Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Australi an Wayn e Gardner (Hon) extended hi s 500cc World Championship point standi ngs lead with a win in th e Augu st 23 Czech oslovakia n Grand Prix. Gardner fini sh ed less th an two secon ds a head of defendin g World Ch ampion Eddie Law son (Yam) in th e 80.36-mile road race. Japan 's Tadah iko T aira (Yam) was th ird and Randy Mam ol a (Yam) fourt h . After I I of th e 15-round (the Belgian GP was ca nce led) series, Gardner has 135 points, Mamola 109 a nd Lawson 103. Three-time World Cha m pio n Freddie Spe ncer rep orted ly " los t" a contac t len s durin g th e race and finished ou t of the points . West Germ any's Ant o n Man g (Hon) won the Czech 250cc GP. Mike Keen (Hus) was the overall w inner of the August 23 Linnville, Ind iana. round of the AMA Nat ional Championsh ip Hare Scramble Series. Ron Ribolz i (Hon) was the 125cc A class winner, Ben Ham rick (Ho n ) topped t he 200cc A class. and Stan Lojak (Yam) finished f irst in the Open A class. T exan Doug Polen (Suz) contin ued his wi n ni ng ways, topp in g both Suzu ki G SXR Cup Series races a t the Augus t 23 WER AICRRC meet in T all ad ega , Alaba ma . Pol en finished a hea d of Scott Rus sell a nd J amie James in the A Producti on race, and was foll owed across the line in the B Producti on race by J ames and Russel l. Speedway racer Sam Ermolenko fa iled to submit a urine sample requested during random drug testing following a speedway meet at London, England's Hackney Speedway on Friday. Aug ust 14, and the southern Californian is now banned f rom competing in British speedway races. Ermolenko and fellow American Kelly Moran had t aken part in the meet which was rained out following the 12th heat and they were both instructed to provide ur ine sampies. Moran comp lied bu t Ermolenk o reported ly co uldn't urinat e. Ermolenko said . "I asked for some t ime and then I went and loaded up my bike and gear and drove off. I was several miles away when I real ized I had made a mistake," The suspension applies to British meets. but not FIM international meets. A hearing on the matter will be conducted by the British federation in mid-September: Cycle N ew s readers wh o also read Cycle News, In c.' s Personal W atercraf t Illus trated should di sregard the photos that acco mpa ny th e Octob er issu e's " How to" art icle. In p lain lan gu age, o ur " wet " ed itors a t P erso nal W atercr af t ILL u strated in stall ed th e fro nt nose cone po ntoon o n a Kawasaki J et Ski upside down ! Ignore th e a rticle 's pho tos a nd you' ll be a lot bett er off. By the way , we're h ol din g th e ed i tors res po nsi b le under wa ter - u pside down ! - until the next issu e of the bi-monthl y magazin e co mes ou t. The finale of the '87 Sequoia Summer Se ries, a series of volunteer trail maintenance sessions. will take place i n Californ ia 's Sequoia National Forest on September 6. Nearly $40.000 in product awards have been donated by over 100 concerned industry companies and the "goodies " will be given out via a drawing which will be conducted at Sequoia's Troy Meadows Campground at 3 p.m. on Sunday. September 6 . For specific information. call 213 /255-5815. For general informat ion. ca ll Angela at CORVA. 800 /2375436 . . Terry. Carter of 'Bessemer, Alab am a, ca me to the rescue of Cycle News advertisi ng salesma n Mike Ch urch a t the WERAlCRR C road race meet in Talladega, Ala ba ma, o n Sunday, Augus t 23. " I had brain fad e and locked my keys in the trunk of m y car," said Church. " At least seven d ifferent people tri ed to get into th e car so I cou ld tri gger its electric trunk lock, but all of th em failed until T erry pu lled it off." Mike add ed, . "Tha nks, T erry ." Team Suzuki's George Holland had a prototype 1989 Suzuki at the 125cc USGP in Steel City. Pennsylvania. August 16. It a case-reed induction system. low ered left-side gas tank. rad iators and a narrower seat. Holland did not ride the USGP of tile f lu . RM125 features lowered because Team Obsolete is offering a $500 rewa rd for inf orm at ion leading to t he r etu rn of a 1 9 8 7 Hon d a CBR250R . The bike is grey and black, was carrying New York license p late 04013. and it s serial number i s JH2MC1700 HM102611. The bike was stolen in New York City. If you have information regardi ng the bike• . ca ll 212 /505-5694. Nearly 20 count ries have su bmitted entry forms for th e September 13 Motocross des Nati ons a t New Berlin , New York 's Una di lla Vall ey Sports Center, according to Unadi lla 's Ji ll Robinson. " T here a re a coup le of countries we still expec t will be represented by teams but their entry form s didn 't arrive a t the AMA headquarters by- the deadline da te. The AMA has gi ven them some ex tra time to su bmit the en try for ms du e to reported mai l delays." Regarding our recen t a n no uncement th at tickets were still available for th e event, Ms. Robinson sai d, "There will be tickets avai lable a t th e ga te both Sa turda y (Sep tember 12) and Sunday (Sep tember 13). It 's virtuall y imposs ible to have a sell-o u t a t an outdoor motocro ss facilit y." For ticket in forma tio n, call 607/ 965-8784. The Thursday. August 20. AMA Regional Championship Half M ile at Pecatonica, Illinois, saw Marty Bushman (H-D) win the Expert . final. Da rell Davis (W -R) top the Juniors. and the Pro -Am win go t o Todd Br idges (Rt x ). Davis was killed in a race accident the fol lowing night at the Hamburg (N ew York) National Half M ile. Expert Sco u Pea rson (H -D), Junior Bryan Vill ella (W-R) a nd Pro-Am Audie H ou gh (H -D) wo n th eir respec tive main events at th e Sunda y, August 23, AMA Regional Champions hi p Half Mi le at Terre H aute, Ind iana. Yamaha has donated a y 'S R50 w hich will be awarded to a lucky competitor via a drawing at the Sunday. April 30, Yamaha YSR50 World Final Race of Champions at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosa mond. Cal ifornia . In addition to the World Final which invol ves riders who qualified in regional and international races, reg ular SMX-sanctioned classes will be run at Willow Springs. So uthern Ca lifornia motocrosser Will y Simons suffered comp ressed vertebrae and stressed ligam ents in h is lower bac k in a n accident during a mo tocross in Montpell ier, Fra nce, 0 11 August 13. Si mo ns expects to be out of action for fou r weeks. Cards and letters ca n be sent to Simons a t 2322 Alscot Ave., Simi Valley, CA 93063. Last m inute negotiations by the Hilltopper M .C. with Rosarito Beach, Baja Ca lifornia. Mexico, offic ials have assured one more beach race south of the border this year. Entries ope n September 1 . and close October 1 for the October 11 event that will feature t hree different c lasses, 250cc. Open. and ATV. Entry forms appear elsewhere in this issue; for more inf orm at ion contact 213 / 428-4971 or 714 /898 -4557. 2 Texas dirt tracker Sammy Sweet bad ly disloca ted his hip when th e throttl e stuck wide open o n his XR750 Harley-Davidson -during the Troy, Ohio, Regional H alf Mil e on August 15. Sweet, wh o has su ffered injuries this year at Nationa l miles in San J ose , Ca l i forn ia , a n d DuQ uo in , Illi nois, a nd at Regional half mi les in Troy and Parkersbu rg, West Virginia, is han gin g up hi s stee l shoe for th e rest ' of 1987. " Sa mm y's been riding hurt for most of th e season," said his mo the r Hila. " He will take th e rest of th e year off to recu perate." Cards a nd letters may be sent to Sweet a t R t 2, Box 2888, Porter , Texas 77365. HosPITal STOP : Expert d irt tracker Tommy Reg ister of Tennessee . who crashed hard off the jump during practice at the August 16 Peoria IT, is still hospitalized in the Neuro-Special Care Unit of St. Francis Medical Center; he is listed in fair condition. Reg ister was admitted to the hospital with numerous injuries. including swelling of the brain. a broken shoulder and fractured collarbone . according to the AMA. Cards and letters may be sent to Register in care of St. Francis Medical Center. 530 N.E. Glen Oak . Peoria, IL 61637. Dirt tracker David Durell e, wh o suffered inj uries during a cras h in th e firs t semi at theAugus t 16 Peoria TT, was released fro m th e NeuroSpecial Care Uni t of St. Francis Med i cal Cen ter o n Wednesd ay, August 19. U .S . Senat or Pete W ilson (R· Cal ifo r nia) expects the Public Lands Subcomm ittee of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to hold additional hearings in California en the 1987 California Desert Protection Act (57). accord ing to Bill Living· ston, W ilson 's press information officer. When asked about rumors that W ilson had recommended to the committee that hearings not be held in California. Livingston said. "That's not true." When asked why W ilson has not taken a position on the measure. livingston said, "The senator is withholding judgement until all information is made available. Th is bill could affect a lot of people. It's something that we need to go slowly on ." 57 was introduced by Senator A lan Cranston (0 California) at the beginning of the 1987 congressional session. The bill wou ld close most of the southern Californ ia desert to recreational use. including offroad riding. Sena te Bill . 1351, a clean ai r bill wh ich p roposes o verly-s tr ingen t em issions requ irements for mo tor cycles, has the support of Senator Wilson, acco rdi ng to Li vin gston. ':1 be l ieve h e su p ports th at ," sa id Livingston. " It co ntains some of th e sena tor's legis lation to clea n up th e air in th e co nt ine ntal she lf." Wh en as ked specifically abo ut p rovisions in the meas ure whi ch affect motorcycle emiss ions, Li vin gston said, " I just don't know. The bill hasn 't reac hed the floor yet and will prob ably. have further a mendments." Liv ingston also said that Senator Wilson 's office has no idea w hether or not W ilson will support Senator John Danforth's (RMissouri) 1987 Motorcycle Safety Act (51536), wh ich would place pe rformance li mit s on superbi kes . Livi ngston said. " Since it was just introduced. we haven 't had a chance to focus on it . " Livingston cou ld neit her confi rm nor deny reports that Danf o rth has asked W ilson to . co(Con ti n ue d to page 51)

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