MotoGP: Valencia Season Finale & A Peek Inside the Repsol Honda Garages

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The Repsol Honda team displays the RC212Vs of team mates Andrea Dovizioso #4 and Dani Pedrosa #26 at the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP in August of 2010, round 11 of the 18 round 2010 MotoGP World Championship Series season. Pedrosa went on to win the round by just over 3.5 seconds over Tech 3 Monster Energy Yamaha's Ben Spies, with eventual 2010 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo rounding out the podium on his factory Fiat Yamaha YZF-M1. The San Carlo Gresini satellite Honda of Marco Simoncelli just sits out of the shot to the right. The Gresini team is the top-dog of the Honda satellite teams on the circuit and were garaged next to the official factory team at this round.
Pedrosa goes into the season-ending round 18 at Valencia this weekend 2nd in the standings to 2010 Champ Lorenzo, 358-236 points, and sits 19 points up on 3rd place, 7-Time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi. For the most part, if Pedrosa at least finishes the race in the top 10 he should clinch second spot in the season-ending standings. '07 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner sits 4th, with 205 points, and Dovizioso rounds out the top 5 with 195 points. Dovi has the best chance of moving up in the standings should Stoner have any major problems in the race on Sunday. 6th in the championship is Spies with 163 points, and '06 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden sits 7th, also with 163 points, but losing out on the tie-breaker to 2-time podium finisher on the year Spies.
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With the last of the major motorcycle racing series winding down for the season this weekend in Valencia, Spain, the 2010 MotoGP World Championship has already been clinched by Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo. But with 'pecking order' status still up for grabs throughout the rest of the grid, anything can happen, as what we saw last weekend with the horrid weather conditions in Portugal. The good news is the weather is predicted to be clear and partly cloudy locally for the next two days and temperatures to be in the upper 60sF.

Ben Spies, who clinched the 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Award two races ago, suffered what has been 'termed' a severe sprain during the warm-up for the final event in Portugal last Sunday. The Tech 3 Monster Energy Yamaha pilot's availability was in question for the season-ender as to how severe this sprain was. However, after talking to SuperBikePlanet.com's own Dean Adams the first of the week, he was assured that he would be riding this weekend. Elbowz was 9th in free practice 1 this morning just over a second back from Stoner, and in free practice 2 had moved up to 6th just .838 seconds in arrears of fast-man Lorenzo. '06 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, who sits in the 7th spot in the championship standings on the Marlboro Ducati, was 6th and 10th in the two sessions today and hovering just under a second behind the front.

You can follow the race action via MotoGP.com from below, and take a 'look' inside the Repsol Honda team garages as well.
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Ultimate Motorcycling.com had this great press release from Repsol Honda that looks into the garages at a MotoGP event. You can expand each of the pictures up towards the top to get a wallpaper-sized version. The first pic is the actual lay-out inside the garage at a typical MotoGP event. Way Cool!

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/motogp-inside-the-repsol-honda-garage

You can follow the season-ending round at Valencia here thanks to the Repsol Honda official site:

http://world.honda.com/MotoGP/2010/18valencia/

Cool World Clock gadget thanks to Honda:

http://world.honda.com/worldclock/index.html

Very nice photo slideshow of the RC212V Repsol machine:

http://world.honda.com/HRC/repsolhondateam/machine/
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You can follow all of the season-ending action at the Valencia circuit via MotoGP's official site below. Free practice session 3 begins at 0505 EDT tomorrow, with qualifying practice at 0905 EDT for the MotoGP class.

The MotoGP race is at 0800 EST (most U.S. States fall back on Standard Time at 0200 Sunday local time) on Sunday morning. The race is also being shown 'live' on SpeedTV in the U.S. at 0800 EST:

http://www.motogp.com/
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AMA Flat Track: Mike Kidd Talks About Turning it Around in the 2010 Season

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AMA Flat Track Manager Mike Kidd, the '81 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion, can be seen talking with members of Jared Mees' Rogers Lake/Blue Springs H-D team just prior to rider intros for the Springfield Mile Grand National on September 5. Mees can be seen kneeling alongside and behind his bike and crew. Behind him standing to the side is Willie McCoy, rider of the #59 H-D of Wausau/Independence H-D XR.
Further back, Tuner to the Stars Bill Werner holds Bryan Smith's #42 Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki (the eventual winner of this event), and then (partially hidden) Kenny Tolbert holds Chris Carr's #4 Lancaster H-D/DFW Honda-sponsored XR.
With what he calls his '5-Year plan' to resurrect AMA Flat Track, Kidd and Company (including AMA Flat Track Operations Manager and former National #42 Steve Morehead) are ahead of the game plan in terms of turning the sport around. With new venues on board that also have promoters that have been capable of selling the show and putting paying butts in the seats, and with several long-time returning venues that have been capable of promoting AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship competition, the series is well on it's way to breathing new life into not only the sport, but the motorcycle industry as well.
Kidd made his mark on the series originally back in the early-mid '70s, riding for several factory efforts including Triumph and Harley-Davidson, among others. After finally grabbing hold of the coveted AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship #1 plate in the '81 season, Kidd signed on with Team Honda to help further develop what would end up being a very lethal RS750 that all but re-wrote the record books in AMA GNC competition, until they pulled their factory representation out of the sport in the late '80s. The Honda RS750 went on to live strong and stay at the top for several years, including Ricky Graham's miracle season in winning it all in '93. The RS750 won it's last AMA National event at Joliet in August of 1998 at the hands of former National #80 Rich King, but forever lives on in many (and this!) fans eyes and memories as a result of efforts put forth in the early development years by one of the flat track masters of all time, Mike Kidd, who retired from active competition at the end of the '83 season.
Taking the time to speak with me briefly at Springfield over the Labor Day Weekend, one of the main things he mentioned about the 'old' AMA was that they 'didn't understand the entertainment value' of the sport, thusly the programs would drag along and sometimes take hours to run due to the disorganization. And if there is one thing (among MANY others when it comes to racing!) that MK knows is entertainment, as his record and prowess of running the Arenacross Series is for one a showcase of HOW to promote a sport and it's many venues. Mike's brother Gary has also worked with him over the years, and currently takes care of all credentials (among other duties) at all AMA Flat Track events.
The two of them, along with the VERY long list of people (besides Morehead) who they have surrounded themselves with to run the show, have done a VERY remarkable job of turning it around. And I am saying that having followed this sport for over three-and-a-half decades. Never has the program been tighter, well choreographed and safety-minded since Team Kidd and Company started
to oversee The Rolling Thunder Show in the 2009 season. And in terms of the '5-Year plan,' they still have three years to hone the program to what is already looking like a VERY finely-tuned machine to a series that was struggling, except for a few long-time venues (anything run by the IMDA would fit here.)
With new tracks and a new rules package introduced to open up the level of competition against the series-standard H-D XR750, this year saw some of the best and most exciting racing in some time. I've been saying almost all year now, that if you haven't been to an AMA Flat Track event in some time, 2011 would be the time to do so again. This isn't your father's AMA Flat Track anymore, and the future could never look better for the best and most exciting form of racing in the world.
Make your plans now, because 2011 should be EVEN BETTER then what we have seen this year!
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Road Racer X's own Backmarker himself, Mark Gardiner, was on-hand at the season-ending AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship round in Prescott Valley, AZ., to take in all of the action at the Budweiser Racing Arizona Mile on the Yavapai Downs mile oval. Mark is one of the good guys in the business, and does a super job of helping to cover AMA Flat Track Series racing, especially considering he writes for a road racing magazine.

While on-hand to check out all the great action at round 16 of the series, he also got a chance to talk with former '81 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Mike Kidd, who has overseen the series since coming on board for the 2009 season. Kidd, his brother Gary, former National #42 Steve Morehead and a VERY long list of fine and hard working people have been running the new show since the beginning of the '09 season, and are responsible for turning around a series that was in desperate need of help. Since that time, with new venues, new rules and new blood being introduced to The Rolling Thunder Show, the series is breathing on it's own and starting to look better then it has in decades. And the competition level has stepped up a notch to add to what has always been the most exciting form of racing in the world.

You can check out Mark's great interview with one of the long-time stars of the sport, and also one of the saviours of AMA Flat Track, right here. Part one is this week, and we will add part two next week when Mark files his follow-up interview and review.

Great job Mark! And Mike Kidd and Company, we bow to you for saving the best sport on wheels and breathing life into the great sport of AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Racing!

Backmarker Column by Mark Gardiner, with AMA Flat Track Manager Mike Kidd, part one:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/backmarker/backmarker-ama-pro-flat-track-boss-mike-kidd-looks-back-over-a-positive-season-and-forward-to-what%e2%80%99s-ahead/
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2011 Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Tickets On Sale Starting 11/4

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The garage doors come up in the MotoGP pit area just before the final practice session of the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP round on August 28. Moto2 riders can just be seen winding down their final practice session for the upcoming afternoon's qualifying session for the 3rd Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP event at the World Capital of Racing.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 4th Annual round at Indy scheduled for late August of 2011. And if you are a Nascar fan, the Brickyard 400 tickets go on sale tomorrow as well.
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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced today that tickets will go on sale starting tomorrow for the 4th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP round at IMS for the weekend of August 26-28, 2011. Special ticket pricing remains in effect for the 2011 event, similar to the special pricing that was introduced for the 2010 event at the World Capital of Racing. As was the case this year, three Americans will represent the United States for the MotoGP elite series again in the 2011 season.

Nicky Hayden returns to the Marlboro Ducati team in hopes of getting the team and the '06 MotoGP World Champion closer to the top of the box again. Hayden's best finish with the team came at Indy in his first year on the Italian squad in August of 2009 when he finished third behind winner Jorge Lorenzo and runner-up Alex DeAngelis. He finished his first year on the big-bang Ducati in 13th in the World Championship, and with one round remaining for the 2010 season at Valencia this weekend, he is currently tied for 7th in the championship, with fellow American Ben Spies holding the tie breaker via his podium finishes this year.

2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies will be moving up to the factory Fiat Yamaha team alongside new 2010 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Whether Fiat returns to the team is yet to be determined for the 2011 season, as talk has been heard for months that with 7-Time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi moving to the Ducati team, that the Italian Fiat brand may just move along with him, making for a 3-tiered Italian strike on the MotoGP World Championship for the 2011-2012 seasons. This could make for an interesting trifecta for all fans of racing, let alone the extremely passionate fans in Italy, and may be the most interesting off-season story concerning sponsors in the elite championship should it come to fruition.

Colin Edwards, the former 2-Time World Superbike Champion, will also be on the grid for the 2011 season, again astride the Tech 3 Monster Energy Yamaha YZR-M1. It was suspected several weeks before the Indy round in 2010 that Edwards may have been moving back to World Superbike, but with Ducati pulling out of the premier production series to concentrate their efforts in the MotoGP series, those plans pretty much went up in smoke for the Texas Tornado. That left Edwards and Tech 3, without any other viable options for the 2011 season, and the France-based satellite team re-signed him for another year to team alongside new-signee and '09 World Supersport Champion, Cal Crutchlow.

You can read the official press release here from the offices of IMS:

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/redbullindianapolisgp/news/show/40367-2011-brickyard-400-red-bull-indianapolis-gp-tickets-on-sale-nov-4/
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Interwetten Honda Out of MotoGP for 2011

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The RC212V Honda of '09 250CC World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama is warmed up in the pitlane in front of the Interwetten Honda garages at the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP round in August of 2010. The satellite Honda team made the official announcement during last weekend's round in Portugal that they would be discontinuing their efforts in the premier MotoGP class for the 2011 season and concentrating solely on the Moto2 class. Aoyama finished in the 12th position in Estoril on Sunday in the MotoGP race.

Aoyama is expected to make an announcement at the season ending round in Valencia this weekend as to what his future will hold, and with which team. He currently sits in 15th place in the MotoGP World Championship point standings with 51 points.

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The Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team, one of the satellite Honda teams in the premier MotoGP World Championship, made it official over the weekend that they would be pulling out of the MotoGP class for the 2011 season, and concentrating on the Moto2 class with rider Thomas Luthi. As mentioned, they hope to be able to return to the elite class by 2012, when the new rules packages will take effect with the return to 1000CC in the world championship series.

With Interwetten out, the already EXTREMELY thin grid in the top-dog series would look to be trimmed to 16 riders, however Ducati had announced earlier in the season that they would be adding rider Karel Abraham with the Cardion AB Ducati satellite team for the 2011 season. That still only makes for 17 riders on the grid for the 2011 season, the same number as we have seen this year.

Maybe with any luck with the new-for-2012 rules packages and the return to the 1000CC era

in MotoGP will we see some grids in the premier class that don't look enemic. The series has been getting slimmer in terms of less-full grids the last few years, and much less exciting in terms of overall racing action due to the electronics as well as the established 800CC platform in use since the 2007 season. Mid-pack action has been decent at times, but the thrilling battles one would expect in the top-flight series for the most part have been few and far between.

At this point, we can only hold on and hope.

Here is the official news on Interwetten's pulling out thanks to the always great David Emmett

at MotoMatters.com:

http://motomatters.com/news/2010/11/02/interwetten_honda_motogp_withdrawal_conf.html

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AMA Flat Track: 1st Time Milestones in 2010 Season

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The 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series season saw only one first-time winner on the year, but that didn't make the monumental effort any less important than what it was for not only this rider, but for the series itself as well. Steve Bonsey took the #80 Johnny Goad/Alpinestars/Arai/Dodge Brothers-sponsored H-D XR750 to his first win in the series' first race in Northern California in over 12 years.
At the Calistoga Half Mile event at the end of July, Bonsey started the day off strong timing in second in practice, qualifying in third overall (in a field of 32 riders), and taking 2nd place in the 3rd heat race of the day to punch his ticket to the main event. Heat 3 winner Sammy Halbert, 3rd place Jared Mees, and 4th place Henry Wiles made things pretty honest for Bonsey in the heat. He also managed to score one point bringing it home 5th in the Dash for Cash. In the main, Stevie worked his way through the field to beat the likes of Halbert, Jake Johnson, Chris Carr and Jared Mees to win by 1.176 seconds and put his name in the record books as a first-timer on the top of the podium in AMA Flat Track GNC Racing.
After having been road racing in Europe until the end of the 2009 season, Bonsey was expected to get a ride in the new Moto2 World Championship Series with Kenny Roberts for the 2010 season. The one-time prodigy of The King, who hails from Salinas, CA. (home to other notables such as Wayne Rainey, Doug Chandler and the late Ricky Graham) lost that ride when sponsorship dollars failed to appear for Kenny and the team. But as a result, the AMA Flat Track Series and it's fans were elated to see the youngster campaigning one of the legendary Harley XRs for one of the tuning legends in the sport, Johnny Goad.
Bonsey earned his National number at the Springfield TT in May of '09, and rode his first mile event the next day at the legendary Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval. For 2010 he would wear the #80, ditching the 'Y' from his rookie campaign season.
Although he wasn't able to duplicate his great run at Calistoga with another podium on the year, Bonsey still finished 12th in the points in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series with 81 points. He also qualified for eight other events on the year including his 6th place finish at the Springfield Short Track over the Labor Day weekend, and his 7th place finish on the Yavapai Downs Mile at the end of the season. And although we wish him the very best in the coming future, we sure hope that 'best' is in the AMA Flat Track Series!
The attached shot shows Steve Bonsey in the Dodge Brothers pit area at the Springfield Mile on September 5, where Stevie brought the #80 machine home in the 10th spot in the main event.
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With the rules for AMA Pro Flat Track in the 2010 season having been set to allow several other manufacturers to run in the Expert Twins Series alongside the long-standing H-D XR750 prototype, the season saw several new entries in GN Twins main events that were either first-timers to the show, or first-time winners. The Lloyd Brothers team with rider Joe Kopp managed to put the icing on the cake for their efforts in May with the big Ducati 1098, and at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile at the end of August we saw the breakout win with Bryan Smith at the controls of the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki.
Somewhat overshadowed by these events were the efforts of Rookie-Expert Jeremy Higgins on the #82B Waters Auto Body/Power Sports Institute/Arlen Ness/Bell-sponsored 'Project K' KTM 950-based team. Jeremy set a major milestone in the series (and for his team!) by putting the big KTM in the main events at both the Canterbury Park and Yavapai Downs races at the end of the season, giving Jeremy and the KTM their very first points in an AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Twins Series event. Higgins earned his first-ever ticket to a Twins main event with a fine ride into 3rd place in heat 2 at the Canterbury Park Mile, and came home 12th in the final to earn his National number for the 2011 season. He also finished 10th in Prescott Valley, where he had to come off the back row in the 25 lap final event, after having qualified for the main via a 5th place finish in the only semi for the day. Team mate Chad Cose on the #49 KTM 950 also put the team's other machine in the main at the season-ender on the Yavapai Downs Mile, where he finished 13th on the day, and also making history for KTM and AMA Flat Track for having two representatives in a Twins event. Higgins finished the year in the 29th spot in the overall point standings with 16 points, based on his year-end results.
A very fine effort by Jeremy and his family-run and operated team for the year! It is a major undertaking to take on anyone in any major racing series, but to do so with a manufacturer that is new to the series is great for the sport. And from the shot attached of the team at Lima in June (you can also see Cose's #49 Waters Auto Body Suzuki sitting in the rear of the shot) you have to appreciate the looks and layout of these fine machines, as they are visually stunning. The picture really doesn't do the looks of these well-prepared bikes any justice. Great job Jeremy and Company, and we're looking forward to seeing more in the 2011 season! Once this young rider and team completely come together in the Twins Series, look to see more of them in more mains in the coming season.
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J.D. Beach had an extremely busy year in motorcycle racing during the 2010 season. Competing full-time in the AMA Pro SuperSport East Road Racing Series, he won eight events while competing on the Rockwall Performance YZF-R6, and had wrapped up the overall East Series title after the VIR round in early August. In the AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles events, he qualified for six events, winning four rounds including the Peoria TT and the Lucas Oil Indy Mile while competing on his #95C Red Bull/Top 1 Oil/Rockwall Performance/

Alpinestars-backed Honda 450. And to wrap it up, Beach jumped to the Expert Class for the Springfield Short Track round the weekend after Indy, and in his very first appearance in the premier AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series, managed to put his #95C Craig Rogers-backed Honda 450 on the podium with a great run into 3rd place behind winner Henry Wiles and runner-up Jake Johnson.

Beach's past accomplishments include running the Red Bull Rookies Cup alongside the MotoGP World Championship Series in 2008, where he finished the season ranked 16th in the overall standings. Learning the high-speed tracks along the way surely helped J.D. as he also jumped on a Rogers Lake Racing-backed XR during the Springfield Mile the day after his first Expert Class podium, and managed to bring it home in the 12th spot in the veteran-filled main event.

In the shot shown, Beach is sitting in his pit area at Springfield several hours before putting it on the podium in the Expert Singles final. He was being interviewed at the time by the tv crew on hand to film for Mav TV. Next to his pit area was his team mate for the weekend, #21 Jared Mees.

With the lure of road racing looming on his future, getting to see J.D. at least run a few events in 2010 was wonderful, and the personable young man has a very bright future ahead of him no matter where he goes and what he races. Obviously, we hope he stays in the AMA Flat Track Series for at least part of the time to shine that big smile around the circuit, let alone showcase his talents on the dirt tracks. Great year J.D.!

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With the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series celebrating a magnificent year in terms of attendance, competition and turn-around in the sport, there were many stories to be told for the year. Obviously Ducati's big win in May on the Yavapai Downs Mile leading off the season, and then

towards the end of the summer seeing the Kawasaki wins at Indy and Springfield were the 'big' break-out stories of the year.

But along the way, there were many other 'first time' events and happenings that also helped to define the great turnaround in AMA Flat Track racing. I've only touched on three of those events for the season, knowing there were many more. These were the one's (other than what we have talked about since the end of the season, that is) that also helped shape the great year that the series has had. (For that matter, I would love any/all suggestions from readers to add to the list, or just to write and read about through the off-season. So if you are reading this, and want to add to the mix of what you think would be a good read here, by all means drop me a line and a suggestion to help us all get through the winter months!)

So join me in congratulating these, and all the entrants and participants in the AMA Flat Track Series, for a year, and a job well done. Here's looking back on 2010 and looking forward to the 2011 season!

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Here are a few links to check out on Jeremy Higgins from the #82B Waters Auto Body/Power Sports Institute/Arlen Ness/Bell-sponsored KTM 950-based team. This was a monumental undertaking in setting up the big KTM for AMA Pro Flat Track, and along with Ducati and Kawasaki coming into this great sport (and winning, in their cases) is another fine example of the machinery available under the current rules in place for the series.

Jeremy putting the bike in the main in Minnesota and he and Chad Cose both putting the KTM 950 in the main at the season-ender in Prescott Valley were HUGE for the sport, let along the team! This is the kind of story that is bringing AMA Flat Track Racing back to the forefront in terms of helping to put more paying butts in the seats as well as getting the word out on this great sport. Excellent job by both Jeremy and Chad this year!

Here's the link for Jeremy Higgins' Team Project K Racing:

http://www.projectkracing.com/

Steve Warne's great Poppa Wheelie site has these shots of Project K/Waters Auto Body team mates Jeremy Higgins #82B (that number will be changing to a 'solid' number for 2011 based on putting the KTM in the final at Canterbury Park alone) and Chad Cose #49 on the team's Suzuki from the season-ender at Yavapi Downs:

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html#7495581553128681036

Jeremy filed this year-end report after putting the KTM in the main for the second race of the 2010 season (and second race in a row!) in the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship season-ending round in Prescott Valley. Check it out at THE place for flat track racing and fans, FlatTrack.com:

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1016&Itemid=9

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Here's some more info on 1st-time winner in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series, Steve Bonsey of the #80 Johnny Goad/

Alpinestars/Arai/Dodge Brothers-sponsored team. Congrats on a super season, Stevie, and we're looking forward to seeing more of you next year with a steel shoe strapped on!

Dean Adams' site SuperBikePlanet.com filed this interview with Steve Bonsey back in April of 2008 when he was still racing in the 125CC World Championship Series in Europe on an Aprilia. We're glad (and VERY lucky) to have this young man running in the AMA Pro Flat Track Series here in the States and hope that he is able to stick around and get a few more wins on the ovals!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Apr/080404pw50.htm

Over at the MotoGP site they have this short story about Bonsey running in the 250CC class from June of 2009:

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2009/Bonsey+bounces+back+for+Barcelona+and+beyond

And RoadRacerX.com has this nice interview with Stevie from June of 2009 just after he had earned his National number at the Springfield TT, and what it was like running his first mile event in the AMA Flat Track Series at Springfield in May of '09:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/tuesday-conversation/tuesday-conversation-stevie-bonsey/

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More on new AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Expert Series

rider J.D. Beach, who on his maiden voyage racing in the Expert class, stood on the podium at the Springfield Short Track with a fine 3rd place finish (behind winner Henry Wiles and 2nd place on the night Jake Johnson) on the #95C Red Bull/Top 1 Oil/Rockwall Performance/Craig Rogers-sponsored Honda 450. As a result of just making this event, J.D. earned his National number for the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Championship Expert Class. We hope to see more of this great young rider racing in the AMA Flat Track Series in the future as he definitely is a great asset to the sport. Great job, J.D.!

AMA Pro Flat Track had this story on J.D. Beach before he went out and won the Peoria TT and the Lucas Oil Indy Mile while riding in the AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Class:

http://www.amaproracing.com/rr/news/index.cfm?cid=39251

RoadRacerX.com has this interview with J.D. from back in April, where he talks about how the road racing is going at the time (VERY well) and riding the Pro Singles events that don't conflict with his AMA Road Racing schedule:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/tuesday-conversation/tuesday-conversation-jd-beach/

Here is the link to J.D.'s bio on the Red Bull Rookies Cup page from when he was running in that series in 2008, where he eventually finished 16th in the overall point standings:

http://eu.redbullrookiescup.com/riders_detail.php?id=22

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Something For All The Honda VFR750R/RC30 Fans: AMA Superbike Retro & Hat's Off to RC30 in Canada

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The Commonwealth Camel Honda AMA Superbike team of #16 Tom Kipp and #68 Mike Smith can be seen in the hotpit lane at Mid Ohio in the summer of 1992. Armed with the Honda VFR750R RC30 machines, the Martin Adams' owned/run team was one of two teams in those days representing Honda/HRC in the AMA Superbike Championship Series, Two Brothers Racing with riders Freddie Spencer and Steve Crevier also campaigning Honda RC30s.
Kipp can be seen speaking with his head wrench while Smith, sitting on the pitlane wall/armco railing is talking with someone else just behind Kipp. Eventual '92 AMA Superbike Champion and '93 World Superbike Champion Scott 'The Screaming Chief' Russell can be seen walking along the right side of the shot with his head tuner, the late Merlyn Plumlee (who would later work for Honda beginning with the move to the RC45 and Smokin Joe's as the team's sponsor moniker.)
Kipp and Smith both won multiple championships in WERA, Formula USA and the top-dog AMA Road Racing Series, but never stood on the top spot of the podium in the premier AMA Superbike Championship. Both made numerous appearances on the box, taking a handful of 2nd and 3rd places, and both scored AMA 600 Supersport and 750 Supersport wins (and championships in Kipp's case) throughout their years in the series.
To this day I still feel that both of these gentlemen were the best of the best to NEVER win an AMA Superbike event, having graced the series for years on top-level machinery as well as top-notch talent. Let alone all-around nice guys and great reps of the sport.
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A gentleman out of Canada by the name of Rick sent me an e-mail a couple of weeks ago who had seen a couple of my Steve Crevier and Freddie Spencer shots, with them on the Two Brothers Racing Honda RC30s from back in the early '90s. Turns out Rick runs a VERY cool site that has an abundance of general and specific information on the Honda VFR750R/RC30, the machine that is probably best known to U.S. readers as the bike that took '84-'86 AMA Superbike Champion Fred Merkel to the initial '88 World Superbike Championship and the '89 WSBK Championship while riding for Team Rumi out of Italy.

The Honda VFR750R/RC30 was well represented on U.S. shores by Martin Adams' Commonwealth and Camel Honda teams, as well as the Erion brothers with their Two Brothers Racing team in the AMA Superbike Series. It is well-known that '95 AMA Superbike Champion Miguel Duhamel won his and Commonwealth/Camel's first Daytona 200 as a 'fill-in' on the Camel team for injured rider, the late Randy Renfrow. Probably one of Two Brothers/Spencer's most memorable wins to some AMA Superbike fans was the Miami street race, which was televised on CBS Sports back in the day. Spencer won out in the debacle that was, and usually is street racing in the United States.

Rick has put together a great site that pretty much covers it all on the V4/RC30 World Championship-winning machine. And he has been kind enough to post a few of my shots on his site as well. You can check it out here, but you better bring a towel to wipe off all that drool that is about to start flowing from your mouth:

http://rc30.yolasite.com/

Thanks to Rick at RC30 up north for posting some of my shots! You can check those out here along with some other very cool pics of RC30's in action and up close:

http://rc30.yolasite.com/pictures---rc30-race-bikes.php
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I just threw this link in for good measure. Dean Adams at the bitchin SuperBikePlanet.com has these shots in Monza at a rally of RC30 enthusiasts in 2007. Worth the look!

http://superbikeplanet.com/image/archive/rc30monza2007/
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Honda Japan/HRC has this promotional video of about 8 minutes of one of their RC30's being assembled and then presumably being made race-worthy on the track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9YVYg4FyU
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And just for sh..s and giggles, this great video of multiple Isle of Man Winner Steve Hislop taking you for a spin on the 37 3/4 mile Isle of Man course on a Honda VFR750R/RC30. Hang on tight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUF5jHROVjQ
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MotoGP: Rain Washes Out 1st FP Session in Portugal, Saturday Schedule Re-Mixed

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Nicky Hayden comes into the turn nine area at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the first free practice session for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP in September of 2008. The weekend not only saw rain on opening day, but the remnants of Hurricane Ike that caused cancelations, postponements and 60 MPH+ winds that toppled the Yamaha tent in the infield, blew trash and anything that wasn't tied down out onto the track surface.
The MotoGP race was shortened for safety purposes, and the 250CC race was called off altogether as a result of the weird weather weekend. Saturday's qualifying sessions were all run in near-perfect 80+F degree weather,which helped keep the fan's spirits up and the weekend from being a completely damp one as well.
The Kentucky Kid took his Repsol Honda to a 2nd place finish on Sunday during the hurricane leftovers, a little over 5 seconds in arrears to eventual winner and '08 MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha Factory M-1. Rossi's team mate Jorge Lorenzo rounded out the podium for the first motorcycle race held at IMS in almost a century.
After the 2008 season, Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion, left Honda after six seasons to ride for the Marlboro Ducati team. Rossi will be joining #69 for the 2011-12 seasons on the Ducati team, after having been teamed together with Honda, before Vale split for Yamaha.
Nicky was second in the session this afternoon in Portugal behind 2010 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo on his Fiat Yamaha. Rossi was 3rd, followed by '07 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner and 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies on the Tech 3 Yamaha.
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With what has been a relatively dry season for the MotoGP traveling circus, the stars of the elite World Championship kicked off the penultimate round in Portugal this morning with torrential rains, thunder and lightning that washed out free practice session one, and keeping all but two riders in their respective garage areas. Only Hiroshi Aoyama on the Interwetten Honda and Carlos Checa, in one of two 'guest' appearances on the Pramac Ducati, attempted to circulate the track in extremely dire conditions. The fifteen other riders in the series sat the entire 45 minute session out.

As a result of the all-but-complete wash-out from this morning's session, and free practice session 2 not being run under prime conditions, Dorna has extended tomorrow morning's free practice session 3 to 60 minutes from the standard 45 minutes. Portugal and Valencia (next weekend's final 2010 stop on the MotoGP season) were given an extra practice session to help the teams to better utilize optimum time on the track, but all sessions were also cut-back from the 'old' 60 minute timed sessions to 45 minute sessions.

With the 2010 MotoGP World Championship having been decided two rounds ago in Malaysia, the final two rounds are all about 'who else finishes where' in the other top spots for the season. Ben Spies sewed up the 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year title after the last round at Philip Island, but the remaining spots in the top ten in the series are still up-for-grabs with the rest of pack. And those final numbers will be tantamount in establishing the rest of the hierarchy for the 2011 MotoGP season, on AND off the track.

You can read up on today's activities, the changes for tomorrow's schedule and the times for the MotoGP race at Estoril below.
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Here are all of the links to today's on and off track action in Portugal for the MotoGP weekend, all thanks to David Emmett at his excellent MotoMatters.com.

Free practice 1 was all but a total wash out due to torrential rains in the area, thunder and lightning all around the track in Estoril:

http://motomatters.com/results/2010/10/29/2010_estoril_125cc_motogp_result_session.html
Free practice 2 went much better especially over half-way through the session at the Portugal round as the track was drying. Both Portugal and Valencia (next weekend's final round for the season) were given an extra session due to lack of quality track time that the teams weren't getting over the weekend, but session times were reduced from 60 to 45 minutes:

http://motomatters.com/results/2010/10/29/2010_estoril_motogp_fp2_result_lorenzo_l.html
Tomorrow's free practice 3 session has also been extended to an hour to give the teams a little bit more time to help find the right set-up with today's first session being a total loss. Here is the updated schedule for tomorrow in Portugal:

http://motomatters.com/news/2010/10/29/estoril_saturday_practice_back_to_one_ho.html

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As always, you can follow all of the race action this weekend on MotoGP's official site, MotoGP.com. Here is the link for not only the schedule but the link to MotoGP's Live Timing as well:

http://www.motogp.com

Keep in mind that Portugal is +1 GMT or 5 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time. The MotoGP race will be shown 'live' on Sunday October 31 (Happy Halloween!) at 0900 EDT on SpeedTV.
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AMA Flat Track: Joe Kopp Talks Family, Flat Track and the Future

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After winning the second semi at the Springfield Mile to qualify for the National main event, Joe Kopp smiles for the cameras as AMA track announcer Barry Boone gets ready to interview him on September 5. The #3 Latus H-D/American Agip/Lloyd Bros/MotoConcepts-backed Ducati 1098-based rider came within 20 points this season of adding to his 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship, but a series of late-season problems encountered by the team caused him to just come up short to eventual champ Jake Johnson.
Smokin Joe didn't have a bad year, though, when you look at the big picture of things. Winning the Yavapai Downs Mile in May for Ducati's first ever AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Twins Series win in itself was the break out story of the year, and then Kopp added wins on the half miles at Lake Odessa and Hagerstown while riding the Latus H-D XR, to total 21 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship wins for his 'full-time' years in the series.
The possibilities are pretty good that we will see the #3 back on the track next year, just not at every race. Joe has said he plans to run a few select events in the future, which is great news for all of us Joe Kopp fans. Those races can't get here fast enough to see him back out there wringing it out again!
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Joe Kopp may have announced his 'full-time' retirement from the great sport of AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship racing, but the chances are still pretty good we will see him around the track in 2011 and beyond. The 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion had stated throughout the 2010 season that this would be his last full-time year in the series, no matter the outcome in the championship in which he was a very solid part of throughout the season. He made the 'official' announcement at the year-end banquet awards ceremony in Arizona on October 9 and we covered that story last week. You can find the link to that story below.

Leading the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship overall point standings for the better part of the year, the wheels on his championship season slowly started to fall off of his and the Lloyd Brothers team efforts as the series was just hitting the stretch run. With multiple errors that plagued the overall great year the team had, the final straw was not only losing the chain in Minnesota, but the rain-out at Knoxville. With just one season-ending event to decide the overall championship, the Lloyd Brothers Ducati rider found himself in a position that was too much to come back from. And not to take anything away from 2010 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Jake Johnson and the Zanotti Racing team, either, which seemed to be running strong on all cylinders all season long.

Most of you know Larry Lawrence as the guy who had covered AMA Flat Track racing for the now defunct, hardcopy version of Cycle News for the last few years. As well as the great 'Archives' column that featured great looks back in motorcycle racing history which he had penned for them for the last 4-5 years as well, and also his super site The Rider Files.com that debuted in June of 2009. Larry got in touch with Joe Kopp in the last few days to talk with the 2000 Champ and get his views on hanging up the steel shoe and what the future holds for him. Being a great family man, one of Joe's main topics of discussion were his family. And he also states that although the full-time racing is over with for him, he does still plan to run some select races in the future, as well as wanting to get involved with racing or the motorcycle industry in one form or another.

Here is the link to Larry's interview with Joe which is a must-read and a very cool listen! Kick back for about 20 minutes and listen to what Smokin Joe has to say about the year, why he chose the #3, and what the future holds for him and his family:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=6658
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Poppa Wheelie has these great shots from Joe's win on the Ducati in Arizona in May:

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html#229673509661457140
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Check out Joe Kopp's website here to keep up with his news and race reports. He still shows an AMA EnduroCross event on his schedule coming up on November 20 in Las Vegas. That is the same weekend as the AMA Banquet and Hall of Fame ceremony as well. Kopp was scheduled to run the EnduroCross at Indy but decided to sit it out since the championship run was heating up. Joe ran an event late last fall in the EnduroCross series and ended up on the podium. This would be a great way to see him racing in one form or another:

http://www.joekoppracing.com/
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This is the link to last's weeks post on Joe Kopp announcing his retirement from full-time AMA Pro Flat Track competition:

http://stusshots.blogspot.com/2010/10/ama-flat-track-joe-kopp-retires-from.html
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AMA Flat Track: 2010 AMA Pro Singles Year-End Review and Awards

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AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles podium celebrations are just getting started at the Gas City/I-69 Speedway stop of the tour back on June 19. AMA track announcer Scotty Duebler interviews 3rd place finisher Brian Tapp, rider of the #37C Honda CR450 backed by WKR/West Coast Hot Shoes. Tapp finished 24th in the 2010 AMA Flat Track Pro Singles Championship with 31 points, with Gas City being his best result on the year.
2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Motorcycle Superstores.com Pro Singles Champion Jeff Carver stands behind his event-and series-winning #24P YZ450 Yamaha, which is backed by Vans/Yamaha Motor Corp/GYTP/Carvers BBQ. Carver won five events, came home 2nd four times, and also carded two 3rd place finishes on the year to have the championship sealed before the season ending race in Arizona, where he finished 4th (his second of the year) and totaled 293 points to win the title over 2009 Pro Singles Champion Brad Baker, with 267 points.
James Rispoli can be seen talking with Carver after a fine 2nd place finish at Gas City, and 4th place in the Pro Singles Championship on the year with 160 points while riding the #71B Honda sponsored by Cycle Dynamics/ANT-Racing/Vadnais Machine. Rispoli also split time in the AMA Pro Road Racing Series running in the AMA SuperSport East Series where he finished 5th in the year end standings.
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Rider intros are underway at the Springfield Mile round of the 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Series on September 5. Eventual event winner Michael Toon is being introduced to the the crowd by AMA track announcer Barry Boone as his #22L Honda sponsored by Price Truck Line/Kennedy Tires/Woody Kyle Racing is held at the ready for him.
Toon was victorious on the day, beating out #81C Zakk Palmer by .020 seconds with 2009 Pro Single Champ coming home 3rd on the day just .051 seconds back from Toon. Toon finished the year 9th in the Pro Singles Championship with 104 points.
Behind Toon is eventual 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion Jeff Carver alongside his #24P Van's Yamaha. Carver came home 5th at Springfield, just .335 seconds behind winner Toon. The Champ also had another 5th place finish on the year the night before on the Springfield Rodeo Arena Short Track. Carver was awarded his ceremonial #1 plate for winning the championship at the season ending banquet, and was also awarded National #23 from Kevin Atherton, which he will wear in the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series.
Rider #2oT is Mikey Labelle, alongside his Honda sponsored by WeirBach Racing/General Engineering/Barnett Clutches. Labelle finished 4th on the day at Springfield just .122 seconds back from winner Toon. He also won his first-ever AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles event at the season ending round in Prescott Valley, to finish the year 5th in the season ending standings with 139 points. He dedicated that win to rider Jesse Phibbs, who died the week before from injuries sustained at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile on August 28.
These Pro Singles events are serious business with multiple-bike battles and close racing at it's VERY best, doing a great job to highlight the up-and-comers into the great sport of AMA Flat Track Racing. You can tell from the time differences shown in the few shots I have posted and results shown that they are a pretty exciting affair, to say the least. AMA Flat Track has done a super job of using this series to showcase it's future in racing, and you always see the very best of racing with these young men wringing the heck out the 450s, especially on the mile tracks!
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Lima Half Mile round podium celebrations are underway in the AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles class as AMA track announcer Scotty Duebler reads off 2nd place finisher Chaz Springsteen's list of sponsors. Chaz, the nephew of 3-Time AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen, rode his #29J Monster Energy/Kawasaki/Werner & Springsteen-sponsored Kawasaki EX450 to his only podium of the year at Lima, and finished out the season 7th in the Pro Singles Championship with 130 points. He also scored two 4th place finishes in the May Arizona Mile and at the Minnesota Mile for the year.
Lima winner, and 2009 AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Champion Brad Baker is all smiles behind his #1 Honda, backed by Rod Lake/Mike Velasco/Brothers Powersports. Baker also scored three other wins on the year (Arizona Mile in May, Calistoga on the half mile, and Springfield on the short track) to finish 2nd in the year end standings behind Carver, 293-267 points. Baker also carded two 2nd place finishes and five 3rd place finished on the year for a super year. As part of AMA Flat Track's ladder program, Baker was also able to run three Grand National events in the Twins Class at Lake Odessa, Calistoga and the season ender at the Yavapai Downs Mile. Look for Brad in 2011 in the bigs, too, possibly alongside Carver. Having raced together for the championship in the Pro Singles Series now for two years, these guys are pretty familiar with one another and should also put on a super show as 'rookies' in the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series. 3rd place finisher at Lima was #20T Mikey Labelle, who is mostly obscured in this shot, but has been talked about in the previous shot rundowns.
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With the 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Championship having been decided before the season ending round at Yavapai Downs, Jeffrey Carver, Jr. ended up winning the title over 2009 Pro Single Champion Brad Baker by a margin of 26 points, 293-267 in the final tally. Both of these fine young men will be moving up to the Expert GNC Class for the 2011 season, showing that the current ladder/growing system for the sport is working quite well in bringing new talent into the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series. Between these two hard chargers, they won 9 of 16 events on the schedule (Carver's 5 to Baker's 4) and accounted for 22 podium spots on the year as well.

The AMA Pro Singles Class was brought in new for the 2009 season, taking the place of the old Pro Expert Twins Class that preceded it. Needless to say this change has been instrumental in bringing AMA Flat Track fans some of the most exciting race action that AMA Flat Track has had to offer over the years, and even decades. The racing is as close as you can get, and some of the most exciting that each event has to offer. All entrants race DTX production-based 450s so it makes for some VERY close action and thrills.
Personally, one of THE best races of the year was watching eventual champ Jeff Carver start on the back row (due to a false start) in his heat race at Indy in August to power his way around the outside of everyone to win in only six laps. And then to come off the back row again to finish the main in 3rd place, only because I think not only he was worn out, but so was the rear tire on his #24P Van's Yamaha.

Some of the best racing on the year came out of the Pro Singles races I witnessed. And the talent pool looked great this year, and very promising for the 2011 season as well.

You can catch up on a couple of interviews and photos in the links below. And we congratulate 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion Jeff Carver for a great year, as well as all of the participants in the 2010 Pro Singles season. What a ride and what a great year for these young men. Great job to all and thanks for the memories of a super season in AMA Flat Track!
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2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Year End Top 10 Point Standings:

1. Jeffrey Carver, Jr. 293 points (5 wins, four 2nd place finishes, two 3rd place finishes)
2. Brad Baker 267 points (4 wins, two 2nd place finishes, five 3rd place finishes)
3. Michael Avila 194 points
4. James Rispoli 160 points
5. Mikey Labelle 139 points
6. Michael Martin 137 points
7. Chaz Springsteen 130 points
8. J.D. Beach 118 points (four wins on the year, moved to Expert GNC Class at Springfield)
9. Michael Toon 104 points
10. Jake Shoemaker 90 points
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This is AMA Pro Flat Track's official release on the year end banquet awards. 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion Jeff Carver is featured as he gets his ceremonial #1 plate, and also is awarded National #23 for 2011 in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series. Kevin Atherton was on hand to award him his 'old' number. Carver will get to wear a 'solid' National number due to the AMA awarding those to previous champions in the feeder/
growing series of the Pro Singles Championship:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/news/index.cfm?cid=40247

Ultimate Motorcycling.com has this version of the AMA PR on the Pro Singles awards at the year end banquet in Prescott Valley, along with a couple of good pics as well:

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2010/ama-flat-track-carver-gets-his-no-1-plate

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Tyler Porter over at Fight For Dirt Track has this great interview with 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion Jeff Carver, Jr. from after the season ending race in Prescott Valley:

http://www.fightfordt.com/runscript.cfm?page=carverarizona.cfm

Tyler also has this interview with Mikey Labelle, who got his break out first-time win as an AMA Pro Singles rider at Prescott Valley. Labelle, who finished 5th in the 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Championship with 139 points, dedicated his Yavapai Downs Mile win to Jesse Phibbs. Jesse was the Pro Singles rider from Canada (who less than a few hours before the crash had won his first pole at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile event) that was severely injured on the first lap of the first Pro Singles heat race at Indy on August 28, and who several weeks later succumbed to his numerous injuries:

http://www.fightfordt.com/runscript.cfm?page=labelleaz.cfm
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Here are some great shots over at Poppa Wheelie's super site of first-time Pro Singles winner Mikey Labelle at the Yavapai Downs Mile on October 9:

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html#1887631098252223774
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AMA Flat Track: Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki and Bryan Smith; Kawasaki Racing Year End Video Review

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Eight days after winning their very first AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Twins event at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile, the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki team celebrates again at the Springfield Mile over the Labor Day weekend. Tuner to the Stars, Bill Werner, multi-time winning rider Bryan Smith and AMA Flat Track fan favorite Jay Springsteen beam as they toast the thrill of victory on the historic Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval after taking the new team's mile winner to the top of box. They had all been there before in one form or another over the years, but this was the first time they would all stand together in victory circle on the legendary Springfield track. I have a feeling we could be seeing much more of this in the season(s) to come.
In what could easily be viewed as THE Superteam of AMA Pro Flat Track Series racing, the team has gone through it's share of teething problems in route to winning two Grand National Twins Championship races in a row. While running at the front at the May Arizona Mile, the bike cut out leaving Smith stranded and finishing 17th. They came back at the end of the month and brought it home 2nd at Springfield. On the half-mile tracks, they were either in the top 6 or 7 or down in the bottom 4 or 5. Things came together at Indy and Springfield for the team's first wins, and they finished the season with two 6th place finishes in Minnesota and Arizona, again both mile events. And according to 13-Time AMA Grand National Championship winning tuner Werner, the testing the team did at Duquoin early in the season was extremely vital to getting the 650R-based machine set up, as well as establishing a good baseline for the team to coordinate together. Werner credits the input and abilities of test riders Smith and Springer for helping to gel the team.
As a result of their efforts in winning the two Twins Events on the 2010 season, coupled with the 4 wins by Henry Wiles on the KX450 in the Singles Events, Kawasaki won the AMA Flat Track Manufacturer of the Year Award for the first time ever in AMA Flat Track history. Werner, Springsteen and Smith were also lauded with the AMA Flat Track Outstanding Achievement Award for their efforts and for helping to bring AMA Flat Track Series racing back with a big bang in the 2010 season.
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Kawasaki Racing released a nice year end video tribute to the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki AMA Pro Flat Track racing team that talks about the season ending event in Prescott Valley on October 9, as well as the team's overall results for the season in winning the Lucas Oil Indy Mile, and backing it up some eight days later with a win on the legendary Springfield Mile. Rider Bryan Smith and Master Tuner Bill Werner talk about the efforts of the team and getting the power to the ground with the Kawasaki 650R-based machine.

With the season now over for the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship season, we take a look back on the winning team and their historic wins and taking Kawasaki to the winners circle for the very first time in the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Twins Series. And we now look to the future of what could be with The Super Team of AMA Flat Track Series Racing. With team helmer Werner talking about possibly fulfilling whatever demand there may be for more of these bikes in the series for the off season, AMA Flat Track Racing could be taking on a completely different look not too far down the road. And 2010 sure did a good job of altering that look!

Congrats again to the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki team as well as AMA Flat Track for a super and superb year. I can't wait for 2011..........
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This is the You Tube link to Kawasaki Racing's official year end video review of the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki AMA Pro Flat Track team:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsZrtrTXKs

Here's some nice PR from AMA Pro Flat Track's title sponsor K&N Filters on the team's win at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile and the Springfield Mile. This also has some nice shots from Yve Assad of The Fast and Dirty.com.
Master Wrench Bill Werner mentions that he plans to work towards trying to satisfy any demand that may come about for other team's wanting to put together one of the Kawasaki 650R's for competition use in the AMA Flat Track Series over the off season:

http://www.knfilters.com/news/news.aspx?id=2955

This is an older press release from K&N Filters that came out in late 2009, but it talks with Bill Werner about how and why he started off on the big project of a putting together the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki team along with Jay Springsteen and winning rider Bryan Smith:

http://www.knfilters.com/news/news.aspx?ID=2487
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Congratulations and a Big Thank You to Wayne Hosaka and Flat Track.com!

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Heat race action at the AMA Flat Track Toledo Half Mile in late summer of 1975 shows #42 Steve Morehead on his Triumph out front early leading the late Jay Ridgeway on the #9C H-D XR750, Gene Romero on the #3 C & J Yamaha, Ricky Campbell on the #82 XR750 and Hank Scott on the #14 Shell Thuett Yamaha, among others not easily identified. Toledo was a limestone-based horse track, very similar in layout and look to Louisville Downs.
I actually had to do some close looking at some shots to make sure what track was what, and found that Louisville didn't have the white 'solid-looking' outside walls behind the pack coming out of turn four, and the inside guard rails at Louisville were supported by an inverted 'J' or 'L' post that attached to the rail itself for support. This was one of nine or ten races I hit in the summer of '75 after having found AMA Flat Track in the summer of '74. Needless to say, I was completely hooked and have been an avid fan ever since.
AMA Flat Track came back with a bang in 2010 spear headed by Mike & Gary Kidd and Steve Morehead and the AMA Pro Flat Track Team, and I am thrilled to say that it is the best I have ever seen it in the 37 years I have been following it. With multiple brands, big rider turn outs at the races, a good television package, paying butts in the seats, and sponsorship dollars starting to work their way back into The Rolling Thunder Show, AMA Flat Track Racing made a great turn-around this year and is poised to head into the next decade in the best shape overall it has been in years...and maybe decades.
People like Wayne Hosaka, who heads up THE place for ALL THINGS flat track at his bitchin' site Flat Track.com are what have made flat track and flat track fans the best there is in any form of 2-wheeled racing. Wayne will be presented with one of AMA Pro Racing's AMA Media Awards in Las Vegas on November 20 for what he has done for the world of flat track, and AMA Pro Flat Track Racing. Bravo man, bravo!
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One of the sites I like to link to during race coverage, as well as posting some of my bits and pieces about the world of flat track racing here on Stu's Shots, is the Flat Track.com page that is helmed by Wayne 'Hos' Hosaka, a former West Coast hot shoe who was tragically paralyzed during a flat track race at Ascot back in 1971. Being a former flat tracker and wanting to be kept abreast of all things flat track, as well as wanting to help keep folks like you and me-fans and/or fanatics of all things flat track-abreast of the world of flat track racing, Hos started his website back in the mid '90s just as the World Wide Web was really kicking into gear, at least from a 'use-at-home' application.

In doing so, Hos brought together thousands of hard-core fans that wanted to be kept up on the great world of flat track racing. Some 15 years later, Flat Track.com is THE place to go to find out anything having to do with flat track racing and is the preeminent stop each day for flat track fans and participants to go and share what is going on in the world of flat track motorcycle racing. Besides the average Joe like myself that have found the site to not only be a great source of news, as well as getting the news out, there are racers, former racers, promoters and sponsors that turn to Flat Track.com before going anywhere else to get the update on what is really happening in the world of flat track racing. You'll be surprised at the people that go there to pass the word or get the word on flat track!

And in keeping with the theme of 'keeping up with flat track,' AMA Pro Flat Track and AMA Pro Racing have nominated Wayne and Flat Track.com for one of the distinguished AMA Racing Media Awards for the 2010 season in helping to keep AMA Pro Flat Track front and center and 'helping to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling.' The award will be presented in Las Vegas at the year-end awards banquet at the Red Rock Casino on November 20 along with all of the AMA year-end awards. Very cool indeed. Congrats Hos for a job well done!

So the next time you are surfing the web and looking for info on flat track racing, remember to check out Flat Track.com (and Stu's Shots, of course!) and in all likelihood you will find it at Hos' site. And I guarantee you'll be back once you've been there!
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Here's the post that Wayne put up last night on his Flat Track.com news page of the story I did from yesterday on Joe Kopp's retirement from full time competition in AMA Flat Track racing.

Thanks Hos, you da man! You've put together something really great here that people like me can go to to check out what is happening in flat track, as well as a place to go to help spread the word on flat track and get the news and info to the masses. Thanks so much!

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1009&Itemid=9
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Here is some info on Wayne 'Hos' Hosaka, who back in the mid '90s had the vision to put together Flat Track.com and it's forums for all things flat track and the people that follow it to have a meeting place on the web, a place for news, info and just a general place to go to share the great sport of flat track racing.

This tells you a little about Wayne and some of his other work that he does when he's not taking care of people like me and all the other great folks that are not only flat track fans, but forum members over at his Flat Track.com website. He is a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists. Hos spends his time painting, and not just flat track paintings, either. He has a very nice collection of stuff he has done that is on exhibit on the following site of his beautiful work. You can read about Wayne and then you can check out his art as well. After you read about Hos, you can go to the top and click on the 'Galleries' tab that will take you to his wonderful art at this link:

http://www.zhibit.org/waynehosaka/about

Here are some shots of Hos when he was racing flat track on the west coast in the mid-late '60s and early '70s before his accident at Ascot in '71:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hos55x/MyMotorcycleRacingCollection?authkey=Gv1sRgCMev-NW4uOnKrwE
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AMA Pro Flat Track and AMA Pro Racing announced today the nominees for the year-end awards for the 2010 season. One award in particular that the AMA is making note of is for the AMA Racing Media Award, and one of the nominees for this year's award is Wayne Hosaka and his Flat Track.com website.
The AMA states in the press release that "in their own ways" the nominees have helped advance AMA Pro Racing and motorcycle racing into the future. A very worthy award for someone like Hos who has done so much for the sport, and for the people who follow the sport. Congrats Hos!

http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/story.asp?id=2325
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AMA Flat Track: Joe Kopp Retires From Full Time AMA Flat Track Competition

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Joe Kopp and Dave Lloyd look over the practice and qualifying numbers during the break in on-track action at the Springfield Mile on September 5. The 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion had said before the season started, and well into the season, that no matter which way the championship went he would hang up his steel shoe at the end of the 2010 season. After the season ending Budweiser Racing Arizona Mile in Prescott Valley on October 9, Joe issued the 'official' announcement along with his race report that his full time run in active competition had come to an end.

Smokin Joe finished 5th in the season finale to end the season in 2nd place in the championship to Jake Johnson, 289-269 points, and end his 'full time' career in AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship racing with a total of 21 wins. The future AMA Hall of Famer won three of those races this year, including the break-out win on his Latus H-D/Lloyd Brothers/American Agip/MotoConcepts-backed Ducati 1098 at the Yavapai Downs Mile back on May 1. However, with his announcement he also said that he would still be racing 'here and there' so if we are lucky we may still get a chance to see Joe at some select rounds in the future. And this fan and reporter will be looking forward to that.

Thanks for all you have done for AMA Flat Track, Joe. It's been a pleasure to watch you all these years on and off the track, and we can't wait to see you strap that steel shoe back on again!

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I'm a little slow in getting this posted, so there are many people out there that may have already read and heard the official announcement of 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Joe Kopp's retirement from full time competition in the series. Joe had made mention of his impending retirement not only at the start of the season but well into the season as well. And like myself, I'm sure a lot of people had hoped he would forget about that talk no matter what way the championship run would end up. Not seeing the #3 on the track (or the #43 as he used to carry before winning the championship in 2000) is going to feel and look pretty strange after all these years. And I for one am not looking forward to that.

A consumate professional on and off the track, let alone a constant threat in the series over the years, Smokin Joe has not only been one of my favorites, but a standard fan favorite as well to many other devotees to the wonderful sport of AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship racing. With a broad, sly smile to go along with his bravado and ability to wring the best out of a flat track motorcycle, he has been one of the constants on the series trail since the early-mid '90s and has thrilled and entertained many a face in the crowd along the way. To put the Lloyd Brothers Ducati on the top of the podium back in May for what is one of the break out stories in series history is itself a testament to Joe's riding prowess and ability. Let alone grabbing two more wins this year on his Latus H-D, a race mount that couldn't be farther from the handling and power characteristics of the Big Duc.

We'll look forward to seeing Joe back around the track in the future, as with his background there are an awful lot of young, up and coming riders that will surely benefit from his experience and knowledge in how to set up and ride an AMA Flat Track machine. I'm sure Joe could give them, and anyone for that matter, a couple of pretty good tips!

Thank you, Joe, for all that you have done for AMA Flat Track as well as for the fans--this one included. You will be missed out there, man!

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Joe has been doing race reports over the years about his race weekends, and this year has done a great job of chronicling the struggles of switching back and forth from one bike to another, and dealing with the differences between the tried-and-true XR and the Big Duc. This is his final 'full time' race report on the Arizone Mile, as well as his 'official' retirement announcement. Man, that sounds strange, but like with all good things in life, at one time they all must end:

http://www.joekoppracing.com/CommentDetails.aspx?NewsletterID=111

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Today's Cycle Coverage.com has the same report that Joe has on his site, with a few different pics thrown in as well:

http://www.todayscyclecoverage.com/wordpress/2010/10/16/kopps-korner-2/

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