Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

r-:- - -;;--;;-- -;-:;-"""7"- - --;;--:;--;-- - - - - - - .". AMA" Triistees - - ----:--...." :J: . U ~ ...J ::l Z :J: Report ~ By John Hasty AMA Chairman o .., 1Il ~ o T he American Mo torcyclist Association conducted its annual meeting of corporate me m bers followed by a meeting of :J: c, (Above) Scott Gray leads Earl Roloff (2 ) and Doug Toland late in the 750cc Stock Production race . Toland led. faded as his shock fa iled; Gray led; Roloff passed to win. (Below) Ben Williams (26) beat N igel Gale for second place in the VF500F Series . Roloff wins first Formula USA; Toland takes Kerker Superbike By John Ulrich .ROSAMO ND, CA, FEB . 23 Seaweed Ka wasaki's Earl Roloff showed up a t Willow Springs Raceway for the first AFM road race of 1986 and won the inagural Toyota/Budweiser Formula VSA even t. Roloff. riding a G PZIOOORX Kawasaki built by his brother. Craig, an d se t up with IS-inch wheels, ca me from behind to pass Jim Vreeke's Steve J ohnsonbui lt, Ker ker -sponsored FZ750 for th e wi n . " We' re just ridin g hard," Roloff tol d the p ress a fter winn in g. "T ha t's a ll we ever do ." Vreeke jumped o u t into th e lead fas t, with Ri ck Ol iver a nd h is 1300cc Kosm an Specialties Kawasak i seco nd and Ro loff third. By the end o f the seco n d la p , Vreeke had two seconds o n O liver; but O liver 's bike sta rted lea kin g o il a nd Rol o ff pa ssed him entering 't urn Iour. Ro loff quick ly pu lled two seco nds o n O liver , bu t was still two seconds behind Vreeke. In ano th er la p, though , Ro lo ff had closed up on Vreeke entering sweepin g tu rn eight. the n drafted pas t on th e front stra ight. Rol off 's last th ree lap s were a ll I;30s, a nd h e won by a co u p le of seco nds . Vreeke was seco nd, Oliver th ird. Earl ier, Vreeke had finished second in th e Kerk er Su pe rbike ra ce, a lso aft er leading th e first half, but th at tim e it was Doug Toland, in hi s first race o n th e Vance & Hines Racin g GSXR 750 Suzu ki Superbike, co m ing fro m four seco nds behind to win. Vreeke sta rted that race tu rn ing I;30s and fin ished it turning I :3Is. with th e bik e progress ively slid ing more in between start and fi n ish. (He a nd tuner Joh nso n wo uld la ter figure out it was a case of no t eno ugh rebound damping , turned up th e damping o n th e bike's Fox shock, a nd Vree ke reporte d th e bike worked bett er in th e Fo rmula USA ra ce). In th e meantime, T oland sta rted o u t tu rning 1;31s a n d ended turning I;30s; that was the di fference between winning a nd losin g. a nd T o la nd wo n. It was an exci tin g ra ce. o ne th at ha d spectators and cre w mem bers yelli n g, because it looked like Vreeke h:tll it won . T he n, suddenl y, T ol and was ga ini ng, threea nd-a-ha lf seconds back, three seconds ba ck, two seco nd s, a seco nd a nd then divi ng underneath enteri ng tu rn o ne for the lead a nd th e win . Walt Nitto and h is Curt Jo rdan- tu ned FZ750 fi nished third . Rol o ff entered the race but on lv did a few laps on h is stock FZi50, ge tting ready fo r the 750 S tock Production event, wh ich ca rried the firs t GS X R Ser ies poi nts an d co nt ingen cy in a Cali forn ia event , a lo ng wi th th e regular Yam aha co nt ingenc y. T o la n d 's owned th e class for a year, winn in g a ll th e time on a Yam aha in 1985 a n d sett ing a new cla ss record o n a Su zu ki at a club race a few weeks a go. T o land rode a Vance & Hines Per form an c e C en ter of Tor ra n ce GSXR 750, a nd Sco tt G ra y entered h is Jim Willi am s/Dunl op/ Fox -sponso red GSXR750. Both Rol o ff a nd Gray were determined to bea t T o la nd. w ho's go tte n h is share 'o f publici ty a nd rides from h is win s la tely, a nd both did it. Tola nd m igh t as w.ell no t Doug Toland took the Vance & Hines GSXR750 from four seconds behind to win the Kerker Superbike race . have been in th e ra ce, jumping out front and then quick ly fadin g as h is bike's stoc k shock (hi s promised Fo x shock didn 't arrive before the race ) lo st its damping a nd made it impossible to keep on the gas in to turn eigh t. It turned into Gra y vs, Ro lo ff, Gray pulling a lead at th e halfway point, Ro lo ff ca tch in g up a nd outbraking past entering turn one. Thev ra n nose-to-tail on th e last lap of th e eigh t-la p race , encountering a lapped rider in turn four . Ro lo ff bulled past underneath, Gra y tried outsid e, the lapper balked and straightened up a nd Gra y nearl y ran off th e track. The win was Roloff's, his Yamaha beating th e 44 Suzuki GSXR750 s entered in the bike-packed race. Gray wa s seco nd . Tol and th ird. In the process, Gray claimed a new 750 Stock Production la p record of 1;32.2. and made more money than Roloff, $500 for second on a Suzuki compared to Rol off's $400 for first on a Yamaha. Toland made $250 for third. Redline Video's Bill y DeBere ran away to a IO-second win in the Ho nda In tercep tor Series rac e. th e biggest win margin of memory in th e series' history. Beh ind , Ben Williams. Nigel Gale. Joe So lis and Kent Kunitsugu passed and rep assed and rode fo urabreas t into turn one a t times in a su pe r battle for seco nd p lace . At the end it was William s a hea d of Gale, both secure in seco nd a nd third , follow ed by So lis, Kun itsugu an d Ri ch ar d Moore. Loren zo Lama s o f Fa lco n Crest was o n hand for the Fo rm u la USA race a n d led th e entra nts in a prel imi nary parade lap before the wa rm up lap . • Res u lts TOVOTA / BUDWEISER FORMULA USA: 1. Ear l Roloff (Kaw ); 2. J im Vreeke (Yam); 3. Ric h Ohver (Kaw) . KERKER SB; 1. Doug Toland (SUl); 2. J im Vree ke (Yam); 3. W alt NIn o (Yam). HONDA VF5ODF 1. Billy DeBer e (Han); 2. Ben ; W illiams (Han); 3. Nigel Gale (Han). 7 50 STK PROD; 1. Ear l Roloff (Yam); 2. Scon Gray (Suz); 3. Doug Toland (Suz). • OPEN STK PROD; 1. Ma rty Sharpe (Vam ); 2. Fletcher W ilson ; 3. Gianfranco Capasso. 600 STK PROD: 1. David Neal (Yam); 2. Nigel Gal e (Yam); 3. Stev e Card illo (Yam). 450 STK PROD: 1. Daren Fields (Vam); 2. Stev e Flem ing (Yam ); 3 . Ken Munoz (Yam) 600 SS: 1. 1. Earl Roloff (Kaw); 2..Terry Statum (Kaw); 3. Tom Aqu ino (Yam). 450 SS; t . Kenny Nachman (Yam); 2. John We lls (Yam); 3. David Morris (Yam) . OPEN MO D PROD; 1. Earl Roloff (Kaw ); 2. Many Sharpe (Yam); 3. Ray Straka (Kaw ) 750 MOD PROD; t . Steve Cardillo (SUl); 2. Kenny Kopecky (Suz); 3.walt Nitta (SUl) . 600 MOD PROD: t. Earl Roloff (Kaw); 2. Ste ve Cardill o (yam ); 3. David Neal (Yam). 45 0 MO D PROD: 1. Clin ton Whitehouse (Yam); 2. Stuart Wilken (Yam); 3. Dar en Fields (Yam). F· 1: 1. Don Biava; 2. Kenny Nach m an; 3. Stu an W ilken . .F·2 ; t. Don Greene (Han); 2. M arty VogeI IHon); 3. Rich Oliver (Yam) . F-4 : 1. Dana Green (Han); 2 . Man W in iarski (Vam); 3. Karen Lynaugh (Vam). OPEN GP: 1. Ken MacNeil IKaw). OVER 40 : 1. Denny Fryer (Kaw ); 2. Ray Adams (Han); 3. Ray Stra ka (Kaw ). 750 Twin s: 1. Joe Wi lliams (Due). OPEN TWINS ; 1. Fred Eiker (Due); 2. David Gib " bon (Due); 3. Earl Campbell (Due). • • VINTAG E: 1. Ken Borden . its board of trustees in Houston, Texas , on J anuary 31 and February I. 1986. James A. Hansen, Cycle World magazine; T imothy K. Hoelter, Harley-Davidson; and Robert Moffit. Ka wasa ki, were reelected to two -year terms on the board. J ack Mangus, Cycle News In c., was appointed to serve th e remainder of a term vacated by Henry Fiola. who resigned from the board due to a change in his corporate affiliation. The following trustees were reelected as officers of the Association: C ha ir man J oh n H . H asty, Charlotte. Nort h Carolina ; Vice Chairman William Ba ird, Sterli ng. Illinois; T reasurer J a mes A. H ansen , Newport Beach , California; Assistant Treasurer Timothy K. Hoelter, Milwaukee. Wisconsin; Secretary Da l Smilie. Helen a , Montana. The following committees were appointed: Trademark Po licy Committee: John Duncan, Hoelter. Co rporate Planning Committee: Duncan, Hansen. Hoelter, Mangus. Moff it . Gary Smith. Legal Committee; Hoelter, Paul Schlegel. Finance Committee; Hansen. Hoelter, Smilie. William Baird and AMA President Ed Youngblood were elected trustees of the American All-Terrain -Vehicle Association. Baird. Hazel Kolb, Ro bert Perkins. Schlegel. and Smilie were elected trustees of the American Motorcycle H eritage Founda tion. . Pro fession a l racing advisory co mmittees for road racing. dirt track. and motocross co mpetitio n were a ppointed. The names of delega tes o n these committees are available from the Association upon request. The trustees reviewed the audited 1985 financial report and the financia l reports o fthefirs t quarter of 1986 and not ed satisfact ory performa nce. Accomplishments during the AMA's first year under reorganization as a tax-exempt, n on-profit corporation included a 17% increase in revenue aga ins t a 5% in creas e in expenses. a 19% in crea se in assets, and a 600% increase in opera ting reserves. The rapid increase in opera tin g reserves is co n nected with a plan to purchase th e Associa tion 's 30,000 sq . ft. h eadquarters buildin g in mid- I987. A review o f th e 1985 annual report ind ica ted a positive p erformance in a lmost all areas of ope ratio n. Sanctioned a ma teur a nd roa d riding activ ity im p ro ved by 8% and 6% respectivel y. sa nctioned ATV activi ty grew by 24%, a ll categories of membership impro ved wi th an overa ll growth of 2.756 members, and AATVA memberships nearly tripled from 1,458 to 4.026. Am erican Motorcyclist magazine increased in size and contin ued a three-year trend o f increased revenue with a growth of 6% in advertising pages. Sanctioned professional racing events declined by 7%, bu t entries were up 10%. A copy of the AMA 's 1985 ann ual report , including reports on the activities of th e Am erican All -Terrain Vehicle Associ ation and the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation,' is available upon request. The presid ent reported on th e liabili ty in su rance crisis, statin g th at the Associa tion had a lready in cu rred a s.u,hs ~an tial, increa se in premi u m

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