Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

and hold cards a nd letters for him. so d ro p him a line c/ o Co ronary Care Unit. Methodist Central Ho sp ital, 301 W. Co lorado Blvd.• Dallas. TX 75208. Tom Webb, a Dirt Bllee Magazine staffer and w inner of the majority of enduros held recently in .outhern California, called to straighten out a point. "I am not spon.ored by Husqvarna, or any other motorcycle manufecturer. I ride Dirt Bllee test bikes." Mitch Ku got has left Da ido /D.I.D chai n a fter a th ree-yea r h itch as sa les ma nager. He has taken a posit ion with Su re-Fire Distribu tin g as New England account executive. No name has yet been given by Daido as to h is replace ment. Restrictor rule suspended for Formula One road racing W ESTERVILLE, OH, MAR . 22 The Americ.n Motorcyclist A uoci.tion Profeuion.1 R.cing Department h.s .nnounced suspension of the rule requiring 760cc twostroke m.chines competing in Formul. One road r. cing events to be fitted with c.rburetor intake restrictors. Th is me.ns th.t 760Cc twostroke m.chinery will now competa he.ds-up .g.inst four-stroke m.chine. of up to 1,026cc in the AMA'. most prestigious profe.sion.1 road racing cl.... -, The deci.ion to remove the h.ndic.p on 750cc two-.trokes w •• m.de following the 1982 D.yton. Motorcycle CI.uic••t D.yton. Intern.tion.1 Speedw.y. In the fe.tured D.yton. 200 for Formul. One m.chine., • TZ750 V.m.h. two-stroke piloted by Graeme Cro.by of New Ze.l.nd w.s victoriou• . But th.t w in w.s secured only bec.use Te.m Hond. rider. Freddie Spencer and M ike Baldwin m.de unscheduled pit .top. on their four-stroke m.chines. Throughout practice, qu.lifying for the Dayton. 200 itsalf, restricted 750cc two-stroke machinery was con.i.tently .Iower than the big fourstroke machine•• and also .Iower than the unrestricted 600cc Gr.nd Prix m.chines. " Rem oving the restrictor requ irement from the 750cc two-.trokes should serve to equalize competition in the Formula One class, " noted AMA Professional Racing Director Mike DiPrete. " It was only a matter of t ime before technology enab led four-stroke machines of 1,025cc to be faster than restricted 750cc two-strokes. Rescinding t he restrictor rule will allow two -stroke riders to gain additional power and remain competitive. " DiPretesaid the AMA will monitor Formula One racing throughout the balance of the season, but indicated that no add itional restructuring is planned for the Formula One class at this t ime. The next AMA /Winston Pro Series road race National will take place at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. • NBC will air their coverage of the Jan. 30 Miller High Life Supercross Kickoff on Su nday. Mar. 28. The Anaheim. CA. event that drew 70,205 to the stadium wi ll be the lead segment of NBC'sSportsWorld program. Check local listings for lime and channel. Scott Autrey has signed to again lead the British League Poole Pirates speedway team. The Eng lish paper Speedway Mall said that Autrey had earlier indicated a desire to devote his full-time energies to his Texas ranch, but 10 daysof talks w ith the Poole promoter changed his m ind . Conversely, Keith Chrisco will be staying in the U .S ., citing family problems as the reason. according to the Mall, 2 HosPITal STOP: Neal Snarr. a northern Ca lifornia morocrosser, remains hospitalized following a Feb. 21 crash in a race at Sears Point. Snarr broke his back in fhree places and fractured three ribs. Still. he remains optimistic a nd recently broke thelap record in a wheelchair race at the hospital. We're surd he'd appreciate hearing from friends and acquaintances. and he can be reached at Santa Clara Vallev Medica l Center. 751 South Bascom Ave.. San Jose. CA 95128. He's in Room 178A. The Bureau of Land Management 's California De.ert Conservation Area Multiple Use Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting in Imperial, CA, on Mar. 25-26. The meeting will be held at the Imperial County Airport Terminal, Conference Room,located at 11 01 Airport Rd ., in Imperial. They get underway at 8 :30 a.m. on Thursday and at 8 a.m. on Friday, running till 5 p.m . both days. Among the it em s scheduled to be discussed is the Red Rock State Park expansion. A Saturday field t rip will vis it both the Vuha area and McCain Valley. Longtime AMA referee John "Light Bro wn " Lancione suffered a heart attack las t wee". Though he is over the critica l stage. he remains in guarded condition at Da llas Methodist Hospita l. At this time. he can not , have visitors. phone calls or flowers. However• . th e hospital will .accep t Coming up in the wilds of B.ja will be the SCORE/Pernod San Felipe 260. The first rider, Bill Tarling, will be flagged off from the front of the relOrt Hotel Fiestaat7 a.m., Mar. 27 in a race that, barring bad weather, lOme say will take a 60 mph average to win. Registration and tech will be on Friday, M.r. 26, and Pemod will host a victt'ry pre.entation on the beach on Sund.y, M.r. 28. S.n Felipe repl.ce. Mexicali .s the venue for the .nnu.1 SCORE M.rch event because, .ccording to SCORE offici.I., construction in Mexicali left them without. practic.1 route in .nd out of the c ity. CN will be .t S.n Felipe to provide instant coverage. Rocky Mountain Kawasaki. distributor of Kawasaki motorcycles a nd parts in the seven-sta te Rock y Mounta in area, says it will post $3000 in conti ngencies for the three NMAqua lifi ers that occur in its distribu tion area. The three events are in Trinidad. CO (May 8-9). Fort Collins, CO (june 56) a nd at Mitchell. N B (june 26-27). The co nti ngency is $ 1.000 worth o f Kawasaki parts and accessories at eac h event. and any Kawasaki rider winning one of the Stock classes is eligible for part of the a wa rd. For more info. contact NMA regional director Bob Lindsa ya 1303/599-9525 . Bel-Ray has a new technical sales representative 1 racing coordinator in Charlie Hennekam, a four-year employee of Bel-Ray International in Belgium. Hennekam, an avid road racer, will be invol ved in all aspects of recing that Bel-Ray is involved in , and will be av.ilable to answer technical inquiries about Bel-Ray products. The Monterey Ba y Rams M.C. will host a D-36 rough scrambles Mar. 28 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. CA. For the particulars, ca ll 108/ 391-8225. Earl Smith, head honcho of American Road Racers Association, was married Mar. 20 to Ruth Warkintin at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond. CA. Their first order of business was not to jet away to some romatic honeymoon spot but to put on the races the following day. Earl did get Ruth a Moto Guzzi 600 as a wedding present, though. She will serve as senior advi.or to the medical staff as wall a. help with registration at future ARRAevents. Congrats, Ruth and Earll Speaking of AR RA. loo ks like they are plan ni ng a fu n time in '82. wi th such items as silver do llars. gold kr u gerrands and a $1600 bottle of 1897 vintage wine included in the potential list of prizes Jor different .laces th is year. T hey are also wo rking with the AMA o n getting a P ro- Am race or two. ARRA, in conjunction with Tom Hayner'. Racer. Supply and road race clubs from Arizona and Nevada, will put on its first endurence road race Apr. 3 at Willow Springs raceway in Rosamond, CA. It will be a 150-Iap event (appro xi mat ely 375 miles over four hours) for 600, 750Ccand Open Super Street bikes with trophy and prize presentation on the next day following the regular sprint program. Teams mu.t con.ist of at least two riders, with pre-entry $50 per team. The field will be limited to 60 teams, and each rider must hold a valid license from ARRA or the other race dubs. C.II 806/986-6700 for more info. Tho se MXers looking for the Kawa saki Tea m Gren va ns can find them at the fo llo wi ng da tes a nd location d uri ng the month o f April. The western van will beat Saddleback Park on Ap r . 4 for the 125/250cc AMA MX Na tiona ls. fol lowed by visits to Sunri se Yaney Cycle Pa rk in Adelanto. CA (Apr. II) the World Mini GP a t Saddleback (Apr. 16-18)and Edwards Air Force Base (Apr. 25). The central van win be go ing to Rio Bra vo in H ouston, TX (Apr. 4). Skyline, TX (Apr. II ). the La ke Whitney. TX 125/250cc MX Na tional (Apr. 18) a nd Tyler. TX (Apr. 25). A UPI report publi.hed recently in the Los Angeles Times tells of a Minnesota judge granting a 14year-old boy permi.sion to drive hi. wheelchair anywhere he wants, without a driver's license. Police had threatened to ticket the youngster for "popping wheelies" on his 4 mph wheelchair, but the judge ruled that the wheelch.ir could not be consider. motorized vehicle in the traditional sense. ,The Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association is hold ing its fo u rth annua l benefit road ra lly on Apr. II . Participants meet at Mo ntesa West. 8836 SE Stark in Portl a nd. T he schedu le calls for sign-in fro m 7-8 a .m .• riders' meeting at 8:15 a nd the drop of the green flag at 8:30. Yes, the last two are correct; the ride is known in the area as the No Wimps, and organizers recommend lea thers and low bars. Organizer Tom Young will collect $5 from riders at sign-in. a nd everybody signs a release. Ice co ld beverages to the survivors. Last week we reported the rip-off of $8.5 million from the California OHV fund in a legi.lative attempt to balance the budget. We'reheppy to report that Senator Alan Robbins (D-Reseda) will be introducing leg islat ion this week to require rapid repayment of the entire $8.5 million. As soon as we get a bill number and further details, we'll pass them on . Speaking of Robbins, the Sa n Fernando Valley area Senator introduced SBI961 last week. This bi ll wo uld loan (with repayment required ) the Sta te Agricultural Fair Board $ 150.000 to stage an O H V fair at Hungry Valley . . Word coming out of A rgentina, site of the World Road Racing Championship opener that's scheduled for Mar. 28, has it that Honda's Marco Lucchinelli ha. been the fa.te.t so far in early practice. Vamaha's Kenny Roberts is reported as. being ..econd1 faste.t.• • • , • . - ~

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