Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1989 10 11

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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victor ies in the 250 and 500cc Pro divi sions . Ryan Hugh es (Kaw) won the 125cc Pro class and Staten topped the Vet Pro class again. Damon Huffman (Ka w) won th e Mini Expert class on both da ys. ... ....--I · ....--I The Italian Trophy team won the World Trophy competition at the International Six Days Enduro in West Germany on Sep tember 30, with Finland topping the Junior World team . competit ion. . Sweden and host cou n try West Germany finished 2-3 in the World Trophy sta n d i n gs , Czech oslovakia was four th , East Germany fifth and the American team sixth. West Germany was ~econd .in the Junior World standi ngs with Fran ce thi rd. The American Junior fini shed seventh. The IS DE' s to p pe rformer was France's Stephan e P eterhansel (Yam), who cap tured the 500cc class win. T op Amer ica n was Dann y LaPorte (Kaw), who fini shed II th in the Open class. Larry Roeseler (Kaw) fini shed third in the 80cc class, and J immy Lewis (H on) finished second in the 350cc fou r-stroke class. All 46 U.S. riders comp leted the event. The Human Race Team (Yam) won the Canadian round of the WERA /EBC Brakes National Endurance Road Race Series in Shannonville, Canada, September 30. The Humans' Kurt Hall and Andy Fenwick topped Team Suzuki's Paul Bray and Mike Smith by three laps, but Suzuki's second place gives them the point lead over the Humans, 1009.83 to 987.86. Canadian Green (Kaw) was third overall. The Middleweight Superbike class win went to Team Machine (Hon); Raw Racing (Yam) won the . lightweight class; TBA (Suz) won the Heavyweight Production class; and SOB Racing (Hon) took top honors in the Middleweight Production class. Mike Pascarella (Suz) won the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at round six of the CMC/Dodge Trucks T ran sCal Series held Septe mber 30 in Adelanto, Ca liforn ia . Rex Stat en (Ho n) took the 500cc and Vet Pro class win s.-The fin al ro und was held th e foll ow ing da y in the sa me locati on and T all on Vohland (Kaw) was the double-class winner with Tallon Vohland (Kaw) took the 250cc UltracroSs win at round nine of the Mickey Thompson OffRoad Championship Gran Prix Series at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 30. Lowell Thomson (Suz) was second, followed by Ryan Hughes (Kaw), while .J im Holley ' (Yam) picked up the Ultracross Championship for the second consecutive year with a fourth place finish. The final 'round o f the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Ch ampionshi p Series will be. held in San Fran cisco, Ca li forn ia's Candlestick Park on October 28. Marc Granie of France won the California Superbike School Race of Nations, the featured event of the 3rd Annual Police Olympic Motorcycle Roadracing World Championship at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California , October 1 . Julian Elliot of Northern Ireland finished second with Bruce Reimer of the United States third . Yoshimura Suzuki 's Tommy Lynch (Suz) rod e Jamie Jam es' Superbike to the win in the WERA Form ula USA Reg io nal fin a l at Wi ll o w Springs, October I. Lee Shierts (Suz) finis hed second, with Barry Burke (Yam) thi rd. Ch uck Grav es (Suz) cra shed a t th e start. Burke was crow ned the regio nal F-USA Cha mpion, and was awarded $1500 to help : hi m travel to the WER A Grand National Fin als at"Road Atlan ta in Georgia, Novem ber 1-5. Kawasaki's Ron Lechien was listed in fair condition at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, October 2, following surgery to repair his fractured right leg. Lechien broke his femur when he crashed the previous day at the Steel City USA 125/500cc National in nearby Delmont, Pennsylvania. Fren chman Jean-Michel Bayle has sig ned with Amer ican Honda to contest the 125cc MX Nationals and 250cc Camel Su percro ss Series AT!<'s 604MX features a 604cc four-stroke Rotax engine mounted in a llIckel:plated frame. ATK claims that nickel plating saves three pounds over painted frames, and along with other weight-saving devices like the countershaft-mounted rear disc brake, the 604MX weighs just 245 pounds. It al~o features a slim new gas tank/seat combination, sidemou.nted, maintenance-free rear shock with no linkages, and ATK's Anti Chain Torque Eliminator. Suggested retail price is $6495. 2 rounds in 1991. The 250cc MX World Champion, who rode several Camel Supercross events earlier this year before returning to Europe for the GP s, will join 250cc National 'and Supercross ch amp Jeff Stanton , multi-time champ Rick Johnson and Mike Kiedrowski on the American Honda factory team. A 125cc support team will be named at a later dat e. The signing of Bayle means that Honda riders Guy Cooper and 125cc National champ George Holland will be shopping for rides. According to Cooper, a performance clause in his current contract would automatically renew it for next season if he can win the 125cc National Championship. Cooper is currently tied for second, 19 points behind leader Damon Bradshaw, with two rounds remaining . Holland said that he may retire after this season due to his recurring shoulder problems, but he's also looking into a couple of possibilities to ride in Europe next season. Mo tocro sser Jimmy Ga dd is will rema in at Team Suzuki in the 125cc . class next season where he will be jo ined by forme r minicycl e ac e Buddy Ant u nez. T hey are the only riders who have signed cont racts with Suzuki for 1990; the rest of the team has yet to be nam ed. Steve Johnson has been hired by Vance & Hines to run their 1990 A~A road racing effort. Johnson, who tuned Eddie Lawson's championship-winning Kawasaki Superbikes in the early '80s, has been with Kerker for the past six. years. "I'm excited to be back in racing," Johnson said on Monday, October 2. "It's a long-term thing and it will be more than just racing. I'll also be working with them on product development, but my primary concern for 1990 is to end their recent racing frustrations." Johnson was unsure of who would be riding the Vance & Hines Suzukis in 1990, but, according to Johnson, David Sadowski has another year on his two-year contract. Lexin gton, Ohio's Mid-Oh io Sports . Car Cou rse began a major resur facmg project on Sep tember 18. "T he en tire course hasn't been resurfaced for many years and it is in need of help, said Barbara T ru eman, owner of the road race facility. " Our main concerns are to make the track safer for all competi tors and the competition more exciting for the specta tors." In ~ddition to the resurfacing, the 2.4-mlle course will be redu ced from 15 turns to 13 turns by deleting the chicane (turn s two and thr ee) which will make the area from tum one. into th e " Keyho le" a lon g straigh taway. The course will also be widened so that it is a consistent 40-feet wide all arou nd. It now appears the Australian round of the World Championship Road Race Series will be moved to the state of New South Wales. Last year the highly-successful event was held on Phillip Island in the state of Victoria, but arguments over impending tobacco regulations that would put a stop to cigarette-sponsorship of the event have caused race promoter Bob Barnard to look elsewhere. Despite Victoria's final offer of a $3 .5 million package and reduced restrictions on tobacco advertising, Barnard looks set to move the event to a proposed new facility ' just outside Sydney. The NSW .gove rn me nt is believed to have offered $10 million, half to build a new 't ra c k and half in loans and advances to Barnard, and no tobacco restrictions. If the raca is moved to a new facility, the Australian GP would likely be held in October rather than April to allow for construction of the new circuit. Australia also faces the threat of losing the GP to Malaysia if the current situation isn't resolved. The Baltimore County T rail Rid ers Association will host the 14th Annu al Timonium (Maryland) Indoor Short Track Series at the Timon ium Fairgrounds. This year's series gets underway on Saturday ni gh t, October 28, and runs on consecuti ve Saturday ni ght s through November 25. Professor Gary Bailey will conduct a two-day MX school at NorCal Raceway in Tracy, California , October 13-14. Bailey will also help put on a supercross-style race at the facility on Saturday night, October 14 . For more information, call 415/447-4610. Legend ary racin g figu res like fourti me Grand Natio na l Cha mpio n Carroll R esweb er a nd two -ti me champ J oe Leonard will be on han d for Dick Mann 's Vintage Dirt Bike Rall y on October 15 at Sandhill Ran ch in Brentwoo d, Cal ifornia. Mann, himself a two-time Gra nd N~ tional Champion, says the day will feature a dirt track racing and hill cli mb exhibition, both featuring vintage bikes; a swap meet and bike sho w; Eng lish trial s; an d " plen ty of bench racing ." Resweber and Leonard will be joined by the Iikes of 1969 Gr and National ' Champion Mert La wwill , Ralph Whi te, Neil Keen, Evere tt Brash ear, · Sa m my Tanner, Bruce " On Any Sun day" Brown , Jimm y Odom and an no u ncer Roxy Rockwood. The follo wing Sunday, October 22, Mann and Sand H ill Ranch will host a ro u nd of th e AHRMA National Championshi p Vin tage MX Series with form er Bri tish Grass T rack Cham pion Adrian Moss the honored guest. Papa has the guy who wrote the movie review of Race for Glory that appeared.in last week's issue singing Anchors Aweigh and yelling out Semper Fi. He connected the movie Top Gun with the Air Force in the review, when Top Gun concerned itself with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps fighter pilot school in Miramar, California. BORN: Christopher Patrick Fries, son of factory KTM rider Sean Fries and his wife Julie Prange on September 22 in Li ncoln, Nebraska. ATK founder Horst Leitner sold the balance of his ATK stock to Kenneth R. Wilkes, president of ATK, in August. The purchase gives a total of 85% of the shares to Wilkes; the balance is owned by Jack R. Roten, vice president of sales, and Dennis R. Wilkes, chief financial officer. American Suzuki will be offering '$2.8 million in conti ngency and sup port awards for RM riders in 1990. Suzu ki RM80, 125 and 250 riders will be eligible for cash and gi ft certi ficates at 17 different series and cha mpionshi p events throu ghout the nat ion , with all classes from Mini to Seni or covered. According to Suzu ki . bi gger an d better(Co n tinued to page 4)

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