Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Dominique Sarron (Hon) won the 260cc Grand Prix in Brazil, topping Sito _Pons (Hon) and Carlos Cardus (Hon). Anton Mang (Hon), who had already sewn up the 1987 250cc World Championship, finished seventh. Wayne Gardner's World Championship-winning victory in Brazil was the lOth Grand Prix win of his career with seven of those coming in 1987. Gardner's first Grand Prix win came only a year ago in Spain. Cagiva had its best road race . Grand Prix finish to date as Belgian Didier de Radigues rode the 500cc V-four to a fourth place finish in Brazil on September 27. Movie star Elizabeth Taylor shows off the Harley-Davidson Hugger that publishing tycoon Malcolm Forbes gave her on Sunday, September 20. The purple Harley was custom painted by Willie G. Davidson. Purple was chosen by Malcolm to match the color of the packages that house bottles of Taylor's new perfume, Passion. After the horde. of photographers on hand got all the shots they. wanted, Malcolm, Liz and The Capitalist Tools rode from the Forbes estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, to Englishtown Raceway Park where they watched a motocross race. East German teams won both the Trophy Team and Junior World Team competition in the September 21-26 International Six Days Enduro in Poland. Italy was second in the Trophy Team competition, Sweden third, Great Britain fourth, and Poland fifth. The American team finished seventh. U.S. Trophy Team member Mark Hyde (Hus) suffered a broken wrist early on day one and Alan Randt (Hus) illegally took his place. The switch wasn't discovered until Randt suffered a broken hip on day four. Italy finished second in Junior World Team c()mpetition while the American team finished third. Complete coverage next week. The 1987 Coors U.S. Nation'al Speedway Championship at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on Saturday night, October 3, will see 16 riders go for the title. The riders qualified for the National Championship event in a new six-round National Championship Series that took place at different California tracks. Bobby Schwartz is the defending National Champion. Although nothing has been signed, it appears Kevin Schwantz will resign with Suzuki for 1988. Despite having talks with Giacomo Agostini about the possiblity of joining the Marlboro Yamaha squad, the 23year-old Texan will more than likely ride a 500cc V-four Suzuki in the 1988 500cc World Championship. "I've sat down and talked about it with my family ~nd I think 1 will sign a one-year deal with them (Suzl,lki) and see how it goes," Schwantz said. "I feel like lowe 'em, they've done a lot for my career. It wasn't because of money, I just felt like I would be the number one priority at Suzuki. I'm sure Kel (Carruthers - Marlboro Yamaha's crew chief) would. have made sure I got the same equipment, but as a whole with Yamaha there's Eddie (Lawson), Randy (Mamoia), Wayne (Rainey), etc. With Suzuki, I will be the number one priority." 2 Australian Wayne Gardner (Hon) clinched the 1987 500cc Road Race World Championship with his win in the Brazilian Grand Prix in Golania, Brazil, on September 27. Gardner topped defending World Champion Eddie Lawson (Yam) by 5.1 seconds with Randy Mamola (Yam) finishing third, a further eight seconds behind. Mike Baldwin (Yain) finished 10th. Freddie Spencer (Hon) qualified seventh but did not compete; no explanation for his withdrawal was given. With only the October 4 Argentine GP remaining, Gardner has 168 points to Mamola's 146 while Lawson is third with 142. Kurt Liebmann won the 600cc Premier and F-760 classes during vin~ge racing action at Watkins Glen, New York, on September 12-13. The Vintage Motorcycle Road Racing Group-promoted event. was part of the CanadianAmerican Challenge Series held during the Serengeti Vintage D;ivers Cup Weekend: Doug Chandler's flat tire in the heat race at Ascot Park on Saturday night, September 26, had to have brought a smile to the faces of two road racers . in attendance. Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz watched as Chandler's tire went flat, forcing him to miss the National and valuable Camel Pro Series points. Chandler trails third-placed Schwantz by 12 points and second-placed Rainey by 13 in Camel points. Bubba Shobert has already gone to the bank with $100,000, the winner's share of the Camel Pro point fund, but the flat tire might have cost Chandler as much as $15,000. Second pays $25,000, third $20,000 and fourth $10,000. With only this coming Saturday night's (October 3) Sacramento Mile remaining on the Camel Pro Series schedule, Chandler needs at least a second place finish (worth 16 points) to finish second by himself. A third place finish would leave Rainey and Chandler tied for second in the Camel Pro point standings. A fourth place finish (worth II points) by Chandler at Sacramento would allow both Rainey and Schwantz to finish ahead of him. But that's all based on Rainey not scoring any points and Rainey says he'll race at Sacramento on one of Bubba . Shobert's Hondas. Rainey sold his dirt track equipment to Maryland's Mike Sponseller and Rodney Farris will ride the ex-Rainey Honda at Sacramento. The October 4 Redding, Califor-' nia, round of the AMA National Championship-Enduro Series has been canceled due to the posting of a Stage I( fire alert in the area. A spokesman for the Redding Dirt Riders says the club will run a nonNational District 36 enduro on November 1. A few issues back we ran an item about Dale Walker turning in an 8.04 second r n on a Pro Street Suzuki drag bike without a wheelie bar and concluded the item by asking i1 anyone had gone any quicker - sans a wheelie bar. Several readers have written/called to tell us that Wes Nyce, also on a Pro Street Suzuki turned in an 8.03 pass in a recent IMRA meet at Pennsylvania's Maple Grove Raceway. Open speedway practice will be conducted at Ascot Park's South Bay Stadium in Gardena, California. on Friday nights, beginning October 9. The practice sessions will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and are open to riders over 18 years of age. The San Diego (California) Union newspaper reported on Sunday, September 27, that El Cajon, California's Broc Glover was venturing to Europe for an assault on the 1988 500cc MX WOl'ld Championship Series. According to Yamaha's Glover, on Monday, September 28, "It (the Europe plans) got shot down pretty good by Japan. It looked like I was going to be going over there to try and win the World Championship, but all of a sudden nobody wants to send the money." Glover said he has ridden a few times si nce breaking his tibia early in 1987, adding "you don't forget how to ride." Glover said that two months ago doctors reported that his leg was up to 90 percent. Bubbe Shobert wrapped up his third Grand National Championship at the September 26 Ascot Half Mile, but second place in the National Dirt Track Series is still up for grabs and Ascot winner Chris Carr wants it. "I may not be able to win the championship, but I've still got a shot at second place," Carr said, but Carr's shot is a long shot. Parker leads Carr 191-176 in the standings. Shobert has an unbeatable 212 points. Tyson Vohland (Kaw) scored the win in the final race of the Mickey Thompson Ultracross Series, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 26. Robert Naughton (Hon) and Tommy Watts (Kaw) rounded out the top three. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) claimed the series title. Dan Ashcraft (Hon) won the final round of Casey Folks' Best in the Desert Series, held near Laughlin, Nevada, September 27. Don Griewe (Kaw) finished second and Garth Sweetland (HusJ took third. The series overall title went to Kevin Steele (ATK), with Sweetland finishing second and Griewe taking third. AB78I, a California bill requiring all ATV riders under 18 years of age to have a safety certificate or be directly under adult supervision when riding on public lands, was signed into'law September 21 by Governor George Deukmejian. All riders under 18 will have to complete a state-prescribed safety training course to receive a safety certificate, and even if they have a certificate, riders under 14 must be under the direct supervision of an adult whenever they ride ATVs on public lands. The law will go into effect January J, 1990. AB781 will establish an OffHighway Vehicle Safety Education Committee in California, .effective January 1, 1988. The committee will consist of the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol. the Deputy _Director of Parks and Recreation (Continued to page 51) Motorcycles may escape stringent clean air standards WA HI GTON, D.C. SEPT 16 Motorcyclists scored a major victory today when new language was written into proposed Clean Air Act Amendments which would allow motorcycles to escapc the stringent hydrocarbon emission standards proposed in enatc Bill 1351, introduced June 10 by U.S. Senator George Mitchell (D·· Maine). Senator Dave Durenberger (IRMinnesota), introduced amendments in the Senate Committee on Envir· onment and Public Works to create a compromise which would reduce proposed emissions standards for motorcycles. Under Durenberger's proposal, motorcycles with engine displacementless than 700cc will be allowed two grams-per-vehicle-mile of. hydrocarbon emissions while bikes with engine displacement greater than 700cc will be allowed 3.6 gramsper-vehicle-mile. These standards still represent a ignjficant reduction in motorcycle emissions from current standards, but should not req uire the radica I engine modifications mandated by the original proposal. In its original form, SI351 would have required expensive, extensive cngine and exhaust system modifications, including catalytic converters, water-cooled engines, and fuel injection systems to meet the proposed 0.25 grams-per-vebicle-mile standard. Timothy K. Hoelter, vice president (Continued to page 4)

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