Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Duan e Co nner (Yam) was th e overall winner in th e fin al ro u nd o f the AMA N at ional Cha m pionshi p H a re Scram b le Se ries in H o o ks to wn , Pennsylva n ia , Oc to ber 16. Kevin Bro wn (Yam) was second overall a nd defending cha m p Ed Lojak (H us) was third. Tony Hendon (AT K) did n ot ride in H o o ks to wn , h a ving alread y sewn up the 1988 National Championsh ip o n October 9 in Minnesot a. A rid er 's seven best rides in the 12-race series determined th e outcome, and Hendon racked up six ' wins a nd one seco nd to clinch th e title over the Lojak, 205-157. Co nner earn ed 131 poi n ts for third in the ser ies poi nt stand ings. while Mark Hy de (Cag) co llected 129 fo r fourt h. T he Hooksto wn National also ac ted as round 9 of th e AMA Wiseco/' Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Seri es. Team Suzuki (Suz) trimmed 45 points off The . Human Raet! Team's (Yam) WERA Tsubakil I GS Battery National Endurance Road Race Series points lead and moved to within 22 points of first place with a win at West Virginia's Summit Point Raceway. October 15. in the 14th of 15 series rounds. The two teams battled for the first five hours of the six-hour race. but Team Suzuki. with riders Mike Harth and Jeff Atwell. cruised home the winner after The . Human Race Team's bike suffered a blown front brake system hydraulic line and lost five laps while making repairs. 5150 Racing (Suz) finished third behind runner-up The Human Race-Team. With just one round remaining in the series. at Georg ia 's Road Atlanta on November 4. only The Human Race Team and Team . Suzuki have a shot at the title. Going into that final round. The Human Race Team leads the point standings with 1006. and Team Suzuki is second w ith 984. J ohn ny O ' Mara (Suz) wo n the 125cc Ex pert class a t the 12th Annual Kaw asak i Race o f Ch ampions held at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New J ersey O ctober 15-16 . Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) fin ished second over all and· Mike Pasca rella (Suz) was third. Pascarella came ba ck with th e overall win in the 250cc Expert class, beatin g J oJ o Kell er (Hon) a nd J eff Ward (Kaw). Ron Lechicn (Kaw) was the overa ll winner in the 500cc Pro class follow ed by Keller a nd Mickey Kessler (Kaw). There shouldn't be any changes to the 1989 Kawasaki MX team since 250cc National Champion Jeff Ward and 125cc Western Regional Supercross Champion Jeff Matiasevich have already signed contracts for next year. Ron lechien. who led the American MX des Nations team to v ictory. is expected to sign by October 21. . 2 T y Da vis (Suz) won the 250cc Pro class a nd fini sh ed second in the 125cc Pro class a t ro u nd six o f th e CMC/ Dodge Truc ks T rans-Cal MX Series in Perri s, Ca lifo rnia, Octob er 16. Da vi s to p p ed ru n ner- u p Mi ck y D ym ond (y a m) a nd thi rd place finish er Mike Young (Cag) in the 250cc class, but go t bea t by Damon Bradsh aw (Yam) in the 125cc class, with Mike LaRocco (Yam) fin ishing thi rd. In 500cc P ro class actio n Greg Zitterkopf (AT K) was the overall wi n ner over J on Nelson (Hon ) and Ron Turner (Hon). Turner returned to top Rex Staten (Ya m ) a nd Ken Zahrt (Hon) in the Vet Pro class, while Tom my Clowers (Kaw) scored the victory in th e 80cc Experi class over J oel Albrec ht (Kaw) and Sp ud Walters (Hon) . I I1 Dutchman Edwin Evertsen (Hon) won the October 16 Scheveningen Beach Race in Holland with 2-1-4 moto finishes. The Masters of Motocross Series round was watched by an estimated quarter of a million spectators and a TV audience of millio ns who saw the entire three-hou r event live in Holland and Be lgium . luxem bourg's Jan van Poppel (Han) finished second behind 18-yearold Evertsen w ith a 1 -11-1 moto . tally and American Shaun Kalos (Hon) was third with a 9-4-2 performance. American Rodney Smith (Suz) finished out ofthe top 10. while Canadian Shane Drew (Han) finished eighth overall. A three-man AMA /CCS appeal board (Mike Velasco, Rob Muzzy and J im Labine) met in Los Angeles on October 14 and overturned th e Sears Po int Racewa y victory of Team Loc khart in the EBC Brak es En durance Cha lle nge race held o n Octob er I. Foll o win g an a pparent victory by Team Lockhart a t the event, second-place finis her H ypercycle filed a p rot est cla im ing the wi n ne r's machine was using illegal engi ne cases. After reviewing the avai lab le evide nce, series promoter Ro ger Ed mondson overruled the protest. H ypercycle owner Carry Andrew then appealed the decision. At issue were the en gine cases used on the Team L o ckhart Suzuki GSXR750. Andrew noticed th e cases did not physically match the design of 750 engine cases and claimed they were in fact 1100cc engine cases. Edmondson's inv esti gations showed that Suzuki considered th e two parts to be interchang eab le. At the appeal board meeting, Andrew countered with evidence which gave a different pi cture. To put together hi s case, Andrew ordered a set o f 750 cases and n ew p arts ' mi crofi che direct l y th rough a Suzuki deal er. The record of evidence he presented did not su p po rt Suzuki 's cla im that th ey considered th e parts to be identical and the board, after del iberating for less than half an hour, returned their decision supporting Andrew's a llegations. It was pointed out that there was no in dication of intentional wrongdoing o n the part of Team Lockhart. The result of the AMA/CCS appeal board's decision was to tighten the points race in the EBC . .Brakes Endurance Challenge with one event remaining at Daytona International Speedway. October 29 . The amended point standings show Dutchman Racing in the lead in the GTO class with 108 points. tra iled by lockhart with 101 and Hypercycle with 100. HosP ITal STOP: Tu cker Ro cky Distribu ting's Frank Esposi to underwent surgery for a brain tumor October 17. Cards a nd letters can be sen t to Esposito a t Crozer Ch ester Medi cal Center, 15th St. a nd Upland Ave., Ch ester. PA 19013. Former minicycle standout Br ian Swink suffered a broken l eft Mr. Y . Munekuni. president of American Honda. and Frank Gonzales. mayor of Colton. California. cut the ribbon during the grand opening ceremonies at the new Honda Rider Education Center in Colton. the first of its kind facility in the U.S. dedicated to providing motorcycle safety training, The center will provide motorcycle. scooter and ATV training to both beginners and experienced riders. as well as law enforcement and government agencies. The 5.5-acre. $2.5 million facility consists of a two-acre paved range for simulated street riding. a oneacre off-road dirt area for ATV practice. and a 6.250 square foot main building which houses classrooms and resource materials. Honda plans to construct four additional centers across the U.S. and will release the locations once the sites are finalized. California motorcycle. scooter and A TV owners int erested in enrolling at the Colton center or learning more about the lessons should call800ICCR-IDER . I \ .. , ! r RIDER EDUCATI ON .CENTER femur and dislocated right hip in a crash while riding a 125cc machine in a local MX on October 2 and will be out of action for six months to one year. Cards and letters can be sent to Swink at 7231 Bennett lake Rd .• Fenton. M148430. A limited number of tickets are available for $45 each and must be paid for by October 24 . Requests and payments should be sent to: AMA Pro Awards Ban quet. Attn: Pat McCoy. P.O. Box 6114. Westerville. OH 430816114. Cycle News contributor Alan Cathcart broke the tibia in his left leg recentl y during a test session at England's Mallory Park. Carhart's injury comes at the height of his off season race bike test schedule, but the Englishman says he'll be fit by hi s annua l trip to J apan in Novem ber. We're told that the R.j. Reynol ds Tobacco Co. might expand their motorcycle racing sponsorship in 1989 by sponsoring the AMA Supercross Series in addi tio n to th e d irt track/road race Camel Pro Series. If you plan on attending the N ov em ber 5 AMA Professional Awards Banquet on the Queen Mary in long Beach. California. and haven't ordered your tickets yet. you 'd better get on the gas. The AMA has raised the minimum required purse for a National MX from $22.000 to $25.000. This breaks down to $15.000 for the 250 and 500cc classes. and $10.000 for the 125cc class. The (Con tinued to page 42)

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