Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~THD ~y p~p~ Wf~LfY (Con tinued from page I ) Japan; April 8 - Laguna Seca, U.S.A; April 22 - Rio de Janiero, Brazil; May 13 - Jarama, Spain; May 20 - Misano, Italy; May 27 - Nurburgring, West Germany; June 10 - Salzburgring, Austria; June 17 - Rijeka, Yugoslavia; June 30 - Assen, Holland; July 8 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium; July 22 - (no venue), France; August 5 - Donington Park, Eng land; August 12 - Anderstorp. . Sweden; August 26 - Brno, Cze choslovakia; September 2 - Hungaroring, Hungary; September 16 - Eastern Creek, Australia . IR T A's (Intern at iona l Race Teams Associa tion ) hand was un expectedly stre ngthe ned a t the FIM co ngress, G P co rrespo ndent Mich ael Sco tt rep orts, wh en H RC gav e a co m mitment to join th e p lanned boycott of ' the Swed ish Gra nd "Prix in Anderstorp. Hi th ert o, H R C has been a d issenting voice in IR T A, a nd th ey were th e on ly IRTA memb ers to tak e part in unr irned pract ice for th e Germa n G P a t H ockenheirn this year. Dutchman Jos Vaessen was elected president of the FIM. Vaessen, the former speedway comm iss ioner . ran unopposed after former road race commission head Luigi Brenni withdrew his candidature. However, Vaessen's election was not unanimous - out of 89, possible votes, he received 87. Three of the seven vice-presidents were up for re-election, with Brenni trying to get in at this level. However, he finished fourth, behind cand idates from Poland, Czechoslovakia and West Germany, and thus missed the boat. Brenni, a · Swiss engineer, is popular with the riders, and was also IRTA 's favo red choice for FIM president - two factors which may have counted against him. He was instead given a token position as honorary president of the road race commission. The FIM technica l commission made a blunder th at unwittingl y re vea led H o nda ' s p ro posa ls to rep lace the curren t 500cc class in G P road racing. T hey meant to di stribu te the reg ula tions go vern ing the Superbike class, but they had photocopied H onda 's proposals to th em , and pas sed th em out ins tead. These proposals ' have the backin g of the japanese federa tion , wh o alrea dy planned to drop th e 500cc class from their dom esti c cha mp io ns hips if the FIM sh owed any sig ns of suppo rt ing H onda 's p lan. H RC has proposed a ma ximum o f three cylin der s, a capaci ty of 375cc and a (ra the r h igh ) minimum weigh t of 275 pounds for what would rep lace the 500s as th e premi er G P class in 1992. T he 250s . would rem ai n un ch a nged, except for a higher min imum weight of 213 pounds, up from 198 pou nds; and the 125s would rem ain as present. To avoid losing pe rceived sta tus with th e p u blic , however , the classes would no t be kn own by their capacities as a t present, bu t as GP 1 (375cc), GP2 a nd G P3. The j apanese Ieder- a tio n had offered to ru n these classes in their do mesti c All -j apan series in 1990, as a trial run for the World Ch ampionships. At present, the AIIj apan cha mp ions hi ps follo w G P class ifica tio ns. One request made by r iders ' representative and current 250cc World Champion Sito Pons was for an increase in prize money by 50% for next year, another 50% for 1991, and ditto for 1992. It took some t ime for it to sin k in that this was not a 150 percent increase, but actually 237%. His request was referred to Maurizio Flammini, Italian promoter, new Superbike supremo, and new president of IRRPA. The other riders' representative, Eddie Lawson, was not present at the congress. There was one new memb er ad mitted to the FIM - the Islam ic Rep u blic of Iran , wh ose federat ion ho pes to hol d a mo tocro ss G P in the near future. It is un lik ely that a ny American delega tes wi ll be sen t to ins pec t a ny proposed circuits. A system des igned ' to do away with slow backmarkers in the 500cc road race class has been ' p ro p o sed for 1990. This prequalification system wi ll take . place on Thursday, a day previously given to untimed practice . The top 10 in the previous year's championsh ip will automatically be qualified, and also the top five in the current year. All others will have to post a Thursday time with in 115% of the fastest time set that day. Kir k R icha rd j ohnston , 35, was ki lled duri ng th e Octob er 17 earth quak e tha t hit Ca li forn ia's Bay Area. j oh nston , of Nova to, Ca liforn ia, was dri vin g a com pa ny tru ck for Peerless Coffee, a n Oakland go urme t co ffee di strib ut or , wh en he was crus hed to death on Oakland' s 1-880. Known as Capta in Kirk , j ohnst on was a n ac tive stree t bike rider who h ad ga ined a reputatio n as being a Good Samaritan after he went to the rescu e of man y downed rid ers on hi s everySu nday- morn ing rides on .H ig hwa y 10 1 from T am Vall ey to Sti nso n Beach. In hi s spare tim e he mad e deliveri es for Wh eelsm ith Racin g. j ohnston, who was di vo rced severa l years ago, is su rvived by hi s moth er Alice j ohnston, fian cee Toni H anson , a nd three sons wh o live in Ma ssachu setts .w i th hi s e x-w ife Susan. t W e belatedly report that on September 25 the Easyriders magazine-sponsored dual-engined Harley-Davidson streamliner rid den by Dave Campos set a new record in the'S-AF 3000 class at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Campos broke his old record, set in 1978, of 276.37 mph and established a new record at 284.55 mph. The goal was to break the motorcycle world land speed record of 318.59 mph set by Don Vesco and a dual -engine Kawasaki streamliner in 1978. Accordin g to road race g uru -tu rnedp rodu cer Keith Code, over $150,000 has been pl edged toward establish in g a cable television series for th e 1990 WERA Formula USA Road Race Championsh ip Ser ies. " We're shoo ting for a to ta l bud get o f $400,000, and we have four .mo n ths to ge t it," Code said o n . Monda y, Octob er 23. " We 're waiting o n about eigh t major (mo torcycle a nd ti re) ma n ufacturers; we're close to closi ng two pretty goo d size packages." Code added th a t in addition to co-prod ucer Pau l Winters'a nd himself, the Prime Ticket Sp orts Cable Netw ork now has their ow n 20-pe rso n sales force ou t sell ing co m mercial spots o n th e sho w to com pa n ies o u ts id e t he mot orcycle industry. If the money is raised, the TV series will consist of 10 shows - two hour-and-a-half shows an d eig ht o ne-ho ur shows to be aired o n Prime T icket. The Thursday, October 26 edition of the Los Angeles Times, carried a story on James Romero III, a Mission Viejo, California, youth who as a 13-year-old gave police evidence that helped · capture serial killer Richard Ramirez, a.k.a. the Night Stalker. Romero, now 17, was shown in a photo astride his sport bike, with a caption that read "Night Stalker tipster . , . hopes for a f ut u re as a motorcycle (road) racer." AP POINTED: Donnie L uce to th e postion of race coordina tor at Wh ite Bro s.; Luce will be in charge of th e firm 's su p port ri der p rogram and race pr om oti ons p lus wo rk on th e order desk; racers wish ing to jo in th e Wh ite Bros. support program shou ld send resu mes to Luce, Wh ite Bro s., 14241 Commerce Dr. , Garden Grove, CA 92643. The U.S . Fish and Wildlife Service has announced hearings which will determine whether the desert tortoise w ill become permanently listed as an endangered species . The tortoise's "endangered" listj ng, which took effect August 4, has temporarily limited the use of the Mojave Desert area, or all tortoise habitat north and west of the Colorado River. That listing extends through the end of March 1990. A permanent endangered listing, however, cou ld restrict all activities indefinitely. The hearings will be held at three locations with the first taking place November 20, from 7 p.m. to 11 p .m . at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, California. The Clark County Commiss ion Chambers in Las Vegas, Nevada, will host a pa ir of hearings on November 28 from 2 p.m . until 5 p .rn . and 7 p.m. to 11 p .m. The final hearing will take place on November 29 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Council Chambers of the St. George City Offices in St. George, Utah. The Fish a nd Wildlife Service will also accept wr itten co mments on the tortoi se iss ue from all interested p art ies, includin g o ff-h ig h way mot orcycli sts. Comments must be mai led by j a n ua ry I I , 1990, to : Regional Di rector , A'ITN: Li sting Co ordi na tor , U.S. Fish and Wildl ife Ser vice, 1002 N.E. H o ll ady si., Port land, OR 97232-4181. Further information on th e hea rin gs a nd com ment pe riod may be obtained by con tacting Robert P. Smith, Assista nt Regional Director for Fish a nd Wil dl ife En hanceme nt, at the a bove address or by calli ng 503/ 231-6131. The Sportsman Speedway Association (SSA) of southern Cal ifornia will host every-other-Sunday amateur speedway races at Inland Motor Speedway in San Bernard ino, Ca lifornia , beginning November 5 . Sign -up will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. with rac ing getting underway at 1 p.m. J unior, Novice, Expert, Intermediate; Vet and Two-Valve . Jawa class rac ing will be run , If you're int erest ed in rac ing and don't have a speedway bike, t he folks at SSA say they can help you obtain one. For more inf orm at io n, call 714 /880-1733. The Iin al po ints -payi ng round of the AH R MA-West Vintage MX Ser ies, which was to ha ve tak en pl ace in T ula re, California, has been reloca ted to Los Angeles County Raceway near Palmdale, Califo rni a, a nd it wi ll run o n November 19. The vintage-only event o n a specia lly prepa red tr ack w ill fea ture a ll AH R MA classes, includin g Vet, O ld T im er a nd Wom en. AH R MA ru les allow o nly 1974 a nd ea rl ier bikes wi th maximum wheel trave l of seven in ch es in front and fo ur inch es a t the rear. The Pal mdal e Ramada Inn has been named the headquarters hotel a nd special ra cer rates a re a vaila ble. For more race information, call 714/ 897-8265 or 213/ 4900012. RELOCATED: The national office of the American Historic Rac ing Motorcycle Associat ion (AHRMA) to 265 Morris sr.. Morgantown, WV 26505, 304/ 291-2253, FAX 3041291 -2341 ; membership i n q ui r ie s and requests for race information should be directed to business m anager Sherry W inn during 1 p. m. to 5 p.m . Eastern time; AHRMA's executive director and newsletter editor Matt Benson can be contacted at P.O. Box 692, Mt. Jewett, PA 16740, 814 / 778-2291, FAX 814 /778-5375. ~ 00 .... ~ ..0 8 ~ ;> o Z T he a n nual Ted Bood y Memorial Du al -Sp ort R ide takes p la ce on N o vember 5 in the grea ter Los Angeles a rea. Sign-u p wi ll take p lace from 8 a.rn. to 10 a.m. a t H ansen Dam Park near San Fern ando (it's reco m m en ded that yo u exi t th e Foothill s Freewa y - the 210 - at Osbourne Street a nd en ter the park at the fir st entrance). Follow ing the ri de, products donat ed by H onda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha and o ther firm s will be auctio ned off wi th a ll p ro ceed s go ing to th e AMA District 37 Legal Defense Fund. Two rides are available, the shorter o ne, 78 m iles, is ap proxi mate ly 50% pavement, while th e longer o ne, II I miles , will challenge vetera n du al sport riders. Contrary to rumors going around, the Vintage class races at the Wh ite Bros. Veterans World MX Championships at southern Cali fornia's Perris Raceway will take place on Sunday, November 5 , as scheduled. In addition, a special Manufacturers Race will be held and it will feature representatives of the many firms t hat co-sponsor the annual event. Mu lti-tim e Nati onal and Su pe rcross ch a m p R ick J ohnson wi ll sig n a utograp hs a nd bench race with fans frOI'Q 12-4 p.m. on November 4 a t San L ui s H onda in San Luis Obispo, Ca liforn ia . Brian Lunniss, j ohn so n' s mech an ic, will also be on han d to co nd uc t a CR Support clin ic. Lars Larsson, former owner of Torsten Hallman Racing USA, is offering a $500 reward for any inf orm at ion leading to the whereabouts of his stolen 1989 Yamaha YZ125, 1989 Honda CR500, and the five-ra il open trailer on which the motorcycles were tied down. The trailer and motorcycles were stolen two weeks ago at the Rosarito Beach GP in Baja Cal ifornia, Mexico. The serial numbers are 5YA3J DW06KA002823 . for the Yamaha and J H2 PE0 2 0 9 KM 8 0 14 4 5 for t he Honda . The trailer has a Ca liforn ia plate with registration number 1 BE5272. Call 6191287-5437 , 51

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