MA Pro Racing has announced that FMF will become the presenting sponsor of the 2005 AMA Motocross Championship. Additionally, FMF will be the official exhaust system sponsor of the series.
“FMF has a long and storied history in AMA Motocross and we’re pleased they’ll not only be continuing their sponsor involvement but stepping up to the Series Presenting level,” said John Farris, AMA Pro Racing Vice President of Commercial Development. “We’re confident that FMF’s involvement with the championship will lead to increased exposure for their products as well as enhanced overall branding opportunities for their company.”
     Farris pointed out that FMF has been at the forefront of AMA Pro Racing’s recent efforts to reduce sound levels in AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross. “Reducing noise levels in both of these series is important for our continued growth and public appeal,” said Farris. “FMF, along with several other companies, has been supportive of this initiative and has lent technical input that is helping us reach our objectives. There’s no question that sound reduction in our sport, as well as for off-road motorcycles in general, is in the best interest of all motorcyclists.”
     Donnie Emler, President of FMF, said he’s looking forward to his company’s relationship with AMA Pro Racing. “FMF’s sponsorship of the AMA Motocross Championship affords us the perfect opportunity to showcase our exhaust systems to the motocross community,” said Emler. Additionally, our involvement in what is undoubtedly the pinnacle of global motocross competition enables FMF to advance the development of the FMF brand. We’re looking forward to a long and productive relationship.”
     The 2005 AMA Motocross Championship Presented by FMF kicked off on May 22nd with the Hangtown Classic from Sacramento, Calif., and finishes on Sept. 11 at Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino, Calif.

ot on the heels of the announcement of FMF as the 2005 series sponsor, AMA Pro Racing announced that the 2005 AMA Motocross Championship Presented by FMF will be telecast on OLN. In making the announcement, John Farris, AMA Pro Racing Vice President of Commercial Development, said OLN will be a great home for AMA Motocross. “OLN is building a strong reputation as a network committed to high quality action sports,” said Farris. “From coverage over the past two years of the AMA Supermoto Championship to such varied programming as the Tour de France and the Dakar Rally, OLN has created a unique niche in sports TV. We’re glad to be associated with the network.”
     Former AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross champion David Bailey makes his return to the announcer’s booth. “We’re thrilled that David will hosting our coverage,” said Farris. “His experience as a racer coupled with his overall knowledge of the sport is unparalleled.”
     The 12-round series visits some of the most historic motocross venues in the U.S. and adds a new stop on the schedule with the July 24 event in Lakewood, Colo. The 250 class races will generally be telecast on the following Saturday with the 125 class races airing on the Thursday after that. Exceptions will be made in the month of July to accommodate OLN’s Tour de France coverage.

om Kingsland has been named the Brand Manager for Z1R. A Wisconsin native and true outdoorsman, he started with LeMans Corporation in 1993 as a graphic artist before spending a few years with a small outdoor sports business. He returned to LeMans Corporation in 1998 and has been involved in cataloging, coordinating exhibits and representing new and upcoming products at trade shows and dealer events. Susan Steichen has been named Arlen Ness Leathers Brand Manager. Susan has eight years of Harley-Davidson franchise experience working in MotorClothes management in various dealerships throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. She enjoys riding with her husband of 22 years, reading and spending time with her three children and one granddaughter. Patrick McGuire has been named Parts Unlimited’s AMS/BKT/Excella Product Specialist. Patrick previously worked with Kelly-Moss Racing as a Porsche technician and ran a European automobile repair facility. He has been riding motorcycles, ATV’s and snowmobiles most of his life and is the AMA District 16 Flat Track referee and congressman. Mike Faulkner has been appointed to the position of Regional Sales Manager for the North region. Mike lives in Wisconsin with his wife of 23 years and his two children. He spent over 17 years as a parts manager between two multi-line dealerships before beginning his eight-year run with Parts Unlimited as a sales representative. Tim Culver has been hired as a Parts Unlimited Sales Representative in the North Region. He previously worked in motorcycle dealerships and spent eleven years with S&S Cycle in their research and development department. Tim also knows the track, having competed in Drag, Bonneville, SnoCross, ATV Motocross and Cross Country races.


The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team got its share of the honors at the season-ending banquet in Las Vegas. Mitch Payton was named Team Manager of the Year. He is seen here in the lower left corner as his team celebrated Ivan Tedesco’s clinching of the 125cc West series at the Seattle Supercross. Additionally, Tedesco and teammate Grant Langston were each honored as the 125cc West and East champions respectively. Steve Bruhn photo


hor Motocross has named Steve Thinger as the new Northwest Regional Marketing Specialist. An avid motorcycle racer himself, Steve started his career at Cycle Gear and joins us after nearly 10 years at Carmichael Honda Motorsports. Steve Mondek joins Thor as the new North Central Regional Marketing Specialist. Steve knows the industry well, having owned his own action sports clothing line and performed in freestyle stunt shows. He joins us after graduating with a marketing and business management degree from Illinois State University. Added to the Thor team in the Southeast Regional is new Marketing Specialist Louis Papas. Louis is a long-time Jet Ski racer, having competed twice in the World Finals. Louis has also raced motocross in the Florida Gold Cup and Winter Amateur series. Mr. Papas has a strong industry background that includes working for Greater Yamaha and WMR Competition Performance. Napoleon Tetreault joins Thor as the new Northeast Regional Marketing Specialist. Napoleon joins us from Universal Motocross and Utopia Optics. Napoleon spends his free time racing in N.E.S.C. and served our country in operations Noble Eagle and Iraqi Freedom.


t’s almost here! The long-awaited Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix will take place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca the weekend of July 8-10. Based on reports from the raceway and surrounding areas, it appears likely that the event will draw one of the largest crowds to ever attend a live motorcycle roadrace in America.
     This race will not be the first-ever FIM Grand Prix in the U.S., but thanks to funding from Red Bull, Yamaha and Parts Unlimited, it will be the first time ever that the exciting, fire-breathing MotoGP machines will race on American soil.
     In our 2004/2005 Parts Magazine Racing Annual we presented the lineup of riders, teams and machines, as well as the tentative schedule of events (see page 76 of the printed magazine or online edition at www.partsmag.com). If you are attending the race, check the track’s website (www.laguna-seca.com) for all the latest news and schedule changes. If you will be watching on television, go online to www.speed-tv.com for race times.



fter an agonizingly long winter, MotoGP fans around the world were thrilled to see their favorite riders take to the track in Jerez, Spain in April for the opening round of the 2005 MotoGP season. Following the season-long battle for the championship in 2004 between Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau, expectations were high for the two to resume their rivalry right from the start. And they were right! After trading the lead a few times in the late laps, the Jerez race came down to the final corner with Rossi reminding Gibernau of the old adage: “Let a camel get his nose under the tent and he will soon be in the tent.” Rossi took advantage of a slight opening on the inside of the final turn and following some contact with Gibernau, sped to victory.
     Commenting after the race, Rossi said, “I got in front but I made a mistake on the last lap on the braking and Gibernau got past. We passed each other again in the fast rights but I got a better exit and there was enough space for me to pass him in the final corner, it was the only place where I could pass. We touched, but motorbike races are sometimes like this. I know Sete is not happy but there are going to be 16 more races this year and there will be many more hard battles. The level of this race was really high.”
     Rossi went on from Jerez to record additional victories in China and France (at press time) and built up a commanding lead in the 2005 MotoGP point standings.


uzuki has struggled to be factor since the MotoGP series switched from 500cc two-strokes to the 990cc four-strokes. Perhaps their brightest moment for the GSV-R MotoGP race bike came in China at Round 3 of the 2005 season when former World Champion Kenny Roberts, Jr. led the race in the rain until he was forced out with mechanical problems.
    The Bridgestone-shod rider had only Rossi to beat as the pair had left the rest of pack far behind. A disappointed Roberts commented later, “I don’t think there is much to say to make it any better. We easily let a first or second place slip today. I made a decent start and got to the front on the first lap. Valentino and I pulled away and I was quite comfortable till the bike broke.”


here are four American riders competing in the 2005 MotoGP series: Nicky Hayden, Kenny Roberts, Jr., John Hopkins and former World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards. After some forgettable rides on an underpowered Aprilia MotoGP machine last year, Edwards picked up the open seat for 2005 on the Gauloises Yamaha Team and became the teammate to Valentino Rossi.
    As the season has progressed the “Texas Tornado” has become an increasingly stronger challenger for a race win. His most impressive performance to date was at Round 4 in LeMans, France. Colin qualified 2nd fastest behind Rossi and after leading much of the race, ended up with a very credible 3rd place finish, the first podium finish of the year for an American rider. “I desperately wanted to win that race,” said Edwards, “but the other guys were just too fast today! Basically we took a gamble on the race tire because with the limited dry track time in practice we only had five laps on it and didn’t know if it would work towards the end of the race.The tire got really hot and I had of couple of ‘moments,’ so I just decided to make sure of third place.”
    As we went to press Edwards was in 6th place in the MotoGP point standings, best of the four American riders.


eam Suzuki MotoGP racer John Hopkins, 21, has had a frustrating season, experiencing numerous mechanical failures with the GSV-R and other misfortunes that has negated some impressive practice and qualifying results. He had his best finish of the season to date at the rainy Taobao Grand Prix of China, having fought back from an off-track excursion to a superb seventh place. Hopkins made a great start and led a MotoGP for the first time in his career. Having found his rhythm in a solid fourth position, a big slide in heavy rain caused him to go into the gravel on lap seven, but Suzuki’s young star fought back from this mistake to finish seventh at the flag.
    He commented: “To be honest I’m pleased with the way I rode, but unfortunately I ran off and lost some places when I was up in fourth. I was comfortable on my Suzuki GSV-R but I pushed too hard and made the error. This is my and Suzuki’s best result of the season - so far - and I led a MotoGP for the first time. Now that I’ve done that I really want to do it a lot more!”



alentino Rossi and Gauloises Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards recently gave their views on the return of motorcycle Grand Prix racing to American soil for the first time in 10 years when the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix takes Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca by storm July 8-10.
    Rossi has won four consecutive MotoGP World Championships, but has never been to the world-renowned 2.238-mile, 11-turn race course. Nor has he previously been to California. “I know Laguna Seca only from television,” Rossi said.
    He’s also tested his skills on the technically-challenging twists, turns and elevation changes of the picturesque track on PlayStation, “So I know the layout,” Rossi said. “But, I have never been there. I’m very happy to come to California where the sun and beautiful girls are.”
    At the tender age of 25, Rossi is in his 10th season of chasing championships around the world. He started in 1996 in the 125cc GP series and worked his way up to the big show with a MotoGP contract (it was 500cc World Championship at the time) in 2000. He was second in the championship that season, then jumped all over the best riders in the world for an incredible run of four straight titles coming into this year, logging 11 wins in ‘01 and again in ‘02 and nine each in the past two seasons.
    Edwards raced and won at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during his AMA days and in World Superbike Championship competition. Rossi will draw on his American teammate’s experience for help getting in the groove here. “Speaking with Colin, he says Laguna Seca is a very good place to be,” said Rossi. “For me, I’ve never been to Laguna Seca so it’s a little bit of disadvantage.” He’ll rely on Edwards for his initial setup of the Yamaha YZR-M1. “Colin knows the track very well and for sure will be a big help,” Rossi said. “Laguna is difficult because you go up and down a lot. It is very technical, particularly the Corkscrew.”
    Though teammates, Edwards and Rossi are competitors on track, yet they readily share information with one another. “It’s been great (having Rossi as a teammate),” Edwards said. “I couldn’t think of anybody I’d rather have as a teammate. We get along great; it’s fun.”
    Rossi seems to be excited wherever he’s going and Edwards is stoked to be coming “home” for a race. “I can’t wait to get to Laguna Seca,” Edwards said. “I think the Yamaha is going to work well there. It’s not a high-horsepower track. Laguna is the Hollywood of motorcycle racing. There are good people, good food and great atmosphere there. The place is unbelievable. MotoGP belongs there; it’s about time.”


Parts Magazine
Volume 12 #6