A reduction in available room and a lack of parking procedures and planning has left a total of 30 non-factory AMA race team transporters waiting at the Sears Point gate for the last five hours.

While factory and support team semi-trucks were escorted in and parked after mid-day and throughout the afternoon, non-factory teams and private riders have been left waiting at the Sears Point gate and, as this is posted, are still waiting at 5:00 p.m. PDT.

Prior to arrival at Sears Point, some teams who called the racetrack were told that parking for this weekend’s AMA National would start at noon, and many hurried to arrive in time to make that deadline.

According to AMA Superbike Operations Manager Ron Barrick, who arrived at the track about 2:30 PDT this afternoon and was reached on his cell phone just before 5:00 p.m. PDT, the hold-up has been caused by students taking a CLASS school at Sears Point spreading out all across the available paddock, blocking orderly parking of non-semi-truck transporters.

Barrick said that track officials did not think to contain the CLASS students in one area of the paddock to expedite parking of AMA teams.

Sears Point officials are now saying that no more vehicles will be allowed through the gates until 6:00 p.m..

Similar parking foul-ups have plagued AMA teams going back years at various tracks, and it is common for promised parking times to be missed, despite the fact that some teams and riders drive long distances day and night to make announced parking deadlines.

A similar delay was encountered by teams at Road America last June, for example.

This just in from Ducati:

“The Ducati Infostrada World Superbike Championship factory team completed a two-day Michelin tyre test at Sugo Sportsland on Monday 30th April / Tuesday 1st May, just 24 hours after Sunday’s round four of the championship at the
Japanese circuit.

“The two-day test, with Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus present for Ducati Infostrada, was hit by poor weather with occasional rain showers and strong winds, while air and ground temperatures dropped to 5° and 10°C (41-50 degrees F) respectively on Tuesday.

“Ducati Infostrada’s French supplier provided a series of new tires for the test and both riders were able to complete a full session despite the difficult conditions.

“Troy Bayliss, who finished 13th and 15th in Sunday’s two races, recorded an unofficial best time of 1:30.5 on race tires and 1:29.9 on softer qualifying rubber. The times were a slight improvement on those recorded by the Australian during the Sugo race weekend and are to be considered positive given the conditions.

“Ruben Xaus recorded his best time of 1:32.5 on Monday, when he also crashed harmlessly for the third time in four days at the circuit.”


The tests are significant because Dunlop has had an advantage at Sugo due to extensive testing at the circuit with teams in the domestic Japanese series. Dunlop has a large factory with a race tire development and manufacturing facility in Japan. Michelin’s situation in the past has been similar at Sugo and at Laguna Seca, where Dunlop riders have an advantage due to testing and development at those specific tracks.

Team transporter drivers arriving at Sears Point Raceway Wednesday morning to set up for this weekend’s AMA Superbike race found a paddock parking nightmare caused by ongoing construction of permanent garages. The construction takes up most of the paddock area usually used by semi-truck transporters.

The semi-trucks may have to be parked down in the turn one area, far from pit lane and the racetrack entrance and exit.

According to Roadracing World’s Chris Ulrich, reporting from the scene at 12:30 p.m. PDT, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be possible to fit in all the semi trucks plus the smaller transporters used by private teams. Adding to the space crunch is the presence of the usual tire-vendor trucks and trailers. “If they can fit everybody in, it’s really going to be tight and there’s not going to be much room to maneuver,” Ulrich said.

Sears Point spokesman John Cardinale was at an off-site press conference and could not be reached for comment prior to post time.

This release came in early Wednesday morning (1:50 a.m. EDT), from Ducati:

HMC DUCATI RACING

Scott Russell won’t be in the line up for Sears Point, and although he is recovering well from his injuries, it is impossible to say when the former World Champion will return to the grid. His teammate, Steve Rapp, will stay on and former Pro Superbike Champion and top World Superbike privateer, Andreas Meklau, will join him. Meklau brings with him his long time sponsor, Remus, which has come on board as one of HMC’s major sponsors. Remus is the world’s largest producer of racing exhaust systems and has sponsored many European motorsport teams.

Team Owner, Mitch Hansen, says with certainty that Russell is not being replaced: “Scott’s bikes will be waiting for him if and when he’s ready to come back this season. We will restructure the team to run three riders if necessary.

“We had some bad luck at Daytona, but I’m confident Steve and Andreas will rapidly turn things around. I’m proud of the team we’ve put together and have no doubt that the rest of the season will produce the results we’ve been looking for.”


COMPETITION ACCESSORIES DUCATI

There are no big announcements from the Competition Accessories Ducati–yet! Team Manager, Tim Pritchard, says there are sponsorship developments in the pipeline, but certainly nothing he is ready to disclose.

In his second season with Competition Accessories Ducati, Larry Pegram has high hopes for the second round of the AMA Chevy Truck Superbike Championship and as the sole rider, he certainly has the best technical help he could possibly ask for. “The key ingredient,” says Pritchard, “not just for Sears, but for the rest of the season, is having the best team structure possible. I’m confident that we have two of the best technicians in the world and when this confidence is carried over to our riders, the results show.”

HMC DUCATI RACING TEAM
Mitch HansenTeam Owner
Alistair WagerTeam Manager
Owen ColesCrew Chief/Engine Builder
Vittorio BolognesiData recording Engineer
Stig PetterssonSuspension Engineer


Steve Rapp’s crew
Anthony ‘Slick’ BassChief Technician/Chassis Specialist
Richard BoydTechnician
Patrick NephMechanic

Andreas Meklau’s crew
Charly Putz Chief Technician/Engine Builder
Mark SuttonTechnician
Mike NephMechanic

COMPETITION ACCESSORIES
Tim PritchardTeam Manager
Tom PavoniPress Officer
Pietro ComandiniData Technician

Larry Pegram’s crew
Kazuhiko MatsumotoCrew Chief
Massimo Capanna Technician
Claudio PeirretiTechnician/Engine Builder
Scott Orehek Mechanic

DUCATI NORTH AMERICA
David RoyRacing Manager
Gary Schmidt PR Manger
Jim ViolaNational Marketing Manager
Wendy HoggRacing Press Officer


A press conference has been scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 4 in the Sears Point Raceway pressroom. Any credential-holding journalists wishing to interview Meklau, Rapp, Pegram or Mitch Hansen will have the opportunity to do so during this 15-minute conference.

A limited number of places are still available in the Spectrum Paddock Club Suite at Laguna Seca for the American round of the Superbike World Championship Series, July 6-8. The Paddock Club will have a mini grandstand located at turn 10, adjacent to the Spectrum Hospitality Suite. The $495 Paddock Club package includes general admission and paddock pass for three days, parking pass, catered breakfast and lunch, soft drinks, beer and wine on Saturday and Sunday, live TV feed, event program and a pass for the hot pit-lane walk. More information is available from Greg Guthrie or Tony Bell at (949) 859-3186.

By David Swarts

In a weekend that saw over 2000 race entries and huge grids, Vesrah Suzuki’s Mark Junge was the big winner at the CCS races at Elkhart Lake April 28-29, taking home over $4700 in purse and contingency money. In Suzuki contingency money alone, Junge’s four race wins on Suzukis paid $3000.

Although the event was a dual sprint weekend with the same races running on Saturday and on Sunday, Junge and other serious contingency chasers used Saturday’s races for practice and concentrated on winning Sunday’s money-paying races. Junge won the SuperTwins race on his TL1000R, the Middleweight Supersport race on his GSX-R600, the Heavyweight Supersport race on his GSX-R750, and the Unlimited Supersport race on his GSX-R1000. In the 600cc and 750cc races, Junge took the wins over his Vesrah Suzuki teammate, Japanese journalist Daigoro Suzuki. In the Unlimited race, Junge bested veteran racer Ray Yoder. Junge said that on his GSX-R1000’s data acquisition system, he was reaching 178 mph on Road America’s long front straight.

On Friday, Junge co-rode with Jerry Russell and Jesse Basile to take the Engine Ice 200-mile Team Challenge Overall and GTO class win on a GSX-R750. During practice for the endurance race, Junge took his GSX-R1000 out to set-up as a back-up bike. During the session, Junge said that the speed difference on the front straight between his GSX-R1000 and the Suzuki SV650 run by Amateur teams was at least 40-50 mph.

Club racers competing in a CCS event at Road America, a WERA event at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway and a CMRA event at Texas World Speedway signed up for a total of 3146 race entries this past weekend.

According to a press release issued by CCS, the race at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s Road America drew 2024 race entries. A BBS posting by WERA Operations Manager Sean Clarke said that the event at Talladega, Alabama attracted 225 riders and 650 race entries. And a BBS posting by CMRA Race Director Charles Brothers stated that the event at College Station, Texas drew 472 entries.

A race entry is a single entry in a single race. If one rider enters two races on a weekend, that counts as two entries.

At an average price of $50, 3146 race entries totals $157,300 in entry fees alone on a single weekend. Add in tires, race gas, parts, lodging, transporter fuel, gear, and other expenses and it’s obvious that club road racing is a major contributor to the health and well-being of the motorcycle industry as a whole.

New contributions trickled into Roadracing World headquarters for our expanded Air Fence drive, with publisher (and former racer) Reg Kitrelle kicking in $500, racer Brian Cincera sending $250, Ann Sands (Chris Ulrich’s grandmother) sending $100, and Norm Brown donating $50. That brings our Air Fence fund total to $107,351 raised in 13 days.

When our Air Fence fund got up over $104,000 and with negotiations with AMA in full swing (maybe we should say, slow swing, sometimes it seems like we’re trying to speed up a glacier) over cooperative deployment, we figured it was time to designate new donations towards Air Fence for use at non-AMA races.

All contributors will still be listed in the contributor list, but additional donations pledged (as a result of our website postings) after 9:00 a.m. PDT Friday, April 27 are not being used for the purchase, transport, maintenance and deployment of Air Fence at AMA races. Instead, the additional money is being used to obtain and deploy Air Fence for the protection of racers at non-AMA events.

Many of the riders who compete at AMA races also compete in, for example, Formula USA races and WERA National Challenge races as well as at their home tracks.

And, as Metzeler/Pirelli’s Andreas Bronnen, himself a racer, points out, we need to protect all our racers and try to prevent all serious injuries, because “For me there is no difference if some guy gets killed in an AMA or CCS race,” such an event is equally tragic no matter what the sanctioning body.

So we’re continuing the Air Fence fund for the overall good of our racers nationwide, no matter what their sanction or affiliation.

Our first additional project will be to fund four sections of Air Fence for use in the turn at Texas World Speedway where Ryan Smith died two seasons ago, with use of the sections (we hope) to be shared by CMRA and RPM when the Texas-based organizations hold races at Texas World.

It’s notable that this news has not set off a flood of new contributions from Texans or people who race at Texas World Speedway. And while several good-hearted Texans stood up and tossed their money into the hat when we first started this project, we still have to ask of the rest of the people in Texas, where are you?

Meanwhile, anyone who has already mailed a contribution we have not yet received, and who objects to the continuation of the Air Fence project with funds directed at non-AMA races and venues, should contact us for a complete refund. All funds received prior to April 27 at 9:00 a.m. PDT will go towards the use of Air Fence at AMA events or at AMA-sanctioned events, or at events at which AMA officials wish to deploy Air Fence.

Direct questions/comments to [email protected]


Along with his donation, Team Ten 40 Racing’s Cincera sent a note that read “Big brass balls, as usual. Thanks for being one of the few to take action instead of just talking. Here’s my check, I wish it could be more. Keep going.”

Some earlier contributors sent notes and letters, including these two:

Scott Willock: “The Air Fence drive is doing great! I would like to make a request. Earlier I contributed $1000, and I was wondering if you could add a note next to my name on the list ‘In Memory of Larry Schwarzbach’. Larry and I started running AMA Nationals at about the same time, and since no one has mentioned him yet, I would like to be the one to honor him. He was a good kid. Thanks.”

Jeffrey Fillmore: “When I called this morning to donate to the Air Fence fund, I quickly realized that it was probably the easiest $200 I’ve ever spent. If I ever see even just one rider go into an Air Fence instead of a concrete barrier or steel rail and walk away, I’ll know that I was a small part of something that made a difference.

“I also realized that, although obviously not his intention, John Ulrich has played a pivotal role in
motorcycle road racing with this one action. Once these Air Fence modules are deployed, I can’t imagine
Pro Racing ever going back to racing without them. As such, John has made a huge stride in ensuring that
another needless, wasteful, and PREVENTABLE death or career-ending injury doesn’t have to happen. Any future American National Champion or World Champion who has been spared death or serious injury by an Air Fence at any time in their career will owe John Ulrich a small piece of that Championship.

“Thanks, John, for standing up and making a difference.”



The updated list of contributions now reads:

Erik Buell/Buell Motorcycle Company $5800
Trent Thompson/Paramount Racing $5000
Anonymous $4725
Dynojet Research $3200
Steve Brubaker/Race Tire Service $3000
John Ulrich/Roadracing World $2900
Aprilia USA $2900
American Suzuki Motor Corp. $2900
Ducati North America $2900
Jonathan Glaefke $2900
Susie and Bruce Meyers/BCM Racing Ducati $2900
Wegman Benefit Fund/Gordon Lunde Sr. $2900
Performance Machine $2900
Dunlop Motorcycle Tire Co. $2900
Max McAllister/Traxxion Dynamics $2900
Wendell Phillips/Lockhart Phillips $2500
Advanced Motor Sports/In Memory of Dirk Piz $2000
L.A. Bikers/labiker.org $1810
Dennis Smith/Sport Tire Services $1500
Marc Salvisberg/Factory Pro Tuning $1450
Bob Dragich/Roadracing World $1450
Fred Renz/Yoyodyne $1450
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing $1450
Bob Blandford/N.E. Sportbike Assn. $1100
Chuck Warren/Arclight Suzuki $1000
Jim Rashid/4&6 Cycle $1000
Scott Willock/In Memory of Larry Schwarzbach $1000
Don Emde/In Memory of Cal Rayborn $1000
Jason Pridmore’s Star Motorcycle School $1000
Mark E. Dobeck/Techlusion Performance Group $1000
G.M.D. Computrack Network $1000
California Superbike School $1000
Tachyon Racing/Tachyon Sports Injury Research Foundation $1000
Intrepid Café Racers $775
Yoshimura Racing $750
Team Daemon Racing $600
Don Lemelin/Scuderia West $500
Kevin Erion/Erion Racing $500
Pinky’s Pizza of Walnut Creek $500
Doug Gonda $500
Jerry Wood/Penguin School $500
Mike Canfield/Chandelle Motorsports $500
Jim Davis/J6 Racing/In Memory of Dirk Piz $500
Brooks Gremmels/Shogun Motorsports $500
Jim Di Salvo/Alien Racing $500
Dale Kieffer/Racers Edge Performance $500
The Plummer Menapace Group $500
Reg Kitrelle $500
Bill St. John/Project Monza $400
Jon Rust $400
Jerry Jirkovsky $330
Richard Hood/Reptillian Racing $300
Edward S. Siccardi, Jr. $300
Dan Fischer/Copier1.com $300
David Finniff $300
Marietta Motorsports $300
Brendan Guy $300
Dean Scarpa $300
Anonymous $300
Kurtis Roberts $300
James Siddall/World Sports/Corbin Grand Prix $300
Scott Fisher/Fisher Technical Services $250
Chris Pyles & Beth Walters $250
Peter Hively $250
Brian Mitchell $250
Al Ludington $250
Tim Simpson $250
Spectrum Motorsports/VJB Racing $250
David Roy, Ducati N. America $250
Debbie Roy/Frenotec $250
Joshua Hayes $250
Gina Nadeau $250
Jeannne Pyles $250
John Ross/Ross Racing $250
Brian Cincera $250
Papa Thiam/WERA BBS $200
Bill Capshaw/ICE Motorsports $200
Scott Decker $200
Terry Embury $200
Jim “Dutch” MacKenzie/WERA BBS $200
Scott Jenkins/Desmoto-sport $200
Cliff Nobles $200
Aaron Yates $200
Jodie York/RPM Cycles Ventura/WSMC #11 $200
Mostro.org/Jeffrey Fillmore $200
Jeff Bowis $200
Rich & Lynda Alexander/In Memory of Dirk Piz $200
Nils Menton $200
MZ Scorpion Cup Racers $175
Chris Kelley/California Cycleworks $150
Robb Mc Elroy $150
Tim Chin/Team Bandit $150
Ed & Catherine Sorbo $150
Damon Buckmaster $150
Chris Hamilton/Grand Prix Direct $150
Jim Williams/13x.com $125
David Boosales/WERA BBS $125
Mike Brown/Team 222 $125
Chris Normand/Firestorm Racing $101
Pat Stricker $100
Gary Rand $100
Michael Roberson/WERA BBS $100
Sean Jordan/WERA BBS $100
Army of Darkness $100
Stuart Gregg $100
Pinky’s Pizza/Lippman Racing $100
Bob Szoke $100
TyrSox $100
Ron West/Omzig Productions $100
Joe Facer $100
Preston Rash $100
Geoff Maloney/GP Tech $100
Melissa Berkoff/Neighbor Of The Beast $100
Caesar Gonzales/WERA BBS $100
Dorina Groves $100
Dorina Groves $100/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Philip Rusin/RC51.net $100
Allen “Spence” Spencer $100
Matt Wadsworth $100
Dean N. De St. Croix $100
Tony Tugwell/TZ250.com $100
Bart Fuqua/Team LGC $100
Brian Stokes/Marietta Motorsports $100
Chris “Opie” Caylor/Marietta Motorsports $100
David McElvain/NEDoD $100
Ned “Peanut” Brown/NESBA/TPM $100
Vance Hacecky $100
Patrick Mee $100
Dave and Jason Parker $100
Paul Kingsburgh/RC45.net $100
Lucky Deleoni $100
Tom Drumm $100
David Brown $100
Steve Moonitz $100
Jake Swan $100
Chris Story $100
Chris Eklund $100
Randy Ball/WERA BBS $100
Mark Hellvig $100
Gary Schilling/On Time Racing/WERA BBS $100
Steve Sumner $100
Laura Granato/WERA BBS $100
Norm Viano/Lawdog Sports Mgmt $100
Kevin Jordan/Jordan Motorsports $100
Val Gregory/In Memory of Dirk Piz $100
Dave Gess $100
Rob Berlind $100
Paul Black $100
Steve Hewitt $100
Mike Ciccotto $100
Tripp Nobles $100
Scott Rehl $100
Steve & Lorraine Aledort $100
Jeff Rozycki/29dreams.com Racing $100
Chris Ulrich/In Memory of Russ Paulk And Toby Jorgensen $100
Giorgio Milesi/Galfer Brakes USA $100
Al Lyons/CMRRA $100
Linda Hopkins $100
John Hopkins/In Memory of Jamie Bowman and Toby Jorgensen $100
Vicky&Michael Menard $100
Silvia Salenius/Ducati.net Online $100
HG Racing/AMA Pro Thunder $100
Red Fox Racing $100
Greg Ruffin $100
John Donald/PTC Racing $100
Larry Pegram $100
Pamela Skaff/WERA BBS $100
J.D. Hord/Meccanica Corse Racing $100
Mark Sutton $100
Steve Scott/LRRS#47 $100
Eric Putter $100
Jim Doerfler $100
Ira Englebardt $100
Joe & Nancy Fenech $100
Earl Hayden $100
Chuck Sorensen $100
D&D Thrush Farms $100
Jeff Wilson/American Suzuki $100
Adam Vella/Webcrush Racing $100
Chuck Gault/Motobama $100
Gary Longren $100
Stephan Hottenrott $100
David Kunzelman $100
C.R. “Critter” Gittere/WERA BBS $100
John Light/Lightsmith Racing $100
Ken & Arlene Block (Ed Sorbo’s Mom) $100
Chris Link/CMRA/In Memory of Jamie Bowman $100
Josh Steinberg $100
Broad Squad/CCS NE $100
Logan Young $100
Bob & Sherrie Young $100
Ann Sands $100
Tyson Kamp $75
Vito Dionisio/WERA BBS $75
Erica B. Smith & John F.X. Walsh $55
Max Buxton/NEDoD $50
Nelo Hakola $50
Tyler Sandell $ 50
David J. Kopfinger $ 50
Aaron Loyd $50
Martin Voelker $50
Steve Hopkins $50
Louis DeBlois $50
Leigh Taunton/EMGO $50
Randy Sinisi $50
Danny Hull $50
Team Skidmark Racing $50
Ryan Meskimen/WERA BBS $50
Erik Astrup $50
Paul Zavada $50
James Greeson/WERA BBS $50
Victor Mokler $50
Steve Clark/J. Guthridge/Tight Squeeze Racing $50
Nate Olsen $50
Anthony Moey $50
Dustin Miller $50
Jim Frost/NEDoD $50
Steve Martinez $50
Jason Temme/Serpent Racing $50
Mike Hodgson/WERA BBS $50
Chris Borre/Motorcycleroadracer.com $50
Richard Barker/AIM/In Memory of Dirk Piz $50
Mike Reish/Reish Dot Net $50
Kenyon Kluge/K2 Racing $50
Darin Nichols/Team Unit $50
Richard Davis $50
Allen Lyon/Ducati.net Online $50
Eric H. Mathy $50
Steve Breckenridge $50
Jim Race/Speaksy Racing $50
James Aragon $50
James Hayton/Kochenbaulz Racing/WERA BBS $50
Anthony D’Augusta $50
Norm Brown $50
Don Moody $35
Lindsey Leard $30
Dave Deggendorf/WERA BBS $30
Steve Sturm/Squidvision Racing $30
George Gervasi/Projekt9 Racing $30
Bob Elam $30
The Heidepriems/WERA BBS $30
Kimberly Scheffel/rider/race fan/pit keeper $30
Greg Gabis $29
Ripley Howe $29
Mark Hatten/Meccanica Corse Racing $29
Ted Angle $25
Susanne Hopkins $25
Nolan Ballew $25
Josh Loberant $25
Charles Tomes $25
Jon DeMent $25
Timothy Wilson $25
Mark Novak $25
Rene Ferron $25
Sean Patrick Brisini $25
Richard Korol $25
Eric and Christine Loranger $25
Dee Moses $25
Kyle Kirschenmann/Bayou Riders of Louisiana $25
Marc Asmus $25
Mike Henry $25
S.C. Pittman $20
Jamieson D. Yonker $20
Garret Swearingen $20
Darrin Zumbaum $20

To pledge a contribution, call Roadracing World at (800) 464-8336 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, when operators will be standing by. Credit cards accepted. Pledges can also be made by e-mailing [email protected]. Make checks payable to Roadracing World. Money raised will be used for buying Air Module/Air Fence sections, as well as for deployment expenses and for shipping, tax and import duties.