From an Aprilia press release:

MS Aprilia Racing Press Information

2002 MotoGP World Championship

Round 3 – Jerez de La Frontera (Spain) – 3/4/5 May 2002

MotoGP – Sunday 5 May

On the track where it made its debut in January, the RS Cube terminates the third race of its young life, once again in the points.


Régis Laconi overtaken on the last lap by two competitors after yellow flag goes up. Revised ratings put Régis and the Cube in 14th place.

The Cube passed under the chequered flag for the third time, against the magical backdrop of 127,000 spectators. After two very hard days working on the settings of his bike, Régis Laconi once more rode into the points. During the closing lap of the race, Régis was overtaken by two competitors while the track officials were flying the yellow flag. Racing regulations forbid overtaking whenever the yellow signal is up. The new ratings improve Laconi’s standing in the final classification.


# 55 Régis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 14th – 47’42.527

“I was giving 150%, putting everything I’d got into it. I felt great on the bike, but when the race came to an end and I got off the saddle, my leg muscles were cramped and aching. I just couldn’t have given more. I was overtaken by two riders while the yellow flag was up. Three corners before the end, I saw a huge number of marshals who I thought were probably lining up to prevent a track invasion. Just after that, the yellow flag went up. I slowed down and was overtaken by the two riders behind me. I signalled this to the race officials and they quite rightly corrected the final classification. This weekend’s work wasn’t that easy, even though we did manage to find a good compromise for the race. The rear tyre was skidding out of the exits and this meant I wasn’t able to get full power out of the Cube. The next race is at Le Mans – that’s ‘home’ for me – in two weeks’ time. You can be sure I’ll be ready to go flat out again.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racers John France and Michael Hannas say they ran afoul of AMA officials at Sears Point as a result of criticism they posted on roadracingworld.com.

A letter from France criticizing the treatment of 250cc Grand Prix competitors at the Fontana AMA National and an e-mail from Hannas criticizing safety conditions at Sears Point resulted in a tongue-lashing for France and trouble in tech for Hannas, the riders said.

Returning a phone call from roadracingworld.com regarding Hannas’ charges, AMA Pro Racing’s Ron Barrick said May 7 that he had spoken to AMA Pro Racing Technical Manager Rob King and that they knew of no problems with Hannas’ bike getting through tech at Sears Point. “It’s pretty bizarre that he would think that,” said Barrick of the accusation. “I thought I had a pretty good relationship with Hannas.”

AMA Pro Racing Director of Professional Competition Merrill Vanderslice reacted angerly to France in the pits at Sears Point, France said.

According to France, the exchange at Sears Point started when he saw Vanderslice and said “That wasn’t a very smooth move out at Fontana, not letting us run.

“That kind of set him off,” continued France. “He said to me, ‘You had to go put something on roadracingworld.com about it. You had to go put something on there about it.’ He claimed if it wasn’t for him, the 250cc class would have been gone years ago. He was pretty mad, the little veins in his neck were sticking out and his face was turning purple. He told me that everyone in the AMA from the Chairman of the Board on down had read my letter on your website and were on his case about it.

“Everybody I talked to who read it thought it was pretty good, and pretty funny, kind of sarcastic. I said to him, ‘You don’t have any sense of humor about this, Merrill?’ And he said, ‘No, none at all.’

“He said that if he had let a rider who wasn’t within 112% out on the track and someone had collided with them, that wouldn’t be good.

“I just reported it the way it was. Everybody who talked to me said that was exactly the way it went down, that there was nothing in the letter that they could argue with.

“I don’t see where it would have hurt to let everybody run at Fontana. The whole weekend was screwed up and they could have let everybody go and said, ‘OK, next time you know what the rules are.’ When everything is messed up, give the riders the benefit of the doubt and let them go out there. In the past when everything was messed up they gridded us on points.”

Meanwhile, Hannas, AMA Supersport #21, said that his mechanic had trouble getting his racebike through tech at Sears Point and attributed the problem to his posted letter criticizing track set-up during an AFM weekend preceeding the AMA National.

“After hearing the AMA Pro Racing and Sears Point Raceway’s responses to the issues raised by Yates, Mladin, and Gobert in the Friday press conference, I could not help but laugh to myself,” wrote Hannas in an e-mail to Roadracing World.

“For the AMA to be mad at riders for openly and honestly answering questions asked by reporters is very unprofessional, whether the responses to the questions are in the best interest of the image of the AMA or not. Perhaps making sure that racetracks are safe for the level of competition that AMA Pro Racers ride at BEFORE official practice starts would be in the best interest of the image of the AMA; attempting to censor riders’ comments at an open press conference in my opinion is not.

“My props to Aaron, Mat, and Anthony for telling it how it is. Not that I possess any sort of psychic powers or anything, but it was clear to me that this situation would arise when I rode the track and offered my comments on the safety issue three weeks before the National. Maybe I should have directed my comments towards the AMA or the track officials, but past experiences persuaded me that they would be falling on deaf ears. It is encouraging that Sears Point is open to riders’ comments and suggestions regarding safety improvements. They have talked the talk, now it is up to the riders to see if the track can walk the walk.

“I am saying all this knowing that I will be scrutinized by AMA officials (After my comments regarding Sears Point before this weekend, my mechanic had to run my bike through tech three times before the third tech inspector ‘realized’ that it was legal in the first place) but it needs to be said.”

France’s original letter was posted April 25 under this headline:

04/25/2002 Letter From The Grid: One Racer’s Disastrous Fontana AMA National

Hannas’ original e-mail was posted April 16 under this headline:

04/16/2002 Racer Michael Hannas Says New Walls Make Sears Point Much More Dangerous

From a press release:

PCS Daytona WERA Sponsorship

PCS Daytona, the Daytona Beach motorcycle center, best known for their Ducati specialty & performance work, and headquarters for Club PCS SportBike Riders Club, is proud to announce their support of the WERA Vintage Race Program.

PCS Daytona will sponsor 3 rounds of the WERA Vintage Southeastern Series. Two rounds will be held at the new facility in Jennings Fl, North Florida Motorsports Park. These event dates are July 20-21, and August 31/September 1 2002.

The third event will be held at Savannah’s Roebling Road Race way, September 14-15 2002.

“I’m especially pleased that WERA gave us the opportunity to sponsor these events, because WERA’s Vintage program offers riders a place to compete on ‘Modern Classic’ type motorcycles,” said PCS Daytona owner Tony Foster. “The kind of bikes we rode and worked on when I first opened my shop and got involved in racing 20 years ago!

“We hope to be even more involved with this program in 2003, with our own PCS Daytona WERA Team, competing in the V4 and V5 classes.”

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Hot off a podium finish in the AMA Superstock National at Sears Point with rider Brian Parriott, White Tip Racing has moved to a new, 6000-square-foot facility in San Diego, California.

The new phone number is (858) 536-2920 and the new address is 7558 Trade St., San Diego, CA. 92121

White Tip Racing offers full engine building services, dyno tuning, G.M.D. Computrack, and is a Traxxion Dynamics Axxion Center.

From a press release:

TV COVERAGE FOR 125 GP

TORONTO, ON – This year’s Diablo Paintball Can-Am 125GP Challenge has been given a boost with the confirmation of television coverage on The Sports Network (TSN).

The fourth event in the five-round series for purebred road racing machines, which will be held at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, NS on August 11 will be shown on TSN in a half-hour program.

The race will be part of the penultimate event of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship national road race series, also televised on TSN.

Series and race promoters expect a field of over 30 competitors from Canada and the United States for the 125GP Challenge race, which will feature a purse of $6000. The event is sponsored by Auto Trader and Pro Cycle of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia along with Canadian Kawasaki Motors, Honda Canada, Suzuki Canada and Yamaha Motor Canada. TSN has also signed on as a presenting sponsor.

The race will be sanctioned by the international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) through its Canadian arm, the Canadian Motorcycle Association (CMA) and the North American Motorcycle Union (NAMU).

The Diablo Paintball Can-Am 125GP Challenge was created by veteran competitor John Bickle as a potential development series for up-and-coming motorcycle racers.

“A lot of talent can come out of the 125 class but we need to promote it,” Bickle said. “I think we have some great racers in the 125 category who don’t get the attention they deserve. I believe this will help the sport.”

The 125 Grand Prix category has been a popular training ground for motorcycle racers around the world. Current MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi is a former World 125 Champion while U.S. Superbike points leader Nicky Hayden also cut his teeth on the 125 machines.

“We want to lure younger racers into genuine race machines and give them another option for starting their race careers,” said Martin Singleton of MJS Productions, which is promoting the Diablo Paintball Can-Am 125GP Challenge race at AMP.

Television production of the AMP race will be handled by Toronto’s Professional Motorsports Productions, which organizes and televises the entire Parts Canada Superbike Championship.

“TSN is proud to bring all the action from the Can-Am 125 Grand Prix to motorcycle racing fans nationwide,” said Stewart Johnston, director of programming, TSN. “It’s a uniquely Canadian motorcycle experience and TSN is excited to be in Shubenacadie to capture all the thrills.”

For more series information, visit www.cdnsuperbike.com

On Monday, May 6, racer Chris Ulrich was diagnosed with impingement syndrome and bone spurs in his right shoulder, which was injured during pre-season testing.

Ulrich reported severe shoulder pain during AMA Superstock races at Fontana and Sears Point.

The condition will be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs and icing until the end of the racing season, when a decision regarding further treatment will be made.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Racer and rocket scientist Dr. Rob Tuluie and artist and school teacher Katherine Solie are engaged to be married on June 15, in Minneapolis.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Delays in operation of timing and scoring monitors along pit row and in the press room last weekend at Sears Point were not the fault of AMA Timing and Scoring, AMA Pro Racing’s Ron Barrick said on Tuesday, May 7.

In a phone call to roadracingworld.com, Barrick said “It was a house feed problem and it was the same at Fontana. As far as our providing feed, it was there at the start of practice for the track to pick up and distribute wherever they wanted to distribute it, to suites and the press room and so-forth.”

Barrick made the comments in reference to two previous posts, which ran May 3 under the following headlines:

05/03/2002 AMA Timing And Scoring Monitors At Sears Point Went Live At 11:40 a.m.

05/03/2002 When Official Practice Started, AMA Timing & Scoring Was Not Running At Sears Point National

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

This just in, from Desiree Crossman:

Last Saturday (April 27), John and I were driving around Clermont because we wanted to see what was around it. It doesn’t get dark here until 10:00 at night so we didn’t know what to do for a long time so we drove around to take pictures of the area. We drove up by Puy-de-Dome which is an old volcano that isn’t active anymore but has a lot of hiking trails. So we drove around that and John showed me the Clermont-Ferrand race track which apparently use to hold GP’s there.

We didn’t know what we were going to do on Sunday, so John said, “Let’s go to Paris,” so we did.

We called up our family and told them that we were on our way to Paris for the night and were gonna check out the Eiffel Tower. It was a three hour drive to Paris and that’s all we knew. We had no idea where to go, where we were going to stay, all we knew is the Eiffel Tower and that’s where we headed. We were completely lost in Paris and John was starting to get frustrated. But eventually we found a hotel next to the tower and had a great view from our window. We were so excited. It’s not often people get to go to Paris and not only were we able to go, but we decided to drive there. John and I thought, “well, why not?” So it was cool to do that.

But on Sunday, it was freezing cold and rainy. Of course our luck. It didn’t stop us though, we climed to the top freezing our hooskers off. We took a picture, but it was sooooooo cold and so windy that all you can see is my hair completely covering my face and John’s windbraker blowing him away. It’s a funny picture.

Anyway, we are in Jerez now and John got 13th. The crowd is phenomonal. There were over 100,000 people here and more throughout the weekend. Probably 150,000 give or take. That’s the minimum. GP races, fans go absolutely nuts. I’ve never seen anything like it. All night long you hear people partying and reving engines. ALL NIGHT!!! If only the motocycle enthusiasts in the US knew the atmosphere, it’s crazy. It’s neat. We’ve heard Mugello is worse.

We had a good weekend, though, and now it’s off to Italy for a test. Just following up and we’ll keep in touch.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Sears Point Raceway President and General Manager Steve Page met with AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin on Sunday morning at Sears Point to discuss Mladin’s concerns with the racetrack.

The meeting took place after Superbike practice at about 11:00 a.m..

“Steve sent one of his guys down to see if I wanted to have a chat with him,” Mladin said. “One thing I will say is that he definitely seemed very accomodating. He was very receptive. But I’d have to go up there and see them and then we’d have to see what sort of changes are made to make sure he’s gonna put up what he says he will. He left the door open to have me go up there and give them a hand with their racetrack.”

Mladin said no timetable has been set for him to return to Sears Point and meet again with Page concerning specific track issues.

Page said of the meeting, “We spent about 30 minutes together and I showed Mat overhead pictures of Sears Point from 1995 and from today and I went through them corner-by-corner to show him the safety improvements we have made. I don’t know if that changed his view of the track, but I wanted to make the point that we feel there is an appropriate time and place to deal with track safety issues. I gave him my card and told him to contact me any time. I really wanted to reinforce with Mat and other riders that our door is always open.”

Page’s approach of opening a dialog with 3-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin stands in stark contrast to the reaction riders typically encounter when they express safety concerns about racetracks hosting AMA Superbike Nationals.

AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice warned teams Friday that if they did not muzzle their riders, he would do it for them. Vanderslice was reacting to comments made in a post-qualifying press conference by Aaron Yates, Anthony Gobert and Mladin, in response to a direct question posed by a reporter. Their comments criticizing the track over safety issues received big play in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

For more information, see the following earlier posts on roadracingworld.com:

05/04/2002 AMA Fallout Over Rider Comments On Track Safety Leads To Gobert Apology At Sears Point


05/04/2002 AMA Pro Racing’s Vanderslice Furious Over Rider Comments On Track Safety At Sears Point


05/03/2002 Sears Point Still Not Safe Enough, Top Superbike Riders Say


04/29/2002 What’s Going On At Sears Point? Have Changes Made It Safer Or More Dangerous?