Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I~TND ~ fiv p~p~ Wf~LfV ' 00 - 0') Ma lc olm Sm ith a n no u nced November II that he has sold the bulk of hi s shares of Malcolm Smith , , Inc. to a grou p of privat e inv estors. The sa le took pl ace June 30 a nd Smi th has step ped down from hi s positi on as president and ch ief execu tive officer of th e compa ny he founded 16 years ago. Max Gnehm , an inv estor representative, has been elected pr esid ent and CEO. Two lon gtime colleagues of Smith have been promo ted to th e office of corpora te vice pr esident; Jim Lewis, vice pr esident. sales and marketing , and Wayne Corneliu s, vice president, new produ ct devel opm ent. G ar y Drean will conti nu e to serve as vice pr esident, o pera tio ns . Smit h will co ntinue to be associated with th e com pany o n a lon g-term cont rac t ba si s, prov id in g se rv ices w h ic h incl ud e new pr oduct development, co rpora te gro w th stra teg ies and public rela tio ns. ' The American Motorcycle Racing Association of Professional Rid ers Owners & Sponsors (A M RA Pros) has established a four class format for its proposed 1988 World Championship Pro Series d irt track races. Lightweight (250cc s ingle -cyl inde r two strokes). Heavyweight « 6 0 0 c c s ingle-cylinder four-strokes ], Pro s Twins (750cc vertical twins manufactured through 1979) and Unlimited (750cc twin or singlecylinder four-strokes) competi tion will be conducted at each series round. First year riders will be re st rict ed to the Lightweight or Heavyweight classes and second year riders will be restricted to the Pro Twins class. Promoters can obtain sanction applications by contacting AMRA Pros. P.O. Box 1644. Tarpon Springs. FL 34689. 813/938-4573. So uth African Nati onal Ch ampion Wayne Heasman I. uz) won hoth legs S of th e November 14 South African Superbike Series round at Goldfield s Raceway. T exan Dou g Pol en (Suz) was th e o n lv Ameri can wh o co mpeted in the'races but he failed to finish either leg. Ameri cans Fred, Merk el and J ohn William s withdrew from th e event after thei r team's Hondas suffered engine failures in practi ce. Merkel crashed at high speed when his H onda threw a rod. Form er Wor ld C hampion Ko r k Balli ngton (SUl), who co mpeted in th e U.S. this year. DNF th e firs t leg and finished 17th in the second leg. MOVED: Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group. to Anaheim Stadium. P.O. Box. 25168. Anaheim. CA 92805 . 714 /938 4100 . -----.... ... #......... .. 9 PADDOCK AREA START/FINISH » TIMING/SCORING TOWER , • • • • • I ~ The Nashville Network (T NN) will telecast taped covera ge of the Motocross des Nations on °Q\'ember 22 a n d November 29. Check local listings for times. The North Arkansas Winter MX Series is underway and will continue through December 20. alternating events between Cleburne County Speedway in Heber Springs and Bull Creek MX Park in Beebe. Pro racers will compete for a 150% payback. ' --I ~--_.... _ # I Hllm"'" Indicat. Tllrn. Monterey. California's Laguna Seca Raceway has begun work on a $1.1 million addition that will lengthen the existing 1 .9-mile course to 2 .2 miles. The FIM -required lengthening of the circuit will enable Laguna Seca to host a U.S . round of the World Championship Road Race Series on April 10. 1988. Once completed. the track will offer sanction ing bodies the opportunity of conducting events on either course. Photo by Marc Sproule. FO RME D: Allen Publishing Compa ny, by Rick Alexander, AI Hoppe a nd John Lo ngeville, to produce mo torcycle and ATV race programs for promoters and clubs; Suite 1300, 416 Main St., Peoria, IL 6 1602,3091 676-5980. Ray Petty. the legendary Norton tuner. died of cancer in England last month. Petty. 67. had success - as a road racer prior to World War II but was best known as a Norton tuner. In recent years Petty was involved in production of Norton Manx parts. MOVED: Pacific Racing, ma nufacturer of lighting systems for off-road bikes. to 8614 Argent St., Suite C. Santee, CA 92071. 619/ 448-1 358. The annual New England Sports Committee (NESCI Awards Program will take place on December 5 at the Greenfield Armory in Greenfield . Massachusetts . Activities kick off at noon and run into the evening . For more information. contact NESC. P.O. Box 4. Greenfield. MA 01302. 2 U.S . Senator Alan Cranston (DCa lifornia) and ot her U.S. senators who suppo rt S7 reportedly wi ll to ur the East Mojave Scen ic Area in the southern Ca lifornia desert during Tha nksgiving weekend - the same weekend AMAI Distr ict 37 will host th e annual Bar stow -to-Vegas desert race. An informed so urce reports Cranston and a n undetermined number of Democrati c senators from th e Public Lands Subcommittee (wh ich held hearings on S71ast July) will tour the Scenic Area and perhaps wa tch as competitors ride over a five. mi le sectio n of the course whi ch passes th rou gh th e East Mojave. S7. known as th e California Desert Protection Act, wou ld close most of th e desert to off-roa d riding and u pgra de the scen ic area to National Park sta tus. U.S . Senator Pete Wilson (RCalifornia). speaking November 14 in La Canada. California. during a fund raiser for his 1988 reelection campaign. refused to take a position on 57. but he did say. "We gave the Sierra Club a tour (of the desert); we 'lI give the other side a tour." Earl ier this year. the Sierra Club took Wilson and other senators on a tour of the desert to show them alleged environmental damage caused by off-road vehicles. ORV organizations reportedly have no plans to conduct a sim ilar tour. even though Wilson has offered to attend. Approximately 22 persons representing the interests of offroad riders and the motorcycle/ ATV industry paid $125 each to attend the Wilson fundraiser. Kevin Bennett { Yam) ca p tur ed the overall victo ry a t th e Sandy Lane ' Na tio nal Enduro in Ch at sworth, New Jersey, Nov ember 15. Bennett dropped 26 points. fini shing II points ahead of J ack Lafferty, J r. (H us), Thi rd pl ace went to Dave Bertram (H us) . Newl y cro wne d National Champion Kevin Hines (KT M) dr opped o u t with clutch problems. The 50th running of the Sandy Lane Enduro was the fina l Nati on al of th e series with th e top three positions in the series going to Hines. Bertram a nd J eff Fredette (Kaw). RESIGNED : Don Lieb, from ATK Leitner Corporation. to pursue other interests; Lieb may be reached at 714 /859-0719. The Sacramento, California. chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club wo n th e Outs tandi ng Unit Award tro phy for the best vetera ns outfit at the Sacramento Veterans Day Parade, held Novemb er I I. SCORE International has added the San Felipe 250 to their schedule and it will be held on December 11 -12 in Baja California. Mexico. The course will be separated into two loops. one for cars and the other for motorcycles and ATVs . that will join at the end. For more in f o r m a t io n on the event. contact SCORE International at 818/889-9216. Road racer Rand y Mamola has signed a co n tract with Cagiva to contest th e 1988 and 1989 500cc World Championship. " I' ve got so many things going right now , it's bitchin', " Mamola said from his home in northern California on Monday, November 16. Marnola, who finished second in the 1987 500cc World Championship aboard -a T eam Luck y Strike Ro berts Yamaha, was sched uled to undergo surgery to co rrect a muscle-related prob lem with his forearm o n November 18. Following the operation, Ma m ol a is sc he du le d to appear at the Milan, Ital y, Motor cycle Show . Although he didn't need the victory. newly -crowned Hare & Hound National Champion Dan Smith (Hus) won the final round of the AMA National series. held November 15 near Reno. Nevada. Ron Naylor (ATKI took second (Conti nue d to pag e 4)

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