Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126260
Scott Autrey of Bellflower . Cal. has been appointed as the American representative in qualifing rounds for the 1977 1000 Meter Sand Track World Championships. Autrey will take part in a qualifing round at Jubek, West Germany, on May IS . T he top nin e riders in the event will advan ce to a semifinal round on August 7, also in West German y. The top eight riders of tha t semifinal ",;11 advance to the world finials scheduled for Sept. II at Aalborg , Poland . Charlie the Camel is the new mascot fo r the American Motorcyclist Assn. (AM A) Grand National/Camel Pro Series half m ile scheduled fo r May 22 at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Charlie was born and weaned in California, and is eight weeks old. He 'll spend t he rest of his days as a pet at the home and W ichita Harley-Davidson shop of Kansas promoter Hugo Shea. and is s h ow n here with young Jack S hea. Charlie w ill tra ve l in a special trailer w ith rolle d-a nd-ple at e d interior, pu lled by a rare custom Cadillac pick up truck. THE LATEST BY PAPA WEALEY Guennady Moisseev (KT M) ran away with th e Ita lian 250cc World Champ ionship Motocross GP on May 8, adding an other 50 poin ts to his point sta ndings. Second in the sta nd ings, Bultaco's Harry Everts scored a second pla cing in the first mo to bu t did not place in the top lO in round two, Everts' 12-1 championship point tota l for the day kept him in second, but Vladimir Kavinov (KT M) gained slightl y with a 9-2 finish, good for 14 points, Unofficially, the 2SOcc World Championship MX point standings read as fo llow s: 1. Moisseev (96); 2. Everts (74); 3. Kavinov (64). Sketchy reports from the Scottish Six Day Trials which concluded on May 8 show Martin Lampkin (Bul) and Malco lm Rat hrnell (Mon) finishing I2. Californian Bernie Schreiber (Bul) conti nued to asto und the trials world . Although he finished "only" II th , Schreiber was present ed the Best Newcomer awa rd and th e Best Day (Tuesd ay) award . America n Marland Whaley (Ho n) finished 15th and defe nding World Champion Yrjo Vesteri nen (Bul) finished 14th . conference May 10 that Steve Baker will contest the Isle of Man TT. Our GP scribe . Chris Carter . informs us that the possibility of Baker riding the TT is very unlikely. Meriden Motorcycles Ltd. . and Norton-Villiers-Triumph Ltd . announced that Meriden has secured the world marketing and d istribution rights for a ll Triumph motorcycles and spare parts. For the U.S .. they have formed a subsidiary company called Triumph Motorcycle America. Inc. Ms. Brenda Price has been appointed president of the company; Tom Cates will head sales; Tom Tyron, engineering parts and service a nd Ron Wyman. operations and finance. For now. Triumph will operate from the old NVT offices in Anaheim. Calif.• but will move in July to Placentia. The agreement provides for the repurchase by Meriden of a ll Triumph Bonneville motorcycles manufactured by Meriden and owned by NVT. The present a re the best a rra n ge m ents a lternative to a ny attempt at re newal of the product ion contract for a not her perio d w it h the Meriden workers c o-o perative . Bryon Farnsworth, Kawasaki's Evaluation Manager, is out of the hospital. Wh ile leading his race in the Dinosaur Run . a four stroke race. he got off hard , suffering a bro ken arm . broke n wrist. bruised kidney. concussion and possible torn ligaments in his shoulder. We'r e relieved tha t Bryon is improving. \ West Germany. Herbert In Rittberger (Kre) took the SOcc event w ith Pierpeolo Bianchi (Mo r) winning the 125cc class. Christian Sarron (Yam) scored his first GP/ victory in the 250cc event while in competition Takaz umi 3SOcc Katayama (Yam) and Giacomo Agostini finished 1-2 as the pair debuted .a new three-cyl inder Yamaha in w inning form. Rolf Billand (Ya m ) scored first in t he sidecar event. 2 Ru mors abounded at the GP that it would be announced in a press Yamaha rented the Santa Clara Fairgrounds (better known as San Jose) m ile track la s t Thursday (May 5) for a test session. Present besides Kenny Roberts and his new mile bike were Mert Lawwill, Mike Kidd . and Skip ' Aksland. Kenny's 9,600 r.p.m.Yamaha was the fastest bike at the sorting-out session. but the big surprise was the appearance of Mark Brelsford. Wearing Aksland 's boots and leather pants, Kidd 's leather top and helmet, Brelsford took 14 laps. According to eyewitness Bill Spencer, Bre lsford loo ke d just like t he National Ch ampion he once was. DG Teamster Mike Be ll was a victim of a s leepy d river m ishap on the road back from the Hangtown National. His motorhome and trailer. driven by mechanic Ted Boyko, d rifted onto the s houlder of the road, swerved back and the support trailer fu ll of bikes flipped. No o ne was injure d but t he accident postponed Bell's quest for a national t itle until 1978, when we expect him to be a ride r to contend with. Three America n speedway ride rs will be spending most of the 1977 rac ing season compe ting in the British Speedwa y Leagu e. All three ar e Scott Aut rey of Californians Bellflower. Steve Gresham of Van Nuys and Mike Cu roso of Huntington Beach . Earli er th is season. Curoso capt ured the AMA National Speed way event at Houston Astrodome in a thr illing run-off aga inst Au trey. Gresham pla ced fourth in th at event . Reg Pri dmore , th e 1976 AM A Sup erb ike Production Champion, has an a greem ent with re ac hed R a cecr a frers Int ernational (a California accessor ies supplier) to ride a Pierre DesRoches-tuned Kawasaki KZI 000 a t th e Loudon , New Hampshire AMA National road rac eon June 19. Pridmore has high hopes for his new ride, and told Cycle N ews " I'll be nice to rid e something with a lot of power for a change, instead of ha ving to mak e it up in the corners." Pridmore is confide nt he can do well on the tight Loudon track , and 1 is optim istic about ridi ng the machine in th e AMA Superbike Production races at Laguna Seca , Sears Poin t, arid I . Riverside as well. FM F rider Ron Turner w ill be out of action for approximately six weeks w ith a broken ankle. Turner broke it in the 250 class at a CMC race two weeks ago a nd went on t o do well in the 125 class. Pridmore's popular road racing school returns 0 Riverside Raceway on May 14, for beginners and production riders. The number to call for info is (805)967-7660. After wadi ng through clippings from the Federa l Register concerning Land Use issues. Pap a has one thing to say: T he govern ment mu st hire specia lists to write th eir notices an d prop osals. No ordina ry person coul d use so many words to say so little, T he Conti ne nta l Mot e -sport Club (CMC) is pu tting on two $1.000 purse motocrosses in a row, on May 15 at Saddleback Park in Orange, Calif.. and on May 22 at Carlsbad Raceway. Carlsbad. Calif. The May 15 event will featu re a special mini race for Pro rid ers . See Ca le nd a r for m or e informa tion, An additional grandstand seating 2.000 has been installed for the upcoming popular Sari Jose AMA Camel Pro Series Mile to be held May 15. At the rat e t ickets are se lling, they 'lI need the extra space, Reserved seats are a lready becom ing sca rce , but another 5,000 genera l adm issio ns w ill be hel d fo r race day sa le . Th e For est Serv ice is accepting comments regarding the revised land management plan for the Hornet Planning Unit , Fisher River Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest , Lincoln County, Montana . Copies of the revised plan are available for inspection at the Missoula Federal Building and Forest Service headquarters in libby. A limited nu,?ber of cop ies can be obta ined by mall from U.S. D.A . Forest Service . Kootenai National Forest . P.O . Box AS, Libby . MT 59925 . Comments on the plan must be received by J une 20. and should be mailed to Forest Service Supe rvisor Floyd J . Mar ita at the above address. The Forest Service has prepared a final environmental statement on ORV use of the Wenatchee Nati.onal Forest in Washington. Copies are available for inspection at U.S.D .A. Forest Service headquarters in Portland, Oregon and Wenatchee. Wash., or by mail from Forest Supervisor John L Rogers . Wenatchee Nat ional Forest, P;O. Box 811, Wenatchee, WA 98801 . The western drought has increased forest fire risk in National Forests. The U.S. Forest Service wrote to remind us that everybody riding on Forest Service lands must have an approved spark arrestor fitted to their motorcycle. 1 A new Bureau of Land Mana gement ( B L M) rule estab lis he s cri mi nal penalties for violation of regu latio ns designed to end the stea ling of desert plants for commercial sa le by nurseries . Unfortunately , environmentalists are already tal king about tryi ng to pus h 'fo r a n interpreta tion of the regulations which wo u ld include inc ide n t al OR V damage as a violation , along with tile wholesale diggin g up of plants for commercia l sale whic h the regulation was designed to e n d . If th e environ rnentalits get their way, the nex t time you hit a creosote bush . not only will you crash. but you will be subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and a sente nce of up to 12 months, or both. I ., The National Park Service has published a guide on how to .p a rt tc lp e t e in the Service 's planning process, The guidelines tell interested people how to make their opinions known to Park Service planners. Copies are available from the Director. National Park Service. Interior Department, 18th and C Streets, NW, Room 1214. Washington. DC 20240. We hope their guidelines are easier to follow t han their address.