Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

kopf (ATK) finished second overall ahead of Craig Davis (Hon) , Mike Fisher (Kaw) topped Hea le y and Willie Surratt (Suz) in the 2 5 0 c c Pro class, and Steve Lamso n (Suz) t oo k the 125cc Pro class w in ove r Healey and Tony Graves (S uz) . Dan In gram (Hon) wo n all five of his poi nt-paying heat races in the second ro und of the AMA Invitation al Pro Indoo r Ice Race eries which was held at Sag inaw, Mich igan. J anuary 12. Mark Wyskie l (H on ) wo n the main event with Ed Morris (H on) tak in g second a nd Bryan Hardin (Ho n) th ird . In gram co nti n ued on a ro ll th e foll owin g ni ght in round th ree of the series in Mu skegon , wi n n ing three heats, fin ishi ng second in his o ther two, a nd winn ing th e main even t. In gram and Wyskiel are now tied at the top of th e poi nt sta ndings with 33 points eac h; Morris is a close thi rd with 32 points. Jimm y Filice, winner of the 1988 ' La g u na Seca 250cc GP , suffered serio us inj ur ies in an automobile accident in no rth ern Ca liforn ia on Saturday, Jan uar y 13. Filice, wh o had been dirt bi ke ridi ng wit h friends in th e Clear Cree k Recreation Area, was return in g to hi s h ome III Modesto, Ca liforn ia, in 1989 Daytona 200 winner J ohn Ashmead's truck whi ch Ashmead was repo rted ly d rivi ng. Wh il e i nfo rma tio n is sketchy, it's been reported that the truck struck a parked tractor-trailer tru ck o n 1-5. Fi lice suffered a fractured pe lvis and compound frac tures o f bo th legs and ankles and was a ir lifted by hel icopter to a Fresno hospi tal. He under went nine hours of surgery to repair the dam age. Ashm ead wa s re po rted ly n ot seriously injured in th e acciden t. Fil ice is listed in critica l conditio n In Valley Medi cal Cente r, 445 S, Ceda r Ave" Fresno , CA 93702. Jean-Michel Bayle (Hon) was the overall winner in the 250cc Pro class at round three of the southern portion of GFI Racing's California Winter MX Series at Perris Raceway in Perris, California, January 14. Mike laRocco (Suz) was second overall in the starstudded field and Johnny O'Mara (Kaw ) finished third. Bayle was also the runner -up to overall winner Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) in the 125cc Pro c lass ; Donny Schmit (Suz) was third . Gordon Ward (Hon) won the Open Pro c lass. The second round of the no rt he rn portion of the series was ra ine d out and re s c he d ule d at Marysville, California, on Februa ry 11 . Chris Coleman (Kaw) contin ued his winni ng ways by sweeping both 125cc Pro class motos at the third rou nd of the Florida Wint er AMA MX Series which took p lace at Dade Ci ty, Febr ua ry 13-14. Barry Cars ten (S uz) was seco nd overa ll and J ay Mann (Kaw) thi rd. Brian McEl roy (Su z) won both 250cc Pro class motos, to pp ing second o verall Fred Andrew s (S uz) a n d John Dowd (Kaw) wh o was third. Gary Pa u l had a perfect day in am ateur co mpe tition , winn ing bo th mo tes in the -125cc Ama teur Exp ert class and th en repea ting th at performan ce in th e 250cc Amat eu r Expert division. Mike Healey (KTM) captured the overall win in the 500cc Pro class at round two of the CMC /Dodge Trucks Golden State Nationals he ld January 13-14 in San Bernardino, Cal iforn ia . Greg Zitter- Chuck Springsteen suffered a severely damaged left ring finger at the Sag inaw round of the Indoor Ice Race Series. The finger was cut to the bone and a tendon severed in a heat race accident. Surgery was conducted to reattach the. tendon and Springsteen is recuperating at home. While Springsteen was undergoing the surgery, his wife was in another M ichigan hosp ital hav ing the couple's first child, a g irl. Cards and lette rs can be sent to 2201 Shellbrook, Auburn Hills, MI 48057. Word from an FIM Special Man ageme n t Cou nci l meetin g in Geneva, Switzerland, last week has the Austral ian GP roa d race in jeopard y. Sched u led to take pl ace on September 16 at a new facility in New So uth Wal es, th e prom oters of the Aus tra lia n GP fai led to meet a December 3 1, 1989, deadline o n - pa ving th e track, The Australian federati on has been given o ne week to arrange for th e GP to be held at Phillip Island, wh ere it was held last year, o r lose th e dat e. According to reliab le so u rces , th e Vict ori an go vern ment's ant i-tobacco law s wi ll pr event a return to Phillip Island. In addition , the Brazili an G P, whi ch was sched uled to take place on Apri l 22, will now be held on September 29, mak in g it the fin al roa d race GP of th e year even if the Austra lia n GP is held . Other news from the FIM meeting has t he world -wide sanctioning body taking over the GP pass system f rom the International Race Teams Association (IRTA) , which for the past several years has controlled t he issuance of passes to competitors and crews. GP purses have been increased by 7 % due to the devaluation of the Swiss fra nc by the Swiss government. Given the c ircumstances in Germany, the FIM anno unced that it w ill honor East or West German licenses in both countries. Finally, the FIM will take steps to get invo lved in countering anti -motorcycle leg islation in Europe, plus organize motorcycle road safety programs. The FIM's program of government relations work will mirror the work of the AMA's Government Relations Department. Three-tim e World Champion Kenny Rob erts has been elec ted to th e M otor sports Hall of Fam e whi ch is looted in Novi, Michigan , nea r Detroit. In addition to Roberts, th is year's inductees in clude car racers Mari o Andre tti, Jim Clark, Mark Donohue a nd Sh irl ey Muldowney, avia uon pioneer and motor cyclist G len n Cu rtiss, NASCAR ' fo under Bill France. Sr .. boa t race r G ar Wood, a nd th e late Mickey T hompso n, who in additio n to promoti ng races competed in off-roa d events and was the first America n to travel over 400 mph on land. Memb ers o f the Int ernat ion al Motor P ress Associa tio n a nd motorsports journ al ists across th e nation take pa rt in th e voti ng. The induction ceremonies wi ll be conducted on June 14, but Robens says he proba bly won 't be ab le to attend due to the GP sched ule that wi ll have hi m in Austr ia th e weeke nd before th e ceremo nies and in Yugoslavia the weekend a fter. mond , California . The 1 1-ra c e series, wh ich commences Febru - . ary 18, will take place t he th ird Sunday of each month, and w ill be open to stock or modified Sportsters in 883, 1000, 1200cc and un limited displacement categories. On January 21 , the first non -series event w ill be held w ith a special Dealer's Cup and Over35 Masters Road Race Challenge. Carr, a former factory Suzuki road racer of the '70s, has pledged to ride his own Harley-Davidson of Santa Barbara C lubman Sportster in the inaugural event. For more information contact SPM at 805/ 962-5131. . a tJ ~ Round three of the northern port ion of the GFI California Winter Series, to be held in Huron January 21 , will be a qualifier for the February 11 GFI Amateur Supercross at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium. The location for round four has been moved from Reno, Nevada, to Arvin, California. Steve Lamson , wh o in pl acing sixth was th e top privateer in th e 1989 500cc National Championship MX Seri es, will be riding Suzukis in 1990. Last year, La mso n, from Pollock Pines, California, pil oted a Downers Grove-backed Yamaha. " I'm go ing to rid e Suzukis for 1990 but I will st i ll be spo n sored by Do wn ers Grove," said Lamson , " My pl ans are to d ef initel y r ide th e West ern Regional 125cc Supercross Seri es, bu t I haven 't finalized m y p lans for th e o u tdoo r Na tio na ls, yet." ESPN w ill rebroadcast the Speedway America shows that were taped at southern Cal iforn ia 's Ascot South Bay Stadium and originally telecast in November. Seven programs will begin airing on Monday, January 29, and run on consecutive days through , Thursday, February 1, and then from Monday, February 5, through Wednesday, February 7. All programs will ' a ir at 3 p.m , Pacific t ime (6 p .m. Eastern time). T he AMA has a nno unced that th e 1990 National Ch ampionship H ar e Scrambles Seri es will now incl ude an AA class, such as used in th e AMA ' Nati onal Champi ons hip Enduro Series. T he top 20 overa ll fin ishers in 1989 will qual ify for AA sta tus in 1990. Every rid er th at ea rns AA classifica tion in 1990 and on, will co mpe te in th e AA class for the foll owing two years. Road racer Richard Moore, who ti ed for ninth with Englishman Alan Carter in the 1989 AMA Castrol 250cc Grand P rix Series, w ill compete in the Daytona 200 _ before hea ding to Japan for the . re m a inde r of the year to contest the All-Japan Formula One Championship. In both ventures, Moore w ill be aboard a Kawasaki ZX7 backed by Tsukig i, a Japanese aftermarket high -pe rformance products manufacturer. Moore also sai d that hi s com pa ny, Indigo Sports, will not becom e th e exclus ive U.S.' importer of · Aprilia roa d race bik es, Accordin g to Moore, negotiation s "s talled" when Aprilia proved rei uctan t to foot the bill for th e promoti onal as pec ts o f th e proposed bu siness venture: C liff Carr's SPM Promotions has joined fo rces w ith the American Road Racing Association (ARRA) in putting on the CAR ·ARRA Harley-Davidson Sportster Championship at Willow Springs Int e rnat io na l Raceway in Rosa- The Mu lt ilink f ro nt suspension system, deve loped by Horst Leitner of AMP Resea rch , is based on race ca r suspension systems and features no tra il change as the suspension compresses and no fork tube-type friction . Th is prototype was spoted at a loca l southern Californ ia race and when available will sell for $700·$800. The AMA has annou nced that th e Ca me l Pro Seri es Rookie of th e Year program wi ll again awa rd $7500 to th e ' top-three roo kies at th e end of th e 1990 Grand Nati on al Ch ampionsh ip/Came l Pro Series. $5000 will go to th e RoY, with $ 1500 to th e runnerup and 1000 to the third pl aced rook ie. Riders who have never finished 14th or better in a Na tio na l, did not earn a Camel P ro RoY cash bonus in '89, a nd declare their in tent to co mpe te for 1990 Ca mel Pro Series RoY hono rs are eligi ble. Jun ior riders who adva nce to Ex pert d uring the 1990 seaso n may elect to compete for RoY in '90 or wait u nt il '9 1 to declare their eligibi li ty. Ohio 's Scott Stump was th e '89 Camel Roo kie of the Year wit h Chance Darling finishi ng second and Bobb y McDowell third. Russ Darnell Motocross Schools of Hemet, Califo rn ia, w ill award $35,000 in prizes to competitors in the CMC Golden State MX Nationals. The prizes in c lu d e school sessions which will be awarded to the first rider in each class who m isses out on a trophy. In other words, if troph ies are awarded down to fifth place, the school goes to the sixth place rider in the overall class standings. Two year-long coaching packages that Darnell says are worth more than $10,000 each , w ill be awarded by lottery w ith all number one rid ers participating. For more inform a tion , call 7 14/658-RDMX. (Co ntinued to page 3) I

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