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/127182
kel knocked a second off the su perbike track record using an 18-inch rear tire and a 17-inch from lire. Merkel is set to defend his superbike title and in addition will take .p art in four or five G Ps on an H B Suzuki. Plans call for the southern Californian to COOlest the entire 500cc G P series next year. RES IGNED: Bryon Farnsworth. as media relations manager for KTM America. Inc.• effective April 1 . to take a si m ila r position in the automobile ind ustry. fiY PflPfi WfflLfY Three-lime World Champion Eddi e Lawson broke a bone in his right wrist and bruised his palm in a testsession crash at the Suzuka Circ uit in Japan on March 13. Lawson crashed his 1989 Roth ma ns H onda NSRSOO in the rain at Suzuka, the site of the opening round of the World Championship Series on March 26. Lawson and his tuner Erv Kanernoto were reportedly scheduled to return to California where Lawson will be treated, A Ro th rnans Honda spokesman says Lawson will still compete in the March 26 JapaneseGP. Ed Lojak (Ya m) c aptured t h e overall v ictory in the opening round of the AMA W iseco / Yamaha Grand National Cross Country Championship Series in Sanford. North Carolina. March 12. The defending cross countrY champ finished ahead of Scott Plessinger (Kaw) and Kevin Brown (Hon). lime World Champion Freddie Spencer said when questioned on his feelings about the upcoming opening 500cc Grand Prix in J apan on March 26. " After the Australian test I fell good. That's [he best I've fell on a motorcycle since 1985. That test has ma de me really excited. I' m looking forward to it (racing) like I did a few years ago. " Spencer reports that his weight is down to 155 pounds, only six pounds heavier than he was in 1985 (the year Spe ncer won both the 250 and 500cc World Championships). 'T he weight I was in '85 is lOO light for me - the only reason I got that light was lO ride 250s. Carlos (La vado) and those guys were so little. I th ink you need a lillie more weight lO maneuver a 500." Teammates Ra n dy Morales and Chuck Miller (Hon) were the overall winners at the SCORE Great Mojave 250 Hare &: Hound in Lucerne Valley, California, March lLSecond place went to Ted Hun nicutt and Paul Krause (Kaw), wh ile third wen t to Larry Ro esel er and. Dann y La f'orte (Kaw), Central Yamaha in Plano. Texas. w ill host an open house from 6 p .m . until 8 p .m .• Thursday. March 30. in conjunction with t he April 1 Dallas round of the Camel Supercross Series. Team Yamaha riders Damon Bradshaw. Mike LaRocco. Shaun Kalos. Doug Dubach •. Michael Craig . Kyle Lewis and Mike Jones will be on hand for autographs and bench racing. ' Radio station KZEW will broadcast live from the dealership during the open house. Central Yamaha is located at 1627 N. Central Exp. in Plano. Some of the big w inners at the 13th Annual GNC International Motocross Final in Lake Whitney. Texas. March 10-12. were Kawasaki riders Dennis Hawthorne (1 2 5 and 250ee Expert). Tommy Clowers (80ee Modified Expert 12-16 and Mini Open 7 -16) and Joe l Albrecht . (80cc Stock Expert). More than 1000 riders competed in the three-day event. BORN : Karly janell Carruthers, daughter of Cycle News associate editor Paul Carruthers and his wife Joni, in Orange, Ca lifornia, on Su nday, March 12; Carruthers look second in the "Why I won't be at Dayto na " race that was won by BeIRay 's Gill Martin; note that a special award goes to Paul and Joni for tim ing the birth of their daughter with the running of the Daytona 200. Team Honda's Rick Johnson, who underwent surgery to reset dis located bones, ligaments and tendons following a practice crash at the 125/ 250cc Nauonal MX in Gainesville, Florida, on March 5, had the stitches removed from the wrist and his arm reset in a cast on Monday, March 13. "I'Il be in a cast for eight weeks, and then I don't know how long it will be until.I ride again ," J oh nson said in a telephone conversation March 13. Our sincere condolences to lo ngt ime contributor Henny Ray Abrams and his fam ily on the death of Henny's brother Ricky Abrams on Friday. March 10; Ricky succumbed t o Hodgkin's disease. Henny received word of Ricky's death upon returning to his Daytona motel room after covering the 600 National Dirt Track Series opener at Municipal Stadium on Friday night. A memorial service was scheduled to be' held in Wilmington. Delaware. on Tuesday. March 15. We humbly dedicate this issue of Cycle News to Ricky Abrams. Godspeed. Ricky. The f irst round of the World Championship 250cc MX Series. scheduled April 2 in Yugoslavia. has been canceled and will not be rescheduled . 2 " I' ve always ridden to win, but my ultimate goal is to win this year's World Championship -thal will be a difficult goal lO achieve," three- World Superbike Champion Fred Merkel look part in Pirelli tire test sessions in Spain the week before last at the Jerez circui t, According to his fath er, Honda RC30-moum ed Mer- The 1989Pol ice Ol ympic Motorcycle Roadracing World Championship will be h eld at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, September 27October I. Police officers from 20 nations will compete on Kawsaki 600 Ninjas supplied by the California Superbike School. Defending Police Olympics champ O fficer Rick Williams of the Arizona Highway Patrol will be back to try for an third consecutive title. Pol ice officers who wou ld like to try OUl for the U.S. learn should contact Detecti ve Bru ce E. Wilson, c/o P.O.M.R.W.C, P.O. Box 3358, Simi Valley, CA 93063, 805/522-602 7. The Nashville Network (TNN) will telecast the recent Carlsbed round of the CMC Dodge Truck Golden State MX Nationals on April 16. The 90-minute show will follow the regularly scheduled half-hour telecast of MotoWorld. Both shows will be aired three ti m e s that Sunday. Check your local listing s for times and channel. The 1989 Camel Pro Series Media Guide is now available. Packed full of statistics, the 140-page guide lists the winner of every Grand National Championship race, a race by race re-cap of every GNC season including point standi ngs , a separate section listing every rider who has won a Gra nd National race, and bios on current top racers. It's available for $4.95 a copy from: Media Guide O ffer, AMA Product Sales, P.O. Box 6114, Weslerville, OH 43081-6114 , (Ohio residents add 5.5% sales tax). Allow th ree to four weeks for delivery . MOVED: Air-Tech. the road race and sport bike fa iring manufacturer. to 3052 Industry. #109. Oceanside. CA 92054. same phone number 619/757-3366. The season opening dual sport ride hosted by Distri ct 37 AMA Dual Sport will take place on Sunday, March 19, starting at Accessories Unlimited in Newhall, California, and covering approximatel y 110 miles through the Saugus Ranger District, Sign-up will be open from 8 a.m. lO 10 a.rn. More information can be obtained by calling 818/2492141, the 24-hour Dual Sport Ride Hotline. And if you're turned on by dual sport rides like Papa is. you'lI be ha ppy to hear that -there ill be a two-day District 37 Dual Sport event. the San Luis Obispo-toCajon Pass Dual Sport Ride. over the April 22-23 weekend. The route will take entrants along some of the dirt roads and trails used in events like the Hi Mountain Enduro; the Red Garter Enduro. the Greenhorn Enduro and the L.A.-Barstow-Vegas Dual Sport Ride. For more information. call Peter Hughes at San Luis Obispo Cycles 805/541-1741. , Jerry Counts at Countdown Engi- , neering 818/348-8381 or Larry Langley at 213/867-7429. O rland o, Florida, will be the site of the first part of tlie In ternational Moto rcycle Safely Conference sche-; duled for Octo ber 31-November 3. ~ The conference is sponsored by the ' Motorcycle Safely Foundation (MSF) and co-spo nsored by the Institute for Motorcycle Safety, Germany's motorcycle safely organization. The last International Safely Conference, which was also hosted by the MSF, was held in 1980 and drew representatives from 17 countries and 41 American stales, totalling almosl500 attendees. According to the late st issue of AMA Pro Report. a newsletter sent to AMA professional racer license holders. contingent awards for major AMA championship events in 1989 exceed $3 million. The Camel Pro Series offers competitors a shot at. the following contingent awards: Arai Helmets-$32.000; Bell Helmets$15 .800; Harley-Davidson$169 .000; Klotz-$750; and Shoei Helmets-$20.700. ... The Camel Supercross contingent awards are as ' follows: Answer Prod uclS-$19,050; Arai-$ 84,750; Bell$33,000; Bel-Ray-$I 6,BOO; Du nlop$10,500; Kawasaki-$294,75 0; Klo tz$ 1500; O a k ley Goggles-$12,5 00; R en th a l Bars-$6750; R K Cha in$21,000; Scott USA-$ I8,000; Shoei$40,000; Silkolene O ils-$28,500; Smith Goggles-$12,750; and Suzuki $525,125. Contingent awards posted for the AMA/CCS EBC Brakes Endurance Challenge are as follows: AGV Helmets-$7425 ; EBC$15.000; Kawasaki-$36.000; Kerker-$8500; Klotz-$500; RK$11.000; Suzuki-$48 .000; Wiseco Pistons-$3000; and Yamaha-$45.500. The AMA National Championship ' MX Series contingent awards are as follows: Answer Prod uclS-$21,700; Arai-TBA; Bell -$31,800; Bel -Ray$15, 680; Du n lop-$9800; O ak ley$17,000; Ren thal-$6700; RK-$15,050; Scott USA-$16,800; Shoei-$37,800; Sil kolen e-$26,600; Sm i lh -$1 1,900; and Suzuki-$4 88,250. Contingent a w a rds posted for the AMA National Road Race Series (including the National Superbike. Castrol 250 Grand Prix and Circle Bell Pro Twins Series) are as follows: Arai -$41.400; Bell$10.400; Bel-Ray-$10.800; Castrol -$40.000; C ircle Bell$20.000; Dunlop-$11.700; Harley-Davidson-$18 .000; Kawasaki-$108.250; Klotz$15 .150; M ichelin-$18.000; Mikuni -$6300; RK -$17.100; Shoei-$27.900; Vance & Hines$16.475; Wiseco-$45()0; and Yamaha $34.900. The. AMA 600 National Dirl Track Series contingent awards are as follows: Arai-$ll ,BOO; Bell-$I5,800; H a rl ey-D a vidso n -$ 14,OOO; Klo tz$750; Shoei-$18,OOO. Contingent awards posted for the AMA Yokohama Supersport Road Race Series are as follows: AGV Helmets-$1 0.750; Arai-$4500; Bel-Ray-$6000; 0.1.0 Cha in $10.000; Kawasaki -$36.000; Kerker-$8500; Klotz-$5500; RK$11 .000 ; Suzuki -$84.000; Vance & Hines-$30.500; Yamaha-$86.900; and Yokohama$120.000. ' (Continued to page 4)