From a press release:

AMA Applauds Virginia Crackdown on Motorists Who Kill Motorcyclists

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Under a new Virginia law, a motorist who kills a motorcyclist in a traffic incident could lose his or her drivers license for up to a year, in addition to any other penalties imposed, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

The law, which goes into effect July 1, is similar to model legislation developed by the AMA’s “Motorcyclists Matter” campaign and was championed by Jody Patteson, the mother of motorcyclist Adam Svihla. Svihla, 20, was killed riding his motorcycle in Newport News, Virginia, last September when a car turned in front of his motorcycle, causing the crash that took Svihla’s life.

When sentenced in January, the driver was ordered to pay a $200 fine plus court costs for failing to yield the right of way.

Under the new law, judges would be allowed to suspend a motorist’s drivers license for up to a year if the driver is involved in a fatal traffic incident. The drivers license suspension would be in addition to any other penalties imposed.

“The success of getting the law changed is bittersweet because of the reason I became involved in lobbying for the change…,” Patteson said. “I only hope that other families will be spared some of the pain we live with because of the injustice we felt was served by the court system. I know that Adam is smiling down on those responsible for getting this new law passed.”

Patteson said Sen. Marty Williams and Delegate Tom Gear worked very hard to guide the legislation through the Legislature, and the AMA “was extremely helpful all along the process.” Among other things, the AMA submitted testimony on the bill and asked AMA members in Virginia to contact their state lawmakers to support the legislation.

The AMA’s Motorcyclists Matter campaign was founded to reduce the number of accidents involving motorcyclists and motorists, as well as to raise the awareness of motorists of motorcyclists on the road. A major component of the program involves the passage of laws requiring mandatory fines for drivers who fail to yield right of way in collisions, ranging from a minimum of $200 for causing an accident in which another road user is injured, up to at least $1000 if the accident results in death.

In addition, the program seeks mandatory drivers-license suspensions ranging from 30 days to six months, depending on the severity of injuries. Those penalties would be added to any others for traffic violations associated with the incident.

The program also calls on states to develop a course for offenders focusing on the vulnerabilities of motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. And it would encourage the creation of public-nformation campaigns reminding drivers to watch for motorcyclists.

“The unfortunate truth is that a driver’s inattentive left turn, unwary lane change, casual red light ‘run,’ or untimely cellphone call can result in death or serious injury to a motorcyclist,” said Imre Szauter, AMA legislative affairs specialist and coordinator of the Motorcyclists Matter campaign.

From a press release:

On Saturday April 27th Cyclewerkz of Carrollton Texas will be having a grand opening celebration from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., including free dogs and drinks for everyone. The Sportbike Hype guys have been hired to appear to blow off some stunts, and as always there will be plenty of bench racing, discounts and even some free stuff!

Cyclewerkz is the exclusive Metzeler race tire service for all of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. In addition to vending tires at CMRA and RPM racing events, Cyclewerkz also sells all trackside needs at every event!

For additional information please contact anyone at Cyclewerkz, phone (866) 242-8800, (972) 242-8800 or on the web,www.cyclewerkz.com.

From a press release:

Tom Sera, founder of FASTRACK RIDERS Association, announces the sale of his company to Larry Pointer and David Pyles. Tom founded FASTRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION ten years ago with the idea to give motorcyclist a safe environment in which to ride their motorcycles–on a racetrack–to develop their riding skills. His vision gave thousands of motorcyclists the opportunity to experience a “Day at the Track”.

Tom stated “Now it is time for someone else to step in and take the track day experience to the next level! It is a very proud moment for me as I have seen my vision go from a once a month event to several events per month at various tracks. I will still be involved to honor any contractual commitments FASTRACK RIDERS has but on a more limited basis.”

Larry Pointer and David Pyles are lifelong motorcycle enthusiasts dedicated to making every FASTRACK RIDERS day at the track event an experience never to be forgotten. David will serve as President and Larry as Vice President of Operations. They believe the next level is to create a motorcycle racing club for those “Track Day” riders who desire to move into racing after developing the skills to do so during their “Day at the Track” experience. In addition it is their intent to offer track day experiences for all types of motorcycles and motorcyclists.

FASTRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION, based in Southern California, promotes motorcycle safety through “at the track experience training” for all types and levels of motorcyclist. FASTRACK RIDERS may be contacted via [email protected] or 1-877-560-2233.

FASTRACK RIDERS ASSOCIATION: The Ultimate Riding Experience!


(Editorial note: Fastrack has held track ride and practice days on the Willow Springs, Streets of Willow and California Speedway road courses, as well as also holding FTA road races at California Speedway.)

From a press release:

SUMMIT POINT CYCLE FEST ADDS CCS TO SCHEDULE

Clear Channel Entertainment’s Motor Sports division announces that Summit Point Cycle Fest, Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, May 24-26, 2002 featuring the Formula USA National Road Race Series will NOW include motorcycle racing classes from Championship Cup Series presented by Lockhart Phillips.

“The addition of CCS also means that we are adding forty additional classes of motorcycle road racing to the festival of racing making this event even more spectacular” said Bill Syfan director of road racing for Clear Channel Entertainment.

“Champion Cup Series is pleased with the opportunity to replace other cancellations in the region with another event at Summit Point Raceway. After numerous riders inquired about additional rounds to make up for the cancellations we were glad give the riders another regional points paying event at the Mid-Atlantic regions home track. After some debate, all parties involved agreed that the inclusion of CCS activity would be beneficial to all, and now it is reality. I cannot tell you how happy we are to be included in the Summit Point Cyclefest for 2002, it is sure to make for one memorable weekend”, says Kevin Elliott, CCS Manager.

For ticket information, please visit www.formulausa.com or call 800-216-7482 to charge by phone. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster.com.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Pro Racing Director of Professional Competition Merrill Vanderslice has delayed the Appeal Board hearing on the denied protests of Damon Buckmaster’s Yamaha YZF-R7 Formula Xtreme racebike until Tuesday, May 14, more than a week after the next AMA National (at Sears Point) and two days before official practice starts at Road Atlanta.

In addition to scheduling the hearing on a weekday between races, Vanderslice scheduled the hearing to be held in Columbus, Ohio.

Because the Appeal Board hearing has been scheduled mid-week at a remote location instead of, for example, on the Thursday night prior to the next AMA National, at a location near the National, riders and witnesses flying to the hearing will be forced to pay high air fares due to complicated routing or the lack of a Saturday-night layover.

At post time, a Delta Air Lines ticket from Ontario, California to Columbus to Atlanta and back to Ontario in the involved time-frame was priced at about $800, versus about $300 for a round-trip between Ontario and Atlanta. A separate ticket from Atlanta to Columbus mid-week, starting on Monday and returning on Wednesday, was also priced at about $800. Because most teams and riders have already purchased tickets to the Atlanta race, additional routing change fees–typically $100–could also apply.

In the past, AMA Pro Racing has scheduled Appeal Board hearings at the next available AMA National, since all the involved parties have to be there anyway.

Vanderslice also refused to supply the appealing riders with various AMA Pro Racing internal documents related to the formation and interpretation of the rule in question. Several riders requested the documents in an effort to disprove Vanderslice’s contention that the intent of the rule is now unclear; Vanderslice himself either wrote or approved the rule in question.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Four Suzukis raced by WERA 600cc Superstock and Open Superstock National Challenge Series Champion Mark Junge were damaged by contaminated Nutec Special 4 race gas during the April 20-21 WERA National round at North Florida Motorsports Park.

When his fuel order was delayed, Junge bought Nutec Special 4, the race gas of choice for many riders, from another racer at the WERA National. The fuel, which was in the sealed, original Nutec five-gallon drums was contaminated and gummed up the ports and valves of Junge’s racebikes.

The result was three poor-running Suzukis and a GSX-R1000 that wouldn’t run at all. Junge struggled through the WERA weekend, finishing sixth in the Open Superstock race and sixth in the 600cc Superstock race, both on his GSX-R600. Junge’s teammate Tray Batey faired better, finishing second in the 750cc Superstock sprint, on a GSX-R750, and winning the Heavyweight Twins race, on a TL1000R. But when Junge returned to his race shop in Union Grove, Wisconsin, he found another surprise.

“It looked as if someone had poured molasses down every intake and exhaust valve of all four bikes,” said Junge, in an April 24 telephone call to Roadracingworld.com. “So now instead of going to race at Road America this weekend, I’m going to have to bust my ass to pull the heads off all four bikes and be ready for the next WERA National at Putnam Park. I’m going to have to clean the heads, the throttle bodies and the injectors, in addition to the normal engine rebuilds for my endurance bikes.”

At the 2001 April CCS twin-sprint race weekend at Road America, Junge won eight of the nine races he entered. Factor in American Suzuki’s decision to pay full contingency on both days of this weekend’s 2002 twin-sprint weekend, and, by running in three contingency-paying races per day, Junge could possibly have won $4500 in Suzuki contingency alone.

This isn’t the first time that a problem has occurred with Nutec Special 4 race gas. During the March 2002 Formula USA and AMA races at Daytona, three separate teams encountered problems with contaminated Nutec Special 4 race fuel, and the problem affected all of Arclight Suzuki’s racebikes.

Contacted by phone April 24, Nutec Racing Fuels & Oils’ U.S. Sales Executive Lionel Roux said, “Yes, we knew that we had some problems, but we believed that it was a small amount of fuel and that it all was consumed by now.

“The problem is contamination by water in the blending tanks. The water reacts with the additive package in the fuel, the fuel runs without the additive and it gums everything up.

“Condensation happens in the blending tanks. Maybe we had a filter failure. We have bought new filters and put in place new procedures for quality control.”

Although Junge said his contaminated Nutec fuel “didn’t even smell like regular Nutec”, Roux said that there is no way to know if a container, five or 15-gallon, of Nutec Special 4 is contaminated just by its markings or smell. Roux said that riders worried about a drum of Nutec being contaminated should call him at (310) 641-8015.

Roux added that the newest Nutec race fuel, Special 5, has a new additive package that doesn’t react with water. Roux said that the new Special 5 fuel will be available after the Sears Point AMA National, adding that the new fuel is more powerful, cleaner burning and only a little more expensive than Special 4.

Meanwhile, Junge said that he is considering switching to another brand of race fuel.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Let Me Tell You About My AMA 250 GP Race At Fontana…

By John France
AMA 250 GP #19

It started about two weeks before the Daytona race. I was on the phone for many hours making arrangements to get all my equipment and truck from the East coast of Florida to the West coast of California. I had made an arrangement with fellow competitor Simon Turner and his team to haul their equipment, my sort-of-teammate Greg Esser’s equipment, and all of my stuff to Fontana, then Sears Point and back. Well, I bit off more than I could chew and couldn’t get my truck set up to transport everyone’s stuff. I had to call Simon’s team manager Per Hogdahl and tell him I had to back out of the deal. They understood and made other arrangements for themselves.

After Daytona it was back on the phone to Greg Esser and we found another way to get all of our stuff out to Fontana. That involved having my friend Curtis drive the truck so we would fly out. Having to work a full-time job is a real inconvenience. But we managed to get everything out there. Plus you can always count on Curtis for a laugh or two.

Wednesday before the race I went to work for two hours, drove to the airport in Orlando (one hour away) sat around the airport for two hours after being suspected, sniffed, swabbed, searched, detected, ID’d, poked, prodded, questioned. Finally I shoved my way onto an airborne cattle car (run by an airline that doesn’t assign seats) with people dressed like they were planning on spending the day watching the Jerry Springer Show at the local soup kitchen! Nice, very nice. Luckily, I only had to spend eight hours with them.

Curtis picks me up at the airport and it is off to the motel for a nice quiet night. The tremendous sound from the horrific amount of traffic on I-10 roaring by inches from your room lulls you right to sleep.

Thursday we get to the track nice and early to set things up. Greg is already there milling around. At least we have plenty of time to set things up and go through tech because there is no promoter practice. The AMA advised the track and/or the promoter (Mob style?) not to hold a Thursday practice day. They claim they needed Thursday to get the track ready for Friday’s activities. I wonder how they found time to get Daytona ready with CCS/Formula USA and AHRMA running the previous five days to that event? Anyway, there was really no reason for Thursday practice, sure it was a brand-new venue for most of us but the factory teams had already run there a few times and knew what to expect. No, one extra day would not put any true privateer on par with the factory teams or the very best of the private teams, but track time for us is very rare and valuable. Oh, they did have a club race there the previous weekend. Most of the locals and the well-heeled out-of-town privateers were able to get some of the above-mentioned valuable track time. Too bad I, and a lot of others, couldn’t afford to blast out there a week early for a few club races. Strike one!

Friday morning looks pretty good, weather wise, and Curtis and I hitch a ride with Team Oliver to the track at the crack of dawn. Everything is set, warmed up, ready to go. The only problem now is that somebody noticed the turn-one section (a make-shift contraption) has standing water in it. Most probably from the sprinkler system keeping the grass in the infield (the only grass within ten miles of the place) green. The grass did look lovely!

Finally they had the track ready to ride on by about 10:30. Only 1-½ hours late! Good thing the AMA used Thursday to get the track ready!

I head out on the track for my eye-opening practice session. Lots of walls, haybales, Air Fence, cones, and plastic curbing delineating the prescribed route. Not the best, by a long shot. But, I’ve been on worse. Doesn’t really flow together. As a matter of fact the only way to make that place flow together would be to heat it up to 1,500 deg. F. and tip it on its side! Who or what designs these places?

I make it through in one piece. Not the fastest or the slowest. Did I mention that I, like a lot of other riders have never been to this place before and just guessed at the set-up?

Friday’s afternoon session rolls around almost on time. Since the morning session I have changed the gearing and jetting. I head out on the track and go faster than the first session. On about lap eight the red flag comes out because someone has augured into the wall. All of the trucks and ambulances are either attending that incident or driving on the track to get there. Must be a bad one! I return to the pit lane and start looking around to see who is missing. Turns out it is my sort-of-teammate Greg Esser. No problem, he’s tough and has been known to toss it down the road from time-to-time. Could just be cheap theatrics.

We get the green flag and take off again. No time to worry about Greg now. I’m riding down the back straight on the first lap of the re-start when I see the Medical Helicopter lift off. Let’s see, Greg has crashed, red flag, trucks and ambulances, helicopter, now I have to worry about him! Just the thing you need when you are trying go fast and learn a new track! Strike two!

Practice ends and I blast back to the truck to find out about Greg. Nobody knows for sure, lots of guesses. Usually when someone hits the wall and is flown out it is not very good. I send Curtis to find out where Greg went, what was wrong with him, and where they left his bike. A few minutes later Curtis, Greg’s friend Hector, and, I think his name was Dean, a track official, roar up in a car to tell me they are going to the hospital to check on Greg. They don’t know his condition, either.

I get on the cell phone to try and find Greg’s brother’s phone number. I called a mutual friend near where he lives to look up the number in the phone book. If you’re at the track with someone and you know they do not have anyone at home (like Greg) to call, you should probably get some numbers from them ahead of time. Anyway, I called his brother, told him what I knew, gave him the number to the hospital and then waited. Did I mention Greg had the rental car that I was supposed to return to the airport? Of course I didn’t know where it was parked, what kind it was, or where the keys were. But I figured I could find the keys and car.

While I was waiting (seemed like forever) to hear from some one, anyone, I started to pack Greg’s things away. I root through his clothes (kind of creepy) and find the rental car key with the make, model and license plate number on it. Finally about 8:00 p.m. someone calls me and tells Greg he is basically OK and that Curtis will meet me at the motel later. Turns out Greg had a broken ankle, separated shoulder, maybe a concussion but otherwise no biggie.

Team Oliver gives me a ride out to the parking lot and we find Greg’s rental car. I go back to the motel and wait for Curtis. He shows up about 9:30 p.m. and gives me the report, same as before. Except nobody knows when he’ll get out. Maybe Sunday or Monday.

Saturday morning we head to the track nice and early. Too bad it is lightly raining. The track is dangerous in the dry. I can’t even imagine what it would be like in the rain! Nothing better than crashing in the rain, hitting the wet grass and picking up another 10 mph before you hit the wall. I’m sure those plastic curbs are ripe with traction when they’re wet.

We spend all day waiting to see what is going to happen. Bored and needing something to do, we get Greg’s bike and other equipment loaded up to be shipped back to Florida with some other team. Finally, late in the afternoon we get a 12-minute practice session and I go slightly faster than on Friday. Maybe, barely.

Sunday rolls around and we rush to see what the new and improved schedule has in store for us. A little practice in the morning. A qualifying session a little later on, and then the 250 race around 1:00 p.m. Practice goes pretty good.

I lean it down a little for the qualifying session. Need to get a decent spot on the grid, you know. And wait for the session to start. I head out there, give it about two laps to warm up the engine, forks, shock and tires, on the third lap I take off to try and pick up my time and the engine starts to detonate and then seizes. Not the best way to qualify. I limp it back to the paddock area where Curtis and I remove both cylinders and inspect the damage. Tools are flying; we don’t have much time before the race. Lower cylinder is shot. Upper one is OK! We toss another piston, cylinder, and head on it. Fatten up the jets, back off the timing, and we are ready to go ten minutes before the start of the race! Whew! Got a lot work done very quickly but soon the race will start and it’ll be worth it!

I put all of my gear on and get set to go when Curtis hears that I and about 11 other guys haven’t qualified! What the f–k! How could that be! There are only 32 bikes entered and they will start a maximum of forty on a track like this. Then Curtis says “you didn’t make it under the 112% rule” (I told you he was good for a laugh). I thought about that for a second and he was correct! 19 guys qualified, I was the 20th about 0.500-second too slow with only three laps in qualifying. I firmly believe I would have been within the “112% rule” if I hadn’t tuned myself out of qualifying. I went out onto the grid to see what was up and the officials told me I wasn’t going to race today. I think most of the other guys that didn’t qualify went out, too. I took the warm-up lap, sat at the back of the grid in disbelief. Was told to leave. I crawled back to my hole. Strike three and I’m out!

Yes, by the rules I didn’t qualify, and neither did the others. The only problem is that, A: This was a new track. B: There was very little practice (and none on Thursday) C: They haven’t used timed qualifying for a 250 race in years and D: they should have told us at the riders’ meeting what they were planning to do. But then an axe murderer never tells you ahead of time what he plans to do, either.

Guys monitoring the AMA radios said that Ron Barrick and Gary Mathers realized that everything was pretty messed up and wanted to let everyone race but Merrill Vanderslice overruled them! Nice touch, Merrill. Maybe you could swing by the orphanage on Christmas Eve and tell the children how their parents died.

At the next event I will have two bikes ready for qualifying just in case something happens. And, they’re will be no more messing around. I will try and run the first laps as fast as possible in case something happens. I will also read the rulebook and see what other loophole they can try and snare me with. Like, the minimum number of laps, if you can swap bikes (better wear the transponder on your leathers). Or any other number of rules they may or may not impose. Should I bring a lawyer to read the fine print and “interpret the rules”? Maybe the top management of the AMA Pro Racing is as inept as everyone says they are!

PS: Do I get the paltry $100 for 20th place?