Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Superbike. Full coverage in nex t week's Cycle News. fiY P4IP.A Wf4lLfY juan Garriga, th e Spaniard wh o fini sh ed second to fell ow cou nt ryman Sito Pons in the 1988 250cc World Championship, has inked a deal with Yamaha th at will again see him con test the 250cc cha mp ion ship . This ends sp eculation of Garri ga joining Gi acomo Agostini 's Marlboro Yam ah a team in th e pl ace of the now-dep arted Edd ie Lawson. At pressti me, Marlboro had yet 10 sign a rep laceme n t for La wson. Ra mpa nt ru m ors from Japan ha ve Marl boro .Ya m a ha c rew chief Kel Ca rr uthe rs s w it c h ing to Team Pepsi S uzuki in 1 9 8 9 . Ca rruthers. rea c he d a t his San Diego. Califor. nla, home o n Frid a y. October 28. refused t o comme nt on the rumor. Te xa n Kevin Schwimtz has already s ig ne d on as S uz u ki' s nu mber one rider. but at pres stime a nu m ber two rid e r for the Peps i squad had yet t o be s ig ned . According to Eddie Laws on's man ager, Gary H oward , the three-ti me World Champio n has not yet signed for th e 1989 G ra nd - Prix seaso n , desp ite reports of his sign ing to rid e a Rothman s H onda. "Edd ie will proba bly be sign ing an agreement in a week o r so," Howar d sa id from hi s Tustin, Cal ifo rni a , office on Frid ay, Octob er 28. Wh en q ues tioned as to with wh om th e contract will be, H oward replied, "T he con trac t will be with Erv Kan em o to." Spo nsor ? " I have no t been notifi ed by Erv as to who th e sponso r will be a t thi s po int," H oward a ns wered. Wh en as ked if Law son, who has been unavail able for comme nt and has changed hi s phone number, would -be iss ui ng a s ta te men t s hort ly, H oward sa id. " I don't kn o w that Eddie will be issuing a sta teme nt. It will be up to Erv, Eddie a nd wh oever th e spo nso r will be." Tuner Kanem ota is m o st n oted for hi s cha mp io nsh ip -win n in g en deav ors wi th th ree-time World Ch ampion Fredd ie Spe ncer. 2 Wh ile Howard m ight .not have known who the sponsor of the t ea m is. the sponsor - Rothmans Honda - knew who they were. After we spoke to Howard we received a press re lease from Rothmans Honda t hat confirmed Lawson wou ld ride Hondas in Rothmans colors in 1 9 8 9 . The press release contained the fol lowing quote from Kanemoto. who will manage the Rothmanssponsored team: "For some time I've wanted to use my experience and technique to run a new team. Edd ie approached me to ask Honda if machinery was available next season. They agreed and so we've been able t o set u p the new team. " Randy H awkin s (Suz) wrapped up th e AMA Nati onal Champions hip End uro Series title by ' fi ni sh in g seco n d to ov era ll w i n n er Ku rt Hough (Ka w) at the Forest H ill , L oui si an a , Na tio na l En d u ro , Octob er 30. Third overa ll wen t to j eff Ru ssell (Ya m ), who was fol lowed by Allen Gravett (KTM ), j oey H opkin s (Ka w) and Dave Bertram (Suz). By winning the cham p ion sh ip , Hawkins beco mes th e first rider in 18 years to win the ti tle on a j apan ese marque. The last rider to do it was H onda-m oun ted jack McLane in 1970. For the third straight year. Dan Smith (Hus) cl inched the AMA Na t iona l Championship Hare 8r. Hound title by winning the fina l round of the series in Wickenburg. A rizona. October 30. Second plac e w e nt to Garth Sweetland (Hus) followed by Paul Krause (Ka w) and Larry Roeseler (Ka w). Smith took the . Open class w in. as well. w hile first 250cc was Fritz Kadlec (Ya m ) in s ixth overall. First 125cc was Kevin Case (Yam ). Roeseler finished second in the po in t standings . and he also c la imed the 250cc class championship. T he final round of th e 1988 AMA Wi seco /Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series in Tarentum, Pennsylva nia, October 30, saw Kevin Brown (Ya m) tak e the overall win, followed by Steve McSwain (Hon), Scott Summers (Hon), Scott P lessinger (Kaw) a nd Duane Conner (H on ). Ed Loj ak (Hus) p laced sevent h a nd clinched the series title. Wh ile you all know about the half mi le. Tf' , speedway. motocross and ca r races that Agajanian Ent erpri se s has promoted over the yea rs at Ascot Park in Gardena. California. how many of you know that Agajania n En terprises w ill promote a " m o ns t e r truck " show in Ja n ua ry? No. not at Ascot but in Ja pan at t he Tokyo Dome! The Thanksgiving Da y weekend's Florida Winter Natio na ls /M ini Olym p ics a t Cato rback Pa rk in Gai nesvill e will have a n add ed cla ss, the 51cc Automat ic -divisio n. The stock class, which is ope n to riders from four to eigh t years of age, will co n test MX, 'IT, scram bles, stadiumstyle MX and oval track races o n specia lly designed co urs es. Entry forms are avai lab le from WorldSports, 1101 Ninth Ave., St. Petersburg , FL 33705, 813/ 822-8929. The 1 9 8 8 Mickey Thompson Off· Road Championship Gran Prix Series Awards Banquet w ill be hel d at the Newporter Resort in Ne w port Beach. California. on Saturday. November 19. Tickets are $35 each (tables for 10 at $350 each) and include cocktails . d inner. awards ceremony and dancing. Reservation deadline is November 11 . For more info rm a t io n. call Rose Lembke at 714/ 938·4100. Hyper-Cycle's Carry Andrew and James Domay (S uz ) cl inched the 1988 AMA /CCS EBC Brakes Endurance Challe nge Series title by w inning the final round of the series. a three-hour endura nce race at Daytona Interna t ional Speedway. October 30. The two other teams w ith a shot at the title. Dutchman Racing (S uz) and 1987 National C hampions Team Lockhart (Suz). s uffered mechanical problems and a crash. respectively. t o wind up second and t hird in points. The.GTU class was won by Daytona (Hon ] w ith Team Vertical (Hon ) second . and Asphalt Aviators (Suz) third . APPOINTED: BSW In c. as importer a nd Section-One Trial s Products as distributor of Italian-made Fantic motorcycl es in th e western U.S.; another firm (still to be announced ) will be handling distribution in the eas ter n p ortion of th e co u n try ; Section-One Trials Products is a di vi si on of San Lui s Obispo, California-based Miller's Motorcycles; for more information, con tact Bob Miller a t 445-B Prad o Rd. , San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, 805/ 5437358. Expert Mike Smith was a triple winner at the October 29-30 AMAI CCS Daytona Ra ce of Champions, taking championships in th e Lightweight Superbike, U nlimited Supersport and Middleweight Supersport classes. Expert Cam Roos and Novice David Kamps were both doub le winners, with R oos taking the L ightweight Grand Prix and H eavyweigh t Supersport classes, and Kamps winning Middl ew eight Grand Pri x and Midd lew eight The MTEG has announced the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix Series schedule for 1989. The series. which features 250cc Ultracross and off-road truck racing. starts at Anahiem. California. January 21 . The remainder of the schedule is as follows: San Diego. Californ ia. February 25 ; Seattle . Wash ington. March 18; New Orleans. Louisiana. April 8 ; Houston. Texas. April 15; Pasadena. California. May 6 ; and Los Angeles. California. July 15 . While no set dates have been announced. other series rounds will take place at Denver. Colorado. in September. and at Las Vegas. Nevada. in October. Plus. the Anaheim (J a n ua ry 21) and San Diego (February 25). Californ ia. rounds of the AMA Supercross Series w ill be promoted by MTEG . The two Supercross rounds w ill also count as two of three rounds in what was the MTEG Super Crown of Stadium Motocross Series last year. That three-round competition will carry a new. but as of yet unannounced t itle in '89 . The la s t round of the series is scheduled to be held in Los Angeles. Cali, fornia. June 10. Yam aha's 1989 MX team is now co mp lete and there are some changes in the li n e u p . Mi cky Dymond returns for another season and will be backed by former Yamaha Support riders Doug Dubach and Shaun Kalos in the 250 and 500cc Nationals and 250cc Supercross Series. Da mon Bradshaw, Mi chael Craig, Mike jones and Mike LaRocco will contest th e 125cc Nat ional s and Supercross even ts. The final ro und of the Golden State End uro Series has been res c hed uled a nd relocated. It was to be hel d in conjunction w it h t he Te cate 250K End uro in Tecate. Ba ja Ca lifo rn ia . Mex ico • . December 1 0. but w ill no w be h eld in C o a li nga . Cal ifo rn ia .No ve mber 2 0 . The Coalinga event w ill be called t he Wh ite Mine Enduro . The Tecate 250K Enduro w ill s t ill be h e ld as originally scheduled . For more inform a t io n about the White Mine Enduro. call 415 /672-8680. MAR R IE D: Ra y T ether ton, Erik Keh oe's mechanic, a nd Scott USA represen tative Lisa Pia toni in Fullert on, Cal ifornia, Octob er 22. The AMA has tentative plans to form an Int e rn a t io na l Six Days . Enduro Board of Directors for 1 9 8 9 . They are looking for volunteers. wh o. a t their own expense. w ill be willing to ' meet several t im es a year to help g ive direction to the USA IS D E effort. Interested parties shou ld contact Hugh Fleming. AMA. Box 6114. Westerville. Ohio. 43081 -6114. or call 614/891-2425 . Bob H allgren , 53, of Lomita, California, claims he and his dog, Mitzie, are th e first man and dog on a motorcycle to visit all 48 con tinenta l United State s. The seven -and-a-half month, 28,OOO-mile trip attracted much interest from th e media ; according to Hallgren , he a nd Mitzie were th e subject of 182 newspaper articles and appeared on 99 television sh ows. The trip was marred by one accident which resulted in Hallgren cracking some rib s, but Mitzie, a fiveyea r -o ld Belgi an shepherd, was uninjured. WERA will host their 16th Annual Grand National Final a long .with the Suzuki National Cup Series Final at Road Atlanta 'in Georgia. November 3-6. w ith over $100.000 in cash and prizes up . for grabs. There are 21 sprint class championships and five vintage class championships to be decided and. in addition. the 15th (Con tin ued to pag e 46)

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