You say you’ve always heard Jim France (of the famous Daytona France family) was a motorcycle racer, but you never saw any evidence? Well here you go. Jim France flat tracking his Bultaco circa early-to-mid 1970s.
Jim France flat track racing a Bultaco sometime in the early-to-mid 1970s. (Courtesy DIS Collection)
Kurt Hall (1), of the Human Race Team, leads Team Suzuki Endurance rider Paul Bray (2) and the rest of the field at the start of a WERA Eight Hour National Endurance Championship race at Grattan Raceway in 1989. The Humans controlled the Grattan Eight Hour from the start and with less than a half hour left, had a comfortable four lap lead. Twenty minutes from the checkered flag, the Human Race Yamaha blew a motor and Team Suzuki, with Bray and Mike Smith riding at Grattan for the first time, went on to their fifth victory of season.
Kurt Hall (1), of the Human Race Team, leads Team Suzuki Endurance rider Paul Bray (2) and the rest of the field at the start of a WERA Eight Hour National Endurance Championship race at Grattan Raceway in 1989. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Larry Pegram was the fastest Superbike rider after the first day of testing at Fontana. I’ve talked to a lot of people who feel the Ducati 1098R is simply a superior machine to any other motorcycle in Superbike, even to the point of possibly being unfairly superior.
It would be amazing if Pegram, who from what I’ve been told is getting less factory support for his effort this season, could come out and beat the bigger teams in the class. Pegram’s 37, but has the skill to win races.
If you like rooting for the underdog Pegram would be a good choice this season.
Larry Pegram, on the Foremost Insurance Ducati, crests the hill after the back straight at Road Atlanta this past summer during the American Superbike race. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Brian Stokes, the 2003 AMA Road Race Horizon Award winner. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Georgian Brian Stokes was named the 2003 AMA Road Race Horizon Award after earning wins in two premier classes of the AMA Road Race Grand Championships and taking podium finishes in three others. Stokes had been racing AMA professional races sporadically over the previous six years and was campaigning a full season in AMA Superbike and Superstock that year with Team Embry. Stokes entered the Grand Championships with the goal of trying to win the Horizon Award as well as to prepare for that weekend’s AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship event at Mid-Ohio.
“It’s a big honor to win the Horizon Award,” said Stokes, then a 29-year-old from Kingston, Ga. “My goal was to win the award, but this is my first time at Mid-Ohio and there were a lot of tough riders here this year. My friend Opie (Chris Caylor) won the award last year and it was a boost to his career and I wanted to try and do the same thing. It been a dream to race professionally in the AMA and hopefully this will help my career along.”
Stokes opened the two-day Grand Championship in 2003 with a runner-up finish to Texan Mike Sanchez in the Mediumweight Superbike class. He then took another podium in Wednesday’s Superstock race. It was during Thursday’s premier races when Stokes really picked up the pace. He won both the Supersport and Formula Xtreme finals with dramatic last lap, last turn passes.
Powered by WordPress