Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~N1) ~ 0") 00 trfP4IWI Wf~LfY 0") Randy Hawkins (Suz) , the defending ...... AMA National Enduro Champion, ... scored the overall victory at the . ...... opening round of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in . U Sa linas, California , February 19. ~ Rounding out the top five were C'i:l Kevin Hines (KTM), Larry Roese1er ~ (Kaw), Dave Bertram (Suz)and Terry Cunningham (Kaw). ..c Holland's Dave Strijbos (S uz) was the overall w inner in the f irst round of the Supercup MX' Series in Beaucaire, France, Fe b rua ry 1 9 . Second place went to Ho ila nd's John Va n den Be rk (Ya m ), who was followed by Gr eat Brit ai n's Kurt Nicoll (Kaw) a nd Finland's Pekka Vehkonen (Yam ). The next two ro und s of the t h reerace series w ill be held in Genk; Belgium ' on March 12, and Gallarate , Ita ly o n March 19. The 1988 500cc MX World Champion, Belgium's Eric Geboers (Hon), took the overall win at the Le Touquet Beach Race in France, February ,12. Rounding out th e .to p three were Holland's Kees Van der Ven (KTM) and Belgi um 's Jacky ' Martens (KTM). Approximately 1200 riders competed in the race. Pre-entered·riders fo r t his year's Daytona 200 total 101, with 58 rid ers pre-entered for the 250cc Lightweight race , 37 for t he Pro Twins GP race, and 37 for the Pro Twins Modified Prod uction ra ce . Team Nordica Roberts will become Team Viceroy Yamaha for th e 1989 AMA 250cc Castrol Grand Prix Series, according to team owner Kenny Roberts. The team will consist of 250cc National Champion John Kocinski and Thomas Stevens and will be sponsored by the tobacco company, using 1989 Yamaha TZ250s. Dirt tracker Kevin Atherton will also receive help from three-time World Champion Roberts, but will most likely run as a separate entity to the other two team members. "We're not sure what we're going to do with the kid (Atherton ) yet," Roberts said on February 17. " We want to see him get som e time on the bike. We don't have room for three riders on the team, so he may not be an actual team rider. He'll ' probably just use one of the bikes, either last year's or one of this year's spares. He 's a real good young dirt tracker and we just want to give him some time on a road racer. " Atherton will also ride factory HarleyDavidsons in the 1989 AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series. Kenny Roberta and , Team Luc ky S trike Roberta riders Wayne Rainey and Kevin Magee recent ly retu rned from testing 1989 Yamaha YZR500s at Ph illip Is land , the s ite of the April 9 Aust ra lian Grand Prix. Roberts reports t hat the revamped circuit is "Beautiful. It's one of t he best tracks in the world for a rider. I left my 'gear at home, but when I saw ho w nice it was I slipped into Wayne's (Rai ney) stuff t o do a few laps. " When questioned about the flies that Kevin Schwantz recently complained about, Roberts s aid. " Yea h , but w ith t he 100 mph w inds we had when we were there they only had t he re a l stro ng flies. The weak ones don't make it . But it was the rabbits we had problems with - we . had to stop testing five or s ix times to g et the rabbits off the track. I don 't know what they' ll do fo r the race. I' Another rider who tested recently at Phillip Island is Cabin Honda's Bubba Shobert. The Texan, however, crashed on Monday, February 13 and cracked a bone in his foot. After taking Tuesday off, Shobert was back on the bike for more testing on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. "I just lost the front (end)," Shobert said on Monday, February 20, " I got off easy, but I just twi sted so meth ing." Shobert was riding an ex-Wayne Gardner 1988 NSR500 . " I found o ut the bike I was riding doesn 't hav e all the updates on it. The one the y're building for me should be a lot better. I was Ju st using this bike ' to get some track time," Shobert was joined at the test by a group of Japanese test rid ers, with the Rothmans team of Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson and Michael Doohan scheduled to test at Phillip Island February 20 through February 24. Shobert's Cabin c igarettesponsored Honda t ea m will be run by Dietmar Maier, who worked for t he Elf Grand Prix team in 1988. There is a lso a possibility of fo rm e r Randy Renfrow t uner Ron Ba rrick joining the team as a mechanic. The 1 9 8 9 Cagiva WMX125 Davey Strijbos a nd WMX250 Pekka Ve hkorien Replicas have several new features s uc h as rear d isc brakes, 19-inchrear wheels, new swingarms and shock linkages, new frames, Wh ite Power 4054 upside-down forks, and im pro ved rid ing positions. The WMX260 also has a new cylinder, c o nne cting rod, c rankshaft and cases. At this t ime there is no availability date or retail prices established. T exan Doug Polen will contest the March 26 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka aboard a works 500cc RGv Suzuki . With defending World Champion Eddie Lawson, former champ Freddie Spencer, contenders -; Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Randy Mamola and Bubba Shobert already set to compete in the 500cc World Championship, the opening round of the series will now see seven Americans vying for starting spots on the grid. Team Yoshimura Suzuki's Doug Polen, Scott R u ssell, Jamie James and Tommy Lynch w ill compete in the March 3-4 AM AI CCS races at Daytona Internat ional Speedway in preparation fo r t he fo llowing weekend's Daytona 200 and S upersport National road races. The te a m will retain many of the same sponsors a s last year such as Motul, RK, Mikuni and ND , plus additional support from Michelin, Wax Shop, F&L, EBC a nd Kushitani. 2 Yoshimura Research and Development of America is celebrating their AMA/CCS Supersport 1988 National Championships by conducting a sweepstakes that will see the winner receive a Yoshimuraprepared, Su persport-spec Suzuki GSXR750. To enter the sweepstakes, visit your nearest p ar tici p a ti n g Yoshimura/Performance dealer and fill ou t a sweepstakes form. You ca n also enter by visiting the Yoshimura pits at any AMA National road race or by sending an SASE to Yoshimura/Supersport Sweepstakes, 4555 Carter Court, Chino, CA 91710. Deadline is November 30, 1989. , Camel Pro Series veteran Terry Poovey is marking his 14th season on the dirt track ci rc uit and, as he has fo r the past nine years, w ill . be contesting the Daytona Dirt Track Series. "Doing good at Daytona would be a nice way to start the season off, " said Texan Poovey. " A series w in would be a nice present of sorts s ince my daughter Katey was born one week before I won t he 1985 series t itle : ' Poovey, who celebrated his 30th b irthday last September, al s o won t he Daytona Dirt Track Series in 1981 a nd 1982. "I've got a lot of ideas running through my head on changes for the Daytona Supercross track," said track designer and builder Gary Bailey. " I 'd like to bring the riders into the whoops section right off the start, have big jumps at both ends of the track and maybe change the start area to run the course in the opposite direction. One thing's for sure," continued Bailey, "the fans will get a show and the riders will ge t a workou t," Bailey has been building the Daytona Supercross track since the first race in 1971. Canadians Kathleen Coburn and Toni Sharpless are looking for rides for the Dayto na 200 . Coburn, 23, a nd Sharpless, 25, are the only women to fi nis h the Daytona 200 road race since it went to a pure Superbike format. The highlight of their 1988 season was a 10th o vera ll fi nis h in the pre stigious 24 Ho urs of Le Mans . endurance road ra ce. They can be contacted t hrough Shawn G ra nt at 519/632-7802. Road racer Dal e Quarterley is already in Daytona, but he isn't getting in too much beach time. "I came to Daytona early to train, not for a vacation," said the New Englander. "If 1 want to make the most of the opportunities 1 see in the com ing year, then I've got to be prepared. (Continued to page 5) Blacklist dropped by State Farm Insurance WESTERVILLE, OH, FEB. 20 State Farm Insurance company has dropped a controversia l "blacklist" of sport motorcycles as a result of information supplied by the AMA, State Farm agents and motorcycle manufacturers. State Farm spokesman James Stahly told the AMA, "As of February 10, there is no longer a group of ineligible motorcycles." State Farm established its blacklist of sports-styled motorcycles in April 1988 coincidental with a media blitz against sportbikes by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The IIHS had conducted a small study of motorcycle accidents in Ca lifornia in 1987. That study came under fire from motorcycle safety experts when it indicted sportbikes without considering the' qualifications and exposure of riders involved in the accidents. However, IIHSorchestrated publicity surrounding the issue of high-performance (Continued to page 4)

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