Young Gun Tony “The Tiger” Meiring, 17, says that he signed a contract with Corona EBSCO Suzuki on January 31. Meiring plans to compete in the AMA 750cc Supersport class on a GSX-R750 fielded by the team, which is sponsored by Corona Beer and EBSCO Media. Team owner Landers Sevier did not return a phone call asking him to comment on details of the team and the new deal with the youngster from Tracy, California. Roadracing World believes that the deal will make Meiring the youngest beer-sponsored rider in U.S. history.

American Kenny Noyes, 22, will compete on a Honda CBR600F4i fielded by Team Quersano in the Spanish Supersport Championship. The team plans to run Bridgestone tires in the series, which allows significant machine modifications along the lines of the Supersport World Championship Series. Noyes won the F-USA Pro Singles (dirt track) National Championship in 2000 aboard a Husaberg 400, and competed in selected local road races on a Suzuki GSX-R600. Kenny Noyes is the son of television commentator (and former racer) Dennis Noyes, who, in 1986, won two Spanish National Championships (600 and endurance) and finished second in Superbike. Dennis Noyes finished third in the final round of the 1986 Spanish Endurance Championship, a 24-hour at Barcelona, to lock up his title and become the oldest Spanish National Champion in history, at age 43.

Frustrated by a lack of dry test time at Laguna Seca last week and by no track time at Sears Point Sunday and Monday due to wet conditions, the Yoshimura Suzuki team heads to Spring Mountain Motorsports Park in Pahrump, Nevada today and tomorrow. The team hopes that their third try in two weeks to log meaningful test time will work out.

Like the rest of the racers in the class, Tilley Buell’s Tripp Nobles didn’t learn about the Pro Thunder class being excluded from three AMA Superbike double-header weekends and moved to three WERA National Challenge Series events until he was told about it by a friend the night before the 2001 Supercross opening round at Anaheim, California on January 5. But Nobles is not outraged by the move, which AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth has revealed is the first step in a plan to eliminate the class entirely from AMA Pro weekends. “The biggest mistake they (the AMA) made was that they waited until the middle of January to do this,” said Nobles in a telephone call to Roadracing World. “If they could’ve done this in November, that would’ve been more sound and realistic. And instead of taking it all, all three events, from one class, I wish they would have distributed it evenly. Like take one away from 250cc GP, one race away from Pro Thunder, and one race away from 750cc Supersport. I hate to single out anybody else, but come on, fair is fair.” About the three Pro Thunder rounds being run with the WERA Series, Nobles said “I don’t mind at all. WERA, PACE, CCS, whoever, I don’t care. Just give us more races. Granted we won’t have the bigger crowds, but maybe we can bring a bigger crowd to WERA. It would be cool if WERA was to make us the Premier class and that the AMA would promote it. I’m all for it. I’ve raced with WERA for a number of years. I’ve always been treated good by them. Evelyne (Clarke, CEO and President of WERA) puts on a good, strong event every weekend that I’ve raced with them. So I have no problems with it at all. I hate that it (Pro Thunder) gets taken away from the crowds that come to the AMA events. (But) If there’s anything that I can do, as far promoting it for the AMA or WERA and Evelyne and them, I’m game for it.”

Former Superbike World Champion and AMA Superbike Champion Doug Polen will be signing autographs in the Ducati area during the Advanstar Cycle World Motorcycle Show at the IX Center in Cleveland, Ohio Friday through Sunday. Polen won the Superbike World Championship in 1991 and 1992. Polen won the AMA Superbike Championship in 1993. All Polen’s Superbike titles came aboard Ferracci Ducatis.

Speaking at a media day held at a go-cart track in Malaysia, the CEO of Proton announced the company’s continued involvement with three-time 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts’ Grand Prix motorcycle team. DRB-Hicom, a Malaysian conglomerate, owns the car brand Proton and the motorcycle/scooter brand Modenas (as well as the Lotus car company). Roberts’ V-3 racebike had been labelled a Modenas from the start of his affiliation with DBR-Hicom five years ago. Roberts’ team will now be officially known as Proton Team KR. The media day and announcement was held at Fastrack Speedzone in Sungei Pencala, Malaysia. A press release issued February 1 quoted Proton CEO Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff as saying “Proton is continuously increasing its technical involvement in the area of providing design and rapid prototyping support to the race equipment. This is not just a straightforward sponsorship deal–it is a smart partnership where both parties will benefit apart from the immediate brand leverage Proton will gain. Right from the very beginning, our aim is to learn as much as possible in the area of engine and chassis development, and there is much to learn from Kenny and his team.” According to the release, “Roberts Senior, who was also at the go cart event, said that the KR3 was his contribution to the evolution of motorcycle racing, where it had to establish its own engineering infrastructure like Formula 1 had, if it is to continue to grow.” Roberts, whose full name is Kenny Leroy Roberts, is the father of 2000 500cc World Champion Kenny Lee Roberts. The release also stated “This year, PROTON Team KR will have a new rider, Jurgen van den Goorbergh , who will debut on the much refined Mk3 version of the lightweight three-cylinder Proton KR3. The new bike combines compact dimensions, light weight and agile handling with an improved and more powerful version of the proven V-3 engine, and made its racing debut in the sixth race of the 2000 season. Several different riders took the new KR3 through the early stages of its development, and it demonstrated its potential by consistently finishing in the points. Van den Goorbergh, in recent tests, was pleased with the agility and power of the lightweight V-3 engine, and believes it will give the established factory V-4s a run for their money. He had expressed confidence that the bike, with the support of the team will surprise a few people and get much better results in the season ahead. “It is this professionalism of the team, in developing the engine and motivating its riders and team personnel that PROTON hopes to learn from. PROTON hopes that the expertise and technology used to develop the KR3 will further enhance the knowledge and technological know-how of its already state-of-the-art Research and Development facilities in Shah Alam.” The release ended by quoting Mahaleel as saying “We have seen how the factory-based machines were adapted specifically for race conditions. Perhaps we will now see a full cycle where an engine developed specifically for racing will evolve into factory machines catered for the lucrative Superbike market, perhaps in the very near future.” It is thought that Mahaleel meant that evolutions of racing engines could be used in production streetbikes in the future.

GPRA West Coast Champion Peter Hofmann, 26, has landed a ride in the 125cc European Championship Series with Team Raudies, a team owned by 1993 125cc World Champion Dirk Raudies. Hofmann was recommended to Raudies–who himself didn’t start racing until he was 25 and who won his World Championship when he was 30–by Raudies’ former mechanic Uli Maier, a friend of the Hofmann family who worked with Hofmann throughout 2000 and who is now working for the Kawasaki World Superbike team. Hofmann will ride a Honda RS125 sponsored by the oil company Total, Daytona boots, Aeris.net, and most likely Bridgestone. Hofmann is Manager of Investment Analysis for Aeris.net and will commute between his home in San Jose, California and the team base in Munich; Hofmann says that his employer is being very supportive. Team Raudies is scheduled to start testing March 7-11 at Cartagena, followed by more tests March 19-21 at Mugello and April 13-15 at Hungaroring, with the European Championship season starting April 27-29 at Vallelunga in Rome, Italy. “It’s a dream come true,” said Hofmann. Hofmann was not an overnight success, and did not instantly attain his dream. He started racing mid-season 1992 on a Kawasaki Ninja 250R and raced the Kawasaki through 1993. He bought a 1989 RS125 and started the 1994 season on it, trading up to a new 1994 RS125 from Moto-Liberty halfway through the season. On that bike, Hofmann ran top-five and top-10 in AFM races in 1994 and 1995, competed in a few races in 1996 on the 1994 and on a subsequently acquired 1995 RS125 that had serious problems related to its previous owner’s tuning attempts, problems which lead to Hofmann crashing, hitting a wall at Sears Point and breaking his wrist. Hofmann didn’t race at all in 1997, because, he says now, “I wasn’t really serious about it.” Back up to 1994, and the U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Peter, who has dual U.S.-German citizenship, and his German-born father, Otto, snuck into the pits after the races, walked up to Raudies and his team and started speaking to them in German. The Hofmanns offered to show the team around San Francisco during the few free days the team had before heading to the next GP, and friendships developed. After graduating from college in 1997, Hofmann went on vacation to Europe and attended the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring, where he again met with Raudies, and Hofmann’s interest in racing was rekindled. Hofmann took another run at racing in 1998 and 1999 on a 1998 RS125, but almost quit for good at the end of 1999, selling his bike and equipment. “I was discouraged because I was riding hard but not getting picked up by a team because nobody was watching the 125 class,” Hofmann said. “I was doing in it on all my own money and was always worried about crashing the bike and not being able to fix it.” Hofmann’s break came before the start of the 2000 season, when Chris Wallace put together Shakai Racing and signed Hofmann, which meant, to Hofmann, “I was able to just focus on racing, it didn’t matter if I crashed, all that mattered was that I won. The sponsors didn’t care if I trashed the equipment, all they wanted was wins. And I really thrived under that pressure.” Maier, who was looking for a break from the GP circus, agreed to move to the U.S. and tune for Hofmann for most of the 2000 season. Hofmann’s charge in the second race of the GPRA Final at Willow Springs–which saw Hofmann lead eventual GPRA National Champion Vicky Jackson-Bell before crashing–impressed Maier, who put in a good word with Raudies. Raudies, who has run riders in the European Championship since he personally retired from GP racing in 1997, agreed to back Hofmann for the 2001 season. Hofmann said, “You see the race tapes on TV and its looks so easy, but going fast on the track is an entirely different type of riding. The big change in my riding where I went from top five to consistently winning was due to an entirely different mind set. It was when I really made a mental connection to how I broke down the racetrack, breaking each corner into five or seven parts, and what I was doing on the racetrack in each of those parts. What really made the difference was learning to think about my riding that way and it took a couple of years to learn to do that.”

Former AMA President J. Scott Thornton was forced to resign in the face of outrage from AMA members and the AMA Board of Trustees over evidence that Thornton fabricated a first-person story of Viet Nam War bravery, heroism and suffering in the September 2000 issue of American Motorcyclist magazine. Thornton in fact never served in Viet Nam and was exposed by a website dedicated to exposing fake tales of military service. The story debunking Thornton’s claims of Viet Nam service and his related emotional problems appears at www.phonyveterans.com Violent reaction to the news that Thornton lied about his military service in the official magazine of the AMA was behind his replacement by long-time AMA employee (and then Vice President)Rob Rasor, effective November 1, 2000. Thornton had been hired by the AMA as President one year earlier, in November, 1999. He replaced Ed Youngblood, who resigned at the height of controversy over his part in AMA actions leading up to the still-unresolved Edmondson vs. AMA lawsuit. The AMA Board of Trustees never publicly announced why Thornton resigned. When asked January 30 if the website report was true, a Trustee declared it “water under the bridge”. Two other Trustees confirmed that Thornton had fabricated the tale of wartime service and that reaction from veterans in the membership and on the Board forced the resignation. None of the Trustees contacted by Roadracing World were willing to be quoted on the matter. Thornton could not be contacted prior to post time.

In a January 30 press release, AMA Pro Racing announced that Lockhart-Phillips USA has been named as the title sponsor for the AMA Formula Xtreme series. Wendell Phillips, President of Lockhart-Phillips USA, was quoted in the press release as saying, “Lockhart Phillips USA is very pleased to be the title sponsor of the AMA Formula Xtreme class. We believe this competitive class is a major stepping stone for riders to move up to the Superbike class, and LP USA is pleased to support the progression of road racing talent in the USA.” Lockhart-Phillips USA takes over the sponsorship of the Formula Xtreme class from 2000 sponsor eSportbike.com. In 2000, Lockhart-Phillips sponsored the AMA 750cc Supersport Championship which was won by 17-year-old John Hopkins. The 2000 Formula Xtreme Champion was Erion Honda’s Kurtis Roberts. Roberts will not return to race in Formula Xtreme, but Hopkins and his Valvoline EMGO Suzuki teammate Grant Lopez will chase the FX title on Suzuki GSX-R1000s.