AMA Pro Racing just issued this press release:

“HACKING DISQUALIFIED FROM SUNDAY’S SUPERBIKE RACE AT ROAD AMERICA

“PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Jamie Hacking has been disqualified from the Sunday race of last weekend’s (June 9-10) AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

“During the red flag break in Sunday’s final, Hacking’s Team Suzuki crew worked on his machine in the paddock area, a violation of the following passage in the AMA Pro Racing rulebook:

“Chapter Two, Section I, Paragraph No. 4, ‘Only in the designated pit or work area may any adjustment, repair or refueling be made to competing motorcycles by pit crews during a race or during a red-flag period. Any motorcycle that enters the paddock/garage area will be prohibited from returning to the race track. Crash trucks retrieving disabled motorcycles from the track may pass through the paddock/garage area to deliver such motorcycles to the designated pit area.’

“Hacking will lose the points and purse he earned from his original 21st -place finish. Official results and points are modified to reflect this change.”

AMA 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme Champion Kurtis Roberts underwent surgery by Dr. Art Ting in California yesterday to relieve compartment syndrome in both arms.

In a phone call to Roadracing World this morning, Roberts said that the surgery involves cutting a muscle sheath to allow the muscle to expand, relieving a problem commonly known as arm pump. Dr. Ting recently performed the same surgery on Larry Pegram.

The symptoms of the syndrome include numbness in the hand and an inability to feel or properly operate the controls. Roberts had said earlier that his right hand went numb and he couldn’t feel the handlebar after three laps at Sears Point.

“I should be back for Mid-Ohio,” Roberts said. “It could be a little earlier, it could be a little later, but it likely will be Mid-Ohio.” The Mid-Ohio AMA National is scheduled for July 20-22.

Roberts also said that he did not have effective braking power when he hit John Hopkins, then running third, entering turn five on the second lap of the 600cc Supersport race at Road America last Sunday.

“They think maybe I got an air bubble in the system when I fell down,” Roberts said, refering to his warm-up-lap crash. “When I pumped the brakes I started to get some but not enough. I wasn’t even trying to make the corner, I was just looking for a hole and trying to get it slowed down enough so I wouldn’t hit the wall.”

About Hopkins’ anger at getting hit, (expressed by Hopkins flipping-off Roberts with both hands, and seen on the TV broadcast of the race), Roberts said “I know exactly how he feels. It’s happened to me.”

Roberts came to Hopkins’ pit immediately after the incident and told a crew member “Tell John I didn’t have any brakes. Tell him I’m sorry.”

When the crew member relayed that information to Hopkins, who was out on pit lane with the rest of his crew, Hopkins said, “Oh, okay.”

As quoted in a Ducati North America press release:

“These conditions make it so difficult for the riders. There is no wet practice, so no time to set-up the bike properly and no wet weather experience–that’s why there were so many crashes today. Thank goodness we have the Air Fence. We definitely need more of them.”

WERA racer Joseph Benedetto married Debby Hodgson June 10th in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Debby Hodgson is the sister of WERA racer Mike Hodgson.

Racer and Army Of Darkness crew member Nolan Ballew married Theresa Schehl on Saturday, June 9th in Washington, DC.

Final Race Order, After 10 Laps:
1. Jimmy Moore
2. Ben Spies, -0.226 seconds
3. Chris Ulrich, -0.258 seconds
4. Mark Junge, -7.435 seconds


Qualifying Times:
1. Jimmy Moore, 2:15.441
2. Ben Spies, 2:15.746
3. Mark Junge, 2:16.110
4. Chris Ulrich, 2:16.369

Race Times
Jimmy Moore, Ben Spies, Chris Ulrich
Lap
2. JM 2:15.136, BS 2:16.697, CU 2:15.126
3. JM 2:16.096, BS 2:16.848, CU 2:15.499
4. JM 2:15.825, BS 2:15.621, CU 2:15.743
5. JM 2:16.725, BS 2:16.267, CU 2:15.883
6. JM 2:15.790, BS 2:16.317, CU 2:15.929
7. JM 2:15.675, BS 2:16.030, CU 2:15.371
8. JM 2:15.936, BS 2:15.571, CU 2:15.760
9. JM 2:15.874, BS 2:16.328, CU 2:16.163
10. JM 2:15.565, BS 2:14.960, CU 2:15.501


Jimmy Moore
Fastest Lap 2:15.136
Slowest Lap 2:16.725
Average Lap 2:15.847

Ben Spies
Fastest Lap 2:14.960
Slowest Lap 2:16.328
Average Lap 2:15.916

Chris Ulrich
Fastest Lap 2:15.126
Slowest Lap 2:16.163
Average Lap 2:15.664


Positions at end of Lap One:
1. Spies
2. Moore
6. Ulrich


Positions at end of Lap Five:
1. Spies
2. Moore
3. Ulrich


Positions at end of Laps Six through Nine
1. Moore
2. Ulrich
3. Spies

A press release just received from Dunlop follows:

“Buffalo, NY

“Goodyear Dunlop Tire North America is pleased to announce the launch of a new web site dedicated to Dunlop Motorcycle Tires.

“This new Web site, located at www.dunlopmotorcycle.com, offers a clean, high-impact design and very intuitive navigation, with a stunning depth of motorcycle imagery. The new site allows customers to easily access tire information for their particular application, and is also full of useful tire tips, racing imagery and information, and features that offer insight into the sport of motorcycling.

“‘Dunlop is the leader in the motorcycle tire field,’ said Mike Buckley, vice president of Dunlop Motorcycle Tires. ‘We wanted a site that reflected our leadership position through high-quality design and innovative content. Dunlop has a great story to tell, and this new site allows us to tell our story in ways that were not available to us before. It also provides customers with a convenient means to communicate with the company. Dunlop places great value on the input received from the people who know our tires.'”

FIRST PERSON/OPINION:

A. Barrister, the noted Joint Venture lawyer who has periodically commented on the Edmondson v. AMA case, has commented on the AMA’s press release announcing its settlement with Roger Edmondson for $3 million.

The announcement of the settlement comes just months after the AMA heralded an appeals court ruling requiring a retrial on damages, spinning the decision as being a great victory. Which begs the question, if it was a great victory, and if they really didn’t do anything wrong, why are they now paying Roger Edmondson $3 million?

But on to A. Barrister’s comments:

“The AMA’s press release quotes AMA Chairman Rick Gray as saying ‘Our efforts to settle this matter when it first arose were unsuccessful and resulted in the lawsuit.’

“The Edmondson case has given the AMA many opportunities to practice the art of bamboozling its members, and this final statement from Mr. Gray is a truly masterful example. Mr. Gray omits that the AMA never made a reasonable settlement offer prior to the lawsuit. In fact, Judge Thornberg specifically ruled that the AMA had never made a reasonable settlement offer when he ordered the AMA to pay all of the costs of the lawsuit (including Edmondson’s attorneys fees) and the appellate court found no error in that ruling.

“Mr. Gray’s statement is the rhetorical equivalent of the German government issuing a press release to its people after losing World War II and saying ‘Our efforts to settle our differences with England were unsuccessful and resulted in our conflict.'”

A. Barrister



Speaking in the Road America pressroom June 9, AMA spokesman Larry Lawrence denounced the above opinion piece as being biased and unfair, specifically objecting to what he said was comparing the AMA to Hitler and Germany.

Terms of the settlement agreement specifically barred Edmondson from commenting on the case before the close of business Monday, giving the AMA time to spin the settlement.

This is a press release issued by Yamaha Motor Corporation:

“CYPRESS, Calif., June 8, 2001 – With the enthusiastic support of his family, Yamaha Racing Director Larry Griffis recently announced that he will retire on June 22, 2001. Larry’s Yamaha career spanned 23 years including a two-year stint with the Yamaha Service group and 21 years with Yamaha Racing.

“‘The timing is right for me and I am confident that Yamaha’s racing staff will give the best possible effort to keep the ‘BLUE’ motorcycles up front. I am also thankful for the privileges and opportunities presented to me in helping to guide the racing department into the successful and competent team that it has become,’ said Griffis.

“Griffis says he’ll spend time with his wife, kids, and nine grandchildren, as well as work on some home projects including two 1960s muscle car
restorations.

“When asked for career highlights, Griffis responded, ‘There was something memorable every year we were racing – even when we weren’t winning. However, I’m really proud of Doug Henry’s 1998 National Champion title win on the four-stroke YZ400. That was something special.’

“During Griffis’ career, he’s worked with many of motorcycle racing’s greatest champions including motocross racers Bob Hannah, Mike Bell, Broc
Glover, Doug Henry, Jeremy McGrath, Damon Bradshaw, Doug Dubach, Jeff Emig, John Dowd, Kevin Windham, and Yamaha’s two current Supercross/motocross riders David Vuillemin and Tim Ferry.

“In addition to the off-road riders, Griffis worked with road racers Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Jim Filice, John Kocinski, David Sadowski, Thomas Stevens, Jamie James, Colin Edwards, Rich Oliver, Tom Kipp, Scott Russell, and Yamaha’s current riders, Anthony Gobert and Tommy Hayden.”

Rodney Fee is in China and has established a website about his latest program.

http://www.geocities.com/RodneyFeeProductions/

Suzuki GSX-R1000 teams running in the SuperProduction class took the top five overall positions in the Endurance World Championship 6-hour at Brand Hatch on Saturday, June 9.

Suzuki Castrol Team won with 225 laps, followed by Zongshen Team with 225 laps, 1:06.226 behind. Phase One was third with 222 laps, Junior Team LMS was fourth with 221 and GMT 94 was fifth with 210 laps.

The first Superbike class entry was seventh overall.

Michael Barnes and Mike Ciccotti finished 15th overall, third in Superbike, and turned the fastest Superbike class lap of the event at 1:31.956. The fastest SuperProduction lap (and fastest overall lap) in the race was turned by Phase One at 1:30.340.