AMA Pro Racing officials have a history of making rule changes without timely notification of racers prior to the rule change taking effect, either without considering–or simply ignoring–the impact on all competitors, an AMA racer has charged. In an e-mail sent to AMA Pro Racing National Tech Manager Rob King and copied to Roadracing World, racer Dr. Michael Dube, MD, wrote “I raced several rounds of Pro Thunder in its inaugural season in 1998, on a 750cc Honda Hawk, and was looking to step up to a more competitive bike for 1999. I began work on an 850cc SuperHawk project just before the rule change to allow Ducati 748s was announced. I complained to you at the time that it would result in 748s dominating the class, and suggested several things, including limiting them to 750cc. Unfortunately, my 850cc SuperHawk proved uncompetitive in PT in 1999. Again at the end of the 1999 season, I made some suggestions regarding displacement (limiting the 748s or increasing the limits on non-desmo Twins). “When it became apparent that these suggestions were not going to be taken, I made the jump to an 800cc Ducati for 2000. I had more success, with my personal season highlight a fifth place at Willow Springs. Just before Willow, I had a second 800cc motor built, as a spare and looking forward to Daytona. “I think you can imagine my disappointment upon hearing the recent announcement that desmo Twins would be limited to 750cc for 2001. This will not, as you suggest, reduce costs. It will cost no less to take a stock 748 and build a full race motor under the new rules than it would to build an 800; in fact it might very well cost more as racers attempt to match the output of an 800cc motor. It will also be very costly for me (and others) to downsize an 800. I estimate at least $4000 per motor to downsize my two fresh, Daytona-ready 800s. “As soon as the 2001 schedule was announced this past fall, I began arranging my work, vacation and on-call schedule to accommodate racing at five rounds: Daytona, Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid-Ohio and Virginia. I sat down to complete my Daytona entry and noted that there were now no PT rounds scheduled at three of those five events. “It is neither feasible nor rational for me to invest the money required to downsize these 800cc motors to participate in just two AMA rounds in 2001. All of my racebike investments towards the end of 2000 were geared towards continuing (with) the same equipment in 2001. It does not appear possible for me to compete in the AMA again in 2001 under the current rules and schedule, which was to be my final year of racing at the National level at age 42. “To say I am angry is an understatement. If there is any chance that you will consider rational arguments as to why these changes should be reversed, I will be happy to share them with you,” concluded Dube. But while the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors recently reversed a ban on quick-lifts during Superbike races on the grounds that teams had already prepared such equipment for the 2001 season prior to learning of the rule change, insiders say there is little chance that the displacement change in Pro Thunder will be reversed to accommodate racers such as Dube–simply because he is not affiliated with a factory Superbike team. And despite several Pro Racing Directors saying they are considering a new rule-making system requiring advance notice and an opportunity for affected riders and teams to comment prior to a rule taking effect, insiders say that AMA Pro Racing staffers strongly object to allowing riders to comment in advance and claim that all the required input can be had from the Road Racing Advisory Board. Critics point out that the Road Racing Advisory Board is hand-picked by AMA Pro racing staffers and is non-representative of the paddock at large, with several groups of what AMA Pro Racing likes to call “stakeholders” being ignored in favor of members affiliated with factory Superbike teams.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Jeff Nash’s Advanced Motor Sports (AMS) has moved into larger quarters.

The Ducati tuning shop’s new address is:
11550 East Farm Road 917
Alvarado, TX 76009

Phone (817) 790-0200
FAX (817) 783-8883

Nash won the 2000 AMA Pro Thunder Championship, on a Ducati 748.

  By Mat Oxley

Honda officials have announced the configuration of their powerplant for the new 1000cc four-stroke GP series in 2002. During a year-ending event at Honda headquarters in Tokyo, President Hiroyuki Yoshino revealed that HRC engineers are building a V-5 engine. The new technical regulations–introduced to return four-strokes to GPs and thus bring the premier bike series into line with road bike sales–come into effect a year from now and will see 1000cc four-strokes racing alongside the 500cc two-strokes that have dominated Grand Prix racing for so long.

The Honda men wouldn’t reveal any further details about their latest Grand Prix racer, though they had earlier explained that four cylinders are too few and six too many under the new tech regulations, which allow a maximum of six cylinders and use different weight limits to handicap bikes according to the number of cylinders. Honda engineers believe a five-cylinder engine to be the best configuration to produce an ideal power-to-weight compromise.

Experts suggest that these new four-stroke engines will produce in excess of 200 bhp, around 10 bhp more than the current two-stroke V-4s. It’s believed the Honda V-5 engine is already running, since Honda engineers are expected to start testing the new machine any moment now.

The effective date of a new AMA rule banning the use of hydraulic, pneumatic and electric quick-lift devices in pit stops during AMA Pro Superbike races has been postponed until 2002. In a December 29 e-mail responding to a question from Roadracing World, AMA Road Race Manager Ron Barrick wrote “The Pro Racing Board decided that the implementation of the rule regarding powered stands be delayed until the 2002 season due to the fact that some teams had started preparing equipment for 2001 with the 2000 rule in mind.” No word if the same reasoning will be applied to the recent rule change limiting Pro Thunder displacement to 750cc instead of 800cc, a rule which was announced–without prior warning or notification–after several riders had already paid to have new 800cc Ducati 748 engines built for the 2001 season. Jeff Nash, the 2000 AMA Pro Thunder Champion, had already built 800cc engines for four customers when the new displacement limit was announced and says changing the engines back to 750cc will cost the customers about $3000 per engine in parts and labor. Nash pointed out that the Pro Thunder class has no representation on the AMA Pro Racing Advisory Board and that riders and teams in general have no opportunity to comment on or object to new rules prior to their announcement. The reversal of the powered-lift rule apparently came about because members of the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors listened to complaints from factory Superbike teams.

AMA officials recently issued a Competition Bulletin revealing that they were going to restrict Ducati 748s to 750cc for the 2001, instead of the 800cc allowed in previous years. Jeff Nash won the 2000 AMA Pro Thunder Championship on a Ducati 748 and runs Advanced Motorsports, a shop specializing in high-performance Ducati parts and work. You would think that AMA officials would have consulted Nash before making a rule change like this, right? Wrong. Nash learned of the rule change through a AMA Pro Racing Competition Bulletin in early December, just like everyone else. The trouble is, Nash first heard of the rule change after he had built four new 800cc motors for customers who planned on racing Ducatis in the 2001 AMA Pro Thunder Series. “For them to make a rule change without consulting anybody is typical AMA,” Nash said in a phone interview from his shop on December 27. “I understand that they are trying to make the class equal (for the Buells) and all of that. Whatever we need to do to make the series more interesting, I’m all for it. I think the Pro Thunder class is one of the only classes where a privateer can go ride the AMA. It’s popular, a fun class to ride, and it’s competitive. But you have to wonder where their thoughts really lay for the future.” Although he is going to work with his future competitors, Nash’s 800cc customers are facing $3000 worth of parts and labor to get back to 748cc. “We never really found any advantage with going to 800cc in the new motor,” Nash said. “My bike was a 748. Craig’s (Connell) bike was a 748, and he had no trouble whooping everyone. That’s basically because of the new motor and its ‘shower-type injectors.’ I suggested to the AMA that they add a clause to the new rule allowing 1999 and older models be 800cc. The new 748 engine will make as much power as an old-style, 800cc motor. I know more than a couple of guys who have bought used 800cc bikes to get into the class that are now going to require more money and still put them at a disadvantage power-wise from the start.” Nash called members of the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors to discuss his suggestions and complain about the late notice of the rule changes, and said he reached one board member who wasn’t even aware that the Pro Thunder class had been dropped from the three Superbike doubleheader rounds, another late-announcement move reducing the Pro Thunder series to eight races. “I doubt very much of anything I’ve said will be taken to heart or anything done about it,” Nash said. “I don’t think they are interested, and no matter which point of view you take, they really don’t care.” Nash suggested that in the future AMA officials should have meetings concerning future rule changes, and allow affected riders to comment well in advance of the rule taking effect.

Wrenchead.com CEO Gus Conrades said December 26 that Wrenchead.com is renewing its sponsorship of the Formula USA Series and will not abandon the series to sponsor an AMA Pro team put together by Jason Pridmore and Rich Alexander. “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. The Richie Alexander and Jason Pridmore team, that’s not true, either. We decided not to sponsor any race teams. I just couldn’t get my head around it in ’01. I couldn’t get my right value that I wanted for the race teams. 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.”

Aaron Gobert, the 20-year-old younger brother of Anthony Gobert, has signed a one-year contract with Team Graves Motorsport Yamaha to race in Formula Xtreme and 600cc Supersport. The deal, signed on December 22, includes a first right-of-refusal clause for a second year. “This kid is the most talented kid I’ve see since Kevin Schwantz,” said Chuck Graves of Team Graves Motorsport Yamaha. “This kid has more talent than his older brother. I took this kid out to Willow Springs with a totally stock Supersport 600, he’d never seen the racetrack before, never ridden a 600 before, never ridden on Michelin tires, and by the end of the second day he had already gone 1:23.11. Some of the stuff that I saw him do in the Formula One race proved to me that not only could he do good lap times, but that he could race. And that’s a really important part. You see a lot of guys who can cut good lap times, but only a handful of guys who are real racers. I’m just really exited to have the kid on my team.” Gobert joins fellow Aussie Damon Buckmaster on the Graves Yamaha team. Graves also officially announced that his team has signed a three-year tire use and endorsement contract with Dunlop.