Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Alex Florea’s AFMotorsports Michelin, the Michelin race tire distributor for races at Sears Point, Laguna Seca and Thunderhill, has launched a new website complete with secure online purchasing.

The new site is at www.afmotorsports.com.

From a press release:

HMC SAYS GOODBYE TO PICOTTE

HMC Ducati Racing must with great regret announce the termination of its working relationship with Pascal Picotte. The team and rider were not able to form the necessary bond needed to be successful in such a demanding sport and the difficult decision was made shortly after the Daytona 200 this month.

Team owner Mitch Hansen blames no one for the break in the union. “We have every respect for Pascal and his riding talent,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we were unable to find that necessary chemistry with Pascal. We wish Pascal all the success for the future and we wanted to cease the union early enough for Pascal to find another, more appropriate, ride to finish the rest of the season.”



Additional information from our research:

Reached by phone, HMC Team Manager Mark Sutton declined to comment on rampant rumors that Picotte will be replaced by Doug Chandler.

Reached by phone, Picotte’s manager (and former racer) Alan Labrosse said that he had heard of the change from HMC team owner Mitch Hansen at about 4:00 p.m. Sunday, and said of his conversation with Hansen, “He said he had come to the conclusion that it was in the best interest that he replace Pascal. He told me the chemistry wasn’t working, but I doubt that is the main issue here. I suspect it might be something else. He stuck to his story, I sense there is something beneath here, but the truth will come out.

“The chemistry, the tire test went very well, testing at Fontana went very well, Pascal had fast times, they had some Italian engineers there, as far as Pascal is concerned everything went very well.

“At Daytona there were a few gremlins but Daytona always brings out gremlins. As far as I am concerned there was nothing near serious enough to come to such a conclusion.”

Asked how Picotte was taking the news, Labrosse said, “He’s disappointed and frustrated, as any individual would be. Right now he’s at the gym.”

Labrosse added that Picotte’s recent experience with Harley-Davidson made him tougher mentally and that he was determined to carry on in his career.

Labrosse said that Picotte had a contract with HMC Ducati.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Pascal Picotte said today that he doesn’t understand why he lost his HMC Ducati ride.

“There’s no word really to explain how I feel,” said Picotte from his home in Quebec, Canada. “We started, testing at Daytona went pretty well. The Italian people were really behind us. They were pretty satisfied with the lap times we did. They actually went to our testing at Fontana, one of their engineers. We had a great test at Fontana with Roberto (Bonazzi), the engineer. He was really happy to have me on board with Ducati, and said that I was good rider and even a great person.

“Mitch (Hansen) must have told me 10 times a day that he was really happy to work with me and I was really the right person for the program. And then at Daytona I think we did pretty damn good, qualified under the track record. We were just managing to finish the race, we were still racing against Honda HRC, Yamaha Japan, all these guys, it looks like we are the big factory Ducati but we are still privateers, we are just buying equipment and doing the best we can.

“For me it was kind of tough to start at Daytona, it’s a tough week, a lot of people feel a lot pressure. You need to be really well organized, the pit stop stuff, it’s a tough week and we started the season with a race, it was our first race together. Everything turned out great except for one little incident with my crew chief.

“Mitch asked me if I wanted a new crew chief. He asked me if I wanted to work with Gary Medley. I thought, why not?

“Right after that, after I broke, he (Mitch) hugged me, and told me once again I was the right person for the program, he was happy to be working with me. I was getting ready to leave the racetrack, I said hi to a few guys, Mitch gave me a hug, said again I was the person for the program, he was really happy to work with me.

“From day one he told me he was not in any good financial situation with Ducati this year and appreciated that I was going to work with him, but that he was going to be loyal to me over the next couple years. We had a good chemistry between him and me, I never saw it coming.

“I gave him a call to see if he had any news on Gary. He said he’d give me a call. Next thing I know (manager) Alan (Labrosse) called me and told me it’s over. I was really shocked, it was tough emotionally.

“I was happy to be back on a Ducati. Not really doing anything wrong. Little things like that between a rider and a mechanic could happen, I don’t think I’m that bad of a person to actually get fired like that. All I said to him was, ‘Hey, Mark (Sutton), you want me to give you my leathers and see if you can do better?’

“The only thing I can understand is if Doug and Gary bring money, otherwise I don’t understand why to change.

“I think the crew chief wasn’t in his right position. He was an awesome mechanic probably, but put him back as a mechanic and bring in a crew chief. Mitch came up to me and asked me if I wanted a new crew chief, and mentioned Gary.

“I’m not 12 years old, and Mitch is not a baby cry also, we could have sat down and talked about it, sorted it out. I can’t believe I got fired for something like that.

“It doesn’t make sense like that. I worked with a bunch of different crew and never had any problem with anybody. That was the first time that happened with a crew chief in my life.

“He (Mitch Hansen) could have at least called me, talked to me, and said something. The guys was really nice and kind to me, he was a gentleman, then all of a sudden he turned out to be something really mean.”

HMC Ducati declined to comment beyond the press release originally issued by the team this morning.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Tom Houseworth has signed on with Blimpie Yoshimura Suzuki as Crew Chief and Superbike engine builder for Jamie Hacking.

And Jerry Daggett, who was working as Hacking’s Crew Chief, has signed on with Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki to work with Chris Ulrich, replacing Houseworth.

Hacking’s previous engine builder has left the Yoshimura operation.

Southern California-based Houseworth, who built engines for Yamaha for almost a decade before being let go in a downsizing move last fall, had been working with Ulrich and Valvoline EMGO Suzuki in AMA Superstock and other classes.

Daggett, who is originally from the same part of Alabama where the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki race shop is located and who started his race mechanic career with the team, has been talking for months about returning to Alabama from Southern California, where Yoshimura is located.

The teams worked out a swap and Daggett will now work full-time on Ulrich’s equipment.

A press release issued on the Valvoline EMGO Suzuki website, www.teamhammer.com, quoted Daggett as saying, “I’m excited to be going home to Alabama, to be getting back with my original team and to be working with Chris Ulrich. I’ve known Chris since he was a kid and I’ve watched him progress as an up-and-coming professional racer. I really feel he’s earned his spot on the team and I think I can make a difference in his program. I’m going to work 110% just like I have with the other riders I’ve worked with, and I look forward to seeing the #18 in the winner’s circle.”

Houseworth and Hacking also began their professional racing careers with Valvoline EMGO Suzuki.

From a press release:


For Immediate Release

STATEMENT FROM TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES LIMITED


NEWNAN, Ga., March 17, 2002 — Triumph Motorcycles issued a statement today that distribution of the Triumph range of motorcycles, parts and accessories and their warranty service will continue following a fire Friday evening, March 15th , which has affected part of one of their UK manufacturing facilities.

Karl Wharton, Managing Director of the Hinckley-based motorcycle manufacturer, says that work on rebuilding a section of their Jacknell Road production facility is due to start later this week. “The fire, which was confined to a section of the assembly area, was quickly brought under control and has only affected certain areas at one of our four production and distribution centers in Hinckley. No-one was hurt and all of our 650 UK staff are being informed that their jobs are secure,” said Mr. Wharton. “It will have no immediate impact on motorcycles ready for distribution held in our network of bike stores in the UK, Europe, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other countries,” he added.

Many staff have been working throughout the weekend with the Triumph management team, preparing for Monday’s clean-up and contacting the company’s worldwide dealer network to inform them that they can order parts and accessories on-line as usual.

“Stocks of spare parts and most ranges of motorcycles are available to meet immediate requirements in the UK. It is also the company’s policy to hold stocks of bikes at other distribution centers in Europe and the United States,” said Karl Wharton.

The preliminary investigation suggests normal manufacturing operation in the affected areas will recommence within four months. “Over the past three years Triumph has significantly expanded their manufacturing facilities in the UK to meet growing demand. This specific incident will not hinder the on-going success of Triumph,” said Mr. Wharton.

Triumph Motorcycles America, Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triumph Motorcycles, the manufacturer of Triumph motorcycles and accessories. Triumph Motorcycles America is located in Newnan, Georgia and services the Triumph dealer organization throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America.

From a press release:

Direct Ferries set to launch TT ferry service for 2003

Direct Ferries, Britain’s leading ferry booking service, today announced that they plan to offer sailings from mainland Britain to the Isle of Man for the TT festival in 2003.

The thousands of race fans who flock to the Island for the TT will welcome the news. The bikers have had only one choice of ferry operator for many years on their annual pilgrimage to one of the world’s biggest biking events. This situation has led to accusations that they are victims of a monopoly that leaves them paying one of the highest per mile charges for a ferry crossing in Europe.

Direct Ferries already offer the best prices for bikers wishing to travel to a host of continental destinations, including Spain, France and Holland. Their newly designed website is now open at www.directferry.com with automated online booking system. Bookings can also be made by using an e-mail form or by telephoning the Direct Ferries booking hotline on 011-44-1332-232-236 or e-mailing [email protected].

Direct Ferries offer the convenience of being able to compare and book travel with several leading ferry operators. There’s no need to ring around or surf several different websites, Direct Ferries offer it all at one stop, saving you both time and money.

More details of the proposed TT sailings will be announced soon.

From press releases:

Lockhart Phillips USA raffles TL1000 Suzuki Project Bike

Lockhart Phillips USA is raffling off a Suzuki TL1000 Project Bike with all proceeds going to the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund.

Lockhart Phillips USA hopes to raise well over $30,000 for the Air Fence Fund. The raffle began at the Indianapolis Dealer Expo 2002 Show and will be brought to a close with one lucky winner being drawn at the World Superbike event at Laguna Seca in July 2002.

So far, the raffle has raised a little over $4000, and Formula USA will be selling raffle tickets at registration during three upcoming F-USA races. In addition, tickets will be available at the upcoming AMA Nationals at California Speedway and Laguna Seca, in April and July.

The most enthusiastic supporters of the raffle so far are Matt and Doris Gobec, who have purchased 50 tickets for themselves alone!

To purchase tickets, log on to www.lockhartphillipsusa.com.

Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.

A common press release error is to write about the other guys. In the case of this release from Munroe Motors, it sounds like the team to sponsor is their competitor, AMS! And now on to the press release:

Daytona International Speedway, Florida
March 6th to March 10th 2002.

Bike week at Daytona opened unusually cool and cloudy as a 40 degree cold front moved through the area from the northeast. As last year’s champion Tom Montano and the Munroe Motors pit crew got their 2001 Ducati 748R and related equipment set up in garage #21, the strategies of the various rival teams of Pro-Thunder became apparent. Although the Munroe race team coffers are rather smaller this year than last, both the Buell and Jeff Nash’s AMS teams are splashing out big time. The Don Tilley and Hals Performance Advantage Buell teams are fielding the usual hard-charging suspects of Shawn Higbee and Mike Ciccotto on the new XB9-R Firebowl and Dave Estok, Michael Barnes and Tripp Nobles on last year’s racebikes. The Nasher too had been busy during the winter, and had procured Australian ex-Superbike champ and occasional World Superbike rider Kirk McCarthy to ride a new 2002 Ducati 748RS. Jeff is a Ducati race tuner by trade, operating out of his Advanced Motor Sports facilities near Fort Worth Texas, and when questioned by our mole as to how well his bike was running, Jeff said that he’d “found something new” in the porting of his cylinder heads. At first we were scoffing from our high ground as seasoned skeptics, but when our man Montano couldn’t pull closer in McCarthy’s draft while running hard and fast on the banking, we reversed our opinion and admitted that Jeff had built a good ‘un.

Practice sessions started Wednesday morning, and very quickly Tom posted lap times in the 1 minute 58 second bracket. Considering that last year, the fastest times all week in Pro-Thunder were 1 min 58’s, this year promised to be much more impressive. As Thursday afternoon’s 30 minute qualifying session drew closer, the Munroe team was testing various parameters of suspension and chassis settings to try and get the bike to ride smoother and turn better, so that Tom could get on the gas earlier exiting corners. The old axiom of racing is to concentrate on the corners that exit onto the fast sections of the track, as the rider will carry the extra exit speed all the way down the straight. Daytona being the ultra-high speed track that it is, this means that turn 6 onto the west banking, and the chicane driving onto the east banking are critical corners to get the bike to turn through and drive out of. The team had fitted some new front fork triple clamps that allowed for adjustment of steering trail by changing the fork offset, and we found a setting where the bike rode much better than with the stock Ducati triple clamps.

Thursday was clear, but cool, and the wind was about 10 knots from the east. Tom found that when riding into the wind on the west banking, the bike wouldn’t rev past 10,000 rpm in sixth gear, but it would pull 12,500 with the following wind on the start-finish front straight. We tried changing the fuel curve a little leaner as the day warmed up, but no gains were noted. During the timed qualifying session, Tom was running strong, but was stuck on a plateau of mid 1:57’s, just behind three of the Buell riders, and McCarthy, who posted a pole-setting time of 1:55.7, a lap record for Pro-Thunder at Daytona. So at the end we were fifth fastest, and placed in the second row on the starting grid for Sunday’s race. By contrast, the top 600 class times were around mid 1:53, the 750 class around a mid 1:52, and Nicky Hayden’s Superbike at 1:47.

A late Thursday practice session after qualifying was a real dud as our lap times hovered in the low 1:58’s. Tom reported that the clutch was going soft, the rear tire was spinning at the exit of turn 6 onto the west banking, and the bike was bobbing through the kink – which is a fast left between the International and the West horseshoe hairpin turns. After the session ended and before the pits closed at 7pm, we quickly fitted a brand new 48 tooth Evolution slipper clutch from STM of Italy, who sponsors the team with their products. The Ducati factory teams have been using the STM clutches since the Carl Foggy days – and when you take a tour of the factory museum, you’ll see them on the race bikes from the last 5 or 6 seasons.

Our two practice sessions on Friday morning showed no particular gains anywhere, but all the top riders were posting times in the same second. Daytona is incredibly hard on tires because it’s so fast. We found that our hard compound Dunlop rears were lasting for about 17 laps before going off – which means they start to spin easily at corner exits, and the rider tends to go sideways not forwards. We were burning through two rears and one front per day. In the afternoon, we decided to dyno the bike on the free mobile Dynojet dyno that appears at the national races. Our rear tire was shagged out from the morning practice, which is perfect for a dyno run which will spoil a good tire. We found that our Ducati RS engine has a large flat spot at 10,000 rpm – which explains Tom’s difficulty in driving into the wind on the west banking. This is a crucial problem because shifting up at about 12,000 drops the engine rpm into this power depression. We also speculated for our own amusement that Nash’s “discovery” mentioned earlier eliminated or reduced this flat spot that Ducati 748 RS engines have.

There is no track activity on Saturday because the AMA runs the Supercross races on the grass area between the pits and the start-finish straight. We spent a few hours performing maintenance on the bike and, after chatting with our buddy and tuner-to-the-stars James Siddall, we changed the front fork springs to a softer rate so the bike would ride lower through the corners at the front, and hold the exit line better. We took measurements and reviewed notes from successful races last year to ensure the front fork preload, compression and rebound settings were the best possible choice to be tested in Sunday morning’s brief pre-race warm-up session. A substantial change like this, made at the last moment, is always a gamble that you’ll improve the bike in the problem area more than you may lose performance elsewhere …as all chassis and suspension settings are a compromise, with the net result being measured by your lap times.

Sunday dawned bright and hot for the early morning short 17 minute warm-up practice. We had fitted new tires for the session, with the actual race tire on the front to scrub it in, and a practice tire on the rear. Tom took about 5 laps to get comfortable and up to speed, and then he shot into the pits for a quick adjustment, as the front end had felt low on the banking. We dropped the rear ride height a couple of millimeters and he went out again for the last few minutes. Only MccCarthy posted a quicker time during the session, and Tom said the bike felt like it was getting through the turn 6 and chicane better than ever – seems like the softer fork springs was a good choice.

The riders assembled on pit row for the race start at 11:30 am, after being on the tire warmers for about 40 minutes. We made one last adjustment to the forks, adding a little preload and compression to prevent the fork from bottoming out under hard braking. Tom had only bottomed the fork once all week, but in the heat of the battle, we know that he will brake even more aggressively. We had also fitted a new rear tire for the race. The riders took a warm-up lap, and lined up for the start. At the green light, Tom got a great start and went into turn one in about 3rd spot. From the pit wall, we could only see the front straight, but we could hear the commentary on the P.A. Two minutes later the riders come round into view – McCarthy was leading with Tom and a pack of three Buells in close formation right behind. Estok and Higbee were already out of the running – Estok fried a brand new clutch before even completing one lap, and Higbee had a misfire and was losing power. In the next few laps, McCarthy slowly eased away in front, turning lap times in the 1:55’s and 1:56’s. Tom also turned a 1:55 time on lap 2 and gained some space on the Buell hordes, but found that his rear tire was beginning to lose grip. As lap four came around, Tom was three seconds behind McCarthy, but Ciccotto was only two seconds behind Tom and starting to gain ground. He caught up on lap 6, and they had a good duel, swapping places a couple of times. It appeared that the Munroe Motors Ducati 748 had the legs on the Buell, and each time they came around, Tom was leading as they crossed the start-finish line, and we were sure that he would prevail at the checkered flag.

Then, at the start of the ninth lap, Tom tucked the front end at the apex in turn one and lowsided the bike. He jumped up and ran over to it, the left handlebar was bent down, the footpeg broken, but otherwise it was just scraped and dinged. He jumped on, got it started, and reentered the track in 8th place. The bike was hard to control in its bent condition, but he managed to pass a couple of guys to get 6th place at the finish. Up front McCarthy took a clear win, with Ciccotto now an un-contested second place and Michael Barnes following up in third. In a post-race analysis, we decided that the front had tucked probably because the chassis was riding a little too low at the front with the softer springs, and that we should have tried a higher ride height – given some more practice time. However there was a small consolation in the disqualification of the 4th place finisher for using an oversize engine. The class limits for a 4-valve Ducati is 750 c.c., and this illegal engine was measured around 860cc. The rider was protested by the 5th through 8th place finishers – who had all heard through the pit grapevine that his engine was oversize, and of course they had the most to gain. Our 6th place finish was thus transformed into a 5th place points result, and so the team heads to the second round of the series at Pike’s Peak, Colorado, at the end of May, holding 5th place in the 2002 AMA Pro-Thunder championship.

Team sponsors include:
Vehicle Systems,
Dunlop tires,
STM clutches and performance products for Ducatis,
Azione Moto, U.S. importer of STM, FG shocks and other performance products
Performance Friction Brake Pads,
Nutec Race Fuels,
Arai Helmets,
Alpinestars race apparel,
PVM Wheels,
and MBP Valve Retaining System for Ducatis
2000AD, Lamar Photography LLC