FIRST PERSON/OPINION:

One Reporter’s AMA Season Preview

By David Swarts

The 2001 racing season looks like it will be the most exciting in years, with an incredible amount of talent racing in America these days. What follows is a run through the AMA classes to preview the season.


Part One:
Chevy Trucks Superbike

The Superbike class for 2001 gets one rule change and one new venue. New for pit stops in 2001, only five crew members will be allowed on the track side of the pit wall with one of those crew members to man the fire extinguisher only. In the past, factory teams regularly used three people on each wheel and a total of nine. This will possibly lengthen a good Daytona pit stop from 7 to 10 seconds or more. This rule was meant to help level the playing field of pit stops between factory teams and teams with less funding, but all it will really do is widen the pit-stop-time spread between teams with expensive quick-change equipment and team without.

Demonstrating that factory teams are more equal than non-factory teams in ways beyond having more resources, the AMA implemented a ban on powered bike lifts for pit stops in 2001, but then postponed implementation until 2002 when the factory teams complained.

Pits stops used to only apply to the Daytona 200, but the 2001 season finale scheduled for Virginia International Raceway will run 150 kilometers, or 92.3 miles, too far for a Superbikes’ 24-liter (6.34-gallon) fuel tank to handle without a pit stop. V.I.R. is located on the state line between Virginia and North Carolina near the town of Danville, Virginia. It is still unclear as to whether the AMA will run the tighter 2.26-mile course or the wide-open, roller coaster, 3.26-mile course. For a review of V.I.R., see the November issue of Roadracing World.

In 2000, the Superbike title hunt went back-and-forth between defending Superbike Champion Mat Mladin and Superbike rookie Nicky Hayden. Mladin, 28, won his second consecutive title by a scant five points over the 19-year old Kentuckian. For 2001, Mladin will have a new GSX-R750 under him and a new crew chief, Peter Doyle. On the other hand, Hayden will be back on a familiar bike, with mechanics he likes, and with a year’s worth of experience in bike set-up and tire management.

The only rider I see as having a straight-up chance of beating Nicky Hayden or Mladin is Anthony Gobert. Gobert moved to America early in the off-season and has been training very hard for the upcoming campaign. Now 25 years old, Gobert realizes that he could have been a World Champion by now if he hadn’t repeatedly blown his chances and wants to realize that dream.

In the you-can’t-ever-count-them-out category will be seasoned and capable veterans Miguel Duhamel and Doug Chandler. DuHamel, 33, proved that he could still win by taking a close victory over Mladin at Brainerd last season. For 2001, DuHamel will have a metal-rod-free body to work with and a renewed fire from the late-season Brainerd win. Maybe the most respected rider in the paddock, Chandler, 35, is a master of tire management, but will by held back by one of the oldest and only carbureted bikes left on the grid. Overseeing Chandler’s green machine will be Chandler’s longtime tuner Gary Medley.

Several other riders are capable of winning a race or two or even the Championship. Scott Russell, 36, will be back on a competitive bike in the form of his 2000-spec HMC Ducati 996, with a proven Ducati tuner in Carl Fogarty’s ex-mechanic Anthony “Slick” Bass, and with a lot of critics to silence. People easily forget that Russell is a former Superbike World Champion who has beaten Fogarty in World Superbike and even beat Mick Doohan in a Grand Prix. On the other hand, Aaron Slight is probably the fastest man to not win a World Championship. In a last minute deal, Slight, 35, signed to ride for Competition Accessories Ducati when the team could not come to terms with two-time World Champion John Kocinski. While Kocinski pursues a post-racing career in real estate, Slight will be reacquainting himself with Daytona, learning the rest of America’s tracks, learning the Ducati versus the Honda RC51, and learning Dunlop tires versus Michelins. Slight has won the Suzuka 8-Hour three times, has finished second and third in the Superbike World Championship several times, and has 13 World Superbike race wins.

Kurtis Roberts, 22, gets his first full season on a Superbike with Erion Honda and tuner David McGrath. Roberts definitely showed some speed in his guest rides on the RC51 last year but seemed to have trouble staying on the Superbike. Not one to lack confidence, Roberts is a rider who knows he is going places.

Aaron Yates, 27, has won in the past and is coming off a strong 2000 that saw him finish third in the Championship. Unfortunately, Yates, like his new Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Jamie Hacking, will be starting the 2001 season on a brand new bike with little if any testing due to off-season injuries. No one has ever doubted Hacking’s speed, but the man from South Carolina has yet to develop the consistency it takes to win a Championship.

With an all-star crew behind him and wins on two different brands of machinery, Eric Bostrom, 24, definitely has the talent and backing to take the Superbike title. Unfortunately, the limitations of the Kawasaki ZX-7R may hold E-Boz back.

Larry Pegram, 28, started the 2000 season in a rush to get bikes from Italy, through customs, and set-up for Daytona. Although he and Competition Accessories had a good debut on the high banks in 2000, Pegram wasn’t able to match those results for the rest of year. Hopefully, the increased support from Ducati Corse will help Pegram get back to the top of the AMA podium.

Steve Rapp, 28, was happy to return to the Italian make in 2000 after a year struggling on the Suzuki Superbike in 1999. Unfortunately, Rapp suffered an injury to his hand early in 2000 that held him back until late in the year when Rapp got his first pole position and Superbike podium during the final round at Willow Springs. Although they will be painted differently, Rapp will again be riding his ex-Vance & Hines Ducatis with HMC in 2001.

With Yamaha’s World Superbike program being canceled, hopefully Tommy Hayden, 22, will get the support with the unsorted Yamaha YZF-R7 that he needs to fulfill his potential. Lack of top speed and a finicky slipper clutch held the oldest Hayden back in 2000, not a lack of effort or desire.

Even with a serious lack of power, Pascal Picotte, 31, and Mike Smith are a threat to win with the VR1000, but only in the rain or a bullring like Loudon or Pike’s Peak. I don’t think that it is cruel to count the Harley-Davidson team out before the season starts. The H-D team has a new leader in John Baker, but 2001 will be a rebuilding year as the VR race program is brought in-house with an increased budget, resources, and development work. Part of the new Harley-Davidson development program will include giving direct support to Austin/ Bleu Bayou Harley-Davidson Racing, a team that the Harley factory had shunned in the past. Formerly known as Bell County/ Bleu Bayou H-D, Austin/ Bleu Bayou will field former Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke.

Andreas Bronnen, the new man in charge of Metzeler/Pirelli’s North American operations, plans to compete on a Shogun Motor Sports Suzuki GSX-R600 in the Formula USA Sport Bike class at Daytona.

Bronnen, 43, an accomplished racer, rode a GSX-R750 in the German endurance series last season.

Bronnen arrived in the U.S. January 1 and took over the top spot at Metzeler Motorcycle Tire North America Corp. headquarters in Pennsylvania on January 16. His mandate is to increase market share for the Metzeler and Pirelli tire brands.

Pirelli owns Metzeler, and the company markets both as premium brands worldwide.

Bronnen, who is currently traveling in Europe, is scheduled to arrive in Daytona tomorrow, February 28.

A press release issued by racer Brad Bannister, Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A. Public Relations Manager/Motorsports Group read:

During Daytona Bike Week, one of the largest motorcycle events in the country, Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. will bring together motorcycle racing’s greatest Champions. Yamaha is hosting
its third annual “Weekend of Champions” where Yamaha road racing and motocross Champions reunite on the high-banks of Daytona Speedway. The racing legends will take part in a parade lap around the famous track kicking off the opening ceremonies of the Daytona 200 Superbike race. The
Champions will sign autographs and meet fans Friday, Saturday and Sunday and are available for photographs and live or taped in-studio or remote
interviews and race commentary (by appointment only).

WHAT: This is a rare opportunity to bring fans in-depth, one-on-one interviews with some of the greatest racers of all-time. The history of
racing is best told by the sport’s legends.

Plus autograph sessions, demo rides, and
product displays will be available.

WHO: Road race Champions (expanded biographies available upon request)

Don Emde – won the Daytona 200 in 1969, emulating his father who won Daytona in 1948

Jamie James – holder of four AMA National
racing titles

Eddie Lawson – Four Time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion and former National AMA Champion

Randy Mamola – Top World GP contender and
former AMA 250cc GP Champion

Rich Oliver – Four Time AMA National 250cc GP
Champion and former Factory Yamaha racer

Wayne Rainey – Three time 500cc Grand Prix Champion winner and racing legend

Thomas Stevens- AMA National Champion

Steve Baker-1978 750cc World Champion

Motocross Champions (expanded biographies available upon request)

Mike Bell – AMA Supercross national Champion from the early 1980s

Broc Glover – Holds six national championships

Doug Henry – Won 1998 Outdoor National Championship aboard history making YZ400F

Bob Hannah – “The Hurricane” earned six National
Championships

Marty Moates – the first American to win the U.S. Grand Prix

Ernesto Fonseca – 1999 125cc Supercross Champion and currently riding the YZ250F in the 125cc class

Jeremy McGrath – “Showtime” McGrath is the reigning Supercross Champion with seven national titles

WHEN: Weekend of Champions autograph sessions
Friday, March 9, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Saturday, March 10, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Sunday, March 11, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

(Lap of Champions will take place just before the start of the Daytona 200)


Demo Ride Schedule: Ventures, Road Stars, V-Stars, V-Star 1100 Custom and Classic
March 5 – March 9, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
March 10, 9:00 a.m. – Noon

WHERE: Yamaha Corporate Display Tent at Daytona International Speedway (International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL)

The retrial to determine additional damages owed by the AMA to Roger Edmondson may be scheduled as soon as this May, and as late as this July, according to sources close to the case.

The courts have already confirmed that the AMA is guilty as charged in the Edmondson case, but an Appeals Court has ordered a new jury trial to determine the amount of money owed Edmondson for some of the AMA’s actions.

The retrial will take place in the same courthouse and before the same judge–U.S. District Judge Lacy Thornburg–as did the original trial. At the retrial, jurors will again hear evidence concerning how the AMA wronged Edmondson, its former joint venture partner, but will not hear any claims of innocence from the AMA, since the Appeals Court has confirmed that the AMA did what Edmondson alleged the AMA did.

Edmondson is determined to maximize the amount of money he gets from the AMA and is unlikely to settle the case before the retrial.

The American Federation Of Motorcyclists (AFM) has a new mailing address, 6167 Jarvis Ave. #333, Newark, CA 94560.

The 2001 AFM Season kicks off weekend after next at Buttonwillow Raceway, near a controversial landfill that recently started accepting dirt contaminated with low levels of strontium 90 and cesium 137. The 14,000 tons of contaminated soil came from a now-closed nuclear lab, Santa Susana Field Laboratory, located in the Simi Valley area. The levels of strontium 90 and cesium 137 are so low that the dirt does not meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission definition of “radioactive”. But that hasn’t kept environmentalists from raising alarms about the Buttonwillow landfill, which is in the same windy, dusty area as the racetrack and began accepting the contaminated soil on January 22. Authorities estimate that it will take through April or May to transfer all 14,000 tons of dirt to the dump.

Meanwhile, the 2001 AFM schedule follows:

3/10-11Buttonwillow Raceway, Buttonwillow, CA
4/14-15Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, CA

5/12-13Thunderhill Park, Willows, CA

6/2-3Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, CA

7/21-22Thunderhill Park, Willows, CA

8/18-19Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, CA

9/224-hr, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, CA
9/23Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, CA
10/20-21Buttonwillow Raceway, Buttonwillow, CA

In announcing the move of its Superbike team testing venue from Sears Point to Willow Springs Februaru 12-15, Ducati North America referred to the track as being “an undisclosed location,” even though the tests scheduled at Willow Springs were common knowledge to racing journalists. Ducati”s breaking off of negotiations with John Kocinski and signing of Aaron Slight in secret has also raised eyebrows of journalists who wondered why Ducati was attempting to be secretive, or perhaps selectively secretive.

Some media outlets were leaked information on the test location moving and on Slight replacing Kocinski, and others were not.

But sources close to Ducati say that what appears to be an attempt to be secretive is actually just a lack of a coordinated worldwide press relations policy and program on the part of the Italian manufacturer and its racing subsidiary, Ducati Corse, as well as various Ducati distributors.

Former French GP star and Bimota factory racer Eric Saul is bringing his International Classic Grand Prix Series to Daytona International Speedway as part of the March 5-6 AHRMA event. The Series is open to dedicated two-stroke road racing machines displacing 250cc and 350cc and built prior to December, 1984. Air-cooled Yamahas such as the 1969-1971 TD/TR 2 or 1972-1973 TD/ TR 3 are scored separately from water-cooled bikes. Other requirements for machines in the Classic GP Series include:

-Tubular steel or aluminum frames.
-Parallel-Twin engines.
-18-inch wheels.
-No carbon-fiber or Kevlar-fiber parts.
-No upside-down forks.
-No flat-slide carburetors.
-No reed valves.
-No cassette gearboxes.

Bikes are required to be “very highly prepared genuine racing motorcycles that conform to FIM standards for safety. Hybrids and converted streetbikes are simply not permitted,” according to Saul’s press release. The Series has attracted top level racers from past eras and has earned the Series support-class status at prestigious events such as the 24-Hours of Le Mans and the Bol d’Or.

Additional information is available from three sources:

Jack Turner at AHRMA, (913) 268-4401, FAX (913) 268-4400, e-mail [email protected], website www.ahrma.org.

Patrick Bodden/Heritage Racing, (703) 836-0157, FAX (703) 836-0157, e-mail [email protected].

Or, for French-speakers, Eric Saul/Creuse Moto Competition 011-33-555-89-03-97, FAX 011-33-555-89-22-52.

Donated for an auction to benefit the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, Eric Bostrom’s 2001 Team Kawasaki Road Racing leathers have a current high bid of $2000. Apparently a Kawasaki fan, grocezx7r leads the bidding, but wera163 and koups.com also placed bids over the weekend.

The auction is scheduled to end Thursday, February 1 at 12:44 p.m. Eastern Time.

Kawasaki factory racer Eric Bostrom donated the custom-designed Alpinestars motorcycle racing leathers, which he wore during the 2001 AMA Superbike Championship series in which he finished second in points.

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The suit is one of only three made for Bostrom during 2001 and was worn by the young Californian in his AMA Superbike race win at Laguna Seca. Bostrom was featured on the cover of Roadracing World magazine wearing these leathers as he dragged his elbow during the race at Laguna Seca. The suit has a 2.5-inch drag mark on the left elbow where it came in contact with the pavement.

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Bostrom also wore the suit during tire testing at Daytona International Raceway in December 2001 where he crashed, scuffing the right arm, hip and seat areas of the suit.

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The green, silver and black garment was made in Italy and includes all of Bostrom’s team and personal sponsor logos for the 2001 season in addition to custom-made A&G knee sliders that display Bostrom’s initials. The suit retains its interior body armor, padding and removable liner. Bostrom added his autograph in permanent paint marker just below his lettered name and American flag patch on the aerodynamic hump on the back of the suit.

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In donating the leathers to be auctioned off for the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund, Bostrom said, “It’s the least I could do, you know. You guys have shown such a big effort and really went out of your way to put your heart into this effort. Anything I can do, for sure I’m there. Hopefully somebody will feel the same way and pay a few bucks and have a pretty cool set of leathers.”

All proceeds from the sale of this leather suit minus the cost of eBay and escrow services will go to the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund. The Roadracing World Air Fence Fund was established to raise funds to purchase and deploy inflatable Air Fence and Air Module soft barriers to protect crashed riders from hitting walls and other hard objects at racetracks.

To go directly to the auction on eBay, click on the link below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1801269462

*Air Fence is a trademark of Airfence Safety Systems of Australia.

An American team of former Champions put together by Speedvision television won the annual Numb Bum 24-hour ice race on Sandy Beach Lake, Alberta, Canada February 10-11. Former Champions Scott Parker (AMA dirt track), Jeff Ferdette (off-road), Dick Burleson (off-road), Mike Bell (AMA Supercross) and Kevin Schwantz (1993 500cc Grand Prix World Champion) teamed up to ride a Suzuki DR-Z400 to the win ahead of 34 other teams on various motorcycles and ATVs. The three-second margin of victory made this the closest Numb Bum on record.

“That was awesome, and it was even better because we won,” said Schwantz February 20th. “It was like that Australian Safari where I committed to it early and then thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ But it was really a good time with a great bunch of guys.

“We ran the race on a 10-mile road course with 163 turns,” continued Schwantz. “We weren’t cold while we were riding, but when you were standing around, you were standing on a big slab of ice. I couldn’t believe how much grip those things had. When you were off the throttle, the ice would pack up against the front of the screws, and it would get pretty slick. But when you were on the gas, there was so much grip I thought about putting my foot back on the peg and sticking my knee out. It was just a blast.”

Cooperation between SFX Motor Sports Group and the Grand American Road Racing Association already involves contingency programs and may expand to include an event or events featuring classes for both motorcycles and cars, according to sources close to the Grand American sports car racing series.

A likely candidate for a combined motorcycle and car event would be the June 28-July 1 Formula USA weekend at Virginia International Raceway near Danville, Virginia. To work for both motorcycles and cars, a track must have enough run-off room to not require the use of haybales in close proximity to the racing surface, car racing sources say.

One piece of cooperative business being done by Grand American and SFX involves Patrick Murphy, who closed his California PR and contingency marketing company and went to work in Florida for Grand American, which is run by long-time Murphy associate Roger Edmondson. Murphy is now handling contingency programs for SFX Motor Sports again.

According to a press release issued by Murphy, “through a mutual agreement between Grand-Am and the SFX Motor Sports Group, I will continue to administer contingency award programs for the SFX (formerly PACE) National Road Racing Series, CCS racing, National Dirt Track Series and National Arenacross.”

Ties between Edmondson and SFX are relatively strong, SFX having purchased NASB and CCS–both founded by Edmondson–before the start of the 2000 racing season.

Edmondson and Murphy could not be reached for comment prior to post time, and SFX staffers declined to comment on the record.

Murphy can be reached during normal business hours at (904)681-4054 or via e-mail at [email protected]