Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

for both WERA-licensed endurance and sprint race competitors. For more information on the practice session, call 404 /9676143. ' HIRED: Jody Nicholas, winner of two AMA Grand National Champio nship Series road race rounds in 1963, as technical coo rdinator for American Kow a Seiki, Inc., th e Carso n, California-based firm that ma nufactures special tool s for th e Honda/ Acura and Mazda automotive groups, and H onda, Kawasaki a nd Suzuki motorcycle gro ups. fiY p~p~ Wf~LfY Texan Kevin Schwantz (Suz) won his second 500cc Grand Prix of the season, round seven of th e World Championship Road Race Series, held in Salzburg, Austria, on June 4:Schwantz topped defending Wor ld Champion Eddie Lawson (Hon) by 2.13 seconds with Wayne Rainey (Yam) finishing third. Christian Sarron (Ya m ) and Kevin Magee (Yarnj -vrounded out th e top five finishers. Freddie Sp encer (Yam) finished ninth and Randy Mamola (Cag) dropped out of the race on th e third lap. Rainey leads the championship by II points over Lawson, 106-95. Spaniard Sito Pons (Hon) won his fourth 250cc road race GP of the season and his third in a row du ring the Austrian round of the championship on June 4 . The defending World Champion beat Switzerland's Jacques Cornu (Hon) and West German Martin Wimmer (Apr) at the Salzburgring . Pons holds a 41 -point lead over Frenchman Jean -Ph illipe Ruggia, eighth in Austria, in the t itle chase, 127-86. Ame rican Andy Leisner (Hon) was a GP qualifier for the first t ime this season, finishing ·2 3 rd . Holland's Kees Van der Ven (KTM) scored the overa ll victory in Huskvara, Sweden, June 4, in round six of the World Championship 500cc MX Series . Van der Ven went 1-2 to secure the win, while second place went to Luxembourg's J acky Martens (KT M) via a 5-1 score. Taking third was Belgium's Georges J ob es (H a n). Points leader Eric Geboers (Hon) went .4-6 for fourth. Belgian Geboers extended his series points lead over Great Britain's Dave Thorpe (H o n) to five , 163-1 58. England's Kurt Nicoll (Kaw) is third with 134 points. Frenc hman Jean-Michel Bayle (Hon) won both motos in round four of the World Championship 250cc MX Series in Herleen, Holland; June 4. Second place, via a 2 -2 performance, went to Fin land 's Pekka Vehkonen (Yam) , while t hird, via an 8-3 tally, went to American Rodney Smith (Suz). By w inning both motes, Bayle took over the series po ints lead w ith 100 points, followed by Vehkonen with 96 points and defending World Champion John van den Berk (Yam) with 86 points. 2 American Trampas Parker (KT M) ca p tur ed his third I25cc MX GP win of th e season in round . six of the World Championship 125cc MX Series in Gersteuen, West Germany, June 4. Parker went 2-1 for the overall, while Italy's Alessandro Puzar (Suz) captured second overall with a 1-2 tally. Parker leads th e series point standings with 207, followed by Puzar with 182.· American Fred Merkel (Hon) won the June 4 Canadian round of the World Championship ' Superbike Road Race Series at Mosport Park, near Toronto, Ontario. Merkel won the first leg and f inished t hird in the second to take the overa ll win, wh i le Canadian Rueben McMurter (Hon) f in ished 3 -2 for second overall and Belgian Stephane Mertens f inished 4 -5 for third overall. After th ree rounds, Merkel leads the point standings with 98 po ints, followed by Italian Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam) with 75 and Giancarlo Falappa (Sim ) w ith 60. Kurt Hough (Kaw) was the overall winner in round two of the National Reliability Trials Series in Rose City, Michigan, J une 3-4. Jeff Fredette (Kaw) took the 125cc class win, Hough topped the 250cc class, while Dave Bertram (Suz) won the 500cc class. In the Four-Stroke division, Dwight Rudder (Hon) topped the Lightwigh t class, while Gary Hazel (Han) bested the Heavyweight class. RESIGNED: Guido Furetta, from position of general manager / director of parts at Cagiva North America . Retired car racer Dan Gurney was interviewed by USA Today recently. When asked who he would rank as the top three to five drivers in th e world, Gurney said, " Ayrton Senna, Dale Earnhardt, Rick Mears, Eddie Law son and Rick Johnson. " Favorite race to watch? " I lik e to go where the best drivers are. I was at Ascot Park recently watching motorcycles." Best drivers of the past? " In no particular order, Juan-Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt and Phil Waters . . . Of co urse, we can't forget Parnelli Jones, David Pearson, Carroll Resweber, Curtis Turn er , Kenn y Rob erts, A.J. Fo yt and Mario Andretti. And Sammy Tanner, The Flying Flea, at Ascot." As you no doubt guessed, Dan Gurney is a motorcycle enthusiast. Early registration for the June 1718 WERA Southeastern National Qualifier/EBCBrakes National Endurance Series road race meet at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, will be conducted from 4 p.m . to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at Action Honda/Suzuki, 993 South Cobb Parkway, Marietta, Georgia . In addition, Road Atlanta will hold open practice on Friday Tony M cA ndrew of Lake Arrowh ead, Ca l i forn ia -based Moto Tech Int' l w ill host Fundraiser ' 89 over t he September 22-24 weekend at Lake A rrowhead . Limited to motorcycle indust ry (manufacturer, distributor and dealership ) employees, the event, w hich w ill feature road and off-road riding, parties , etc. will raise funds for the National Motorcycle Safety Fund, supporting the work of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Lockhart's Wendell Philips will conduct the weekend's road ride, MS Racing's Jim Lewis the off-road ride, and Progressive Suspension's Jay - Tullis the dual-sport ride . On ly 300 tickets, at $100 each , will be so ld . For more in f or m atio n, contact McAndrew at 714/337-1413. Missing from the rained-out May 28 Springfield Mile and last weekend 's Louisville Half Mile was two-time Grand National/Camel Pro Series Champion Ri cky Graham, the single lap (34.548 seconds/104.203 mph) and race (14 minutes, 33.271 seconds/ 103.061 ) time/speed lap record holder at the Illinois State Fairgrounds oval. According to his sponsor, Rob Muzzy, Californian Graham was "unable to get anyone to go back East with him." Muzzy said he was unable to let anyone from his business, Hesperia, Californiabased Muzzy's R&D, go with Graham because "we're swamped with work." Six of the 31-year-old racer's 24 Grand National 'Champ ionship race wins came at Springfield. The San Francisco M.C . sent Papa a list of "the oldest continuously operating (m ot orcyc le) clubs in the United States. " Heading the li st is the Yonkers M .C . w hich started as a bicycle club and changed to a motorcycle cl ub in 1903. The San Francisco M .C . is second on the list, having been formed in 1904, as was the third club on the list, t he New Jersey M .C . Rounding out the top 10 are the Oak land M .C . (1 90 7), Pasadena M .C . (1907), Nat ional Capital M .C . (1 9 0 8), Orange County M .C . (1 9 0 9), Dayton M .C . (19 10), Richmond M .C . (1 91 0) and Reading M .C . (19 1 1) . Then comes the Crotona M .C . (1912), Capital City M.C . (1 9 12), Billings M .C . (1914), Manchester M .C . (1 9 1 5) and Lansing M .C . (19 2 0). The San Franci sco M .C . has requested that any corrections, deletions and inquiries be sent to them: ATTN : Oldest Club, 2194 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110. The California Off Highway Motor Vehicle Commission met in Eureka, May 18-19, and approved funding for the Otay Mesa State Vehicular Recreation Area which is located so u th of San Dieg o along the California/Mexico border. The acquisition price for th e 913-acre site is $5.39 million and another $400,000 is allocated for development of tracks, par king and support facilities. The park adjoins a proposed motorsports facility that if built will contain a road race course. In other business, the Commission voted unanimously to request being included in the next Park Bond Act, asking for $5 million for OHV Park expansion. It was announced that th e Fish & Game Commission would be meeting at the Low Iny o School, 223 E. Locust Avenue in Lone Pin e at I p.m. on June 22 to decide th e desert tortoise issue. If the Commission lists the tortoise as " threatened," hundreds of thousands of acres of desert tortoise " habitat" will be closed. Off-road rid ers are urged to att end th e meeting. New Hampshire Internationa l Speedway in Loudon will host the 3rd Annual AHMRA All-Vintage Weekend, July 7-9 . In addition to AHMRA road races in all regu lar c lasses plus several addltlona! ones, there'll be a concourse show, swap meet, track tour for antique and classic bikes, and a specia l Penquin Road Racing Scliool for vintage bikes. For more information, call Jerry Wood at 508 /339-9645. BORN: Matthew Gordon Sadowski, second son of road racer Dave Sadowski and his wife Beverly, in. Marietta, Georgia, May 31. BORN : Corey Joseph Weller, son of Cycle News ad coordinator Debbie Weller and her husband Dave, at Long Beach, California, May 4 . If you 're planning on attending the final round of the Camel Supercross Series on June 10 in the Los Angeles Coliseum you may want to arrive early. Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. so that fans can see the 125cc class heat races which are scheduled to begin at that time. The 125cc Last Chance Qualifier and main event will open the program at 7:30 so that the top 10 Western Region ride rs can be determined and go up against th e top 10 Eastern Region riders in the 125cc Shoot-Out later in the program: After the late afternoon heat races, fans can check ou t displays and attractions at the midway outside the Co liseum. The Chaparrals M.C . will host an AMA D istrict 37 Dual Sport Ride, t he Bear Creek 100, on Saturday, June 17. The ride, wh ich will cover over 100 m iles, starts at Honda & Yamaha of Red lands, Cal ifornia, and takes competitors through the Sa n Bernardino N ati on al Fo rest . Accord ing to Larry Langley, who laid out the course, those who participate w ill " enj oy t he sig hts and sounds of the Santa Ana River, Barton Flats, Seven Oaks, Bear Creek and Big Bear Lake. " Langley adds, " Don't miss the ride down famous Clark's Summ it Road overlooking a breathtaking v iew of the San Gorgonio Wilderness." For more inf o rm ation, ca ll Langley at 213/ 867-7429, Progressive Suspension at 619/948-4012, or Honda & Yamaha of Redlands at 714/ 793-2833 . BORN: Mary Jessica Taylor , daughter of Kevin Taylor, SERA overall enduro champion, and his wife Teresa, . in Gulfport, Mississipp i, May 17. Northern California's Richmond Yamaha w ill celebrate its re- (Con tinued on page 4)

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