Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

teenager Leo Combee the overall winner, Erik Geboers second, and Peter Herlings third. ! twPllPli Wf4lLfY 0') ..- To guarantee accu ra te results in th e highly competitive sport of AMA Camel Pro Seri es dirt track racing, th e AMA has purchased a state-of-the art vid eo ca me ra a nd recordin g system that will be used to record all AMA Camel Pro Seri es Nat ional d irt tra ck finish es. AMA a n no u nced that a multi- year ag ree ment has been reach ed with Cycle News, In c., publi shers of Cycle News, ATV N ew s and All T errai n Veh icle Industry , to be th e officia l sponsor 'o f the Cycle N ew s Fin ish Line Cam era . Uti lizing a specia l black and white video cam era made by Video Logi c of Dallas, Texas, the system can record racing action at sh u tter speeds as h igh as 300 frames per second. T he system is capa ble of freezing acti on a t speeds in excess of 200 mph. Video images are recorded o n a *-inc h video reco rder and can be p layed back inst a ntly on a stop-action monitor attracksid e. " After just a few tests lat e this season, th e system has a lready proven its worth ," said AMA d irector of com petitio n Bill Ami ck . " We feel that th e Cycle News Finish Line Camera will remo ve any doubt a bo u t the o u tcome of close fini sh es wh ich are so com mo n in Camel Pro Series raci ng." Ron Lechien, who was given an early release from his Honda contract, made his first appearance on a Kawasaki in the October 20 Scheveningen Beach Race in HoIland . Lechien turned in a disappo inting performance, completing only one lap of the four-mile course in any ofthe three races conducted in f ron t of 10 0, 0 0 0 spectators. Honda riders swept the f irst three places in the event w ith Dutch Yamaha will field a two -rider team in th e Superbi ke Championship Seri es con tra ry to earlier reports fro m Yamaha that th ey would not have a factorybacked effort . The na mes of th e rid ers were not announced . but look for J immy Fi lice to be one of the m . Defending National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham (Hus) lost 19 points en route to the win in the October 27 series-ending Delaware State National Enduro in Bear, Delaware . Mike Melton (Hus) edged Fritz Kadlec (Hus) for second overall after the two tied at 21 po ints, with Randy Hawkins (Hus) and Drew Smith (Hon) rounding out the top five. Cunningham, who clinched the title at the September 15 Black Coal National in Indiana, won the last four rounds of the series. ''I' m looking at it from th e positive side ," said two-time Camel Pro Ser ies Champion Ricky Graham a bo u t his cont rac t with H onda 's dirt track team no t being ren ewed. " I go t a cha nc e to make some very good money a nd go racin g first class. It was an experien ce. I know I'v e tal ked a bo u t retiring, but this doesn 't seem like the right time. I want to race some mor e. Righ t now , I'm working o n ge tt ing m y mil e bike a nd TT mach in e from H onda so I can go raci ng. " Graham was a t th e end of a two -yea r co ntract with Honda which h ad a n o p tion of an addi tio na l yea r if G raham finished in th e top th ree in th e fin al CPS sta ndi n gs. G raham , who was sidelin ed for one- th ird of the season due to inj u ries , didn 't a nd wasn 't o ffered a new co nt rac t. Newly-crowned Camel Pro Series Champion Bubba Shobert signed a one-year contract w ith Honda on October 25 and w ill be the only rider on Honda 's factory dirt track team. $1 000 for first p-Iace in c lub races Suzuki announces 1986 road racing contingency " 6 U.S . Suzuki Motor Corp. has announced a contingency program for club road races held across the country, paying riders who w in and finish well in 750 and Open Production class races sanctioned by five organizations. In addition to paying cash for a set number of events run by each club, Suzuki will host a Suzuki GSXR National Championship Final in conjunction w ith the WERA National Finals at Road Atlanta in November, paying a $40,000 purse for 750 and Open Production class races at that event. The new contingency program applies to eig ht each AFM , AAMRR , OMRRA, MRA and WERA events, and pays Suzuki GSXR750 riders $1000 for first place, $500 for second place, $250 for third place, $100 for fourth place, $70 for fifth place, $50 for sixth place and $30 for seventh place in the 750cc Production class. The payout for Suzuki pilots in Open Production is $1 000 for first, $500 for second and $250 for third. In the announcement of the contingency program no mention of machine is made for the Open class, but a good guess is that payoffs in that class will be limited to the new GSXR 11 00 expected to be introduced in the U.S. for 1986. The top five 750cc riders and the top three Open riders f ro m each sanction will be invited to the Finals, where first in the 750cc event will pay $5000; second will earn $2750; third, $1700; fourth, $1400; fifth, $1200; sixth, $1000; seventh, $850; eighth, $800; ninth, $750; 10th $700; the payoff continues down to 20th place, which earns $150. In the Open class, the f inal pays $6000 for first; $3900 for second; $1950 for third; $1650 for fourth: $1300 for fifth ; $1200 for sixth; $950 for seventh; $900 for eighth; $850 for ninth; and $750 for 10th; the payoff ends with $200 for 14th. The cl ub whose members earn the most po ints in the Final will also be awarded $1000 for the club treasury. Suzuki dealers will have details of the program soon. " The major deciding factor between H onda 's offer and th e one Kenny (Roberts) ma de me to ride th e GPs in Europe for th e team he's putting together was th at Kenn y co ul d o n ly offer me a one-yea r co ntract an d Honda's was for two ," sai d Wayne Ra iney about his recent signing wi th H o nda. " Honda wan ts to win th e Superb ike Champio ns hip Seri es and I want to get more experience in Formula One so we co m p ro mised a nd I' ll be racing both. The program is sti ll being finalized so I d on' t kn ow who my mechanics will be or much o f a ny th in g else. I'd lik e to race a few o f the Interna tional s or maybe a GP or tw o ." See yourself on TVI Be part of a commercial. Have funl Bring your street or dirt motorcycle and your riding gear to Palmdale, California on Saturday, November 2 no earlier than 12:30 p.m. for the filming of a Cycle News commercial. It's happening at the intersection of N St. and West 20th, west off the N St. exit, from Highway 14 in Palmdale. More information is available from Mike Klinger, 213/4277433. The fu tu re of the Pr ai ri e City Off Highway Vehi cle Park in Sacramento, California, better kn own as the site for th e Hang town Mot ocross Nationals, is up in the air. In J un e, the co u rts awarded $2.4 million to a p laintiff wh o was seri ously inj u red w hi le ridi n g h is motorcycle in the open area at the park, a nd un der existing Co u nty liabil it y coverage, the Cou nty had to pay the first milli on dollars of the award. Accordi ng to a County o f Sacramento Departmen t of Parks a nd Recreation bullet in , the Co unty h as determined that th e tax payers of Sacramen to Count y ca n n ot be su bjec ted to th e possi bil ity of a nother large liabil ity j udgeme n t at th e Prairie City OH V site. A publ ic hearin g ha s been set by th e Board of Su pervisors for Tuesday, November 12, at 10:00 a.m. a t the Board o f Supervisors Cham bers , 700 H Street, Sacramento, Ca lifornia. The p ur pose of th e hear ing will be to receive p ub lic testim on y on the construc tive solutions to th e situa tion which will a ll o w th e park to remain open or to close due to liabil ity exposure experi enced by th e Co u nty . For more information call th e County of Sacramento Department of Parks an d Recreation 916/ 366-2061. AFM Endurance race cancelled at Sears Point LONG BEACH, CA, OCT. 28 The October 27 AFM Four-Hour Endurance road race at Sonoma, California's Sears Point International Raceway was cancelled after racer and Jon Woo Memorial Safety Project area spokesman Kurt Bickel was granted a Sonoma County Superior Court restraining order so track owner Jack Williams could not prevent Bickel from racing. Bickel has been highly critical of the track for safety reasons and proposed extensive safety modifications for the track in 1984; Bickel has also been involved in personal arguments with Williams and the track unrelated to his safety activities. Williams denied that the cancellation had any relationship to Bickel's safety activities, and rather than let Bickel enter the premises, Williams cancelled the race and issued the following statement: "In July the management of Sears Point International Raceway determined that it would not permit Kurt Bickel to participate in further motorcycle races at the raceway," the statement said . " Th is decision was made because in the raceway's opinion, Mr. Bickel had broken track rules and had made false and damaging statements about the track and various persons associated with the track. "Within the past few days, Kurt Bickel ' filed suit to compel the track to continue to permit him to participate in motorcycle races at Sears Point International Raceway. On Thursday, October 24th, a hearing was held in Sonoma County Superior Court where in Mr. Bickel . sought a temporary restraining order to compel the raceway to allow him to race last weekend. " Sears Point International Raceway opposed the issuance of such an order. However, the court, after requesting Mr. Bickel to post a bond, issued the order. " This temporary order has an effect until November 8, 1985 at which point a full hearing will take place. "Sears Point International Raceway continues to believe it was correct in disqualifying Kurt Bickel from further participation at the" raceway. Therefore the race last weekend was cancelled. "We sincerely regret any inconv eni ence this caused spectators and competitors. Further information relating to this matter will be forthcoming after the hearing on November 8th." On October 25, prior to cancelling the race, Williams told Cycle News, "We're right on the verge of temporarily cancelling any motorcycle activity at the facility until we resolve this problem with Bickel. We went to court before a judge yesterday (October 24) and t he judge decided that for 15 days he has to be allowed on the property if we have a public function. We're put in a position where we made a decision in July where we decided we did not want to have him o n the property. And it has nothing to do with his safety recommendations or any of that, just the personal way he conducted himself here." According to Williams, Bickel refused to use a plywood sheet under his bike in order to prevent damage on the newly resurfaced pit area . "When the head of security asked Bickel to put the plywood under his stand, Bickel refused and told the security guy to Lk off," Williams said. "My stand is, I don't consider myself a wealthy person, but I think I 'm a little better off than Kurt Bickel. I will go broke before I will give in to this deal. I have a couple of employees - including my brotherin -law, who 's been with me for 25 years - that will leave if we have to have him on the premises:' Bickel was unavailable for comment at press t ime.

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