Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1987 07 29

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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"There will be product shortages" (of the most popular models this year). California Randy Mamola (Yam) won the July 19 French Grand Prix, the eighth round of the World Championship Road Race Series, which was run in the rain at LeMans. Mamola finished 34 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Italian PierFrancesco Chili (Hon). Frenchman Christian Sarron (Yam) was third, Australian Wayne Gardner (Hon) fourth, and Ron Haslam (Hon) of England was fifth. Defending World Champion Eddie Lawson (Yam) crashed on the second lap and retired from the race. Gardner still heads the 500cc point standings with 93 points. Mamola is second with 81, Lawson is third with 64, and Haslam is fourth with 60. Reinhold Roth (Hon) won the French 250cc GP at LeMans. leading Dominique Sarron (Hon) and Cartos Cardus (Hon) across the finish line. Fausto Gresini (Gar) won the 125cc GP and the team of Biland/Waltisperg (LCR) won the Sidecar GP. SCRAMP, the Laguna Seca Raceway promoting group, has agreed to make a number of changes to the Monterey, California, road race facility prior to next year's longawaited U.S. round of the World Championship Road Race Series. Josef Zegwaard, the vice president of the FIM road race commission, inspected the facility during the July 11-12 AMA National Championship meet. Among the changes he deemed necessary were the previously announced FIM-required lengthening of the course to a minimum of 2.2 miles (it is presendy 1.9 miles long), run-off in specific turns and improvements to the pit facilities. Reportedly, a chicane will be added to the straightaway between turns two and three to provide for the ,required lengthening of the course. According to the AMA's Ed Youngblood, Laguna Seca organizers said there are no insurmountable requirements and that they plan to make the changes and will be ready for the April 10, 1988, Grand Prix race. While Laguna Seca will host a GP next year. they will not hold an AMA National Championship meet_ County officials allow the track five motorsport events per year and the four of those dates are committed to auto races. CBS Inc. announced on Monday, July 13, that it will sell its magazine division to a group that includes the publishing group's president and other senior officers for $650 million. Included in the titles published by CBS Inc., are Cycle and Cycle World magazines. West 57th Street. a CBS "magazine" TV show will air a segment on "High Speed Motorcycles" some time in August. according to Alan Isley of the Motorcycle Industry Council. 2 Harley-Davidson is enjoying its best year since 1981, and owns the highest "market share" in the over-85lcc for that company since 1976. According to Jerry Willkie, Marketing Director, ' While the U.S. team for the September 13 Motocross des Nations at New Berlin, New York's Unadilla Valley Sports Center hasn't been named yet. the trio of American motocrossers selected to compete at Unadilla. will be taking on racers from many countries. According to Unadilla's Jill Robinson. teams from the following countries are expected to compete in the Motocross des Nations: Australia. Belgium. Canada. Denmark. New Zealand. England, Hong Kong. Switzerland. Spain. Germany. Finland, Sweden and Holland. Road racers and spectators headed to Michigan's Grattan Raceway Park for the August 15-16 WERA meet should take note that sprint finals will be conducted on Saturday and the Michigan State Championship 4Hour Endurance Race will run on Sunday. The Michigan Motorcycle Dealers Association-sponsored endurance race will start at 2 p.m., following the Michigan Gran Prix which starts at I p.m. The Michigan Gran Prix is open to any size motorcycle that is race ready and can pass tech inspection. In other words, you can run what ya brung. The July 19 Italian round of the Wortd Championship Observed Triels Series was won by Jordi Tarres (Bet) with a score of 102. Thierry Michaud (Fan) finished second with 117. and Renato Chiaberto (Bet) was third with 118 points:Tarres leeds the point standings with 142 points. Michaud is second with 129. and Diego Basis (Apr), who finished fourth in Italy. is third with 123 points. According to Ojai District Ranger Dave Haney, the motorcycle portion of the Ortega Off-Highway Vehicle Trail in California's Los Padres National Forest will be closed for the remainder of the summer due to extremely hazardous fire conditions. According to Haney, this is the driest summer since the drought in 1976 and 1977.. It is much drier than 1985, the year in which the 118,OOO-acre Wheeler Fire occured. "The hazardous fire conditions are amplified because of the rye grass that was seeded after the Wheeler Fire," said Haney. "The only way that the trail could be reopened before the wiAter rains is if vol unteers step forward to clear the vegetation from the trail." Haney described the clearing as being "a monumental task," but said that if volunteers are willing to do the work he will supply the tools. "Closing the Ortega Trail is a management situation I regret, but unless the vegetation is cleared I have no other options," he concluded. Haney can be reached through the Los Padres National Forest office at 805/683-6711. William Burbank IV. known throughout the motorcycle indus·try as Bill Burbank Jr.• was convicted on 12 counts of fraud on Monday. July 13. in Asheville, North Carolina. A federal grand jury in May returned an indictment against Burbank. charging him with transferring $66.000 in funds from Sure-Fire Distributing Co.• a motorcycle parts distributor that was destroyed in a 1984 fire, to a dummy company a"d then writing $16.000 in checks for himse". Burbank. who owned Sure-Fire with his father. Bill Burbank Sr.• feces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine on eech of the 12 counts. RE~IGNED: David Osten;nan, as Cagtva North America MX team mana~r, effective July I, to pursue other tnterests. HosPITal STOP: Gary Ford, the multi-time Canadian Speedway National Champion, suffered critical injuries in a racing accident at Ontario's WeIland Speedway on July 12. Ford. the defending I.C.E. Indoor Ice Speedway champ, is in a coma and is listed in critical but stable condition. Well wishers are encouraged to send cards to: Gary Ford, Toronto Genenll Hospital. Neural Surgical Intansive Care, 2nd Floor, Eaton Building. 200 £lizabeth St., Toronto, Ontario M56' 2C4, Canada. TI:te I?th Annual Chuck Jordon HaU Mile, a round of the AMA Regional Championship Dirt Track Series, that was scheduled to take place August 30 at Marysville, Ohio, has been canceled, according to promoter Glenn Jordan. "The track installed Armco barriers and we would have had to install over 800 feet of special fencing and also move spectators 20 feet back from the track," said Jordan. "We hate to see the event go away, but are proud of the races we ran. Last year's race paid a purse of $16,300." AU proceeds from the II Chuck Jordan Memorial events were paid out to the racers. The Dirt Diggers M.C., one of southern California'. oldest offroad competition clubs now has membership opening•. The only qualifications needed are the love of off-road motorcycle riding, the ·desire to have fun and socialize with "a greet bunch of guys and their families and to support offroad motorcycling." Anyone wishing to join can attend a club meeting at the Round Table Pizza Partor in Culver City's Fox Hills Mall at 8 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. Call 213/828-4677 for more information. Gear Racewear has been conductiQg a $75,000 contingency program in the AMA Amateur National Championship MX Series that will continue through the August 12-15 finals at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. For details, contact: Gear Racewear, P.O. Box 4.30, Grove City, PA 16127,412/ 748-3;!00. Don Brymer, the promoter of the September 12 Syracuse Mile round of the Camel Pro Series. is conducting a contest that will award the winner two VIP tickets to the annual dirt track event. The "What the Syracuse Gold Cup Mile Means to 'Me" contest requires entrants to state in 200 words or less what the Syracuse Mile means to them. AU entries will be judged on originality, facts and racing enthusiasm and will become the property of Don Brymer Enterprises. The winner will be notified by mail, so be sure to include your name and address on your entry. Entries should be sent to Syracuse Gold Cup Mile Contest. P.O. Box 7011. Loudon. NH 03301, and must be received by August 1. The Syracuse Mile is being held on Saturday, September 12, to enable attendees to also catch the Motocross des Nations which will take place the next day at Unadilla Valley Sporu Center in New Berlin, New York. The Syracuse Mile will be sponsored by Circle Bell Enterprises. Circle Ben sells Camel Pro products at races across the country and also sponsors dirt track ace Scott Pearson. England's Kurt Nicoll (Kaw) used consistency to capture the overall victory at the Wortd Championship 500cc MX Series round in Hearen. Holland, July 19. Nicoll finished second in both motos, while Belgium's Georges Jobe (Hon) went 5-1 for second overaH. Third went to Sweden's Leif Persson (Yam). who taUied a 4-3. Jobe maintains his points lead over Nicoll. 260-194. Third in points is defending World Champion Dave Thorpe (Hon) with 165. Granada Hills, California's Steve Johnson showed up at the July 12 NHRA Summernationals drag race meet in New Jersey with his Pro Stock Kawasaki in a crate. Johnson flew to the meet and air freighted his bike. He drew a crowd of onlookers as he worked "out of a box" during the weekend. Johnson won his first round race, turning in a run at 8.371 seconds, 155.73 mph, but was defeated in second round racing by Frank Maratorelli, who in tum was downed by the meet's winner, Da~ Schultz, in the third round. Kawasaki Team Green will agakl have service technicians at both the NMA and AMA Amateur MX National Championship meets in August. Teem Green will assist all Kawasaki racers at both Ponca City (Oklahoma) and Loretta Lynn's (Tenness_). Technical assistance will be available after practice (the exception would be to those racers who travel from Ponca City to Loretta Lynn·s). Emergency race parts will be for sale after practice. Kawasaki'. Jeff Ward, the 1987 Supercrosa Champion. and Ron Lechien wiI be at Ponca City on Wednesday, August 6, to give awey Teem . Green posters and sign autographs. Team Green will be sponsoring a fishing tournament at Loretta Lynn's and a trivia contest at Ponca City. Stop by the Team Green pits for more information. There's been a delay in track construction that will prevent the Yamaha/SMX YSR Track Challenge event that was to have been held Sunday, July 26, at Glen Helen Raceway at San Bernardino, California, from taking place. SMX will advise as soon as more information becomes available. For info, calI7I4/ 582-3482. The 27th Annual Tokyo International Motor Show will take place October 30-November 9. The Japanese show. which is held every other year, attracted a record 1.29 million visitors in 1985. Harumi Fairground. the site of the show. is close to Tokyo's business centers of Marunouchi and Otemachi and the Ginza shopping area. Daytona Cycle Week '88 will take place earlier than usual. "Next year, our Daytona 200 race date (March 6) falls earlier than any year in recent memory," said John Riddle, Daytona International Speedway's general manager. "But tt's always three weeks after the Daytona 500, which in 1988 will be on February 14."

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