By Steve Reeves

After what has been one of the most exciting race seasons in recent years, Radar’s Team Yamaha rider Robbie Baird emerged from the fifth and final round of the 2001 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State Series, held last weekend, as the new Formula Xtreme Champion.

Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway provided the venue for the final round, with exceptionally close racing in all classes, including the Yamaha Formula Xtreme.

Baird wrapped up the series after the third of four races, finishing with a total of 353 points. The Queenslander headed a trifecta for Radar’s Team Yamaha as Jamie Stauffer finished second (322) and Craig Coxhell third with 309. Completing a great result for Yamaha was New Zealander Tony Rees, who brought his Bikebiz Yamaha YZF-R1 home in fourth place.

The Radar’s Team Yamaha riders were in the thick of the action all weekend, with Baird controlling the series from the front.

All four 8-lap races were full of close racing and passes and produced a new Formula Xtreme lap record.

While Baird relished the moment of his first Australian title since winning the Australian 250cc Production Championship in 1993, Stauffer emerged as the overall winner on the day in a spirited attempt to overhaul his teammate.

Stauffer proved to be the most consistent finishing the four races with a 2-2-3-2 score card. Baird was second overall with a 5-1-4-1, first, followed by Coxhell’s 3-3-1-4. The strength of the team riders was clearly evident.

The only other rider to interfere with the performance was Honda rider Josh Brookes, who picked up the win in the opening race.

For Baird, it was a lot of weight off his shoulders. “Excellent,” said Baird after wrapping up the series in race three. “That’s a lot of pressure off me now. I can relax and go harder in the final race. I have to thank Kev Marshall and all of the Radar’s Team Yamaha crew for doing such an outstanding job this season. To get the win was great, but to get all three Yamahas into the top three is something special. Jamie and Craig had the pressure on me all series and it was great that we could finish like this.”

“It would have been nice to have won the series, but winning overall on the day is also a very good result for the team,” said Stauffer. “Robbie has been strong all year and deserved the win. Being my first year on the Yamaha YZF-R1, it has taken me a while to get used to the bike and to feel comfortable on it. It has been working a lot better recently, so I think we’ll put that down to a very rapid learning curve for me this year. I’m very happy with the result and for the team”.

As the youngest member of the team, 18-year-old Coxhell has been the most determined, which at times has been to his detriment during the series. “I was trying very hard in the early rounds and crashed too many times, that eventually cost me in the series standings,” said Coxhell. “It took me a little while to get my head around it, but I think I have shown that I’m on top of things now. To go under the existing lap record was good for my confidence and I’m happy that I could do it. As for the day, it went well and it was good to get the race win in the third race.”

Team Manager Dave `Radar’ Cullen was more than satisfied with the efforts that his team has put into the series. “That was a fantastic team effort,” said Cullen. “The boys battled it out on the track all series and provided the fans with some of the best racing we have seen. The series could have gone to any one of the three as they’ve each ridden well this year. It wasn’t a whitewash as some may think, as Alex Gobert and Josh Brookes had their moments of glory this year. I think that Terry O’Neill should be congratulated for having a series that all of the manufacturers can have a chance of winning.”

RESULTS:
Yamaha Formula Xtreme Combined qualifying:
1. Alex Gobert, Redwing Honda, 1:34.155
2. Robbie Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha, 1:34.197
3. Tony Rees, Bikebiz Yamaha, 1:34.239
4. Josh Brookes, Geoff’s Auto Spares Honda, 1:34.273
5. Luke Phillips, Optus World Honda, 1:34.687
6. Craig Coxhell, Radar’s Team Yamaha, 1:34.749
7. Jamie Stauffer, Radar’s Team Yamaha, 1:34.880
8. Damien Cudlin, Bikebiz Yamaha, 1:34.884
9. Steven Cutting, Bar Ristretto Suzuki, 1:35.496
10. Jay Taylor, Taylor Racing Kawasaki, 1:35.820

Race 1 (8 laps), Race time /gap:
1. Josh Brookes, Geoff’s Auto Spares Honda CBR929RR, 12:42.919
2. Jamie Stauffer, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.076
3. Craig Coxhell, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.179
4. Tony Rees, Bikebiz Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.693
5. Robbie Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +4.793
6. Jay Taylor, Taylor Racing Kawasaki ZX-9R, +6.408
7. Alex Gobert, Red Wing Honda CBR929RR, +10.948
8. Steven Cutting, Bar Ristretto Suzuki GSX-R1000, +13.194
9. Kurt Percy, Thomson Finance Yamaha YZF-R1, +15.896
10. Stephen Tozer, Stafford M/C Yamaha YZF-R1, +22.661
Fastest lap: Josh Brookes, Honda, 1:34.332, lap 6

Race 2 (8 laps) (Red flagged on lap 6) Race time /gap:
1. Robbie Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, 9:32.058
2. Jamie Stauffer, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.010
3. Craig Coxhell, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.041
4. Tony Rees, Bikebiz Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.513
5. Josh Brookes, Geoff’s Auto Spares Honda CBR929RR, +0.609
6. Jay Taylor, Taylor Racing Kawasaki ZX-9R, +7.929
7. Kurt Percy, Thomson Finance Yamaha YZF-R1, +8.802
8. Roland Kruck, Doin Bikes Honda CBR929RR, +11.974
9. Alex Gobert, Red Wing Honda CBR929RR, +13.089
10. Rodney Davis, Wet 4U Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, +18.800
Fastest lap: Jamie Stauffer, Yamaha,1:34.163, lap 2

Race 3 (8 laps) Race time /gap:
1. Craig Coxhell, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, 12:36.902
2. Josh Brookes, Geoff’s Auto Spares Honda CBR929RR, +0.016
3. Jamie Stauffer, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.476
4. Robbie Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +3.616
5. Tony Rees, Bikebiz Yamaha YZF-R1, +4.125
6. Alex Gobert, Red Wing Honda CBR929RR, +15.168
7. Jay Taylor, Taylor Racing Kawasaki ZX-9R, +15.961
8. Kurt Percy, Thomson Finance Yamaha YZF-R1, +16.034
9. Stephen Tozer, Stafford M/C Yamaha YZF-R1, +20.799
10. Roland Kruck, Doin Bikes Honda CBR929RR, +22.236
Fastest lap: Josh Brookes, Honda, 1:33.365, lap 4 (New lap record)

Race 4 (8 laps) Race time /gap:
1. Robbie Baird, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, 12:37.329
2. Jamie Stauffer, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.144
3. Tony Rees, Bikebiz Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.474
4. Craig Coxhell, Radar’s Team Yamaha YZF-R1, +0.498
5. Jay Taylor, Taylor Racing Kawasaki ZX-9R, +15.594
6. Kurt Percy, Thomson Finance Yamaha YZF-R1, +16.257
7. Stephen Tozer, Stafford M/C Yamaha YZF-R1, +16.787
8. Roland Kruck, Doin Bikes Honda CBR929RR, +17.784
9. Rodney Davis, Yamaha YZF-R1, +22.428
10. Alex Gobert, Red Wing Honda CBR929RR, +27.877
Fastest lap: Craig Coxhell, Yamaha, 1:33.556, lap 6

2001 Yamaha Formula Xtreme Points (after 5 of 5 rounds):

1. Robbie Baird, 353 points
2. Jamie Stauffer, 322 points
3. Craig Coxhell, 309 points
4. Tony Rees, 256 points
5. Alex Gobert, 200 points
6. Josh Brookes, 186 points
7. Damien Cudlin, 178 points
8. Luke Phillips, 116 points
9. Kurt Percy, 115 points
10. Stephen Tozer, 106 points

From Ed Sorbo:

On Friday, Bruce was being weaned off the respirator and is responding faster than most people do. Bruce’s wife, Edie, was hopeful that he will wake up soon, as he has been kept unconscious with drugs since he went on the respirator Monday night. His spleen was removed on Tuesday morning. During surgery the Doctors took the opportunity to check his other organs and found no problems.

Bruce has a lot of pain and is on morphine. He also received a large hand-size dent on his back where his bike landed on him and it is almost gone.

Edie reports that the doctors had hoped that the air pressure from the respirator would help push the broken ribs back into place and it seems to have worked.

Edie wants to thank everyone who has sent e-mails, FAXes, cards and calls. She is decorating the room with all of the e-mail notes, cards and such.

What happened?

When Bruce started out from the hot pit for his warm-up lap in heat two, Joe Cubbage saw water spill out from Bruce’s lowers. Joe pointed the puddle out to Geoff Malone who was standing nearby and said “that just came out of Bruce’s bike.” Geoff pointed out the puddle to the nearest AMA official. Gary Mathers was in charge of Bruce’s row and was shown the puddle. Gary waited for Bruce to complete his warm-up lap and looked his bike over on the grid. Gary saw no water on either side of the bike and noted that the rear tire was dry. At this time Gary felt that the puddle on the hot pit road was just a little over flow and was not a problem. As soon as Bruce launched to start the race Gary saw water flow out of Bruce’s lowers and knew there was going to be trouble. Adrian Webb saw water come off Bruce’s bike in turn two and Bruce had a slide. Bruce crashed in turn three on the first lap of heat two and the race was red-flagged.

Back in the pits my helpers removed the fairing from Bruce’s bike so we could clean out the dirt and found the radiator cap in the upper fairing. The cap has no damage and we assumed that it had not been installed all the way.

Steve Dalstrom told Bruce about the cap on Sunday night in the hospital before Bruce took the wrong turn and went unconscious. Bruce thought back and said that he remembered putting the cap on all the way. He thinks that the neck of the radiator was damaged in his turn-two crash on Friday and went unnoticed until it was too late when the cap came lose after being installed on Saturday.

I came to this reconstruction by talking to
Geoff, Gary and Adrian and by looking over the bike. Shit happens, that’s why we wear our leathers!

You think you’re tough? Bruce broke 11 ribs, yet he did not let his leathers be cut off, they are still in one piece.

Fans who wish to send a Get Well message to Lind can do so at this address:
Bruce Lind, ICU patient
c/o Monterey Community Hospital
P.O. Box HH
Monterey, CA 93942

Messages can also be sent via e-mail, c/o Sorbo, to [email protected]

The hospital telephone number is (831) 424-7705. The number for the FAX machine in Patient Relations is (831) 625-4568.

A letter dated July 10 from J. Richard “Rick” Gray, Chairman, AMA Board Of Trustees, arrived at Roadracingworld.com headquarters on July 13, addressed to Editor John Ulrich. The letter follows in its entirety:

“Dear Mr. Ulrich:

“I am writing pursuant to a resolution passed by the AMA Board of Trustees at their June 11, 2001 meeting. The Board, after receiving a report on the impact attenuating barriers purchased with funds solicited by Roadracing World and contributed by individual contributors, directed that we thank Roadracing World and the individuals for their support of this effort. As you are aware, Honda, Harley-Davidson and Suzuki also made substantial contributions for this purpose.

“The issue of safety is, of course, paramount in any racing environment. Hopefully the use of these barriers will add an additional element of safety for those that participate in AMA professional racing activities. Thank you for your activity in helping us and the OEMs bring our plans to fruition, and please express to the individual contributors our appreciation for their support.

“Sincerely,

“J. Richard Gray”

Cruise America Grand Prix Racing’s Jason DiSalvo recorded his best-ever World Grand Prix finish Sunday, July 5 in the Cinzano-sponsored British 250cc Grand Prix at Donington Park in England. DiSalvo, 17, rode a calculated race to finish 22nd, bettering his 24th place finish in the 1999 Brazilian 125cc Grand Prix. DiSalvo was the highest finisher of the five wild-card entries in the 250cc race on his PJ1-backed Honda RS250.

DiSalvo was quoted in a press release from his team as saying, “It was a tough race but the longer races I’ve been doing in Europe helped me a lot physically and I got stronger as the race went on. I picked up some tips from (Daijiro) Katoh and (Emilio) Alzamora when they lapped me and I had a good dice with some of the regular riders.”

DiSalvo will next see action to Valencia in Spain for a round of the Spanish National series July 15 before heading to Most in the Czech Republic.

The Batavia, New York teenager will take part in at least 31 road races this year, competing in 10 different countries in various regional, national, and international race series. DiSalvo has already raced in the FIM World Championship, European Championship, British Championship, Spanish Championship, the Czech National series, the AMA MBNA 250cc GP Championship, the WERA National Challenge series, the Formula USA Series and the WSMC series.

Mark Miller and Steve Rapp have backed up Mat Maldin’s version of what happened at Loudon, as described in Mladin’s statement posted on RoadracingWorld.com on 7/11/01 and headlined “Mladin Responds To Wood Charges Regarding Loudon.”

Miller said he was the rider who asked AMA Superbike Operations Manager Ron Barrick point-blank if the races would be held in the event of rain.

As Miller told it to RoadracingWorld.com in a phone interview on July 13, “I read what Mladin wrote and it was exactly accurate, it was 100 percent accurate.”

Miller explained, “I saw that the usual suspects were together, Chandler, Mladin, Oliver and Steve Rapp, in the tech area, which was close to the Erion Honda pit. So I walked over there to see what was gonna happen if it rained again.

“I said to Barrick, ‘So Ron, what’s the verdict, what’s the bottom line on running in the rain here, are we gonna ride in the rain?’

“Barrick said, ‘I don’t think so.’

“So I asked him, ‘Is that a yes or a no?’

“And he emphatically said, ‘No. We will not race in the rain under any circumstances.'”

Steve Rapp also backed up Mladin’s version of what happened at Loudon, telling Roadracing World, “That’s exactly what happened.” Rapp added that even before Miller arrived on the scene, “When we were walking around the track together (with Barrick), Ron said we’re not riding in the rain. So I came back and told my team, don’t even worry about getting the rain tires out.”

See related post dated 7/11/01, Loudon Video Delayed Until Tomorrow; Wood Comments On Situation.

Late in June, Harley-Davidson invited 150 members of the worldwide press to attend the launch of the new V-Rod, the first in a new family of Performance Customs from Harley-Davidson, the first Harley derived from the Harley-Davidson VR1000 Superbike, and the first liquid-cooled Harley street bike ever.

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The information was embargoed until July 13 and appears here on roadracingworld.com at 12:00 a.m. July 13, EDT.

The V-Rod shares no parts with its AMA Superbike inspiration, but the newest bike from Milwaukee does share the same basic engine architecture of the VR1000. The V-Rod features a 60-degree V-Twin configuration, double overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, plug top ignition coils, a down-draft air intake system (the fuel tank is under the seat), geared primary drive, liquid-cooling, and electronic fuel-injection. Porsche Engineering helped design the combustion chamber in the new engine.

The new engine is said to make 115 horspower at 8250 rpm and 74 lbs.-ft. of torque at 7000 rpm, calculated at the crankshaft.

The chassis matches big, 49mm conventional forks raked out at 38 degrees with a silver powder-coated steel tube perimeter frame, a polished one-piece cast-aluminum swingarm, and steeply-angled, preload-adjustable twin rear shocks to give a long, low dragster stance. Triple disc brakes (with steel-braided brake lines and four-piston calipers), wide cast aluminum disc wheels, and low-profile Dunlop Sportmax radials not only give the look of a real chassis, but according to Harley-Davidson representatives, the V-Rod goes better than it looks. The whole package weighs in at 597 pounds dry.

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Don’t get us wrong. This is not meant to be a canyon carver, although Harley claims 38 degrees of cornering clearance even with its feet-forward cruiser riding position. This bike is said to combine the heart of a Superbike, the soul of a dragbike, and the style of a custom.

With any Harley-Davidson style is as big a part of the package as any other, and Willie G. Davidson led a group of engineers who worked in secret for years on styling the V-Rod. The biggest challenge was to incorporate the radiator into the package without detracting from the looks or performance of the machine. A lot of long hours in the styling lab and almost as many hours testing in a wind tunnel helped shape the shrouded radiator.

The Harley-Davidson V-Rod starts production in a Kansas City factory in August and will most likely be available in October for about $16,000 – $17,000.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Buell American Motorcycles introduced the XB9R Firebolt to the press and Buell dealers on Friday, July 13 in Los Angeles, California. Labeled a “Sportfighter,” the new bike features a mix of old and new technology in an interesting package for those looking for a real American sportbike. Think of it as a Harley engine in a 250cc Grand Prix race chassis.

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Based loosely on the Buell Blast’s engine architecture, the Firebolt engine is an air-cooled, 45-degree, two-valves-per-cylinder, four-stroke V-Twin. The engine is ram-air-fed through a downdraft intake tract, with an electronic fuel-injection system. The motor acts as a fully-stressed frame member but fights vibration with Buell’s Uniplanar rubber mounting system. Differing from a Blast with the addition of high flow heads and an all-new valve train, the Firebolt makes more than double the 32-horsepower of the single-cylinder Blast. The Firebolt delivers 92 horsepower at 7200 rpm and 68 lbs.-ft. of torque at 5500 rpm (at the crankshaft) and revs to 7500 rpm. The new powerplant is connected to a five-speed transmission that shares gears with the Blast. Different primary and final drive ratios allow the Firebolt to exploit its extra power through a zero-maintenance 11mm drive belt.

The big news with the Buell’s new middleweight is its chassis. The Firebolt boasts a 52-inch wheelbase, 21 degrees of rake and 3.3 inches (83mm) of trail, triple-adjustable inverted Showa forks, a fully adjustable remote-reservoir rear shock that acts directly on the braced swingarm, and a 385-pound dry weight. The bike’s 3.8-gallon fuel load is carried inside of its twin-spar aluminum frame rails and its 3.5-quart oil supply resides within the cast aluminum swingarm.

One of the more interesting items on the XB9R is its front brake system. Buell mounted a 14.76-inch (375mm) brake rotor directly to the front wheel’s outer rim, effectively turning the 3.50 x 17-inch cast aluminum wheel into one giant brake rotor. A specially-made Nissin six-piston caliper grabs the rotor from the inside. This system allows for a much lighter wheel to be used. A more conventional 9.0-inch (230mm) rotor and single-piston caliper work on the 5.50×17-inch rear wheel. Dunlop D207 Sportmax radials,120/70-ZR17 front and 180/55-ZR17 rear, will be standard on all Buell Firebolts.

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With or without the AMA and their Pro Thunder class, Buell and the Firebolt will go racing in 2002. With a race version already being tested and a customer race kit planned, Buell Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Erik Buell said, “We’ll make sure that our customers have a place to race it.”

Comments made by Erik Buell in the past suggest that the company wants the new machine to race in AMA 600cc Supersport, and hopes for appropriate rule changes to make that possible.

No final price or delivery date have been set for the Buell XB9R Firebolt, but Erik Buell says that it should arrive early in 2002 and under $10,000.

After delays due to technical problems finally resolved by Steve Bacon, here is the video showing white-haired Bob Bahre and brown-haired Gary Bahre screaming at then-AMA Superbike Operations Manager Ron Barrick at Loudon prior to the start of the 600cc Supersport race on rainy Sunday, June 17. Also seen on the video is white-haired AMA Pro Racing Director Of Competition Merrill Vanderslice, whose words cannot be made out, and rider Grant Lopez, who pleaded without success for a short practice session to allow riders to check out available traction on the artificially-dried track surface.

Lopez was attempting to mediate between the professional riders who follow the AMA circuit and the combined forces of the Bahres and Vanderslice, believing that the riders would take to the track if they had a short practice session. The session was denied, the pro riders sat out the race, and 12 mostly-local riders took to the track for the race, which was won by local star Scott Greenwood.

Note that many people witnessed the full-volume confrontation on pit lane, including Speedvision’s Greg White and his cameraman, a fact that refutes any claim the participants may have that the confrontation was private or that they had any expectation of privacy.

Watch the 6 meg video file
Another link to the video
Yet another link to the video

See related posts:

7/10/01, Updated Post: Videotape Of Loudon Confrontation Makes Best Case For Never Returning, Critics Say

7/11/01, Loudon Video Delayed Until Tommorrow; Wood Comments On Situation

7/11/01, Mladin Responds To Wood Charges Regarding Loudon

7/13/01, Miller And Rapp Back Up Mladin Version Of What Happened At Loudon