A three-day factory Superbike team test session involving the Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha teams starts Monday at Viriginia International Raceway.

Last week, Honda tested for two days at VIR with Kawasaki and HMC Ducati.

Factory Superbike teams operate a co-operative testing program, sharing costs for track rental, track set-up, cornerworkers and stand-by ambulance crews.

The many independent tests scheduled by the factory teams both during the racing season and during the off-season mean the factory teams don’t need Thursday practice prior to AMA Nationals. As a result, and because they want to use Thursday to park their semi-trucks instead of having to send a truck driver to park on Wednesday, factory teams oppose Thursday practice.

This despite the negative impact eliminating Thursday practice will have on private teams and riders that cannot afford to spend between $70,000 and $100,000 per year on independent tests.

Factory team representatives on the AMA Road Racing Advisory Board (which is entirely made up of factory men with the exception of 250cc privateer Ed Sorbo) have remained determined to eliminate Thursday practice despite opposition to that move from non-factory teams and riders.

During an Advisory Board meeting at Brainerd last month, the factory men discounted petitions in favor of unrestricted Thursday practice signed by 76 AMA Pro-licensed riders and another 57 team owners, crew chiefs and mechanics.

About 12 riders in AMA Pro Racing have contracts with factory Superbike teams. The remainder of the paddock consists of indendent riders and private teams.

From a press release:

Fonda Brings Star Power to Dirt Track
Legendary Actor To Grand Marshal California Event

AURORA, Ill. (Aug. 13, 2001) — Peter Fonda, the writer, producer and star of the classic 1969 film “Easy Rider,” has been named Grand Marshal of the K&N Filters Del Mar Weekend, October 6-7, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego. The two-day event will feature some of the world’s fastest motorcycle racers in four different classes — Short Track, Pro Single, SuperSingles and Twins.

The Golden Globe-winning actor will participate in a parade lap and the opening ceremonies of Sunday’s Drag Specialties National Dirt Track season finale. Fonda will meet and greet fans throughout the weekend’s festivities, including an appearance at Saturday’s Formula USA Pro Singles Championship.

Fonda, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in 1997’s “Ulee’s Gold,” appeared in the 1993 documentary “Harley-Davidson: The American Motorcycle” and hosted 1999’s “Motorcycles: Born to be Wild.” The 62-year-old thespian is an avid motorcycle enthusiast who rides regularly in his spare time.

From a BMW press release:

BMW MOTORCYCLES
Ride Invitation
Ride to the Guggenheim Las Vegas for
The Art of the Motorcycle
September 28 – 30, 2001

What is The Ride to the Guggenheim?

This is an open invitation for all riders, regardless of brand allegiance, to embark on a ride to the new Guggenheim Las Vegas, which opens with The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition this September at The Venetian Hotel. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join thousands of other riders, coming from all parts of the country, to rally together and finally, to show the world that the sport of motorcycling has well and truly arrived.

When Will The Ride Take Place?

The Ride to the Guggenheim will take place on the weekend of September 28 – 30.

The first 3000 Ride participants who do ride to Las Vegas (as opposed to driving or flying) will receive free admission into the Exhibition, a commemorative gift package, preferential free parking, a Biker’s BBQ and other special privileges. The BMW Motorcycles demo ride and apparel trucks will be there, and ABS and stunt ride demonstrations will be given.

How Can I Participate in the Ride?

To participate in the Ride to the Guggenheim, riders will need to pre-register after August 15 at their local BMW Motorcycle retailer, where they will receive a special registration kit including decals for their motorcycle to show the world that they are riding to The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition in Las Vegas and give them access to the preferential parking at the Sands Convention Center across from the Guggenheim Las Vegas.

Individual clubs and retailers who are organizing group rides to the event will be posted on the new BMW Motorcycles website at bmwmotorcycles.com after mid-August. Retailers who will provide preferential priority motorcycle service and hospitality to ride participants will also be posted on the website, so riders can plan their ride routes accordingly.

Where Will We Meet?

Once in Las Vegas, all Ride participants will meet up with the BMW Motorcycles Ride HQ at the Sands Convention Center parking lot in back of The Venetian Hotel at 3355 Las Vegas Boulevard (a.k.a. “The Strip”). It’s just a couple of minutes walk away from the entrance to the Guggenheim Las Vegas.

You’ll enter the preferential parking area (thanks to the decal on your bike) and show your Ride waiver form to the BMW personnel stationed there: You’ll then receive a full gift package including a pass for free entrance into The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition. Other on-scene activities will include the BMW demo ride and apparel trucks, free refreshments and even a Biker BBQ. (Well, you’ll be tired, thirsty and hungry after all that riding.)

Ride participants can make hotel reservations through The Venetian Hotel at 1-888-2VENICE or 1-877-2VENICE.

Why is BMW Motorcycles Sponsoring This Ride?

BMW Motorcycles is making The Art of the Motorcycle at the Guggenheim Las Vegas possible, because in 1923, when BMW was founded, the very first product to roll off the Munich production line was the R32: A motorcycle that is actually featured in the exhibition. (In fact, BMW didn’t even make cars until five years later.)

Since then, BMW motorcycles have been the preferred choice of real riders all over the world. So it makes sense for BMW to support not just the exhibition itself, but also a ride there: After all, motorcycles may make great art, but we know that they make even better riding. And, let’s face it: Just doesn’t seem right for motorcycle loyalists to show up at an landmark event like this any other way. So join us. (As if you needed another excuse to ride!)

For more details, check out the BMW Motorcycles website at www.bmwmotorcycles.com after August 15.

This press release just in:

Sears Point Raceway Unveils Temporary Road Course

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Sears Point Raceway’s road course will have a dramatically different look for the next six months.

The traditional 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course will temporarily become a nine-turn, 1.83-mile circuit as construction crews begin work on the lower portion of the track in conjunction with phase two of Sears Point Raceway’s $35 million Modernization Plan.

The track was modified by constructing a link between Turns 9 and 1 on the permanent course. Construction began on Monday, Aug. 6 and was completed Wednesday, Aug. 8.

“This is obviously a temporary configuration, but it gives us the ability to keep the track operating during the upcoming construction. There are thousands of competitors and Jim Russell students who have plans to use the track over the next few months and we’re going to do our best not to disappoint them,” said Steve Page, Sears Point Raceway President and General Manager.

The modified course made its debut Friday, Aug. 10, and will be used until March by all visiting racing series, including the Sports Car Club of America, American Federation of Motorcyclists and the California Sports Car Racing Group. The Jim Russell Racing Drivers School will also utilize the course for all of its activities. Meanwhile, all drag racing at Sears Point Raceway has been cancelled until early next year.

“This is going to be a fun, difficult, interesting turn. Sears Point did a very nice job in a short amount of time. It will be enjoyable, but there will also be a great degree of difficulty with the straight line breaking and off-camber exit,” said Jacques Couture, of the Jim Russell Racing School.

Projects to be completed while the temporary course is utilized:

· A 15,000-seat permanent grandstand on the west side of start/finish line.

· Repaved road course and drag strip surfaces. Construction of a drag strip return road.

· Underground pedestrian tunnel beneath the start/finish line of the road course

· Expansion of the paddock area by 70%

The two-year, $35 million Modernization Plan, which began in September, 2000, is scheduled to be completed by the NASCAR Winston Cup event in June, 2002, and will transform Sears Point Raceway into one of the premier motorsports venues in the country.

According to a report in Sunday’s Birmingham News, the new Barber Motorsports Park being built by George Barber’s non-profit Barber Motorsports Park Foundation will open in 2003 and will seek as many car races as motorcycle races.

The 2.38-mile track near Birmingham, Alabama was originally proclaimed as being targeted for motorcycle road racing with a budget of $3 million. That budget has since grown to $22 million with another $18 million allocated to a new 141,000-square-foot Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum as well as landscaping, the newspaper reported.

Track managers hope for 10 races a year, each drawing around 10,000 spectators.

The Whirley Phase One team won the Oschersleben 24-hour, a round of the Endurance World Championship hled in Germany.

Zong Shen A finished second overall , after losing 12 laps when rider Stephane Mertens crashed while leading by three laps.

Moto 38 was third on a YZF-R1 Yamaha. The top three overall were all running in the SuperProduction class, which allows Superbike chassis but requires near-stock engines.

Wim Motors finished fourth overall with a Honda RC51, first in the Superbike class, and clinched the Endurance World Championship, which is only open to entrants in the traditional Superbike class.

Police Nationale was fifth overall on a Kawasaki ZX-9R.

Herman Verboven Racing retired after running second in the Superbike class around mid-race.

One round of the Endurance World Championship Series remains, the Bol d’Or in France.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

American Honda’s 20-year-old Nicky Hayden said on Friday, August 10 that he would most likely have post-season surgery to fix a numbing problem in his right hand caused by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Speaking via cell phone from a photo shoot at a Honda test facility in the desert near Mojave, California, Hayden said, “My hand has kind of been going tingly on me. As practice wears on or the race, my pointer and my middle finger and thumb are going numb on me. So they (physicians at Dr. Arthur Ting’s office) did a test, and I have Carpal Tunnel in my wrist. I guess it’s real common for racers to get it from all of the abuse the wrist takes. That’s been bothering me lately. It bothers me worse at some tracks and not so much at others.”

Hayden did not seem worried about the surgery; he’s discussed it with former World Champions Kevin Schwantz and Freddie Spencer, who both have had the same procedure done. Schwantz has actually had Carpel Tunnel Surgery on each wrist…twice.

Hayden also mentioned that his left wrist still isn’t 100% following surgery to screw the scaphoid bone back together in March. Hayden said he planned to get an MRI at the end of the season to “check things out.”

Meanwhile, Hayden continued to endure two days of the part of a factory rider’s job that isn’t exactly glamorous. Outside still and video photography are dependent on natural light, and the best light is just after dawn and just before dusk, the result being that photo shoots involve extremely long hours. “My wake-up call this morning was 3:45 a.m.,” said Hayden. “We met in the hotel lobby at 4:15. We didn’t back to the hotel last night until almost 9:00 p.m.”

The location of the photo shoot doesn’t ease matters as the daytime temperatures can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit or higher in the Mojave desert. And as for the security at Honda’s top-secret test facility, “I think I could get into Fort Knox easier than it is to get into this place,” said Hayden.