The first round of the 2007 Pitster Pro Candian Mini Roadracing National Series will be held at Vancouver’s famed F440 Track, April 15/07. The F440 race track is the largest in the lower Canadian mainland. It is a half mile (over one kilometer) long. It has 17 very different and challenging corners to test even the most experienced Racers. F440 is a track known for it’s tight and technical nature and commitment to pass in corners. Camping is available right next to the track. ~http://www.f440.com~

More information about the Pitster Pro Candian Mini Roadracing National Series can be found here: ~http://amra.ca/2007%20National%20Series.htm~

SWEET RACING GEARS UP FOR 2007

After a tremendous off season competing at the 2006 World Metrakit GP Championships in Valencia, Spain this December and nearly capturing the first Indoor Road Racing National Series Championship (defeating such well known riders as Steve Crevier, Brett McCormack and Jordon Szoke), Sweet Racing’s Cody Matechuk is now gearing up for 2007. Putting his talents to the test, the Cochrane young gun will be competing in three different racing arenas this year. They will include motocross, mini road racing and a debut in the 125 road race class at venues such as Calgary Race City and Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Feeling ready for bigger tracks and a faster pace, confidence has set the stage for this year’s event schedule. Returning to the AMRA sanctioned mini road racing club, Matechuk will be competing in the open Thunder class after teaming up with Pitster Pro distributor, Visionary Motosports. You’ll find him mounted aboard the all new Pitster Pro X2R. “We are excited to have Matechuk race for us this year and know he’ll do a great job representing the Pitster Pro line.” commented Dealer Development Manager, Andrew Gowers. The small multi-purpose Pitster will follow the Sweet Racing team to all the 2007 race events. “Pitster Pro has put together an excellent support package this year, so now it’s up to me to make sure everyone else knows how great this company and their product really is”, smiled Matechuk.

Also coming back to support Matechuk this season will be M2R helmets and gear. On board with the team since 2005/2006, Rob Goth and the team at M2R have been a huge part of the racing program. Their quality products and tremendous backing have played an instrumental part in the success Sweet Racing has found, both in the dirt and on the tarmac.

Pounding the dirt on the CMRC motocross series, you’ll find Matechuk in the saddle of an Alberta Cycle Suzuki this year. After a tremendous season in 2006 which featured a CMRC Provincial title, Matechuk was thrilled to be back on the yellow Suzuki bullets. “I love the Suzuki”, grinned a confident Matechuk. “It’s a great bike to ride and Alberta Cycle is always at the track supporting their racers.” The new Suzuki RM85 will carry Matechuk on his quest to run top 5 as he steps up into a 13-17 yr old age group for 2007.

Rounding off the list of newcomers to the Sweet Racing team, is products distributor, International Thibault Ltd. (ITL) with warehouses in Sherbrooke, QC and Calgary, AB. ITL continues to support racers of all ages in the industry.

“We know we have a full schedule and a lot of traveling ahead of us this year”, shares Matechuk, “but that’s just part of what it takes to make it to the top and give something back to the people supporting you. My trip to Spain this winter was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. I learned more about racing and where I want to go with my life than I had ever expected. Now it’s time to make things happen.”

SPECIAL FEATURE: Matechuk’s recent trip to Spain was featured in the April æ07 edition of Inside Motorcycles. His 19th place finish at the Metrakit World Championships drew a ton of media interest throughout the industry, not just because it was the young hopeful’s first international event or the first time on that bike, but because he was the top place finisher in North America. Representing Canada as one of two rider’s selected to compete at the massive International event, Matechuk had to qualify against 130 other competitors in his class from all over the world. Grab a copy while available at bookstores or anywhere race magazine are sold!

~http://www.codymatechuk.com/~

Texas Mini GP Results Round 1

Saturday Sprints 03/24/07

SuperBike Novice

1. Mike Rollins

2. Tim Tucker

3. Giles Roussel

SuperBike Expert

1. Stuart Fulton

2. Phillip Fisher

3. Lee Williams

Lightweight Novice

1. Tim Tucker

2. Armond Povia

3. Mike Rollins

Lightweight Expert

1. Chase Barnes

2. Mark Olley

3. Derek Wagnon

Heavyweight Novice

1. Tim Barnes

2. Peter Murray

3. Gilles Roussel

Heavyweight Expert

1. Jason Heller

2. Terry Dike

3. Lee Williams

MiniGP Novice

1. Gilles Roussel

2. James Selman

3. Stephen Selman

MiniGP Expert

1. Ross Smith

2. Frank Springett

3. Stuart Fulton

Motard Novice

1. Mike Rollins

2. Tim Barnes

3. David Evans

Motard Expert

1. Tiffianni Kuehler

2. Mark Tuttle

3. Luke Conlin

Unlimited

1. Phillip Fisher

2. Derek Wagnon

3. Mark Tuttle

Backwards

1. Derek Wagnon

2. Mark Olley

3. Luke Conlin

SuperSport YSR

1. Armond Povia

2. David Long

3. Marc Mondshine

12 and Under

1. Nicolas Esparza

2. Cristian Esparza

3. Jesse Kane

13 to 18

1. Jared Hebert

2. Derek Wagnon DNF

19 to 29

1. Mark Olley

2. Lee Williams

3. Jon Broom

30 and Over

1. Stuart Fulton

2. Marc Mondshine

3. Roger Lemmons

Dinosaurs

1. Terry Dike

2. Dennie Spears

3. Stuart Fulton

Scooter

1. Nicolas Esparza

2. Cristian Esparza

3. Jesse Kane

Junior Motard

1. Nicolas Esparza

2. Cristian Esparza

3. Jesse Kane

Texas Mini GP Round 1 (4) Hr. Endurance

23 Teams on the Grid

SuperBike

1. Fireball Racing 280

2. Hi-Zoot Racing 276

3. Team FSU 274

Lightweight Expert

1. Team Ninja 268

2. WRW Racing 265

3. Sikk100 263

Lightweight Novice

1. JSK Racing 248

2. Reddy Racing 246

3. AF1 Racing 240

Round 2 to be held at Katy, Tx. on April 28/29

Full Round of Sprints and a 3 Hour Endurance

See ~http://www.tmgps.8k.com/~ for details

In the spring of 2006, an idea sprung to life committed, ambitious and focused on an objective. Dorna, KTM and Red Bull decided on the biggest talent search in international motorcycle racing.

More than 1,100 applications from 60 countries were received within a few weeksùamong them 103 interested young ladies, who were looking to find their way into MotoGP. The following steps lay ahead of these young, 13 to 16 year old talents:

Selection 2006
During the Selection Event at the “Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo” from August 28th to 31st 2006, the best twenty riders were selected in the first instance and nominated for the Rookies Cup. In another test in October at the Adria Raceway in Italy, three further rookies were nominatedùunder the athletic direction of Spanish motorcycling legend Alberto Puig, KTM’s Race Director Harald Bartol and multiple Grand Prix winner Gustl Auinger from Austria.

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2007
22 male riders and one young lady from ten nations will contest the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup starting March the 25th. Seven races supporting selected European MotoGP race weekends. From Jerez via Mugello to Donington, then from Assen via Germany’s Sachsenring to Brno, and finally back to the Selection’s point of departureùValencia.

In another step of professional training, the cream of the crop will have the opportunity to complete a very special kind of prep program at the Red Bull MotoGP Academy on their way towards MotoGP.

They stood wide-eyed in front of the lap charts in Valencia, some of them with a tear in their eyeùat the Selection Event for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2007. They were able to share their delight with friends, relatives and patrons.

For it was certain: They had qualified and would travel across Europe from March to November 2007ùchauffeured and accompanied by friends, relatives and patrons.

Life has changed significantly for at least 23 families when testing started. Because from now on it’s all about hoping and trembling and competing. 23 talents between the ages of 13 and 16 need to be accompanied across Europeùon their possible way towards the potential target: MotoGP. For most of them the motorsports bug runs right within their own families.

Most of them (14) name Valentino Rossi as their role model, but reigning world champion Nicky Hayden is very popular as well. And all of them have only one goal: To compete in a MotoGP race and win it, too. The youngest of the rookies will be celebrating his 13th birthday in May. Peter Sebestyen from Hungary. And the oldest, Johann Zarco from France, has already reached a biblical age, turning 17 in July 2007.

A young lady wants to try her hand as wellùLucy Gloeckner from Germany is the only female participant in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, she not only wants to push the young gentlemen ahead, but also be among the front runners herselfùright at the sharp end, mind you.

23 riders from ten nations will push their KTM bikes onto the starting grid for the first time in Jerez. The young talents come from Germany, Italy, Norway, Great Britain, the USA, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden, Hungary and Spain. Great Britain leads the quantitative rankings with five rookies, followed by Spain and Germany with four riders each. The USA are dispatching three talents, while France is sending forward two riders to the cup. The remaining countries (Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Norway and Sweden) are each represented by one rookie.

Riders and Numbers
No. Name (Nation)
# 03 Daniel Kartheininger (GER)
# 05 Johann Zarco (FRA)
# 06 Peter Sebestyen (HUN)
# 07 Deane Brown (GB)
# 09 Lukaa embera (CZE)
# 11 Jamie Mossey (GB)
# 12 Javier Cholbi-Pascual (ESP)
# 16 Cameron Beaubier (USA)
# 21 Kevin Saanchez Montillo (ESP)
# 22 Cyril Carrillo (FRA)
# 23 Matthew Hoyle (GB)
# 28 Markus Reiterberger (GER)
# 32 Lorenzo Savadori (ITA)
# 33 Sturla Borch Fagerhaug (NOR)
# 35 Christoph Schaenberger (GER)
# 36 Stuart Mitchell (GB)
# 38 Kris Turner (USA)
# 39 Luis Jaime Salom (ESP)
# 52 Adam Blacklock
# 66 Robert Gull (SWE)
# 69 Lucy Glaeckner (GER)
# 73 JD Beach (USA)
# 92 Cristian Trabalon (ESP)

The seven races of the 2007 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Date Location Nation
25 March Jerez ESP
2 June Mugello ITA
24 June Donington GB
30 June Assen NL
15 July Sachsenring GER
19 Aug Brno CZ
4 Nov Valencia ESP

“Ready to race”ùalso in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

KTM offers talents the highest technical standards.

In the 125cc world championship, this year’s KTM riders are Tomoyoshi Koyama (JPN), Randy Krummenacher (SUI) and Stevie Bonsey (USA).

Mika Kallio (FIN) and Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) will fight for KTM wins and the title in the 250cc world championship.

The rider to earn the overall victory in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup will be known in Valencia at the latest. But in any event the winner isùKTM.

The 2007 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup will be run on top spec machineryùa KTM RC 125, a specially developed race model for rookies.

The bikes of the young riders will be appropriately motorised by 45 HP, and technically supervised by Gustl Auinger, the five time motorcycle GP winner from Austria, and the KTM teamùtrue to the motto: Ready to race!

Cooperation between Red Bull, KTM and Dorna opens doors for talented young riders and possible future motorcycle champions.

The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup is a unique program for fostering motorcycle talent in promising young riders who compete on actual Grand Prix circuits in front of huge crowds, on identical bikes and under identical conditions. The program is designed to create a level playing field so that the best and the brightest emerge at the top and no young talent is overlooked due to a lack of financial resources or professional backing.

“In the Cup it is important to have eventual: a real passion for racing and that you are fast on the bike,” says KTM Motorsports Manager Pit Beirer. “The KTM RC 125 bikes are all identical and are a very high standard. That means the fastest rider will win.”

With MotoGP enjoying increasing popularity and of ever growing importance in the international motorsports calendar, the Rookies Cup is vital for developing young motorcycle talent aged between 13ù16 years. In the final selection process, riders were chosen not only on their results but also according to their personality, racing spirit, team spirit and sense of fair play. The competition is truly international in 2007 with an extended list of 23 riders from 10 nations.

KTM Road Racing Director Harald Bartol underlined that due to the fact that the riders were competing on bikes that were almost the same standard as the 125cc factory rider’s bikes, they were in the best possible position to be able to make the leap from the Rookies Cup into the World Championship competition. “From the 1,100 applicants we were also able to select the most talented candidates because money did not play the deciding role,” he added, underlining that unlike other similar programs, riders only have to finance their own travel costs while all other costs are covered.

For KTM, the company with the “Ready to Race” philosophy, engagement in the program is essential for discovering potential future factory riders. The rookie element also extends to the technical teamùthe 25 mechanics working on the program are all KTM trainees. KTM and Red Bull cooperate in a range of rookies programs, including the now concluded Red Bull Supermoto Junior Cup, which ran successfully for four years. The Rookies Cup gives the young riders the inimitable experience of competing on GP circuits in front of huge crowds, all riding identical KTM RC 125 machines.

Technical specifications – Rookies Cup BikeùKTM RC 125

ENGINE

• Engine Type single cylinder, 2-stroke
• Displacement (cc) 125
• Bore x Stroke (mm) 54 / 54.5
• Performance approx. 45 HP / 13.000 rpm
• Torque 30 Nm / 12.800 rpm
• Compression ratio 9:1
• Transmission 6 gears
• Carburetor Keihin 38
• Cooling Liquid cooled
• Lubrication Mixture lubrication
• Ignition CDI

CHASSIS

• Frame Aluminium twin spar frame
• Suspension front / rear WP Suspension
• Brakes front / rear Brembo Steeldisc
• Rims front / rear Marchesini
• Fuel capacity approx. 13 liters
• Weight 136 kg incl. Rider

USMGP at Iron Rock

WOW! What a great facility and a lot of fun to ride. High speeds for sure and very challenging. The weekend was a lot of fun with some great racing between some fast riders in all of the classes. Some of the kids who were just learning last year at Las Vegas have stepped up to be very good racers & riders. Look out in the future we have a couple that will rival what some of the past riders like Robbie & Mario did. The talent level for a 10-12 year olds even surprised me. The kids I am talking about are:

Chaz Abbott, “Raspberry” Kate Everett, and both of Choon Gan’s sons are very talented riders and will be a force in the seasons and races to come. All of the parents should be proud!

Thanks to Mid-South Minimoto for your 2007 sponsorship!

I would like to thank everyone who helped me make this event happen. Charlie & the Staff of Iron Rock Raceway (They are great!) Stuart & Melissa Sirocky- For the cookout on Friday night , & Melissa with the help in registration & scoring. Congrats on your wedding! Thanks for the place to crash too! I mean sleep and hang out. Stuart, I still say it was Jessica Simpson Mike Kielbasa- for bringing up the bikes for me. Congrats on having the fastest lap time of the weekend. Bill-For your constant support and all the great pics you took along with providing CDs of pics to all the riders. All the riders who made the trip especially all of the Phoenix crew who drove 18 hours to come to this event.

Thanks to the Air Force pilots for the fly by’s and the chance to see some awesome planes taking off and flying over the track.

Our first real shifter bike included race and all I can say is that thre are some talented riders in Texas in the shifter classes and I hope to see more of them at some other events this season.

For all of you pocketbike racers, I think you are going to have to work real hard to beat these Texas riders, Mike K. Stuart S., Jimmer and Todd Gavin are very, very fast and will be attending the BeaveRun event so come on out and see if you can hang with them. These riders have stepped up and are going to give you a run! The bikes are top notch and are fast and well maintained. Should be fun to watch.

More to follow! Thanks Again to all who attended!

Chuck

~http://www.usmgp.com~

SCminiGP picks up another sponsor for the 2007 championshis series. The company who currently has support from Blata USA, Dainese, and Fastrack Riders will now have another premier sponsor to suppor their program.

Spider Grips who develop grips to help reduce vibration see potential in helping the youth based race series. The company decided to become a premier sponsor of the program and has offered to supply all SCminiGP training bikes grips for the duration of the season. In addition, the company agreed to provide grips for SCminiGP Team/Staff bikes but that is just the beginning of the support. All riders who compete in the 2007 race series will get the chance to take home a new set of quality grips provided by Spider Grips. Spider Grips has agreed to sponsor ever class in the race series and will offere the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place riders a new set of grips at the end of the season.

SCminiGP is thankful for the new supporter and is looking foward to building a strong relationship with the company over the coming season.

The MiniGPX minimotard project bike is currently featured across 4 pages of MotoKids magazine (~http://www.moto-kids.com~). The four pages show the bike in various states of build and provide a summary of the four piece article first shown on this site.

Part 1: ~/news/article/?article=24820~

Part 2: ~/news/article/?article=24853~

Part 3: ~/news/article/?article=24883~

Part 4: ~/news/article/?article=24913~

On March 25th, Round 1 of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2007 gets under way at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain: The biggest talent search in motorcyle racing history will start its first race.

Originally, after the Selection Event at the “Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo” on 28 August 2006, the best twenty riders were selected and nominated for the Rookies Cup.

Under the auspices of Spanish motorcycling legend Alberto Puig and KTM’s Race Director Harald Bartol, several additional reserve riders were chosen and also invited to further test sessions, run at Adria Raceway in Italy at the end of October, where the talent scouts were positively surprised, so that the level of performance, but also the quality of the young riders led to a change of mind.

In a “3 plus” programme, three additional riders were selected for the Rookies Cup 2007, so now a total of 23 riders from ten nations will participate in the biggest talent search in international motorcyle racing so far, powered by Dorna and Red Bull.

These young talents come from Germany, Italy, Norway, Great Britain, the USA, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden, Hungary and Spain. Over the past two weeks three further test sessions were held at Jerez and Valencia to prime the 23 riders for the start of the season at the end of March (see list). Several riders were already able to put themselves in the limelight as possible podium contendersùe.g. American Cameron Beaubier, Johann Zarco (FRA), Lorenzo Savadori (ITA), Jamie Mossey (GB) and Cristian Trabalon Laso (ESP) among others.

The sole lady in the field, Lucy Gloeckner from Germany, ran consistently in the top eight.

Harald Bartol:

“It was a pleasant problem for us to suddenly have 23 almost level young riders at our disposal. We wanted to guarantee the highest quality possible and therefore decided to expand our Cup accordingly! The fact that ten riders should be good for podium positions is especially gratifying.”

The seven races of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2007:

25 March 2007 Jerez/ESP

2 June 2007 Mugello/ITA

24 June 2007 Donington/GB

30 June 2007 Assen/NL

15 July 2007 Sachsenring/GER

19 Aug 2007 Brno/CZ

4 Nov 2007 Valencia/ESP

CJ over at Road Racer X sits down at talks to MotoGP Experience’s Larry Spektor, who along with Kenny Noyes offer guided tours during a Spanish MotoGP weekend. The kicker? These use Metrakits as transport around town and finish off with a training session on the bikes!

Between the Races: MotoGP Experience’s Larry Spektor

~http://roadracerx.com/article.php?article_id=323~

Things went very well for Vision Hayes at the opening round of the SMRRCs’ 2007 season,with the seven year old racer going against the local members and some visiting racers,most notably Peter Lenz, who came all the way from Washington state. The weather in NorCal was beautiful-sunny skies and temps reaching into the 80s over the weekend.

Saturdays’ practice went at a slow pace for Vision as he was dealing with new tires, brakes, top ends, and suspension mods on both his race bikes, an NSR50R and a KX65, both in stock configuration.He stayed at the track until it closed at 9:00pm to try to get up to speed and the effort payed off on race day.

This was the first time Vision raced his new NSR50R at the SMRRC and he was entered in four classes on it,coming in second to Lenz three times and finishing fourth in the Super50 race after getting a poor start. A good way to start the year at the club with the NSR.

Vision was flying on his KX65, taking his first ever win in the Formula Extreme class after taking an early lead and being hotly pursued by defending class/club champ Brian Edgington for the entire race. The pressure never bothered Vision, who rode brilliantly through backmarkers on the last laps to take the checkered.

Starting on the second row for the 80gp race, Vision got an excellent start and despite racing his stock 65cc bike against bigger displacement modified bikes, he was up with the lead group in fifth position on the first lap when a few riders went off the track, enabling him to take and hold second place until the end.

Vision is sponsored by: HOPPER RACING, CMRRA, BIKE WORLD MOTORSPORTS, FREMONT HONDA KAWASAKI, TOP OIL PRODUCTS, ALPINESTARS, GALFER U.S.A., AIRTECH, and STKN-MOTO

Please visit ~http://www.visionhayes.com/~