Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The final round of the '88 Florida Winter AMA MX Series took place Sunday, January 24, at Croo m Raceway in Broo ksville and series titl es went to Keith Bowen (Kaw) in the 125cc Pro class, Bob Ha n nah (Suz) , in th e 250cc Pro class, and J on McCabe (Hon) in the 500cc Pro division. McCabe also wrapped up the series titl e in the 250cc A class with a winning 2-1 da y at Croom . Non e of the overa ll Pro class series winn ers were ab le to score overa ll class wins at Croo m, as John Kitch (Kaw) topped th e 125cc Pro class' with a 1-4 day, John Reinholt (Suz) nabbed 250cc Pro class honors with a 1-3 tally, and JoJ o Keller (Ho n) won .bot h 500cc Pro class motos. Jeff Beckington (Hon) won the'I25cc A class series titl e, an d -Mike Stah l: ma n (Yam) won the Open A class title. Bob Janelle has been named assistant team manager of the Camel Pro Series. replacing Jeff Kirk. who becomes team representative of the Winston Cup Series (NASCAR stock car racing) . Janelle. a native of Hialeah. Florida. joined the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco USA Special Events Operation Department in May. 1986. as team reprsentative for the Winston Rodeo Series. He was promoted to assistant team manager of the Winston Cup Series in May. 1987. Before joining Rey nolds Tobacco. ' Janelle was an assistant team manager in Wrangler special events. A third place fini sh by Bryan Hardin (H o n), beh in d wi nner Ch uck Spri ngs teen (H on) and runner-up Dan In gram (H on), in the final ro u nd o f the AMA Invi ta tio nal Indoor Pro Ice Race Series in Muskegon, Michigan, on Friday, January 22, earne d H ardin the series titie. Hardin finis hed the series with 60 point s, just two poin ts ahead of Springstee n who had 58. Third pl ace in the series saw Ingra m and Ed Morris in a tie with 56 points each. Six-tim e series titlist Gart h Brow finished thi s year's series in fourth pla ce with 54 po ints. Road racer Gary Griffith. who finished 10th in the 1987 AMA Castrol 250cc Grand Prix Road Race Series point standings. has purchased a 1988 Yamaha TZ250 for this year's series. The Tennessean will be sponsored by Ed's Cycle of Cleveland. Tennessee. Griffith is seeking a Superbike ride for the season and can be contacted at 615/867-7541. Southern California's Viewfinders M.C. will hold their 20th Annual Viewfinders Gran d Prix at Riverside Int ern at ion al Raceway, March 5-6. The Pro class will offer a minimum purse of $3000 with th e winner guara nteed $1000. They'll also run Vintage and Dinosaur classes. For more I nformation, conta ct th e club at 692 Camino Verde, Thou sand Oak s, CA 91360, 805/499-2265. 2 The Yuasa-Exide Battery Corporation has produced a new videotape int e nded to make motorcycle service technicians more fam iliar with motorcycle batteries and their im po rt a nce to motorcycle operations. The videotape contains four programs. each approximat ely five to six m inu tes lo ng . The Yuasa videotape is available to motorcycle dealers and VHS o r Beta versions are available for $12.95 each. For more info rma tion. contact a Yuasa distributor or write Yuasa-Exide Battery Corp.• P.O. Box 14205. Reading. PA 19612-4205. The California Senate Transportation Committee has not scheduled hearings on AB36, but the proposed mandatory helmet law could be considered as earl y as February 2, according to a committee spo kesperson. AB36, introduced last year by Assemblyman Richard Flo yd (DGardena ), would require all motorcycle operators and passengers to wear helm ets when riding on public roadways. If considered in February , the bill will be heard either February 2 or February 16. Letters on AB36 should be addessed to Transportation Committee Chairman Wadie Deddeh, California Sena te, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 958 14; Deddeh 's p ho ne number is 619/ 4277080 in Chula Vista, 91 6/ 445-6767 in Sacramento. A speedway riding and service school will be presented February 6 by rider Rob Pfetzing and Brant Engineering's Dave Brant at Ascot's South Bay Stadium in Gardena. California. The $80 fee buys a one-day session (9 :0 0 a .m. to 5 :00 p.m.) and lunch; parts. fuel and oil also will be available. The reg istration deadline is January 30. For more information. phone Dave at Brant Engineering. 714/646-0560. AMRA-Pros will allow professional riders to enter more than one class at its three-round Dirt T rack Speed Week in Florida. The February 23 race at Lake City will include all pro classes, whi le th e following two nights of racing, at Palatka and then Ocala, will ru n all bu t the 750cc ProTwin and Unli mited classes. Hard compound tires are requ ired and no . chemical trea ting or hea ting of the tires will be allowed. Mu££lers will not be required. Riders wishi ng to compete in the Florida AMRA-Pros races must have a license before the events ; license applications received two weeks prior to the event s will be processed and th e licenses can be picked up at the even ts. For license application forms, contact AMRAP ros. P.O. Box 1644, Tarpon Sprin gs, FL 34689. The Budweiser/FRT Superstition Fall Race Series Awards Banquet w ill be held February 1 3 at the EI Centro Travel Lodge in EI Centro. Cal ifornia . TIckets are $25 per couple and a night's lodging plus banquet tickets is $67 per couple. Contact the Travel Lodge on or before February 7 for reservations; call Paul Diehl at 619 /3529523. Peter Ingley, the man responsible for Dunlop road race tire development wi th Kenny R oberts and Randy Mam ola, has left Dunlop to become manager of Pirelli T ire's competition department. Ingl ey will report edly be working closely with Marnola and the Cagiva GP road race team. Chris Young (Yam) took the Ultracross ma in event win at the first Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix in Anaheim . Cal ifornia on January 2 . Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) and Terry Fowler (Ho n) rounded out the top three . Rick Ryan (Ho n) le a ds the series point standings with 77 points. 45 of those points were earned by passing other riders. From the " Wha t are they do ing now?" department comes news tha t two -time Grand National Champion Ga ry Nixon had a banner year In 1987 at his Cockeysvill e, Maryland, store. Whi le Nixon is still sell ing motorcycle accessories he credi ts the sales of remote con trolled model cars for " his biggest year ever." In addition to selling the little cars, Nixon also races them and claims to be Top Gun in the area, alt hough former dirt track racer T aylor White IV ("T ay lo r Jr. " ) disputes Nixon's claim and says he is champ of the RC cars. The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports that it closed 1987 at an all-time record of 143.543 members . The increase of 4545 members during ,' 8 7 gives the AMA its fourth consecutive year of growth at an average rate of 2600 members per year. Over the past decade. the AMA has grown by 18.377 members. amounting to a 15% increase. AMA corporate membership also grew during 1987. nea rly doubling from 20 to 38 corporate members. AMA Membership Director Mark Mederski attributes continuing membership growth to a number of factors. including an im proved program of .m e m be r benefits. aggress ive recruiting efforts. stronger support from within the motorcycle ind ustry. and positive coverage in the motorcycle press. primarily toward the AMA 's government relations efforts. Former world class road racer Cliff Ca rr , co-promoter of the twiceannual La Carrera races in Mexico, and two partners , Austrian Helm u t He iligenmann and Texan J ohn Winslett, have p urchased HarleyDavidson of Santa Barbara (California). British expatriate Carr will ru n the dealership and he has planned a gran d opening celebration for next month. Call 805/962-513 1 for more informa tion. Ohio's Scott Stump has been ' awarded AMA National number 77 for dirt track competition in ' 8 8 . That makes 17-year-old Stump the youngest rider to ever earn a dirt track National number. Twelve. sets of Kushitani leathers we re stolen from a Keith Code Californ ia Superbike School transpo rter recentl y. The red/white and blu e/ white leathers were taken from the vehicle while it was parked at the school' s headquarters in Compton, Cali forn ia. Any information can be directed to Code at 213/ 484-9323. Dutchman Racing 's Dave Schlosser is looking for an enthusiastic Suzuki dealer to work with his P ittsburgh. Pennyslvan ia based road racing endurance team , in 1988. Schlosser can be reached at 412/781 -5551. ' West German road racer Martin Wimmer will campa ign a H ein Geric ke - makers of leat her motorcycle apparel - spo nsored Yamaha in the 250cc Wor ld Ch ampions hip this year. Wim mer , who finished eigh th In the 1987 series on a Marlboro Yama ha, will work with team manager / tu ner H elmut Fath; Fath, who is also a West German, is a former two -time sidecar World Ch ampi on , winning the title in 1960 on a BMW and again in 1968 on a Fath-buil t URS. Martin Wimmer's place on Giacomo Agostini's Marlboro Yamaha team will not be filled as the team will field only one rider. Luca Cadalora. in 1988. Cadalorll fin ished seventh in the 1987 title chase. The man who m anaged Anton Mang's 250cc World Championshipwinning effo rt in 1987, Da ve Petersen , will return to racing in 1988. Petersen will race Superbikes in South Africa after his one-year layoff from racing. In 1986, Petersen rod ea H B-sponsored Suzuki to 16th in the 500cc World Championship Series. Matsuhiro Shimizu will ride • Hainomoto-sponsored NSR250 Honda in the 1988 Grands Prix. Shimizu. who is the All Japan 250cc Champion. made an imme, diate . impact on the .19 8 7 GPs when he qualified third for the Japanese GP in March. He later fin ished ninth in the Brazilian and (Con ti nued to page 15) AMA announces majorMX dates for 'BB WESTERVILLE, OH, JAN . 26 The American Motorcyclist Associatio n (AMA) today announced 23 major professional motocross dates for th e 1988 seaso n. T he sla te includes 12 National Championship Series even ts, two World Championshi p Grands Prix and nine Supercross Series events . Additi onal supercros s .even ts a re sti ll being negotiated. Kicking off the '88 schedule will be the trad itional Houston Astrodom e Supercross, set for Saturday nigh t, February 6. Additional supercross venues wi ll be the Seattle Kin gdome, Day tona Interna tiona l Speedway, P on tiac Si lve rdo me, . T exas Stadium, Tampa Stadium and the Meadowlands. T he Kingdome and Silverdome will bot h host doublehead ers, with single event s at the other five venues. The AMA's 12-event National Champion ship MX Series, as in recent years, will feature 250cc and 125cc eq ui p ment for the first six events; 500cc and 125cc bikes during the second half of the season. Concu rrent with the an no uncement of this schedule, th e AMA also has an no unced that Bel-Ray Inc. will be the major spo nsor of the 250cc and 500cc tou rs, and tha t RK Chain will underwri te the series awards for the I25cc' class. Coors Beer return s as a major spo nsor of su percross in 1988. . The United Sta tes also will host two prestigiou s Gra nd Prix races in 1988, starti ng with the U.S. 500cc MX GP on J un e 26 in Hollister, California. The U.S. 250cc MX GP will run on Ju ly 24 at New Berlin, New York's Un adilla Valley Spo rt Cent er. Announcement of the AMA's 1988 motocross schedule has been delayed for many weeks because of contractua l disputes and pending litigat ion among several involved parties. " We apo logiz e for the delays whi ch have inconvenienced everyone in volved in the sport, especially the part ici pa n ts, sp ons ors a nd race fans," said AMA vice president Bill (Continued 'to page 24 )

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