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
til W ~ Z 0 -, >w Z z e i2 >al 0 .... 0 :I: 0.. W -J O"l 00 O"l u:: I""""i " sc I""""i ..... crJ ;::l eo ;::l -< Da ve Schultz picked up his first w in of the IDBAseason when he defeated J o hn Mafaro at the Firecracker Nationals in Columbus. Ohio. Jean -M ichel Bayle moved closer to the 250cc MX World C hampio nship wi th his fou rth double-moto win this season in Reiserberg . Ge rm a ny. World Championship 250cc ftfX Series: Round B Bayle blitzkreig hits German GP REISERBERG. WEST GERMANY, JULY 23 Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayle continued his dominance of the 250cc World Championship title chase by taking his 20 fourth double-moto win of the season at the German GP at Reiserberg. The win, and a DNF in mota two by his closest challenger for the title, Yamaha's Pekka Vehkonen, moved Bayle out to a 46-point advantage with three rounds remaining. Bayle easily won the opening moto, pulling away by three seconds per lap and attacking the hard, rutted hills ide track with the skills he obviously developed wh ile racing the U.S. supercross events earlier in the season. Home rider Rolan d Diepold held second early in the race until he crashed and eventually dropped back to sevent h, blaming a poor choice of suspension settings for his performance. Ita ly's Michele Fanton moved into second during the closing stages of the race, but American Rod n ey Smith charged through and passed him. World Champion Joh n van den Berk began back in 14th , charged through thefield but crashed late in the race, damaging h is exhaust and finishing sixth behind cousins Ismo and Pe kka Vehkonen. American Bader Manneh was handed the lead at the beginning of moto two when Bayle crashed, but soo n Manneh cras hed too and Fanton took control. Bayle recovered quickly and was soon showing his front wheel to Fanton on several occasions, finally getting by and scooting away to another win. Fanto n ma naged to hol d on to second and van den Berk followed him across the finish line. Pekka Vehkonen and Gert-jan Van Doorn went down on the first lap and Van Doo rn was taken off in the ambulance. Vehkonen remounted bu t the n pulled off after he cras hed again on the seventh lap. Results 0 / A : 1. Jean-M ichel Bayle (Han); 2. M ichele Fanton (5 uz); 3 . Ismo Vehkonen (5uz); 4. Rodney Sm ith (5 uz); 5 . J ohn van den Berk (Vam); 6. Brae Glover (KTM); 7. Colin Dugmore (5uz) ; 8 . Pekka Vehkon en (Vam); 9 . Vannig Kervella (Han); 10 . Soren M ort ensen (Kaw) . MO TO ONE: 1. Bayl e; 2. Smith; 3 . Fanton; 4. Isma Vehkon en; 5. Pekka Vehkonen; 6 . van den Berk; 7 . Roland Diepold (Kaw); 8. Monensen; 9 . Peter Johansso n (Yam); 10 . Glover; 11 . Mark Benn en (5 uz); 12 . Cra ig Dack (Yarn); 13. Kervella; 14 . J eremy Whatl ey (5 uz); 15. Dugmore. MOTO TWO : 1. Bayl e; 2. Fanton; 3 . van den Berk; 4.lsmo Vehkonen; 5. Glover; 6 . Ougmore; 7. Sm ith; B. Christian Bayle (Han); 9 . Peter Dirckx (Han); 10 . Kerve lla; 11. Marn icq Bervoets (Kaw); 12 . Whatl ey; 13 . Ro nn ie W uestenraed (Kaw); 14 . Bennett; 15. Mort ensen . IDBA Nafional Championship Drag Race Series: Round 5 Shultz explodes at Firecracker Nationals By Nina Henderson COLUMBUS, OH, JULY 14-16 After a long string of losses, Dave Shu ltz finally put together a P ro Stock class win over J oh n Mafaro at the Firecracker Nationals. The top two qualifiers went headto-head in the final. Shultz qualified fastest on his first pass out with a 7.891-second, 169.17 mph run, a number that held throughout the day. Mafaro tried to top it, but turned a best 7.915/ 169.80 run for second in qual ifying. Schultz took a solo run in round one when Keith Gray broke, while Mafaro beat Lance Boyer. In round two Schultz ousted rookie Norman Devine and Mafaro took out Pa ul Gast. Ma faro turned his only eightsecon d pass in the final at 8.01l 1/ 167.28; while Schultz turned a 7.944/ 169.17 to gather the win and take over first in the points chase. The win was Schultz's first in I I months. In the Funny Bike class, Steve Drake earned the top qualifying position slightly ahead of points leader Bobby Baker. Each has posted a win this season, and they ended up lining up together for the final. . But there was no contest as Drake red-lighted and Baker took the win with a 206.42 mph run. Reggie Showers turned in his best run of the weekend in the Pro Camp final. J im Argo was the victim. Ron Ayers won the Top Gas fin al over Eric Endorf, but it wasn't enough to move him into the points lead ahead of Mike Wettstein. Mike Phillips took the Super Camp final with an 8.611/144.23 against Fred Gimbel, while Tony Parsons was the winner in his second consecutive Pro Gas final. In the Super Eliminator fina l Robin Ray won his fourth of five . events, setti ng a new 10.40 record as he defeated Ross Blodgett. AftfA Nafionallnvifafional Hillclimb Reiser, Pinsonnault climb to ~ictory in Pennsylvania JEFFERSON, PA, JULY 30 Tom Reiser and Pa ul Pinsonnault turned in -the day's fas test rides to win the 800cc and 540cc classes, respectively, at the National Invitational Hi llclimb. Reiser of Co lumbus, Ohio, rode a Harley -Davidson to victory in the 800cc class over an elite field of 15 AMA-licensed hillclimb pros . In an even t shortened from three climbs to two because of rain, Reiser 's second round time of 6.0257 seconds was good enough for a narrow win over Canadian runner-up Wade Williams. Honda-mounted W.i lliams clocked in at 6.0522 on h is final run up the treacherous 300-foot Jefferson hill. Placing third after leading the way in the first round was long-time contender Lou Gerencer, a Harley rider from Elkhart , Indiana . Gerencer's run was cloc ked at 6.1065. Whi le the nitro-burni ng 800cc bik es can overpower even the most impossible slopes, riders of 540cc class bikes need a bit more finesse . And the rider turning in the smoothest ascent of the White Rose M.C. hi ll this year was New Englander Paul Pinso nna ul t. His first round time of 6.7259 - less than a second slower than the much more powerful bike of 800cc class winner Reiser held up for the win. It was a bridesmaid da y for the Williams family, as Honda-mounted Greg equalled his brother Wade's 800cc class performance and took second in the 540cc class with a run lasting 6.7719 seconds. T hird was Tim Frazier of Lancaster, Ohio, with a 6.8932 ride on his BSA. The top three times in the 540cc class were all recorded in the 'first round, as steady rains and de teriorating hi ll conditio ns made for slow er runs later in th e da y. Results 800: 1. Tom Reiser (H- DI; 2. Wade W illi ams (Han); 3 . Lo u Gerencer (H·D); 4. Earl Bowl by (B5A); 5 . Robert Oast led ine (H- D); 6. Don ald Pinso nnault (Kaw); 7 ~ David Newsome (Han); 8. Randy Gabriel (H-D); 9 . Conley Newsome (Tri); 10 . Jeff Vader (HD). 540: 1. Paul Pinsonnau lt (Han); 2. Greg W ill iams (Han); 3. Tim Frazier (B5A); 4 . Scott Everett (Tri); . 5 . J ohn His lop (B5 A); 6. Larry Lich t (B5A); 7 . Ralph Kreege r (Tri); 8. Ernie Pell in (Hon ); 9. Scott Kogima (Ho n); 10 . St eve Dresser (Suz) . Greene, James star at Canadian National By John Armstrong SHANNONVILLE,ONT., CANADA, JULY 29-30 Mu lti-time AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion Do n n y Greene of Novato, California, made a surprise appearance at Shannonville Motorsport Park for the 8th Annual Superbike Challenge, and took the checkered flag in the Pro 250cc GP class . Greene rode his Splatmaster Yamaha TZ250 to a convinci ng win in front of over 15,000 fans at Canada's biggest National road racing event, the third round of six in the Motoplan Castrol Canadian Nationa l Championship Series. Greene qualified fourth in Saturday's heat race , and was in the outside, front-row grid position for Sunday's eight-lap final on the 2.5mi le course. Starting from 't he pole was Team Ciampini-April ia's Steve Crevier of British Co lumbia, follo wed by 250cc Wor ld Championship contender Stefano Carracci of Italy on a Honda; and Hondamounted Rookie Pro sensation Darrell Cooney of Ontario: Crevier, after dominating the field with ' an eig ht-second win in the three-lap heat race, sta lled at the start and was unab le to re-fire his machine. Carracci had the line going into the first corner and stretched out a two-second lead by the end of the first lap, followed by Greene, Cooney, Chris D'A lu isio of Georgetown, Connecticut, o n a Yamaha, and Canadia n 250cc Champion Jo n Cornwell of Ontario on the second Team Ciampini Apri lia. The second lap saw Carracci pull ahead an extra 1.5 seconds, and Cornwell grab the fourth-p lace spot from D' Aluisio. Carracci relinquished his lead on la p three when he overshot a corner and re-entered the circuit in sixth positio n. The Italian star retired a lap la ter wi th 'm ech a n ica l problems suffered in the get-off, while Greene