Ups & Downs
Ups & Downs
UP: To Dunlop, for giving back. Each rider who takes his special “Hoot Buck” to the Dunlop Tire Check at this June’s Honda Hoot in Knoxville, Tennessee, will receive a complete tire-safety inspection and a complimentary air-pressure gauge. Better yet, the tire-maker will donate $5 to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Ride for Kids program. To get your Hoot Buck, go to www.hondahoot.com.
DOWN: To the organizers of January’s AMA Supercross race at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, California, for not knowing where to dump the dirt. According to a report published in the San Francisco Chronicle, when the construction team went to move the 450 truckloads of dirt from the stadium to a private parking lot near a residential area, city officials claimed the correct permits weren’t in place.
What’s more, area residents were concerned about the dirt itself, and from where it had come. “Our concern was that this is unidentified dirt,” said Bayview Heights District Supervisor Sophie Maxwell. “People are going to be breathing this dirt.” A park spokesman expected the cleanup to take between two and four weeks.
UP: To Spain, for its rabid enthusiasm for motorcycle sport. According to the FIM, the season-ending Valencia MotoGP roadrace had the highest attendance of any bike race in 2002, with 215,019 spectators, followed in second place by the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez with 201,418. Other notable events for the year included the Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race in Japan with 144,000 spectators, the World Superbike race at Brands Hatch, England, with 126,000 fans, and the Motocross Grand Prix at Ernee, France, with 26,300 fans.
