Current MotoGP points leader Casey Stoner was interviewed earlier this month. During the interview he talked about the advantages of MiniGP racing over Dirt Track (where he cut his racing teeth).

The comments are on page 2 of SpeedTV’s article here: ~http://www.speedtv.com/articles/motogp/moto/38522/~

Troy is already looking to the future, but this time it is not so much his own future as that of a future generation of road race stars. Troy is happy to announce his partnership with TCA Online and the Australian Metrakit Junior Road Race series.

This race series is for youngsters between nine and 15 years of age riding either a Metrakit 70SP Fun 2T, Metrakit GP50 or Metrakit GP70SP bike.

The winner of the series will represent Australia in the annual Metrakit World Festival in Valencia, Spain, competing against Metrakit juniors from 12 other countries.

Troy himself will be actively involved supporting the Metrakit juniors and will share his wealth of knowledge and experience with them on their road to becoming the new generation of champions.

“I am really happy to be in a position to put something back into the sport that has been so good to me,” said Corser. “And I can’t think of a better way then to help youngsters develop into the stars of tomorrow. I’ve always helped out young riders, but this is a great opportunity to be involved with an organization sharing the same goals as me. I am impressed with quality of the bikes and the way Metrakit carry out their business and hope together we can help produce some real future stars.”

This is the video from SEMRA’s latest race at VIR.

~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOTfMXfSVMc~

FastForwardRacing’s Nick McFadden has added another pair of wins to his season long win streak. Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, So. Carolina was the location for last weeks WERA regional race.

Nick started off Saturday’s qualifying letting the other 85GP riders know that they would be racing for 2nd place. Lapping the CMP track within .5 second of the 85Gp lap record, Nick easily won his first race of the weekend by a 17 second margin. Alabama’s Michael Scott on his new CRF150R shadowed Nick for much of the race, but crashed out of contention only a few turns from the checkered flag.

On Sunday, Nick started right where he left off the previous day as he proceeded to break the 85GP lap record by .5 second in timed qualifying. Even though Nick’s competition would deliver a few fast laps in the race, it was his consistently faster pace that garnered him the checkered flag again. Nick now takes a few weeks off till we are off to JenningsGp and Talledega in August.

Cooperation between Red Bull, KTM and the AMA will open doors for talented young riders who may be the next Nicky Hayden

MONTEREY, Calif. (July 19, 2007) – Applications are now being accepted for the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup, which will begin its inaugural campaign in 2008. This series is a unique program for fostering motorcycle talent in promising young riders who will compete at top road racing circuits in front of race day crowds, on identical bikes KTM RC 125 machines.

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. Based on the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in Europe, the U.S. series will focus on seeking out top North and South American racing talent.

“It’s great that Red Bull is bringing the Rookies Cup to America and is helping deserving racers get some exposure,”¥ said 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden. “I’ve been checking out the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in Europe, and the level of racing is really impressive. This is a great platform for aspiring future champions and great to see it coming to the USA.”

Potential competitors from North and South America can apply for consideration to attend the Selection Event at ~http://www.redbullrookiescup.com~.

The deadline for applications is August 31, 2007. Applicants must be 13 to 16 years old (born between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 1994). The location and date of the Fall 2007 Selection Event will be announced shortly.

Racing experience is not a requirement, but riding experience is. The program selection will be open to motorcycle racers from all disciplines – road racing, dirt track, motocross, etc. Potential Rookies must simply have the talent, ambition, personality and the drive to become a world-class racer. In the selection process, riders will be chosen not only based on their results, but also on their potential, personality, racing spirit, team spirit and sense of fair play.

AMA Road Race Director Keith Kizer welcomes the program and feels that it will add to the AMA Superbike Championship. “We’re excited about integrating the Red Bull Rookies Cup into our program,”¥ said Kizer. “It will run as an exhibition on select AMA Superbike weekends and will give fans the chance to experience a completely different type of racing class. We’re also happy to provide the environment for these young riders to display their talents on a national stage. All in all we’re confident that this will turn out to be an extremely positive development for the sport of motorcycle road racing.”

The stops on the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup calendar will be linked to official 2008 AMA Superbike and MotoGP events, and are guaranteed to immerse the young riders in an authentic race atmosphere.

For more information, please visit ~http://www.redbullrookiescup.com~.

Vision Hayes continued his winning ways at the CMRRA event held at Grange’ Motor Circuit in the high desert of southern California on July 15.

This was a hot one, with the practice and racing being done in temps above 95 degrees Fahrenheit. To beat the heat, people were using portable misters, canopies, A/C in the trailers and motor homes, and everyone was consuming a lot of liquids. There were no heat related incidents to be reported and the weekend went smoothly for the club.

We traveled the seven hours down on Friday camping in tents at the track. We came with a couple of freinds who race at SMRRC with us, as Grange’ has a well deserved reputation as a first rate track and they wanted to see what the fuss was about. They were not disappointed. The weekend also saw many new riders/racers from southern Cal coming to check out and race with the CMRRA. It seems that everyone went away pleased.

Vision’s KX65 has been having front brake issues as of late, so he only entered two races on it instead of the usual four to give me time to bleed his cooked fluid every time he came off the track. With only one class being contested on his NSR50, it was a light weekend for us.

The first sprints went good for him and he ended up on pole for his three mains which was good for points but not so good for track positioning because the first turn could be taken faster on the outside with the inside near pole often getting choked off. In the end it didn’t matter for him though.

Vision got held up on the start of the Formula Extreme race and had to fight from a first lap position of 5th, taking over the lead on the third lap and never looking back, finishing first with a comfortable margin.

He was 3rd into turn one in the 65GP race, but it didn’t take him long to get to the front and after the second lap he was clear and took it home ahead of everyone else.

The Stock50 race went even smoother for Vision as he was able to take the holeshot and was never challenged for the lead again.

Three races, three wins. Hot, but smooth. He’s ready for the next ones, too.

We’d like to thank all of our sponsors for helping us to get to this halfway point of our season.

HOPPER RACING, CMRRA, TOP OIL PRODUCTS, GALFER BRAKES, ALPINESTARS, AIRTECH, STKN-MOTO, NBC TRANSPORTATION,BIKE WORLD MOTORSPORTS, FREMONT HONDA KAWASAKI, aSUPERMOTO ENGINEERING and TANK TREDZ

Please visit the TOP oil booth at the Laguna Seca MotoGP where Visions NSR50 will be displayed, hopefully encouraging other kids to come out and do this exciting sport.

Henny Ray Abrams over at Cycle News is reporting the the Red Bull Rookies Cup is coming to the US in 2008. Let’s hope its true.

~http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=11097~

Update, it’s official on Thursday:

~http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=11101~

GRANGE’ MOTOR CIRCUIT – JULY 15, 2007

Expert Stock A/C: 1. Leonard Mellgren; 2. Yasuyo Nakamura (points only)

Novice Stock A/C: 1.Will Ade; 2. Joshua Tootell (points only)

Expert Stock W/C: 1. Vision Hayes; 2. Yasuyo Nakamura; 3. Richard Searne’; 4. Jason Takamoto; 5. Mario Pinto; 6. Jason Van Slyke; 7. Joshua Searne’; 8. Ko Kagiya; 9. Leonard Mellgren.

Novice Stock W/C: 1. Will Ade; 2. Lisa Hanshaw; 3. Alan Ryono; 4. Jason Patino; 5. Mike Scheumaker; 6. Pascal Roberts; 7. Young Lee; 8. Gabriel Hernandez; 9. Tony Vaugn III; 10. Neil Bautista.

Expert 65GP: 1. Vision Hayes; 2. Leonard Mellgren; 3. Andre’ Ochs; 4. Joshua Searne’; 5. Joe Roberts.

Novice 65GP: 1. Branden Rose; 2. Simon Lampard; 3. Justice London; 4. Pascal Roberts; 5. Deshan Thomas.

Expert 85cc Stock: 1. Justin Ducut; 2. Andre’ Ochs; 3. Dan Caldwell; 4. Leonard Mellgren.

Novice 85cc Stock: 1. Gary Higgins; 2. Simon Lampard; 3. Alan Mortenson; 4. Kiki Rodriguez.

Expert 85GP: 1. Justin Ducut; 2. Leonard Mellgren; 3. Rich Johnson; 4. Joe Roberts; 5. Mookie Wilkerson; 6. Andre’ Ochs; 7. Ken Bigler; 8. Dan Caldwell.

Novice 85GP: 1. Gary Higgins; 2. Alan Mortenson; 3. Jason Paredez; 4. Kiki Rodriguez.

Vet Stock “Light”: 1. Yasuyo Nakamura; 2. Jason Takamoto; 3. Ko Kagiya; 4. Leonard Mellgren; 5. Jason Van Slyke; 6. Will Ade; 7. Alan Ryono; 8. Jason Patino; 9. Joshua Tootell; 10. Young Lee; 11. Neil Bautista.

Vet Stock “Heavy”: 1. Richard Searne’; 2. Mario Pinto; 3. Tony Vaughn III; 4. Mike Scheumaker; 5. Gary Higgins.

Vet Modified “Light”: 1. Jason Van Slyke; 2. Simon Lampard; 3. Will Ade; 4. Leonard Mellgren; 5. Jim Spicher; 6. Justice London.

Vet Modified “Heavy”: 1. Richard Searne’; 2. Ken Yamada; 3. Deshan Thomas; 4. Mario Pinto.

Expert Formula Thunder: 1. Jim Spicher; 2. Leigh Crawford; 3. Craig Crawford; 4. Tommy Crawford.

Novice Formula Thunder: 1. Kevin Cashen; 2. Ken Yamada; 3. Gabriel Hernandez III.

Formula Extreme: 1. Vision Hayes; 2. Simon Lampard; 3. Leonard Mellgren; 4. Jason Van Slyke; 5. Joshua Searne’; 6. Justice London; 7. Andre’ Ochs; 8. Joe Roberts.

Open Thunder: 1. Justin Ducut; 2. Andre’ Ochs; 3. Gary Higgins; 4. Dan Caldwell; 5. Alan Mortenson; 6. Tommy Crawford; 7. Jim Spicher; 8. Ken Yamada.

Open Motard: 1. Cristain Olquin; 2. Justin Ducut; 3. Craig Crawford; 4. Glenn Hiura; 5. Andre’ Ochs; 6. Branden Rose; 7. Leigh Crawford.

Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Ticket orders are being accepted now for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008.

Orders can be placed either online at ~http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com~ or by mailing an order form to IMS. The order form is available at the IMS Web site or by calling the IMS Ticket Office at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally. Ticket Office hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

AMA Sports has posted the tentative schedule for the Grand Championships event to be held at Mid-Ohio later this year.

Like last year any minor participating needs to have their minor related paper work turned in by the end of August to compete. As stated on the AMA site, “All riders between ages 10 and 17 must complete a Mid-Ohio minor waiver. The waiver must be received by Mid-Ohio NO LATER THAN AUGUST 31 for you to compete. To obtain the Mid-Ohio waiver, contact AMA Sports at (614) 856-1900 ext. 1345. Additionally, all minor riders who do not have a current AMA Competition Membership card must have a parent or legal guardian present at registration to sign all AMA Sports Minor Waiver forms. A notarized letter of consent must be with the adult accompanying the minor rider if that rider attends with anyone other than their legal parent or guardian. The original must be brought to AMA registration and must mention the Grand Championships and its dates.” They are pretty clear on that point.

The MiniGP class this year is not a spec Metrakit class, instead they are running an 85cc GP class under the WERA 85GP machinery rules. WERA rules allow CRF150R powered bikes to run with the 85s. Anyone have a RS150R for rent?

Participants can expect to receive roughly 30 minutes of practice on Saturday, 15 minutes of warm-up and a six lap race on the short course on Sunday.

More information can be found on the AMA website here: ~http://www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/2007/rr/index.asp~