Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127164
-WYND fiY p~p~ Wf~LfY The AMA has a nno unced a revision to th e 1989 'p ro fessional MX ยท and Su percross sched u le. The changes will effect the Miam i and Dallas Su percross events and the Ga in esville (Flo rida) 125/ 500cc Nationa l. The Miami Su percross originally schedu led for Mar ch 4 will no w mo ve to February 18. T he Gainesvill e Nationa l will be resch eduled fo r March 5, movin g from i ts origi na l date of April 2. T he fin al revision ha s th e Dall as Supercross moving ahead o ne week ft om Ap ril 8 to its new date of April I. According to AMA Pro fessional MX Manager Roy J anso n , " T he cha nges to the sched ul e come as a resul t of co nflicting mot o rs port eve n ts sc hed u le d i n sou th Flo rida at th e time of the Miam i Supercross. In addi tio n, the revision will allow th e Gain esville Nati o nal to return to' its tra ditio na l da te one week prior to th e Daytona Supercross." American Honda and Ital ian . Roberto Gallina failed to come to terms in an effort that would have seen Gallina run Bubba Shobert's team in the 1989 World Championship 500cc Road Race Series. "We're going another way," Honda's Gary Mathers said on December 8. " We never had a deal (with Gallina) arid we'll probably just do it ourselves. We are trying to place him (Shobert) the best we can. We just couldn't get together with Ga llina on the cost. We should know what we're doing by the 15th or 16th (of December) ." Ma th ers wa s as ked what wo u ld ha p pen to Shob ert 's 1988 AMA Superbike Nation al Ch ampionshipw inn ing VF R 750 Superbikes. " T here were four motorcycles in 1986, two for (Fred) Merkel and two for (Wayne ) Rainey," Math ers said. "This year Bubba got two and we g ave th e o t her tw o to (Do ug) Ch and ler. They were sen t to us by HRC. We're find ing ou t wha t th ey want to do with th em because th ey own th em , but I'd say they 'll prob ably ask for th em (Shobert's bikes) back a nd destro y them." Former World Champion Wayne Gardner tested the 1989 Honda NSR500 on December 3-4 in Spain. Gardner rode one ' day at Jerez and another at Jarama on the revamped V-four road racer which reportedly features, unlike last year's NSR , an asymetrical swingarm (a la the Yamaha YZR500) with the lower two exhaust pipes exiting from the same side. The new NSR500 was also fitted w ith inverted Showa forks. Gardner crashed at Jarama, but was not injured. The Australian was joined in testing at Jarama by Elf-sponsored Dominique Sarron, who was aboard a 1987 NSR500. Accord ing to Sol o Moto, the Spanish weekl y motorcycle paper, the 1989 factory Yamaha YZR250 road racers will feature electronic fue l injectio n . T he bikes will be .ridden by Juan Garriga, J.P. R u gg ia and L uca Cadalora in th e 1989 250cc World Championsh ip. Solo Moto a lso reports th a t Yamaha will produce a YZR500 some tim e in 1989 usin g a sim ilar fuel inj ectio n system , and that a single-crank V-four is also in th e wor ks. T he new Ya maha also reported ly utilizes a fuel p ump, which Solo Mo to claims may be to get fuel fro m a possible under-th eengi ne fuel tank. It is mor e likely, how ever , th at th e fu el pu mp is sim p ly needed to supp ly the injec.Lion system with adeq ua te pressure. Italian Franco Antoniazzi will run Aprilia 's 250cc World Championship road race team. An ton iazzi, who comes from Ferrari / Alfa Romero, will direct April ia 's effort with riders Did ier de Rad igues, who f inished seventh in the 1988 500cc World Championship , and Ivan Palazzese, who finished 18th in the '88 250cc World Cham- . pionship. De Radigues tested in early December at Calafat and Jerez in Spain . Aprilia's 125cc team is not a full -factory effort like the 250cc team, and rider Fausto Gresini and Corrado Catalano will ride as Team Italia Lazzarini. According to reports from Europe, Cagiva's Randy Mamola will use Michel in tires In 1989 a n d not Pii ell is. Cagiva had full su pport from Pirelli in 1988, but it is known tha t Mam ola was not happy with th e results. It is highly unlikel y that Mamola will start th e 1989 season wit h th e " special" Michelin tires that are bei ng reserved for Way n e Gard ner, Edd ie La wson , Kevin Schwaritz and Freddie Spencer. Spaniard Alberto Puig has reportedly signed with Spanish tobacco giant Ducados for 1989, taking the sponsorship that had previously been held by Angel Nieto's 250cc road race team. It is not known whether Puig will ride a Cobas or a Yamaha TZ250 in the 250cc World Championship. Four-t im e Wor ld Champion J or ge Martinez has reportedly told Derbi that if th eir 250cc G P bike is not read y by th e en d of the seaso n that he will swi tch to a J ap an ese man ufactu rer in 1990. Mar tin ez, wh o won bo th th e 80cc an d 125cc World Ch amp ionships In 1988, h a s expressed a desire to move up to the 250 cc cla ss in 1990 . Derb i a n d Martinez will reportedl y use th eir rotary-valve engines again in 1989 in an effort to win bo th championsh ips. There is talk , however, of a reedvalve engine being in th e works. Spain's 250cc World Champion Sito Pons had a test drive in a Cosworth Formula 3000 race car on Thursday, December 8 , at Jarama in Spain . Form er 125cc Wo rl d Cha m p io n Loris Reggi an i, who finished 13th in the 1988 Wo rld Cham pionshi p 250cc Road Race Series on an Apri lia, will ride a H B-sponsored H onda NSR250 in 1989. West German 's H elmut Bradl and Reinhold Ro th will al so ride .H o ndas in HB colors in 1989. J acq ues Cornu, wh o fin ished th ird in th e 250cc champ ionshi p in ' 88, w ill r eported ly be sponso red by Lucky Strike in '89. American road racer Mike Baldwin appears to be heading toward signing a contract with Bimota to contest the 1989 World Championship Superbike Road Race , Series. "I'm still trying to work out the deal," Baldwin said on December 8 . "I'm still waiting to hear. I should know in the next few days. One of the good things is that they are planning to do Daytona. They are real serious about Daytona and will try and get the bikes homologated. I think running Daytona is a real plus because it gets you ready for the rest of the season." Dan H enl ey has been named Camel Pro team ma nager by T. Wayne ' Robertson , seni or vice president of Sports Marketing Enterprises, Inc. (SME). SME is th e sports marketing arm of RJR Nabisco, Inc. In an excha nge of duties, H enl ey replaces Curtis Gra y, who replaces H enl ey as team ma nager for th e Win ston Dra g Racing Series. H en ley will di rect th e company' s Camel P ro m arketi ng a nd promo tions effor ts. Assisting hi m will be returning Bob J anelle a nd La rry H an ey wh o moves to th e Ca me l Pro effort fro m th e More Ebony Fash ion Fai r p rogram. Road Racer David Sadowski tested a Vance & Hines Suzuki GSXR750 Superbike at Daytona the weekend of December 3 -4, and is ,currently negotiating with Terry Vance for support in the 1989 AMA Superbike and 750cc Supersport Series, as well as select 600cc Supersport races. The former New Englander, who recently moved to Georgia, was happy with the test which saw him turn lap times in the 1 :5 6 range. "The bike's showing signs of being really competitive," he said on December 9 . The Superb ike was tried both with the carburetors that were claimed from Doug Polen's Yoshimura Suzuki la st season, as well as regular 38mm Mikunis, which are more like ly to be the ones homol ogated as per '89 Superbike rules. Sadowski rep laced the injured Randy Renfrow on the Vance & Hines machine at the October 2 Sears Point National, posting a fifth -place finish, and finished eighth overall in the '88 Superbike point standings on a privateer Suzuki. . Canad ians Steve Crevier a nd J on Cornwall will ca m paig n Apri li a road racer s in the 1989'AMA Castrol 250cc Grand Prix and RAC E (Ca nada) Formula Two Series. Crevier, who fini shed eigh th in the '88 AMA ser ies h is first time o n a 250cc machine, said that he'll be spo nsored by a Toronto-ba sed ra dio statio n, and is also likely to campaign a Yamah a FZ R750 R in Canadi an Superbike races on ly. The ride was a rra nged by Cr evi er ' s m an ager , Frank Ciampini , a nd th e bikes will be p icked up at Ro tax im porter T on y Murphy's southern Ca lifornia shop , wi th testing at Willo w Sp ri ngs sla ted for the week before Christm as, The Western /Eastern Roadracers Association (WERA) announced that it will sanction an eight-event nationwide Formula USA Series to be run in , conjunction w ith selected rounds of the 1989 WERA Endurance Series and the Pocono Cycle Jam. The dates are May 6 -7, Willow Springs, California; May 20-21, Portland , Oregon; June 3 -4, Pocono, Pennsylvania; July 1-2, Grattan ; Michigan; September 2-~, !\IIemphis, Tennessee; September 9 10, Willow Springs, California; October 7 -8, Indianapolis, Indiana ; November 4-5, Atlanta, Georgia. Based on the successful southern California series, the WERA Formula USA events are open to any displacement normally-aspirated machines (no turbochargers) running on gasoline, and will be sponsored by Dunlop and a major auto manu- facturer to be announced at a later date. For more information contact WERA at P.O . Box 1960, Hilton Head Island, SC, 29925, 803/681-9372. ST OLEN: RS Racing's J eff Stern and Je ff R hea u me had th eir riding gear stolen from their van in Daytona Bea ch , Fl orida , following t hei r thi rd-p lace finish in the October 30 AM A/CCS Da yton a Endura n ce (Contin ued to pag e 60) WRITIN' AROUND Busey On Su nday, December 4, a motorcycle rider in west Los An geles sp illed and banged his head o n a curbstone. As news, this o rdinarily wouldn 't rate a lin e in an y paper, bu t thi s tim e th e unl ucky rid er was Gary Busey, th e movie star a nd cru sading helmet law oppo nent . T he next da y, co inc ide n ta ll y, Dem ocrat Assembl yman R ich a rd Floyd re-introduced his pet bill to the California legislatur e. T he ne twork s pi cked up o n it instantl y, and the 1989 Ca lifornia Sta te Helmet Law became nation al news. I want to know wha t Mr. Busey wi ll have to say about a ll this when he recovers. Will he choose now to wea r a helm et? Will he cha nge hi s mi nd about th e helm et law? I am pr ett y sure th at he will not ask th e sta te to pay h is medica l bi lls. But mainly I am thankful that he is not in trouble with th e law, o n top of h is other l roubles, for risking to ride his Harley ha tless. Maybe now, with a ll th e new med ia atten tio n, the real issues and principl e represented by th e Mo torcycle Helm et La w ha ssle will fina lly get an airi ng . It is not about safety, or do lla rs, o r even freedom of choice. It is abo u t the law. It is abo ut new crim inal legislatio n. It is a bo ut arrest and punishm ent and imprisonment. "The principl e of suc h legislation ," wro te o ne jurist, " is th at if I find your beha vio r ugl y by my standards, mora l o r aesthetic, and if yo u prove stubbo rn abou t ado p ting my view of th e situation. I amjustified in havin g th e state coe rce yo u into m o re righteous paths. That is itself a pri nciple of u nsurpassed ug lin ess." The question is, " Does a pers on have the right to tak e pers onal , physica l or medi cal risks in a free society?" I vote yes, and I draw the line at choos ing whether or not to wear a motorcycle helmet ' when I rid e. You have u draw the line o so mewhere. Although bare-brained motorcyclists ma y offend th e self-ri gh teous. th ey are no t com m itting any crime. At least no t in Ca lifornia , yet. If I choose to smo ke tobacco and ge t fat, the police don't a rrest me, even in Ca lifornia. Yet. But th e pri nciple is the same: I am taking risks. I might get sick and have to collect Medicaid. Alread y insu ra nce co mpan ies are charging hi gh er prem iu ms for guys like me . Ca n leg isla tion be far beh in d? , I say nip it in the bud. As long as free people can say, " Mo torcyclists don 't have to wear hel mets if they don 't wan t to, so w hy ca n't I _ ---;-_ -" " (fill in the blank), we will contin ue as a free. society. Uns urpassed ugliness in th e law , we can do without. Chuck Clayton