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/126748
final he ha's racect. Pc1ovey's next shot at a clean sweep will come January 28 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. We'll have complete details on the Fort Worth race next week. Roberts announces retirement; some '84 plans still unsettled COSTA MESA, CA, DEC. 22 Three-time 500cc World Road Racing Champion Kenny Roberts announced his retirement from full-time competition at a press conference hosted by Yamaha. Yamaha' Senior Vice President Merle Karst made the announcement that Roberts would be working as a senior consultant to Yamaha, both in terms of research and product development for Yamaha high-performance street bikes, and promotion and public relations for Yamaha and its racing efforts. "Winding down my career with Yamaha wall what I wanted to do," said Roberts during the question-and-answer period. "I don't really know what I'll be doing other than my committment involves more than just riding a motorcycle." Roberts also said that one of his prime concerns will be to promote motorcycle racing itself in the U.S. "I want to make motorcycle racing as popular as can be. Any appearances I make in the U.S. will be tied very closely to the promoter and how much they promote the event." Asked about riding dirt track events in the U.S., Roberts said he was undecided but indicated that he had permission from Yamaha to ride such events on presumably non-Yamaha equipment, since "Yamaha doesn't have a dirt tracker." 'Asked about the rumors linking himself and Wayne Rainey, Roberts offered little, but did at one point say, "We don't know what's going to happen. To do a full (dirt track) team would be out of the question. But in response to another question, about Rainey and a possible ride in the 250cc RRGPs,- Roberts said, "To say that Wayne is not going to Europe is premature. To say he is is also premature." Contacted after the first of the year, Rainey acknowledged that a road racing ride in Europe was being looked into, "probably privateer." Asked about the rumored dirt track team, Rainey said, "That was discussed, but right now it's up in the air. We're still looking for more sponsorship... At the Yamaha press conference, Roberts did state that he was committed to competing in the AMA National road race at Laguna Seca this summer. Yamaha also distributed copies of a telegram sent to Roberts by President Ronald Reagan congratulating King Kenny on his retirement. 2 Road race superstar Randy Mamola will nOlcompete in '84. That shocking news came from Mamola' manager, jim Doyle. "With Suzuki's withdrawal from GP road racing and our failure lO land a ride with either Honda or Yamaha for the '84 World Championship Road Race eries, we've made the decision to sit out this season. Randy's one of the very lOp road racers in the world and I don't want him riding uncompetitive equipment as a privateer. Hopefully, the economy will improve by next year and Randy will be back where he belongs - on a factory-backed bike." In the opinion of many veteran observers, Mamola rode better than he ever has during the '83 GP season, but he was obviously handicapped by his equipment. He still managed to finish third in the 500cc classs, while his Suzuki teammate, former World Champion Franco Uncini, could only manage eighth. Mamola won the Laguna Seca round of the Camel Pro Series in july with 1-2 finishes in the two-leg even t. If the race is an indoor short track run on smooth cement, don't bet against Terry Poovey. Poovey slid his Honda to his second consecutive Great American Shootout win January 7 with a win at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Yamaha rider Ronnie Jones was second while Hondamounted Bill Herndon finished third. With two races completed in the series, Poovey has proved unstoppable, winning every heat and The American Motorcyclist Association's District 37 organization is asking a federal court to order the Sierra Club to reimburse 7,000 in legal fees the district spent fighting a lastminute appeal against the 1983 Barstow to Las Vegas desert race. Attorneys representing the AMA contend that the environmental organization filed the "vexatious" appeal of a federal district court decision to permit the November 26 desert race in a manner that distorted the facts of the ca e and attacked the district coun's fact-finding process. The appeal in question was filed ovember 21, after Federal judge A. Wallace Tashima on November 18 ruled against the Sierra Club's request for an injunction to halt the race. The appeal was then denied by the U.S Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on November 23, j ustthree days prior to the scheduled start of the event. In this newest action, the AMA attorneys point out that the environmentalist appeal "merely repeated the same factual and legal arguments which this court had considered and rejected. The brief (accompanying the appeal) made no e((ort to deseri be BLM's or District 37's evidence, presenting only a cleverly constructed, distorted recitation of the Sierra Club's own evidence." AMA lawyers cite seven examples in which the Sierra Club failed to mention court evidence rebutting environmentalist claims and five examples of the appeal employing "factual misrepresentations." To revive the classic desert race, last run in 1974, District 37 paid the Bureau of Land Management $20,000 for a race permit and environmental monitoring and spent more than $30,000 in legal fees. Court rules allow defendants to recoup the costs of fighting frivolous legal actions such as the last-minute Sierra Club appeal. A january 23 hearing was scheduled on the District 37 request. InSport's Gary Mathers has announced that entrias for the January 28 Anaheim Supercross have been "extended indefinitely." Mathers also said that riders could use physicals taken for an AMA license, as long as they got their doctor to sign the InSport form as well. Curt Comer will be riding the new Can-Am 320 trials machine in 1984 National and internationar events. Comer' first appearance on the machine was in Florida on january 8. Wheelie King Doug Domokos, according to his manager, plans to wheelie around one of the world's tallest and "most dangerous" rollercoasters in 1984. Domokos is also slated to make a long-distance wheelie promotion at Daytona during Cycle Week, and near the end of summer, to wheelie across the country. Trials competitor Don Sweet is set for his chance to compete in the 1984 Scottish Six Days Trial, this after being named recipient of 1983 rame fund proceeds at the recent North American Trials Council meeting. Wayne Galvin, a national competitor from Massachusetts, won the raffle bike and also received a pair of Sidi boots from Cosmopolitan Motors for selling the most ra((Je tickets. AMA District 37's Road Riding division will present awards to their top five drivers and top two passengers of 1983. This win be done at their January 19 meeting, to be held at the Department of Water and Power Building, 111 N. Hope Street in Los Angeles. Former desert ace Bob Balentine will be joining the folks at Hercules Distributing, the new importers of what once were called Maicos. Balentine, whose two-year contract with AI Baker and Mugen ran out, will be serving at Hercules in the capacity of a technical advisor. Ted Lapidakis, the head of Hercules, said that a new name was being worked up for their new motorcycle, but no final decision had been made as we went to press. A note to our readers: It does not cost money to heve event results printed in our results section. Quite the opposite is true - we pay for such results. Possibly the confusion arises from the Trophy Pickup box on the results pege. It costs .1 per week to maintain a listing of where riders can pick up their trophies. So, if "Luscious Linda" of the northern chapter of the Over The Hill Gang will send us her address, we'll send her dollar back. Bill Spencer, the man whom Roxy Rockwood once referred to as "the Sidney Greenstreet of District 36," is again organizing a tour from the San Francisco Bay Area to the AMA/ Camel Pro Series ope'ner at the Houston Astrodome. The tour, Spencer's nimh annual, includes motel accommodations, tickets to the races and ground transportation, aU for around $500. It begins at San Francisco Airport at noon on February 3 and returns to the Bay Area around noon on Monday, February 6. Those interested can contan Spencer at 415/9691682. "We gave Willow Springs' owner Bill Huth an Award for Excellence in Race Track Safety last spring," said Bruce Hammer, president of the Jon Woo Memorial Safety Project. "But Huth hasn't rested on his track's laurels. He convinced Dunlop Tire and Rubber to finance further improvements to the track, and work will soon begin to move an earth embankment an additional 120 to 180 feet from the edge of turn two. The embankment is now approximately 60 feet from the track. "In exchange for financing the improvements, Dunlop win receive a large sign displaying their logo in the infield of the racetrack. Huth's agreement with Dunlop is a breakthrough for race track safety because the first thing a track owner or operator mentions, when asked to improve safety is cost," Hammer said. Factory Honda's newcomer Ron Lechien took a fifth~gear, end-overend tumbJe while qualifing at SaddJeback during the first round of the Golden State Series that put him out of action for the rest of the day. It was rumored he went to the hospital that same day, but a phone conversation with Ron's father Dick proved the rumors untrue. "Ron's feeling OK, but he is going to have his thumb checked out. It doesn't seemed to be broken, but it is sore," said Dick. "He al so received a slight scra tch on his eyeball that lie will also have looked at. All in all, he will be ready for the second round of the Golden State Series next week." N_known as the shy and retiring type, Kenny Roberts had quips aplentY during his pre-Christmas