Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz is the Chief Instructor for a new Suzuki-sponsored riding school at Road Atlanta, with 11 school sessions covering 13 days scheduled for 2001. If all goes according to plan, each class will consist of 20-25 students who will pay $695 to ride a school-supplied Suzuki SV650, GS500, or GSX-R600 depending upon their experience level. Full riding gear will be available to students on a rental basis.

“This first year is going to be an experiment to see how it plays out,” said Schwantz February 20. “Jeff Shepherd (Director of Sales and Marketing for Road Atlanta) approached (American Suzuki Vice President) Mel Harris with the idea during the GSX-R1000 press intro in December. Road Atlanta wants to do more stuff with motorcycles like charity events, team instructional days, etc. For me it just makes sense because Road Atlanta is only three hours from my house.”

For more information contact Road Atlanta 1-800-849-RACE or go to www.roadatlanta.com. Scheduled dates follow:

May 15, 2001
May 16, 2001
May 21, 2001
May 22, 2001
June 29-July 1, 2001*
July 6, 2001
July 9, 2001
August 11, 2001
August 12, 2001
October 23, 2001
October 29, 2001

*International Dates

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

According to a source close to former Superbike World Champion John Kocinski, contract talks between Kocinski and Competition Accessories Ducati broke down over Kocinski’s requirements that Mike Watt be hired as his personal Ohlins suspension technician, that he be supplied with his own data acquisition technician and that he be provided with a chartered private jet whenever he had to attend a press or promotional function. Mechanics specified by Kocinski had already been hired by the team.

When Competition Accessories Ducati could not meet his new demands, Kocinski decided not to sign a contract, electing instead to concentrate on his new career as a real estate speculator and developer.

Aaron Slight has replaced Kocinski on the Competition Accessories Ducati team for the 2001 season.

Roadracing World was unable to contact Kocinski prior to post time.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Wrenchead.com has bailed out motorsports series sponsorship and will not be the title sponsor of the Formula USA National Road Racing Series or other motorsports series produced by SFX Motor Sports.

Despite assurances made by Wrenchead.com CEO Gus Conrades late last year, the company has not renewed its sponsorship deal with Formula USA, leaving the series scrambling for new sponsorship to make up the difference in revenue.

Last December 26, Conrades said that Wrenchead.com was renewing its sponsorship of the Formula USA Series. “That is the case. We are renewing the deal,” said Conrades in a telephone interview from his office in White Plains, New York. “There were rumors that we weren’t going to renew the series sponsorship, but that’s not true….We did look at a couple of proposals, and the rumor was kicking around that we weren’t going to be doing the series again. The reason is, the negotiations about how much money we were going to have to pay them (Formula USA) for the series sponsorship were going on. But it’s happening. We are doing the series again. That announcement should be coming out in the next couple of weeks.”

But the official announcement never came and the deal fell apart. In a January 20 phone call, Conrades said the Formula USA Road Racing Series “was the one thing we really wanted to keep, but it was just not in the cards for this year.” Conrades said that title sponsorship of the series was part of a larger promotional agreement his company had with SFX, which is also an investor in Wrenchead.com; that larger promotional agreement was being renegotiated for the 2001 season.

Besides the Formula USA Series, Wrenchead.com also sponsored Monster Jam monster truck events and Arenacrosses promoted by SFX Motor Sports.

As roadracingworld.com revealed January 15, Yamaha has been testing a new four-stroke racebike for months, but it’s an Inline Four, not the V-3 our sources led us to believe four weeks ago. The bike, already tested by Max Biaggi and by Carlos Checa at Yamaha’s Fukuroi test track in Japan and at Sepang in Malaysia, accelerates quicker and shows better top speed than the factory’s YZR500 two-stroke.

Codenamed the OW-M1, the 990cc engine uses Yamaha’s trademark five-valves-per-cylinder design and is housed in an adapted YZR500 chassis.

“I felt very at home because the chassis is so similar, it’s like riding the same bike with a different engine,” said Biaggi.

Biaggi and Checa are slated to ride the OW-M1 again before the start of the 2001 season when they will run a direct back-to-back test with the current YZR500. Biaggi believes it won’t be long before the four-stroke is faster around a racetrack.

Yamaha engineers have revealed that they have been track testing the bike for six months, with GP tester Kyoji Nanba doing much of the riding during secret sessions at Fukuroi.

Choosing a four-cylinder machine means that the Yamaha engineers will have to meet a minimum weight of 124 kilograms (273 pounds), the same as Honda’s V-5. There are higher and lower minimum weight limits for six-cylinder and three-cylinder bikes.

The AMA issued a February 20 press release headlined “Mehl To Consult AMA Pro Racing On Rules Making Procedures.” The release read:

“Leo Mehl, a leading figure in motorsports for over 40 years, will consult AMA Pro Racing in developing procedures for applying rules changes and formulating new rules. Mehl headed the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s Worldwide Racing Division for over 20 years, and recently retired as Vice President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Executive Director of the Indy Racing League.

“Mehl will study the current procedures of rules making used by AMA Pro Racing and report on ways he believes the sanctioning body can improve the process, including allowing participant input where more dialog can take place before a major rule is altered.

“‘It’s important to have someone of Leo Mehl’s stature and experience coming on board to help AMA Pro Racing update its rules making procedures,’ said AMA Pro Racing’s CEO Scott Hollingsworth. ‘Our goal is to create better understanding among everyone involved in AMA Pro Racing as to what our goals are before a change is made. Mehl’s knowledge in this area should help us reach our objectives.’

“During Mehl’s tenure at Goodyear he was a friend to motorcycle racing. Goodyear was a leading maker of motorcycle tires through the 1980s. Even after the company changed directions and got out of the motorcycle consumer market Goodyear continued to manufacture its popular dirt-track tires, which are still used today.

“Mehl, 64, joined Goodyear as a trainee in June of 1959 after graduating from the West Virginia University. A chemical engineer, he moved to Goodyear’s racing department in 1963 and helped develop the tires that put A.J. Foyt and Goodyear back into the winners’ circle in the 1967 Indianapolis 500. In 1974 Mehl was promoted to Goodyear’s director of racing. While at Goodyear Mehl worked closely with nearly all motorsports sanctioning bodies including the FIA (Formula One), NASCAR, NHRA, CART and the AMA.

“After retiring from Goodyear Mehl became the executive director of the Indy Racing League. He oversaw the day-to-day operations of the IRL during a period of significant growth and innovation. Mehl has won numerous awards and citations during his career, including being named the inaugural winner of the Motorsports Hall of Fame Heritage Award in 1993. The AMA presented Mehl with an MVP Award in 1996.

“For immediate post-race results, rider information, AMA Pro Racing notes and news, log on to www.amaproracing.com.”

The release came in the wake of recent strong criticism of AMA Pro Racing’s rules-making procedures, in which poorly-thought-out rules are changed or issued with no warning and no opportunity for affected riders and teams to comment beforehand.

Recent examples of rules being issued and then being modified in the face of an outcry from affected riders and teams include a rule prohibiting the use of powered quick-lift stands during pit stops (implementation delayed one year due to factory team objections) and a rule setting a minimum weight for all Pro Thunder-eligible machines (abandoned after it became evident that it would eliminate all machines except the Ducati 748 and certain works Buells). An example of a rule being issued and not being modified or retracted in the face of rider and team outcry is the mandate that Ducati 748s be limited to 750cc in 2001 instead of the 800cc allowed in 2000, the announcement made so late in the calendar year (first week of December) that many riders had already spent about $4000 (each) to build new 800cc engines in preparation for the 2001 season.

Racing observers remain amazed that AMA Pro Racing could not figure out how to develop a rational rules-making procedure without calling in an outside consultant. A rational rules-making process could be summarized as:

1. Identify need for new rule.

2. Do research and collect input on proposed rule.

3. Analyze research and input, modify or abandon proposed rule, as justified.

4. Publish proposed rule if research and input support its enactment.

5. Allow additional input for 30-day period.

6. Analyze additional input and modify proposed rule as needed.

7. Publish final rule.

Radar’s Team Yamaha riders Robbie Baird and Jamie Stauffer swept all four Formula Xtreme races in the opening event of the 2001 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State Series, held at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway on Sunday, February 18.

According to a press release issued by Radar’s Team Yamaha, Baird won three of the four eight-lap sprint races aboard his Yamaha YZF-R1, with teammate Stauffer awarded victory in race two after on-track-winner Baird was penalized one position and relegated to second. The release did not explain why Baird was penalized.

The release quoted Baird as saying “I’ve never ridden an R1 around here before, so it is a great result to come away with three wins. The result in race two ended well for us as there was a risk of a more severe penalty. I’m very happy with the performance of the bike. The speed, handling and tires produced the ideal package. The conditions were quite hot on the bike all weekend, so I was happy with my fitness level this early in the season. All four races were tight. The others threw out the challenges, but were not as consistent on the day. The track was beginning to get slippery in the afternoon but the tires were up to the task. Craig (Coxhell) had a go a couple of times during the last race, but where I expected him to challenge at turn nine, he wasn’t there.”

The release quoted Stauffer, (who finished fourth in race one, first in race two, fourth in race three and third in race four) as saying “Considering the very limited time that I have had on the bike and being with the team, I am more than pleased with the results from this weekend. It was a bit of an anti-climax to be awarded the win in the second race, so I am looking forward to when I can beat the others fair and square. The bike ran fine, but we’ve still got a bit of work to do to get more drive at the rear. That will come with time on the bike I guess. Being able to be part of the best team racing in Australia at the moment is great and I’m sure that I’ll be able to learn a lot. “

Radar’s Team Yamaha’s Craig Coxhell (who finished second in race one, crashed in race two, finished fifth in race three and finished second in race four), was quoted in the release as saying “Today was a bit of an up-and-down sort of a day. The crash in the second race didn’t help things at all. We were held on the dummy grid for a while
and I think that that allowed the tires to cool too much. I just lost the front on the way into turn four. I got the bike going again, but with two laps to go I was well out of the points, so I brought the bike in to get checked over. As for the other races, they were great. I felt that in the last race I might have had a good chance as I had a new rear tire on and Bairdy had one from the previous race. To his credit, though, he hung on out there.”

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Former Ducati General Manager Massimo Bordi has taken a management position at a tractor factory in Milan and his departure from Ducati was not entirely voluntary, according to sources deep within Ducati.

Bordi, who proved his worth as General Manager when he kept Ducati afloat in the difficult days of 1997 and 1998 immediately after its takeover by Texas Pacific Group, was recently passed over for promotion to CEO in favor of accountant Carlo DiBiagio, a common ploy used to motivate an unwanted excutive to leave. Bordi’s former position at Ducati, General Manager, has now been eliminated.

But why would Ducati want to purge the man who designed the original Desmoquattro and was behind the new Testastretta? Sources close to Ducati and Bordi said that Bordi was the only top man left who was an old-school, nuts-and-bolts motorcycle enthusiast, and that Bordi, an engineer as well as an enthusiast, had increasingly clashed with the marketeers and businessmen who now populate the upper echelons of Ducati management.

Bordi could not be reached for comment prior to post time. An announcement of his new position with the tractor manufacturer is expected next month.

Copyright 2001 Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The arrival of West and Gauloises as team sponsors means that the majority of top 500cc Grand Prix teams have cigarette backing for the 2001 season. West has come into GPs with the Honda Pons outfit of Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi, while Gauloises is title sponsor of the Tech 3 outfit that runs Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano. Those brands join Yamaha’s long-established title sponsor Marlboro, which has backed Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa since 1999, and men like Kenny Roberts the elder, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and Wayne Rainey in the more distant past.

Last year West sponsored the now-defunct Yamaha World Superbike team and the company also backs the McLaren F1 car outfit. Gauloises was big in bike racing from the 1970s to the early 1990s, enjoying a long involvement with the French Yamaha importers Sonauto. Gauloises came back into GPs last year as associate sponsor of the Red Bull WCM team, an association that has continued into 2001.

Spanish cigarette brand Fortuna has also raised its involvement, buying space on the fairings of the Telefonica Movistar Suzukis of American Kenny Roberts and Spaniard Sete Gibernau, as well as the Telefonica Movistar Honda 250s of Daijiro Katoh and Emilio Alzamora. Fortuna is also a personal sponsor of former 500cc World Champion Alex Criville. And another brand, L&M, has its livery on the fairings of the works Derbi 125s and also on those of Ducati World Superbike man Ben Bostrom.

Tobacco sponsorship is due to be banned in Europe from the end of 2006.

Crews are building a new entry gate at Sonoma, California’s Sears Point Raceway to ease traffic congestion at the existing Gate 1 on State Highway 121. The new Gate 7 will be 80 feet wide with six traffic lanes and a new half-mile-long staging area off Highway 121, allowing officials to move more vehicles off the highway during major events.

A press release announcing the new gate quoted Sears Point Raceway President and General Manager Steve Page as saying “Relieving race-day traffic congestion is one of our fundamental goals. The addition of this new entrance will be a tremendous boon both to Sears Point fans and to folks who are simply traveling through the area on major event days.”

Gate 1 will still be used for credentialed personnel such as racers, crew members and media representatives.