After this summer’s USGP nearly all the motorcycle web sites were abuzz with the news of which movie, TV and rock stars were spotted at the Laguna Seca race. Brad Pitt, Matt LeBlanc, David Alan Grier, Vanessa Marcil, Orlando Jones, Ahman Rashad and even porn star Brianna Banks all found their names in unfamiliar territory as magazines, newspapers and web sites mentioned them in their MotoGP reports.

Now I’ll admit up front that I’m not particularly in touch with pop culture. I don’t really follow movies, TV or the Billboard 200 to see who’s who and what’s hot. I don’t know most actors and actresses by name, nor do I know the faces of most of the stars in the hot TV shows. On the contrary, I’m a full blown motorcycle geek and nearly all of mypop trivia knowledge is centered around two-wheels. As a result, I’d much rather know what Andrew Pitt is doing on weekends instead of Brad Pitt. While fans, and even some of the racers, were wondering where Brad’s girlfriend was during the MotoGP weekend, I was ticked off that some yahoo’s helicopter was making so damned much noise while I was trying to listen to the track PA system.

All that said, there is one VIP that I think deserves mention each and every weekend. That superstar is Michael Jordan. Sure, I know he’s an amazingly famous basketball hero and that he’s constantly surrounded by an entourage of stick-n-ball devotees but the reason he deserves every ounce of respect that motorcycle fans can give him is that he’s spending his money and working with his personal sponsors to improve our sport. Brad Pitt’s picture in People magazine may make some people think our sport is getting greater recognition but I bet photos of Brad Pitt at a polo match have been shown in People and I don’t see ESPN scrambling to increase their coverage of those well-heeled horse jockeys. Until Mr. Pitt decides to spend some of this copious bank to support bike racing, he’ll just be another anonymous face in the crowd to me. But His Airness? The crowds at racing events should part like the Red Sea as he walks through. He should receive a standing ovation whenever he appears and should have his mug posted on small shrines throughout the pits. Jordan is putting his money where his heart is and that’s in motorcycle racing. Now *that* qualifies as a star in my book!

Perhaps even more compelling, he is working to bring his own personal sponsors into the sport. Nike, Giant RV, Upper Deck and Gatorade are all helping out the Michael Jordan Motorsports team. All of these are companies that are not traditionally associated with motorcycles, nor are they the types of companies that have historically been involved with bikes: Tobacco companies, movie/entertainment/media firms and soft drink mega-corporations. With tobacco logos becoming verboten in many countries, and with corporate sponsorship of AMA teams drying up faster than race fuel spilled on hot asphalt, anyone that can bring in fresh money will seen as a miracle worker. Add in that MJ is bringing friends like Kid Rock and Chris Chelios to the track, both of whom have expressed at least a passing interest in getting involved with motorcycle racing, and there is another dimension where he is helping expand our sport. I hope Jordan stays with the sport for a long time but I hope the presence of his contacts will be felt even longer.

[image from my photo collection.]

I’m still playing catch up, this time with the AMA Superbike races held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course a week ago. Seems like there are some interesting ways of measuring success at Mid-Ohio, so I’ll focus on some unique forms of quantifying differences.

First and foremost, the biggest story of the weekend was that it was raining cats and dogs on Thursday night and the linger affects of this weather influenced the whole weekend. The first practice sessions on Friday were slower than cold molasas to get started because water was bubbling up through the track. More rain was forecast for the weekend and this made the topic of racing in the rain on the tricky Mid-Ohio track a hot one. Most of the riders felt the track surface was inappropriate for a rain race and Mat Mladin went so far as to declare he wouldn’t race if it rained Saturday or Sunday. While it did eventually rain on Sunday, it was just a wee sprinkle and the track was dry by the time the Superbike race was flagged off.

But for the first race on Saturday afternoon rain wasn’t an issue. On a dry track, Mladin continued to do what he’s done all season…start from the pole and just clear off on the rest of the field. Mladin’s win was bodacious, carding a 11 second lead over second place Ben Spies and third place Eric Bostrom. Aaron Yates ran in second place for most of the race but crashed out 3/4 of the way through the race, handing the place to his Texan teammate. Also notable was that American Honda’s Jake Zemke ran in the top five for the early laps but a mechanical failure on his CBR took him out of the race.

When the boys finally lined up on Sunday, after being delayed a couple of hours while waiting for the track to dry after a morning shower, all eyes were on Mladin. He had won the first race by a country mile and given his form this year was expected to do the same in race two. A second win would net him a 44 point lead over second place Ben Spies and surely set the stage for a conservative run over the last four races to sew up the title. Instead, Mladin got a lousy start when the green flag flew while Ducati’s Eric Bostrom got one of his patented killer starts to take the holeshot. Mladin started charging forward, eventually turning the fastest lap of the race. Eric pulled a gap over second place Yates while Mladin closed up on the rear wheel of his fellow Yoshimura Suzuki rider. On lap eleven, Bostrom drifted a little wide at the Carousel and Yates tried to tighten his line to go for a pass. Instead, he asked for just a smidge more traction than this rear tire could deliver resulting in a lowside. Mladin, directly behind Yates at the time, followed Yates off the track and eventually tipped over on the wet grass. Bostrom inherited a monster lead and took the checkers with a 6 second gap over surprise podium visitor Miguel Duhamel in second and Ben Spies in third. Zemke was again out with a mechanical, giving Honda a schizophrenic pair of race two result. The Red Riders got another boost, in addition to Duhamel’s fantastic second place, when Kurtis Roberts brought his Erion Honda home in fifth behind Neil Hodgson, making this Kurtis’ best finish of the season. While Suzuki was disappointed losing two of their three factory riders in a single crash their pain was lessened a tad by Jordan Racing’s Steve Rapp coming home sixth and teammate Jason Pridmore following him home for seventh.

The mathematics of the weekend work out like this. Mladin loses a boatload of points to Ben Spies and now only has a 9 point lead in the championship battle. Bostrom gained a massive 66 points on Aaron Yates and leapfrogged into third in the championship. In fact, the points accruals starting at Pikes Peak show an interesting story. Spies has earned a stunning 177 points in the past six races while Mladin has earned 170 and Eric Bostrom 167. Yates, in stark contract, has only added 87 to his tally. This tells the story, as Spies and Mladin have pulled a nearly unassailable gap on everyone else but the race for third has tightened up considerably between Bostrom and Yates.

The trends are equally interesting. Ducati have won four of the last six races but the two teammates on the 999s have also had three DNFs in that same time period. Mladin has three wins, two seconds and one DNF over that time while fellow Yosh rider Spies has maintained his amazing rookie season performance with two second place and two third place finishes. Clearly the Ducatis have come good here at the end of the season but its mainly been because of the misfortune of Mladin on two occasions that things look as rosy as they do. Eric’s three wins at PPIR, Laguna and Mid-Ohio have come just in the nick of time, as silly season is hard upon us and EBoz’s two year contract comes to an end this September. Surely this late charge by one of the most talented riders in the paddock won’t go unnoticed by team managers.

One rider that doesn’t have to worry about next year is Mat Mladin who announced at Mid-Ohio that he had signed a contract renewal with Suzuki that will seem him racing with them through 2008. I’m sure Mladin, soon to be a six time AMA champ, is making a metric shitload of dosh (and deserves every penny) and may well be in a position to run his own team next year, should he desire it. Whether its Mat or someone else, expect the Mat Mladin team to expand to two riders in 2006.

The history books will show that Hodgson, Spies and Bostrom all won races in 2005. Unfortunately, those stats don’t show just how one sided the season has been. Luck is an important part of racing and Mladin has had a skosh more bad luck this year that the other riders. Other than his Fontana clutch failure and being taken out by Yates at Mid-Ohio, he has only been off the podium once: his forth place finish at PPIR after pitting for new tires. For him to go into VIR in a tight points battle is good for the fans but ultimately shows how the AMA points system rewards consistency over outright wins. Spies has only been off the podium three times (Infinion, Road American and Laguna), which is astounding for his first full season on a Superbike, but has only won once. He deserves accolades galore for his riding but that record shouldn’t give him a shot at the title against so dominant a rider as Mladin. I’d rather see a points system that encourages riders to go for the win…then I think we would get a truer measurement of the series champ.

[image from the DC Sportbikes web site.]

Two weeks ago, the international MotoGP and the domestic AMA series were racing on the same track. Now, two weeks later, things could hardly be more different.

The MotoGP series is visiting Donington Park in England. The track is a great layout and is blessed with fresh pavement thanks to a repaving job last year. The 2.5 mile long circuit is highlighted by four fantastic right hand turns, all taken at 70+ miles per hour and two different straights with speeds topping out over 150. Unfortunately, this high speed ballet is interrupted by a “S” shaped section which has the riders bogging in first gear. The bikes have to be set up for the high speed stability and fast transitions required in the sweeping stuff while also being able to handle the hard braking and acceleration that come with the stop-n-go section. Achieving a setup compromise will be crucial but, as with Assen, expect the Yamahas to be strong any time handling is more key than outright power. This is made even more likely since Rossi has historically dominated at the English track, having won here four times (five if you count his 2003 win which was later nullified because he passed under a waving yellow during the race). If Rossi isn’t in front this weekend, it will probably be because Melandri, Gibernau and Biaggi aren’t either. Rossi is close enough to a fifth championship that he doesn’t need to risk a crash while fighting with those out of title contention. The riders I’ll be watching the most closely are Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden and Max Biaggi. Melandri is probably the only rider with any chance of catching Rossi for the #1 plate and he needs to quickly rebound from a lousy round at Laguna Seca. Hayden, just the opposite, needs to continue the momentum from his USGP victory if he wants to prove that wasn’t a Yankee version of the Rising Sun Syndrome (in which Japanese riders can dominate in their homeland but then struggle when it comes to putting together a championship run). Finally, Honda officially announced this weekend that Dani Pedrosa will be graduating from the 250s to MotoGP next year with a full factory contract. That probably means Repsol and that probably means either Biaggi or Hayden are getting the boot at the end of this season. With Hayden both young and still improving, that puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the Roman Emperor…and history tends to show that Max never does well under pressure.

Meanwhile, the AMA racers are at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Like Donington, serious effort was put forth last year to improve the track. Unfortunately, the bulk of that work was grinding down the sharp edges from the concrete patches used in the turns to prevent cars from breaking the asphalt. While the grinding helped with the transitions to and from the concrete it created an amazingly slippery surface in some of the turns which resulted in a record number of crashes last year. The 2.4 mile long road race course is perhaps the twistiest track on the AMA calendar and thus the worst (except perhaps the high speed stuff at Rd. America and the NASCAR ovals) in which to have questionable traction. However, there are some similarities between the MotoGP and AMA weekends. First, rain is threatening both which could play a huge role, especially at Mid-Ohio which doesn’t normally race in wet conditions. Both races also have championship leaders who hold a significant points advantage over their competitors. Mladin, like Rossi, can afford to play it conservative in Ohio. Moreso because Mladin has perhaps a more strategic view of racing than his Italian GP counterpart who may well get the red mist just to have the satisfaction of beating everyone else at any given track. Expect Mladin to hang it out, if the conditions allow it, for one more victory to consolidate his championship lead, if not this weekend then the next, then play the points game until he wraps up title #6. The riders to watch in Superbike are Ben Spies, Eric Bostrom and Neil Hodgson. Spies still needs to beat Mladin straight up in order to cover one of his goals for this year and the chances for doing that are rapidly dwindling. He also still has a long shot at the title and has to gain points in a big way this weekend if he’s to win his first superbike title this year. Eric Bostrom seems to have returned to his ways of old but has to continue running at the front (finishing 3rd while 20 seconds down doesn’t count as running at the front) to prove it. Finally, Neil Hodgson’s fortunes have changed dramatically since he showed up at Pikes Peak with crashes and DNFs seeming to be the norm. He needs to create a reversal of his luck this weekend since race wins (and a renewal of his contract) are all he has left to shoot for this year.

Finally, silly season is upon us. Expect every racer to put in a little extra effort for the next few months to prove their value and to justify their ride. I’ll try to put together a silly season web page over the next month to track who ends up where.

[image from the MIVEC web page.]

With all the excitement from the MotoGP and WSBK races over the past two weeks, I haven’t talked about the AMA events which ran as support races over the USGP weekend.

The biggest news there was Eric Bostrom. After a convincing win at the historically EBoz friendly PPIR, it remained to be seen whether Bostrom had really found some competitiveness or whether its just a flike that he just knows how to win at the Colorado track no matter what he’s riding. Laguna Seca offered up an answer to that question by offering up another flag-to-flag victory for the Ducati rider. It is perhaps true that Mladin didn’t have any reason to hang it all out at Laguna, after all Eric isn’t in the championship points battle, but it appeared that Eric was just the fastest guy on the track for that race no matter what the other riders were or weren’t doing. With two wins under his belt this season on vastly different types of tracks, perhaps this is a sign that Eric has finally come to terms with the 999’s set up.

As for Mladin, he again had a race weekend where he didn’t win but still triumphed. In this case, he gained more points over teammate Ben Spies, his nearest rival for the ‘05 Superbike title, and how holds a 31 point lead. Superbike title #6 is nearly in his grasp. With just three more rounds, all being double headers, there are still 228 points available. However, with only six points between first and second, it is rapidly nearing the point where Mladin could finish directly behind Spies at every event and still win the #1 plate. Expect Mladin to ride hard at Mid-Ohio, then ride strategically for the last four rounds to sew up the title.

The two AMA support class races were the most exciting races of the weekend at Laguna. In Superstock, Tommy Hayden put in an incredible performance only to be thwarted in the closing laps by a backmarker. Hayden, trying to pull a gap over pursuing Aaron Yates and Jason Disalvo, attempted to go around the outside of a slower rider in Turn 4 but instead made contact and crashed. He ended up with a broken right hand, as well as virtually losing any chance he had of winning the Superstock title this year. The race boiled down to a last lap dual between Yates and Disalvo in which Yates baited a trap for the young Yamaha rider and snapped is down hard. In this case, Yates braked late into Turn 11 on the last lap but then swung wide to leave an opening up the inside. Jason dove for the hole but then ran wide on the exit to the corner. Yates had already turned in early setting him up for a killer drive onto the front straight. Aaron, the part-time drag racer, won the acceleration contest and the race. This win extends his gap in the title fight to 10 points over Disalvo.

The Supersport race, the final race of the weekend, was a barn-burner with Roger Lee Hayden and Jason Disalvo fighting until the finish line. Even the start of the race was exciting as Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard ran at the front for a lap before tossing the bike in turn 9. Hayden and Disalvo went at for the last two laps with Jason again making his bid for the win in Turn 11. However, having learned from Yates in the Superstock race, Jason used an aggressive pass to block Roger Lee from turning in underneath him and thus held on for the victory. Tommy Hayden rode, despite the broken hand, and earned a sixth place. He holds a 41 point lead over teammate Roger Lee for the Supersport championship.

I suspect that, like last year, the Supersport and Superstock races will continue to be the ones to watch for the last three rounds of the series. Despite all the talk about why Yamaha and Kawasaki should be racing in Superbike and Formula Xtreme, its hard to argue that the racing in the support classes is exciting and that part of that excitement is there because some very talented factory riders are going for the title. Does anyone remember how exciting the 600 Supersport classs was when Honda and Suzuki were duking it out with Yamaha and Kawasaki?

You can bet I’ll be watching the Mid-Ohio races. Tommy Hayden already has one Supersport title and is close to a second…was last year a fluke or a sign?

[image from the official AMA Superbike web site.]

Once again, I find that I have a backlog of things I wanted to post on the blog but not enough time to do long postings on each one. Presented here is my second installment of “Odds and Ends”.

A month ago, I did a blog posting about some Dunlop posters that were being offered for sale with the proceeds going to a good cause. Well, if you have more money to spend and want an even cooler thing to show for it, there is an auction of signed motorcycle gear being hosted by RPM with all the money earned from the sale going to help injured motorcycle racer Vincent Haskovec. The list of stuff up for sale is amazing and its guilt free since you’re helping someone in need. Bid soon and bid often.

Another news item which raised my eyebrows was an announcement from the AMA that the Daytona 200 would again be a Formula Xtreme race in 2006 but that the Superbike race would again be promoted as the premier race. My first problem with this is that it implies that the AMA has the luxury of determining what is or isn’t the premier class. I’d say that the fans determine that. If the fans feel let down by the Superbikes being removed from the 200 then Superbikes aren’t the premier class. My second issue with this is that it doesn’t really clarify anything. The AMA seems unable to make up their minds about the how to continue their recent commitment to Superbikes through 2008 while at the same time promoting their vision of Formula Xtreme as the direction the series should be going. Looks to me like they are tabling this whole issue for another year by sticking with a confusing class structure and confusing priorities at Daytona for another year.

I did a blog posting back in April about TV viewership of MotoGP races in Europe. Well, another report came out showing 50% viewership of the Catalunya MotoGP race in Italy and 33% viewership in Spain. 50 - freaking- percent!?!? Is that amazing or what? Obviously I’ve got Italian blood somewhere in my past. Maybe I should move to Italy and see if it feels like home?

Rossi makes bank according to the Forbes annual survey. No real surprise there but this is probably the first time a motorcycle racer has shown up near the top of a salary survey since the days of Barry Sheene. Just another sign of both how professional the MotoGP series has become and just how valued as a rider Rossi really is. We’ll have to see if Yamaha can afford to keep Valentino on the payroll when his two year contract comes to an end this year.

During the MotoGP weekend at Assen a press release hit the air waves saying that HRC and Repsol have agreed to terms that will continue to see Honda’s MotoGP team sponsored by the Argentinean oil giant through 2007. What is interesting about this is that earlier this year, it appeared that Honda was in a tight spot with Spaniard Sete Gibernau being the Honda rider that earned full factory support but having a Repsol contract that prevented a full factory bike from being handed out to any team except the one in the Respol HRC factory garage. Some agreement was apparently reached which allowed Sete to get a full factory bike and now the Honda/Repsol contract has been renewed. There isn’t any indication of whether the new contract contains the same restrictions as the previous one. Could Marco Melandri now be the next rider to get full factory support without being on a Respol bike?

I saw somewhere, and unfortunately I’ve forgotten exactly where, that the Australian postal service issued a set of five postage stamps last year to honor Australia’s Grand Prix motorcycle racers. I couldn’t google up any good links but the stamps were printed for Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Daryl Beattie, Garry McCoy and Troy Bayliss. Damn, now I can’t decide if I should move to Italy or Australia!

My favorite news item, though, were the details about the British Superbike “R6 Cup” series. At first, it looks just like any other spec bike race class. Lots of riders racing on identically prepared bikes. However, there are two things that make this one particularly interesting. First, all the bikes are prepared by the same crew (sort of like the International Suzuki Cup series bikes). Riders are randomly assigned a bike at the beginning of the race and the bikes are returned immediately after the checkered flag. No monkeying around with the bikes allowed. The riders pay a flat rate to lease the bike for the race season. The second, and biggest difference, is the prize. At the end of the season the rider that wins the series gets a full factory Superbike ride the following year with the Virgin Yamaha team. Sweet! What a dream deal for a young rider. Last year’s winner, Tommy Hill, has performed well this year in his factory debut and is rumored to have the same ride next year along side the winner of the 2005 R6 Cup championship. Bravo to Virgin Mobile for helping bootstrap the British Superbike series.

[image from the Fast Dates Calendar web site.]

It was a great weekend to be Italian. I suspect plenty of pasta and vino were consumed and the parties in the boot shaped country were kicking well into the night on Sunday.

MotoGP action was all about Italy, with the racing taking place at the famous Mugello circuit and the race itself was all about Italians since for the second time in the three years the story of the Tuscan track’s weekend in the GP sun was an all Italian victory circle. The race was spectacular, as is to be expected at Mugello with its long straight and fast corners. (In fact, with the World Superbike races at Imola historically being great, its easy to believe that all races in Italy are just intrinsically fantastic!) From the very beginning, it seemed that Rossi was again going to put on a command performance for his home audience as he launched the Yamaha into second and then quickly dispatched with leader Capirossi on the second lap to lead the race. From there, it was pure excitement. In fact, I wonder if Rossi is now so confident of his abilities that he was able to script a race that would drive the Italian fans into a mad frenzy. Over the first third of the race it appeared that Rossi would run away but then slowly Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri reeled him in and suddenly there was an all-Italian scrap for the lead. As the race neared two thirds distance Loris Capirossi on the bright red Ducati joined the fray which just pushed the Italian crowd’s insanity dial to 11. If Rossi did create the script for this dramatic race it was a performance worthy of a Tony award as he again cranked up the speed and with two laps to go rocketed away to victory leaving his three countrymen to fight for the remaining two podium spots. Just as he has done so many times over the past two years Rossi has given his competitors a sniff of glory and then crushed them with unbelievable efficiency. Just as in 2003, the podium was all Italian with Rossi, Biaggi and Capirossi but this time Biaggi finished second with Capirossi having just beaten Melandri for the third place finish. As if having four Italians lead the race wasn’t enough, Ducati managed its first rostrum appearance of the year “at home” and Carlos Checa brought the second Ducati over the line in fifth. I can only imagine how wild the village of Mugello was on Sunday night, not to mention the city of Bolgona!

Speaking of which, in the AMA the boys from Bologna have also been experiencing a welcome resurgence of late. Eric Bostrom’s win at Pikes Peak was the first for Ducati in a year and was desperately needed to buoy the sagging hope of the Ducatisti. Thanks to a Wisconsin deluge on Saturday the Ducati Austin snagged its second win in as many races. It would be easy to assume that that large number of crashers (Yates, Duhamel, Bostrom, Zemke, Spies) helped Hodgson win his first AMA Superbike race but watching the Brit power his bike around the soggy Road America track proved it was actually pure riding talent. Both Mladin and Spies, running with Hodgson at the front, had to pit for fresh rear tires because the first laps where run on a damp track with allowed the tires to overheat and shred before the downpour soaked the track and brought the tires back to their normal operating temperature. After the race, Hodgson admitted that his rear tire was also shot and he wouldn’t have finished the race had it not been red flagged at the beginning of lap nine. But despite all the confusion and chaos caused by the rain it was still an exciting win for Hodgson and for Ducati. Likewise, it was another stunning case of damage control for Yoshimura’s star rider as Mladin earned second when scoring revered back to lap eight…before he pitted for the new rear tire. Even on his bad days he is incredible. The final news worthy of some bubbly was Josh Hayes who earned a fabulous third place for the underdog Attack Kawasaki team. What a terrific turnaround after their miserable results early in the season and a new personal high water mark for Hayes as this is his best Superbike finish to date.

Sunday dawned overcast but unlike Saturday the Superbike race was run in dry conditions. As if to prove that two Ducati wins a row hadn’t really changed the status quo in AMA Superbike, Mat Mladin turned in another of his dominate performances. Leading from start to finish, Mat was never challenged for the win. The surprise was that a Honda (anyone remember them?) ran 90% of the race in second place. In this particular case, it was Jake Zemke who did his best to put pressure on the Suzuki rider early in the race. Sadly, the honor of earning a second place finish for Honda wasn’t to be, as Suzuki mounted Ben Spies snatched that position late in the race but Zemke does get the pleasure of getting Big Red’s first Superbike podium finish in 2005 as he held onto third. EBoz, rebounding from his DNF on Saturday after being taken out by a crashing Duhamel, came home in forth on Sunday. Ducati’s fortunes weren’t completely restored, though, as Hodgson was out with his second mechanical failure of the year.

With this weekend’s success of the Italian riders in general and the Ducatis in particular this weekend was all about Italy. All it all, it was “bella!”.

[image from the Motoring South Africa web site.]

Back in January when I did my AMA rider review I made a big deal about how riders like Ben Spies, Roger Lee Hayden and (reluctantly) Jason Disalvo are the future of the sport. Riders like Duhamel, Mladin, Bostrom and Yates, no matter how great, aren’t going to rule the sport forever. In fact, I think the Hayden brothers, Spies and Disalvo will have taken over the championship battles in the next two or three years. So when Ben and Roger Lee are no longer the newcomers, where will the next crop of star riders come from? Well, the answer is already in front of us…

As with many of the other rookies in the sport, the next generation of motorcycles racers are already honing their craft. In fact, they are often on the track at the same time as the current big name riders. The Hayden brothers didn’t just appear on factory bikes, they worked their way through a farm system of privateer and then factory supported teams. Just a decade ago, teams with names like EBSCO, Zero Gravity, Suzuki Sport, Hypercycle and Kinkos were running riders with names like Jamie Hacking, Nicky Hayden and Jake Zemke.

Some other teams, like Erion Honda, Emgo Suzuki (the ex-Team Valvoline/Team Hammer), Hooters Suzuki and Corona Suzuki are still out there today and are still feeding talented riders into the AMA series. I think the teams to watch this year to spot new talent are the Grant Matsushima run MPTRacing team, the Hotbodies team, the Millenium KWS team, the Corona team and Topline Racing. All of these teams are busy scouting new talent that will race for cheap in an effort to get noticed by a factory team next year. Many of the teams have a tire sponsor, usually Pirelli or Bridgestones rather than the front running Dunlops, but their sponsorship list is dominated by small non-motorcycle related businesses like construction companies or printing companies. (Obviously, the Corona Suzuki team is the major exception to this with their big name beer sponsor and massive paddock presence).

Where do these riders come from? Well, it seems there are a few standard places that the small teams are looking to find up-and-coming riders.

First, the most fertile ground for the past thirty years have been on the dirt tracks of America. Racing on short tracks and 1/2 miles teaches kids throttle control and gets them used to the rigors of racing. Since flat track racing doesn’t pay as well as road racing and there is a lot of overlap with the skillset it is usually easy to convinced talented young riders to give road racing a try. Of the current riders MPT Racing’s Danny Eslick is the best example of one who came out of the dirt track world. He’s very fast and very comfortable sliding the bike around. His finishes thus far this season in Formula Xtreme include three top five finishes.

Second, check the local CCS and WERA races to see who is shining there. Riders like Aaron Yates, Scott Russell and Mike Smith all strutted their stuff in WERA and CCS before being picked up by AMA teams. If a rider is fast enough to win in the CCS Race of Champions or the WERA Grand Nationals there is a very good chance they’ll soon be riding in one of the AMA classes. The current racer from this background is Millenium KWS’s Blake Young. This young (pardon the pun) rider made an impression with his rides in CCS and is already backing that up with competitive riders in AMA Supersport (three top 15s) and Superstock (two top 15s). He’s teamed with veteran Lee Acree, so expect to see Young continuing to improve as he learns from his experienced teammate.

Third, casting an eye down under seems to be a popular place to look for riding talent. Over the past decade the AMA series has been dominated by Aussie riders like Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss, Mat Mladin, Anthony Gobert, Aaron Gobert and Damon Buckmaster. There are a few talented Australian riders chasing Yank dollars in the field this year but I think the best example is Corona Suzuki’s Brent George. This kid showed up at last years Suzuki Cup races at Atlanta and impressed many with a podium finish against circuit experts Mike Smith and Geoff May. Thus far this season George has finished in the top 15 at every Superstock race and in the top 15 twice in Superbike. Don’t be surprised to find him as the new Wonder from Down Under in a few years.

Finally, those scouting for international talent sometimes look north of the border and poach riders from the Canadian Superbike series. Duhamel, Picotte, Crevier and Szoke were all Canuck racers before being tempted by warmer weather and US paychecks. While this plan hasn’t paid the consistent rewards of importing Aussies this year brings back a talented young rider named Chris Peris riding for Topline Racing. He has certainly earned great results including four top-10 finishes in the ultra competitive Supersport class and four top-5 finishes in Formula Xtreme.

If you’re really curious about the future stars of the sport, check out Roadracing World and Motorcycle Technology magazine’s annual “Young Guns” feature. It lists riders between the ages of 13 and 19 who have finished in the top three in an expert level road race. Past “Young Guns” include all three Hayden brothers, John Hopkins, Ben Spies, Jason Disalvo, Tony Miering, Nicky Wimbauer and many others. Its another great feature offered to the motorcycle racing community by the often controversial John Ulrich.

In the meantime, watch as these talented riders improve this year and next.

[image from the MPT Racing web site.]

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

Well, okay, not so long ago and not really so far away. In fact, just this past weekend in Colorado Springs. I won’t bore you by making this a Star Wars parody, it just seemed like too easy of a pun to make given my southern accent, the new movie opening recently and the marketing assault that rivals anything in the war on terror…

At Daytona this year, plenty of paddock pundits were pontificating about Pirelli. Specifically, that despite Michelin losing their only factory team connection, there appeared to be a tire war brewing in AMA Superbike. With all the factory teams running Dunlops it was assumed this season would be a cakewalk for the UK based company but then Pirelli shod Vincent Haskovec rode his Emgo M4 sponsored Suzuki to a surprise win in the Superstock race. Had all the nay-sayers been wrong? Had Pirelli buying their way into the World Superbike series actually netted them a competitive race tire? Had Pirelli succeeded where Michelin had failed? Well, the subsequent races have shown that optimism for the Italian tire manufacturer was probably a bit premature. The best litmus test for this may well have been this past weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

PPIR is hard on tires. In fact the general opinion is that PPIR is harder on tires than any of the other tracks currently on the AMA calendar. Daytona, long known to eat rear tires for breakfast, still doesn’t put the constant strain on the left hand side of the tire that PPIR does with over 1/2 the lap being one long bumpy left hand turn. This was vividly illustrated this year when three different factory and factory supported riders were forced to pit for a new rear tire during the Superbike race: Mat Mladin, Jake Zemke and Kurtis Roberts. During the race, both Ben Spies and Aaron Yates were noticeably spinning up the rear tire exiting tight left hand turns. It was one of these spins that cost Aaron Yates the race win.

No matter how bad things were for Dunlop, things appeared even more grim among their competitors. When walking around the pits one thing that was immediately obvious was how busy the Dunlop guys were. Their canopy had three stations with hydraulic mounting machines and three tables set up for balancing tires. At any given time there would be 8 or 10 crew members frantically running around handling tire duties for all the racers running their tires. Also interesting was that Dunlop brought three different compounds of tires to PPIR for their riders including two different multi-compound tires. These slicks have two or three different types of rubber all molded together into a single tire. The left hand side of the tire would be a harder compound that can stand up to the high temperatures generated in the long left turns and the rest of the tire would be a softer compound that could be effectively used in the right hand turns since that side of the tire runs cooler. It is even possible that additional “stripes” of rubber could be used in the tire so that a particular area of the tire could be made more resilent to overheating. Fascinating stuff and proof that Dunlop has really done their homework on PPIR over the years.

In contrast, the Michelin area was positively lazy. Three or four guys wearing Michelin shirts would generally be sitting around chatting or aimlessly balancing a tire. Plainly they are the least involved of the tire manufacturers and the lack of activity around their semi was clear evidence of that. Michelin should have the leg up on everyone else in terms of motorcycle tire development since they virtually own MotoGP racing. However, every track is unique and Michelin needs at least a couple of top level AMA Superbike riders running their tires if they hope to develop competitive tires for the US tracks. It isn’t happening given their current level of involvement.

Splitting the difference between these two, the Pirelli tire guys were moderately busy. Their biggest partner in AMA Superbike is the Emgo M4 team and you could regularly see crew members from the team at the Pirelli truck and vice-versa. Clearly they are working together closely. Unfortunately, at PPIR the Pirelli tires weren’t working all that great with the track. Michael Barnes was standing in for the injured Vincent Haskovec and actually carded decent finishes for the weekend…a fine forth in Superstock and a sixth Formula Xtreme. Not bad considering it was his first ride on the bikes. However, those results are even better considering how badly his Pirelli tires were sliding around after the halfway point in each race. In the early stages of the Formula Xtreme race Barnes was fighting with Ben Attard and Chris Peris for third place. Then his rear tire started sliding and he steadily dropped back to his eventual sixth place result. What was particularly noticable was that his tires were sliding exiting the sweeping right hand turn five. This would indicate that even the cooler right hand side of the tire wasn’t performing as well as the Dunlop tires run by the other racers. Probably the very situation that one of those multi-compound Dunlop tires is meant to address since the Pirellis probably run a hard single compound tire so the right hand side never comes up to operating temperature. The same thing could be seen in the Superstock race though Barney seemed to ride around the problem better on the GSXR1000 than he did on the Superbike-spec 600. Perhaps the heavier bike generated the extra heat to make the right side of the tire work better while overheating the left side even more. Great rides from Barnes but it does open the question of how competitive would he have been on Dunlops?

Finally, Bridgestone had a semi at PPIR but it was practically just there as a rolling billboard. I didn’t see any riders going to/from the Bridgestone area. Like Corona, they could have simply hired models to walk around in their gear and not really changed their impact on the weekend. Like Michelin, Bridgestone theoretically could be a huge force in Superbike racing since they are the biggest tire manufacturer in Formula One car racing and have recently taken a huge bite out of Michelin’s market in MotoGP racing. Its a matter of them deciding to put resources in the US national series and then getting some riders on their tires so they can start collecting crucial data from our tracks.

Either way, PPIR did highlight that the tire wars aren’t as hot as they first appeared at Daytona. Before anyone will really challenge Dunlop for supremacy in the AMA Superbike wars Pirelli will need to create a better tire and both Michelin and Bridgestone need to get some top riders on their tires. In the meantime, we can always hope that Barnes will get a chance to come over to the dark side and compete head-to-head with the factory boys.

Use the force, Michael…

[image from the Superbike Planet web site.]

The New Age folks have a number of very interesting theories about life. One of those curious “facts” is the idea that there are streams of energy that flow across the surface of the earth and that there are special places where these paths of energy cross. The places of convergence have unique properties to which the New Age devotees flock. Some of these sacred locations in the US include Santa Fe NM, Sedona AZ and Crestone CO. (Interestingly enough, these places are demonstrably locations of special financial energy because land in these towns is disgustingly expensive…but I digress).

Well, I’ve always been skeptical about this theory but I’m beginning to think there is something special about Fountain, Colorado. That’s the only way I can explain Eric Bostrom’s performance yesterday at PPIR.

Thus far this season, EBoz has struggled. Well, that’s putting it politely. In ‘03 Eric was “the man”. Last year he struggled with the Michelin clad Duc 999 and everyone…team, fans and Eric…surely expected him to return to his ‘03 form this year with him back on Dunlops and with a year on the Ducati under his belt. Given that benchmark, Bostrom has sucked this year: 11th at Daytona, 8th and 5th at Barber, 5th and 4th at Fontana, 10th and 7th at Infineon. Today Eric seemed to align all his chakras and everything clicked. He was second in qualifying throwing down strong laps for the second half of the 40 minute session. Then in the race he repeated last year’s jack rabbit start. Yates eventually clawed his way through traffic to catch up to Bostrom. The Enforcer even took the lead and looked to have it won but traffic kept him from getting away and roasted tires let him down on the last lap allowing Eric back by for the win. Eric’s sixth win at PPIR and his forth straight. Its really a pity the energy grid doesn’t cross the other nine tracks on the ‘05 schedule since Eric is amazing to watch when things come together for him.

In contrast, Mladin has ruled all year with only a mechanical failure at Infineon marring a perfect season. There is only one track on the AMA schedule that Mladin hasn’t won and its the little oval in Colorado. Mat came in confident that this was his year to check PPIR off his list. Well, once again the Mladin curse kicked in and Mat struggled. Perhaps Mat didn’t wear the right crystal or chant the right mantra before the trace. Then again, a bad race for Mat means forth…still valuable points towards the championship.

As I mentioned in my pre-race posting on Friday there are a few other guys that seem able to tap into PPIR’s mystical energy:

Josh Hayes - With a few weekends on a reliable Attack Kawasaki behind him, Hayes showed that his ‘04 performance of coming through the pack after a crash wasn’t a fluke. Josh didn’t crash this time and instead used that same Pike’s Peak mojo to finish the Superbike race in fifth, ahead of Hodgson, Duhamel and Zemke. This is Hayes second fifth in three races so once again he is stickin’ it to the factory boys.

Tommy Hayden - The elder of the Hayden brothers has always run well at PPIR. Maybe its his dirt track background, maybe its his smooth riding style or maybe its cosmic karma but Tommy once again put on a good show for us Colorado fans. Tommy visited the podium in both of his races, third in Superstock and second in Supersport. He ran second for most of the Supersport race until race leader Jason Disalvo threw his Yamaha away in turn three. Tommy nearly crashed avoiding the sliding bike and rider but rejoined the in third. He rode hard to regain second with a deft pass on Jamie Hacking but couldn’t find a way past brother Roger Lee for the win. This increased his lead in Superport to 8 points and his Supersport run solidified his forth place standing there.

Jake Zemke - The Californian has had some memorable rides in Colorado. Today he had two noteworthy rides but only got the glory for one of them…Zemke lead the Formula Xtreme race from start to finish, winning his forth straight FX race and giving him a 13 point lead over teammate Duhamel in the title chase. This win also moved him into first place on the most FX wins list with 10. Zemke’s second race for the day didn’t turn out so well… In Superbike, Zemke came out running strong in third for that first half of the race. It looked like Jake would put the CBR on the podium, especially once Mladin pitted for a new tire, but then he suffered his own personal tire problems eventually pitting for new rubber. Zemke eventually finished thirteenth, hardly fair considering how long he held third place on the track against the monster Suzukis and against PPIR expert Bostrom. It doesn’t require any spiritual mumbo-jumbo to know 13 was definitely an unlucky number for Jake.

Jamie Hacking - Jamie has often struggled at PPIR including some high profile crashes in the past. This year he finally seemed to find the way to channel the mysterious Fountain, CO power. Hacking won a hard fought Superstock battle after holding off persistent attacks from Aaron Yates. He then followed this up with a third place in Supersport, not quite able to run with the two Hayden brother’s Kawasakis but pulling well clear of teammate Aaron Gobert. In addition to putting in strong performances this year, it also seems like Hacking has mellowed a lot over the past two years. I thought he was a jerk for much of his early racing career but ‘04 seemed to have brought about a change. He seems to be a less physical rider and less aggressive towards his competitors both on track and off. The new ager followers might say there has been a transference because unfortunately it appears that the worst parts of Hacking’s prior persona have been picked up by his teammate Jason Disalvo. The change in Hacking in both his outward personality and his performance at PPIR mean he was one to watch this past weekend.

Finally, every vortex of universal bliss is bound to have its downer. It was the track itself that was again the embarrassing stain on the clean white robe of a weekend. As if the dinky 1.3 mile layout with crumbling asphalt isn’t bad enough the riders had to deal with the added excitement of having water seep up through the cracks all during the weekend. To show that some people know how to make a bad situation worse, the track sprinkler systems ran on Saturday evening adding water to an already saturated ground. The fix? The track officials had holes bored into the surface where tampons were inserted to soak up water. Now the surface resembles a cheese grater, not to mention bringing up that age old question of exactly what is the traction coefficient of a wet tampon? The final coup-de-grace was the complete cluster caused by jamming a few thousand motorcycles out just two exists. The motorcyclists, many in leathers and helmets, were left baking in the sun while the VIPs in their air conditioned cars were flagged out of the parking areas in the infield. A miserable end to what was actually an exciting weekend of racing.

[image from my photo collection.]

“Any water in the desert will do.”
Saudi Arabian Proverb

For the past few years, since the Phoenix race was dropped of the calendar in 1999, the AMA’s only visit to the western states has been their annual visit to Pikes Peak International Raceway. By any non-NASCAR race fan’s evaluation, PPIR is not a great track. First of all, it’s a NASCAR oval which means lots of concrete walls and mostly left turns. Second, it is small even by NASCAR standards which means it is more reminiscent of a concrete speedway or short track race than of a road race. Finally, it is in the plains of Colorado which means it is subject to both the bitter cold of winter and the baking heat of being in a high plains desert. As a result, the track surface is rough and bumpy at its best and crumbling apart at its worst. Since 1997 this has been an event the AMA Superbike guys soldier through rather than anticipate. But for the fans of AMA Superbike racing their annual visit this coming weekend is our sip of cool water that breaks the one year draught.

Those complaints stated, as a Colorado resident I’m happy to have a place to watch the fastest guys in the country show their stuff even if it’s the equivalent of watching Rossi zoom around a go kart track on a moped. The turnout for the PPIR event, now in its ninth year, has grown steadily over the past two or three events. The parking lot is now filled with bikes and the promoter has started adding new activities like a free style motocross demonstration, extreme skateboard/BMX bicycle exhibitions and live bands which will hopefully draw even more fans in the coming years.

The track layout and surface not withstanding, the most defining characteristic of the PPIR event has always been the success that underdogs have had at the track…particularly underdogs whose past includes a lot of dirt track racing. PPIR was one of the few events which breathed life into the old Harley Superbike effort when, in 1999, Pascal Picotte ran up front during the race. Even the most successful Superbike rider at PPIR, Eric Bostrom, has been a clear underdog during many of his race wins. Last year Eric had struggled at all the previous races on the Ducati and suddenly came alive at the Colorado bullring to win the race over the dominant Mat Mladin. It turned out to be his only win of the season.

In addition to EBoz, dirt trackers like the Hayden brothers, Kurtis Roberts, Jake Zemke, Ben Bostrom and Larry Pegram have had memorable rides at PPIR. While racing the then-new Honda RC-51 in 2000, Nicky Hayden lead the race over Mat Mladin before burning all the rubber of his rear slick and fading back to finish 5th. Kurtis Roberts has always been the most impressive rider to watch through turns one and two. Back in his days racing the Erion Honda Formula Xtreme CBR he used to broad slide the bike all the way through the long left hand turn looking like a dirt tracker entering turn one at the Springfield mile. Memorable stuff.

Jake Zemke has also has memorable races at PPIR but rarely races he is proud of. In 2003 he was gridded on the back row of the 600SS race because a tech inspection revealed a rules infraction with his bike’s oil pressure relief valve. When the green flag fell, Zemke started a charge through the pack that drew more attention from the stands that the battle for the lead. In the end, Zemke finished 7th and instantly became a fan favorite.

Likewise, Josh Hayes had an impressive ride last year in the Superbike event. After crashing on the first lap, Hayes remounted his Kawasaki in dead last and started rocketing his way back through the field. The inspired ride showed just how gritty a competitor he is and his eventually 7th place finish was amazing considering how difficult it can be to pass on the 1.3 mile long circuit.

Speaking of which, passing has always been a problem at PPIR. Because the track is so short, the Superbike races usually run 48 laps. The large grids that the AMA allows, combined with the wide disparity in lap times, means the leaders usually start passing back markers after just six or seven laps. Some riders have been lapped as many as three times in the past but the new usage of the blue flag and recent habit of black flagging slow riders after they have been lapped twice is helping. Still, the Superbike finishes at PPIR are rarely close as backmarkers inevitably string out the field making it tough for riders which missed the lead group early to bridge the gap back up to them. In contrast, the Supersport races at PPIR are almost always fantastic, perhaps making this class the true oasis among the dry scortching sands of roadrace wasteland. Turn four, leading into the infield, has decided many of the Supersport races at PPIR as the short straight leading up to that turn allows drafting and subsequent close passes on the smaller bikes.

This year could be the most exciting race in years. Eric Bostrom has done so well at PPIR that it would be silly to ignore the chance of him having another breakthrough ride. Mat Mladin has always struggled at PPIR but seems convinced that he can turn that around this year. Mat’s teammates Ben Spies and Aaron Yates are also both riders with a strong dirt back ground and should do well this year as well. PPIR could be Jake Zemke’s best chance to run up front aboard his still under development Honda. Jake’s teammate Duhamel is always strong at PPIR, especially through the flat, sweeping right hand turn five. Duhamel’s other strength has always been his ability to get through traffic which definitely pays dividends here. If the Attack Kawasaki will hold together, this could give Josh Hayes an opportunity to put in another strong ride, hopefully without having to charge through the field after a crash. Even Kurtis Roberts could improve his recent showings if he can use his dirt track style to slide his underpowered Erion Honda towards the front. It would be nice if we could get some tight racing again after a few years of run away wins.

My best memory of the place involved just such tight racing. It was my first year cornerworking at PPIR back in 1998. I was working turn four, the tight left hander that leads off the back straight and into the infield. During the 600 Supersport race, the leaders would regularly all enter the turn with the rear tire locked up and hung waaaaay out on the right side as they fanned out for the draft pass. Each lap I was convinced that Larry Pegram, Nicky Hayden, Tommy Hayden and Eric Bostrom where all going to go down in a sliding, sparking heap as they fought in that turn but each lap they pulled it together. In the end Larry Pegram took his first and only Supersport race win. One of the most exciting races I’ve watched at the Fountain, CO track.

As they say, the Pikes Peak International Raceway event ain’t much but I’m thankful to have it nonetheless. Those stuck in the desert can’t be too picky about how we quench our thirst. Until someone ponies up the big bucks to build a better track in the Colorado area, I’ll be a faithful spectator at PPIR and hope others do the same. Hope to see you there this May 22!

[image from the Pikes Peak International Raceway web site.]