Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

ac tion a t Silverstone because more work is being done after its de but at LeMans. "The re are some modifica tio n bei ng do ne to th e fu el system a n d fro nt suspension . It ma y be ready for S w eden but m or e likel y it wi ll be ra ced a t Mi sano ," sa id Serge Ro sser, team m ana ger for th e Elf sq uad. Christ ian LeLiard, wh o would have ra ced th e Elf, swapped back to his old mount, th e RS500 Honda a lon gside D idier de Ra dig ues and th ere wa s no bi ke for third man Pi erre Eti enne Samin. Kenny to ride Cagiva Kenny Roberts agreed to a one-day test session on th e 500cc Cagiva at Misano o n Monday, August 19. H e will be p aid $25,000 for th e session and th ere seem s very little ch ance of him racing th e machine th at h as not had a ny success in th e hands of Marco Lucchinelli since i IS debut in the Yugoslav GP. Double your money There is a serious proposal now being organized by th e top G rand Prix works riders to demand a doubled prize fund a t n ext year's Grands Prix. According to riders respresentarive Mike Trimby, th e money will n ot go to th e top works m en , a nd ins tead o f doubl in g th e exis ting prize sca le, the ex tra money w iII be directed m ore towards th e privateers . Th e fea r is tha t the 500cc class is d ying because of th e cos t o f th e co m petitive production ra cers is more than m ost up-and-coming riders ca n co pe with. T he works rid ers d o not n eed more prize m oney because th ey ca n dem and more money from sponso rs , et c., an d th ey h ave been a sked to ge t agreeme nt fro m th eir respective facto ries to ho ld o ut for more money so tha t th ey w ill n ot be forced by co ntracts to race for th e ex isti ng p rize sca les. If those agreeme nts from th e facto ries are forthcom in g , a nd representa tives we re a t th e mee ting in th e An derstorp paddock , th en the riders will a ll sign a legal agreement to hold o u t for th e double-money demand tha t co vers bo th the 250cc, th e 500cc a nd any o ther cl asses ru n at the me eting. T h e number of classes is a lso a major poin t beca use a seco nd dem and from the sa m e m eeting is to change th e minimum number of classes run at a GP fro m fou r to two . T ha t would ma ke it very temptin g for th e orga nizers , wh o are short o f money, to cu t out a ll th e other classes so th at th e double bill for th e 250cc and 500cc can be met. If th e legall y-binding co ntract is completed, th en the Sou th Afri ca n G rand Prix a t Kyal am i wi ll be th e first to be a ffec ted a nd as m o st o f th e teams a re n ot keen to ma ke the ex pe nsive trip, th e majori ty wi ll be keen to hold o u t aga inst go ing a nd prove th eir de terminatio n to th e rest o f th e GP organizers . Lawson to race 250cc V-twin Eddie La w so n ha s been o ffered $30,000 10 ra ce th e 250cc V-tw in Ya maha at a Spa n ish International o n November 3. H e now ha s to clear it with th e fa ctory but th ere is little ch a nce of hi m racing it in G Ps ne xt season. " I think I wo u ld find it borin g com pared with ra cing th e 500cc," said Lawson. Freddie Spe ncer was offered a similar su m to ride hi s cha m pi ons h ipwinning H onda 250cc but th e ma ch in e will be back in j apan by tha t time, so th at seems very u nl ikely. Daytona no GP bikes Desp ite th e fact th at a recent AMA adviso ry co m m ittee meeting ta bled proposa ls to makeSuperbi kes Am erica 's premier road ra cing cla ss for which th e Number One plate would be given, Da ytona in sists o n pl owing th eir virtual lo ne furrow in promotin g Su perbik es a bove Form ula One. They have decid ed to run no F-1 race at Dayto n a nex t Ma rch so tha t th ere will be n o event for GP 500s. Suzuki two new engines Suzuki ha s co m m itted to buildi ng two new eng ines for the 1986 seas on. One, a revis ed and more-po werful version of th e long-running squarefour, ha s a lready been ext en sively test ed in j apan and th e fact ory wa s on th e point of entering it in a race there when th ey decided aga in st it. This engine will obviously be rea dy for use by th e British Skoal Bandi t Suzuki team and th e Ital ian HB G alina team very sh ort ly. A seco nd, com p letely-n ew engine ha s been designed and r.rotot ype work has begun but th at WIll not be ready to be ra ced in th e first GP of next season. The la yout of this engi ne is secret but it is not a n ot he r di sc-valve sq ua re-fo ur. This leave s both Su zuki ' teams with the prospect of running two bikes n ext year a n d the British squad will soo n 'sta rt work on th e ca rbo n -fiber frame th at th ey will use for th e new sq ua re-fou r, but it has yet to be d ecid ed wh ether th ey or th e facto ry will bu ild th e frame for th e second engine . "The j apanese kn o w every deta il o f th e m ethod a nd desi gn to build a ca bo n-fibe r h on eycomb frame like we h ave been usin g th is season ." said team coordina to r Martin Ogbourne. " No t o nly do we sen d th em a ll th e detail s o f what we are doing bu t o ne o f th eir men spent 10 da ys with us thi s yea r. " T he team is also still looking for a second rid er to joi n McE ln ea in th e li n e up for n ex t seas o n bu t as yet th e budget has not been agreed with Skoal. U ntil th at is done no firm decision ca n be m ade as to wh ether to sign o n a m an lik e Paul Lewis a fter h is rides this year, or wit h m ore money to shoo t for a big name like Ran dy Marnola. T h e California's name has been lin ked w ith th e Skoal Ba nd it team and he did ride for Suzuki two years ago but he said a lin k was unlikely. " I don' t know bu t I do n 't th ink they will h a ve a co m pe titive eng ine so at the moment I do not know wha t I will be doi ng next seaso n." Lawson "No more A go" Eddie Lawson has sta ted u nequivoca lly that he will not race in th e Marl bo ro Agost in i Team nex t season even if it means retiring from G P rae ing. " I don' t enjoy ridi ng with hi m ru nn in g th e team a nd I will tell Yamaha a t th e end o f th e season th at un less I ca n ride their machines w ith so meone else in cha rge I w ill have to ride so me th ing el se. I don 't kn ow w hat else I wo uld rid e a nd if none of the o th er factories are int erested I wou ld just retu rn to th e States and ra ce th ere," Wa yne Ga rdner a nd Ro b McEln ea have a lread y been ap p roached by Agos tini as repl a cem en ts for Lawson a nd perh aps Roch e. T he Fren ch ma n is a lso un happy with Ago's leadersh ip but wou ld be prepared to stic k it ou t for a nother year. Elf change After missi ng Sil verstone th e Elf 2 was ba ck in act io n a t Anderstorp, but wit h co m p letely revised front sus pens io n. A n ew , fabri cat ed , top Iron t swi nga rm re p la ced th e o ld cast m agnesium unit a n d thi s had the suspen sio n un it runn in g from its no se back to a ro cker a rm mounted in th e special cas t side p la te, The machi ne suffered problem s th roughou t p ractice, pa rt ic u lar ly wit h th e ca rbo n -fi ber front di scs a nd Chri stian Lel iard ha d to swa p between th a t a nd h is co nvention al RS500 H o nda. • ATVJrew$® Co vers it all! All that's happening in the world of allterrain vehicles. Every month. All for only $8 a year. ATV News, America's All-Terrain Vehicle Newspaper Subscribe today! AMERICA'S MONTHLY ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE NEWSPAPER •••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••• o YES! Send me one full year (12 issues) of ATV NEWS for only $8.00! o I want to SAVE MOR~! Send me two years (24 issues) of ATV NEWS for only $13.00 - $11.00 off the newstand price! 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