Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Australian Wayne Gardner (Hon) won the May 24 Ital ian Grand Prix at Monza, Italy. Defending 500cc champ Eddie Lawson (Yam) fin ished second, 14 seconds behind the winner. Ch ristian Sarron (Yam) was third, Rob McElnea (Yam) fourth, and Ron Haslam (Hon) fifth. Ran dy Mamola (Suz) was d ici n g with Sarron, McElnea and H aslam on the last lap when he cras hed and DNF. Texan Kevin Schwantz (Suz) was eigh th. Anton Mang (Hon) beat Reinhold Roth (Hon) by two-tenths of a second in the 250cc GP at Monza. Fausto Gresini (Gar) won his third straight 125cc GP. and defending champ Jorge Martinez (Der) won the 80cc GP. Stan Fox, the import/export man ager at Parts Un limited, drove the Foyt-Kerker March to seventh place in the Indy 500 o n May 24. The effort by the rookie Indy driver was supported by severa l motorcycle industry companies. Two-time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham. who would go on to finish third in the May 24 Springfield Mile. was grimacing after practice for the race. Pointing to welts on his upper arms. Graham said, " I was j ust cruising around in practice. breaking in a motor. when Jay (Springsteen) and Scott (Parker) came hauling by me and pelted me with clods of dirt. I told my brother (tuner Troy) that I'd never just cruise around breaking in a motor in practice again." Bell evi ll e, Illino is resident Ti m Mertens disp layed a chest covered with welts after the Springfield Mile. Mertens had been involved in a fiverider battle for fourth place throughout the late stages of the race and eventually finished seventh. "I got pelted with dirt clods every time someone wou ld skim the edge of the groove and use parts of the cus hion," said Mertens. " Finish ing seventh (worth $1515) takes away the pain." NAMED: Kevin Sirois. as rider representative. at O'Neal USA; formerly an associate editor of Dirt Wheels magazine. Sirois has been with O'Neal for six months; riders may direct i n q ui ries to Sirois at O'Neal USA. 9160 Jordan Ave .. Chatsworth . CA 91311 . HIRED: Kevin Snyder and Larry Woodruff, as road salesmen for O 'Neal USA: Snyder wi ll cover Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties in Ca lifornia; Woodruff wi ll ha ndle the high-desert area and parts of Kern and San Bernardino counties in California. American Honda will sponsor the ' 8 7 American Bicycle Associat ion's bicycle motocross (BMX) series. according to a report in Sports Marketing News. Honda . will award four Reflex motorcycles and one off-road motorcycle to the f ive winners at the BMX Grand Nationals in Ok lahoma in November. H ar ley-D a vidson , I nc. (AM EX: H OI) has filed wit h th e Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering of 2,000,000 shares of common stock. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. is the sole manager of the offering. Of the total, 1,140,000 shares are being offered by the Company and 860,000 by selling stockholders. Proceeds to the Company will be used to repurchase certain warrants to acquire 200,000 shares of the Company's common stock and for capital expenditures, working capital and general corporate purposes. The Company and the selling stockholders intend to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 300,000 shares to cover over-allotments. Scott Pearso n for a decade bu t they're do ing so with a new twist this season. They've formed the Circle Bell VIP Club. For $25 an individual can signup as a club member: Members receive a Circle Bell Racing Tvshirt. decal, membership card and discounts on all Circle Bell products. In addition, club members will have a shot at winning an all-expenses paid trip for two to the San Jose Mile on September 20. Fans can join the Circle Bell VIP Club by stopping by the Circle Bell sales trailer at all National Championship dirt track or road race meets, or by sending $25 to Circle Bell VIP Club, 1133 San Mateo Ave., San Bru no, CA 94066. The June 13 17th Annual Dayton (Ohio) Old Time Newsies Half Mile. a round of the AMA Regional Championship Dirt Track Series, will honor the late Edgar (Fergie) Fuhr, a long-time dirt track racing supporter/tuner. Cajun Nationals Pro Stock motorcycle drag race . rained out on Memorial Day weekend. has been rescheduled for May 30-31. Return in g to the race scene at the May 24 Springfield Mile was scorer Carol Meiferdt, whose husband Buzz handles tech inspection chores at races across the country. "I had my knee operated on in ear ly March, the Tuesday of Daytona Cycle Week, and I'm now operating with a plastic knee," said Carol. "I don't know how many races I'll work this year, but I am going to skip the road race Nationals. " Veteran Steve Morehead skipped the Springfield Mile to go sprint car racing. He won the car race and then rode the Tex Peel HarleyDavidson to victory in t he Monday. May 25 York (Pennsylvania) Half M ile round of the AMA Regional Championsh ip Dirt Track Series. Dan Ingram (H-D) was second at York. with George Roeder (H-D) taking third. CO RRECTION: Although we had it correct in the results, the body copy of our report on the May 3 Formula USA G ra n d P r ix Series race at Rosam o nd , California's Will o w Springs Raceway said ru nner-up David Emde was ridi ng a Suzuki . In fact, Emde was on a Yama ha. • Former flat trackers and tuners are invited to attend the 3rd Annual Bench Race Reunion at Dick . Klamfoth's Honda Hills in Thornville. Ohio. over the August 7 -9 weekend. Co-hosts D ick Klamfoth and Dick Brase say. "Plan to bring old pictures. old bikes. or any memorabilia and lots of fond memories to share." Reservations must be made by July 15; call Klamfoth at 614/228-0690 or Brase at 219 /456-2349 . Randy Cooper of Asheville, Ala bama, died of a heart attack after com peting in the Senior class at the May 24 Ro me (Georgia) Cycle Ranch MX. Cooper's son, Scott, is also a motocross competitor. Godspeed, Randy. We goofed ! In adding a color background to the Honda NR750 spread's drawing of the piston / rod set-up in last week's Cycle News. an artist erred in "honing out" the center of the rod. The Honda NR750's rods are " solid." Bob Bellino's Circle Bell Enterprises, a firm that markets hats, jackets and Tvshirts at AMA National Championship dirt track and road race meets, has sponsored dirt tracker. The National Hot Rod Association PROMOTED: Patrick]. Logue, to the position of nationa l sales manager for motorcycle tires of the Dunlop T ire Corp.; Lo gu e has served in a number of posi tions, including product manager, during his 16-year career at Dunlop. The May 23-24 California rounds of the AMA /NATC National Championship Observed Trials Series saw former National and World Champion Bernie Schreiber (Fan) drop 23 points to take first place over Ryan Young (Bet) who dropped 31. and Jonny Andersson (Hon) who scored 55 on Saturday. In Sunday's round. Young turned the tab les on Schreiber as he won w ith a score of 30 over Schreiber 's 33. Mark Manniko (Fan ) took third with a score of 49 . The May 24-25 Massachusetts round of the AMA ISDE Reliability Qualifier Series saw Kevin Hines (KTM) top the 500cc class, Ed Lojak (Hus) on top in the 250cc division, Aaron Hough (Hon) win the 125cc class, Bob Dana (Hon) claim top honors in the 250cc Four-Stroke class, and J eff Irwin (Hus) win the 500cc FourStroke class. Multi-time National Enduro Ch am pi on Dick Bur leson (Hus) suffered a broken kneecap in the event. Texan Doug Polen (Suz) set a new lap record of one minute, 27.75 seconds during the May 23-24 WERA road race meet at Grattan. Michigan. Polen won both the A (Open) and B (750cc) Production classes. to take home the lion's share of the Suzuki GSXR National Championship Road Race Series money that was up for grabs. Rob Iannucci has announced that multi-time World Champion Phil Read will compete in the July 12 American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association's Historic Cup Series round at La~na Seca Raceway in northern California as a member of Team Obsolete. Three -time World Champion Kenny Roberts took to the track at Monza. Italy. last week in both unoffic ial and official timed pract ice sessions abroad one of his Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamahas . After receiving permission to take part in the timed sessions. although he had no intent on competing in the May 24 Italian GP, Roberts logged a time that would have placed him 12th on the 500cc GP's starting grid . Roberts last competed in the July. 1986 Suzuka 8 -Hour. "It was a KR riding school out there." said Aussie Wayne Gardner. " A lot of guys were following him to see what they could learn." Roberts _ said. "Mike (Baldwin. who was inj ured in the German GP) will be fit before I could be. We need to do a lot more work on our tires and that's why I'm riding ." Roberts l at er announced that New Zea land 's Richard Scott would f ill in until Baldwin returns. Baldwin is now recuperating at his Connecticut home. . Motorcycle World With Larry Huffman has been pre-empted for the past two Sunday nights on XTRA "Extra Gold" 690 AM due to the San Diego Soccers making the p layoffs.. If pre-empted by playoff games again this week: the show will still be broadcast by the other three stations it is normally heard on. The Central Road Racing Club will not be participating in the road race at the Hallet Road Racing Circuit in Hallet. Oklahoma, June 6-7. The race will be held at Oakhill Raceway in Henderson. Texas. on the same date instead. • Insurance limit closes gates to mini riders By Farren Williams LONG BEACH, CA, MAY 26 A recent edict from K&K Insurance Company of Flo Way ne, Indiana, limiting liability coverage to $100,000 for motorcycle racers under age 12, has forced officials at several southern Ca lifornia motocross facilities to bar younger riders from race tracks. Several Ca lifornia promoters con firmed today that they were notified in mid-May of a new $1 00,000 ceiling, almost two months afte r they had paid a 25% premium surcharge to ensure that riders under 12 wou ld receive adequate liabil ity coverage. Si nce most sou thern California race tracks require mi nimum coverage of $1 million for all classes, the new ceiling for younger riders - in effect bans them from competition. The insurance edict has forced California Racing Club to drop classes for younger riders, according to CRC's Jack Barbacovi, The Continental Motorsport Club (CMC) has dropped under-12 competition at all race tracks which require coverage above the new ceiling, and may eliminate classes for younger riders altogether. CMC officials said they currently are studying the insurance dilemma and should make a final decision in about 10 days. A spokesman for the National Motorsports Association said NMA will continue to hold races for riders under age 12 at race tracks that will accept the $100,000 liability limit. Officials from SMX (Sadd leback Motocross) have telephoned the parents of all riders under age 12 to no tify them that unti l ins urance problems are ironed out, SMX no longer will allow younger riders .to race in SMX events. Because most of the riders in the 60cc class are under age 12, SMX has called 60cc competition complete with four races remaining in the lfl-race, . Yamaha California Classic Series. (Co n tin ued to page L)

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