Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wind (Continued from page 2) marketed as a "premium touring tire." It's designed for lightweight and m iddleweight sport touring motorcycles. T wo-tim e Grand Nationa l Champi on Dick Mann wi ll ho st the 5th Annual Vintage Dirt Bik e Rally at Sandhill Ra nch in Brentwood , California , October 16 and O ctober 23. T his year 's ra lly is ' split into two weekends. Su nday, October 16, will feat ure vintage' tria ls , hi llclimb co mpetition and exhibi tio n fla t track raci ng. Celebrity guest s will in clude form er G ra nd National Champions Joe Leo nar d , Gary Ni xon a nd Mert Lawill, p lus Sammy Tanner , Neil Keen , J ody Ni cholas, H ap J ones, and T om Sitto n. T he focal po int wil l .be winners from Ascot. In add itio n to th e rid in g th ere'll be a swap m eet and co nco urse ju dging. T he following Su nday , O ctober 23, the fift h rou nd o f th e Ca lifo rnia Vintage Racin g Group MX Seri es will be hel d. It will also be th e fin a l ra ce of th e AH RMA MX seas on. For further information, ca ll 415/8296091. RESI G N ED : Tyrone v an Hooydonk, as C ycle News assistant editor t o join th e editorial sta ff of Cycle m agazin e. MARRIED: John Savitski, former Na tional MX co m pe tito r a n d th e man who constructs th e majority of th e stadium Supercross tracks via his company Stadium Dirt Desi gns, to Vivia n Chadb ourne, form er Miss Cam e l .Pro , III P enn syl vani a , Octob er I. Accord ing to Sco tt G oggles rep Bevo Forte, wh o wren ched for Sav itski in the seven ties , "Th ey got marr ied so me where in Pennsylvania. I think I gave J ohn away, wha tever th at m eans. Do n ' t as k m e so m an y questions - I' m busy pr eparin g m y '73 Bul taco for th e Alliga tor Enduro nex t yea r. Anyway, yo u h ad a photog rapher a t th e wedding - Mitch Friedman - and he 'll probably give yo u a phot o of John a n d Vivian to run in next week's paper. Mention Sco tt G oggles, a nd tell everyone to check m e o ut in the new Ma lcolm Smi th ad, and . . . " CORRECTION: TheWind item in our September 28 issue relaying the news that experienced cornerworkers were being sought to work the AMA/CCS Race of Champions at Daytona, October 28-30. list ed an incorrect phone number. Anyone who would like to be a cornerworker at the event should call Roger Lyle at 3011 933-2599 . Honda 's 1989 m o tocro ss team is n ow virtuall y co m p lete, wi th five ride rs signed an d one ex pected to sign for th e '89 season. Ri ck J ohnson, th e onl y m ember not yet sig ned but who is expected to do so before th e start of next season, will rid e Su percross and 250 a n d 500cc National events o n a full- works contract along with Jeff Stanton, who rode fo r Yamaha th is year. Stanton replaces J eff Leisk , the Austra lian wh o a long with Eric G eboer s a n d Da vid T horpe will represent H onda o n th e G P circui t in '89. Also on th e works team is 125cc National C ha mpion George Holland, who will defend h is title a nd co m pete in Supercross events, wh il e Guy Coo per will ri de th e 125cc National a nd Supercross Series oria works su p p ort co n tract. P ro Su pport riders Mike Kiedrowski an d Larry Ward wi ll ride th e 125cc Na tional circu it th en sp lit th e ' 125cc Eastern a nd Western Region al · Supercro ss Ser ies. Each rider will compete in 250cc Supercross when th e ser ies m oves to opposing regio ns. Turn on your TV set and tune in Fox Channel's Beyond Tomorrow on October 8. The show will run a segment on the Yamahapowered RAD D motorcycle. Wolf Creek Motocross Park in Cleburn. Texas. is the new home of the Steve Wise Mot o c ross School. Wise, a fo rmer Honda factory rider. w ill conduct weekly private lessons and bi- m ont h ly public schools. and along w ith his ministry travels he w ill co nduct sc hools in various cities . W ise can be co ntacted at P.O. Box 550 30 7 . Da llas. TX 75355 • . 21 4 / 2 7 6 5331. H onda 's fir st quarter (April I-June 30) finan cia l su m ma ry shows th a t motorcycl e reve n ue to taled $778 m illio n , up 2.4% " d ue to the favorab le market co n ditions in J ap a n." Of H onda' s total co nsolida ted sales for the firs t qua rter , 12% were derived from m otorcycl es, 69.7% from a utomobiles, 2.7% from p ow er prod ucts (ge nera tors, sma ll motors, la w n mowers, etc.) a nd 15.6% from sa les of parts a nd o the r revenues. Consolidated n et sales for th e quarter to taled $6,484 mill io n , up 12.3 percent over the co m parative th ree-month period in 1987. BO RN : Jorge Anthony Fasola , so n of Vic Fasola, tuner for endurance ro ad racing tea m So lm ax Racing US A, an d Elain e R aw lin g s, in Atl a n ta, G eorgia , September 26. No , J orge isn 't as ta ll as his father - yet, but h e m igh t we ig h more seeing as ho w he weig hed in at 6 Ibs., 4 oz. . when going through his first- ever tech inspection. MOVE D : Doug Meyers' Dublin Kawasaki t o larger fa ci lities at 60 44 Do ug hert y Rd .• D ub li n . Califo rn ia 94568; pho ne number rema ins th e same . 4 15 /829 4466. J im Savoie o f Goodtimes Mot orspo rt s Park in Sa n An to nio, T exas, h a s s-ecu re d a n agree me nt w ith Montana, L td. o f Mexi co to host a n . Tn ter n a ri o n a l Ce ntra l Am eri ca Supercross in th e 120,000 seat Azteca Stadi um in Mex ico Cit y. T he event will be h eld on Ja n uary 22 with show mo n ey and a cash purse for top interna tiona l riders in the 125 a n d 250cc Pro, 80cc Expert an d P ro ATV 4-Wheel classes. Bik es an d eq u ipm ent will be trans porte d from San Antonio to Mexico City in sea led transport trucks a nd th e ride rs wi ll be fl own fr om San Anton io to Mexi co City with a ll expenses paid. Inter ested p ro rnoto crosser s a n d potential sponsors ca n co n tact Savoie at 512/670-82 15. Ron nie Dem ent will co -promote the 80cc Expert event and he ca n be co n tac ted b y wr it ing to 18411 Ta ll Cyp ress, Spring, TX 77388. Road race r Ottis Lance. who was seriously injured in a 1987 crash at Laguna Seca, will return to Superbike racing in 1989, aboard a bike fielded by Milford. Ohiobased Taylor Racing. Yamaha ha s a n nounced th at they will n o t co m pe te in the World Championship 500cc MX Series n ext year. Lin J arv is, head of Ya maha Eu rope' s off-ro ad racin g p ro gram, sai d Yamaha will co nce ntrate on th e 250cc MX G Ps. J arvi s sai d Ya m aha feels th e 250cc class represents fu ture of MX because it has "the most relevenc e to th e maj ority," adding th at o n ma n y circu its th e 250s are faster th an the 500s while bein g easier to h andle fo r all ri ders. Also given as reason for dr opping out o f th e 500cc GPs was th e cos t of field ing a n effort an d th e sales value of do in g so wh en sales o f 500s were significan tly less th an sa les o f 250 and 125cc machines. Yam a ha will field Worl d 250cc Champion J ohn Van den Berk a nd newly signed Pekka Veh ko nen , who finish ed seco nd in th e 250cc title chase th is year aboard a facto ry backed Cagi va , in th e 250cc G Ps in '89. Yam a ha 50 0 riders J a c k y Vimond , Ku rt Ljungq vist and 125 ride r Mika Kouki appear to be left wi t ho ut b ik es fo r n ex t seaso n , a lthough Vi mon d IS said to be agreeable to ri di ng a 250 if h e can't put together a 5Q ride. O Ky le Wolfe, 27, died Sept ember 18 after be ing struck by a truck in a parking lot in Columbus. Ohio. Wolfe had bee n ac t ively invol ved in motocross fo r m any y ear s. A ccord in g t o his brother Drew. .since 1 9 78 Kyle was the production manager for Action Sports Pro mot ions In c .• and had wo rked f or 8 i11 West 's S uperS ports. Dave Co ombs ' R acer Pr o d uctions. SRO /Pace. M ike Goodwin and M ic ke y·Thompson. In ad dit ion. he was also a bulldozer operat o r and as such w orked for John Sav itski's Stadium D irt D esig ns. helping . to con st ruct Supercross t racks. He w as invol ved in the co nst ruction of private tracks for the likes of Rick Johnson. Broc Glover and Ro n Lechien . Holl ister Hills, si te o f this year's U.S . 500cc MX G P , is under ' new man agement by a Sta te o f Ca li forniaapproved co nc essionaire. U nder this n ew management, th e track will n ow be known a s the H oll ister H ills Moto rs ports Fa ci lit y. An a c t iv e racing sche du le is p lanned , beginn ing with th e H ol ida y MX Seri es o f th e newl y for me d Pacific Rim Racing Associa tio n which starts o n November 13. T h e 1989 U. S. 500cc MX GP will run at H o ll ister Hills on June 18 a nd th e track will h ost a ro u n d of the AMA Nationa l Championship 125/500cc MX Series in O ctober o f next year. Any promoter , associatio n or club inter ested in schedu li ng a n event shou ld co ntact: H oll ister H ill s Motor Sports Facility, 9700 Cienga Rd. , H ollister , CA 95023, 408/ 636-0630. Racers and fans should ca ll or wr ite to be incl u ded in H oll ister Hills m ailings th a t will a n nou nce details o f co m ing events. Three -time World Champion Eddie Lawson finished sixth out of 30 starters in the September 25 Porsche Cup car race at the Nurburgring in West Germany. " I came from 20th and had to go through the mud and dirt to get sixth. but I set the third fastest time and had fun," Lawson said. West German 250cc GP competit or Martin Wimmer fin ished f ifth in another Porsche 944 Turbo. Lawson was scheduled to leave for Japan on October 4 to race at Sugo on October 9 . R a n d y Mamola ' s ma nager J im Doyle has ordered three Ya ma h a T Z250s a nd wi ll run a ra ce team in the ,1989 AMA /Castrol 250cc Grand Prix class. The team will more than likely co nsist o f Ri ch Oliver as th e number o ne rider wi th James Step hens also being co nsidered. " I want Rich because he 's a good guy a nd he goes good," Doyle sai d a t Sears Po int on O ct ober I. " I'm lookin g for sponsors and I' m goi n~ o utside th e in d ustry t o fin d them righ t now." Road racer Scott Gray has entered the October 8 Sacramento Mile on a Bartels Harley-Davidson. The event will be the first professional dirt track race for the Yoshimura Suzuki rider. T eam Nordi ca R ob erts ' J ohn Kocinski a nd T homas Stevens will rid e 1989 prod uction 250cc Yamahas at the Big Road Race in Sugo, J apan , on October 9. T he T ea m Luck y Stri ke R ob erts squad o f Wa yn e Rainey a n d Kevin Magee will be co m pe ting in Malaysia and a t Fuji in J ap an during th e o ff-seaso n but wo n't co ntest the Sugo race . Thomas Stevens w ill follow in t he footsteps of his Team Nordica Roberts teammate J o hn Kocinski and w ill m ove to Modesto. Calif orni a. up on h i s return fro m Jap an . Steve n s will li v e w ith Chuck A k sland. tuner Bud Aksland' s son. and will spend th e w inter train ing at Kenny Roberts' ra nch in nea rb y Hickm an, California. f or an assa ult on the 250cc N ation al Cham pionship in 19 8 9 . It is not known a t p ress tirne wh at two-time 250cc National C ha m p io n John Koci nski will be doi ng in 1989. Wi th Lucky Stri ke not fieldin g a Wo rld C ha mpions hip .250cc team , Kenny Robert s is currently weighi ng Kocinski 's o p tio ns. Rober ts said if n othin g ca n be 'worked o ut fo r Eu rope in 1989, Kocinski will lik el y defenrl hi s 250cc title in th e U.S., but will mak e frequent GP ap peara nces . Road racer Doug Polen is another rider without firm racing plans for 1989 . Altho ugh no specific details were given. it is likely that Polen will aga in compete in the AMA Superbike National Championship next year. According to Polen. it is also likely that he will race quite frequently in Japan in the com ing season, and he is also trying to work out a deal that will see him try his hand on a 500cc Grand Prix bike in 1989. " I wi ll be doi n g th e Ca mel P ro Series an d runn ing the tea m m yself again," three- time AMA Grand Nati o n a l Champion Bubba Shobert said at th e Sea rs Point Nation al on O ctob er 2. " We just have to ge t some o f the wordi ng on the co ntract sorted o ut. I will a lso be do in g th e Japanese an d Lagu na G Ps on a 500, an d will pro bab ly be test in g at Will o w Sp rings o n a 500 this wi n ter." Shobert's co nt rac t is a th ree-year dea l with a second a nd th ird year option to go to Europ e. Among those spectating at the , Sears Point National were threetime World Champ ion Ke nn y Roberts, Randy Mamola, Kevin Schwantz and dirt tracker Scott Parker. W hen Dou g C h a nd ler wo n the August 7 Mid -Ohio AMA Pro Twi ns Grand Prix on the Com monwealt h H onda , his sponsor, Supertra p p , was u p set. Th e bi ke wa s -fi tt ed with Kerk er exha us ts, a nd Kerker ran a n adve rtiseme n t showcasing th e victory. Chandler wa s sla ted to ride th e bike in th e O ctober 2 Sea rs Point ra ce, a nd it showed up wit h Supertrapp ex ha usts. "According to ow n er and bu ild er Mart in Adams , th e new ex hausts did n 't m a ke a differen ce, bu t th ey kept Chan dler 's sponsor happy. Chandler scratched with a wrist injury and Kevin Erion rode it in th e race. According to the September issue of the AFM News, " A FM/ L.A. is (Con tin ued to page 51) 41

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