Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

; ~~ . ~ POOP ~ fiY p~p~ Wf~LfY O'l ...... Rothmans Ho nda' s Freddie Spen cer clinched his first 250cc World ,C ham pio nship with a fourth place finish in the rain-soaked British GP at Silverstone on Sunday, August 4. Spencer also padded his lead in the 500cc Championship with a w in over reigning World Cham pion Eddie Lawson. Marlboro Honda 's Anton Mang led a West German sweep in the 250cc race with his win over Reinhold Roth and Manfred Heniveh. In the wet 500cc class, Spencer's w in extended his series lead to 20 points over Lawson, 126-106, with two races remaining. Sonauto Yamaha 's Christian Sarron solidified his hold on third place in the standings with a t hir d at Si lverstone. Fourth place went to Belgian Didier de Radigues (Hon) with Randy Mamola (Ho n ) taking fifth. ' Yama ha introduced its new 250cc V, twin a t th e British GP. T he Yama ha . which is half o f a V-four YZR500, was ridden by form er Wor ld Cham p ion Ca rlos Lavado and qua lified a full seco nd a head of Honda 's Fred di e Spencer. Lavado had p roblem s in th e ra ce a n d fin ish ed o u t of th e top five. Americans Shawn Moran and Lance King took the top two positions at the Intercontinental Speedway Final in Sweden on Saturday, August 4 . Moran took the top honors with a 14 point score wh ile King finished w ith a 12 point tally. Sam Ermolenko and John Cook also tra nsferred di rectly to t he I n d i v i d u a l World Championship to be held in Bradford, England on Aug ust 31 . The same four America ns w ill compete against the world's best at the World Pairs Championship on Saturday . August 10 at Long Beach's Veterans Stadium. T he to p Bri ti sh speedway r i der Kenn y Carter will n ot ca p ta i n the En glish sq ua d a t Satu rday's World Pairs Fina l in Long Beach beca use of a broken leg susta ined in the Interco ntine ntal Fina l in Swede n on Au g us t 4; Carter will a lso m iss th e Individual Champi onshi p in Bradford, " England. Speedway promoter Harry Oxley is putting together a week- long tour to the Individual World Speedway final in Bradford, England; for more information call 714/492- , 9933. Mu lt i-t i me Ne w E ng la n d S ports Co m m ittee MX Chai rma n j im Meenan was recent ly seen res tin g a p ro totvpe wa ter-coo led rear shoc k o n h is S u zu k i RM 250 m o IOCT OSSt'1'. T he shoc k. wh ich is built by Wav n e a nd Boh Rich ardson o f Pro ·T orq ue. In c, in So ut h ing to n . Con nectic u t. fea tures a wat e r -j a ck e ted hod y a n d draw s coo la n t of f theengi nes main coo ling syste m, Two hoses - o ne for wa ter inta ke a nd th e ot he r for rcru rn - tap into the coo ling system n ea r th e water p u mp , 6 W hile the Suzuki ca mp has been tight-lipped. sources indic at e they have a new power-valve system in st all ed on the pre-p"ro'ducti'on 1986 RM125s being campaigned by ' Geo rge Ho lland . Erik Kehoe and A. J . Wh it ing . Wh ile no external changes are v isible. the EVAC (Exhaust Vol u me A m p lification System) has apparently evolved into a mechanical rather than an electronic system, an d as t he name suggests. varies the vo lume of the exhaust pipe at the exhaust port. A fu ll-col or catalog is now ava ila ble , which descr ib es th e 318 veh icles to a uc tio ne d o n Se p te m be r 27- 28 b y Harrah 's Autom ob il e Co ll ection in Reno , Nevad a, In add ition to a co lo r "p h o togra p h a n d description o f eac h classic, vintage. antiq ue an d specia l interest automobile, m otorcycle. bicycle a nd kiddie ca r, th e ca ta log co n ta ins bidder in forma tion a nd a map sh o wing h ow to ge t to th e show. Ra re motorcycl es to be a uc tio ned in clude a 1924 four-cyl inder Ace, a 1938 two cy li n d er Cro cke r , a 1960 Ho n da Grand Prix race bike, 1918 a nd 1920 H ar ley Da vidsons a n d 1937 an d 1953 Indians. Th e price for th e catalog is $7.50 a nd ca n be ordered by wri ting to H arrah 's Vehicl e Au ct ion , Attn . ' Ca tal og Departmen t, P .O. Bo x 10, Reno , Nevada 89504. The AMA has been considering changes i n the format of t he Na tional MX Series for the 1986 season. One of the plans currently under consideration would have all Expert-ranked professional riders competing in a series of five 250cc races as well as competing in fi ve 500cc races. A typical race day wou ld consist of either a 250 or 500cc National and a 125cc Prof Am race (patterned after the 125cc Pro/Am class in supercrOss). No f inal decisions on the forma t are expected until later in the year. T h e FI M Ra d ii T ro ph y Supercross Series has been cu t to th ree ro u nds from th e origina l five by the ca ncelation of th e Sep tem ber 14 race in H oila nd and England 's Sep tem ber 22 ro und. The FIM is working on adding an addition al even t o n October 10or , I I. The con firmed dates are August 30 in Sweden fo llowed by an O ctober 5 ra ce in Sp ai n a nd the Nov ember 2 -ti na l ro u nd in Oak land, Ca liforn ia 's .Ala meda Co un ty Stadium. Road Racer J ay Parnell contin ues t o make prog ress toward a fu ll recovery f ro m ve rtebrae damage sustained ,i n a Ju ly 12 practice session crash prior to the Laguna Seca Camel Pro Series Road Race National. Accord ing to his father. Parnell "has f eeli n'g and move ment in all his extremities , although his left hand and fingers as ' well as his right ankle are slower to respond ." He i s expected to re ma in hospitalized until the end of August. Cards and letters may be sent to Parnell at the Santa Clara Va lley Medical Center, TCU 179. Bed B. 751 S. Bascom Ave.• San Jose. CA 95128. Begin n ing on Sep tem ber I, Bell Hel mets In c. will provide a n acc ide n ta l loss o f life in surance policy progr am for it s cons u mers wh o buy a Bell h emet. The $5000 po licy wi ll remain in effect for 12 months from th e da te o f p urchase and will cove r accide nta l dea th s res u lt ing fro m h ead inj ur ies while wea ring th e h elm et. T he progra m will app ly to Bell 's com plete line of motorsport and bicycle helm ets in both recrea tional and ra cing use. The city of Birmingham. England could be a future site for an international road race af ter a un ique bill passed through Parliament that will make races through the c ity's streets possible. The bill a llows the city corporation to close off city street for a 2.5-mile race track. Birmingham businessman Martin Hone foresees car races "in the city by 1987 with motorcycle races following . Accordi ng to so urces in Eu rope, Suzu ki Mo tor Co . in Japan ha s la nded a co ntrac t to exp ort 50,000 machines a mon th to Red C h ina. The models su pplied will be AP80 and 100 co mmuters. The riders selected to be on the U .S. Trophy and Junior World Trophy teams for the September 30 -October 5 1SDE in Alp, Spain, were named in a July 23 meeting at AMA headquarters in Westerville. Ohio . The six -rider Trophy team will be comprised of Brian Mull (Hus) in the 125cc class, Jeff Fredette (Kaw) and John Martin (C -A) in the 250cc class. Geoff Balla rd (C -A) and Dave Bertram (Hus) in the 500cc class. and Larry Roeseler (Hus) in the 500cc Four-Stroke class. A team manager has not yet been named. T he four-rider Junior World Troph y tea m, whic h replaces th e \(ase team o f th e pas t, is open on Iy to rid ers wh o h ave not tu rn ed 22 years o f age by Sep tem ber 30. Randy Hawkins (H us), Jeff Russell (H us) and Fred H oess (KTM) wi ll co m pete in th e 250cc class; Ro n Nay lor (Han) co m p letes the team a nd will ride in ihe 500cc ra n ks. A tea m manager as weII as cl ub team designat ions for th e rema ining ride rs in th e 36-rider sq uad a re still in th e wor ks. " I th ink the on-bike camera has the potential to be the greatest thing that hasever happened to motorcycle racing in terms of creating in terest." said Peter Starr of his pet project at DuQuoin . Starr. a filmmaker. spent nine months developing the miniature camera and t ransm itter (see photos else where' in this section) and w ill ref ine it f urther before the August 25 Ind ia napolis Mile Na t ional to be taped as part of the Stroh M ile Series of television shows. The H igh Pl ain Enduro Circuit has anno u nce d three new o fficer s; J ack Hen ry tak es over as circ ui t chai rma n, Jimm y St ew art is th e n ew c ircu it p oi nt s keeper a n d Scotty Wr.ight ta kes over th e circuit referee position. T en en d uros ha ve been sch ed u led for th e 1985-1986 season with the fi rst comi ng u p o n September 8 a t O dessa , Texas. For more information write to J a ck Henry a t 480 7 Pep p er id ge Place, O dessa. T exas 79761. The 1985 CMC/Skoal Trans-Cal Motocross series that will tour California in September and October is now the Lady Uberty TransCal Series. The series is hoping to generate patriotic awareness and contribution funds to the restoration program of the Statue of Uberty and Ellis Island. Th e fourth R o th m a n s Ph a r a o h s Rall y for mot orcycles and ca rs is to be h eld on th e Ni le an d wi thin Eg ypt on Oct ober 10-19. The ra lly will co ver 1550 mi les o f tim ed tr ails a nd 670 m iles of ope n ro ad th rough desert s, d un es a nd th e ro ughes t terrain from th e Med iterranea n to' th e Red Sea . The Isl e o f Man T .T . Organising Committee met recent ly to decide u po n changes in the 1986 Isle of Man ra ce:Changes f or the 'M ay 31 through June 6 meeting include the addition 'of an extra class in the Production race and the stretching of the rac e to two days. In addition there will be a Historic Parade on the Friday of race week with an approximate entry of 100. Ca lifornia 's ci tizens hav~ coopera ted su per bly wi th the federa l govern men t to ass ure wi lde rness study areas remain un impai red ." said BL M Ca liforn ia Sta te Directo r Ed H astey in a recent press release. " In th e la st five yea rs. o n ly 60 viol a tions occ u rred on 6.3 mill ion ac res o f potent ia l wi lderness a nd o n ly ha lf o f th ese vio la tions req u ired rehabilita tion for an est im at ed tota l o f 500 acres . That 's an in cred ib le record. and spea ks well of th e hundreds o f thousands o f Cal ifornia hunt ers. fishermen, m in ers. bac kpackers, off-roa d beh icle u sers, ranchers, a nd o ther visito rs who use o ver 17 mill io n acres o f BLM lan ds th rough out the state." The eighth round of the Cal ifornia " Vintage Racing ,Gro up ' s (CVRG) Championship Vintage Series will be run at the August 24-25 AMA Prof Am road race at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma. Ca lifornia. CVRG / AMA rules will apply and there will be no support class or F750 class. For more information on rules or entries. contact CVRG by calling 415/829-6091. T h e Specialty Vehicl e Institute of Ame rica is cont inuing in its efforts -its national sa fety training goals in ATV use, In Big Bea r, California . 50 instructor can dida tes will be inv ol ved in three d ifferen t levels o f training over an eight-day period from August 4- I I. For more in forma tion on th e AT V co urse call 1-800/ 447-4700. On August 18. Spillway Park, Inc. in Santa Maria, California and the Elks West Centra l D istrict will sponsorthe 11 th Annual 100 percent Benefit Motocross for Handic apped Children. The 1984 edi t ion raised over $ 6000 for the ch ildren due to generous contribut ions; for more information call 805 /925-0055 . ' T heSCO RE O ff-Roa d Worl d Cha mpi on sh ip wjl! ta ke p lace o n Aug us t 16-18 a t Riverside! nt ern a tion a I Racewa y; tickets ca n be pu rch ased p rio r to the even t a t the raceway a nd T icketMaster, as well as o n race day ' a t R iverside., Tickets are now on sale for the Checkers River Run' Raffle that will be held atthe Sundance Saloon on October 13. The tickets are seiling for $1 with a portion of the raffle going to Rescue 3, the med-Ical service for District 37 desert races. Yamaha Support rider Mi ke Beier will undergo art h roscopic surgery on h is left kn ee in ea rly Au gust. " I inj ured th e kn ee so me time ago a n d it's about tim e I had some th ing don e," sai d Ca liforn ia n Beier. " T h is shou ld p ut me in top sha pe for next seaso n." According to Honda motocross team manager Roger DeCoster. David Bailey will be back in action at the August 11 National MX at Millville, Minnesota'sSpring Creek MX Park. "David's wrist injury ' (which forced him to sit out the Broome-Tioga Na tional ) was not extremely serious ;" said DeCoster. "One of t he bones in the wrist was compressed. and there were no breaks." (Contin ued to page 54)

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