Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Defending World Champio n Eddie Lawson (Hon) m oved .into the point sta ndings lead of th e World Championship 500cc Road Ra ce Seri es with a victory in th e August 13 Swedish GP a t Anderstorp. Lawson took th e lead away from Wayne Rainey (Yam) o n the 16th la p of th e 30-lap rac e and th e two battled u ntil Rainey cras hed on lap 28. Ra iney, wh o held th e points lead go in g into the race, is n ow seco nd to Lawson, 194 to 180.5, with just two rounds remain ing. Christian Sarron (Yam) fin ished seco n d, 5.65 seco nds beh in d Lawson, and former World Champi on Wa yne Gardner (Hon) was third , more tha n 20 seco nds behind Sa r ron. Kevin Schwantz (S uz) dropped o u t o f th e race wi th mech anical prob lems on lap 13 wh il e running third. Sito Pons (Hon), who has already clinched the 1989 World Championship title in the 250cc class. scored his seventh 250cc GP win of the season in Sweden. Spaniard Pons finished 1..65 seconds ahead of runner-up Reinhold Roth (Hon). Jacques Cornu (Hon) finished third . In the fight for second in the point standings behind titlist Pons. Cornu leads Roth. 165 to 160. GP roa d racer Marco Gentile of the Marlboro Fior team a nd team owner Claude Fior were in jured in a car accident lea vin g the Anderstrop circui t o n Friday even in g, August II. They had stopped to check a road sign an d were apparently h it from behind by a veh icle traveling a t high sp eed. The car wa s virtually destroyed a nd Gentile su ffered internal injuries and Fior damage to cervical vert eb ra e. England's David Thorpe (Hon) clinched the World Championship 500cc MX title with a .1 -1 win at Kohlenberg. Luxembourg. August 13. Englishman Kurt Nicoll (Kaw) was second overall and American B illy Liles (Kaw) took th ird . Defending champ Eric Geboers (Hon) finished six t h in m oto one t h en DNF the seco nd ro und . Geboers now hopes to fi n ish second in the series and is second in the sta ndings w ith 273 po ints. just two points ahead of A ustralian Jeff Leisk (Hon). who posted 9-4 finishes in the Luxembourg GP . The final round will be held August 27 in Woh len . West Germany. Finland's Pekka Vehkonen (Yam) scored the overa ll win a t his h ome 250cc MX GP in H yvinkaa, Finland, Augus t 13, but it was Fren chman J ean-Michel Bayle (Hon) wh o sewed up th e World Championsh ip 250cc MX title with 1-2 fini sh es an d seco n d overa ll. Belgi an Marnicq Berv oets (Kaw) fin ished th ird overa ll. Ame rica n Rodney Smith (Suz) was sixth in the first moto but finish ed o u t o f th e to p 15 in ro u n d two, whi le Brae G lover (KTM) posted II -II fi nis hes. Bayle has an in surmoun tabl e poin ts to tal of 292 wh il e Vehkonen h olds seco nd in th e point sta nd ings a t 237, 38 points ahead of J ohn van den Berk with one ro u nd to go in An greau, Belgium, Augus t 27. American Trampas Parke r (KTM) is just two points away from cl inching the World Champion ship 125cc MX title f ollowi ng his 3 -1 overall w in in Cosquin. A rgen tina. August 13. KTM teammate and fellow countryman M ike Healey was second w ith 1-3 scores. while ltalian Alessandro Puzar (Suz) took third with a pair of seconds in the Argentinian GP . Parker holds a 39-point lead over Puzar, 376-337. and Healey lies third with 334 points. The final round takes place August 27 in Ahun. France. Chris Carr (H -D) won th e Sturgis (So u th Dako ta ) Sh ort T ra ck ro u n d of th e AMA 600 Na tio nal Dirt T rac k Series, August II. Steve Aseltine (H D) finished second and Mickey Fay (Hon) third. The junior Nati ona l was won by Clint Vahsc holtz (W-R ). An AMA Regional Championship Dirt Track Seri es round was run a t th e Sturgis track two da ys later, o n Sunday, Augu st 13 , and Da vey Durelle (W-R) topped th e Exper t final, Larry Pegram (W-R) won the Juni or m ain eve n t, and Tony KTM 's all-new 1990 250cc motocrosser has been redesigned f rom the ground up and features a completely-new case reed engine. Twin Valve Cont rol (TV C) exhaust valves. ri ght side kick starter to improve clutch action. low- boy pipe. all-new frame with improved ergonomics. Wh ite Power suspension. 19-inch rear wheel and reduced weight of 217 Ibs . The new KTM should be available in mid-October for a suggested retail price of $3889. Donahue (W-R) finished first in th e Pro -Am fina l. Defend i ng Nationa l Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins (Suzl scored hi s fourth overall AMA National Championship Enduro Series victory of the year at the Speedsville (New York) National Endu ro . August 13. Hawkins maintains his 23-point lead in the series over second place finisher Kevin Hines (KTM). Rounding out the top five were Jeff Russell (Yam ). Joey Hopkins (Kaw) and local rider Keith Howell . Hawkins (171 points). Hines . (148) and Russell (1 2 3 ) are currently 1-2-3 in the point standings. Jimmy Button (Hon ) won six motos , every on e he entered , to top both th e Sch oolboy 125cc Stock and Modified classes a t th e AMA Am ateur/Youth National MX Championships a t L oretta L ynn's Dude Ran ch in Hurricane Mills, T ennessee, August 9-12. In A class racing, th e winners wer e Bi ll Fosnock (250cc Stock, Yam), J eff Em ig (250cc Modified , Kaw ), Steve Lamson ( 125cc Modifi ed, Yam ), M ik e Brown (l25cc Stock, Yam) and Mike Stahlman ( Open , Yam ). Spud Walters (Kaw) topped th e 85cc Modified (14- 15) class, while Hayden Ri chard s (Kaw) wo n the S tock divi si on. R o b ert Nee ley (Kaw) ca p tured th e Senior class ti tie. . Californian Ronnie Correy will be t he only American competing in t he September 12 World Individual Speedway Final in West Germany. Correy qualified in the August 13 Intercontinental Final wh ich was held in England. R ick J ohnson (Ho n) a n d Gu y Cooper (H on ) sco red wins at th e Pep si Superbowl of Wheels Su p ercross h eld Augu st 4-5 in Aloha Stadium in H o n o lul u , Hawa ii . Johnson topped Cooper and Brian Manley (Kaw ) in the firs t night of action, but fell in the seco nd night's event a nd finish ed fifth. Cooper took the win foll owed by Larry Ward (Hon) and Do ug Dubach (Ya m). In the 125cc class, islander Kipee H oal e (Kaw) beat his brother Kelly (Kaw ) for th e win. Rick Johnson. Jeff Stanton and Jeff Ward will represent the U.S. in the September 10 Motocross des Nations in Gaildorf. West Germany. Johnson will ride the 125cc class. Stanton the 250 and Ward will take on the 500cc class. Ron Lechien has also been named as an alternate. Juan T intos, assistant director of th e Baj a Ca li fornia , Mexico, Bureau o f T ouri sm , says th e governor of Baja, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, wi ll m eet this week with representatives of th e eji dos (ra nc he rs) wh o have sai d th ey wo u ld not allow an off-road race co nducted by SCORE's Sal Fish to run on their land. Tin tos sai d, " We are posi tive that the differen ces can be wor ke d o ut and th at th e . (November9- 12) Baja 1000willrun." An A M A appeal boa rd conve ned in Novato. Californ ia. on August 10 t o hear t he appeal of road racer Kevin Erion regarding his di squalification from the Circle Bell Pro Twins Modified Product io n race at Mid-Ohi o Sports Ca r Cou rse on August 6 . The appeal bo ard M ike Van cil. Han k Gendusa and Reg Pri dmore - ru led in f avor of Erio n and ordered that his win at M id -Ohio be reinstated . Erion's admitted use of titanium engine . om ponent s (valves and connectc ing rods in his Honda Hawk) was protested by Craig Shambaugh . The board reviewed a number of references from the AMA rule book which relate to equipment design and composition and decided that the f irst sentence of paragraph 3 .A.1 .a is insufficiently clear to be enforceable and that except as restricted elsewhere. only basic engine design. crankcases. cylinders and heads must be from the original model. After reinsta ting Erio n as th e MidOhio wi nner , the appeal board recommended revi ew and clarificatio n for 1990 of all P ro Twins Modified Production rules. Input from co m petito rs regarding Modified Production ru les should be addressed to the AMA Pro Raci n g Dept. , .P .O . Box 6114, Westerville, OH 43081-6114. Grand Prix road racer Kevin Schwantz has long been rumored as a favorite for the Marlboro squad and that may be close to . coming t rue. although not in the way you'd expect. One of the stories ci rculating through the Donington Park paddock during the British GP meeting was that Marlboro had been discussing sponsorship w ith a number of teams. including Suzuki. and was close to announcing an agreement with them. One team owner. who asked not to be named. said he's submitted a proposal. but that it was rejected. They are believed to have approached Kenny Roberts. but Roberts said Lucky Strike was committed to his program. The more interesting aspect of the Marlboro Suzuki rumor was that the team would be owned by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone who previously owned a Formula One car team. One obvious question is what does this mean for Giacomo Agostini? With Kenny R oberts expected to h ave to pay Wayn e Rainey several times th e $320,000 that he su p posedly makes this year, the second sp o t on the team will be less well compensated . T o th at en d, Kevin Magee has had talks with a number o f team s, among them Cagiva. Apparently, the Castiglioni bro th ers called Rob erts a t ho me asking his permission to talk to th e Australian who would like to stay right where he is, but may not be able to afford to. Word also circulated at Donington that there 's a possibility we'lI see Randy Mamola. who has been a member of the Cagiva GP team the last two seasons. switch to the Elf team next year with sponsorsh ip coming from the liquor producer. Martini & Rossi. R ob H erri n g , the Br i tish 250 cc Gran d ' Prix m otocros ser. . recen tl y underwent su rgery to repair a broken vertebra in hi s n eck. H erring crashed in the f irst mo to of the July 9 250cc U.S. GP at Unadilla and at first thought he h ad just pinch ed a nerve: Herring m issed th e July 23 German GP, but competed in Bri tis h National Championship 125 a nd 250cc MX races a week la ter. H err ing won the 250cc class, but his riding became erratic and he crashed several times in the 125cc race. Herring was exam ined by fam ed European motocro ss injury surgeon Gordon H adfie ld and it was de ter mi ned that he had bee n rid in g wi th a broken verteb ra which was exert ing p ressure on th e n erves in hi s n eck. H err ing will be o u t o f ac tion for six m onths. (Continued to page 4)

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