her when surrounded by his teen friends. But, of course, she could mutter only one word. He asked how old she was today and she said “8”. We met his parents and were very impressed with their willingness to get our daughter a T-shirt of the Hayden boys. We lined up at the Honda transporter to get him to get an autographed poster and his mother Rose insisted that he sign the shirt even though it was against the rules. Our daughter had her picture made with him and he signed the shirt for her.

Long story short, she did a report in school on ‘A Fantastic Person’ and chose Nicky. It’s a really cute and I would like to send it to Rose or Nicky. If you could give me any ideas on fan clubs or any way that we could mail it to them, I would appreciate it greatly. Nicky, considering his age and his status in the racing world, is very grounded. Thanks for your time and I hope you can help.

P.S. You have the best publication on the market.

Thanks,
Mark & Michelle Horton


A Fantastic Person
By Lindsey Horton

I have met a fantastic person before. His name is Nicky Hayden. He is an 18-year-old famous motorcycle racer. He has raced since he was five years old. He has two brothers that also ride. they are Roger Lee Hayden and Tommy Hayden. I admire Nicky because he is a nice, responsible, caring motorcycle racer that loves his fans. I have two posters of him. One is autographed, one is not. He autographed my T-shirt and he autographed my book. My daddy’s building where he keeps his motorcycle has millions of motorcycle posters. I have a special place in there where I put his poster. I love and respect him. The best part is where it is close (to my) hometown. Another thing is when we went to see him it was my birthday. I love Nicky, he is my favorite rider.

With the recent news about tracks and racing associations purchasing Air Fence, the question begs to be asked, why can’t tracks, particularly high-profile tracks in the middle of high-dollar expansions (i.e. Sears Point, $50,000,000 and Laguna Seca) provide Air Fence for all motorcycle-related events? In the case of Sears Point if they spent 1 tenth of 1 percent of their expansion budget ($50,000) it would be enough to purchase over 500 feet of Air Fence. Would I, as a rider, be willing to pay a little more fortrack time to have Air Fence in place? Yes, I would. While I realize this oversimplifies the issue, my question is not intended to “bash” any individual track. Although I am curious as to why tracks do not provide this proven life-saving safety feature.

1 foot of Air Fence =$90.00

a prevented death or permanent injury =
priceless (pardon the plagiarism)

Thank You

Patrick Flora
Truckee, CA

From a press release:

Hot Bike presents the White Brothers
Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show

2-Day Weekend Streetbike Extravaganza set for
July 20 -21st at the Queen Mary Event Park in Long Beach

Last year’s expansion from one to two-days of the Hot Bike magazine sponsored White Brothers Los Angeles Calendar Motorcycle Show at the Queen Mary Event Park, Long Beach, CA, was a huge success featuring 130 major manufacturers, race teams and leading custom bike builders from across America, together with a huge 30% increase in spectator attendance from the previous year. Sponsored by Hot Bike, White Brothers, Performance Machine, Bikernet.com and The Recycler/Cycle Buys, and featured on the Speed Channel’s American Thunder, The LA Calendar Motorcycle Show has continued to grow every year to become the biggest and most popular streetbike show in America catering to the custom, cruiser and sportbike markets. Always the 3rd weekend of July, the 11th Annual Show is scheduled for Saturday July 20th and Sunday July 21st, 2002.

The Show features all-weekend entertainment with live music by two incredible bands -Powder and Soto, the most competitive bike contest on the West Coast with it’s prestigious Hot Bike magazine Best of Show Trophy, and a Bikernet.com Party on Saturday night aboard the Queen Mary with a huge fireworks display. Other activities include The White Brothers West Coast Horsepower Dyno Shootout, a FastDates.com Calendar Girl Pageant, and of course the premier of the 2003 FastDates.com Calendars with the beautiful calendar models in attendance. Together with over 125 major Motorcycle and related Product Manufacturers, Distributors and select Retail Venders involved in the streetbike market. Event hosts include the legendary Keith Ball, a.k.a. Bandit, and the lovely Brenda Fox.

“Our change to the 2-day format last year was a necessity and a huge success as the Calendar Bike Show continues to grow every year,” explained event producer Jim Gianatsis of Gianatsis Design, a motorsports advertising design agency which also produces the popular FastDates.com Motorcycle Pinup Calendars. “Motorcycle enthusiasts love our show because of its quality and excitement, all the top custom and race bikes, beautiful models, and the fact it has been the only outdoor bike event in Los Angeles county, now located on the ocean’s edge at the beautiful Queen Mary Park.”

The expanded 2-day Show not only gives fans more time to enjoy it, but it provides real value. When most admission prices at sporting events, race tracks and outdoor amusement parks cost $40 – $50 per day, our Bike Show’s low one-day admission price is just $15 ($20 for both days) and includes free admission to the Queen Mary (a $15 admission to normal tourists).

With all the additional attractions that Long Beach has to offers including the ferry boat to Catalina Island with a day’s activities there, the Aquarium, the downtown restaurants and clubs, plus what greater Los Angeles has to offer, the LA Calendar Motorcycle Show is a must do attraction for across-the-country visitors and it will continue to grow as a major motorcycle week destination like Laughlin, Daytona and Sturgis.

Spectators and Exhibitors can find out more about The LA Calendar Motorcycle Show, the Bike Contest and all the available weekend activities online at www.FastDates.com.

This just in:

Dear Club PCS member/ entrant,

Due to lack of entries our Next Event scheduled for 3/30-31 Carolina Motorsports Park has been cancelled. I expect the Easter Holiday has effected turnout.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you, and will offer you option of applying your entry fee towards another event, next is Talladega Al 5/11-12 or Roebling Road Savannah Ga 5/30-31

or

complete refund via the same method you used for payment.

Please advise at your convenience.

With Personal Regards

Tony R Foster
Club PCS
386.451.9493
386.253.3578 fax
[email protected]
www.pcsdaytona.com

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, West Virginia is apparently being lined with concrete walls, decreasing run-off area in the same manner as similar wall projects did at Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca.

According to a post on www.wera.com, the WERA BBS, WERA Race Director George Mood heard about the walls being installed and went to the track to see for himself.

“Summit point is begining to look like Road Atlanta as BSR (Bill Scott Racing, the track owner/operator) has recently installed concrete walls in certain areas,” reported Mood. “The walls are in 8-foot sections, about 12 inches thick. They are lined with one ‘layer’ of stacked tires…”

Mood then posted details of the wall sections, along with an observation that the track is apparently making and installing more sections of wall. The areas where new concrete walls are already installed include, in order of least worrisome to most worrisome: Outside turn 1, beyond the gravel trap; on rider’s left in turns 7-8; on rider’s right in turn 3; and on rider’s left between turns 4 and 5, with about 400 feet of wall in place, reducing run-off area by about two feet.

Although F-USA and CCS have about 560 linear feet of Air Fence available for use at Summit Point during the uncoming (May 23-26) F-USA National and regularly scheduled CCS regional events, WERA does not currently have any Air Fence.