Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Drag race ace Terry Vance (Suz) turned in a 7.987 sec., 165.0 1 mph run to top Joh n Mafaro (Suz) and his 8,096/155.49 in the Pro Stock final at the opening round of the N HRA Castrol Motorcycle Cham pionship Series, the Gatornationals, at Florida's Gai nesv ille Raceway, March 20. Record s fell d uring th e meet as Mafaro broke Vance's E.T . reco rd, establishing the new record . of 7.892, a nd Dave Schultz (Kaw), who red lighted against Vance in a n elimination round, broke Vance's mph record, goirig into the record book with a 167.97. The m idway known as Manufacturer's Row at Monterey. Cal ifornia's Lagu na Seca Raceway will be bigger than ever over the U.S . GP weekend. April 8 -9 -1 O. You're inv it ed to stop by the Cycle News booth to preview our new magazine. Motorcycle Road Racer Illustrated. that will be mailed to subscribers and hit tile newsstands a few weeks after the checkered flag waves at Laguna Seca. Free stickies and a road race poster will be distributed. and you can take advantage of our special charter subscription offer right on the spot. T he American Motorcyclist Associ ation will a lso be 'exh ibiting on Ma nufactu rer's Row at Laguna Seca. Join the AMA or renew your membership at Laguna Seca and you'll get a fo ur-color bandana, commemorat ing the World Ch am pionsh ip Road Race. If your membership is current, get your ba ndana by making a contribution to the AMA Legislative Supporter Program; And by all means, check out the AMA's checkered flag shorts, too! As U.S. GP fever mounts. so do reports of large groups making plans to be at Laguna Seca. Solo Moto. Spain's weekly motorcycle newspaper. signed up 40 enthusiasts for a t our that includes visits to Los Angeles and San Francisco in addition to the GP. And Roy's Cycle World of Kingston. Ontario. Canada. has chartered a plane to wing 50 enthusiasts to Monterey . for the GP weekend. . Freddie Spencer, the three-time World Ch a m pion who announced his retirement from motorcycle road racing just last week (see Spencer interview beginning on page 10), will be the color commentator for NBC-TV's delayed telecast of the Laguna Seca 500cc GP which airs on Sunday, Apri l 17. We asked Freddie Spencer how much money he was walking away from by hanging up his leathers and he said. "A topranked 500cc GP rider can make between $750.000 and $1 .000.000 a year in salary and bon uses. helmet and leathers contracts. and various endorsements." Spencer estimates World Champion Wayne Gardner receives $400.000 in salary alone f rom Honda . 2 Three-time World Champion Kenny Roberts, who Spencer topped by two points for the 1983 World Championshiptitle, hadthe following to say about Spencer's retirement: " If he's not there physically or mentally, it 's better that he retires, but only he ca n be a judge o f tha t. I'm .glad to see i t because th e exc uses were wearing everybody down, but it took me by surprise because of the training he did in th e off -season .something he should have been do ing earlier in his ca reer. I a lso found it odd that he retired aft er si.gning again with R o th m a n s." Two-time World Champion Eddie Lawson said, "I think that we a ll know when it's time to retire. No one can tell you; you're the only o ne who knows and if he feels it's time th en he should. There's no use going ou t there a nd trying to do it when your heart isn 't in it." Victory Sports. promoters of MX events at Blountville. Tennessee's Muddy Creek Raceway. has signed a multi-year contract with the Dallas Ricker Sports Complex ' to build a motocross park nd to promote MX and hare scrambles races on the 500-acre complex. The Dallas,Ricker Sports Complex is located approximatley 25 miles west of Muddy Creek on 1 -81. According to Sam Gammon. president of Victory Sports. the tracks will host a MX Mega Series and a state championship hare scrambles series later.this year. For more information. call 715/323-5497. Darwi n Do ll , president of Sonoma, California's Sears P o int Internationa l R a cewa y, has accep ted a · position on 'the board of directors for the Sonoma Valley H ospi tal Foun dation, a non-profit organ ization dedicated to fund raising for special equipment for the So noma Valley Hospital. Last year Do ll was responsible for helping to raise more than $ 10,000 for the Sonoma County Chapter of the California Special O lym p ics through a Camel Pro · Series road race at Sears Poin t. Overall series results for ttiePlus 30 class 'w ere left out of our coverage of the Florida Amateur ' Triple Crown of Motocross. Jeff Stein rock (Hon) was the series champ. Jeff Hughes (Kaw) the runner-up and Tom McShane (Ho n) third ,overall in the series. Comedian J ay Leno, who often cohos ts Joh nny Ca rson's T o n ig h t Show, spoke to members of th e American Coali tion of Outdoor Recreation Publishers (ACO RP - a mo torcycle/ ATV press group) during a March 15 luncheon in Hollywood, California. Leno spoke of his recent encounter with Assemblyman Rich ard Floyd (D-Gardena) , author · of a bill that would requi re motorc ycl is ts in Ca lifornia to . wear helmets. Leno said he phoned Floyd repeatedly to p ro test the bill, bu t was verbally abused by Floyd wi th vulgar language each time he attempted to voice his opinion. Leno, who is opposed to AB36 because he feels it is a violation, of personal civil liberties, chided Floyd for using Evel Knievel to represent mo torcyclists during 1987 assembly hearings on the bill. "That's like getting Gomer Pyle to represent actors," th e come dian said. Leno, an avid motorcyclist, rode to the meeting on a new Ducati Limited Edition Paso 750. A public meeting to discuss present and future off-highway vehicle use in the Bureau of Land Management's Clear Creek Management Area will be held March 31 in San Jose. California. BLM representatives will discuss cur- rent OHV management programs in the Clear Creek area. proposed OHV "Green Sticker" grant projects and other OHV issues. The BLM encourages all interested off-road riders to attend. The 50.350-acre Clear Creek Manage ment Area is locat ed in San Benito and Fresno counties. about 55 miles south of Hollister. The meeting will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9 :00 p.m , at the Burroughs/Un isys Facility. 1980 Zanker Road (at the corner of Brokaw and Zanker) in San Jose. Senators voting "no" included Chairman Wadie Deddeh (D-Chula Vista), Jim Ellis (R-EI Ca jon) and Newton Ru ssell (R-Glendale). Senators Robert ' Beverly (R Redondo Beach) and Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) were present but did not vote. Senator Ros e Ann Vuich (D-Fresno) was absen t. • Thompson, wife shot to death (Con tin ued to page 47) LONG BEACH, CA, MAR. 21 Key committee okays California helmet proposal Super Crown of- Stadiu m Motocross promoter Mickey Thompson, 59, and his wife Trudy, 42, were gu nned down' SACRAMENTO, CA, MAR. 15 After more than 20 years of trying, mandatory helmet use proponents in Cali fo r nia could be on the verge of having their' way with motorcyclists in the Golden State. ' Reversing a decision they made last year, members of the .California Senate T ra nsporta tion Co m m it tee voted 7-3 today to approve AB36, a mandatory helmet bill introduced in 1987 by Assem blyman R ichard Floyd (D-Gardena). . The proposal, which cleared the Assembly la te last' year, needed at least seven votes to successfully exit the senate committee; it just made it. " Now we're on the way and expect to see it on the governor's desk," a hap py Floyd reported ly sai d after the meeting. The bill will be heard next in the Senate . Appropriations Com mi ttee w here its approval i s virtually assured, according to state capitol sources. The measure has no t been scheduled for hearings. If the bill clears its final committee test, it will go before the fu ll senate for a vote. If approved, it wi ll be fo rw a rd ed to Governor George Deu kmejian who could sign the bil linto law. Since the bill 's introduction in early 1987, Deukemejian has refused to take a posi tion on the measure. If the governor does sign . AB36 into law, first offenses will cost violaters a $100 fin e. According to AMA Vice President of Governmen t R el a ti o n s R ob Rasor, who was present for the vote, Floyd probably will attempt to push the bill through the senate as quickly as possible. , " A vote (in appropriations) could come next week, but it 's more likely , it won' t be for another week or so," Rasor said. T he Transportation Gomm ittee rejected AB36 in a vote last June, b ut agreed the following day to recon· sider its action d uring the 1988 legislative session. During senate hearings in J u ne, opponents and proponents of the bill testifie d heatedly before the committee; the 13-member panel voted today without. hearing additional testimony. " T here was no testimony," Rasor said. "The committee made it clear they would be no testimon y and th ey would tolerate no demonstration by opponents or proponents." . The seven senators who voted for the bill were Marian Bergeson (R· Newport Beach), Gary Hart (DWoodland Hills), Q uentin Kopp (I· South San Francisco), Dan McCorq uodale (D-San Jose), Rebecca Morgan (R -Menlo Park), Joh n Seymour (R-Anahei m) and Cecil Green (DCypress). March 16 on the front la wn of their elegant southern Ca lifornia home in a killing Los Angeles County Sheriff 's dep uties described ' as a gangland-style execution. Thompson and his wife each were shot several times in the upper torso about 6:00 a.m. as they left their hillside home just outside the gates of Bradbury, a posh, high-security community in the San ' G abriel Vall ey, north of Los Angeles. When they were' killed, the Thompsons .were on their way to work at the offices of their Anaheim-based promotion company, Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG). " It was a double homicide, an assassination," said Dep u ty Ri chard Dinsmoore shortly after authorities pronounced the Thompsons dea d at the scene. . The type of weapons used in the killings, probably handguns, was not disclosed . When dep uties arrived, the house was locked and its contents were undisturbed. Neighbors said they saw two black men fleeing the scene on bicycles shortly after th e shootings . and deputies sai d a white man, who was seen riding a bicycle near the Thompson home the morning of the ambush, abandoned the bicycle a t a bus st op in the nearby city of Irwin dale about 7:00 a.m. and , "desperately tried to flag down passing motorists." The man ei ther su cceed ed in gettin!? a ride or boarded a bus. Deputies, who recovered the bicycle, still are searching for the suspects, but have few leads and have determined no motive for the slayings. Although the .m u r d er s w ill .seriously impact Mic key Thompson Entertainment Group, they will not mean the end of Thompson's p ro mo tion company, according to MTEG Vice President Bill Marcel. "Long bef o r e (the) tragedy, Mickey had planned to step back from the day -to -day operations so that he a nd Trudy could en joy some time together away from the b usiness," Marcel said. '.'He had already developed a fiveyear plan, assembled the staff he wanted and already set the course for the company's future," said Marcel. "He and T ru dy had planned to start taking it easy right after' his (60th) birthday, which is December 7. _ " Accord ing to those p lans, the Mickey T hompson Entertainment Group will continue," Marcel ,said. "T he 1988 racing season is already in place and u nfol ding on schedu le, and long-range plans for 1989 are . ei ther complete d in many cases or close to being complete d in others." Thompson, who began p romo ting the successful Mic key Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran P ri x (MTGP) Series in 1983 - a series which included motorcycle, ATV and off -road automobi le racing in st adiums throughout. the U n ited .(Con tin ued to p.age 47)

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