Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

! - Engl ish road racer Ala n Ca ner, a tea m mate o f Wayn e R ainey in Kenny Ro berts' 1984 250cc G P tea m, has signe d a co nt ract to race fo r the Spanish race tea m Ko bas in 1986; Caner will ride the Ro ta x-powered machines in th e 250cc World Cha m pions hi p ro u nds . BYP41PQ WfQLfY ~ Yamaha -moun ted motocrosscr R ick J ohnson wa s th e overa ll winner in th e two -day h al ia n S uperbi kers ra ce held in Bologna , Ital y o n Decem ber 7-8. T he race, hel d o n a li ght a nd twi sty track ins ide a football stad iu m , was a di sa ster for th e Am eri can co n rin geru o f road racer s. Three-time World Cha m p io n Kenn y Ro bert s qual ifi ed sixth o n hi s Tr600 , but wa s later h it in mid-ai r by a n Ita lian rider in th e sem i-fina l. Freddi e Spen cer had th e most miserable li me in It al y a nd , af ter cras h ing rive times in q ua li fying, fin all y gave up . Randy Mamol a ma naged to fin ish 14th overa ll o n h is Ya maha Tr600 with Edd ie Lawson tak in g th e top roa d racer spot wi th ni mh place o vera ll o n a sim ilar Tr600. Second p lace overal l went to Yamaha- mou nt ed Bro nd i Massim o of Ital y wi th H onda -moun ted Bo b H annah fin ish ing th ird. Michele R inal d i (SUl) took foun h p lace whil e America n Bria n Myersco ugh (SUl) fini sh ed fifth . Freddie Spencer's Rothmans Honda teammate Wayne Gardner won both races in round one of the Australian Swann Insurance road race series at Keilor International Raceway. Gardner, on a NSR600 V-four, easily beat the newest member of the Marlboro Yamaha team Rob McElnea in both races; the series will be McElnea's final races on the Skoal Bandit Suzuki. Yamaha TZ750-mounted Mike Dawson was third in both races. T h e team o f Greg W ing a nd Will ie Adam s (Kaw) survi ved two red -flags to win th e two -hour en d ura nce road race at Firebird in P hoen ix , Ar izona o n Decem ber 8. Win gl Ada ms beat Walter Ni tro a nd Peter Carro ll o n an o ther Ka wa sa ki by two seco nds wi th th ird p lace going to th e Suzu ki o f G reg C ur tis and Mik e Man gham . England's Ron Haslam recently won the Macau road race Grand Prix on an Elf RS500 after taking both legs of the race from from Belgian Didier De Radigues on another Elf RS500. American Henry Degouw crashed his 750 Yamaha in the first leg of the race, held on the streets of Macau, but although out of the top 10, was able to continue. Floridian John Long finished 10th in the first leg and ninth in the second. Shod H elmets wi ll p ost a cas h a nd a wards co n ti nge ncy won h over $60,000 for th e eig h t-race 1986 CMC Golde n Sta te Series th at begi ns o n J an ua ry .4 a t Q uail Can yon in Gorman , Ca lifo rn ia a nd winds up o n March 2, a lso a t Q ua il Ca n yo n . Sh oei w ill post cash awards in 125,250 a nd 500cc P ro classes and in the P ro 250cc three-wheel ed and P ro 250cc Q uad classes th roug h sixth pl a ce wi th first p lace worth $300; o th er classes will be el igi ble to wi n prizes. T he re wi ll a lso be a $ 1000 bo nus fo r a P ro class cha m p io n sh ip . 2 Santee, California's Mike Fisher was scheduled to ride in the Australia n Supercross series, but cancelled out before leaving his home because of a practice crash. English chassis manufacturer Harris Performance has developed an aluminum alloy chassis for the Yamaha FZ750 that is reported to result in a much lighter bike for the Eng lish Formula One series (U.S. Superbike). The new frame fea tures an open cradle design and is expected to be campaigned by Englishman Steve Parrish in 1986. H onda introduced a FTR250 sing lecyli n der four- stroke a t th e T o kyo , J ap an motorcycle show tha t's style is based o n a H o n da flat- tracker; th e bi ke is fitt ed w ith road tires. Former Speedway World Champion Bruce Penhall failed to appear, as advertised for the Ivan Mauger farewell race in Belle "Vue, England; apparently Penhall got stuck in Italy while filming a new movie. Reports from England indicate that Lance King will join Penhall and also go into the movie business. Cooperating with Willow Springs In terna tio nal Raceway owner Bill Huth , Du n lo p T ir e Co. spo nsored th e removal of the rock and din mound between turns four and five at th e Rosamond , Ca lif ornia ra ce track o n Decem ber 2. In place o f th e removed material, Huth will pl ace rows of p lastic-wrapped ha yba les and a catch fence . H u th says h e de cided to remove the mound beca use it h as in th e past launched crashed motorcycles into the air and a cros s turn five; h e's us ing p lastic-wrapped ha ybal es so the hay doesn ' t get waterlogged a nd ha rd . Huth has ea rned a rep u tation for being th e most responsive tra ck owner in th e co u rurv wh en it co m es to ma kin g sa fety-rela ted irn provem en ts. " Reports from Great Britain indicate that 1979 500cc World MX Champion Graham Noyce, who recently fell from a balcony and sustained multiple injuries, is making rapid progress in his recovery. T he re has been a cha nge in th e tentative Camel P ro Seri es sched u le as not ed in last week 's Ca lenda r sectio n. T he April 5 ra ce a t G ardena, Ca liforn ia 's Asco t Par k will be a T'T Na tional ra ther than a half mil e as in itially listed. A Decem ber 3 meeti ng of di n track a n d road race promo ters i n Kev W es t, Fl ori d a , is expected to produce a final ize d schedu le. A report quoting figures from 1983 shows Japan as the number one country in regards to motorcycle population with 16.2 million. The U.S. was second with 6.79 million (in 19831, followed by France with 5.25 million, Indonesia with 4 .1 million, West Germany with 2.94 million, Malaysia with 1 .95 million, Czechoslovakia w ith 1 .54 million, Spain with 1 .3 million and Great Britain with 1.29 million to round out the top ten. The country least populated with bikes is the drought-striken Ethiopia with only 1291 machines on the road. Aus tra lia n Nei l Chi vas a nd New Zea la nd er Dave Hi scock tea med u p o n a Suzu ki G SXR750 to wi n th e New Zea lan d Castro l Si x-Ho ur o n Novem ber 17; th e duo topped th e- Yamaha FZ750-mo u nted pair of R ich ard SCOll and Mike Dow son. Chandler hurt in Paris Supercross LONG BEACH, CA, DEC 9 According to reports from Europe, motocrosser Danny Chandler broke the fifth and sixth vertebrae in his neck during the second night of supercross racing in Paris, France on December 5. Chandler reportedly crashed into a TV cameraman after crashing from a jump and has undergone three operations in a Paris hospital. Reports indicate that Chandler has no feeling from the waist down and has no movement in his left arm or in both hands, Chandler is currently on a respirator, but doctors are predicting that he could be breathing on his own in 10 days. It is not known ifthe paralysis will be permanent and reports indictate that he will be flown home to the U.S. when he is taken off the respirator. Chandler reportedly has no medical insurance in the U.S. and a fund has been set up for Chandler by the Pro Rider's Benefit. Donations can be made in Chandler's name by sending checks marked as Chandler donations to the Pro Rider Benefit at 14024 Sylvan St., Van Nuys, CA 91401. Kawasaki's Ron Lachien and Yamaha-mounted Rick Johnson were"also involved in an accident when the two collided off a double jump in Paris, Lechien is reported to have suffered facial injuries that include a broken nose and Johnson suffered a slight, but not serious, back injury, The first night of racing on December 4 saw Johnson taking the win on his Sonauto-Yamaha with Johnny O'Mara (Han) finishing second. On the accident-riddled second night, O'Mara took the win with Yamaha's Broc Glover finishing second followed by Dutchman Davey Strijbos and Kawasaki's Jeff Ward. An item in last week's Cve/e News gave an incorrect phone number for the American Federation of Motorcyclists. The correct number for information on the upcoming AFM awards banquet is 213/8640704. Th e Decem ber 13 ai ring of the Misfits of Sci ence TV show will in clude film shot at th e Nov ember 10 AFM road race at Rosam ond, Ca lifo rnia 's Willow sp rings Interna tional Racewa y, and additional film shot wi th 12 AFM riders in a Six Flags Magic Mountain a m use me nt park. T he pl o t parking lo t at Valenci a , California's of th e panicul ar episode isn 't clear, a lthough it somehow involves road raci n g . Wh at is clea r is th a t ea ch of the 12 AFM pilo ts were pa id $500 a da y for three days o f shooting; thus th e ep iso de p u mped $18,000 in to th e so u the rn Ca liforn ia racing eco no m y. Motocross instructor Russ Darnell has returned to racing in convincing style. Darnell, who hasn't raced in 10 years, won the Vet Pro class in a recent CMC motocross at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, California. Darnell is planning to compete in the CM C Golden State Series that starts on January 4-5 at Quail Canyon in Gorman, California . Am ong th ose looking for work fol lowing th e sh u t-do w n o f Black Bi ker magazine is Assistant Editor Bren t Ross; hi s number is 213/ 437-6328. Slater Brothers has completed its move to Washington and can be reached at P.O , Box 1, Mica, WA 99023, 509/924-2314. Motocrosser Cl int Hardick was recent ly in competing in Austra lia, bUI had to withdraw from most of th e events whe n he su ffered a crac ked bone in hi s left wri st. The date for the 61 st International Six Days Enduro in San Pellegrino, Italy, has been changed to September 8-13 from the previously announced September 15-20. For those who like to plan ahead, the recent FIM Congress ratified tentative venue forthe next six ISDEs starting w ith Poland in 1987 fo llowed by Australia, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, France and then Holland in 1992. National trials ch a m p io n Scali H ead ( Be la) swe p t both th e Da m and Sch rie ber Cup tri a ls in Little Roc k, California, December 7-8_T he Schrieber Cup was the fin al round of the ATA (Amer ica n Trials Association ) California State Championship Series; although H ead won three rounds, Kip Webb secured the championship tit le. Watch for complet e coverage in Cycle News. American and former World Trials Champion Bernie Schrieber announced he is coming out of retirement to compete in the 1986 World Championship season, riding a Yamaha for the French importer. Schrieber was declined U,S, sponsorship. New ly-signed factory Yamaha rider J im Holley ca p tu red th e 250cc motocross win at th e Cen tral Am eri ca Derbycro ss in San Jose, Costa R ica , Decem ber 8. H olley eas ily wo n both outdo or, 30- mi n u te plus tw o-lap rnotos, while Am eri can ride r Kei th O 'Neal fin ished second in th e 125cc cla ss beh ind Cos ta R ica Nationa l Champion P iet y R o berts, Camel Pro Series Champion Bubba Shobert has moved from his home in Lubbock, Texas, to a new house, on 10 acres of land, in Carmel Val ley, Califomia. T elecasts o f the St roh Mi le Seri es o n ca b le tel evision 's Th e N a shville N etwork co nt i n ue every Sunda y through Decem ber 29 with covera ge a iring a t 9 a .m .• 4 a nd 11 p.m. (EDT). "There has been one change in our tentative 1986 Camel Pro Series schedule," said AMA's Bill Amick. "The road race National which was scheduled for October 18-19 at Daytona International Speedway has been dropped, The Speedway will still run the season ending AMA Championship Cup and Endurance Road Race Series final rounds on the October dates. We are currently working on adding an additional National road race to the Camel Pro schedule."

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