This just in from Stephen Bowline:

Kevin has been moved to another hospital with a neurological rehabilitation ward. The address is:

Kevin Murray, patient Rm. 162
Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas
354 Santa Fe Drive
Encinitas, CA 92024

I went to visit Kevin today (Saturday), and his progress from Thursday is encouraging. I met Kevin’s parents and several friends that he’s known since before junior high. I am constantly amazed by the number of circles his friendships run in. He’s very highly regarded in many different facets, and I think that with everyone’s help Kevin can pull himself through this.

Feel free to print his new address. I will have updates on his condition from time to time, and sometime within the next couple weeks we will have a plan for returning customers’ equipment. Until then I hope everyone can please be patient and understand the difficulty of this situation.

This press release just in from Steve Reeves:

Formula Xtreme Promotions – Media Information
For immediate release
19 August 2001

BAIRD SECURES N.S.W. FORMULA X UNLIMITED TITLE

Queenslander Robbie Baird secured his second major title in as many months when he took out the 2001 Yamaha NSW Formula X Unlimited Championship at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway today.

After taking victory in the first of three 7-lap legs that made up the Championship, Baird followed with a pair of second places to give him a total of 65 and another title along with the 2001 Yamaha Formula Xtreme Tri-State title that he secured in July.

Baird, along with his Radar’s Team Yamaha teammates Craig Coxhell and Jamie Stauffer, proved to be the dominant force in each race, with the pair taking out the minor placings and giving the Sydney-based Yamaha team a clean sweep
of the top positions.

“It’s a great feeling to have won another title,” said Baird. “The team has worked extremely hard all year and it’s a credit to everyone that we can not only get the win, but also get all three of us up on the podium.”

The three Yamaha riders shred a win apiece with Coxhell and Stauffer taking victory in races two and three. In finishing second overall, 18-year-old Coxhell scored a second, first and third, while Stauffer completed his day with two thirds and a win.

With the Yamahas in such dominant form, Wollongong’s Wayne Maxwell did well to keep the trio in sight aboard his NorthVac Kawasaki ZX-9R. The 18-year-old was consistent, finishing the day with three fourth places in the feature event, but made up for that with overall victory in the 2001 Honda NSW Supersport Championship.

Maxwell chased home Baird in the first of today’s two 7-lap Supersport legs before taking his Kawasaki ZX-6R to victory in race two and clinching the Championship in the process.

“It’s only the second full weekend of racing that I’ve competed on the 600, so it’s definitely a great result,” said Maxwell. “I chased Robbie (Baird) hard in the first race, but couldn’t get within striking distance at the end. In the second I just kept calm and didn’t make any mistakes.”

Maxwell led race two in a dominant flag to flag win as Baird was joined by Bringelly’s Josh Brookes (Geoff’s Auto Spares Honda CBR600F4i) and Queensland’s Ben Attard (Brisbane Motorcycles Honda CBR600F4i) in the battle for second. Brookes passed Baird on the penultimate lap to move into second, before Baird made an uncharacteristic mistake at Turn Four on the final lap, allowing Attard to slip by into third.

Queensland’s Robert Bugden (Netstar Aprilia RS250) was the most consistent of those competing in the Aprilia NSW 250 Production Championship and took out the Championship honors by finishing with a total of 58 points after finishing second, first and fourth in the three legs. Finishing second overall was Glenn Allerton (Terry Hay’s Shock Treatment Aprilia RS250) who after taking victory in races one and three, crashed out of the lead in race two, ruining any chance he had of taking the overall victory.

Honors for the 2001 NSW 250cc Grand Prix Championship saw Queensland veteran John Allen (Aluma Lite Racing Honda RS250) tied on points with Wollongong’s Chris Wilkie (Daytona M/C Painting Honda RS250) after the pair shared a win
and a second place in each of the two six lap races. Allen getting the decision by virtue of his better placing in race two which he won.

Defending Australian 125cc Grand Prix Champion Jay Taylor (Taylor Racing Honda RS125) added a NSW 125 GP title to his mantelpiece after two dominating wins in the smallest of the GP classes. With the 125cc and 250cc GP classes combined, Taylor was mixing it with Allen and Wilkie at the front of the field, displaying his 125’s exceptional speed.

The meeting also hosted the opening round of the 2001 LAZER Helmets Australian Sidecar Championship. The close-knit sidecar community was saddened yesterday when sidecar passenger Russell White was fatally injured during qualifying for the event, but the competitors rallied together to compete in today’s events.

Taking part in the first qualifying session for the opening round of the Lazer Helmets Australian Sidecar Championship (run in conjunction with this
weekend’s NSW title event) two sidecar outfits were involved in an incident at the end or Oran Parks main straight.

As a result of the incident White, who was a passenger in one of the sidecars, was fatally injured. Driver Robin McGregor escaped uninjured but was treated by medical staff for shock after the incident.

The driver and passenger on the second outfit were transported to hospital with driver Warren Bruce suffering a fractured arm and ribs, while passenger Mark Patterson suffered a broken hand.

The circumstances relating to the accident are currently under investigation.

The incident halted further qualifying sessions and opening races while investigations into the accident took place.

Formula Xtreme Promotions, the promoters of this weekend’s meeting, wish to pass on their condolences to Russell White’s family and friends.

Ray Spence and Jon Winders showed why they are the defending Australian Sidecar Champions, as they dominated today’s two races and took an early lead in the Championship. Second overall was the pairing of Vince Messina/Alison Scoullar who chased Spence and Winders home in each race.

The only non-championship event of the weekend was that of the combined Michelin Pro-Twins and Buell Nakedbike. With three 6-lap races conducted Suzuki TLR1000-mounted Chris Houghton emerged as the overall winner of the Michelin Pro-Twins after finishing with a win a two second placings, while Evan Jones (All Sun Motorcycles Suzuki Bandit) took out the honours as the highest placed rider in the Buell Nakedbikes.

2001 Yamaha NSW Formula X Unlimited Championship
(Overall points)

1. Robbie Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, 65 points
2. Craig Coxhell, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, 61
3. Jamie Stauffer, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, 57
4. Wayne Maxwell, NorthVac Kawasaki ZX-9R, 39
5. Alistair Maxwell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 30
6. Alex Gobert, Redwing Honda CBR929RR, 29
7. Jay Normoyle, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 27
8. Stephen Fisher, Seaside Motorcycles Honda CBR929RR, 26
9. Roland Kruck, Doin’ Bikes Honda CBR929RR, 22
10. Clayton Landells, Williamstown Tech Services Suzuki GSX-R1000, 19

2001 Honda NSW Supersport Championship
(Overall points)
1. Wayne Maxwell, NorthVac Kawasaki ZX-6R, 41 points
2. Josh Brookes, Geoff’s Auto Spares Honda CBR600F4i, 40
3. Robert Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R6 38
4. Ben Attard, Brisbane Motorcycles Honda CBR600F4i, 29
5. Alex Gobert, Redwing Honda CBR600F4i, 22
6. Jay Taylor, Taylor Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R, 19
7. Mark Aitchison, Suzuki GSX-R600, 17
8. Simon Rattenbury,Team Tasforce Security Kawasaki ZX-6R, 15
9. Daniel Breen, Yamaha YZF-R6, 13
10. Rory Rock, Rock Motorcycles Honda CBR600F4i, 3



2001 Yamaha NSW Formula X Unlimited Championship

Race 1, 7 laps
1. Robbie Baird, Yamaha YZF-R1,8:32.017
2. Craig Coxhell, Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.058 secs
3. Jamie Stauffer, Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.148
4. Wayne Maxwell, Kawasaki ZX-9R, +0.484
5. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR929RR, +8.934
6. Alistair Maxwell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +13.944
7. Stephen Fisher, Honda CBR929RR, +14.123
8. Jay Normoyle, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +14.296
9. Clayton Landells, Suzuki GSX-R1000, +20.880
10. Roland Kruck, Honda CBR929RR, +21.145
Fastest lap: Robbie Baird, 1:11.941 on lap 5

Race 2, 7 Laps
1. Coxhell, 8:28.877
2. Baird, +1.063 secs
3. Stauffer, +1.285
4. Wayne Maxwell, +1.435
5. Gobert, +15.417
6. Normoyle, +15.668
7. Alistair Maxwell, +15.884
8. Kruck, +16.149
9. Fisher, +18.237
10. Landells, +22.211
Fastest Lap: Craig Coxhell, 1:11.257 on lap 7

Race 3, 7 Laps
1. Stauffer, 8:28.780 mins
2. Baird, +0.040 secs
3. Coxhell, +0.324
4. Wayne Maxwell, +6.012
5. Alistair Maxwell, +15.466
6. Fisher, +15.706
7. Normoyle, +16.048
8. Kruck, +17.653
9. Gobert, +18.293
10. Landells, +22.263
Fastest Lap: Robbie Baird, 1:11.304 on lap 4

From a press release issued by Eric Bostrom’s agent, Norm “Lawdog” Viano:

ERIC BOSTROM EXILED

August 18, 2001 – Atlanta, GA. Eric Bostrom, “the Boss”, left last night from California for a self-imposed exile to Colorado with his brother, Ben. The goal? Besides having fun with a brother he doesn’t get to see very often, Eric will get acclimated to the altitude and get in some serious mental preparation for the upcoming AMA Superbike round at Pikes Peak.

With three rounds left in the series, Eric is in the hunt for the Championship in both the 600 and Superbike classes. He is currently 20 points behind Mat Mladin in the Superbike class (332 to 312 points, respectively) and 19 points ahead of Miguel Duhamel in the 600 class (224 to 205, respectively). So with only three rounds left, Eric knows that next weekend will be a pivotal one, and that he needs to win both races.

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By David Swarts

During the March 4 Formula USA event at Daytona International Speedway, there was a new face among the crowd of racers. Toshiyuki Arakaki and his Kenz/J Trust Suzuki GSX-R1000 were surrounded by a virtual army of team members and umbrella girls/models. Due to the language barrier, the most that we could discover about Arakaki was that he was a former 500cc Grand Prix rider.

Arakaki qualified 11th for the Unlimited Superbike race at 1:55.287, well behind Shawn Higbee’s record-breaking pole time of 1:52.941. In the race, Arakaki shot to the front and passed, for an instant, leader and eventual race winner Grant Lopez. But Arakaki immediately crashed out of the wet race and the second Unlimited Superbike race was canceled due to darkness.

Apparently, Arakaki is much better racer than his Daytona results indicated. Arakaki and teammate Keiichi Kitagawa rode a Kenz/J Trust Formula Xtreme Suzuki GSX-R1000 to fifth overall and the class win in the Suzuka 8-hour August 5.

From a press release issued by Steve Reeves for Radar’s Team Yamaha:

2001 YAMAHA NSW Road Racing Championships
Oran Park Grand Prix Circuit, NSW
Qualifying Report – Saturday, 18 August 2001

HIGH WINDS CAUSE HAVOC AT ORAN PARK

The high winds that have blown across Sydney in the past 24 hours continued today and wreaked their own form of havoc at Sydney”s Oran Park Raceway, which is hosting the 2001 Yamaha NSW (New South Wales) Road Racing Championship this weekend.

Radar’s Team Yamaha riders Robbie Baird, Jamie Stauffer and Craig Coxhell will be competing in the Yamaha sponsored NSW Formula X Unlimited Championship, while Baird will also be competing in the NSW Supersport Championship event.

The high wind gusts made conditions very difficult for the riders, especially on the exit of the Yokohama Bridge and through the Esses, where the crosswinds were forcing the bikes to run wide, precariously close to the edge of the circuit.

A number of other incidents during the day also meant that the final qualifying sessions for each class had to be cancelled.

Stauffer and Coxhell were able to put their Yamaha YZF-R1s on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s three 7-lap Yamaha NSW Formula X Unlimited Championship races, while Baird will start from the second row of the grid after setting the sixth-fastest time. Pole position went to Honda’s Alex Gobert, with Wayne Maxwell second-fastest aboard his Kawasaki.

“It was pretty hard out there and the two ahead of me were able to get out early and set their fast times before there was too much traffic out on the circuit,” said Stauffer. “When the track cleared late in the session I wasn’t able to improve on my times.”

“I had a couple of big moments out there in the wind and I just took it a bit easier after that,” Coxhell said. “I had a big moment across the Bridge when the wind just picked up the front end of the bike and moved it about half-a-meter off line. Then through the Esses the same thing happened. It wasn’t pretty out there.”

Baird was able to record the second-fastest time during qualifying for the NSW Supersport Championship event, but like everyone else, missed an opportunity to improve his times when the second qualifying session was cancelled.

“I only did a handful of laps thinking that we were going to be out there later for the second session, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” Baird said. “I didn”t want to risk it too much in the conditions and I suppose that second was not such a bad result.”

2001 Yamaha NSW Road Racing Championships
Oran Park Grand Prix Circuit
Saturday August 18

2001 YAMAHA NSW Formula X Unlimited Championship Qualifying

1. Alex GobertHonda CBR929RR1:13.936
2. Wayne Maxwell, Kawasaki ZX-9R, 1:14.113
3. Jamie Stauffer, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:14.199
4. Craig Coxhell, Yamaha YZF-R1, 1:14.450
5. Alistair Maxwell, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:14.457
6. Robbie Baird, Yamaha YZF-R1,1:14.516
7. Steven Fisher, Honda CBR929RR, 1:15.321
8. Clayton Landells, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:16.403
9. Jay Normoyle, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 1:16.414
10 Craig McMartin, Ducati 996SPS, 1:16.608
Lap Record, Mat Mladin (Kawasaki), 1:07.7700 on 19/11/1995


2001 Honda NSW Supersport Championship Qualifying
1. Alex Gobert, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:14.517
2. Robert Baird, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:14.767
3. Josh Brookes, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:14.790
4. Wayne Maxwell, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:14.826
5. Rory Rock, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:14.898
6. Ben Attard, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:15.678
7. Mark Aitchison, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:16.329
8. Jay Taylor, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:16.331
9. Craig Trinder, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:16.654
10. Branden Oxford, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:18.204
Lap Record: Kevin Curtain (Yamaha), 1:13.21 set on 05/03/00

Speedvision officials have received over 40,000 e-mails and petition signatures against turning the cable TV channel into a NASCAR-only station, and apparently the message has been getting through.

There has not yet been an announcement regarding the fate of motorcycle racing on the channel, and officials acknowledge that NASCAR programming may take up to 50 percent of Speedvision air time next year. But, the officials are quick to point out, that still leaves a lot of air time to be filled, air time that currently includes shows covering lawnmower races, historic airplanes and boat maintenance, for example.

The channel has just done a deal to cover CART car races and is committed to continuing Formula One car coverage, and Formula One announcer Bob Varsha made the point during today’s coverage of Formula One qualifying from Hungary that Speedvision will continue F-1 coverage next year.

On the other hand, Formula USA representatives seeking a Speedvision TV deal have been rebuffed on the basis that the channel has plenty of road racing already.

It is unknown whether increased NASCAR coverage on Speedvision will impact coverage of AMA and World Championship motorcycle road racing in the future.

Stay tuned.

This just in from from racer Jim Adams:

On the way back from racing at Putnam Park a month ago,we blew the two (dual) tires on our motorhome. We were able to pull to the side of the road safely and cell-phoned the Good Sam Club Motorhome 800 number. The “voice” on the other end took our information and stayed ON THE LINE during the time it took for her to contact a road crew AND ascertain how to get two tires of the proper size mounted.

Literally 45 minutes after the vibrations started at 75 mph–counting the phone call—two wreckers appeared; one took our 18-foot trailer, the other took the motorhome. Just 1.5 hours after the incident Justin and I were eating hamburgers and his roomate was on the way to the location with Justin’s pickup as he had to be at Bell’s Suzuki to work the next day. The next morning the gas station opened up and I got two new tires and completed the trip. Really good service, polite, quick, even on a Sunday weekend evening. I was impressed. Inquire about their program at www.goodsamclub.com