Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

final at the August 16 NHRA Quaker State Northstar Nationals at Brainerd, M innesota . Schultz turned in an 8.152 sec on d, 1 63. 1 6 mph run t o top Mafaro 's 8.245 /160.17 . Sch ultz also t urned in the top speed of the meet , 1 63 .8 1, w hile Terry Va nce (Suz), who lo st to Sc hultz in a sem i, logged the meet 's f ast est Pro Stock E.T. at 8 .094 seconds. Finland's Pekka Vehkonen (Cag) captured the overall victory, via a 2I score, at the World Championship 250cc MX GP in Cam p De Jordeo, Brazil, Au~s t 2. American rider Rodney Smith (Hon) topped the first moto and finished third in the second for second overa ll, while Belgium's Eric Geboers (Hon) finished third. In Argentina, South America, August 9, the second -to -Iast round of the World Championship 250cc MX Series, Belgium's Eric Geboers wrapped up the title with the overall victory. Geboers has 313 points and is followed by Finland's Pekka Vehkonen (Cag) with 291 . Third i s Sweden's Jorgen Nilsson (Hon) w ith 255. Dave Bertram (Hus) won the August, 16 Speedville, New York, round of the AMA National Champ ionship Enduro Series. Kevin Hines (KTM) fin ished second and Drew Smith (Hon) was third. The Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association (IMDA) w ill be hol ding a vintage motorcycle parade and show during the running of the September 6 Camel Pro Series Springfield Mile. Trophies w ill be awarded in two classes: Best Vintage Racer and Best Vintage Street Bike. Vintage bike owners interested in pa~icipating may contact the IMDA, 2000 E. Cornell Ave., Springfield, Il 62073, 217/753-8866. Texan Doug Polen cleaned house at the August 16 AFM road race meet at California's Willow Springs Raceway. Ridi ng Suzu kis, Polen won both the Open and 750cc Production classes. He then rode a Honda to victory in the 600cc Production class. He was last seen headed to his bank with Suzuki and Honda contingency . money. Dave Schultz (Kaw) beat John Mafaro (Kaw) in the Pro Stock USA Network will telecast The Best of the Stroh Miles on September I· 2-3 at II :30 p.m . in all time zones. The three shows will cover the six Stroh Miles that ran as part of the Camel Pro Series in 1985. "The telecast will make it 14 straight years that we've had motorcycle racing on TV," said Peter Starr. ' producer of the shows. Bill Pulskamp, 57, died of a heart attack Wednesday, A ugust 12. Pulskamp served in various positions during his 18 years w ith American Honda, ranging from manager of motorcycle advertising to being in charge of racing public relations. Pulskamp had accepted early retirement d uring the recent American Ho nda vo luntary separation program and Friday, Aug ust 13, was to have been his last day at Honda. A f uneral mass w as hel d on Monday, August 17, at St . Theresa 's Church in A lhambra, California, and bu ri al services were con d ucted at Cal vary Cemetery in Wh ittier, Californ ia, on Tue sday, . A ug ust 18. Motorcyclist Malcolm Forbes, who pilots hot air balloons and publishes Forbes magazine. when he's not riding, took movie star Elizabeth Taylor on a lOO-mile spin Sunday, August 16. Forbes and his riding group, The Capitalist Tools , attended a rally hosted by the Blue Star M.C. of New Jersey. Rally participants passed a helmet and collected $1000 which they gave to Liz for her AIDS foundation. The August 30 f inal round of the SMX/Yamaha YSR50 Track Challenge at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California , is being billed as t he World Final Race of Champions. Cal ifornia riders w ill compete against riders from Japan, Canada, Texas and Ok lahoma. A proposal for a major change in The ATK Leitner Corporat io n w ill be offering two new motocros s motorcycles f or 1988, an ATK 250 and 406. Both t hese motorcycles will be marlc:eted w ith optional enduro kits. The 250 and 406cc ATKs will have two-stroke Rotax motors; a countershaft disc brake; upside down White Power f orks; WP rear single shocks, and an ATK cha in torque eliminator. Th e 250 w ill retail for $3465 and t he 406 w ill sell f or $3565 . They should be available in October. AMA Professional MX class structure was made by Yamaha's Ken Clark at the AMA MX Advisory Board meeting on August 10 in Westerville, Ohio. The proposal calls for elmination of the SOOcc class in the AMA professional MX program. The text of Clark's rroposal is as follows: "There shal be two equipment classes based on engine size and type: a) Lightweight class: 0-12Scc two strokes, O·ISOcc fourstrokes. b) Heavyweight class: ISO250cc two-strokes, ISI-360cc four strokes. c) Promoters shall obtain a sanction for both classes to be run on the same day with purses to be divided equally." The rationale for Clark's proposed change in class structure reads as follows: " T o reduce the cost of competition. With the current three-class structure, a rider must have two motorcycles minimum - with a SOOcc bike for only a few races at the end of the season. This new two-class structure would allow a rider to compete at both National events and Supercross events with the same motorcycle." Clark's proposal was seconded by promoter Bill West and carried by a vote of 4.2. Affirmative votes were . cast by Clark, West, Pat Alexander of U.S. Suzuki and Rich Winkler of SRO -Pace P romo tio ns. Negative votes were cast by Dave Arnold of American Honda and Roy Turner of Kawasaki. Four members of the advisory board were absent and a mail ballot has been sent to all advisory board members. Those present at the meeting recommended that the proposed change take effect in 1988. The 1987 CMC ' D odg e T ru ck Trans-Cal MX Series gets underway on September 6 when the opening round of the seven-race series ta kes place at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, Ca l ifornia. Professional racers must preenter and on ly the f irst 36 entries will be accepted in the 125, 250 and 500cc Pro classes. Entry blanks are avai lable from CMC, 18019-F Skypark Circle, Irvine , CA 92714. Team Lockhart (Suz), with Larry Shorts and Dale Quarterly handling the riding chores, won the IOth round of the AMA/MotoWorid U.S. Endurance Road Race Series, at Georgia's Road Atlanta on Saturday, August 15. The SOO-kilometer race went right down to the wire and Lockhart finished only 29.18 seconds ahead of Dutchman Racing (Suz). Team Sanibel (Suz) finished third, one lap down on .t h e top two finishers. Team Suzuki's M ike Harth suffered a broken leg in a heat race at the August 15-16 WERA road race mee t at Grattan. Michigan. Harth expects to be back in action in four weeks. While American Honda will release no , information as to how many emp loyees resigned prior to the July 24 deadline for Honda 's " voluntary . separation" program, one advertising trade magazine reported that six of seven " in house" advertising department employees did resign . 2 Rumors regard ing American Honda's racing department are floating around the pits. All but con fi rm ed is the shift of Honda race t eam ma nager Gary Mathers to a public, relati o ns position . O ne Hon da race t eam member says Honda w ill pull out of dirt t rack racing next year. turn ing bikes and equipment ov er t o Grand National Champion Bubba Shobert to cam - paign on his own. We 're also told that Honda will field only one road racer in next year's Camel Pro Series events. In their August 18 regular meeting, the Anaheim (California) City Council discussed the recent awarding of a contract to Mickey Thompson that gives Thompson the rights to promote all motorsports events at Anaheim Stadium next year. Mike Goodwin, who had promoted an AMA Supercross event in the stadium for many years, was contesting some of the claims made by Thompson in his bid for that contract. The City Council stuck with their previous decision and Thompson will promote all motors ports events in Anaheim Stadium III 1988. Rick Bogdan, who has represented Dunlop at races for many years, is no longer w ith the t ire manufacturer. Bogdan distributed a letter at the August 16 U.S. 125cc MX GP in Pennsylvania, citing un reconcilable differences he had with his im mediat e supervisor as the main reason for his departure. Bogdan is seeking a position in the industry and he can be contacted at 51 Truesdale Rd ., Kenmore, NY 14223. Dave Coombs, promoter of the August 16 U.S. l25cc MX GP in P en n sylva n ia and the previous week's AMA Amateur MX Finals in Tennessee, was readmitted to the hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, on August 14. Coombs has been bothered by a heart virus. "His system just shut down from the heat at Loretta Lynn's," said his wife, Rita. "We're not going to worry, we're just going to get him fixed up once and for all. " According to Rita Coombs, there won 't be a U.S . 125cc MX GP next year. " The AMA didn't submit an application to the FIM for one, " said Coombs. Scott USA's Bill Larson had a prototype Scott Goggle at the Steel City USA GP. "It has a roll-off system that operates with a ligh t senso r," . said Larson. You just move your hand past the sensor and the tearoff film advances. We have some test units now, and hope to have production units available in December." West Palm Beach , Florida 's Moroso Motorsports Park wi ll host a round of the AMA/CCS MotoWorid U.S . Endurance Road Race Championsh ip Series on Saturday , September 1 9. The even t , wh ich was just added t o t he schedule, w ill be t he 12t h round of the ' 8 7 series . Southeastern Reg ional sprint races w ill take place at M oroso on Sunday, September 20. For more inf o call Moroso at 305 /793-3394 or AMA/CCS at 704/684-4297. Steve Jones, formerly a technical advisor for U.S. Suzuki, has been appointed sales manager for the Polaris Division of Western Power Sports, Inc. of Boise. Idaho. Polaris manufa cturers ATVs and snowmobiles. The f irst round of the Wo rld Team Cup Speedway Series on August 1 6 was wo n by host country Denmark with 47 po ints. England finished second w ith 37, and the U.S squad ended up t hird w ith 24 points. Sam Ermolenko led the U.S w ith ni ne po ints. Rick M iller (Con tin ued 10 page 14)

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