Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Pro Racing has announced a new medical board which only includes doctors associated with motocross and conspicuously lacks participation by doctors who have road raced–including retired emergency room doctor Jim Adams, general practitioner James Norwood and orthopedic surgeon Dave Kieffer–or have made a career out of treating road racers, including orthopedic surgeon Dr. Art Ting.

An AMA Pro Racing press release on the new medical board follows:

AMA PRO RACING FORMS MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD TO IMPLEMENT UNIFORM RACE MEDICAL CARE

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — AMA Pro Racing has formed a new five-member Medical Advisory Board to implement new standards for trackside medical support of AMA Pro Racing competitors.

The medical advisory board is made up of members with extensive experience in motorcycle racing, including: Bob Moore, former FIM World Motocross champion and chairman of the Road 2 Recovery Foundation; AMA Supercross and Motocross doctors John Bodnar, Medical Director, and Stephen Augustine; Duke Finch, AMA Motocross/Supercross manager; and Hugh Fleming, AMA Pro Racing safety and equipment director.

“The medical advisory board was formed by AMA Pro Racing to implement better safety and medical policies for our professional racers,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO, AMA Pro Racing. “Our goals are to standardize medical services in all of AMA Pro Racing with the eventual aim of providing a mobile hospital that would go to as many events as possible. We will shortly announce our first medical policy dealing with concussions and we hope to establish a medical database of our riders to help better evaluate their condition in the event of an injury.”

The mission of the medical advisory board is to promote the safety of the AMA professional athlete, to improve and elevate the quality of on-site medical care available at professional races, and to promote safety and performance research as it relates to professional motorcycle racing.

“The advisory board is working to form policies to benefit the rider’s health and safety first and foremost,” said Fleming. “The work being done in supercross and motocross is acting as a template for other disciplines. Future goals include augmenting the medical staff with professional trainers and therapists.”

The team of Dr. Bodnar and Dr. Augustine work together in covering all AMA Supercross and Motocross events this season thanks in large part to the support of Asterisk, a sub-division of the CTI Kneebrace Company. The addition of these sports-specific doctors, working in conjunction with existing track medical staffs, is helping to better assess and deal with injuries suffered by riders. The board is also formulating standardized policies on how to best deal with specific types of injuries, especially when dealing with head injuries.

Asterisk provides financial assistance for the doctors expenses for both supercross and motocross. Additionally, they have organized and funded the Kawasaki Medical Mule that has been used at the races to provide a prompt response vehicle to assist with injured riders.

The AMA Pro Racing Medical Advisory Board is the latest effort by AMA Pro Racing to further the cause of rider safety in motorcycle racing. Last year, with support from throughout the industry, AMA Pro Racing implemented the use of hundreds of feet of additional air modules at AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship races.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 his mechanics built using a cylinder head ported by Kaz Yoshima, Jeremy Toye unseated reigning WSMC Champion and Willow Springs Emperor Chuck Graves in an epic Toyota Cup Unlimited Formula One duel on Sunday.

Yoshima also developed the suspension and chassis set-up for Toye’s bike, prepared at Toye’s San Diego high-performance shop, Lee’s Cycles.

Graves, riding an ex-Damon-Buckmaster YZF-R7/R1 hybrid, had no answer for Toye and his overbore GSX-R1000 in a race run on a slippery track in hot conditions, although Graves did lead several times.

Vincent Haskovec was third on his AMA Superstock bike, fitted with slick tires, ahead of Jack Pfeifer on a Team Orthopedics Superstock GSX-R1000 and racing lawyer Stephen Hewitt on a YZF-R1.

Graves won the Performance Machine Open Superbike race on the same bike from Hewitt and Keith MacBeth, and used a YZF-R6 to beat Toye in Roadracingworld.com 600cc Superstock action, with Jacob West third and Pfeifer fourth.

Pfeifer won in 600cc Modified Production, beating Robbie Dowie and WSMC Operations Manager Kenny Kopecky. Pfeifer also won the Skorpion Racing Open Modified Production race from class sponsor Tyler Paulson and Kopecky, and won the Open Superstock race from the front row, beating Chris Ulrich, who started on the last row of the grid. Ulrich caught and passed Pfeifer late in the six-lap race, then got kicked completely out of the seat in turn two, barely stayed on the track and finished second.

Haskovec came from the back of the grid to beat Toye in 750cc Superstock and L&L Motorsports 750cc Superbike but Toye beat Haskovec in 750cc Modified Production, which was the pair’s first match-up of the day, a race which saw Haskovec start on the same tires he used in the Superbike race at Sears Point. Haskovec missed Saturday practice because he had to work.

Frank Aragaki held off Mark Watts to win the Bakersfield Yamaha 250cc GP race and Willard Ivins won the 125cc Grand Prix race with Sharyn Namnath second.

Andre Castanos won the Pro-Italia Aprilia Challenge race and also won the Wood-Ease Professional Hand Cleaner 550cc Superbike race, riding a Libasci Racing Aprilia RS250.

From a press release:

MARLBORO YAMAHA TEAM TESTS
Catalunya, Spain
Monday, June 17 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA TEST TYRES AT RED-HOT CATALUNYA

Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa stayed on at Catalunya today for Michelin tyre tests, completing four gruelling days of riding at the Spanish circuit. Both men each completed 65 laps in stifling 40-degree heat, evaluating front and rear development slicks on their YZR-M1 MotoGP bikes.

“I’m glad we stayed on, it was definitely worth it,” said Biaggi. “Michelin have done a great job with their four-stroke tyres and today we tested a new type of front tyre that definitely had some good points, including improved feeling. But these are development tyres that we won’t be racing just yet.”

Biaggi, who scored the M1’s first pole position on Saturday, was unlucky on race day. The Italian had to race his second bike after his number-one machine struck problems in morning warm-up. Nevertheless, he rode a determined race to fourth to lift himself to fourth in the World Championship points standings.

Team-mate Checa, who finished third in Sunday’s Marlboro Catalan GP after leading half the race, was also impressed by Michelin’s latest batch of front and rear slicks. “This was a useful test for us, the new tyres definitely have potential,” said the Spaniard. “The main thing for us was to give the best-possible feedback to Michelin, so they can keep developing their tyres and keep making steps forward.”

Biaggi and Checa were testing alongside rival Michelin-equipped teams. Michelin are dominating the new era of four-stroke MotoGP racing, just as they had dominated 500 GP racing for many years, but the French company never stops working to improve its range of tyres.

“The whole team is pretty exhausted after this very long weekend, but it’s always good to see what new tyres Michelin come up with,” explained Marlboro Yamaha Team manager Geoff Crust. “For us, testing front tyres was the main objective of this test and both Max and Carlos liked what they tried. We tested the fronts first and then a few rears, and the information we gave Michelin will help them to make the next step. Now we’re all going to get a few days of well-deserved rest. We’ve been flat out for six weeks or more, and after next week’s Dutch GP we’ve got back-to-back races in Britain and Germany, so everyone needs a few days off.”

Practice and qualifying for the Dutch GP at Assen commence on Thursday June 27. Race day is Saturday June 29.

Lap times
Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha Team) 1m 45.0s
Carlos Checa (Marlboro Yamaha Team) 1m 45.6s

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in: Racer Vicky Jackson-Bell and husband/tuner Tony, part owners of Spectrum Motorsports, are expecting a second child.

Vicky Jackson-Bell is already the fastest mother on the planet, thanks to budding motocross star Christopher, age 9.

The unborn child already has racetrack experience, including crashing; Jackson-Bell served as an instructor at Freddie Spencer’s High-Performance Riding School in Las Vegas on May 23-24 shortly after becoming pregnant (and before she knew it), and crashed when a student turned in front of her at California Speedway during a Fastrack Riders day on June 3rd.

She says she’s giving up riding until after the child is born.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Young Matt Furtek took three wins at the WERA National Challenge Series races at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway, while Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey took two wins in Sunday’s 14-lap sprint races.

Mark Crozier won Open Superstock on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 after working his way past Scott Harwell. Crozier pulled away as the five riders in the race all ran around by themselves. Harwell finsished second with Scott Brown in third, both on Suzuki GSX-R1000s.

John Jacobi got the holeshot in 600cc Superstock and pulled a long gap to take the win on his Suzuki GSX-R600. Five riders behind Jacobi battled for second and third. Harwell held on for second as Brian Stokes worked his way around Mike Smith and Dave Yaakov to take third. All of four were on Suzuki GSX-R600s.

Jason Peters took a convincing victory in 125cc GP on his Honda RS125. Pat Chandler and Chuck DiGregorio, both on Honda RS125s, placed second and third.

Stokes took the lead early in the 750cc Superstock race, but Batey quickly worked his way past on his Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R750. While Batey pulled away to take the win, Crozier worked his way up to a second-place finish on his Suzuki GSX-R750. Jacobi got by Stokes to finish third, also on a GSX-R750.

Donnie Tingle, Jr. won Formula Two on his Yamaha TZ250 while Monty Warsing and Logan Young raced for second place. Warsing finally took second on his Yamaha TZ250 and Young wound up third on his Honda RS250.

Furtek took a solid victory in 600cc Superbike. Furtek took the lead from Adam Coco on the third lap and built a comfortable lead on his Yamaha YZF-R6 while Coco held onto second on his Suzuki GSX-R600. Steve Breckenridge wound up third, also on a GSX-R600.

Batey and his Suzuki TL1000R were at the front of the Heavyweight Twins race, as usual. Bill St. John took second on his Ducati 996 but was no challenge to Batey. Scott Brown took third on another Suzuki TL1000R.

Furtek took another win in 750cc Superbike, still on his YZF-R6. Just past the halfway mark, Furtek took over the lead from Tommy Bauchiero, who finished second on his Suzuki GSX-R750.

Dave Yaakov won the Lightweight Twins race on a Suzuki SV650. Also riding Suzuki SV650s, Bradley Champion finished second and Chris Normand wound up third in single-file action.

Furtek won his third race of the day in Formula One, beating the larger bikes on his Yamaha 600. Scott Carpenter was running in second until he crashed in turn seven. J.J. Roetlin took second and Jim Doerfler was third, both on Suzuki GSX-R750s.

From a press release issued by Monstermob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM
Round 6 – 2002 MCN British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch
Saturday 15th/Sunday 16th June 2002

Race Report


HIZZY MAINTAINS SUPERBIKE LEAD AS EASTON WINS AGAIN

MonsterMob Ducati left Brands Hatch with both MCN British Superbike and MB4U.com National Supersport Championship leads intact despite a weekend of high drama at the Kent circuit over the weekend.

Championship leader in the prestigious Superbike class, Steve Hislop had to overcome more traction woes in qualifying aboard the 998cc Testastretta but still managed to post second fastest time in Superpole to start from the front row.

But the 40 year old Isle of Man based Scot suffered more bad luck in the opening 20 lap race when he could only manage a lowly 12th place finish because of rear tyre problems which prevented him from utilising the power on the Ducati.

“I had virtually no grip from turn one on the first lap and I was having to take totally foreign lines to keep the bike as smooth and as upright as I could. I was sliding about all over the place but I was desperate to rack up a few more points” said Hislop, whose cause was aided when main championship rival Sean Emmett retired his Ducati on lap two when an oil seal blew.

Fired up and ready to salvage something from the weekend, Hislop tried a different profile rear tyre for the second race which proved to his liking and ran with the leaders for all the race, just missing out on the race win by finishing three thousandths of a second behind race winner Emmett.

“That’s turned things around for us. I really wanted to win and proved I’m still a match for the other guys as long as I’ve got the right rubber underneath me. I’m a lot more happy leaving here than I was when I left Snetterton and I’m feeling really positive that we’ve got a good set up now” commented Steve who dropped a single point to Emmett in the standings as a result.

No such problems for Supersport teammate Stuart Easton who recorded his sixth successive win in the class by taking another comfortable victory to extend his lead at the top of the standings to 59 points at the half distance stage of the series.

The 17 year old from Hawick overcame two engine problems in qualifying to set his fifth pole position of the year before destroying the opposition with a start to finish win in the 16 lap race to end up over 14 seconds to the good.

“People were saying to me that my dominance was coming to an end after the close race I had at Snetterton but I just wanted to prove to them that I’m still in charge. I’ve had a lot of stick so I thought I’d best smoke them again and show them that young ‘Ratty’ is still the man to beat” said Easton.

Team owner Paul Bird was relieved his riders had managed to maintain their leads after a weekend of frustration:

“We always knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as people were reckoning after the first couple of rounds and so it’s proving. But we’re here to ride out the storm and hopefully to take advantage when other teams get their share of bad luck, which will happen. Steve rode brilliantly to take second after the disaster in race one and as for Stuart, what more can anyone say about him. He’s a class above the rest at this moment” said the Penrith businessman.

Race One Result – 1. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 29m25.192s, 2. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 29m25.402s, 3. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 29m34.958s, 4. Paul Brown (Ducati) 29m38.985s, 5. Simon Crafar (Yamaha) 29m39.940s, 6. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 29m42.261s, (12. Steve Hislop (MonsterMob Ducati) 29m55.497s).

Race Two Result – 1. Sean Emmett (Ducati) 31m50.803s, 2. Steve Hislop (MonsterMob Ducati) 31m50.835s, 3. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 31m51.033s, 4. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 31m51.271s, 5. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 31m51.481s, 6. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 31m51.821s.

Supersport Result – 1. Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 24m40.323s, 2. Simon Andrews (Honda) 24m54.604s, 3. Tom Tunstall (Suzuki) 24m56.140s, 4. Scott Smart (Honda) 24m57.116s, 5. Gary May (Yamaha) 24m57.305s, 6. Chris Bishop (Honda) 24m57.822s.

British Championship Standings – 1. Steve Hislop (213pts), 2. Sean Emmett (197pts), 3. Michael Rutter (162.5pts), 4. Steve Plater (147pts), 5. John Reynolds (143.5pts), 6. Paul Brown (126.5pts).

From a press release issued by USGPRU:

Brian Kcraget wins third straight round at USGPRU National at Loudon

June 17, 2002 – Loudon, NH – Brian Kcraget continues his string of 1st Place finishes this year in the USGPRU 125GP National Championship’s Eastern Region with his third straight win this weekend at Loudon.

Brian has also won the USGPRU rounds at Daytona and Summit Point. With the final Eastern region round at VIR approaching it appears as if Kcraget has what adds up to an insurmountable lead in the Eastern Region giving him a solid shot at this year’s 125GP National Championship.

Racers at the Loudon event practiced, qualified and competed in wildly varying conditions during the four days at New Hampshire International Speedway. Second place went to Bill Cole while sixteen year old newcomer Joe Ford took third.

Fourth, fifth and sixth places are currently under protest as these riders (Courts, Kornfield and Yoo) did not have valid registration paperwork on file with the USGPRU main office in Mountainview, CA prior to the event. These riders can have their placing reinstated, however completed paperwork must be submitted no later than Friday of this week or all three riders will be scored DNS.

From a press release:

Lake Forest, CA – Aprilia dealer Spectrum Motorsports will have a customer demo day at their dealership on June 30th from 11 am to 3.30 pm. Please contact Greg Guthrie at 949 859 3186 and make an appointment as the spaces will fill very quickly.

The 2002 models available for demonstration are the Capo Nord, Futura, Mille and Falco.

Spectrum Motorsports is located on the corner of Lake Forest Drive and Rockfield in the city of Lake Forest. www.spectrumotorsports.com

From a press release:

Buell Firebolt Scores first national roadrace victory

Eric Wood Tops Formula USA Sportbike Field at 79th Annual Loudon Classic

Loudon, NH (June 16, 2002) – Eric Wood rode the new Buell Firebolt XB9R to its first national roadrace victory in the Formula USA Honda Pro Oils Sportbike final held at New Hampshire International Speedway. The race was Wood’s first outing aboard the Kosco Buell/Innovative Motorcycle Research Firebolt, and the first appearance of the team in the highly competitive horsepower and weight restricted class.

“This was a great start for the Firebolt,” said Wood, of Mansfield, Mass. “We just got this bike two weeks ago and ran a club race last weekend to warm it up. The Firebolt has a lot of potential and we’re only going to get stronger as the season goes on.”

Facing a 45-bike field filled with Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki riders, Wood was running a strong second when race leader Scott Greenwood (Suzuki) faltered on lap 19 of the 20-lap feature. Wood stormed into the lead and beat Suzuki riders Michael Barnes and Larry Pegram to the checkered flag.

“The Buell’s tractability and drive off the corners really worked for me at Loudon,” said Wood. “In some turns I was able to put the Buell in places where the four-cylinder bikes couldn’t go. The Firebolt has the chassis dynamics of a Grand Prix bike, and the smooth power delivery of the V-Twin engine was really easy on the back tire. As the race worn on, I think my tire was holding up better and I was able to pull away from the field.”

“The Firebolt was designed to be the best backroad bike ever,” said Erik Buell, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of Buell Motorcycle Company. “Loudon is a technically challenging track, just like the backroads we designed the Firebolt to dominate on. My congratulations go out to Eric Wood and the entire Kosco Buell and Innovative Motorcycle Research Team.”

The Formula USA Sportbike class features production-based motorcycles limited to a maximum of 115 horsepower and a minimum of 365 pounds. The Buell Firebolt XB9R is powered by a fuel-injected 984cc V-Twin.

The fourth round of the Formula USA National Road Race Series will take place at Mosport International Raceway at Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, July 19-21.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Sunday Morning MotoGP Practice Times:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 1:44.977
2. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:45.248
3. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, 1:45.346
4. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:45.599
5. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, 1:45.771
6. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:45.951
7. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, 1:45.968
8. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1:45.985
9. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, 1:46.021
10. Daijiro Kato, Honda NSR500, 1:46.143
11. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, 1:46.228
12. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, 1:46.297
13. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, 1:46.665
14. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, 1:46.786
15. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, 1:47.325
16. Akira Ryo, Suzuki GSV-R, 1:47.401
17. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, 1:47.488
18. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, 1:47.570
19. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, 1:47.598
20. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, 1:47.882
21. Alex Hofmann, Yamaha YZR500, 1:48.404