NewsII(Englisch)

 

 

 

Geizkragen.de - Ohne Moos, was los !
 

 

Everts starts testing with Yamaha

We can confirm that Stefan Everts went testing for the very first time with Team Rinaldi Yamaha last Wednesday in San Marino. Under a cloudy sky with some drizzle, Stefan did one lap and went right back to the truck in search of a higher seat position.

Marniq Bervoets and new TM rider Joakim Eliasson continued to ride as the rainfall became more and more intense. Everts only did two more laps until he called it a day. So did Bervoets shortly after. The Rinaldi guys went home, the TM staff withstood the downpours working on the bike.

Last Saturday, Everts and Bervoets were joined by Andrea Bartolini and Fabrizio Dini (Yamaha), all testing on the the scenic track in Predappio. Bartolini reportedly went quickest, doing 2:29 laps while the rest did 2:30. Sweden´s Eliasson was back on his bike the same weekend, same track and ran in the 2:31 range.

 

Wonderin' what Big Bird is up to these days, nope not hangin' with "snuffleupegus" , Larry Ward might be of to Europe to replace Ryan Hughes on the Pamo Honda Team.

 

MCGRATH MAKES HIS STATESIDE DEBUT

Jeremy raced his first real race stateside last week and we can tell you this, it was a dominating performance. In truth we haven't seen McGrath so clearly destroy his competition since his Honda days. The list of riders at the event included the likes of former Canadian champ Jeff Surwall, OTHG regular Craig Davis and a host of Plus 40 Masters.Okay so it wasn't a big race, but we can tell you this. The 150 plus racers that showed up at Glen Helen's REM racetrack to race that Saturday were given a treat no one received at the 2000 Nationals, watching Jeremy race outdoors. Mark Crosby a 40 Master summed it up best when he changed his class from 40 Master to 30 Int just so he wouldn't be in Jeremy's race, "I had to change my class, how often do you get to see McGrath race outdoors". Not very often.

 

NICK WEY WINS THE BARCELONA SUPERCROSS-
This news may be a little late getting in, but we were happy to hear that last week our buddy Nick Wey at Yamaha of Troy took home the victory at the Barcelona Supercross. The list of racers competing included Steve Lamson, Mike LaRocco and Mickael Pichon. Did we mention Nick was racing a YZ250? When it comes time for the 2001 EA Supercross series Nick will race the 125 East supercross series. Nick didn't dominate the competition, but his 4-4-1 moto finishes were consistent enough to stand atop the podium.
 

ROBBIE REYNARD AND MOTO XXX NEWS

It was brought to our attention that Moto XXX and Robbie Reynard were left out of the team rosters we posted and published a little while back. After a quick phone call to Moto XXX's Jordan Burns and another to Robbie Reynard Sr., we got the 411.Moto XXX will be sporting a two-man team for 2001. Leading the team will be returning starter Kyle Lewis, and joining him will be Michael Brandes. The big difference will be in the equipment. Moto XXX is switching to Yamaha's for 2001. Right now nothing regarding suspension and motorwork is set in stone, but there are rumors circulating that Noleen is leading the list. We are not surprised, as Kyle Lewis was a member of the Sizzler Noleen Yamaha team back in the mid 90's.Regarding clothing, Lewis and Brandes will be sporting O'Neal gear for the 2001 season.Getting information out of Robbie Reynard Sr. was a little more difficult. What we got was that Robbie will be riding a Yamaha for 2001 and Reynard Modifications will be doing the motor work. They are still looking for a big outside sponsor and have not yet decided what classes Robbie is going to race in.

 

CANNONDALE CEASES PRODUCTION OF THE MX400

Straight from lead man Scott Montgomery's mouth, Cannondale has stopped production on the MX400 until it can sort out the reliability problems they've had with the thumper. The main issues are the motor and the programming of the fuel injection computer. Production of the MX400 is scheduled to resume on December 1.While the MX400 motocross project is being sorted out Cannondale is going full steam ahead on their four-wheeler. We will keep you posted

 

DUBACH BECOMES A SEVEN-TIME CHAMP

With close to 900 entries the 16th Annual White Bros-sponsored World Veteran Championship was highlighted by another convincing performance by Doug Dubach. The weather at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California was warm and balmy as racers from all corners of the globe showed up for a three-day weekend of practice sessions (Friday), warm-up races (Saturday) and the Championships (Sunday).The major titles at the World Vet are the Over-30, Over-40, Over 50 and Over-60 races. The racing in every class is intense, with the Over-40 Expert class having so many entries that the racers had to ride qualifiers for the one-moto showdown main event.

THE OVER-30 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Doug Dubach won the first moto easily over Erik Kehoe (former 125 USGP winner), Terry Fowler (last years runner-up), Chris Young (2000 Ponca City winner), Ty Davis (former 125 West Supercross Champion), Gordon Ward (former World Four-Stroke Champion), Craig Davis (Glen Helen regular), Don Bisclegia (Washington pro), Jeff Ward (seven-time AMA National Champion) and Shawn Wynne (former minicycle champion). But a bad start in the second moto put Dubach behind the eight-ball. With Fowler, Young, Kehoe and Davis in front of him, Dubach spent 20 minutes relentlessly pecking away and with five minutes to go in the moto he swept by Fowler to take the lead.The win was Dubach’s seventh World Veteran Championship and caps off a year that saw the 38-year-old Californian win the World Four-Stroke Championship and the Canadian National Championship. The last rider to beat Doug Dubach for the title was Erik Kehoe (but he didn’t really beat Doug because Dubach missed the 1996 race with an injury)

YAMAHA DEBUTS THE YZ250F

Amidst all the hype surrounding the first outing of Honda's RC450, Yamaha also debuted a new bike at the October 22nd race in Japan. That's right, at the same mud race where Tortelli showed the world the RC450, Ernesto Fonseca proved to the world exactly what the YZ250F was capable of after months of rumors. Ernesto holeshot both motos and after a small battle with the locals, pulled out to a ten second victory in moto one and a twenty second victory in moto two. On hand at the event was the very proud YZ426 and YZ250F Project leader Mr. Nakayama.

 

RYAN HUGHES WANTS OUT OF EUROPE

Ryan Hughes is looking for a ride in the USA for 2001. Even though Hughes has a guaranteed ride with the Pamo Honda team for the 250 World Championships, he has been shopping around for a deal to ride the AMA Nationals in 2001.According to insiders, Hughes talked to Team Suzuki's Roger DeCoster about the possibility of a outdoor-only contract for the 250 Nationals. Although DeCoster had no comment, it is unlikely that Team Suzuki has any money left after its big dollar payouts to Travis Pastrana and Kevin Windham over the winter.Hughes best chance to stay in the States is to agree to ride the prototype Honda four-stroke. The no-longer-a-rumor Honda thumper is in need of an America-based test rider. Hughes could fit the bill because he does not want to ride Supercross anymore (which would free him up to do the pre-pro testing). If Hughes signs with Honda to ride the four-stroke he will spend the winter as a test rider and then race the 250 Nationals on the thumper. Honda also wants to race the four-stroke at one or two selected Supercross races (which Hughes would be willing to do).Why doesn't Ryan want to stay in Europe? No one knows for sure, but there was obviously a falling out between Hughes and Pamo (the Honda-backed GP team). Most likely over money.Honda announced that it will build a four-stroke motocross bike at its Las Vegas dealer show last month--but did not show any photos of it. The CR450 four-stroke will not be for sale until the 2002 model release. Insiders also predict that Honda will release a 250cc four-stroke at the same time to compete against the Yamaha YZ250F.

RICKY WINS THE LAS VEGAS U.S. OPEN

Turn out the lights, the party’s over. And if the U.S. Open in Las Vegas is any example of how Ricky Carmichael plans to ride in the 2001 Supercross series, the season is over. The two-day format had every rider, save for Carmichael struggling to put two good races together. Ricky holeshot every race and ran away with both Saturday and Sunday’s races. Mike LaRocco was second on Saturday and Kevin Windham was second on Sunday. LaRocket and Windham, in his first ever Team Suzuki ride, were not close to Ricky.Ricky pocketed $100,000 for his weekend at the MGM Grand Hotel. Jeremy McGrath was racing in Sheffield,England, and Travis Pastrana was out with an injury.Kelly Smith won the White Bros. sponsored four-stroke class with Damon Bradshaw second overall. Florida’s Kyle Chisholm won the mini class in front of Indiana’s Shawn Clark and France’s Jeremy Tarroux.

TORTELLI TO REPLACE LAROCKET

Honda is looking for a test rider for the new, not-so-secret, RC450 four-stroke. The bike will not go on sale until next year, but Team Honda wants someone to race it. They hope to get some serious track time on the bike this winter in Japan before unleashing it on the 250 Nationals this coming season (it might even do a few supercross races). Under the AMA four-stroke rule, Honda is free to race a works four-stroke for one season. The problem? They don't have anybody to race it.Steve Lamson was doing the test riding in SoCal, but when he signed with Husqvarna for 2001, Honda lost his services. Mike LaRocco (shown) had been approached before and turned the four-stroke deal down, but recently Mike agreed to try the bike in Japan. Unfortunately, Mike had some contract conflicts and decided not to race the thumper. So Sebastien Tortelli has been picked to ride the bike this coming weekend in Japan.Honda is looking for a full-time test rider. But they need a rider who is mature enough to adjust to the four-strokes unique characteristics, fast enough to make it look good and intelligent enough to help in the development. At the moment, Ryan Hughes is the best choice. He does not want to return to Europe and does not want to race the Supercross series. This makes him the perfect test rider because he will be free of racing commitments from January to May. That would allow him to be a full-time test rider. Hughes would then race the 250 Nationals on the Honda four-stroke prototype (under the AMA four-stroke exemption rule for works thumpers).

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