Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~'rND ~ BY 1>411>41 Wf.ALfY 00 00 0') ....... ~ ....... C'l $-I IJ.) ..0 8 a IJ.) J5 Am erican 's Ron Lech ien (Ka w) , Ri ck Johnson (Ho n) and Jeff Ward. (Kaw) tallied a perfect low score of four points to win th e Motocross des Nations in Villars So us Ecot, France, on September II. France's Jacky Vimond (Yam), Yannig Kerve lla (H o n) and Jean Michel Bayle (Hon) scored 12 points to finish second with Finland 's Mika Kouki (Yam), Pekka Vekhonen (Cag) and Kurt Lunjqvist (Yam) third. The victory was the eighth straight in wo rld tea m competition for an American motocross team. Host team France wrapped up the World Trophy team win during the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Mende, France, on September 10; narrowly topping Italy, 473.20 to 485.96 . Czechoslovakia finished third with a score of 1367.45 while the United States finished a disappointing ninth with 6581.01 . In Junior World competition, Italy topped Finland and West Germany to take the win. The U.S. finished 11 th in the Junior World competition. The overall individual winner in . Mende was Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel (Yam). Dunlop will be the official title sponsor of the 1989 U.S. Grand Pri x round of the World Championship Road Ra ce Series, to be held at Monterey, California's Laguna Seca Raceway on Sunday, April 16. In an agreement reached between Dunlop, the Sports Car Racing Association of Monterey Peninsul a (SCRA MP), and Peop le and Properties, Inc., U. S. to race next year, u n less th ere is a 500cc U.S . G P. Although he has no definite ride for the Grands Pri x in 1989, he has severa l options. " Europe is probab ly where I'll finish my rac ing career," Leisk said at the Motocross des Nations in France. " I enjoyed my time in the U.S.; th e peop le were gr eat." Dunlop will be th e excl usive tire manufacturer associated ' with th e GP. According to the terms of th e agreement, Du nl o p will have trackside signage a t Laguna Seca on th e da y of the event, a nd all track marshalls and comer workers will be attired in Dunlop Mo torsports sh irts and caps. Dunlop will also be identified as the ti tie sponsor on all offi cial event merch andise. In addition, Dunlop will be featured in advertisements on NBC's network TV covera ge of th e 500cc GP. Belgium 's 500cc Motocross World Champion Eric Geboers had to watch his team from the sidelines at the Motocross des Nations in France on September11 because of a knee injury he suffered in the final round of the championship in Luxembourg. "I crashed and some riders hit me and I twisted the knee," Geboers said. "I just have to wait for it to heal ." Team Lockhart's Dal e Quart erley and Doug Brauneck (Suz) wo n the AMAlCCS Endurance Road Race at Talladega, Alabama's Ala ba ma Interna tional Motor Speedway on Se ptem ber I I. Lockhart topped High-Tech Racing (Suz) and Team Targa (Kaw) to win the th ree-ho ur race. Roswell Ho nda Racing 's (Hon) Cam Roos and Mike Smith wo n the GTU portion of the race, wrapping up the 1988 GTU championship in the process. The U.S. Commerce Department, acting on a "anti-dumping " petition filed last February by Amer. ica n ATV manufacturer Polaris, found that Japanese AT'll manufacturers are selling ATVs in the U.S . at less than fair value. The Commerce Department says Kawasaki tops the list by allegedly selling its ATVs at 35.4% below the price in Japan. Yamaha is next at 6 .75%, Honda follows at 5 .11 % below fair value, and then comes Suzuki at 4% . Dave Ro pe r wo n bo th the 500cc Prem ier and 750cc G P classes at the Steamboa t Sp rings, COlorado , round of the AHRMA Historic Cu p Championsh ip. Rope r's wi ns earned him the 1988 H isto ric Cup Championship. Yoshimura Research and Development of America has announced that 16-year-old road racer Tommy Lynch will join its team for 1.989. Lynch signed a three-year contract w ith the team . The Bakersfield, California, resident received his AMA Professional license on June 1. Delaware's Middleford Speedway has been purchased for an undisclosed amount by the Delaware Motor Sport Association Inc. The track hosted AMA -sanctioned short track races in the past, and has expanded to offer MX and dirt drag events. According to the new owners, hare scrambles events will also take place at the 98-acre facility in the near future. Rueben McMurter· (H on ) clinched the RACE Canadian National Superbike Championship by one point over Gary Goodfellow (Hon), 53 to 52, at the last round of the road race series at O n tario 's Shannonville Motorsport Park on September 3-4. McMurter crashed o n th e second lap of the race and had his tra nsmission stick in third gear, but still remounted to finish eighth, claiming three points. The race was wo n by Miguel DuHa mel (Kaw) and Goodfell ow finis hed third. Jon Cornwell (Rtx) cli nc hed the Formula Two title in a race that was wo n by visiting Italian Stefano Carrach i (Hon), Australian rnotocrosser Jeff Leisk says .he doesn't plan to return, to the I can con tin ue to race the 600 series , I' ll add my name to it a fe,w more times along th e way." Carr cli nc hed the ti tle at Indy because there were not enough remaining events to allow his point lead to be topped. Scott Parker's tuner Bill Werner speaking on being in a t ight Grand National Championship title chase: " Personally, I prefer the runaway because it's less taxing on you mentally. So from a selfish viewpoint, being in a runaway is just more comfortable." Parker, the factory Harley-Davidson pilot, narrowly leads the standings with 208 points. Bu bba Shobert's tuner Skip Eaken on being in a tight GNC points chase: " I actually like it better . There's rea lly less pressure like this th a n if we had a big lead. When you have a big lead, the only thing that ca n happen is something going wro ng." Ho nda's Shobert trails Parker in th e sta ndings wi th ) 92 points. Dan Mahoney, 37, whose photos from dirt track events have graced these pages for many years, is recuperating at home from a heart attack he suffered in late August. Cards and letters can be sent to; P.O . Box 1047, Reseda, CA 91335. We goofed! A Wind item in las! week's paper had Newman, Ca lifor nia's Hills Ferry Raceway starting nigh t MX races on September 7. Tha was wrong! The night events wil start on September 17. Silver Eagle Racing has beel named West Coast race tire dis tributor for Yokohama racing tire by Kayo Corporation. Silve Eagle's Chuck Smillie and Kay. rep David Graham will be on han. at the September 17-18 WERJ 24 Hours West at Willow Spring Raceway i n Rosamond, Cali fornia. . Dave Schultz (Kaw) won the Pro Stock class at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana, on September 5 . Schultz defeated Russ Olmstead with an 8.07 second run at 162.13 mph. Olmstead 's losing numbers were 8.47/155 .09. H as he or hasn't he? Two weeks ag o we ran a n item in this section tha said Rick J ohnson had signed ; three-year co ntract with H onda. Ou source? R ick J o hnson. The multi time National Champion a lso to le o ther people the same thing, bu t n ow Ameri can H o n d a says J o hns o n hasn't signed a new contract wit h them. Johnson is in Europe, but as soon as he gets back Papa will ask him what's going on. James Domay (Suz) won the Heavyweight class of the Formula USA road race held at Willow Springs :x: Interna tio nal Speedway in Ro sa 11. mond, California, on September II. Richard Moore ( Ya m) finished second in the Heavyweight class and then second in the Lightweight class on the same Yamaha TZ250. The \ Lightweight class was won by Andy Leisner (Ap r). Paul Bray (Hon), David Sadowski (Suz) and Scott Russell emerged from Suzuki Cup road race action in Talladega, Alabama, on September 11 with wins in their respective classes. Bray topped John Ashmead (Hon) in the Middleweight Supersport class while Sadowski beat Jamie James (Suz) and Russell held off Mike Harth (Suz). The Gary Semics Motocross School has a new address and phone number: #6 Danforth, laguna N iguel. Ca lifornia, 92677. 714/495 -0806 . A.J. Whiting, J eff Mab ery and Ro n Turner were th e big wi nners in the opening round of the 1988 Dodge Trucks CMC Trans Cal Motocross Seri es at Glen Helen OHV Park. Whiting (H on) topped Ty Da vis (Suz) and Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) in the I25cc Pro class and then finished his day by taking the 250cc P ro win ahead of Larry Brooks (Kaw) and Mike Pascarella (Suz). Mabery (Yam) scored his victory in the 500cc Pro class wi th Greg Zitterkopf (ATK) second and Craig Davis (Yam) third. - Turner 's (Hon) win came in the Vet Pro class as he swept both rnotos, ahead of Rex Staten (Kaw) and Mike Tripes (Ka w). Randy Mamola (left) presented his friend and newly-crowned 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson (right) with a 1988 Ducati Paso 750 on September 8 at Pro ltalia Motors in Glendale. California. Following the presentation, Mamola and Lawson went water-skiing . a: al ~ 2 Facto ry Harley Davidson rider Chris Ca rr on winning the 600 Nationa l Ch ampionship at the rain-canceled Indianapolis event on August 27: " It 's a hell of a way to sew it up, but it was a good season. It's good to p ut th e 600 National Ch ampionsh ip, in its in augural year, on m y resume. That's something I know will be in th e record books for all th e years to come and I'll be at the top of th e list. If things go well , and

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