Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Honda's Dan Ashcraft a nd Bruce Ogilvie (H on) won the 20th Annual SCORE Baja 1000, held Friday, November 6 in Baja Califor- nia , Mexico. T he XR600R-mounted team fin ished the grueling 705-mile race in 12 hours , two minutes, averagi ng just under 60 mph. Taking second, more than 30 minutes back , were AI Baker and Ra nd y Norman (Ho n) and a tim e-adjusted third place went to the first Over30 team of Chris Hain es, Dan ny LaPorte and Scot Harden (H on). Fourth place (first 250) was claimed by th e Ted Hunnicut t/Brett Ho well team (Kaw). Participa nts calle d th e event on e of toughest SCO RE Baja 1000com peti tions in recent memory. ABC's Wide World of Sports was on hand to cover this year's Baja 1000. When the footage will air is anybody's guess at the moment (although the rumor mill says sometime in January). We'll keep you posted. David Schultz (Kaw) took top honors in the Pro Stock division at th e NHRA 23rd Annual Winston Finals, held November 6-8 at Pomona Raceway in Pomona, Cal ifornia. Rick Gero (Suz) finished second and Russ Olmstead (Suz) claimed third. Van ce & Hines Suzuki pilot Terry Van ce was th e fast qualifi er , but was elimi nated in th e quarterfinals. Dutchman Racing 's (Suz) Kev in Rentzell and Jeff He ino completed 224 la ps for a total of 560 miles to win the final round of the WERA /EBC Brakes Natio nal Endurance Series at Road Atlanta in Braselton , Georg ia , on November 7 . Dutchman topped Hig h Tech Racing (Suz) by two laps w ith Solmax Racing (Ya m ) finishing third. Team Suzuki (Suz) won it s fourth overall WERA endurance championship a fter fin ishing 30th at Road Atlanta, beating Human Race Team (Yam) by one point. Human Race Team f in ished fourth in the Road Atlanta round. Thomas Stevens (Suz) won the F-I class and the A Superbike Expert class during the WE RA Road Race Finals a t Road Atlanta on November 8. Cam Roos (Yam ) won the D Superbike Expert and th e Clubman events, Chris Bigoney (Yam ) topped the F-2 Expert class, Scott Russell (Yam) won the A Prod uctio n Expert class, J am ie James (Suz) won the B P rod u ct io n Expert class, Kevin Rentzel l (Suz) topped the B Superbik e Expert field , Greg Tysor (Hon) won the C P roduction Expert and the C Superbike Expert classe s, and Andy Fenwich (Kaw) won the D Production Expert class. Mike Harth (Suz), who finished third in the' FI class, third in th e A Prod uctio n class, third in th e A Superbike clas s and third in the B P rod uction class, refused to let offi cial s tear down hi s machines and thus relinqu ishes his four third pl ace fini shes. Sammy Bosnic (S uz) captured the overall victory at t he final round of the Wiseco AMA /AATVA Grand National Cross Country Series at the Hi-Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvan ia. November 8. Second place went Gene Romero, 40. and Cheri Affentranger were married on October 24 in Yorba Linda, California. Among those attending the 1970 Grand National Champion's wedding were (left, fro nt row) David Aldana. (second row, left to right) Ph il McDona ld and Murray Hoffman , and (back row) Roger Sanderson, Lance Laughlin and Jerry Smith. Romero is now working for Agajanian Enterprises and is invo lve d in promoting events at Gardena. California's Ascot Park. to Stan Lojak (Yam) followed by Scott Plessinger (Kaw), Duane Conner (Yam) and Mike Toole (Yarri) . Ed Lojak (Hus), who wrapped up the series title November 1 , sat out the fina l round nursing a knee iniury. Second in the series went to Scott Summer (Hon) followed by Conner, Stan Lojak and Fred Hoess (Hus) . The 1988 FIM World Championship Road Race schedule was released at the FIM Congress in Paris, France, on November I. T he 16-race seri es lo oks like this: March 6, Brazil (G o ia n ia) ; March 13, Argentina (Buenos Aires); March 27, J apan (Suzuka) ; April 10, USA (La guna Seca ); May I , Portugal (Estorr l): April 24, Spain (Jarama); May 22, Italy (Imola ); May 29, West Germany (N urburg ring ); June 12, Austria (Salzburg); June 25, Ho lland (Asse n ); Jul y 3, Be lgium (Sp aFrancorchamps); July 17, Yugos lavia (Rijeka); J uly 24, France (Pau l Ricard); August 7, Brita in (Doni ngto n Pa r k); August 14, Sweden (Anderstorp) : August 28, Czechoslovakia (Brno). The FIM schedule. however, will be changed , at least in part, according to many GP ins ide rs . The first two races in South America have been scheduled despite the major players - teams and riders - refusal to return to the Brazilian and Argentine racing facilities. The dates are also in quest ion because t he Japanese manufacturers of Gra nd Prix equipment are not likely to have their new models ready in time for a March 6 Grand Prix . The scheduled March 6 Brazilian GP also conflicts w ith the Daytona 200. The FIM ha s changed the point paying system for Grand Prix road races, with th e new system going into effect starting with th e first race in 1988. Unlike th e present sys tem which pay s points to th e top 10 rid ers. the new system will pay points to the top 15 rid ers in a 20-17-151 3-11-10 -9-8 -7-6 - 5 - 4 - 3-2-1 breakdown. The in a u g u ra l FIM Superbike World Championship Series schedule was approved at the FIM Congress and it reads like this: April 3 , Britain (Don ington Park); April 10. Italy (Misa no); April 30, Hungary (Bud a pe st); May 8 , West Germany (Hockenheim); July 10, San Marino (Misano); July 24, Canada (S ha n no nville); August 28, :Ja pa n (Sugo); September 4 , France (Le Mans); September 25, Australia (Calder Park); October 9 , New Zeala nd (Manfield ). Accordi ng to the director of th e AMA Ch ampion sh ip Cup Series, Roger Ed mo ndso n, th e protest fil ed by Tho mas Steven s agai ns t Donald J acks after Ja cks' win in th e Mid dleweig ht Su persport event at th e Dayton a Race of Ch ampion s has been upheld. The cylinde r heads on J acks' H onda CBR600 Hurrican e had been bead blasted and the inta ke and exha ust ports had been modified. The di squalificati on of J acks ga ve St ev ens th e Midd lew eight Supersport win ; Ja cks rod e th e same bik e to th e win-in the Midd leweight Superbike event, a class which allows engi ne modificati ons. 2 Australian road racer Kevin Magee has .s ig n e d a two -year contract with Team Lucky Strike Roberts to campaign the 500cc World Championship Road Race Series. Magee and Wayne Ra iney will ride the team's Yamaha YZR500s. The signing of Magee leaves World Championship runner-up Randy Mamola out in the cold, but the northern California rider h a s reportedly been talking with both Suzuki and Cagiva . Dave Bertram (Hus) took the overall victory a t th e Bu ckhorn AMA Nationa l Championship Enduro in Oak Run , California. Randy Hawkins (H u s) and n ewly crowned National cha mp Kevin Hines (KT M) rounded out the top three. Former AMA Grand National Champion Ricky Graham will ride a Rob Muzzy-prepared 600cc single in the inaugural 600cc National Championship Series, according to Muzzy. It is undecided what brand of motorcycle the duo will use. President Ro nald Reagan honored America 's victorious 1987 Motocross des Nations team, Rick Johnson, Bob Han nah and Jeff Ward, du rin g an October 29 meeti n ~ in the White House Oval O ffice. POin ting out that the first of America's seven straight Motocross des Nations wins came in 1981, th e year he was inaugurated, Reagan said, " I guess we've been aro und a bo ut the same length of tim e." The U.S. topped the 1987 Motocross des Nations on September 13 at th e Un adilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, New York; Reagan noted that th e latest U.S. victory came as America was hosting the prestigious world motocross even t for th e first tim e. In additio n to the riders, the IO-member AMA delegation that visited the White House included U.S. T eam Manager Roger DeCoster, mechanics Brian Lunn is (Johnson ), Ra ndy Bruininga (H an nah), and Tom Morgan (Ward), AMA Vice Pr esidents Bill Amick and Rob ert Rasor, and Motocross des Nation s Clerk of the Course Ned Redway, wh o arra nged th e White House visit. " Earlier in the day, the President met with baseball's world champ ions, the Minnesota Twins," said Ami ck. "It is heartening that the sam e honor was affo rded to motocross racing." The Nashville Network'will broadcast the September 13 running of the Motocross des Nations later this month . The action will be aired November 22 at 2 :00 p.m., 6 :00 p.m. and 12 midnight, and will be repeated November 29 at 12:30 p .m., 5 :30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m . ' The Bureau of La nd Man agement ha s issued a permit to AMA/District 37 for this year's Bar stow-t o-Vegas desert race, co nt inge nt on a settlement of damages for unauthorized grading th e distri ct performed on a small portion of the course. The race is sched u led for November 28. George Ear l's Up -Tite Husqvarna /Cagiva of Santa Ana, Cali fornia. was awarded the Numl:ier One Cagiva North America Dealer Award for 1987 during the annual dealer meet ing , held in New Orleans, Louisiana, October 30 through November 1 . O PENED: Vance & H ines Motorcycle Centers' seventh sto re in the Los Angel es, California, area, at 5861 Firestone, Blvd., Unit A, Southgate, CA 90280, 213/927-6895. A hearing was held October 27 on HB3343. a measure introduced (Contin ued to page 4)

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