From a press release:

BIRDS FLY!

Valencia, Spain 26th January 2002

Team Yamaha Belgarda riders Jamie Whitham and Paolo Casoli completed a successful two-day private test at the Ricard Tormo circuit, Valencia and are looking forward to season ahead. The Iberian track saw the whole Yamaha Belgarda team together for the first time since last year and a lot of good work was done and useful information gathered. The highlight of the test was Jamie Whitham who smashed the lap record by a second!

The first test of the 2002 season saw the team make substantial forward steps, led by crew chief Silvano Galbusera. Last season’s race at the Valencia circuit was not a happy hunting ground for the team. Paolo Casoli could only manage twelfth place in the race and Jamie Whitham suffered a crash ­ fortunately without injury.

Jamie Whitham’s best time last year was 1:40.584, but at the test he thoroughly got to grips with the circuit and blitzed round in 1:38.9. His team mate Paolo Casoli doesn’t like the track much because it is slow and not very technical, but nonetheless managed to post a lap of 1:39.4 – over a second better then his best lap last year. Both riders were happy at the progress made and put the superb results achieved down to the consistent hard work carried out by the team.

HARD WORK
The test programme at Valencia was very intense. There were some new Ohlins forks to try out together with a new Ohlins rear shock absorber TT44, originally developed for Superbikes. The shock allows the rider to try and balance the bike in the best possible way and let the rider put the power on the track as required.

There were also and some new engine components and some new electronic parts in the ignition system to try out. The Valencia tests allowed the riders and mechanics to gain a lot of valuable information and the result was a substantial improvement on last season.

INTENSE PREPARATION
This year, the Yamaha Belgarda Supersport team (in conjunction with Yamaha Belgarda) decided to embark on a substantial preseason test programme starting with Valencia in preparation for the first race of the year at Valencia on March 10th. Before then the team will take part in further tests at an Italian circuit, probably Misano. The team will then return to their workshops in Gerno di Lesmo, where they will prepare four new 2002 R6 Yamahas ­ two for Whitham and two for Casoli. After that they head back to Spain and will test at Cartegena before the official SBK organised tests at Valencia on 23rd, 24th and 25th February.

THE THOUGHTS OF MAIO
“There is a lot of stuff to try out and test and sometimes when there is a lot to do, it’s easy to get confused and go backwards. But so far, our tests went well and I’m really pleased with the progress the riders and the team have made. Dunlop also put in a lot of good work and we feel that their tyres will give us a consistent advantage.

“The times achieved by Jamie and Paolo confirmed the progress we made and gives us great encouragement. Jamie really surprised me. Normally he is not very good in tests or in practice and I’m surprised how easily he got down
to good lap times before going under the lap record. I’m also pleasantly surprised at Paolo. I know he doesn’t like the track, but he worked hard at it and put in some really impressive times.

“Thanks to all the hard work put in by everybody we have a fast bike, a superb team and two exceptional riders. Now we are ready to take on anybody in 2002.”

Clear Channel Entertainment Motor Sports has agreed to transport and deploy 20 sections of Air Fence for the 2002 WERA Grand National Finals/Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta.

The annual WERA season finale is scheduled for October 23-27.

The 20 sections of Air Fence were provided for F-USA and CCS use by the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, and will be transported via CCE truck from the October 16-20 F-USA/CCS Race of Champions at Daytona to Atlanta.

The deal for deployment at Road Atlanta was reached Tuesday, January 29 by John Ulrich of Roadracing World and Roy Janson of CCE Motor Sports.

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, Inc. has agreed to cover any repair and/or replacement costs related to the deployment.

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

Bidding on Eric Bostrom’s leathers to benefit the Roadracing World Air Fence* Fund stalled at $2000 with under three days left in an auction on eBay.

grocezx7r led the bidding ahead of wera163, koups.com and [email protected].

Kawasaki factory racer Eric Bostrom donated the custom-designed Alpinestars motorcycle racing leathers, which he wore during the 2001 AMA Superbike Championship series in which he finished second in points.

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The suit is one of only three made for Bostrom during 2001 and was worn by the young Californian in his AMA Superbike race win at Laguna Seca. Bostrom was featured on the cover of Roadracing World magazine wearing these leathers as he dragged his elbow during the race at Laguna Seca. The suit has a 2.5-inch drag mark on the left elbow where it came in contact with the pavement.

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Bostrom also wore the suit during tire testing at Daytona International Raceway in December 2001 where he crashed, scuffing the right arm, hip and seat areas of the suit.

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The green, silver and black garment was made in Italy and includes all of Bostrom’s team and personal sponsor logos for the 2001 season in addition to custom-made A&G knee sliders that display Bostrom’s initials. The suit retains its interior body armor, padding and removable liner. Bostrom added his autograph in permanent paint marker just below his lettered name and American flag patch on the aerodynamic hump on the back of the suit.

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In donating the leathers to be auctioned off for the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, Bostrom said, “It’s the least I could do, you know. You guys have shown such a big effort and really went out of your way to put your heart into this effort. Anything I can do, for sure I’m there. Hopefully somebody will feel the same way and pay a few bucks and have a pretty cool set of leathers.”

All proceeds from the sale of this leather suit minus the cost of eBay and escrow services will go to the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund. The Roadracing World Air Fence Fund was established to raise funds to purchase and deploy inflatable Air Fence and Air Module soft barriers to protect crashed riders from hitting walls and other hard objects at racetracks.

To go directly to the auction on eBay, click on the link below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1801269462

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

From a press release:

Underground Pedestrian Tunnels Complete
at Sears Point Raceway

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Construction work is complete on two underground pedestrian tunnels at Sears Point Raceway and both will be operational for the 2002 main-event season.

The tunnels, which are part of Sears Point Raceway’s $50 million Modernization Plan, will expedite pedestrian traffic flow around the property on major-event weekends, including the Dodge/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Winston Cup and NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals.

One tunnel will be located on the west side of start/finish line adjacent to the new permanent grandstand. The start/finish tunnel will connect the paddock with the Turn 10 vendor area. The other tunnel will be located in Turn 10 and connect that area to the Gate 3 fan entrance and shuttle stop. The location of the tunnels will give fans much better access to the facility.

Each tunnel will be 20 feet wide, with the start/finish tunnel spanning 270 feet long. The tunnel under Turn 10 is 130 feet long. The tunnels replace the bridges that were previously used at Sears Point Raceway in those areas and will increase the sightlines of the road course and drag strip dramatically. Fans sitting in the new permanent grandstand at start/finish will now see about 65-percent of the road-course action, including the most high-speed segment of the circuit at Turn 10.

“These tunnels are going to be a huge plus during our major events,” said Steve Page, president and general manager at Sears Point Raceway. “The strategic placement of these tunnels will enable our fans to better circulate around the property, whether it’s to get to their seat in the new permanent grandstand, or to board a shuttle bus to move around the facility. Fans will also enjoy the tremendous sightlines that have opened up as a result of these tunnels. This will be unlike any other road course in that you will be able to see a large majority of the racing.”

Sears Point Raceway began its comprehensive modernization project in September, 2000, and since that time more than 8,000,000 cubic yards of dirt has been moved. The project will be nearly complete by the Dodge/Save Mart 350 in June and it will transform Sears Point Raceway into one of the premier motorsports and entertainment venues in the country.

From a press release:

Traxxion Dynamics will host a Grand Opening of our new facility at 261 Rope Mill Parkway in Woodstock, Georgia on Wednesday, February 6th, from 6:00 p.m. until ?? p.m.

We will have FREE food, and FREE drinks, as well as some nifty door prizes. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:00 p.m. for our new service department and machine shop. We would like anyone local enough to stop by and check us
out!

You don’t have to rsvp, but it would be helpful so we can have enough food! [email protected] is my email!

Hope to see you then!

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Fastrack Riders hosted the first track ride and practice day open to non-factory riders at California Speedway Monday. The event attracted several riders from the AMA national race series but overall attendance was held down by cool temperatures and weather reports that erroneously predicted rain all day. During the day, snow fell on mountain tops within sight of the track, but only a few sporadic sprinkles of rain hit the track itself.

The moral of the story may be, never believe weather forecasts, and always go to the racetrack.

On-track activities were delayed by water on the track, a remnant of heavy overnight rain. But while most of the course dried out, crews were unable to eliminate a combination puddle/river running across the final corner of the infield, just before the course rejoins the Speedway oval on the front straightaway; cones were used to slow riders and narrow the line through the submerged section of track.

Obviously, drainage needs to be improved in that part of the infield.

The Fastrack day was attended by the Kawasaki road race team, members of Kawasaki Motor Corporation’s Research and Development team, Bruce Transportation Group Honda’s Jake Zemke, 2001 AMA 750cc Supersport runner-up Vincent Haskovec, Laguna Seca 750cc Supersport winner Chris Ulrich, 250cc GP runners Ed Sorbo and Frank Aragaki and former WSMC Champion Jeremy Toye.

According to Team Manager Mike Preston, Kawasaki originally planned on only bringing Supersport riders Tommy Hayden and Tony “The Tiger” Meiring to the Fastrack day for extra seat time. But when he heard of the test, Eric Bostrom wanted to take the additional opportunity to ride and work on his ZX-7RR Superbike with his new crew; Bostrom drove to Fontana in brother Ben’s Hummer.

Bostrom spent some of his time switching between his 2001 forks and the new, gas-charged Ohlins forks that he has been testing this winter.
“We’re still working with our new suspension,” said Bostrom. “It’s been really bad some times at some of the places we’ve been so far, but we got it working better today. We’re definitely making progress.”

Bostrom had to work from feel rather than lap times; the AMA riders shared the track with club-level racers and track day participants during most sessions and sometimes cut through the 2.36-mile road course’s many chicanes to avoid close encounters with slower riders.

Hayden was lapping three seconds slower than his best time (and best 600cc time overall) from the January 14-15 test at California Speedway. Conditions Monday didn’t promote chasing lap records with temperatures in the low 50s and the river of water crossing the track where riders exit the infield and power onto the front straight.

Hayden crew chief Joey Lombardo also said that Hayden’s strong performance at the recent Laguna Seca test was done with “old school” methods. Hayden’s data-acquisition-equipped ZX-6R broke during the test in Monterey, and it was too time-intensive to switch all of the monitoring equipment to the B-bike. So Lombardo and Hayden continued to lower the lap times with their back-up bike through the use of seat-of-the-pants diagnostic techniques.

Meiring put in a large number of laps at Fontana while his new boss, Preston, got a chance to ride a ZX-6R with the Team Green R&D crew.

When asked why he came to Fontana, Zemke answered, “Because it’s snowing at my house!” Zemke, riding his personal Honda CBR600F4i practice bike, is much better off than he was this time last year, when he was recovering from surgery on an arm broken in an off-road riding accident. That injury prevented Zemke from doing any sort of physical training or bike testing prior to the Daytona race and made the former dirt tracker start the 2001 season with a handicap.

Working alone out of the back of his pick-up truck, Zemke fought a loose clip-on during the day but still put on a show. After passing one rider, Zemke backed his Honda into Fontana’s double-apex left-hander and laid rubber from the rear tire past the point at which his knee touched the ground!

Haskovec took time from his preparations to campaign the 2002 AMA season as a privateer to stop by the AMA series’ newest track to have a look at the facility. Haskovec, who didn’t ride, was amazed at how many riders showed up to participate in the Fastrack day at $295 per licensed racer and $350 per track rider; that fee included lunch and soft drinks.

Still recovering from the shoulder separation he suffered from crashing a Honda CBR954RR during a press introduction in Las Vegas less than two weeks ago, Ulrich did not ride but was on hand to see the California Speedway track for the first time and to assist his father, newly elected AMA Trustee John Ulrich, during his track testing on a TZ250.

Fresh from a two-day Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School, Toye used his Suzuki GSX-R750 to hound young Meiring during the afternoon’s best sessions. Of the Freddie Spencer school, Toye said, “I never knew who this Jeff Haney guy was before, but he is ‘The Man’! He was ripping, leading us around the place. Then, with his knee on the ground, he would take his left hand off the bar to sort of say, ‘I want you to hit this mark, this mark and this mark.’ Then he would slide the rear and wheelie out of the corner before he put his left hand back on the bar! It was pretty insane!” Toye added that Haney, a former AMA Superbike rider, was just as impressive during the dirt track portion of the school.

A resident of nearby Redlands, California, Sorbo came to California Speedway to test a new data-acquisition system and try to get a head start on his AMA 250cc Grand Prix competition. Sorbo also identified several concrete barriers which posed a potential threat to crashed riders and could easily be moved back to increase run-off room, one in particular placed in a section just before the flooded final corner.

Riders were unimpressed by the use of cones to form a chicane coming off the banking at the end of the front straight, and to form the pit exit.

Fastrack Riders has several track days scheduled for California Speedway as well as a four-event race series. The first Fastrack race weekend takes place March 29-31, one week prior to the AMA National.

In no particular order:

www.mbmotorsports.net

www.teamhammer.com

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This report from Jerry Wood:

At the LRRS awards banquet held in Stamford, Connecticut on Saturday, January 26th, New Hampshire International Speedway (NHIS) representative Bette French presented Dan Lance of Alpina Safety Systems a check to secure an order for 50 sections of Alpina Defender and Super Defender units.

This order is in addition to 20 units ordered by a LRRS rider’s group led by Paolo Tiramani. That group raised about $20,000 towards the effort.

Many riders expressed gratitude for the Bahre family’s commitment to motorcycle road racing.



(Background: NHIS, in Loudon, New Hampshire, is owned by Bob Bahre and run by his son, Gary Bahre. LRRS is the track’s racing organization, Loudon Road Racing Series. Jerry Wood, a long-time racer, is in charge of track safety for motorcycle events held at NHIS. Alpina Defender sections are non-inflatable semi-permanent soft barriers and are about 6.5 feet long each.)

Sidi, the Italian boot company, has signed a multi-year agreement to sponsor the MotoGP World Championship road racing series. According to the release, Sidi will receive trackside banner placement that company officials hope will help in their “quest for increased market share in the USA and Europe.”