Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

in the U.S. Roberts, in an interview beginning on page 36, says he is prepared to race selected Nationals in 1986 if that's what it tekes to revive interast in the clan. "I wish I could tell you something," said Wayne Rainey of his racing plans for 1985. Rainey rode for Kenny Roberts and Team Marlboro-Robens in the 250cc GPs in 1984. ''I'm still waiting for the programs that my manager, Gary Howard. and Kenny are working on to be finalized. Iwant to race Formula One in the U.S. although if everything being worked on totally fell through then I'd probably go back to Europe for another year of 250Cc GP racing." Rainey will spend a majority of the holiday season with good buddy Bubba Shoben at Shoben's place in Lubbock, Texas, . "helping Bubba build a practice track to ride his shon tracker on and doing a bit of pheasant hunting." Cycle News earned this Moto Award for Outstanding Achievement in Automotive Journalism, Best Single Issue, Newspaper Catagory, at the December 6 Automotive Joumalists' Convention at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. The winning issue was dated November 21, 1984 and featured Jimmy Adamo and his Cagiva Superbike on the front page. Don't call - we won't be here. The entire Editorial and Advertising staffs of Cycle News will be on vacation from December 18 to January 2. The circulation and bookkeeping staffs wi II be working during normal business hours. This giant. end-of-theyear issue will have to hold you over until we print another issue, with a cover date of January 16. . Kenny Roberts hasn't quite retired from racing yet. The three-time 500cc Road Racing World Champion has some strong views on keeping Formula One number one "It was going really well, and then I saw it was the last lap and I went into the tum and I went in just like I had been before and the front end turned in. And when it did, it lUmed in a liule and I brought it back with it but it caught and then it high-sided me.. It was just one of those things, it was a dumb mistake, but then you're not sure why it happened so you're not sure if you made a mistake at all. It's just one of those things, and it was good racing." _ Former World Champion Freddie Spencer, after crashing his 16-inchfront-wheel-equipped Honda NSR500 at Donington Park, England during the Spring 1984 Transatlantic Match Races, as seen on a video now available through Honda dealers, order #A0752. Spencer crashed after lo~ing the front end on the last lap of t~e i th race in the series while lettdin . Husky's enduro team for '86 will see Terry Cunningham, Mike M.Iton, Dave Bertram and fritz Kadlec on the roster. All four will contest the National Championship Enduro Series. For the first time. Husky will field a team specifically for hare scrambles with Kevin Hines, Mark Hyde and Ed Lojak focusing their attention on the National - Championship Hare Scrambles Series. In the off-road/desert arena, Husky's factory effort will see Dan Ashcraft, Dan Smith. Scot Harden and Larry Roeseler returning. Husky plans to add riders to the team at selected desert races so that three two-man teams can be entered. That's Lillie. not LillIe. Harry Lillie will'work on Terry Poovey's Gardner Racing shon track and TT bikes; the reference to Harry Lillie in last week's Cycle News was a typographical error. Honda's David Bailey sustained a cracked bone in his lower right foot in a Supercross in Antwerp. Belgium, on December 9. A cast was placed on the foot in a hospital in Belgium, but upon Bailey's return to the U.S. the cast was removed. "I was in a set of triple jumps, and the slower rider in front of me veered into the line I had picked," said Bailey from his home in Axton, Virginia. "My foot got caught between his bike and mine, and that was it. " Bailey said the injury was not serious. While a final schedule is still in the works, the AMA has announced the locations/dates of the first eight rounds in the Grand National Championship Motocross Series for 1985. The series begins with six Supercross events: San Diego (January 26); Anaheim (February 2); Seaule (February 8 &: 9); Indianapolis (February 16); and Atlanta (Eebruary 23). The first outdoor National will be in Gainesville, Florida on March 3, followed by the Daytona Sopercross on March 9. Reliable sources indicate .that Rothman's, a major international tobacco company, is close to signing a sponsorship deal with Honda which would cover both road racing and MX at World Championship level. Honda. as Suzuki and Vamaha have already done, decided the cost of fielding GP teams was seriously escalating and has been looking for an outside backer. The AMA has announced major revisions to the Supercross program format in 1985. The two most notable .This Yamaha 011 isan . .rIy prototype of the 1986 FZ760, builtin thefonn of a race bike suiteble for European F-1 competition and World Championship endurance racing. F. .tures include an aluminum frame and swingarm, magnesium engine castings, dry clutch, four-into-one exhaust with aluminum tailsec:tion, slotted stainleu steel TZ768 front brake discS with dual-piston calipers, TZ760 front forks, braided stainless steel brake lines, OW31 raar brake celiper on a small stainle.. steel disc, an aluminum tenk, remote-reservoir single reer shock and a fiberglau seat/tailpiece. Don't look for the machine at your local Yamaha dealer: for more on the development of the FZ760, see page 70•• Cosmopolitan Motors has started to import the 240cc Bete TR32 trials bike complete with single-reer-shock suspension, aluminum alloy swingarm, Marzocchi trials forks, Corte Cosao reer shock, Motoplat ign~on, Akront aluminum alloy rims, Michalin trials tires and plastic body p8~. The Beta l!8lls for $2295 from Cosmopolitan Motors, 301 Jacksonville Rd.. Hatboro, PA 19040, 216/672-9100. changes are a switch to a main event with two IO-Iap mOlOS instead of the single 20-lap main as used in the past, and the addition of a 125cc Support class which will be open to Pro-Am and junior professional riders only. The format in the 60-rider Pro class field (which will stilJ be run on 250cc machinery) will consis~ of four heats, two semis, a Last Chance Qualjfier and the 2O-rider IO-Iap final mOlDS. Quarter-finals have been eliminated, and the top three out of each heat will transfer directly to the main without riding the semis. Scoring in the two final motos will be the same as in National Championship Motocross, with overall rider finishing positions determined by adding points scored in both mOlOS. In the 125cc Support class, the field will consist of 40 riders, with two heats and a single 20rider, 10-lap main event bejng run. On the subject of National Motocross, the proposal to change the 125cc class to a Pro-Am/junior professional format will probably not be adopted in 1986, according to AMA's Wayne Moulton. "At this point, we are addressing the problems in the Nationals, but I can't see any major changes in the format until 1986 or even 1987," said Moulton. "That will give all the parties involved time to sort out their feelings and to consider the ram,fications of any format change. Ideally. what I feel we need is all of the pro riders riding in the same clan, which would produce the most exciting racing. But we can't make a change like that all at once." Look for the 126/ 250/600cc format to remain the same in '86 as it has been in the '83 and '84 seasons, with all three clas..s running on the same day. Major opposition from Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Vamaha isa consideration in the probable postponement of any major changes in the format. An ATV riding workshop will be held at Glamis Dunes in California on February 17. The workshop will offer learn-to-ride instructions by expert riders and is sponsored by rhe American All-Terrain Vehicle Association (AATVA). the California Off Road Vehicle Association (CORVA), the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and American Honda MOlor Co. More information is available from Sharon Bishop, 401 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805/965-9722. Yamaha's plans for the FZ760, as explained in the model's press kit: "Factory racing versions of the FZ750 will soon be appearing on racetracks around the world. And with its inherently superior design, it will soon be writing another chapter in Vamaha's long history of racetrack victories. " (Continued to page 11)

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