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/127203
still leads the point standings with 341 points over Puzar, who is 38 points behind . Moore moved into th ird in the standings with 210 points. fiY 'P~'P~ Wf~LfY Texan Kevin Schw antz (Su z) won , hi s fourth 500cc Gra nd Prix of the season in ro und 12 of the World , Championship Road Race Series, held at Donington Park in England on Aug ust 6. Schwantz beat defending World Champion Eddie Lawson (Hon) by .97 of a second with championship leader Wayne Rainey (Yam ) fi n ishing third . Scotland 's N iall Mackenzie (Yam) and France 's Christian Sarron (Yam ) ro unded out the top five fini shers. World Superbike Champion Fred Merkel (Hon) finished 11 th; and Randy Mamola (Cag) didn't start the GP after undergoing arthoscopic knee surgery in Cal ifornia the week prior to the GP. Rain ey now leads Lawson by 6 .5 points, 180.5-174; Sa rron (12 7 .5) is third with Schwantz (12 2 .5 ) fourth . Spain's Sito Pons (H o n) wrapped up hi s second straight 250cc World Championship with a win at 'Don in gton Park on August 6. Pons topped West Germany's Rein h old Roth (H on) by 6.65 seconds to take his sixth win of the series. japan's Masahiro Shimizu (Hon) finished third with j acq u es Cornu (Hon) and Loris Reggiani (Hon) rounding out the top five finishers'. Po ns' 216 points clinches the championship as his nearest competitor Cornu has 150 points. Despite riding with an injured knee, England's David Thorpe (Hon) scored the overall victory in Round 10 of the World Cham pionship 500cc MX Series held August 6 in Namur, Belgium . Australian Jeff Leisk (Ho n) was second overall and Belgian Eric Geboers (Hon) finished th ird . American Billy Ules (Kaw) got one of his best f in ishes of the year at fourth overa ll. Fo rme r World Champion Thorpe leads defending champ Geboers by 15 points in the point standings, 278-263, w ith two rounds remain ing. Leisk is th ird w ith 251 points. j ean-Michel Bayle (Ho n) of France was th e overall winner of th e ninth round of the World Championship 250cc MX Series held August 6 in Ulricehamn, Sweden. Bayle 's 2-1 moto scores topped Holland's Gertjan Van Doom's (Suz) 1-3 finishes , ' w h ile Finn Pekka Vehkonen (Ya m) broke out of a tie with teammate john van den Berk of Holland for third overall based on his secon d place finish in moto two. Americans "Broc Glover and Rodney Smith failed to score any points. Bayle leads Vehkonen .in the point standings, 255-200, WIth two rounds to go and van den Berk lies third with 192 points. It alian Alessandro Puzar (Suz) won both motos of the World Championship 125cc MX GP in Campos Jordao, Brazil, August 6 . Americans and , KTM teammates Trampas Parker and Bob Moore followed Puzar, in that order, to the f inish in both motos. Parker , Bue ll Motor Com.pany recently unveiled its new RS1200, essentially a two-person version of the RR1200. The RS f eatures all-new bodywork l!nd a hinged s!atback which ~itc.hes from passenger backrest to racerhke.solo se~t. 'The ~ R1 200 IS built for the hard-core sport rider," says desl.gn~r Enk Buell.. 'That type of person doesn't take a passenger. The RS IS aimed at.t he nder who enjoys blasting down a twisting backroad, but also appreciates good company over dinner after a long day of ri di ng." The RS 1200 is available from selected Buell dealers at $14,795 . Dutchman Racing's Dal e Quarterley and Mike Harth (Suz) completed 88 laps to win th e AMAlMotoWorld U.S. Endurance Seri es at Mid-Ohio on August 5. Dutchman topped the Rough Stock Racing All-Stars' Rueben .Mclvlu rter and john Ash m ead ( H o n) with Team Motor Sport's Richard Arnaiz and Phil Kress (Yam) rounding out the top three. Team Q .T.S. (Ya m) won the GTU class over Team Toomer (Yam) and Team Klymemko (Ya m) ; ' th e three GTU teams finished sixth, s event~ and eighth overall, respeenvely. The AMA National Championship 125/500cc MX Series round scheduled for October 29 at the Hollister Hills Recreation Area in Hollister, Ca liforn ia. has been canceled. The AMA announced the cancellation of what would have been the season's final AMA professional MX after "negotiat ions fa iled to resolve business differences w ith the race 's promoters." AMA Professional MX Manager Roy Janson said that no rep lacement for the event is planned. That means the series w ill conclude on October 15 at the Unadilla Valley Sports Center in New Berlin, New York . The Hollister Hills Recreat ion Area hosted . the U.S . 500cc MX GP on June 18, and a progression of private race promoters have conducted AMA -sanctioned races at t h e state-owned facility since 1986. " Over the past several years, " said Janson in a press release issued by the AMA on August 1 , :'A M A has invested a great deal of time and effort helping to develop Hollister Hills Recreation Area as a site f or major AMA and international motocross events. It is with great reluctance that we arrive at this business decision." Sources say that the promoters of the GP in June failed to meet certain financial obligations following the event, including payment of fees due the AMA. jeff Em ig (Kaw) was the big winner at the NMA Grand National MX Championships in P o n ca City , Oklahoma, August 1-6. Emig topped bo th the 250cc Stock and Modified classes and the 125cc Modified Pro class, while Tallon Vohland (Kaw) won the 125cc Stock Pro class. Tommy Clowers (Kaw) was the top (Continued to page 4) Spent;er calls end ,to racing season I DONINGTON PARK, ENGLAND, AUG. 3 Former World Champion road racer Freddie Spencer, who after retiring at the beginning of the 1988 season returned to 2 racing this year , appears to .ha ve retired from th e sport once again. A press release was issued by Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini at Donington Park on Thursday, announcing that Spencer would not contest the weekend's British GP or the other . remaining rounds of the GP series. Attempts to reach Spencer at his Shreveport, Louisiana, home after we received the press release were unsuccessful. The following is the release issued by Marlboro Yamaha at Donington Park. "Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini along with Freddie Spencer, three times World Champion, have decided that Freddie will not race at the British Grand Prix or at the other three remaining rounds of this year's World Championship. " After long discussions between Freddie Spencer and team manager Giacomo Agostini, th e two agreed to make the decision as good racing conditions could not be maintained to achieve th e desired results. " 'After much consideration we have decided to discontinue racing for the rem ainder of this season. We feel that th e year has not gone as well as expected. We hoped for much better results a nd it has been very disappointing,' said ,Spencer. ' Bo th the team and I are used to winning races and championships and we do not wish to continue while we are unable to achieve our best possible performances. I would like to thank everyone involved in the team for their efforts this season, Marlboro and Yamaha, Giacomo Agostini and (crew chief) Kel Carruthers, the mechani cs , co-sponsors and the fans.' " T ea m manager Giacomo Agos tini said that he und erstood Spencer's feelings. 'We ar e all very sorry that we have not been ab le to achieve the best form this year ,' said Agostini, himself a 15 times World Champion. 'I was also a rider so I know how he feels and th erefore I agree with th e decis ion we have made not to continue racing. Freddie has been a great champion and an excellent ambassador for the sport. I wish him well.' " Spencer's performances this season 'were a far cry from those he turned in on his way to World Championship 500cc titles in 1983 and 1985 as well as the 250cc title in the latter year. What followed his championship years received much press as both a bout with tendonitis that required wrist surgery and a series of DNF performances due to crashes, a lost contact lens and reported mechanical problems, led Spencer into retirement. This past winter, he made the surprise announceme nt that he was returni ng to racing a fter Marlboro Yamaha Team Agosti ni's World C h a m p io n Eddie Lawson fi rst shocked the racing world by switch, ing to the Rothmans Honda team in the off-season. Spencer's best perform an ce in the II GPs run this year was a fifth place finish in the Spanish GP. But he also failed to finish three races, twice due to alleged mechanical problems and most recently from the effects of gastroenteritis at th e French GP. Spencer didn't start the U.S. GP due to an ear infection and he joined other top riders in refusing to take part in a restart at the Italian G P. He finished 14th in the season opener in japan, ninth in both the West German and Austrian GPs, 13th in the Dutch GP, and either sixth or seventh at the protested Belgian G P. Italian Luca Cadalora, the Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini 250cc GPcompetitor, competed in both"the 250 'a nd 500cc 'classes at Donington Park. He finished eighth in the 500cc G P after qualifying fifth , bu t he did not finish the 250cc GP after being penalized for j umping th e start. In maki ng his 500cc G P debu t, Cada lora jo ined teammate Niall Mackenzie of Scotland in the class. The team had announced two weeks prior to the British GP that Cadalora would ride a 500 at Do n in gto n and in Thursday's press release said his doing so was a "completely independent decision." •