Daijiro Katoh was quickest in Saturday morning 250cc practice and Youchi UI was quickest in Satruday morning 125cc practice at Suzuka Circuit for the Grand Prix of Japan. Top times follow:

250cc Practice
1. Katoh 2:08.431
2. Locatelli 2:09.279
3. Nieto 2:09.289
4. Matsudo 2:09.575
5. Melandri 2:09.600
6. Battaini 2:09.617
7. Debon 2:09.908
8. Alzamora 2:09.978
9. McWilliams 2:09.979
10. Sekiguchi 2:10.739

Katja Poensgen was 31st quickest of the 34 250cc entrants, at 2:18.443.


125cc Practice
1. Ui 2:14.597
2. Azuma 2:15.211
3. Perugini 2:15.518
4. Cecchinello 2:15.607
5. Ueda 2:15.627
6. Giansanti 2:16.035
7. Elias 2:16.120
8. Borsoi 2:16.174
9. A. Nieto 2:16.470
10. Sanna 2:16.563

Yoichi Ui qualified fastest and earned the pole for Sunday’s 125cc Japanese Grand Prix, topping the time charts in the final qualifying session held Saturday afternoon Japan time. Top times follow:

1. Ui, Derbi 2:14.686
2. Poggiali, Gilera 2:14.832
3. Cecchinello, Aprilia 2:14.941
4. Azuma, Honda 2:14.986
5. Jenkner, Aprilia 2:15.253
6. Borsoi, Aprilia 2:15.292
7. Ueda, TSR-Honda 2:15.614
8. Perugini, Italjet 2:15.899
9. Sabbatani, Aprilia 2:16.265
10. Nakajoh, Honda 2:16.293
11. A. Nieto, Honda 2:16.414
12. Scalvini, Italjet 2:16.537
13. Hules, Honda 2:16.602
14. De Angelis, Honda 2:16.648
15. Kikuchi, Honda 2:16.713

Sonomafest 2001 begins April 27 with the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West, as the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) marks its fifth annual visit to Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Aside from the normal slate of racing, AHRMA will highlight Indian motorcycles to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary. Indian motorcycles will be displayed and Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman have been named Grand Marshalls. Hill and Tuman were both members of the legendary “Indian Wrecking Crew.”

Road racing, flat track, observed trials, motocross, a bike show, a swap meet, seminars, a vendor midway, and organized rides will all be part of the 10-day event, which concludes May 6 with the AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike races at Sears Point Raceway.

Tickets for the event are available by calling 1-800-870-RACE or you can call 1-800-AMA-JOIN or visit www.amadirectlink.com for more information.

BMW has announced the schedule for the 2001 Boxer Cup racing series to be held in conjunction with selected 500cc Grand Prix and Endurance World Championship rounds. In its third year of existence, the Boxer Cup requires that riders race on a close-to-stock version of the BMW R1100S with special mufflers boosting output to nearly 100 horsepower.

Organizers say that three-time World Champion Luca Cadalora and American Grand Prix hero Randy Mamola will participate in the series, which will be televised on Eurosport.

The series features a cash purse of 225,000 Euros (about $198,000) and the overall series winner also receives a BMW Z3 car. The series runner-up will receive a BMW R1150R with third place in the championship getting a BMW C1.

Bmw also announced that it will no longer participate in the Paris-Dakar off-road rally and that it will instead concentrate on the Boxer Cup.

2001 BMW Boxer Cup Schedule

4/14 Le Mans, France*
6/2 Mugello, Italy**
6/16 Catalunya, Spain**
7/14 Spa Francorchamps, Belgium*
7/21 Sachsenring, Germany**
8/11 Oschersleben, Germany*
9/15 Bol d’Or, France*
*FIM Endurance World Championship Round
**FIM Grand Prix World Championship Round

Valentino Rossi turned the fastest lap and his Honda NSR500 reached the highest top speed during the first 500cc practice for the Grand Prix of Japan, held Friday morning Japan time.

Rossi turned a lap at 2:06.602 and reached 300.6 kph (186.79 mph). The rider with the best lap-time-to-mph ratio was third-quickest Noriyuki Haga, who turned a 2:07.107 with a top speed of 290.9 kph (180.77 mph).

Top riders in lap time order follow:

1. Valentino Rossi Honda 2:06.602 300.6 kph
2. Tohru Ukawa Honda 2:06.997 298.4 kph
3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha 2:07.107 290.9 kph
4. Alex Criville Honda 2:07.290 295.9 kph
5. Loris Capirossi Honda 2:07.387 290.6 kph
6. Norick Abe Yamaha 2:07.450 292.8 kph
7. Shinya Nakano Yamaha 2:07.493 292.3 kph
8. Kenny Roberts Suzuki 2:07.506 289.5 kph
9. Max Biaggi Yamaha 2:07.512 298.2 kph
10. Carlos Checa Yamaha 2:07.748 294.8 kph
11. Alex Barros Honda 2:07.757 290.2 kph
12. Garry McCoy Yamaha 2:07.879 297.6 kph
13. Akira Ryo Suzuki 2:08.809 288.0 kph
14. Sete Gibernau Suzuki 2:08.894 293.3 kph
15. J.L. Cardoso Yamaha 2:10.172 286.8 kph

Multi-time WERA National Endurance and sprint champion Joe Prussiano is scheduled to ride in the 2001 Le Mans 24-Hour race April 14-15. Prussiano rode in last year’s event along with Shawn Higbee and British rider Kalvin Reilly on the Moto Gataka Endurance Kawasaki ZX-9R. Prussiano and team finished 11th in the Stocksport class and 19th overall out of 55 starters.

Prussiano also won the 2000 WERA 24-Hours West at Willow Springs last September, riding with Vesrah Racing.

For 2001 at Le Mans, Prussiano will team up with Scottish Champion racer Roger Bennett and a third unnamed rider on a kneedraggers.com-sponsored Yamaha YZF-R1. Although the team will feature the same crew that Prussiano worked with in 2000, the team will be called Bikeshire Motorsports. According to Prussiano, Bikeshire is the equivalent of Parts Unlimited in England.

Speaking to Roadracing World at the opening round of the WERA National Endurance Series at Texas World Speedway March 30, Prussiano said that the team’s entry with the FIM had been confirmed and the plane tickets were already purchased. Prussiano used the WERA race, where his team Clinton Cycles won the Mediumweight Superstock class, as a warm-up for Le Mans.

In 2000, Prussiano used the paid racing trip to France as a honeymoon with his new wife, former racer Barb Spears. Prussiano wrote about his experience in the June 2000 issue of Roadracing World.

AHRMA Trustees could be held personally responsible for any damages in the organization’s legal battle with Rob Iannucci and Team Obsolete if their acts are proven at trial to be intentional.

According to legal sources who are familiar with AHRMA and who examined Iannucci’s complaint, the AHRMA’s $3-million Errors and Omissions Directors and Trustees insurance policy may not cover any damages found to be caused by intentional acts.

Furthermore, the sources said, under Ohio law, AHRMA members are entitled to sue individual Trustees to recover any legal fees spent on defense as a result of intentional acts on the part of the Trustees. AHRMA is incorporated in Ohio.

AHRMA Executive Director Jack Turner has not returned a Roadracing World phone call requesting comment.

In response to a Roadracing World inquiry, Iannucci FAXed a press release which quoted him as saying “We have great respect for the contributions to the sport made by AHRMA and the AMA. Unfortunately the behavior of some of their leaders has cast a dark cloud over the sport which we believe must be corrected. Many owner-members not associated with Team Obsolete have been tried in absentia or otherwise badly treated. Hundred of thousands of dollars of AHRMA’s funds have been spent over the past several years on irrational and pointless litigation. We believe that AHRMA’s Trustees should personally reimburse AHRMA’s treasury for any and all funds that may have been wrongfully spent, and for all costs associated with this present litigation. We hope that this litigation will lead to an overall improvement in the state of Vintage motorcycle racing in the USA. We call for the immediate termination of (AHRMA lawyer Ted) Bendelow’s employment, the recovery of the huge fees paid to him by AHRMA, and for the resignation or termination of Jeff Smith, Stickler, Chairman Fred Mork, and others who may have breached their duties to the AHRMA membership…Of course we are prepared to sit down with any untainted representatives of both organizations, including ad hoc groups, in a spirit of goodwill, to seek a rational resolution to this litigation, and to the unfortunate circumstances that made it necessary. We would also like to hear from any AHRMA Trustees named as individual defendants who are ready to come clean and fess up.”

For more, see a related April 3 posting in the Breaking News Archives.

According to a press release issued April 5, “Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has inked a title sponsorship deal with the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) to become the title sponsor of Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. With this agreement, Mazda becomes the first auto manufacturer to be the title sponsor of a major motorsports facility. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.”

The release also stated, “As part of the sponsorship, MNAO will utilize the track for new vehicle introductions, media and corporate hospitality, advertising and promotions, product development and employee training.”

The five fastest machines in terms of top speed during the first 125cc practice session at Suzuka were Hondas, with fastest man Youich Ui’s Derbi only 11th fastest.

Hideyuki Nakajoh’s Honda reached 222.0 kph (137.95 mph) at Suzuka, followed by Angel Nieto Jr.’s Honda at 220.1 kph (136.77 mph), Masao Azuma’s Honda at 218.2 kph (135.59 mph), Antonia Elias’ Honda at 218.1 kph and Noboru Ueda’s TSR-Honda at 217.1 kph (134.91 mph).

The fastest non-Honda was Pablo Nieto’s Derbi, sixth-fastest, at 217.0 kph, followed by Lucio Cecchinello’s Aprilia at 216.6 kph (134.59 mph), Gino Borsoi’s Aprilia at 216.5 kph, Mirko Giansanti’s Honda at 216.5 kph, and Hiroyuki Kikuchi’s Honda at 216.0 kph.

Ui’s Derbi reached 215.0 kph (133.6 mph).

Yoichi Ui was fastest in the first practice session of the 2001 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan, on Friday morning Japan time.

Top times follow:

1. Yoichi Ui Derbi 2:16.281
2. Hideyuki Nakajoh Honda 2:16.873
3. Masao Azuma Honda 2:17.468
4. Noboru Ueda TSR Honda 2:17.546
5. Hiroyuki Kikuchi Honda 2:17.951
6. Mirko Giansanti Honda 2:18.139
7. Gino Borsoi Aprilia 2:18.284
8. Lucio Cecchinello Aprilia 2:18.365
9. Antonio Elias Honda 2:18.754
10. Simone Sanna Aprilia 2:18.926