Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Asco t Racewa y has lin ed u p five AMA P ro ha lf mile even ts for the Garde na , CA, facili ty. T he firs t is Fri day night, Ma r. 26, a nd th ey co ntinue o n Frid ay nights through Ma y 7. T he re will be no races, h owever . o n the Friday n igh t before the Sac ramento Mil e (Ap r. 16) or th e Sa n J o se Mile (Ap r. 30). Add itiona lly, the half mile held the n ight before the Ap r. 3 Ascot TT Na tio nal will be the annual Ga rdena Go ld C up. and it wi ll feature a $3600 p urse. The Italian magazine MotoSpr'nt recently carried a spread on what appears to be the newest 500cc road racer on the block. Called the ADM, it's apparently built in Switzerland by Auf der Maur, and if our limited Italian is correct, its pilot will be 1980 World Sidecar champ Rolf Biland . The bike's engine is a disc-valve square-four, and its beefy frame is suspended in the , rear by a cantilvered single shock attached to a triangular swingarm . " Ba d Brad " La ckey is bo u nd to be a bus y boy . His rigorous sched u le starts on Tuesda y with a Sacra ment o, CA. press conf erence for the H angtown Motocross Classic. Then he fI ies down toSan Felipe to pre-run the SCORE / Pernod San Felipe 250. On Sa turday mo rn ing he'll co m pe te in tha t race, then fly back to Sacramento Sa turday ni ght. O n Sunday he 'll com pe te in the AMA 250cc MX Natio na l that makes up half th e H an g town program . Ma kes Papa tired just typ in' it... Speaking of Hangtown, it's bound to be a dynamite show as Bob Hannah, Mark Bamettand Johnny O 'Mara square off in the 125cc class, while current Supercross leader Donnie Hansen meets defending 500cc National Champ Broc Glover in the 250cc wars, The site of the battle is Prairie City OHV Park, located east of Sacramento off Hwy. 50. Concord Yama ha spon sored the " Pro Show" o n th e seco nd day of a weekendlong CMC motocross a t Sand H ill Ra n ch , bu t in th e O pen Pro class it was a romp between KTM team ma tes J oey Schlag a n d Do nnie Cantaloupi . They spli t moto wins .a nd ru n ner- up fin ish es. with Sch lag's win in th e second mot o gi vin g him the tit le . Suzuki -mo u nted Mike Holmes won the 250cc Pro class, while Steve Bla hos (Su z) wa s top 125cc Ex pert. News from the Battle of the Twins: Pushrod triples will not be allowed in BOTT, this by unamimous vote of the AMA /BOTT ru les advisory committee, A lso, the following people have been selected to serve as officers in the newly-chartered BOTT club: Ed Mullineaux (president and rider rep), MalcolmeTunstall (vice-president and rider rep) , Madison Cox (treasurer), Joan Tunstall (BOTT newsletter managing editor) and Karela Cox (photographer). So far there are BOTT races scheduled for the following AMA National road races : Elkhart Lake, Loudon, and Pocono, plus the Daytona Pro-Am in October. Mt. St . Helen s is back in ac tio n! Well, there have been some rumbli n gs fro m the mounta in , but the cl ub o f the same name is ge tt ing back into business. The Mt. St. Helen s M.e., long tim e promoters of' the Castle Rock 'T'I' National in Washi ngton , have beg un construction on a new racing facility to repla ce the one destroyed by volcanic eru p tio ns in 1980. T hey p lan' to-be-open for b us iness in Tul)', • This sign was seen recently outside of the Caesar's Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. Their big Formula One race will run Sept. 26, and according to the sign, motorcycles will run as well . and in conj un ct ion wi th th e Sidewinders in P ort land , have sch edu led a five-race P ro TT seri es th a t will offer $2 1,000 in purse mon ey. T ha t will include three AMA Regio na l even ts, o ne of wh ich will have an $8,000 purse. T he dat es for th e big . week a re July 28-Aug. .I . Following the Houston Supercross, amateur riders took to the 'Dome for the GNC Championships Mar. 21 . Aaron Pitts (Hon) t op ped the 12 5 cc Expert class over Carroll Richardson (Yam ) and Wendell Simmons (Kaw) . In 250cc Expert, Joe Burke (Suz) bea t Guy Cooper (Kaw) and Kyle Landrum (Kaw) to the checkers. M ike Knutt (Yam) headed up t he Open Experts follow ed by J im M itchell (Mai) and Kevin Foley (Yam). Complete coverage next week. Ton y DiS tefano was a rthe Houston Su perero ss a nd p ut on a su pe rcross rac in g seminar on Satu rd ay mornin g. wi th 48 a tten dees ga the rin g info from th e three-time form er 250cc Nati ona l MX titl eholder a nd Cy cle N ews/East Rider of th e Year. If you want to know more a bo u t lea rning motocross from T on y D, g ive him a ca ll a t 2 15/785-0873. The 1982 Aspencade Motorcyclist Convention at Rudioso, NM , won 't be happening . The reason is that the hotel and convention center ut il ized by organizer Til Thompson is being converted to condominum use. Bill Dutcher, formerly head of public relations for Harley-Davidson, i s cu rrently putting together Aspencade '83, set for May 1821, 1983, in the upstate New York community of Lake George. Dutche r 's plans includ e a trade show, bike judging, hospitality rooms, twilight cruises, industry seminars, a big parade, sweepstakes awards, and more. For informat ion or entry blanks, write to Bill Dutcher, Pilot Knob, NY 12844. Doug O 'Donnell qualified for stuntman school at Saddleback. He walked slowly away, but did walk. At presstime Monday , Darrell Sh u ltz. Da vid Bail ey a nd Danny Chandler wer e a ll bein g checked ove r to determine the ex tent o f th eir injuries. All are sufferi n g from kn ee or low er leg i n j u ries . Hond a m otocr o ss team ma nger Dave Arnold sai d, " T hey're a ll in pain rig ht now and it loo ks like they will just need some time, but I' m not sure how much time. I hope thatShultz a nd Ba ilev ca n ride thi s weekend a t H a n g tow n ." Papa will let you know as soon as he hea rs any thing. Danny Chandler w ill have a little more t im e before he has to ri d e since he is entered in the 500cc class. He will be on works Open classer and thus will be on truly competitive machinery for the first · tim e in his career . . . • .3

• Cover