Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wind (Continued from page 2) rolet car in the ad - that's Steve Zoll, two -time winner of Hawaii's Mauna Kea 200 Enduro and U.S. ISDE · Qualifier gold and silver medalist, playing both roles.' NAMED: Robert V . Croft, field sales and m arket ing administrator by Dunlop Tire Corporation; Croft will be responsible for sales in the Eastern Reg ion, and f or assisting in marketing functions within the motorcycle tire division. NAMED: Paul A. Crane, motorcycle tire tester by Dunlop T ire Corpora. tio n; Crane will be responsibl e for test riding ' Dunlop tires a nd for coordin ation of Dunlop's motorcycle tire testin g programs. Th e Motorcycle Safe ty Foundation Board of Trustees recently presented the Un ive rs ity of Southe rn California Acc iden t Researc h Dept. $85 .000 to benefit research on motorc ycle acci dent s. These f unds w ill support a bas ic study in t o the detective failure of automobile drive rs who t urn left in f ro nt of oncoming mot orcycl ists. Dr. Ha rry Hurt, principle research er of t he comprehensive motorc ycle accident analysis, com m only know n as the Hu rt Report. will di rect the study. He w ill be assisted by Dr . Peter Han c ock, an 'ex pert in human f act ors. D r. Mansour Hahirni, an expert i n syste ms and l o gi c design, and Dr. Gab riell W ulf , an expert in eye -hand motor coordinat ion . All three are motorcyclists. " The left-turn config uration is the killer. We want our -st udv to tell us what drivers do and do wrong in the situation:' said D r. Hurt. " Ult im at ely . the resu lt s of th is research w ill enable us to better address driver awareness, "said . Peter Fassnacht, v ice president of MSF. . " We need to educate all drivers about motorcycling and hopefully help decrease this most common ,motorcycle-automobile accident." RESIGNED: Brian Smith, parts manager; Maria Radovich, admin istration assistant, an d N an , Baquero, senior programing data operator; from Cagiva N o rt h America. Sou thern California 's Perr is Raceway will be closed from Sep tem ber 6 th rou g h September 30 du ring which period th e exi sting MX track will be leveled and an all -new track construc ted. The new 25-foo t wide track will consist of th ree tracks in one, with th e longest. track running two miles in length . Perr is Raceway will debut the new track with a n SMX MX on October I. A MA N atio nal Hare & Ho und Champio n Da n Smith ha s in ked a co ntract w ith Maxima Racing Lubri can t s. Sm ith is in his eighth year aboard Hu sq v arnas . n o w under t he Cag iva North America banner. The sou thern Californian has won .the Bars tow-to-Vega s race twice, been t he AMA District 37 po ints champion f ive t imes, has won t he Baja 1 0 0 0, an d w as named the AMA A ma te ur A t hlete of the Year . Sou th African road racer Robb ie P e ter sen , who competed in th e Loudon, Road America and Laguna Seca rounds of the Castrol 250 Grand Prix Ser ies, h as returned home , where he'll be racing a H onda R C30 Superbike. Petersen hopes to return to the U.S. next year to com pe te in both the Superbike and 250cc classes. Bill Huth , owner o f Wi llow Spring s International Raceway in Rosamond . Ca liforn ia. reports that Toyota has signed t o spo nso r the Fo r m ul a USA Se ries f or ' anot her three years. .Huth w as also happy to say t hat the rece ntly increased runoff are a outside of , turns eight and nine caused hi s insurance company to decrease a (recently increased) policy. Add itionally, the new 1.5-mile Streets of Willow Springs circuit should be completed by lat e September or early October. R ick J oh nson , J eff Ward and Ron Lechien will rep resent the Uni ted States in th e Mo tocross des Na tions th a t will be held in France, Sep tember II. Ward will ride the 125cc class on a T om Morgan-tuned Kawasaki , J o hnson the 250cc division on a Bria n Lunniss-tu ned Honda, and Lech ien th e 500cc class on a Rick Asch-tuned Kawasa ki. Roger DeCoster will be the tea m manager. Ward chose to ride the 125cc class, saying " I feel that would make the strongest team. Ronnie's a little big for a 125, and I feel I can beat 'em (the 125cc opposi tio n). It will be a challenge." Suzuki's Bob Hannah and Johnny O'Mara will be on hand to sign autographs and shake hands at the August 10-13 AMA Youth/ Amateur MX Nationals at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Suzuki RM setup seminars will be conducted by Hannah. Suzuki will have its 1989 RM motocrossers on display at Loretta Lynn's. The la te Ted Boody's mother, Mary Sams, has had T -shirts p ri nted in her son 's honor. Boody died as a resul t of in ju ri es suffered in a race accident at Ascot earlier . this year. T he Tshirts sell for $ 10 plus $1.50 for postage and handling, a nd all proceeds will go to the Boody T rust Fund. Send your check (remem ber to state size desired ) to Mary Sams, 473 Priscilla Ave., Delt ona, FL 32725. Allow four to six weeks for delivery. O n August 14, the da y following 'the AMA Yo uth /Ama teur MX ' Nationals,' the Suzuki Nati ona l R M Seri es Fina l will tak e place at Loretta Lyn n 's. There will be a total of nine classes for ri ders mou nted on Suzuki RM 80s, 125s and 250s. Pri ze money is awarded down to 24th p lace with first p lac e finishers earning $2000 in each class . It's one of the richest p u rses ever paid in amateur mo to- cross, totalling $110,000. Suzuki RM riders, have been in vited to the race th rough a series of regi onal quali fiers, so yo u' may have qualified and no t even know it. For more information call American Suzuki at 714/ .. 996-7040, exte nsion 309 as soon as possib le. Road racer J eff Duckworth suffered b rok en r ibs, a broken shoulder and ca rtilage damage in a spill at Georgia's Roebling Roa d Raceway, J uly 30 . Duckworth is recu perating at home and ca rds and letters can be sent t o him there: 3671 McPhail o-, Ken nesaw, GA 3 0 144 . If you 're head ed to Georgia's Road ' At la nta for the Augus t 13-14 AMA/ CC S road races, mak e not e of the fact th at Saturday's, action will fea ture Novi ce and Expert sprint races, and Sunda y's com pe tition will feature the Vance' & H ines Su persport 600 and 750 finals, follow ed by a th reehour round of th e E BC Br akes End urance Ch a llenge Series. Cable TV's ES PN is currently t elecasting a series of 1 3 Spee dwa y America sh o ws f eaturin g m otorcycle and A TV speedway racin g from Gardena, California 's A scot So ut h Bay St adium. Spee dw ay Ameri ca airs on 'Thursday eve nings at midn ight EDT. Starti n g in Septe m b e r, ESPN will t elecast nine ro unds of the new W or ld Champio nship Superbike Road Race Se ries . The road race shows w ill be te lecast on Tuesdays at 5 :30 p.m. EDT. Chec k your local list ings. Team Suzuki's Er ik Kehoe, who suffered a cracked vert ebra a t the AMA National Championship' 125cc MX in T roy , Ohio , Jul y 3 1, WIll miss th e fin a l two ro u nds o f . the seri es. T he injury to the T -5 vertebra in Keh o e 's middl e ba ck wa s fir st thought to be just an aggravation o f an old inj ury , b ut further inspection revealed th e cracked vertebra as being a n a ll -new in j u ry. Do ctors h av e advised Keh oe to " ta ke it easy" the next six weeks. Keh oe, who is curren tly second in the Nationa l Champions hip 125cc MX , Ser ies poin t sta n dings, sai d in a recent phone conversatio n , " It was a stable fracture and there shou ld be no cornplica tions. I'm pretty much going to be in bed for a month. I can' t do any training, beca use I can't take th e chanc e of fa lling down or anything. It's not a good wa y to end the seaso n . I'm aiming to ride the J apan G P th e first week of October. " Okay, you arrive lat e for the U.S.A. vs. the World Budweiser American Cup Cha llenge speedway races at Ascot's South Bay Stadium in Gardena, Ca lifornia, on Friday night, August 19, You hear screaming . You hear the announcer talking about Count Gorsky and Crusher Kruginov, , Marvin "The Inferno" Oliver and The Golden Gladiator, and Marco the Iranian Terrorist and Harlem Warlord. You hear somebody ask, "What the hell is going on1" Then you see it. Pro wrasslin'. Yep, just like on TV. Are we kidding you1 . Is Ascot kidding us1 We don't think so because we're looking at a poster advertising "Russia vs . America - Tag Team Wrestle War - plus the Iranian Sudden Death Bout." The poster also says all that .w ill take place during the intermission between the speedway races. What's next1 Perhaps, as former land speed record holder Craig Breedlove once said, "And · for my next act I'll set myself on fire." If yo u're like us, you 're looking for ward to ret u rning to Monterey, Cal ifornia, for nex t year's U.S. GP at Laguna Seca Raceway. T here's a weal th of a ttractio ns in th e Monterey ar ea, besides the racing, a nd th e Monterey County Par ks Department has prod uced a l fi- pa ge, fo ur-co lor tourism brochure to introduce you to those attract ions a nd provide in formatio n on the a rea. The broch u re includes more tha n 90 pho tograp hs and is available for just $1, including postage a nd handlin g. Checks 'ca n be mailed to: Mo nterey County Tourist In formation Center, P.O. Box - 5279, Salinas, CA 93915, 5279. T ell 'em .you read abo u t th e brochure in Cycle Ne ws . ICO has . don ated an ICO Electronic Odometer to be raffled off at t he A ug us t 21 Jac k Pine National Champio nship End uro at Morristown, Michigan. Tickets w ill be so ld by the Lansi ng M .C . at t heir clubgrounds during Ja ck Pine weeken d. • If you plan on bein g in Sp ringfield, Ill inois, for the Labor Day weeken d' s ' Camel P ro Series Mile on Sunday, September 4, you migh t wan t to get th ere a day earl y so you ca n ca tch the AMA 600 National Mile o n Sa turda y,' Septem ber 3. Bot h events ta ke place on th e mi le ova l a t 'the Ill inois Sta te Fairgro unds a nd Saturday 's prog ra m incl u des P ro -Am racing. A to ta l o f $68,500 will be up for g rab s' III th e weeke n d's doubl eheader. The ban prohibit ing motorc ycle traffic t hro ugh Brockton. M assa• cusetts, ci ty parks w as upheld on July 22 by J udge John Xifaras. The AMA along with co-plaint iff Jim Sla de is appealing the decision. The Brockton Cit y Par k Commission has bann ed motorcycle t raffic from city parks since July 1. 1 9 87 , cit ing com plaints from citizens of " speedi ng motorcycles, excessive noise and ' motorcyclists gathering throughout .t he park." The AMA contended that these types of com plaints are a result of all forms of motor vehicle activity, incl ud ing speeding cars and a lack of proper law enforcement measures, and not from motorcyclists alone. "We're hopeful that the shoddy reasoning used to j u st i f y . this decision will cause the Massachusetts Appellate Court to reject it," said Jim Bensberg, AMA legislative affairs specialist for government re lations. "Only when motorcycles are returned to Brockton's park roadways will j ust ice be served." H osP IT al ,Stop : Gary Wilson is still in a coma but he is responding to voi ce commands an d lOOKS m uch better, accordi ng to hi s brother J ohn; Wilson, a local Vet Master class rider, was inj ured while com pe ting. in an ATV race a t Bak ersfieldRaceway in Ca lifo rni a ; W i lson is in Me rcy H ospi tal in Bakersfield; cards and letters ca n be sent to 1348 Roo sevelt, Coal inga, CA 93210. Indiana's Gary Hazel, who will compete in next month's ISDE in France aboard a Honda XR250 in the 250cc Four-Stroke class, will be sponsored by Hondaline. Haze l will be wearing the entire TX-10 line 'of off-road apparel, which includes helmet, jersey, pants, boots, gloves, goggles and chest protector. 45

• Cover