Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

ling explained why, with the help of data from the team's on-board computer. "We've found that above 1 60 kitometers per hour (approximately 100 mph) , the bike mysteriously becomes SO kilograms (110 pounds) lighter. It's the effect of air pressure on the fairing." ~Y P4IP4I Wf4lLfY Ital y's Alessandro Puzar (Suz) won ' both motos in ro und nirie of the World Championship 125cc MX Series in Killinchy, Ireland, July 9, Am eri can rider s Mike H ea ley (KT M), Trampas Parker (KT M) and Bobb y Moore (KT M) fill ed ou t the top fou r pos itions. Healey went 32; Parker 2-4 a nd Moore 4·3. Pu zar gai ned 10 points on series .points leader Pa rker, 307-263. T hird in poi nts is Healey with 199; Moore is fourth with 180. Ed Lojak (Kaw) scored the overall and 2S0cc class w in in the ninth round of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series in Millville, Minnesota , July 9 . Rounding out the top five were Scott Plessinger (Kaw), Joe Zier man (Yam) , Scott Summers (Ho n) and Jim Stanfield (Kaw). Sonoma, Ca liforn ia's Sears Point Intern ation al Raceway has final ized arra ngements with the AMA for its Aug ust 11 -13 Na tiona l Road Race Series event. Su pe rbi kes wi Jl be missi ng from the program, repo rtedly to ligh ten Sears Point 's fin an cial outlay. Rounds of the Castrol 250cc Grand Pr ix Champion ship Series, the Circle Bell Pro Twins Ch ampion ship , AMAICCS Yo koham a 600 and 750cc Supersports Series and the EBC Brakes U.S. End ura nce Ser ies wiJl ru n, p lu s AHRMA Hi stori c Cup races. On Thursday, July 6, the California Senate passed, by a 24-10 vote, a bill calling for mandatory use of helmets by all motorcyclists. The bill - AB8, virtually identical to the ' one vetoed by Deukmejian last year, is the work of Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) as ' w as last year's. Tom Beermann, the governor's deputy press secretary, said, "Given that the bill is essentially the same as last year's and the same set of circumstances exist, if the bill reaches the governor, the same result will ensue. He will veto the measure. " T he Illinois Motorcycle Deal er s Associ ation -promoted Du Q uo i n (Illi nois) Mile round of the Cam el Pro Series wiJl take pl ace on Sunday, J l!ly 23, not the previous da y as a Cam el Pro Series ad in our J uly 5 issue stated. According to IMDA's Tote Gray, for the first time in several yea rs, beer wi Jl be ava ila ble a t DuQuoi n. Papa reminds one and all, " Know when to say when." 2 MOVED : Suspension by Jake, the motocross and off-road bike suspension firm, to 17902 S. Star of India, Carson, CA 90746, 213/ 327-4791 ; formerly a division of Aero Supply Corp. , the firm is now an independent company owned and operated by Jake Thompson. A new guide to off-h ighw ay vehi cle riding areas in California is available at State .Vehicular Recreati on Areas. The guide includes a map and listing of areas managed by the Cal ifornia Department of Parks and Recreati on , the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management , as weJl as areas managed by counties, cities or other jurisdictions. The guide a lso has a sectio n with safety and preparedn ess tips an d legal requ iremen ts for off-high way vehicle use in Cali forn ia. Individual copies of the gu ide are also available free of cha rge by con tacting: Publications Section, Department of Parks and Recreat ion , P.O. Box 942896, Sacra mento, CA 94296-0838,.916/ 322-7000. The Mid-Atlantic Roadracing Club (MARRC) has announced they'll honor a deserving novice road racer each year for three years via the Jeff Brown Memorial Award. Novice road racer Jeff Brown of Adelphi, Maryland, was killed in a street riding accident at the beginning of the year. His widow, Susan Brown, donated $2000 to MARRC to be split between the award and the MARRC Safety Crew. An award of $SOO will be given to a novice racer who is a MARRC member and an active racer in the MidAtlantic Region. Applicants for the award will be judged on their sportsmanship, professional approach and racing talent. To apply for the award, submit a written statement of 100 words or less, stating how you think the person being nom inated meets ·t he above qualities. You may ' nominate yourself or a fellow racer. Nominations must be sent to MARRC, P.O. Box 2292, Wheaton, MD 20902, and must be received before September 10. Call Mike Green (30 1 / 2 S 3-2 8 0 7 ) or Steve Harrison (703 /690- · 2699) for furtller information. The results which appea red with ou r coverage of the J un e 3-4 short track in Sturgis, Sou th Dakota, in the J ul y 5 issue were incorrec t. T he correct results can be fou nd in this week's Results section. Bikes coming back to the pit area from a fast lap of Spa during the Belgian GP road race meet showed remarkably little fronttire wear, considering the ultra-fast corners. Team Lucky Strike Roberts coordinator Warren Wil- The man who manages the Amer ican clique of racers, Gary Howard, was at Spa, reportedly to look for a ride for John Kocinski next year (Honda has been mentioned in this regar d). Howard got into man aging racers as Kenny Roberts' man ager. Since th en, he has added to his portfolio, and now performs a remarkable juggling act managing the often conflicting in terests of a clutch of racers - Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson and John Kocinski, and race team owner Roberts. It means he mu st sometimes have some stormy negotiatin g meetings with himself, but at Spa he had the pleasure of a fuJI house - th e 500cc class rostrum was mad e up ent irely of hi s clients - at least until the results were set aside three hours down the roa d. Stealthy details are emerging about a major engine change to Honda 's NSR road race bike. The normal NSR single-crank V-4 has 90-degree firing intervals, giving the characteristically shrill exhaust note. But in 1989 a version of the engine was bu ilt w ith retimed crankpins, so as to emu: late the Yamaha's (and Suzuki's) more torquey two -pistons-atonce fir ing order, as well as deeper exhaust note. Leaks from HRC suggest that the engine appeared for the first time at Australia's Phillip Island GP, and that Gardner raced with the engine in that form . Lawson, on the other hand, prefers the better top-end power of the evenly-timed version . Corresponden t Michael Scott says John Kocinski was "si mply stunni ng" at Spa, getting faster and faster not merely day by day but lap by lap, and even corner by corne r, in hi s 500cc GP debut. His bike was the Yamaha YZR5oo · raced at Ph illi p Islan d by Michael Dowson, comprising basically a 1988 frame wit h an updated en g i ne. It la cke d th e inverted forks of the '89 bikes, and ra n steel br ak es - th en it was damaged in a crash in the second leg of the G P. Kocinski switched to Magee's spare, with the bike prepa red so hastily that, according to Kocinski, " we were stil l adjusting the levers on the start line." Riding this stra nge bike in the wet, Kocinski discovered that " it was much faster than min e," then set abou t using what it offered. After five' laps, he was lapping faster than Eddie Lawson. " He's special," said Scott. Although he was scheduled to ride in the July 16 French SOOcc GP, John Kocinski will not ride at Le Mans. The Modesto, California, resident says his wrist is still bothering him and he needs the time off to make it right: "I've raced every weekend and I just need to let it rest. Suzuka (EightHour) is the week after (the French GP) and that race will probably be hell on my wrist, so I've decided to sit out France. I'd like to do more (SOOcc GPs) if I get the chance this y~ar:' Gri tt y Injury vi ctim Wayne Gardner's leg, wh ich he broke at the U.S. GP in April, ma y not be better yet, but his period of recu pera tion is defin itely over. Fresh from th e Belgian GP, where he reti red with a broken brake disc, he was du e to fly to japan with Michael Doohan to test their H onda 750cc four-stroke Suzu ki Eight-Hour mo unt. But the o ne-tim e Wo Jlogo ng Wild One risked further leg inj ur ies when he revealed thi s infor mation, due to his endeari ng (to members of the press cor ps) habit of putting his foot in hi s mouth. " I shouldn't have told you tha t," he said with a gri n at the Rothmans press conference following the Belgian GP. " It was su pposed to be a secret, but it's ou t now." Dunlop's team members were left racking their brains after the Belgian GP, trying to remember another race when they had won every class they entered. The bikes, of Hans Spaan (12Scc), Jacques Cornu (2S0cc) and Wayne Rainey (SOOcc) were all Dunlop shod. Then they were relieved of wondering whether to claim a first when Rainey was stripped of his victory. American 250cc Grand Prix competitor Andy Leisner brok e his coJlarbone during the Belgian GP and is current ly recuperating at home in sou thern California. Leisner had qualified 15th in Belgium on his T eam Katayama Ho nda RS250, the first production- based bike and one position ahead of hi s NSR250-ridi ng teamm ate, Spaniard Daniel Amatraian , but crashed du rin g the race when his inte rmedia te tires overheated on the drying track. Leisner wiJl miss th e next round of the series in Fran ce, but wiJl return in tim e for the Bri tish GP at Donington Park, August 6. The Antelope Valley Press reports that Agajanian Enterprises, operators of Gardena, California's Ascot Park which is due to close at the end of 1990, are considering building a racing complex in the Lancaster-Palmdale area of the Antelope Valley, which is located northeast of Los Angeles. Agajanian Enterprises paid all expenses for three Lancaster City Council members and the City Manager to fly to a NASCAR race in Charlotte, North Carolina, over the Memorial Day weekend . According to the Antelope Valley Press, the racing complex would consist of a paved one-and-onequarter-mile banked oval speedway, a drag strip, and a d irt half· mile oval. In ad(iition to Antelope Valley, other sites are being considered. Coincidentally, the sports editor of the Antelope Valley Press .is former Cycle News editor Dale Brown, who covered many Ascot races during his tenure with this publication. Italian road racer Luca Cadalora will make his 500cc Grand Prix debut at th e British round of the World Championship at Donington Park on August 6. Cadalora wiJl ride a third Marlboro Yamaha, alo ng with Freddie Spencer and NiaJl Mackenzie, in E n~land. Cada lora has been cam paigni ng the 250cc G Ps for Giacomo Agostini's Marlboro team and he won the Bri tish 250cc GP at Donington Park last year. Ross Langlitz, 70, founder of Langlitz Leathers, died at his home in Lincoln City, Oregon, Saturday, July 1, of a ruptured aorta. Langlitz, who was believed to be the first leather garment manufacturer to produce jackets with zippered sleeves and jackets(Contin ued to page 4)

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