The Competition Accessories AMA Superbike team of Larry Pegram and John Kocinski is not considering switching from Dunlop to Michelin tires for the 2001 season, according to Pegram, regardless of speculation caused by the sight of a Michelin-equipped team racebike on display last weekend at Competition Accessories headquarters in Ohio. The display included two bikes, one with P1 on its number plates and the other with K2 on its number plates. The K2 bike was fitted with Michelin Pilot slicks, while the P1 bike carried worn Dunlop slicks. Both Kocinski and Pegram attended Dunlop tire tests at Daytona in December, with Kocinski setting fast time of the tests on Dunlop qualifying tires. In the past Kocinski has been an outspoken advocate of Michelin slicks and an outspoken critic of Dunlop slicks. At one point during the 2000 AMA Superbike season Kocinski flatly declared that he would not show up for the next race if he couldn’t get Michelin slicks on his Vance & Hines Ducati. Vance & Hines team owner Terry Vance quickly issued a statement that the team would continue to run Dunlops and the controversy was smoothed over, at least in public. That’s all in the past, Pegram told Roadracing World when reached on his cell phone. “He’s definitely not running Michelins,” Pegram said of his teammate Kocinski. “We’re running Dunlops, no questions asked.” Pegram added that Kocinski evidently “liked the Dunlops when we were at the Dunlop tire test.”

Michelin North America plans to dramatically cut back its popular Bib Bucks contingency program but also plans to lower retail prices on racing tires, insiders say. According to sources close to the company, Michelin plans to offer Bib Bucks to racers at AMA Pro, Formula USA and WERA National races only, paying in all classes. Bib Bucks will no longer be awarded at regional events, if the plan proceeds as it currently exists, but tires sold at regional events will cost less. Michelin’s Randy Richardson declined to comment on the reports and referred Roadracing World to Michelin spokesman Steve White, who had not responded to a voice mail message at post time.

Rick Gray and Jeff Smith, recently certified as winning re-election and election to three-year terms on the AMA Board of Trustees, each won by less than 250 votes in their respective regions. Gray, re-elected from the Northeast Region, won with 830 votes compared to 599 for Jerry Wood and 184 for Bob Coy. There were some concerns that Coy, who runs the USCRA Vintage road racing organization, would be a spoiler in the election by drawing votes cast by road racers who would have otherwise voted for Wood, an active racer and official with LRRS who ran on a reform platform. But even if Wood had received all the votes cast for Coy, Gray would have still won by 47 votes. Smith beat challenger Dale Greenwald by 245 votes, 581 to 336, to take over the seat vacated by a retired Trustee. Smith served as Executive Director of AHRMA, a Vintage racing organization, for nine years until retiring from the position recently, and is a two-time 500cc Motocross World Champion. The election was certified by the accounting firm Ernst & Young of Columbus, Ohio. Election of three more Trustees will take place later this year, representing the three southern regions of the country. Several active road racers have explored running for the board as reform candidates, including Roadracing World Editor John Ulrich. Final decisions by those racers is expected within a few months.

Metzeler Motorcycle Tire North America Corporation has hired racer Jeff Johnston as Senior Product Specialist. Johnston worked for Metzeler as Racing Manager from January 1994 until April 1997, when he moved into the automotive aftermarket equipment industry. In May 1998 Johnston took a job as National Sales and Promotion Manager with Specialty Sports Ltd., the U.S. importer of Teknic leathers and gear. Johnston, who started his new job at Metzeler on January 22, will handle some marketing duties for the company, working at trade shows and providing technical information to OEM representatives, consumers and dealers. Metzeler/Pirelli race support will continue to be handled by Rich Munson. Johnston is in the process of moving from Michigan to Pennsylvania. Johnston last raced at the 1999 WERA GNF, on a TZ125, and is currently looking for a new racebike.

Vicent Haskovec rode a pair of Hyper Cycle-prepared Suzukis to win the Formula One and Formula Two races during a WSMC event at Willow Springs Raceway Sunday. Haskovec ran down leader Chuck Graves and made a pass into turn one to start the final lap of the Formula One race, then worked traffic better in turn nine and held off Graves to the finish line. WSMC star Ken Chase was third ahead of Rich Alexander on a GSX-R750, WSMC Overall Champion Jeremy Toye on a Yamaha YZF-R1 and Jason Pridmore on a GSX-R600. In the Formula Two race, Haskovec beat Pridmore, WSMC star Jacob West and young gun Jason DiSalvo, with Graves sixth behind Mark Palazzo. Pridmore and DiSalvo were hampered with poor grid positions, since gridding was based on 2000-season points. Pridmore won the 650cc Superbike race, beating Palazzo and Graves, and beat Haskovec, Matt Wait and Palazzo in 600cc Modified Production. But Haskovec beat Palazzo, Wait and Pridmore in 600cc Superstock, all three races running just six laps. Haskovec also beat Graves and Toye in Open Superbike, and Chase beat Alexander in 750cc Superbike and 750cc Modified Production. The Formula Two race was marred by a last-lap collision involving Jodie York and the racer now known as Jocelin; Jocelin was on a Yamaha TZ250 and York was on a Yamaha YZF-R6. The two women collided in turn three and crashed while racing for about 13th position. Jocelin was transported to a local hospital with a dislocated and badly abraded finger, and underwent surgery. York suffered a concussion.

Bridgestone Corporation has made it official, announcing that it has begun testing tires for the 500cc World Championship with Kanemoto Racing and riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Shinichi Ito on Honda NSR500s. According to a press release announcing the test program, “the company has put in place a global organization to create the tires” and “the start of development work on racing tires for 500cc motorcycles is one of several events to mark Bridgestone’s 70th anniversary in 2001.” The release also stated that “Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest manufacturer of tires and other rubber products. Tires account for 79 percent of Bridgestone Group sales worldwide. The company also manufactures industrial rubber and chemical products, sporting goods and other diversified products. It sells its tires and other products in more than 150 nations.”

American Honda and Team Kawasaki have scheduled a two-test test session at Sears Point Raceway for January 28-29. An AMA Pro National race is scheduled for the Sonoma, California track May 4-6.

The AMA has issued a January 22 press release announcing what RoadracingWorld.com reported January 18, that Rick Gray and Jeff Smith have been re-elected and elected, respectively, to the AMA Board Of Trustees. Gray is a 21-year member of the AMA from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has served on the Board of Trustees for six years and is the current Chairman. Gray beat Jerry Wood and Bob Coy in balloting from the Northeast Region. Smith, now retired after nine years as AHRMA Executive Director, is from Wausau, Wisconsin and has been a member of the AMA for 28 years. Smith won the 500cc Motocross World Championship twice, and beat Dale Greenwald in North Central Region votes for the AMA seat. Dal Smilie of Helena, Montana was unopposed in the Northwest Region. Trustees from the Southwest, Southeast and South Central Regions will be elected later this year. Terms run for three years and members elect six of the 12 board positions. The other six are theoretically elected by AMA corporate members.

Czech immigrant Vincent Haskovec bailed out on a deal to ride a Blackmans Cycles Aprilia RSV Mille R in the Formula USA series days before flying to Pennsylvania and signing a contract. Blackmans Cycles Racing Manager Kris Bickford had already sent Haskovec a plane ticket to appear at an open house at the multi-line dealership and sign the paperwork when Haskovec called and reneged on the deal. Speaking at Willow Springs Raceway where he was attending a WSMC event, Haskovec said he called Bickford on Thursday, January 18, and called off the deal after EBSCO Media’s Landers Sevier said that he was putting together a Corona Beer and Suzuki-sponsored AMA 600cc and 750cc Supersport team including Haskovec, Jimmy Moore and young gun Tony Meiring. Meiring and his father confirmed at Willow Springs that Sevier had also contacted them with the same information. Haskovec said, “I feel really, really bad for the Aprilia guys. But what can I do? It’s been my dream since I came to America to race in AMA.” Haskovec said that he does not know any more details of the EBSCO deal and that he had not signed any papers. Roadracing World was unable to contact Sevier prior to posting, but sources at American Suzuki said that as far as they knew nothing had been finalized for the deal. When Moore was contacted and asked if he was riding for Corona EBSCO Suzuki in 2001, he replied “Still not sure. I’ll let you know when I am.” In a drawing at the WSMC 2000 season awards banquet held January 20 in Lancaster, California, Haskovec won a 2001 Toyota Tundra V8 extended cab pick-up truck, and told the crowd in accented English, “I cannot believe it, mon! I am flying!” WSMC members received one entry in the annual truck drawing every time they finished in the top 10 of a Formula One race. WSMC also held a drawing for the top five in Expert points in each class, awarding a Specialized mountain bike to Chip Hilliard. In a drawing for riders who finished between 11th and 99th in overall WSMC points, Curtis Adams won a home stereo system.

AMA Pro Racing staffers have denied culpability in the late announcement of rule changes that have enraged Pro Thunder competitors. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a ranking AMA Pro Racing official placed the blame for the late rule changes squarely on the shoulders of the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors. According to the official, the recently announced changes in Pro Thunder displacement and weight rules were presented to the directors a year ago but were not acted upon until late this fall. “They hire us to do a job, and then they don’t let us do what we want to do. They second-guess everything we say and do, and they don’t know what they’re talking about,” said the official. “Then when the s–t hits the fan, we get blamed and people say we’re not professional. It’s not us, it’s these guys on the board of directors who don’t know anything about racing.” Roadracing World was unable to contact any members of the AMA Pro Racing Board of Directors for comment prior to posting, but will post any comments from the directors as soon as–and if–they become available.