Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Barstow to Vegas race approved . RIV ERSI D E, CA, MAY 1 8 A pproval of the 8arstow to Las Vegas moto rcycle race was among t he final decisions made on the 1982 California Desert Plan Amen dments as announced by the Bureau of Land Management . A Barstow to Vegas route was among t he ' 8 2 amendments sou ght by motorcyclists, and the BLM approval marks one step closer t o pu tti ng on a race t hat w as last held in 1974. Accord ing t o AMA D istrict 3 7 spokesman Rick Hammill, t here are a couple of ob stacles left t o be overco m e, including ob t aining a Co nd itional Use Permit from San Berna rd ino Co unty for t he course t o cross a f ew miles of priva te lan d. The major roa dblock is expected to be some form of legal act ion by the Sierra Club or other environmentalist organization. Hammill also said the race has an entry limit of 1200, and that riders must be AMA members . Since the San Gabriel Valley Motorcycle Club, traditional promoters of the race, have w ithdrawn due to lack of manpower, District 37 is putting on the race itself. Information on the event may be obtained from Jim Main, 21056 Chatsworth St., Chatsworth, CA 91311,213/341 -4041 . Other Desert Plan Amendments approved w ill expand the Rasor Open Area east of Barstow from 10,000 to 30,000 acres, and the opening of Panamint Dunes to "limited" recreational vehicle use. Honda's Freddie Spencer won his fif th 500cc World Cham pions hi p Road Ra cin g Championsh ip round of th e seaso n wi th a victory in the May 22 Spanish GP a t Jarama. Spe ncer' s margin of victory was a slim half of a second over Yama ha 's Kenny Roberts. Taka zumi Katayam a (H on) finis hed third, followed by Suzuk i' s Randy Mamola. The other America n compe ting o n the circui t, Yamaha teams ter Edd ie L awson , fi n is he d sixth. In the point sta ndi ngs, Spencer lead s Roberts, 68-47. Mamola is now th ird in th e sta ndings wi th 29. In other Jarama action, Eugenio Lazzarrini (Gar) won the 50cc GP, Angel Nieto (Gar) was the 125cc winner, and Kawasaki-mounted Herve Guilleaux topped the 250s. In th e Rose City. Mich., AMA ISD E Q ual ifier , th e fin a l resul t was a very close finish a mong three H usq varn a teammates. Mik e Melton took the overall a nd 500cc Intent class wins wi th a tot al score of 939, Fra n k Sta cy fini sh ed seco nd overall and cap tu red the 250cc In tent class wit h a 940, and runner-up in the 500cc Intent clas s La rr y Roeseler wound up with 941. Husk y's Mark H yde wo n th e 125cc Inten t class , a nd Honda rider Vern Pacho lke took the Over 500cc FourStro ke Inten t victory. The NMRA all-motorcycle drag race scheduled for May 21-22 at Englishtown Raceway in New Jersey, was rained out. AMA Com m issioner of P ro fessional Racin g Wa yne Mo ulton said tha t he wo ul d meet with AMA Boa rd of Trustees P resident J oh n Hasty o n May 23 a nd 24 to d iscu ss the selec tion of a three-ma n board to hea r the appeals of Ca me l Pro star R icky G raham a nd H onda MXer Danny Chandler, bo th of whom a re a ppealing ru li ngs against them by the AMA. Mou lton said a t the San J ose m ile th a t he hoped one board could han dle both hearings. Husqvarna announced that 1982 National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham will campaign a prototype 500 Husqvarna Automatic in the remaining AMA National Enduro events. According to Husky, the 500 AE will feature a threespeed automatic transmission that is all new and may be sold t o the public this fall when the 1984 models become available. Willow Springs Racewa y in Rosamond, Ca lif. , wi ll be available for o pen practice on Sunda y, May 29. The cost will be $50 per rider to cover a mbulance and insurance. This practice day is being held to gauge th e possi ble demand to ma ke it a reg ul ar even t. Fo r more information , call 805/944-1635. Six Kawasaki KE1 OOs will be given away as part of a promotion for the home video release of nme Rider, a movie about the adventures of a motorcycle rider caught The good folks at T & 0 Yamaha in Lomita called us up the other day andasked if we 'd like to come over and sample this Canadian RZ350. Faster than you can say 'Where's my helmet?: we were on the way. After putting a few miles on the red, white and blue, power va lve-equipped beauty, all we can say is they sure have it made up there in the Great White North . in a t ime warp, which Cycle News fo und to be a great deal offun . The Kawasak is will be given away in May promotions in Los Angeles, Dallas, M iami, Chicago, Portland an d Denver. World Speed wa y Cha mp Bru ce Penhall mad e a benef it a ppea rance for a ch a r ity a t the Inl and Motorcycl e Spe edway in' Sa n Bern ardino , Cali f., on May 18. During an exh ibi tio n rid e, Penhall rode a n ex hibitio n race with - Jun ior Speedway rid er Greg Han cock . Penhall won a two-lap race wi th th e you ngs ter despite a 60yard handicap , but wh en Penhall took to th e J unior machine a nd offered Han cock hi s personal Weslake, • Pen hall lost. Duri ng an interv iew at the tra ck, Penhall said he would decide within two weeks whether he would ride the J une 11 U.S. Speedway Q ualifier. Cagiva North America says that it will be holding a special product demonstration for California motorcycle dealers during the first few days in June. Dealers interested in participating are asked to call 213/412-7838. Oran ge County T V cha nnel KDOC, 560n the d ial , said thatasa resu lt of a baseball ga me pre-empting the Sa tur da y showing of Motorcycle Wor ld Wit h L arry H uffman o n May 2 1, the sh ow 's Saturday run wi ll be extended by a week. Bill Amick, formerly the managing editor of American Motorcyclist Magazine, has accepted a public relations position with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and will be working with t he Camel Pro Series. Greg Harrison takes over the editor's position at AM. A couple of weeks ago we told you that the Mammoth Mountain Mo tocross had been postponed because of the great amount of snow still on the mountain. Well, the O ld Timers motocross scheduled for June 25-26 at that site has also been postponed, to Sept. 17-18. To make up for the postponement, the O ld Timers and th e Over The Hill Gang will be holding a specia l event on th e back track at Sadd leback Park on Saturday June 25. The May 28 Cherry Creek hare and hound in Utah w ill get a little advance entertainment in the form of movies, courtesy of film historian Clyde Earl and Trade-Tech instru ct or Pat Owens. Jimmy " Ca p tian Co balt " Ellis , una ble to o bta in a ride in th e U.S. thi s year, has go ne down under. He is app lying for a wo rk visa in Austra lia and will ride th ere thi s seaso n . Afterearly season ri des on H ondas, h switched to Yarnaha s, but before he sig ned with th em he was p icked u p by Bert Flood's giant irnpror ed bike shop to ca mpa ig n KTMs. Flood has' been a stro ng force in Australi an motocross for years. In fact, hi s sons were th e hottest motocross ers in Austral ia for a time. Ellis has an option to ride in Europe next year for the Austria factory if hi s results in Aussie , are good enough. Marty Moates is another rider making his home in Australia. He has obtained a work visa already, a difficult task in Australia, and is sponsored on Suzukis, He is employed as a columnist and writer for Reys Motorcycle News. O nl ookers though t a J unior rider o n a n IT490 Yamaha got off th e lin e in the O pe n Pro class a t th e Continenta l Mo tosports Club Wed nesday n igh t motocro ss two weeks ago. The IT , with h eadl ig h t aglow, picked up fourt h in the class. The rider in the o ld lea ther lea thers has a few laps at Asco t under his belt. It was former Maico and Yamaha Factory star Tim H a rt . H e said he bought the Yamaha to p lay aro und on. H e ha s not owned a bike in eigh t years and has only ridden six times in that tim e. Hart now races sp ri nt ca rs at Ascot on a regu lar bas is. T Our spy network is out and beat- l ' ing the bushes aga in. The latest y tidbit of hot news 7 It seems retired world champion motocrosser Brad " Lackey was seen testing bikes at two southern Cal ifornia tracks. At Saddleback Park Lackey was aboard ATK-equipped Can-Ams and Yamahas, and lat er in the weekend he was seen at Carlsbad on a Yamaha. Our most reliable source says he wouldn't be at all surprised to see Bad Brad atop a private Yamaha at the June 26 Carlsbad USGP.

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