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/127132
~~D ~ 00 00 0') _ _ ~ >- ro ::E BYPAPA Wf4lLfY Eddie Lawson (Yam) won the " Portuguese" 500cc GP,the fourth round of the World Championship Road Race Series held in Jerez, Spain, on May I. Lawson passed second-place finisher Wayne Rainey (Yam) on the next to last lap of the 29-lap race and went on to win , by 1.64 seconds. Third place went to Australian Kevin Magee (Yam) with Frenchman Christian Sarron (Yam) and defending World Champion Wayne Gardner (Hon) rounding out the top five. Texan Kevin Schwanu (Suz) dropped out of the race on the seventh lap with mechanical problems ,and Californian Randy Mam ola (Cag) was a no -show at the GP. Lawson now leads Gardner, 72-60, in the title chase with Rainey third at 50. In the 250cc GP at Jerez. Spaniard Juan Garriga (Yam) topped Japan's Masahiro Shimizu (Hon) and Jacques Cornu (Hon) to take his first win of the season. Dominique Sarron (Hon ) and JeanPhillip Rugg ia (Yam ) fin ished fourth and fifth . respectively. S ito Pons (Hon). who crashed in Jerez. leads Garriga. 54-53. in the 250cc World Championship. The aocc GP win went to Jorge Martinez (Der) 'ove r Manuel Herreros (Der). In what was the opening round of the championship for sidecars. Rolf Biland/Kurt Waltisberg (LC R) took the wi n . France's Adrien Morillas (Kaw) won the second round of the World Championship Superbike Road Race Series in Budapest, Hungary, on April 30. Morillas topped Stephane Mertens (Bim ) and Davide Tardozzi (Bim ). Fourth p lace went to American Fred Merke l (Hon) with Roger Burn ett (Hon) finishin~ fifth . Merkel's fourth place gave him the lead in the series point standings, 32.5 to 23.5, over Italian Marco Lucchinelli (Due), who finished l Sth _ in H ungary. The third round of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in Roselawn. Ind ia na. May 1. was won by South Carolina's Randy Hawkins (Suz). who edged Kurt Ho ugh (Kaw ) by one point. 9 -10. Third overall went to Jeff Fredette (Kaw). while Fritz Kadlec (Yam) and local rider Rich Sharphorn (Hus) rounded out the top five. Defending National Champion Kevin Hines (KTM) got lost in the first loop. dropped 16 points and finished ninth overall. Former National Champion Terry Cunningham (Hus ) suffered mechanical problems and DNF. Chris Carr (H -D) 'won the AMA 600cc Nat ional Championship Half Mile held April 30 at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Arizona. Junior Kevin Ath erton (W-R), Pete Hames (H-D), Don Estep (W-R) and Brian -Ather to n (W-R ) rounded out the top.five. 2 Holla~d 's John Van den Berk (Yam) swept both motos in round three of the World Championship 250cc MX Series in Arsago Seprion, Italy, May 1. Finland's Pekka Vehkonen (Cag) went 2-2 for second overall, while third and fourth went to Germany's Roland Diepold (Kaw) and American Ricky Ryan (Hon). respectively. Ryan had a 5 -4 moto score. whileAmerican Rodney Smith (S uz). who won the Spanish GP la st week. went 10-9 for ninth overall. The third round of the World Championship 125cc MX Series in Verei ngung-Schwanenstadt, Aus tria, May I , saw ' Holland's Dave Strijbos (Cag) and Frenchman J eanMichel Bayle (Hon) trade 1-2 moto scores, with Strijbos getting the . overa ll via his second moto win . Third with a 4-4 tally went to Holland's Pedro Tragrer (Hon). American Bobby Moore (KT M) rode practice but elected not to race because of an ankle injury. Nineteen~year-old America n Trampas Parker (KTM). from Shreveport. Louisiana. was leading the first Italian 250cc MX GP moto before running into mechan- , ical problems. " I have been given one of Heinz Kin igadner's (former 250cc MX World Champion) bikes until he ,is fit to ride again. (Kinigadner is out with a broken leg and .is expected to return to action in Czechoslovakia. May 15). But if I go well. I have every chance that KTM will give me a factory 250 for the rest of the season. " Parker is now in his second season in Europe. having competed in the GPs last year as a privateer. KTM's other works rider. Swede Peter Hansson, is also out of action with a broken leg. Yamaha's Micky Dymond was back in action at the May I Lak e Sugartree National MX in Axton , Virginia, after breaking his left hand while testing five weeks ago. D ymond posted a 10th in the first mow, and opted to sit out the second moto. " I got so horny to rid e that I cam e back too soon," said Dymond. " At least I got in one mow today, and I'll be ready to go at the Meadowlands (Supercross in New J ersey, May 24.)" S uzuki rider Dean Matson took a hard fall while riding for the press on . Thurday prior to the Lake Sugartree National MX . He severely cut his upper lip and knocked out a tooth in the crash. "Doc Metzger was there. and he did a great job of stitching me up." seid Matson. who fin ished 1 4 t h overall in the 250cc c lass on Sunday. Ed Lojak (H us) was th e overall winner at the Wiseco/Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series round in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, May I. Lojak finished ahead of series poin ts leader Scott Plessinger (Kaw), Scott Summers (Hon), Kevin Brown (Suz) and Mark Hyde (Hus). The Little Polecat National Championship Enduro in Twain Harte. California. that was to be held Ap ril 24 but was cancelled due to rain. has been rescheduled and will run on May 15. However. it w ill not be a National points paying event. The Honda XR500 on which Doug Domokos established hi s record 145mi lewheelie in June 1984 is now bein g exhibited in the Gui nness World Book of Records Museum on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. The bi ke was previously exhibited at the Guinness Museum in New York City. Fred Ogden has joined the edu- cational staff of Daytona Beach. Florida's American Motorcycle Institute. According to AMI President Lamar Williams, Ogden was previously employed by American Suzuki in their Technical Service Department. During his 14 years with Suzuki. Ogden served as techn ical advisor and tech training instructor. Suzuki National Cup action at the AMAlCCS meet at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Road America on Sunday, May I, saw Scott Zampach (Suz) win bo th the Unlimited Supersport an d Heavyweight Supersport races and Ed Key (Hon) come out on top in the Middleweight Superspon class. Eric Moe and Larry Jeurick of High Tech Raci ng (Suz) won the meet's lOO-mileendurance race. Team Solmax (S uz), with Scott Russell and Kevin Rentzell handling the rid ing chores. won the April 30 WERA Tsubaki/GS National Endurance Road Race Series round at Faulkville. Georgia's Roebling Road Raceway. Russell and Rentzell completed 2 12 laps in the six-hour race, five more than Team 5150 (Suz). Team Hard Core Racing (Suz) f inished third . Rentzell crashed during the race and suffered foot injurie s . but returned to the track from the hospital in time to see Russell take the checkered flag . Suzuki National Cup racing on Sunday saw Paul Bray (S uz) win A Production. Scott Russell (S uz) first in B Production. and Kurt Hall (Hon) on top in C Production . Road racers who ride a Honda 600 Hurricane in either the Expert or Novice Midd leweight and/or Supersport classes at AMAlCCS Southeast Regiori events are eligible for Roswell Honda Bucks . Roswell Honda Bucks may be used like cash for the purchase of parts and accessories or services at Roswell Honda in Roswell , Georgia. A first place finish earns a qualified rider $100 in Roswell Honda Bucks, second place $80, third $65, fourth $55, fifth $45, sixth $35, and seventh $25. To be eligible riders must have a current AMAlCCS license, display Roswell Honda stic kers on both sides of the ir race bike, list Roswell Honda as a sponsor, and complete the Roswell Honda release form and waiv er. For more information, ca ll 404/4428460. Colorado's Mountain View Motor Sport Park will host two Go 4 It Motorcycle Challenge Races this summer. The two-race "series" w ill feature five classes: Novice; 600cc Dinosaurs (motorcycles manufactured before 1986); Open Dinosaurs; 600cc Superbike; and Open Superbike. The ' first race will take place on June 26 and the second on August 28 at the 1 .7-mile Mountain View track. A $2000 purse will be paid out at both events. Mountain View Motor Sport Park is located 30 . miles north of Denver. off 1-25 at Exit 245. For more info rm at ion. call 303/666-4113. Two race dates have been added to the AARA 1988 road race calendar at Willow Springs Racewa y in Rosamond, California. The dates, November 19-20 and Decemb er 3-4, originally were alloted to WERA. For more information, phone 805/ 256-2471. . After spending 16 years at Honda of EI Cajon (California ). Don Banner returns to the service department of EI Cajon Yamaha. Banner worked for the then Don Vesco-owned Yamaha shop in 1968 and 1969. The Phillip Island road race course in Victoria, Australia, will undergo a multi-million dollar face-lift prior to hosting the first-ever Australian ' ro und of the World Championship Road Race Series on Ap'ri19, 1989. The Auto Cycle Couna l of Australia, that country's FIM federation, has granted Phill ip Island a five-year contract that will see the facility host the road race GP through 1993. Clark Jones recently resigned as . coordinator of Yamaha's pro MX support team and four-wheel team and acquired the U.S . distribution rights for Ohlins Suspension and S imons Products. Jones has relocated the S imons/Ohlins business to 2141 East Ph iladelphia. Unit T, Ontario, CA 91761, 714/947-5773. New York race promoter Mike King recently announced the formation of Scat , Inc., a promotion com pany that will ho ld several types of races at Airborne Raceway, a 131-acre facility in P lattsburg, New York. Accord ing to King , Scat is renovati ng a stadium-type off-road facility at Airborne Raceway which features a supercross track, a half-mile oval and grandstand seating for 6000 fans. Din Track, In c., of Mooers, New York has closed and moved its entire operation to Airborne Raceway. The Loretta Lynn's Amateur MX qualifier scheduled for May 28-29 at Dirt Track, lne., in Mooers, New York, will now take place 25 miles south of that facility at Airborne Raceway in Plattsburg, New ' York. and is now slated for May 29-30. For directions to the new location, or for other information, contact Scat tnc ., 518/5613208 or 518/236-7897. Three-time MX National Champion Many Smith was knocked unconscious and suffered a tom kidney in a District 38 desert race crash in San Diego, California, April 24. According to JT Racing's Rich Koon, Smith didn 't see a large ditch in heavy dust and bai led at high speed. Smith was immediately rushed to the hospital and was released four days later; he's now resting at his San Diego home. , Smith doesn 't remember anything about the crash. Cards and letters can be sent to Smith at 2518 Loring SL, San Diego, CA, 92109. Team Honda's current 250 and 500cc National MX champ Rick Johnson was on hand at Carlsbad Rilceway in Carlsbad, California, earlier this week and was beneficial in the renovation of the more than 20-year-old MX track. A . three-foot laye r of new dirt was laid down on the normally hardpacked course, and a new uphill has been added, replacing the whooped-out "Carlsbad Freeway. " The famous "Carlsbad Downhill" was a lso revamped. Carlsbad was the s ite of the first U.S . MX GP (5 0 0 c c ) a nd 1 3 thereafter (1973-'86). Carlsbad Raceway holds local MX racing every Saturday. Fourteen-time World Champion road racer Giacomo Agos tin i, 48, will marry Maria Ayuso, 24, in Maria 's hometown of Puer to de Santa Maria, Spain, on June 18. The couple will make their home in Bergamo, Italy. Agostini, who holds the records for the most World Championship titles and GP wins, (Con tinued to page 49)