Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1985 10 09

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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Fantic's Thierry Michaud, newly crowned as Observed Trials World Champion, won nine ofthe 12 series rounds to brea k the record of e ight wins set by three-time World Champion Eddy Lejeune in 1983. Michaud is also a t w o-tim e winner of the Scottish S ix Days Trial. Ken n v Ro berts has confi rmed th a t he' ll iu n a tw o-man SOOcc Road Raeing Wo rl d C hampions h ip tea m in 1986, with spo nsorshi p from a cigareue co m pa ny . " It ' ll be th e sa me ty pe of dea l as th e Mar lbo ro tea m ," sa id Roberts recentl y, adding th a t Ra nd y Marno la w ill be part of rh e effo rt. " Ra ndy's o n board a lready. I was tryin g 10 sign Wa yne (Ra iney ), but he didn ' t feel h e wa s qu it e read y to go 10 Europe and race a 500. Unfort u na tely, h e did n 't get a lo t o f ti me o n o ne th is year." Asked a bo u t r umors tha t he had talked to Mi ke Bal d win about the team . Ro berts said " Yes, I did . Aft er Wayn e. Da mn Wayn e left me. I wa s hopi n g Wa yn e wou ld be th e seco n d r ide r. T he spo n sor wa nts Am er ica n riders." Californian Jim Holley. who fin ished second to Ron Lechien in the August 30 opening round of the three -race Rodil Trophy Supercross Series. will compete in the October 5 round in Spain as well as the November 9 round in Los Angeles. November 10 wi ll ma rk th e ce rnenni a l of th e motorcycle a nd the AM A will cele bra te th e event with a dinner in An aheim . Ca liforn ia . Th e din ner will raise fund s for th e Am erica n Mo to rcycle H eritage Foundat ion ; in d ivid ua l setti ngs a re avai la ble for 100. Malcolm Smith Products will sponsor the third annual SMX Fall Classic; the motocross series starts at De Anza Raceway on November 6, For more information call SMX at 714 /831-3482 . A new road ra cing facility is c urren rly under co ns tr uc tio n nea r T a llad ega , Alabama . Locat ed five mi les no rt h o f T a lla dega o n Ro u te 2 1 (a nd a to ta lly sepa ra te faci li ty from T a llad ega 's Ala ha ma Intern a tio nal Mo to r Speedway ), th e ci rc ui t is 1.5 m iles in len g th a nd will host a WE RA road race o n No vem ber 2. A partial AMA supercross and motocross schedule has been made available with the following venues and dates: January 18. Anahiem Supercross; February 2. Houston Supercross; February 15-16, Seatt le Supercross; February 22, Atlanta Supercross; March 1 , Gainsville National Motocross; March 8 , Daytona Supercross; March 15, Phoenix or Las Vegas; April 6. Hangtown Motocross; April 1213, Pontiac Supercross; April 19, Orlando Supercross; April 26. Dallas Supercross, .2 . Cagiva ha s a n nou nced tha t th ree o f the ir mot o rcvcles will be entered in th e J anuary ' running o f t he Pa risDa ka r off-road ra ce. Fren ch m an H u bert Auriol will lead th e sq ua d which will us e 750cc versions o f th e Cagiva Elefa n t: Swa tch wa tch es and L u ck y Exp lorer, a p ro m o tio n o f Luck y S trike ciga rettes, will sp o n so r th e three-man tea m , ac cordi ng to .. .. • .. r "g iva North America. • . 1'''' I. I I J I Eng la nd 's Steve Sau nders (H o n ) won th e eprem be r 15 fina l ro un d o f th e Worl d C hampionship Observ ed Tri a ls Ser ies in ' Vest C erma n v, Sa u nde rs' score o f 75 was seven nlarks bett er tha n ru nner-u p a nd new titl e holder T h ierry :\1 ich aud (Fa n). Dick Mann is orgamzmg vintage dirt bike races scheduled for Brentwood, California's Sand Hill Ranch on October 13. Motocross and trials events will be held for machines up to including 1974 models; machines are limited to the original amount of suspension travel. Dirt track events will be open to early AMA Class C machines, 500cc with overhead valves and 750ci:: with side-valve engines, or any pre-war machine. Veteran racers expected to attend include Joe Leonard, Tom Sitton. Bruce Brown, Hap Jones and late-1960s Canadian motocross champion loly Berenyi on his Cl. More information is available from Mann at 415/234-6556 or from Sand Hill Ranch at 415 /634-3328 . T he o wner o f th e Buffa lo Park Speedwa y in Da lla s, T exas has ca n celled th e rem ain in g ra ces in th e Supercross Ser ies beca use o f accide nts a nd Iear o f la wsuits, ac cordi ng 10 Bo b Bagwell th e race promoter a t Buffal o Park . Bagwell sa id h e in lends 10 find a replacem ent track fo r th e remai nd er o f the series . The 32nd Annual Macao Road Race Grand Prix will be held in the Portuguese Territory of Asia on November 23-24. The program features car races in addition to the motorcycles; For more information call the Macao Tourist Information Bureau at 213 /8513402. Ri ck johnso n , th e 1981 250cc Nationa l Mot ocross Cha m p io n , wi ll sw itch fro m Yamaha to H onda for 1986. J ohnson has in ked a two-year dea l wit h H onda th a i in clu des a th ir d year per for ma nce cla us e. " I felt I needed a cha nge, " J oh nson said . "So me t h ing 10 get me motiva ted . I'd lik e 10 tha n k everyo ne a t Ya maha , especia ll y th e g uys in the back th a t have helped me a ll th ese years ; I'm going 10 mi ss a ll of the m ." A prototype water-cooled Husqvarna four-stroke enduro bike has been seen in European enduro competition, with Swede Thomas Gustavsson at the he lm . Outwardly, the bike is very similar to the air-cooled, single-shock Husky four-strokes which will be sold in the U.S . during 1986. but has a water-jacketed cylinder and small radiators . " At p resent we are looki ng a t o ur o p tio ns ," said Yamaha 's Ken n y Clark abou t Yamah a 's U. S. road raci ng pl an s for next year. " We seri o us ly co ns idered fielding a Superbike team , but with th e AMA's de cisio n to a wa rd Na tiona l Cham p io nsh ip po in ts in both Superbike and Form ul a O ne towa rd th e o ne title we wou ld h ave had 10 field Fo rm ul a ant ma ch ine ry a lso in o rder to ha ve a real istic cha nce o f winning th e title. Ya mah a isn ' t in favor of that ." , .. , I ~ .. I II t ' .. I I • • I I _.) I .. , . I I ~ I I Clark confirmed that 1984 250cc National MX Champion Ricky Johnson would leave Yamaha to join Honda when his contract ends December 31. "We hate to lose Ricky," said Clark. Both 500cc National Champion Broc Glover and 250cc division competitor Ke ith Bowen will return on the Yamaha effort next season. " A n additional two riders will be added to the team . We're looking at a couple of young tigers, but I can't release any names yet," concluded Clark. The fin a l tall y o f Ca me l P ro Series Na tio nal winners show 15 d ifferent ride rs gra bbed th e wi nn er' s boul e o f cha m pagne in thi s yea r 's 29 AMA Grand Nat ional Cha m p io ns h ip Series ro u n ds . New ly-crown ed se ries cha m p Bu bba Sho bert co llected five National wi ns wit h Ri cky Graham , who Sho bert grabbed the ti tle from , wi nni ng fou r. R o a d ra cer M ike Bal dw in and SCOll Pa rker ea ch rook th ree wins. J a y Spri ngsteen 's two Na tio na l wi n s upped h is to tal 10 a reco rd lOin hi s career. Steve Moreh ead a n d road racer Wa yn e Ra in ey a lso sco red two wi n s each . Drag racing fans should note the October 12-13 IDBA round at Mississippi's Gulfport International Dragway will not be the final series round . The IDBA World Final will be held November 11-12 at Birmingham, Alabama's Lassiter Mountain Dragway. Ne w Iy-c ro w ned u p ercr o ss/ 250 cc Nati o na l MX Cham pion J eff Ward will stay with Ka wa sa ki at lea st thro ug h the 1987 sea so n - he sig ned a three-year co ntra ct a t the start of th e 1985 season . The California Vintage Racing Group (CVRGI will race three more times this year. On October 6, the CVRG will race at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California followed by the Second Annual Dick Manni CVRG Dirt Day on October 13. The final race will be at Willow Springs Raceway on November 1 O. Lan sin g, Mich igan , resi dent Ala n Ra ndt , a mem ber o f the U.S. tea m fo r th e Spa ni sh ISD E. wa s near ly forced to wit hdraw from th e team a lt er in juring h is left wri st in a hare scr a m bles get-off o n ly eig h t da ys befo re leav in g for Spain. U pon visiti ng a spo rts medi cin e cl in ic o n th e ca m p us o f Mi ch ig an tat e U ni ve rs i ty in La nsi ng , no bro ken bon es wer e found and a fter trea tment Ran dt left for Spa in wi th hi s wri st " feel ing good ." In h is first ISDE, Randt will ri de a H us q va rna 250 o n rh e Hu sk y ; 2 cl u b team a lo ng w ith Brian I\lull a nd T orn Bu c kl es. Dick L enov er wi II manage th e tea m . Two-time U.S. Superbike Champion Wes Cooley, injured in a crash at Sears Point Raceway in May, suffered a setback when he rebroke his right femur recently. Accord ing to his w ife, Nancy, Cooley rebroke the leg walking; Cooley spent several days back in St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, California, but is now back at home. in a wheelchair. He could use cards and letters at 16202 Dartolo, Ramona. CA 92065, T h e P ro spe cto rs M.C " sp o nsors o f th e Nov ember 2-3 Bar sto w G. P . thro ug h th e street a nd su rro und i ng co u nt ryside o f Barsto w, Ca liforn ia . will not pay S RA p o ints for th e eve III despite wh a t was advertised , The even t doe s. however, fea ture AMA D-37 l~ lI ·' J 1;' •. It , •• t J .J .... r . ' 1 1 .,f'J poi nt s fo r desert , scra m bles a nd motocross. For more in for ma tio n ca ll 711/ 633-8679 . Tough guy : Ricky Ryan, who crashed in the la s t turn of the last lap of the first 250cc moto at the September 22 CMC Trans-Cal motocross. finished out the day w ith a broken collarbone. Ryan. who didn't realize his collarbone was broken in the crash, won the second moto. Arai H el mets, LId . wi ll be the official spo nso r o f th e 1986a nd 1987 Daytona 200s. T he Ma rch 9 running of th e race will now be ca ll ed th e Da ytona 200 By Ar a i whi le th e qual ifying races will be kn own as th e Arai T win 50s . Husqvarna will be the brand of motorcycle used by the most ISDE competitors this year as 118 are entered on the Swedish marque. KTM is next with 99. T he 10th Annua l C MC Golden Stale Mot ocro ss Series will begi n o n j nn u a ry 1·5 at La ke Mad era , Ca lifo rn ia a nd will wi nd u p wi th rou nd eig h t in Gorman , Ca lifo rn ia o n March 1-2. For mo re in for ma tio n ca ll CMC a t 711/261·611 6. The latest from the rumor mill in the motocross world centers around Bob Hannah, whose contract with Honda expires at the end of 1985. The word is that Hannah will split nom Honda and s ign a contract w ith Suzuki to compete in selected events during the 1986 season. A n ew o ne- hour T V show ca lled " Raci n g from Ascot " is a rr m g o n Monda y n igh ts a t 10:00 p .m . a nd Saturda y a fternoon a t 4:00 p .m. in so ut hern Ca liforn ia . T he show, seen o n KDO C Cha n ne l 56 and o n vari o us Com mu n ity Ca ble sys tems, fea tures speedway mo to rcycles a nd the Suzu ki Quad Racer ATV Series r un every T h ursda y n ig h t a t Asco t Pa rk in G arden a , Ca lifo rn ia. Mo re info rrna tion is avai la ble from 800/828·5219 o r 714/ 661-1962. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowal has introduced Senate Bill 1145, which would require Congressional approval of actions taken by federal regulatory agencies. "A large piece of the blame for the growth of the Federal regulatory morass falls on Congress for its willingness to abandon its oversight and legislative function in favor of a mass of faceless bureaucrats." said Grassley in int ro d u c in g his legislation, which would have far-reaching effects on agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Comments on Senator Grassley's leg islation can be directed to him. or to your own Senators. at U. S . Senate, Washington, DC 20510. C on t ra r y to r um ors , Sidewi nde r Double-Cro ss sp rockets are fu lly legal a nd AMA a p p ro ved for use in a ll Stock mot oc ro ss classes and do n o effect the Stock sta tus o f a mot orcycle. The North American Ice Speedway Championships will be held November 22-23 at the Salt Palace Center Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also featured at the Salt Palace will be two new divisions of ice racing, Ice Speedway Trikes and Ice Speedway Quads; for more • ", ,; ( • ~ . ( J _' '. t ~. I 1. 1 :.

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