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/127146
(Suz) crashed on the first lap and Randy Mamola (Cag) finished 11th. lawson remains at the top of the 500cc GP po int standings .w i t h 195 points. Gardner is second with 175 and Rainey is third with 16~. Eric Geboers (H o n ) clinched the 1988 500cc MX World Championship by logging 5-6 moto finishes in the Belgi an GP a t Namur, August 7. Geboers thus became the first man to win World Cham pionship MX titles in all three displacement classes. The Belgian ider won the 250cc title last year a nd the 125cc title in bo th 1982 a n d 1983. H a ka n Carlqvist (Kaw) wo n both motos at Namur. Bri t Mark Ba nks (Hon) was second in the first moto, wh ile Kees Van der Ven (KTM) was the runnerup in the ' second mo to. American Bill y L iles (Kaw) was th ird in the opening moto and II th in the second rnoto. With one round remaining 'in the 500cc MX series. the August 14 Luxembourg G P. Geboers clinched the title with 333 points. Second in the standings with 277 points is Kurt Nicoll (Kaw), who finished 6-3 on the 'da y. Dave T horpe (Ho n ), who failed to sco re any points at Namur, is third with 251 points; Thorpe was taken to the hospital to have his right hand X-rayed after he struck a post a nd crashed in the opening moto. In round 10 of the World Championship 250cc MX Series i n Maracay. Venezuela. August 7. Finland's Pekka Vehkonen (Cag ) claimed the overall victory w ith back-to-back moto wins. Second place went to Frenchman Yannig Kervella (Hon) via a 4 -3 tally. while third place went to series points leader Holland's John Van den Berk (Yam) with a 6 -2. Van den Berk maintains , a secure points lead with 271 points. followed by Vehkonen with 226. and American Rodney Smith and Great Britain's Jeremy Whatley who are tied for third with 194 each. After nearly a week of racing at the NMA Grand National Championship Series in Ponca City, Oklahoma, August 1-7, Buddy Antunez (Suz) came away with the minicycle GNC crown with a n overall win in the 80cc Modified Expert class and fourth overall in the 80cc Stock Expert class. Brian Swink (Kaw) won the Stock Expert class . but a poor' finish in the Modified ' Expert div ision left him the GNC runner-up. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) took the motorcycle GNC title with consistent finishes when Damon Bradshaw (Ya m ), who won the 250cc Stock and Modified and the I25cc Modified Pro classes, DNF in the 125cc Stock Pro class. Kiedrowski's o nly overall win came in the I25cc Stock Pro class and he finished second overall in the 250cc Stock and 125cc Modified Pro classes and fourth overall in the 250cc Modified Pro class. 2 California road racer Wayne Rainey (Yam) scored his first-ever GP w in as he led the August 7 British GP at Donington Park from start to finish. Defending World Champion Wayne Gardner (Hon) finished second after a struggle with Christian Sarron (Yam). who finished third. and Niall Mackenzie (Hon). who was fourth . Eddie Lawson (Y am ) finished sixth. having had to contend w ith a "sluggish" engine and a rear tire that "faded." Kevin Schwana Luca Cadalora (Ya m) won the 250cc G P at Donington Park. Dominique Sarron (Hon) took second, with Juan Garriga (Yam) finishing third after passing Sito Pons (H o n) on the final lap. Pons finished fourth and remains on top of the 250cc GP points standings with a total of 179 points after 12 rounds. Garriga is secondin the points standings with 173 points and J acq ues Cornu , who finished seventh in England, is third with 151 points. The Human Race Team (Yam). w ith Kurt Hall and Ben Martinez handling the riding chores. won the August 6 WERA Tsubaki/GS Battery National Championship Endurance Road , Race Series round at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond. Pennsylvania. Kayo Racing (Yam) finished second. four laps behind the winning team . Series points leader Solmax Racing USA (Suz) finished third. The win moved the Human Race Team into second place in the 'series point standings. ahead of the defending champs. Team Suzuki. who DNF. Chris Carr (H-D ) continued ' his domination of the AMA 600 National Championship Dirt Track Series by winning the August 6 round at O hio 's Ashland County Fairgrounds. Steve Aseltine (H -D) finished second. and David Durelle (R tx) was third. In the Pro-Am class support program, Mike Hale (H -D) won the final. Kevin Bennett (Yam) was the overall w inner in round six of the AMA Nationlll Championship Enduro Series in Blaine. Pennsylvania. August 7. Bennett edged Kurt Hough (Kaw) by one point. 34-35. Third place went to defending National Enduro Champion Kevin Hines (KTM) . Rounding out the top five were M ike Toole (Kaw) and Jack lafferty (KTM). Mike Bron k (Yam) captured the overall victory at the AMA National Cham pionship Amateur Hillclimb in Sparland. Illinois. August 6-7. Second place went to Dean Gerdes (Suz ). NAMED: Doug Gonda. as publisher of American Roadracing. the monthly road racing tabloid newspaper. replacing John Ulrich .In that position; Ulrich. who will continue as editor. says he 's steppjng down from the publisher position to devote more tim e to his family and a return to active road racing . ' The August 14AMA District 37 Dual Sport/Phanton Du ck Jackass Mountain Po ker Ride at Kennedy Meadows in southern California 's Sequoia Na tio nal Forest still has some openings. Alt hough limited to 100 entrants, it is recommended that you call 818/ 353-5409 for inforrnatio n on available slots. All en trants must be aboard street-legal dual sport/purpose motorcycles. ADDITION : Hap Jones Distributing of San Jose. Cal ifornia. to Answer Products' national distribution network; Hap Jones will initially offer the complete Answer hardware selection; for more info or to order product. contact Hap Jones Distributing at 800/662-9822 (in Ca lifornia) or 408 /432-1918. LITTLE KNOWN FACT: The next time yo u ' re watching TV , look closely at one of the Chevrolet He artbeat Across America comrnercia ls.ithe one with the sweaty jogger and bicyclist checking out a Chev(Con tin ued to page 45) Dukakis robs Massachusetts motorcycle fund; Louisiana fund saved WESTERVILLE, O H , J UL Y 29 Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Du kakis, the 1988 Dem ocratic . p residential ca n didate. ha s vetoed fu ndi ng for motorcycle safety programs from a state appropriations bill sent to him July 9. Du ka kis exercised his line-item veto power in an effort to ba lance a severe revenue shortfall in Massachusetts. The veto action will reallocate $188,480 this year that was collected from a surcharge on motorcycle license plate registrations to the state's general fund. "This is analogous to buyin~ a movie ticket and then being demed admission to the -thea tre," said AMA spokesman Jim Bensberg. The action came as a resul t of budget balancing efforts when Massachusetts fell approximately $452 million short of revenue to pay for an $11.615 billion 1989 budget, A statewide motorcycle safety program was approved by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1986. A special $2 fee was attached to motorcycle registrations to fund rider education courses, instructor training and public awareness cam pa igns. " By eliminating the fun ding, Governor Duka kis has not only turned his back on rider education, but he's also denied Massachusetts motorcyclists a valua ble benef i t because riders would have been eligible for a 10% discount on their insurance premiums had they been able to complete the state certified safety courses," Bensberg said. Du ka kis' action is in sharp contrast to that o f Lo uisiana G o v. Charles "Buddy" R o e m e r who signed legislation into law July 18 which ensures that mo ney collected for motorcycle safety programs will be allocated exclusively for that purpose. Louisiana had suffered a sizab le revenue shortfall this year and Gov. Roemer had requested that certain "earmarked " funds be used to he lp balance the budget, Among those funding sources to be raided was money co llected from a $5 surcharge on motorcycle license registrations. Fearful that a promise to fund the motorcycle safety program wo uld be broken. Rep. Raymo nd J etson . 0-" Ba to n Rouge, drafted H B506 which incl uded specific language designed to ensure tha t such programs wo uld receive the money raised by the extra . , registratio n fee. T he AMA a lerted its Louisiana members to the bill and urged them to write Gov. Roemer to encourage him to sign the bill into law. Following Roe mer 's signing the bill into la w. Bensberg said, " Once again, we've proven that motorcyclists have clout and can exercise it to im p rove motorcycle safe ty." As for the Massachusetts situation, the AMA encourages Massach usetts motorcyclists to wri te or call th eir elected representatives and senators to ask them to introduce legislation whic h wi ll restore fundi ng for motorcycle safety programs. New York Senate Bill could impact motorcyclists WESTERVILLE. OH. AUG. 8 A bill currently before the New York State Assembly could have serious consequences on motorcyclists. Senate Bi ll 7635-0, authored by the ' Joi nt Se nate/ Assemb ly Transportation Committee. contains several provisions which would impact the motorcycli ng com m unity. SB7635-D passed the New Yor k Senate on August I and is currently before the Assem bly Ways and Means Committee. T he American Mo torcyclist Association has sent a letter of opposition to the Senate Transportatio n com mittee outlining the Association's-objec tions to the bi ll. There are several areas of concern in SB7635-D, first of which is that ATVs and motorcycles are placed in the same definition in that the bill would ban passengers on vehicles equipped with seats such as found on both ATVs and motorcycles. If passed with its present language, the bill would ban passengers on not only four-wheel ATVs but motorcycles as well. Before SB7635-D passed the state Senate, the bill was amended to de lete sections that would have banned the sa le of three-wheel ATVs between private parties and banned passengers riding on ATVs o n private property. According to the AMA, th e bill in its present state still calls for a ban on dealers selling or reselling three-wheel ATVs, and the passenger ban on all ATVs and ' veh icl es, whi ch would include motorcycles, equipped with " such seats" on public property. Riders in New York State are encouraged to send letters a nd make "telephone calls to members of the committee. urging them to change the provisions classifying motorcycles and ATVs together. Letters should be addressed to: The Honorable (fill in name from list below), Assembly Ways and Means Committee. State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224. To reach committee members by phone, call 518/455-4219. A list of committee members follows: Saul Weprin (D-Q ueens), Chairperson Icilio Bianchi (0Bell p o rt ), John Cochrane (RBrigh twa ters), Robert D'An drea (RSaratoga Springs), Angelo Del Toro (D-New York). Eileen Dugan (0Brooklyn ). Arthur Eve (D-Buffalo). Alexander Grannis (D-New York), Edward Griffith (D-Brooklyn), Stephen Haw ley (R- Ba tavia), P a ul Harenberg (D-Bayport), Alan Hevesi (D- Queens), William H o y t (0 Buffalo), O liver Koppell (D-Bronx), Ivan Lafayette (D-Queens), J oseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn ), Hyman Miller , (R-Fayettesville), J err old Nadl er (0New York), R ober t N o r tz (R L o w ville ), George P ataki (RP ee kskill ), R o ber t R oba ch (0Rochester), Robin Schimminger (0Kenmore), Jose Serrano (D-Bronx), J ohn Sheffer (R-WilIiamsville), Mark Alan Siegel (D-New York), Shel don Silver (D-New Yo rk ), Robert Straniere (R-Staten Island). Albert Vann (L-BrookIyn), George Winner (R-E lmira). and L ew is Yevoli (D-Old Bethpage).