This just in from Bryan Norton:

Brian Cox, an Amateur licensed with CMRA/CCS, was the first racer to sample the new Air Fence Bike installed at Texas World Speedway. The Air Fence was supplied by the Roadracing World Air Fence Fund and is used exclusively for motorcycle racing at the track. Cox lowsided his Yamaha YZF-R6 in turn 8a, the same turn in which Ryan Smith lost his life in 1999. The bike and rider contacted the last section of Air Fence and then continued into haybales set up by the CMRA. The bike came to a final rest upside down on the haybales. The rider suffered no injuries and walked away from the incident. The bike didn’t fare as well, and was damaged enough for Cox to park it for the weekend. He returned to racing on Sunday on a bike borrowed from fellow racer Scott Fisher.

The crash occurred during practice on Saturday, July 21 and was the first day the Air Fence was in use.

Cox explained his accident, saying “The front just went away. It tucked at the beginning of the apex and that was all she wrote. I slid all the way into the last section. I slid so long down the track that I actually had thoughts going through my head as I was sliding on my back, ‘I’m getting ready to break bones, I’m getting ready to make impact.'”

Asked about what it feels like to hit the Air Fence he replied, “I couldn’t even hardly feel it. I think I went into it and kind of under it and then I think I impacted some haybales that were beside it. The bike and myself both hit the Air Fence.

“I’m thankful to John Ulrich. I got my $50 worth! I sent in $50 several months ago to the Air Fence Fund.”

Cox was quizzed about how the sight of the Air Fence affected his riding through the turn, “I knew they were going to deploy it, and when I saw it in practice I was like ‘yeah!’ For some reason that corner is my favorite on the track, just the way that corner is designed. It is unfortunate there is Armco there. With the Air Fence I was going through there like I was on a 250 Grand Prix bike. I was full tilt, there wasn’t much space between my bike and the track. I just tucked the front, it just went away.”

CMRA official Robert Brothers commented on how the Air Fence Bike held up to the impact, “It stayed in place, there were no cuts. There are a couple of scuff marks on it but I think it will clean up with some 409. It did its job today. If it does get torn we’ve got a patch kit to take care of it.”

The 20 Air Fence Bike modules took over two hours to set up on Friday before the event, but less than an hour to return to storage on Sunday with the help of a loaned flatbed trailer. It is stored at the track and is shared between both the CMRA and RPM race clubs.

Racer and New Hampshire International Speedway Motorcycle Safety Director Jerry Wood has decried what he sees as a “feeding frenzy” of unfair criticism of the Loudon, New Hampshire racetrack.

“There is a feeding frenzy on Loudon,” wrote Wood in an e-mail to RoadracingWorld.com. “So much bad press, lots of people saying the place is so dangerous that bikes should not race there. No one has been hurt because of the track for three years and yet if you look at the stuff in the motorcycle press you would think that we have a wholesale blood bath going on.

“We have about 1000 riders in our group that are perfectly comfortable racing racing at NHIS. I think that we have done a damn good job making that place work and Bob and Gary Bahre have been really good about investing in the motorcycle program. If we had a rainout twice at any track people would be unhappy but this has
been compounded by (AMA) mismanagement and bullshit.”

Wood blew out a knee last weekend while trailriding with one of his sons, and may undergo corrective surgery this week.

The AMA Appeal Board had no choice but to uphold the non-sensical disqualification of Jamie Hacking from the second Superbike race at Road America, due to wording of the rulebook, reader Don Potter says.

An e-mail to RoadracingWorld.com from Potter included this information:

“With all due respect, I’d like to draw your attention to the following in paragraph 14e on page 80 of the 2001 AMA Pro Racing rulebook.

“‘It is the responsibility of the appeal board to rule on the matter at hand within the context of existing AMA rules and regulations. Appeal boards are encouraged to make recommendations regarding such rules and regulations but have no power whatsoever to waive or modify rules that were in place at the time of the matter under appeal.'”

Which means that even though Hacking was disqualified for breaking an old rule intended to help enforce another rule that has since been changed, the Appeal Board was forced by this third rule to not do the logical thing and overturn Hacking’s disqualification.


Editorial Opinion: The AMA rulebook, the appeal process and AMA Pro Racing itself are corrupt and need to be exorcized immediately.

See related post dated 7/20/01, Hacking Loses Appeal Of Road America Disqualification.

Richie Morris will return to AMA racing at Brainerd this weekend, about five months after he was seriously injured in a starting-grid accident at Daytona. Early on, doctors considered amputating Morris’ badly mangled left forearm. Morris refused to allow that, and has been recuperating ever since.

While Morris returned to racing by finishing second in a Formula USA Buell Pro Thunder race at Virginia International Raceway July 1, the race at Brainerd will be his first AMA-sanctioned event since Daytona.

In an e-mail to Roadracing World, Morris wrote:

“For the What It’s Worth column, I have been asked to ride the Hal’s Factory Buell at Brainerd this upcoming weekend. Mike (Ciccotto) will still ride, I will just be on the B bike. I just wanted to let Buell and Hal’s know that I am honored to be chosen, especially with my arm still in pretty sorry shape. It should be real fun to be back at an AMA race for the first time since Daytona.”

Mat Mladin on his approach to this weekend’s AMA National at Brainerd International Raceway, from a press release issued by his publicist, Steve Reeves:

“We’ve just got to keep bring it home from here to the end of the season,” said Mladin. “I am aiming for anther strong finish and then
hopefully we can start thinking about the championship.

“Brainerd is actually one of my favorite tracks in America,” added Mladin. “I haven’t won there before, but did finish a very close second to Miguel DuHamel last year. The new Suzuki GSX-R750 has been running strong and fast and this has given me the confidence of a good result this weekend.”

This just in from Jason DiSalvo’s PR man:

DRAMA FOR RUNNER UP DISALVO AT MOST

YOUNG JASON ENDURES A WEEKEND OF WOE ONLY TO BE TOLD HE’S GOT ANOTHER GRAND PRIX WILD CARD!

Cruise America Grand Prix Racing Team rider Jason DiSalvo endured a weekend of frustration but still managed to secure a fine second place finish in the Czech Championship 250cc race at the Most circuit yesterday (Sunday).

The 17-year-old from Batavia, New York enjoyed a good start on Friday in practice before setting third-fastest time in Saturday’s opening qualifying session which he hoped to improve on in the afternoon but mechanical problems intervened at the start of the session which meant DiSalvo had to sit it out.

The problem was diagnosed and fixed overnight and Jason responded by setting the fastest time of the weekend in the Sunday warm-up and all was looking good for the race but DiSalvo very nearly didn’t make it as Team Owner Jim DiSalvo explained:

“We were working with the original race schedule and unbeknown to us, they changed it and brought the race forward an hour. We were sitting around when we noticed the 250s assembling on the grid and that’s when we realized what was happening. Jason threw on his gear and the team ran up with the bike but it was too late to take our place on the grid and instead Jason had to start from pit lane in last position”

Despite the setback, DiSalvo rocketed through the field to take five places on the opening lap before gradually climbing the leaderboard throughout the race. In the end, Jason managed to get as high as second place at the checkered flag but remained philosophical about the result:

“I should have won that race but it wasn’t to be. I guess I should be happy given the problems we’ve had and at least we’ve had a good test for the European Championship race here next weekend,” said DiSalvo who was also hit with a fine for allegedly entering the track late for practice despite the timer showing two minutes left!

Jim DiSalvo summed up the weekend with one word:

“Theatrical! There has been a comedy of errors over the weekend but we’ve made light of the situation. This has been a good warm up for us next weekend and we feel very strong at the minute.”

But DiSalvo had better news after the race when he was approached by the officials as he explained:

“As a result of us doing well in the Czech Championship, the organisers have awarded Jason one of their country’s wild card entries at the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno on August 26th. Obviously GP racing is where we want to be so we’re happy to take the ride and in doing so, this will be our third European GP of the season. That’s another record I guess!” said Jim referring to the fact that his son is currently the youngest American to take part in 125cc and 250cc Grands Prix.

The tentative 2002 World Superbike calendar was released today by the FIM and follows:

3/10 Valencia, Spain
3/24 Phillip Island, Australia
4/7 Kyalami, South Africa
4/21 Sugo, Japan
5/12 Monza, Italy
5/26 Silverstone, England
6/9 Lausitzring, Germany
6/30 Misano, San Marino
7/14 Laguna Seca, Monterey, California, USA
7/28 Brands Hatch, England
9/1 Oschersleben, Germany
9/8 Assen, Holland
9/29 Imola, Italy
10/TBA TBC, France

The Kyalami, Monza, Silverstone, Misano, Laguna Seca, Brands Hatch, Oschersleben, Assen, Imola and TBA France circuits must be re-homologated for 2002.

Frank Trombino rode a Yamaha YZF-R1 to win the Parts Canada Superbike Championship race at Mosport in Ontario, Canada on Sunday. Trombino, who had qualified on pole for the event with a record lap, led the entire race and finished 14.616 seconds ahead of Francis Martin on a Suzuki GSX-R1000. Owen Weichel was third on a Kawasaki ZX-7RR.

During the race, Trombino lowered the lap record again, to 1:22.140.

Series points leader Steve Crevier finished fourth and leads Martin by 42 points with 60 points still available in remaining two rounds of the series.

Trombino also won the Open Sport Bike race while Crevier won the 600 Sport Bike race.

Superbike Results
1. Frank Trombino, Yamaha YZF-R1
2. Francis Martin, Suzuki GSX-R1000
3. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki ZX-7RR
4. Steve Crevier, Honda RC51
5. Jeff Williams, Honda CBR929RR
6. Benoit Pilon, Yamaha YZF-R1
7. Mike Taylor, Honda RC51
8. Greg Boki, Yamaha YZF-R1
9. Jean-Francois Cyr, Yamaha YZF-R6
10. Martin Hamel, Kawasaki ZX-9R

Points
1. Crevier, 252
2. Martin, 210
3. Weichel, 207
4. Taylor, 135
5. Pilon, 133
6. Trombino, 129
7. Cyr, 115
8. Williams, 110
9. Hamel, 81
10. Andrew Nelson, 74

Tentative 2002 World Championship Grand Prix Calendar

4/7 Suzuka, Japan
4/21 Welkom, South Africa
5/5 Jerez, Spain
5/19 Le Mans, France
6/2 Mugello, Italy
6/16 Catalunya, Spain
6/29 Assen, Holland
7/7 Donington Park, England
7/21 Sachsenring, Germany
8/25 Brno, Czech Republic
9/8 Estoril, Portugal
9/22 Valencia, Spain
10/6 Motegi, Japan
10/13 Sepang, Malaysia
10/20 Phillip Island, Australia
11/2 Rio, Brazil

The Suzuka, Welkom, Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello, Catalunya, Assen, Donington Park, Brno, Estoril and Motegi circuits must be re-homologated for 2002.