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/127125
As th is issue of Cycle News went to pr ess' March 14, the California enate T r an sportati on Com m ittee was expected to vote March 15 o n AB36, a proposed mandatory helm et law introduced last year by Assemblyman Rich ard Floyd (D-Ga rdena). According to a spokesperso n for th e com mittee, " T he re -will be a vote on ly; no testimon y will be taken ." The running of the April 10 ro und of the AMA 600 National Championship Dirt Track Series at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock. Georgia, will mark the first time a d irt track National has taken place in the Peach State since a Grand National Championship mile race was held at Atlanta's Lakewood Fairgrounds in 1973. Early entries for the D ixie Speedway National include two-time Grand National C hampion Ricky G raham and Harley-Davidson f actory t eam rider Chris Carr. the 19 8 5 Cam el Pro Se ries Rookie of th e Year . Advance t icket s are $ 13 and they can be purch ased at partici pating Ho n d a d eal ers in the m etro At lanta area . Race day tick ets are $ 15; child re n under 1 2 will be admitted free . For m ore inf orm ation. call 404 /926 -53 15 . The February 27-28 FIM Spri ng Congress in Geneva, Swi tzerla nd, produced a 16-ro und World Championship Superb ike Series for 1989 and the bi g news for Amer ica ns is that Road America in Elk hart Lake, Wiscon sin, will host a rou nd on June I I, 1989. In addi tio n , the series will stop at Canada 's Mosport circuit th e pr evious Sunday, June 4. The 1989 series will open at Misano, Italy, on April 9, and races in addition to th e two North Ameri can rounds will be held in Portugal , Hungary, Brazil , Argentina, Holland, Au stri a, Ita ly, Fra nce, Japan, West Germany, England, Australia and conclude in New Zealand on October 29. The 1988 World Championship Superbike Series gets underway at England's Donington Park on April 3. Three-time U .S . Superbi ke Champio n Fred Merkel and Doug Polen. w ho finished secon d in the March 6 Daytona 200. will com pet e at Doningt on Park . M erkel w ill contest the entire series and w ill base hi s operat io ns in Berg am o. Italy, the home of the leg en d ar y G iaco mo A gosti n i. M erkel w ill have a,f act or( supplied Honda superb ike and a pr odu ction RC3 0 Hon da at his di sbacked by It alian p osal, , businessm an Oscar Rumi. Polen w ill ri de a Yoshimura Suzuki at Don ington . Canad ians M ic hel Mercier and Tom Douglas have also pre-entered the Donington race; Mercier, the 1987 Canadian Superbike Champion. w ill ride a Suzuki and Douglas will be aboard an FZR750 Yamaha entered by Yamaha Canada. Other entrants include Ireland 's Joey Dunlop on , a Honda. Italy's Virginio Ferrari on a Cagiva /Ducati. and Swede Anders Andersson on a Suzuki. )" J eff Darland (H on) was th e overall winnerat th e ADRA Salome 100 held in the Arizona desert March 6. Garth Sweetland (Cag) was seco nd overall. Fairfield Kawasaki in Fairfie ld . California. will host an open house on Fri day evening. March 25. in conjunction with that weekend 's A M A National Championship MX at Han gt o w n . Team Kawasaki riders J eff Ward. Ron Lechien and Jeff Matiasevich will be on hand f rom 6 to 8 p.m. to sign autographs and bench race. Fairfield Kaw asaki is located at 2230 North Texas Street in Fairfield. If you get turned around. ca ll 7071 429-1913 for directions. T here are a pproxima tely 80 starting slo ts ava ilable for th e March 20 AMA Na tio na l Champions hi p Hare & . H ound in Search lite. Nevad a. If you 're inte rested in compe ting , call 702/641-640 I. Spencer to retire LON G BEACH. CA. MAR 13 Three-time World Champio n Freddie Spencer. 26. is reported ly set to announce his retirement f rom motorcycle rac ing in Shreveport, Louisiana . on Wednesday. March 16. w ith Honda Rac ing Corporation concurrently holding a press conference in Japan. Word of the im pendi ng announcement leaked out on Thursday. March 10 when Spencer reportedly notified Arai Helmets that he was retiri~g. Ian McKay. Rothmans public relations director. ~as reached vi a phone in Belgium on Friday, March 11. and he said , " I received a FAX from Honda in Japan stating that Freddie would not be in the (March 13) Two-Four race at Suzuka because of a physical problem. Right now the retirement thing is j ust a ru m or, but (Carl) Holeman (Spencer's manager) has confirmed th is (his retirement) to someone else : ' The highli ght of Spencer's GP career was in ~ 98~ when he bec am e the f irst ride r to win the 250 and 500cc t itle In the same year; he started that year by sweeping the three major road races at Daytona. Winning his first World Championship t itle was co nsidered by many to be his greatest accomplishment as he beat three-time World Champion Kenny Roberts by two po ints in the 1983 500cc World Championship after a season-long duel. For t he past two years Spencer has been relativelv inactive due t o inj uri es and at times undisclose~ re~sons. sc~rlng zero Gr!! nd Prix po ints in 1986 and on ly f ou r POin ts In 1987 With those co m in g in the Swedish GP . The coming GP season was to m ark the return of Spence r to the Roth m ans GP squad after a seaso n of HR C-o nly support . The Yamaha 650 Society will be celebrating it s 10th anniversary w ith Ce lebration 10 at Peoria, Illinois. Aug ust 19-21 . Peoria 's Days Inn Motel wi ll se rve as headquarters for the event. Herb Henson Sr. of Flora. Illinois. will serve as host and rally coordinator fo r Celebration 10. For more info r m at io n. contact: Yamaha 650 Society, P.O . Box 324. O' Fallon, MO 63366-0234. ABC-TV 's Wide World of Sports will televise the 1'987 SCO RE Baja 1000 (w h ich to ok place ba ck i n I ovember) o n Saturday, April 16. Paul Page, th e voice of th e Indianapoli s 500, and form er car racer Sam Posey, who has compe ted in the Baja classic, will handle th e commentary. That makes Papa wonder if mo torcycles will get mu ch attention on the show. Scott Russell and Kevin Rentzell of Solmax Racing (Suz) won the March 12 Talladega (Alabama) Gran Prix Raceway round of t he WERA National Endurance Road Race Series . Sol max turned in 3 15 laps. three laps more than ru nn er- u p T eam Kayo (Y am ). Team Hammer (S u z) f in ished t hi rd. seven laps behind the winning team. So lmax Raci ng also topped the Heavyweight Producti o n c lass , while Team Ka y o t opped the Heavyweig ht Superbike class. Team Squash (Hon) finished sixth overall. f irst in the Middl ew ei g ht Superb ike class. , Cycle Exchange Racing (Hon) finished 13th overall and first in the Middleweight Production class. lightw~ight class honors and 1 0th overall went to Red Stripe Racing (Yam) . Mert Lawwill called to set th e reco rd straight regarding his wor king with Cliff Carr and Cycle News on a project Harley-Davidso n 883 Sportster. " I' m aligned o nly wit h C.R. Axtell for my engine development work ," sa id the fo r mer Grand National Ch amp io n. " My associatio n with Cliff and the proj ect bike only involves m y road race chassis." The 3rd Annual Yamaha of Covina (Cal ifornia) Family Fun Days will take place in Stoddard Wells on March 19-20. The noncompetition event features a fainily ride. a Saturday evening barbecue, and an ATV safety course. For more information. call 818332-4022. ' R a n d y Hawkins (Su z) won th e March 13 AMA National Championship Enduro Series round in Maxey, Georgia, dropping 18 points. Kurt Hough (Kaw) was second with a score of 26, and J eff Fredette (Kaw) finish ed th ird with 29. Scotsman Niall Mackenzie (Hon) won the 500cc class of the Suz uka Two-Four int ern at io nal road race in Suzuka City, 'J apan on March 1 3. t oppi ng Japan's Norihiko Fuj iwara (Yam) and England 's Rob McElnea (S u z). Masaru Kobayashi (Hon) defeated Masahiro Shimizu (Hon) in 250cc act ion . The Ca lifo rnia Off- H ig hway Motor Vehicle Recreat ion Commission will meet Mar ch 17-18 at the Red Lion Inn. 222 North Vin eyard , in Ontario. to di scu ss severa l issues and to elect n ew officers. The co m missio n 's Gr ants and Coo perat ive Agreements and T rails Com m ittee will meet at 7:00 p .rn., March 17, to di scuss proposed .OffV projects in Riverside and San Bernardino count ies, the San Bernardino National Forest, and proj ects in th e Bureau of Land Management's Needles, Indio, Barstow and Ridgecrest resource areas. The full co mmiss ion will meet at 8:00 a. m. o n March 18 to co nsider actio n on th e Pi smo Dunes OHV area , Pism o vo l u n te er groups, budgets for Prairie City and Glen Helen OHV parks, th e status of U.S. Senat e Bill 7, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, an MX concessio n proposal for H ollister Hills and numero us grant app lica tions; severa l other agenda items also will be co nsidered. Any pe rson m a y fi le a written sta teme nt o n proposed actions or may present written statemen ts at the March 18 m eeting. Statements should be mailed to th e Department of Parks and Receration, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramen to, CA 94296-0001. For more in for ma tion, phone Lorrai ne H enrett y at 916/ 324-6976. Accord ing to the FIM's pre liminary 1989 World Championship Grand Prix road race sc hedule. the Second Annual World GP at laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Cal ifornia. w ill be held April 16, 1989. The Virginia Championship H are Scrambles Series, whi ch was established in 1984"will host its first-ever o u t -of-state race with the running of the Blue-Gray 100 at Potomac Motocro ss in Budds Creek, Maryland, on (Con tin ued to pa ge 32)