Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126986
World Champion's fifth win of the 1987 season and the 19th of his career. The win moves Lawson into a tie with Barry Sheene for seventh on the all-time 500cc GP win list, and puts him one victory behind Freddie Spencer-who has 20 career wins. l-4 (l,) ~ o .... u o Eddie Lawson (Yam) beat Randy Mamola (Yam) by 11.4 seconds to win the final round of the 500cc World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 4. Newly-crow.ned World Champion Wayne Gardner (Hon) finished third, three seconds behind Mamola. Spaniard Sito Pons (Hon) won the 250cc Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, topping Dominique Sarron (Hon) by two-tenths of a second. Third place went to Japan's Shimizu Masahiro (Hon); Anton Mang, who had already wrapped up the 250cc World Championship, elected not to ride in Argentina. The final point standings in the 500cc Road Racing World Championship Series have Wayne Gardner taking the title with 178 points. Randy Mamola edged Eddie Lawson for second, 158-157, while Ron Haslam holds on to fourth with 7I points. Fifth place in the championship goes to Scotland's Niall Mackenzie with 61 points. Gardner won a total of seven races during the season, with Lawson winning five and Mamoia three. In tM final 250cc Road Racing World Championship point standings, Sito Pons' win in Brazil moved him into a tie for second place. behind Anton Mang, with Reinhold Roth at 10'8 points. Fourth place in the championship goes to Dominique Sarron with 97 while Carlos Cardus ends up. fifth with 70 points. Eddie Lawson's 500cc Grand Prix win in Argentina was the two-time Team Suzuki's (Suz) Mike Harth, Thomas Stevens and Russ Paulk won the Texas 8-Hour round of the WERA/EBC National Endurance Championship in College Station, Texas. on October 3. Team Scream (Suz) finished four . laps behind Team Suzuki to take second place with Genesis Racing (Yam) finishing third. Personal Watercraft Illustrated, a bimonthly magazine published by Cycle ews, Inc., is seeking an assistant editor. Applicants should be qualified journali ts with personal watercraft, i.e. Jet Ski, etc., experience. Photography skills are' also required. Send resulI)es to address listed above. Ed Lojak (Hus) won the Morgantown, West Virginia, round of the AM~ National Cross Country Championship on October 3. Duane Conner (Yam) finished second overall with Scott Sommers (Hus) third. Scon Gray (Suz) took the win in the fifth round of the WSMA Formula USA Road Race Series at Willow Spnngs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, on October 4. Gray topped James Domay (Suz) and Earl Roloff (Yam). Team U.S.A. won the motorcycle roed racing portion of the Police Olympics at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, on October 4. The U.S. squad topped a team from France with Italy finishing third in the event that saw 15 countries field teams. Senate Bill 7, U.S. Senator Alan Cranston's (D-California) California Desert Protection Act, would h~ve a Three-time Camel Pro Champion Bubba Shobert and crew were honored during a special celebration following the Sacramento Mile. Pictured, from left, are Shobert's tuners, Ray Plumb and Skip Eaken. Miss Camel Pro, Galia Gomez, Shobert and R.J. Reynold's Curtis Gray. serious economic impact on southern CalHornia motorcycle/ ATV dealers, according to an analysis recently released by the Motorcycle Industry Council. The MIC reports that S7, which would close much of the California desert to off-road riding, would re ult in a 75% decline in new motorcycle and ATV sales in _ the southern California area, and a 50% decline in off-highway vehicle use. Total sales, services, salaries and taxes raised from motorcycle/ATV sales and OHV use would decline from an annual estimated total of 248 million to 98.9 million, resulting in an estimated yearly loss of 149.1 million. If the measure is approved, retail sales for new offroad motorcycles and ATVs are expected to drop from $95.7 million to 23.9 million. The retail sales for used off-road motorcycles and ATVs are expected to drop from $17.2 million to 8.6 million. Significant losses also are expected in the areas of parts and accessories sales, dealer servicing, dealer product advertising, vehicle financing charges, insurance premiums, food and accommodations for overnight trips to the desert, industry personnel salaries, and losses to state income from reduced licenses and taxes. Fifteen-inch pasaenger car tires should never be fitted to 15-inch motorcycle rims, the Motorcycle Industry Council warned recently. Pointing to published articles which condone the use of 15-inch passenger car tires on motorcycles and sidecars equipped with motorycle rims, the MIC cautioned that, "A 15-inch motorcycle rim actually has a larger beed seat diameter than a 15-inch passenger car rim and each tire type is designed to fit only its corresponding rim. If any attempt is made to mount passenger car tires on 15M/C motorcycle rims. it may causa one of the beads to break with explosive force and could cause serious physical injury or death." According to a TUF Racing press release, motocrosser Keith Bowen has signed to ride for the team in the 1988 125cc Nationals and the Supercross Series. It is undecided whether Bowen will be aboard TUFsponsored Kawasakis or Suzukis in 1988. Our man in Europe, Michael Scott, reports that word in the Brazilian paddock during the September 27 running of the Brazilian GP, was that Texan Kevin Schwantz' GP deal with Suzuki for the 1988 series is worth a record $750,000. Reports from Europe also indicate that Camel could be the sponsor behind Suzuki's big-dollar 1988 GP effort. Wes Cooley will join Team Suzuki for the AMAlCCS Endurance Race at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, on October II. Cooley will join Thomas Stevens and Mike Harth on the team's Suzuki GSXRllOO. Theformer AMA Superbike Champion rode for Team Suzuki during the 24-hour endurance race at Willow Springs and performed impressively after his layoff due to injury. 2 Team Suzuki's Johnny O''Mara underwent orthoscopic knee surgery on both knees recently after a slow-speed crash on his practice track near his Simi Valley. California, home. "It was one of those silly falls where you don't expect anything to happen," O'Mara said. "I tried to hold the bike up and did the splits, and when I couldn't bend anymore both my knees gave out." O'Mara is expecting a one-month recuperation period before he can get back to training for the 1988 season. O'Mara has been sponsored by a mountain bike manufacturer, and during the offseason has logged a fourth and third overall in National competition. Acerbis Plastica USA is now accepting resum~s Lor their 1988 support program. Three different levels of support will be offered for motocross, enduro, desert, trials and road race riders at every level. Resumes should be sent to 1988 Team Acerbis, Acerbis Plasica USA,l0911-H Wheatlands Ave., Santee, CA 92071. All resumes will be considered and Acerbis will contact everyone by January I, 1988 with its decisions.. Tommy Watts (Ke~) won the 250cc Pro class during round five of the CMC/Dodge Truck TransCal Series in Dixon. Califomia, on October 4. Mike Larson (Kaw) won the 500cc Pro class, and Michael Craig (Yam) took the 125cc Pro honors. Former 500cc National MX Champion David Bailey is diligently devoting six hours a day to his rehabilitation program, and still plaTts on walking after being paralyzed from a crash in January. "There's no doubt I'm going to walk, it's just when," Bailey said from his home in Axton, Virginia. Bailey suffered a setback when he accidently burned his stomach while using a diothermy machine. "I can't feel anything down there, so I didn't know how bad it was," Bailey said. "I ended up with some second degree burns, but all I can do is take care of it and push ahead. You just have to hang in there when the going gets tough." The Redding, California, round of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series that was to have run on October 4 but was canceled because of Stage II fire alerts, has been rescheduled and will take place on November 8. Supercross champ Jeff Ward, Eddie Warren, Ron Lechien, Billy Liles, Mickey Kessler, Tyson Vohland and Jo Jo Keller are among the motocrossers who will compete in the October 17-18 Kawasaki Race of Champions at New Jersey's Englishtown Raceway Park. Tickets are available at participating Kawasaki dealers in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. For further information, call 201/4466331. Results of the Junior Support Race at the September 20 Sen Jose Mile were inadvertantly omitted from our race cover8g8. Full results follow: 1. Bryan Villella; 2. Craig Howard; 3. Kevin Atherton; 4. Bobby McDowell; 5. Erik Graybeal; 6. Kris Kiser; 7. Craig Johnson; 8. Mike Gresham; 9. Mike McDonnell; 10. Chance Darling; 11. Mark Corsetti; 12. Tony Alves. The October 10-11 round of the Sequoia Summer Series in the Sequoia National Forest has been cancelled because of extreme fire danger , due to the recent Southern California heat wave. Depending on the weather (an inch of rain is needed) the equoia Summers Series i tentatively rescheduled for late October or early November.