| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
This just in from AMA Pro Racing... MLADIN OPENS TITLE DEFENSE AT DAYTONA The 30th Anniversary of the AMA Superbike Championship begins PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 3, 2006) -- Mat Mladin comes to Daytona Beach, Fla., to open his title defense as the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited kicks off on March 11. Mladin, the No. 1 Yoshimura Suzuki rider who turns 34 the day before the race, has the opportunity to win his seventh AMA Superbike title this season. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the AMA Superbike Championship. Daytona International Speedway hosted the very first race of the series on March 5, 1976. Motorcycle Hall of Famer Steve McLaughlin won that race on a BMW. Mladin feels confident that he and his team are ready to capture yet another AMA Superbike Championship in 2006. “We’ve had successful pre-season testing,” Mladin said. “Suzuki has given me a great motorcycle and I’m looking forward to the season. It’s always important to get through Daytona with a good number of points. That’s how I approach the race. If things come together and we have what it takes to go for the win, then that’s a bonus.” Mladin heads up an impressive factory Suzuki lineup that includes up-and-coming Texan Ben Spies and hard-charging veteran Aaron Yates, from Georgia. Last year the factory Suzuki trio took three of the four top finishing spots at Daytona. This year the team would love nothing better than to sweep the podium. Honda is placing more emphasis on the premier Superbike class this year. Like Mladin, Honda’s veteran Miguel Duhamel is a proven winner at Daytona. He feels the team has made major improvements since last year’s sub-par season. “We have the help once again of HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) with our Superbike program,” Duhamel said. “Combine that with what American Honda learned developing the CBR1000RR last year and I think we have a winning combination. After Daytona, Superbike is the only class I’m concentrating on, so that focus on a single championship should be a benefit as well.” Duhamel will compete in the Daytona 200 by Honda (the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme opener), as well as the Daytona Superbike race but is slated to just race in the Superbike class after the season opener. Jake Zemke is the other factory Honda entry in the AMA Superbike opener at Daytona. Zemke would love to earn his second-career AMA Superbike victory next weekend. Kawasaki is back in the AMA Superbike fray with a factory effort featuring the brother combination of Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden. Kawasaki has a rich tradition at Daytona, winning three Daytona 200s in the 1990s with Scott Russell. It’s been 11 years since Team Green last stood atop the podium, but with the Haydens, Kawasaki has two of the fastest riders in all of AMA racing making the team a contender in spite of this being the first test for the new Kawasaki ZX10R Superbike. Ducati has been a contender in the Daytona Superbike race nearly every year since 1976, but the Italian maker has only won the race one time – in 1977 with Cook Neilson. Once again in 2006 the team hopes to score the ever-elusive Daytona victory with either Neil Hodgson or Ben Bostrom. Both have extensive Superbike experience at both the World and national level. Hodgson is a former British and World Superbike champ, while Bostrom claimed the AMA Superbike title in 1998. Jordan Suzuki has easily the strongest non-factory team entered in the Daytona Superbike race. Jason Pridmore, Steve Rapp and Jacob Holden are likely to race alongside the factory squads in the 70-kilometer race. Pridmore is the son of three-time AMA Superbike Champion Reg Pridmore and has a pair of AMA road racing titles to his own credit. A number of privateer riders hope to find the speed to mix it up with the factory riders at Daytona. Former AMA Superbike winner Larry Pegram is chief among those. The Ohio racing veteran is slated to ride a Pegram Racing Honda in the Daytona Superbike contest. New Englander Eric Wood is another top privateer expected to be among the leaders on his Hooter’s Suzuki. On March 11, SPEED will offer morning-to-evening coverage of Daytona Motorcycle Week racing. The day starts at 11 a.m. EST with flag-to-flag coverage of the 2006 AMA Superbike Championship Presented by Parts Unlimited season opener. For ticket information visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. | ||
| Jima4media |
This press release says that Cook Neilson won the Daytona 200 in 1977 on a Ducati, but the list I have says Steve Baker won in 1977 on a Yamaha. Who is right? Does someone have a copy of Don Emde's Daytona 200 book? Jim | ||
| Anonymous |
Baker won the 200, which was a Formula One race at that time (meaning TZ-750GP bikes and the like). Nielson won the Superbike race, which was a 50 mile support race. Kinda like now! | ||
| Jima4media |
Ahhh Ha, that is where I was confused. I thought Superbike was the Daytona 200 starting in 1976. I know 76 was the first year for Superbike and they only ran a couple of races, with BMWs in the mix! Thanks for clearing that up. Jim | ||
| Blake |
Latest from AMA Pro Racing... HAYDEN SET TO DEFEND DAYTONA SUPERSPORT VICTORY PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 6, 2006) -- Tommy Hayden will not defend his title in the 2006 Pro Honda Supersport Championship presented by Shoei, but he will race with the No. 1 plate on his Kawasaki one time when he makes a special appearance in the Daytona Supersport race in front of a live national television audience on Thursday, March 9 at Daytona International Speedway. Hayden feels racing Supersport at Daytona only frees him from worry and will enable him to concentrate on his main priority this year: an AMA Superbike Championship. “I’ve never had a one-off ride like this in road racing before,” said the eldest of the three racing Hayden brothers from Owensboro, Ky. “It’ll be kind of nice to not have to worry about points or anything except going for the win. I haven’t been testing the Supersport bike much, but our team has a pretty good set up and I feel comfortable with it, so we should be ready to go.” When asked if the race came down between him and his teammate and brother Roger Lee - who is racing the entire series - what he would do he replied, “May the best man win. I respect the Daytona Supersport race too much to do anything but go for the win if I have the opportunity. It will be nice after Daytona though to be able to root for Roger Lee in the class. It’s been tough battling each other for the championship. I really want him to win it this year.” Roger Lee stormed back after his bike broke at Daytona last year to finish second to Tommy in the Supersport point standings last season. The youngest of the Hayden brothers is expected to be a heavy favorite to win this year’s championship and a victory at Daytona would put him in a great position to do just that. Kawasaki is loaded in Supersport at Daytona. In addition to the Hayden’s on the factory ZX6Rs, Attack Kawasaki features the strong Australian duo of Ben Attard and Damon Buckmaster. Attard and Buckmaster are serious challengers for the title this season and could give a factory support team the championship for the first time in six year. Jamie Hacking won the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei in 2003 and he’ll be eager to win it back in 2006 on the potent factory Yamaha R6. Hacking has been oh-so-close to winning the Daytona Supersport race. The Carolinian has finished on the podium three times and he hopes to finally stand atop the box in the Daytona winner’s circle this year. Ben Spies leads Suzuki’s effort in the class. The young Texan scored a career best fourth in the Daytona Supersport race last year. This time around he has an improved Suzuki GSX-R600 and hopes to find himself leading the pack at the checkered flag. Florida’s own Michael Barnes is a former Supersport winner at Daytona. He won the fall Supersport race that used to be held in October back in 1989. Now 17 years later he’s still seeking that elusive first win in the March event. While Barnes is one of the most experienced veterans in the field, his Team M4 EMGO Suzuki running mate is young Texan Shea Fouchek. Many expert observers are predicting great things from Fouchek, who came out of the same Texas racing system that produced such greats as Freddie Spencer, Kevin Schwantz, Doug Polen, John Kocinski and Colin Edwards. Chris Caylor and Tony Meiring make up a solid team in the Safety First Suzuki squad. MPT Suzuki’s Danny Eslick is also a rider to watch, a fast-rising Oklahoman now in his second full season of road racing. Honda is not fielding a factory effort in the class, but San Francisco Bay Area’s speedster Jeffrey Tigert could surprise a lot of people on his Pro Honda Oils-backed CBR600RR. Qualifying for the Daytona Supersport race starts Wednesday (March 8) afternoon and the 22-lap final will take the green flag on Thursday, March 9 at 4:50 pm EST. It will be televised live on SPEED Channel. Tickets for the Daytona Supersport are available at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. | ||
| Blake |
AMA PRO RACING AND CCS/ASRA COOPERATE TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SOFT BARRIERS AT DAYTONA Racing organizations unite to offer unprecedented protection PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 6, 2006) -- CCS/ASRA (formerly Formula USA) and AMA Pro Racing have joined forces at Daytona International Speedway during Bike Week to provide riders in both events, as well as in the AHRMA Historic races, unprecedented protection by combining the organizations’ soft barriers in addition to those owned by the Speedway. CCS/ASRA will keep its barriers in place during the vintage and AMA Pro Racing segments of Bike Week. In return, AMA Pro Racing deployed its soft barriers several days earlier than normal to help provide extra protection for riders in the CCS/ASRA events. Jointly the organizations will service and maintain all barriers during the deployment period. “This is a huge deployment and a textbook example of cooperation between organizations for the greater good,” said Hugh Fleming, Director of Safety and Logistics for AMA Pro Racing. “Many of the soft barriers owned by each organization were provided by the Roadracing World Action Fund so every fan, business and racer who has contributed to the fund had a part in this.” The combined efforts of AMA Pro Racing and CCS/ASRA, along with those of Daytona International Speedway will result in over 1870 feet of protective barriers being deployed. Soft barriers cushion the impact of a fallen rider and have proven to be excellent tools in the reduction of rider injury. Motorcycle racing activities at the Speedway kicked off on March 3 with CCS/ASRA events. AHRMA Classic Days road racing take place on March 6 and 7 and the AMA Pro Racing schedule starts on Wednesday, March 8. This year’s events will conclude with the 65th running of the Daytona 200 by Honda, the opening round of the AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series, on Saturday, March 11. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. | ||
| Blake |
FOUR FORMER WINNERS TO BATTLE IN DAYTONA’S REPSOL LUBRICANTS SUPERSTOCK SERIES OPENER Defending champ Yates expects to be ready to go in spite of pre-season crash PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 7, 2006) -- The 2006 Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series opener at Daytona International Speedway will feature a clash of four former winners. Aaron Gobert, Jason Pridmore, Josh Hayes and Aaron Yates are all past winners of the Daytona Superstock race and are all slated to line up for the final on Thursday, March 9, in one of the strongest field of riders featured during Daytona’s Motorcycle Speed Week. Defending Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series champ Aaron Yates suffered a broken shoulder only a month ago while testing at California Speedway making him questionable for Daytona, but Yates thinks now that he’ll be ready to race. “I just got on a dirt bike yesterday and did a little riding,” Yates said on March 3rd. “I’ve been riding a street bike to keep the feel of things and building up my strength. I think I’ll give it a good test this weekend and then have a rest on Monday and Tuesday and hopefully be ready to go when we take to the track on Wednesday.” In spite of his injuries Yates says he won’t just be riding for points at Daytona. “I’m making really good progress every day,” he said. “If it keeps getting better at the rate it has been then I think I’ll be in the hunt for the win. My goal is to be in the lead pack on the last lap and have a chance to win it.” Yates last won the Daytona Superstock race in 1996, when the class was still 750cc Supersport bikes. Yates is just one of a multitude of Suzuki riders expected to race. The Jordan Suzuki team will field three riders in the Daytona Superstock race including two-time race winner Jason Pridmore. Pridmore is trying to become the first three-time winner of the race. He will team with Steve Rapp and Jake Holden making up one of the most talent-rich teams in the series. Australian Marty Craggill was the top privateer in AMA Superbike last year. This year the Hotbodies Racing Mladin Motorsports Suzuki rider will now focus on Superstock. "Talking to Suzuki they were keen to giving us more support in Superstock,” said team owner Mat Mladin. “Now at least Marty will have a bike that’s competitive. The rest is up to him.” Team M4 EMGO Suzuki has won this race three times, including last year with Vincent Haskovec. This year Geoff May will try to uphold the honor of the team. Under the same tent comes the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki team with Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri. Pietri is the 20-year-old son of former AMA Superbike and Formula One factory rider Roberto Pietri of Venezuela. Millennium/KWS Suzuki will field John Haner and Matt Lynn aboard Suzuki GSX-R1000s in the Superstock class. While Suzuki has numbers on its side, the other factory or factory-support teams make up for lower numbers with top-notch riders. Take Yamaha for example. Graves Yamaha has a potent trio of Jamie Hacking, Eric Bostrom and Jason DiSalvo on R1s. With those three riders there’s a very good chance that Yamaha will have more than one rider on the Daytona Superstock podium. Attack Kawasaki brings Aussies Ben Attard and Damon Buckmaster to Daytona. Attard is considered an up-and-coming rider in the series, while Buckmaster is a proven veteran. Erion Honda dominated Formula Xtreme in the early years when it was a big-bore class. Erion hopes to reestablish that dominance in Superstock with riders Josh Hayes and Aaron Gobert. This is the only team to feature two past winners of the Daytona Superstock race. Gobert won the event in 2004 and went on to win the championship, while Hayes took top honors at Daytona in 1999. Qualifying for the Daytona Superstock race starts Wednesday (March 8) afternoon and the 13-lap final will take the green light on Thursday, March 9 at 3:50 pm EST. It will be televised live on SPEED. Tickets for the Daytona Supersport are available at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. | ||
| Blake |
AMA PRO RACING AND CCS/ASRA COOPERATE TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SOFT BARRIERS AT DAYTONA Racing organizations unite to offer unprecedented protection PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 6, 2006) -- CCS/ASRA (formerly Formula USA) and AMA Pro Racing have joined forces at Daytona International Speedway during Bike Week to provide riders in both events, as well as in the AHRMA Historic races, unprecedented protection by combining the organizations’ soft barriers in addition to those owned by the Speedway. CCS/ASRA will keep its barriers in place during the vintage and AMA Pro Racing segments of Bike Week. In return, AMA Pro Racing deployed its soft barriers several days earlier than normal to help provide extra protection for riders in the CCS/ASRA events. Jointly the organizations will service and maintain all barriers during the deployment period. “This is a huge deployment and a textbook example of cooperation between organizations for the greater good,” said Hugh Fleming, Director of Safety and Logistics for AMA Pro Racing. “Many of the soft barriers owned by each organization were provided by the Roadracing World Action Fund so every fan, business and racer who has contributed to the fund had a part in this.” The combined efforts of AMA Pro Racing and CCS/ASRA, along with those of Daytona International Speedway will result in over 1870 feet of protective barriers being deployed. Soft barriers cushion the impact of a fallen rider and have proven to be excellent tools in the reduction of rider injury. Motorcycle racing activities at the Speedway kicked off on March 3 with CCS/ASRA events. AHRMA Classic Days road racing take place on March 6 and 7 and the AMA Pro Racing schedule starts on Wednesday, March 8. This year’s events will conclude with the 65th running of the Daytona 200 by Honda, the opening round of the AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series, on Saturday, March 11. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. | ||
| Blake |
This just in... For Release: April 5, 2006 For More Information Contact: Missy deSouza AMA SUPERBIKE Championship Round 2, Barber Motorsports Park! The MRO Community Center and Fitness Trailer will be available to all members of the AMA racing community at Barber Motorsports Park April 21-23rd. The MRO Community Center will provide a location at the track where parents and families can enjoy time together away from the busyness of race day. The MRO Community Center will have activities available for children 2 years old and up as well, as well as activities for those who are older but still young at heart! This is a perfect opportunity for families and parents to bring their children to a race and have other opportunities to entertain themselves throughout the race weekend. The MRO Community Center is staffed with highly qualified individuals available to assist you and to make your overall race weekend an even more enjoyable experience. The MRO Fitness Trailer is a mobile workout facility containing the most recent Life Fitness exercise equipment. It is designed to allow those in the racing community the opportunity to continue their physical fitness routines while on the road! Most importantly, all this is available free of charge to the racing community: riders, crew members, officials, media, etc and their families. MRO is excited about offering these services, and if anyone has any questions please feel free to contact us for more information and to learn more you can visit our web site at www.go2mro.com For More Information Contact Motor Racing Outreach. 704.455.3828 | ||
| Blake |
This is COOL!
| ||
| Blake |
This just in from AMA Pro-Racing: SPIES READY TO LEAD AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Young Texan leads Suzuki teammate Mladin coming into Fontana PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 25, 2006) -- Ben Spies leads the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited as the series makes its way west to California Speedway in Fontana, for the Suzuki Superbike Challenge on April 28-30. Spies is coming off the best race weekend of his young career. He swept the doubleheader round at Barber Motorsports Park, giving him newfound confidence coming into California Speedway this weekend, a track he calls one of his favorites. “I don’t know what it is, but it seems like I’ve always been upfront at California Speedway,” said Spies, who briefly led the AMA Superbike Championship in his first full season last year after winning race one in last year’s doubleheader in Fontana. “I grew up a lot on the same style tracks in Texas. It’s got a lot of hard breaking and a lot of fast chicanes where you have to muscle the bikes through it. I’m a taller, bigger guy, but I’m definitely not the biggest guy in the class. For some reason when it comes to muscling the bike through fast stuff, someone in front of me is usually slowing me down.” Spies said that California Speedway puts major physical demands on a rider. The ferocity of the fast transitions is such that Spies once bent his bike’s handlebars from the torque he placed on them. While the 21-year-old Texan, who is in his sophomore season of AMA Superbike, has headed the championship before, this time it’s different as he feels ready to be the leader. “I have some confidence now,” Spies said. “We have a really good setup. We were just testing in Fontana a couple weeks ago and the bike was working really good. So it's probably not going to be a jump out and win the thing, but I'm hoping just to battle both races and see what happens.” The rider Spies is likely to have to go through to win again at California Speedway is teammate Mat Mladin. The defending and six-time champ is ranked second in the series after suffering an uncharacteristic crash last weekend in Alabama. Mladin, 34, of Australia, has won five of the eight AMA Superbike races in Fontana. He actually doesn’t sound terribly concerned that he’s fallen eight points behind Spies. In fact, he sort of takes some pleasure knowing that someone else has the target on his back coming into this weekend’s doubleheader. “Now he's (Spies) got the points lead, so now he has to sleep with it,” Mladin said. “Now he knows what it's going to feel like. “I made a mistake at Barber, simple as that. We got a little lucky with how things worked out (a late race re-start that worked to Mladin’s advantage) and now we just have to do what I know myself and my team can do in Fontana. I’ve had to come from behind before, but this time it looks like it’s going to be a fun challenge since some of the others have found some extra speed.” Spies and Mladin are the only former California Speedway Superbike winners in the field. Former AMA Superbike champ Miguel Duhamel is third in the standings, having scored two podium finishes in the previous three rounds. Duhamel, the veteran of the series, thinks he has more wins left in him, but he says things have to be near perfect. “Our Honda CBR1000RR is good,” he says. “We’ve just got to get the setup. It's sensitive. We're still discovering a lot of stuff, how one click (with the suspension) makes a difference compared what we’ve used in the past. Racing in just one class creates more of a sense of urgency to do well since you don’t have another class to fall back on if you have a bad weekend in superbike.” Perhaps the biggest surprise in the young season is the speed shown by Kawasaki’s Tommy Hayden. Hayden, who started on the front row for the first time in his superbike career, had a podium finish in his grasp last weekend in Alabama, before he and Suzuki’s Aaron Yates collided on the final lap. Kawasaki’s ZX-10RR is proving to be solid entry in the factory team’s return to the series for the first time in five years. “I am really looking forward to it,” Hayden said of this weekend’s event. “We have spent quite a bit of time riding and testing there and I always like coming out to California Speedway. The team is making a lot of progress with the bike and I think we are probably ahead of where we thought we might be at this point.” The Suzuki Superbike Challenge twin bill will be nationally televised on SPEED. Saturday’s Superbike race will be televised beginning at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 30, followed by live coverage of Sunday’s Superbike final at 6 p.m. Fans will have the opportunity on Saturday to watch two major events at California Speedway. In addition to the first of the AMA Superbike doubleheader the opening round of the AMA Supermoto Championship will take place in the late afternoon on a specially built course in the track’s infield. For ticket info call 1-800-944-RACE or visit the website www.californiaspeedway.com About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. I like Ben's comments concerning the handlebar torque required to get a motorcycle to turn at speed. Some folks don't believe that is any kind of factor. It sure is, at least on a track at high speed.  | ||
| Court |
Blake: I'm gonna have to ask you to observe Badweb rules and refrain from cutting and pasting stories from other web sites....links are cool...but don't make me spank! | ||
| Blake |
Court, Nice to know you are here to keep me honest. Rest assured however that all the above "press releases" are delivered via email directly from AMA Pro-Racing with an announcement preceding that states "for immediate release." | ||
| Blake |
WHOA! WAY COOL!!! AMA FORMULA XTREME TO RUN AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA PICKERINGTON, Ohio (June 2, 2006) -- AMA Pro Racing and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca announced today that the AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series will run at the upcoming Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, featuring the MotoGP World Championship and the AMA Superbike Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 21-23. AMA’s Formula Xtreme class will join the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei and the Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series. “We’re pleased to be able to add Formula Xtreme to the AMA program for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix,” said AMA Pro Racing Vice President of Commercial Development, John C. Farris, Jr. “Last year we were unable to feature the class because of the heavily impacted schedule and lack of paddock space but this year we’ve been able to work with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca officials to feature all four classes of the AMA Superbike Championship.” The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca event is round seven on the 11-round AMA Superbike Championship. For additional information, log onto www.amasuperbike.com. Tickets are available by calling (800) 327-SECA or on-line at www.RedBullUSGrandPrix.com About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. WOOHOO! FX instead of karts! | ||
| Blake |
This just in from AMA Pro Racing: INAUGURAL RULES COMMITTEE MEETING HELD AT AMA HEADQUARTERS PICKERINGTON, Ohio (July 14, 2006) -- The first meeting of the newly-formed AMA Road Race Rules Committee was held Thursday at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio. The all-day meeting covered a variety of issues related to the AMA Superbike Championship and was an encouraging beginning to a new way of conducting business according to AMA CEO, Patti DiPietro. “I am very pleased with the outcome of our first meeting and the contributions made by each member of this committee,” said DiPietro Thursday evening. “We covered a lot of ground today and I’m happy with our initial progress. There is a great deal of work to be done by this group and this was a productive beginning.” Members of the newly-formed committee attending the meeting included Ammar Bazzaz of Bazzaz Performance Design, Erik Buell of Buell Motorcycle, Co., Sean Clarke of WERA, Kevin Crowther of AMA Pro Racing, Gordon Lunde of the Wegman Benefit Fund, Britt Lynn of Moto-R, Nick McCabe of Ducati North America, Keith McCarty of Yamaha Motor Corp., Wendell Phillips of Phillips Motorsport Group, Michael Preston of Kawasaki Motor Corp., Don Sakakura of Yoshimura R & D (representing Suzuki Motor Corp.), Jay Sherritt, and Kevin Smith of the AFM. Committee member Chuck Miller of Honda Motor Co. was unable to attend due to a prior commitment. Additionally, AMA and AMA Pro Racing staff members who attended included DiPietro, Kerry Graeber, Ron Barrick, Ken Rogers and AMA Board of Directors member Carl Reynolds, who chaired the meeting. AMA attorney Timothy Owens was also in attendance. Earlier this year the AMA and AMA Pro Racing announced a reorganization to its structure specifically designed to improve the rulesmaking process. In addition to a Standing Racing Committee created to provide strategic direction for AMA Championship Racing, a separate rules committee is being formed for each discipline. This committee will deal specifically with AMA Superbike rules. Committees for AMA Flat Track, AMA Supercross/Motocross and AMA Supermoto are being finalized and will be meeting soon. Additionally a committee has been formed to oversee AMA Hillclimb. Once a rule is decided upon by the respective rules committee it is elevated through the Racing Standing Committee to the AMA Board of Directors for ratification. The board of directors can either approve the rule as is or send back to the rules committee with comment. The board is empowered to either approve or deny the rule but not change it. DiPietro reported that the Road Race Rules Committee acted on several current issues and that its recommendations have already been sent to the AMA Board of Directors for approval. It is expected that the board will act quickly with announcements coming as early as next week. Typically, rule changes will not go into effect until the following season, but if the situation warrants, rule changes can be implemented immediately. The next meeting of the Road Race Rules Committee is scheduled for September. About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. Wooohooo, Erik is on the committee! | ||
| Bads1 |
Looks like XBRR will have its foot hold. | ||
| Jima4media |
Kevin Smith from AFM is also a Buell owner, and member of ASBN. | ||
| Blake |
Cool. | ||
| Midwayav8r |
How does anyone keep up with the races, particularly with one with Buell in them? Is anything ever televised? Infrequently I can catch some races on Speed, but never any mention of Buell. I was at the Daytona 200 and would love to see the XBRR's run again. Any information would be appreciated. | ||
| Blublak |
They will be running FX at Laguna Seca.. Also, check out you're local racing series'.. ASRA Thunderbike and CCS (no TV coverage) have a good number of Buells running in various series'. Not sure if WERA or or too many of the other 'amature' series' have much with Buells. But you can check. Look at ccsracing.com and see when they will be coming to a track near you! Go visit, trust me, the racers would love for you to stop by and say 'hey'.. | ||
| Midwayav8r |
Thanks for the quick reply. I've been to Roebling Road and no Buells that I saw, a couple Harleys. And Roebling Road does not allow spectators!! The first race this year I was able to work a corner, so I got in (and got paid), the next race I "pit crewed" for a friend. I'll look at the websites you recommended. BTW, I put up another thread about the Stuntwars in Lakeland FL in October, sponsored by Buell. | ||
| Mutation_racer |
midway when we get our XBRR you can see it run at CCS/ASRA race weekend | ||
| Blake |
This just in from AMA Pro Racing: AMA ROAD RACE RULES COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES RULE CHANGE PICKERINGTON, Ohio (July 17, 2006) -- AMA Pro Racing announced today that the newly-formed Road Race Rules Committee unanimously approved a change to the rule regarding traction control in the AMA Superbike Championship. The rule change, announced this morning via an AMA Pro Racing Competition Bulletin, reads as follows: Effectively immediately replace E.23A, pg 36 with: a. For Superstock and Supersport, any form of engine control system that can actively change the performance/acceleration of the engine using input from any sensors that are not OEM on the motorcycle, to create a situation of better traction at the rear wheel at any time while the motorcycle is being ridden is prohibited. The rule change effectively legalizes the use of traction control devices in the AMA Superbike and AMA Formula Xtreme classes while limiting the application of such devices in the AMA Supersport and AMA Superstock classes. “It is our belief, and one that was echoed by each member of the rules committee, is that we should continue to limit the use of traction control devices in the stock classes but open it up in the modified classes,” said AMA Pro Racing Director of Technical Development, Kevin Crowther. “This rule change is consistent with the spirit of our class rules and objectively recognizes the current state of development of this emerging technology.” Crowther pointed out that OEM application of traction control on production motorcycles is imminent. Under new AMA Pro Racing rules making guidelines, rules are proposed by a discipline-specific rules committee then forwarded to the AMA Board of Directors for ratification. The Road Race Rules Committee held its inaugural meeting last Thursday at AMA headquarters in Pickerington, Ohio where the committee voted to not only approve this specific rule but also that the board approve its immediate implementation. “Everyone agreed that this rule change was important enough to have it implemented immediately,” confirmed Crowther. “We’re happy that the committee acted quickly and was supported decisively by the board.” About AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, the AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom. | ||
| Blake |
That'll be one more hurdle for the current XBRR's to leap in order to level the field against the big Japan Inc. factory teams. | ||
| Jackbequick |
Traction control is new to me, I found something to read about on it here: http://www.webbikeworld.com/BMW-motorcycles/stability-control/ I realize that is BMW's take or flavor on it but it is interesting to read. Are we going to get to the point where the only control on a MotoGP bike is a two way rocker switch on the right hand grip marked "+" and "-"? One for "go as fast as possible" and the other for "go as slow as possible"? And will the championship will come down to the guy that manages to find the line that attains the highest percentage of go faster time? Technology has managed to take a lot of the fun out of it for F1 spectators, I hope they don't do the same thing for motorcycles. The current MotoGP season's races and standings are arguably the best motorcycle racing I've ever seen, I sure hope then don't mess that up. Jack (Message edited by jackbequick on July 18, 2006) | ||
| Dbird29 |
Maybe Buell already has traction control and got the rules changed for their benefit. | ||
| Blublak |
Doesn't Duacti have a really good system currently on their WSBK? I suppose that with the new rule change, it's just a matter of getting the system and some training on the current AMA bikes.. Oh, hey what do ya know.. haven't both Ducatis' riders already ridden with a version of that system? Could portent good things for them in the upcoming AMA Superbike class.. Although, I'm sure it won't be long before the rest of the factory teams have the systems in place.. Now, as for the privateers? Hmmmmm... | ||
| José_quiñones |
Ben Bostrom Not Sure He Will Use Traction Control On Ducati This Weekend At Laguna Seca Jul 17, 2006, By David Swarts Copyright 2006, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. Xerox Ducati’s Troy Bayliss has beaten riders of 1000cc four-cylinder machines and won eight straight races on his factory 999, en route to leading this year’s Superbike World Championship. Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson, meanwhile, have struggled staying with 1000cc four-cylinder machines on their Ducati 999s in the AMA Superbike Championship and have only one podium finish between them this year. Among the many differences in the situations of the two teams, Bayliss’ Ducati runs a traction control system, and Bostrom's and Hodgson’s Ducatis do not have traction control systems. The legalization of traction control today by AMA Pro Racing, therefore, could potentially improve the results of Ducati’s AMA Superbike team starting at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. That is, if the system is available and if Parts Unlimited Ducati decides to use it, according to Bostrom. “We’re supposed to just go race without testing it? That’s insane,” Bostrom told Roadracingworld.com. Asked if his team was going to use a traction control system on its Ducatis at Laguna Seca, Bostrom said, “That’s what I’m wondering, too. It depends, for one, as long as we have the parts. I guess inventory [at Ducati Corse, in Italy] could send them straight over. I’ll talk to the boys on Wednesday and see what the team wants to do. Me, I don’t care, honestly, but obviously, I always prefer to go test. “It could [help us]. It could, but there’s still other problems. We’re still racing against 1000cc four-cylinders, and we’re on [1000cc] Twins. That doesn’t quite add up. So there’s always going to be something stacked against [us] there. But if it does give us any kind of improvement, hey, that’s an improvement. “Plus, normally, I spin the back end to help point the bike. So now, if you can’t violently spin the back tire like that anymore, maybe it hurts your steering, right? There’s a lot to consider with it. “People get all strange, like we’re going to suddenly go 10 seconds a lap faster. It’s not going to be like that.” Bostrom added that he had fully recovered from the hip injury he suffered when he highsided in third gear during the Superbike race June 18 at Miller Motorsports Park. “I felt like I cracked my hip, but I was too lazy to go to the doctor,” said Bostrom. “I’m golden now. I’m good, but the first couple of weeks I couldn’t even walk.” | ||
| Jimidan |
Blake sez: "That'll be one more hurdle for the current XBRR's to leap in order to level the field against the big Japan Inc. factory teams." Like Ben Bostrum says, "There is a lot to consider with it". I can see where traction control may help those peaky big- hit wonders in FX, but it may not too. The XBRR doesn't seem to need traction control as it has a wide and flat power band. I still think the biggest hurdle for the XBRR's is the money, or lack there of, that would have them racing and developing this bike at every event. HD seems only interested in the big events like Daytona and Laguna Seca...a flawed strategy IMHO. jimidan | ||
| Blake |
Jimi, You sure you know their strategy? Good traction control allows the racer to get on the throttle earlier while leaned over. I agree that it benefits the Superbikes more than the FX machines, but it should benefit them significantly too. Anyone have any idea how the current crop of traction control systems work? Do they retard ignition or misfire a cylinder or two or what? |
