Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Race anno u ncer Ro xy Rockw ood suffered a heart a ttack on Sat urda y, Jan ua ry 13, in Mission Viejo, Californ ia. Accordi ng to his son ,. Tim, he is doi ng , well and expects to be released from the hosp ital early th is week. Cards and letters can be sent to 1680 S. Melrose Dr. , Suite 110, Vista, CA 92083. (Con tin ue d from p age 3) Los Angeles Trade-Tech will offer a spring semester motorcycle repai r course. The course begins on Febru ary 6 and is conducted on Tuesday and Thursday even ings from 6:30 to 9:30 p.rn. For mo re informat ion, call Bob Price at 818/991 -4980. Speaking of Los Angeles TradeTech, former motorcycle repair course teacher and cur rent member of the Los Angeles Community Colleges' Board of Trustees Pat Owens will be paid tribute at a fund raising reception on Saturday, January 27, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The reception will be held at the home of Roy and Gerrie Dahlson, 13401 Bromwich Sreet in Arleta, California. A $25 donation is requested and proceeds will go to the Committee to Elect Pat Owens. For more information, call 213/225-1687. Road racer Alex Crivill e, Spa in's 125cc World Champion , has reportedly signed to ride alongside Italian Lu ca Cada lora on Gi acom o Agostini 's Mar lboro Yam ah a 250cc Grand Prix team. The 19-year-old Cri ville be cam e the youngest rider to ever win a TOad racin g World Champ ionsh ip when he won the 125cc title in 1989 on a JJ Cobas. If Agostini is able to secure YZR250s for Cri ville he wi ll join Cada lora and Kocin ski as the on ly rid ers on factory Yama has; if not, he is likely to be aboard a TZ250. J a p a n ' s Tos hi h iko H o nm a will make ap pea ra nces a t severa l G Ps on a factory-backed YZR, but will not do the ent ire series. Road racer Kevin Schwantz, who finished fourth in the 1989 500cc ' World Championship, and Criville wine voted Solo Moto's Men of the Year by readers of the Spanish weekly motorcycle newspaper. Surprisingly, both riders received more votes than Spain's two-time 250cc World Champion Sito Pons and four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson. Following a Suzuki test session in Japan a few weeks ago, Schwantz flew to Baja California, Mexico, for five days of off-road riding with his father Jim and British road racer Rob McElnea. Schwantz will likely fly to Spain to accept the Solo Moto award. T hree-tim e AMA G rand Na tional Ch am pion Bub ba Shobert has been hired by American Honda to work , in its public relati ons departm ent . Sho bert , who was seriou sly inj ured in the U.S. GP in April of 1989, says he may also ride a Honda RC30 in selected overseas endurance races in 1990 " bu t on ly if I' m read y." Sho bert 's duties with- Honda may also see h im making non -racin g ap pearances at several AMA event s th rou ghout the season.' 42 Although the FIM schedule has moved the Spanish road race Grand Prix to May 6 from its original date of May 13, the site of the GP is still being listed as Jarama. Sources in Spain, however, say it is more likely to be held at Jerez, the site of the 1989 ,S pa nis h GP . .. . The fi ve-r o u nd AMA Northea st Cham pionshi p Ice Race Series that was scheduled to sta rt on J anuary 28 at Paradise Speedway in Ge neva, New Yor k , h a s bee n ca nc ele d. According' to a track spokesperson, "A week of 50- to 60-degree temperatures has com pletely destroyed the ice track." Scottish road racer Niall Mackenzie will make his Daytona 200 debut on March 11 aboard a Yamaha FZR750RR OW01 Superbike. Mackenzie, who finished seventh in the 1989 500cc World Championship aboard a Marlboro Yamaha, is a lso trying to put together a 250cc GP effort for 1990 backed by Mitsui, Britain 's Yamaha im po rt e r. Pat Alexander, Suzuki's MX race team manager since 1982, has been appointed motocross support manager. Alexander's new duties will include overseeing the Suzuki S upport Truck Program, a program that provides trackside support at major amateur races for R M riders. He will also oversee the RM Contingency Program, Pro-Level Dealer Program, and rider development. Prior to becoming Suzuki's race team manager, Alexander was the factory mechanic for former National MX Champions Marty Smith and Danny laPorte. Due to Dunlop tire tests in J erez, Spai n, the week prior to the March II Daytona 200, Brits Rob McEln ea and T err y Rymer wi ll not compete in the 200 on their T eam Loctite Yam ah a s as wa s previou sly . a n no u nce d . Brits Carl Foga rt y, J amie Wh itham and Roger Burnett are likely to join Mackenzie, however, a t Daytona. Isuzu has been named the official truck of SRO/Pace-promoted rounds of the Camel Supercross Series. In addition to event signage and vehicle displays, Isuzu deale rs will offer a "pit pass" promotion for each SRO /Pace event. This Action Pass allows the spectator access to the stadium floor during a specia l rider autograph session. From Avon Tires comes word that they'll co-spo nso r a Daytona Cycle Week concert featuri ng the Charl ie Daniels Band, J erry J eff Walker and J oe Walsh on Saturday, Mar ch 10, at the Vol usia County Fai rgrounds. T he concert will begin at I p.m . and a portion of the proceeds will be don ated to MDA of Dayton a and the Unit ed Child Care Cen ter o f Daytona. . Pasadena (California) City College is offering a special certificated motorcycle mechanics class for individuals seeking employment in the motorcycle industry or for those who prefer to do their own repairs. The spring semester course begins February 5 at the Community Skills Center, 325 S. Oak Knoll in Pasadena. For more information, call Wayne Hou lihan at 818/578-7041 . .The Miam i, Florida , ro und of th e AMA Nation al Cham pion sh ip Road Race Series will take pl ace Jul y 2122, n ot Jul y 7-8 as o r ig in a ll y sched uled. MOVED : Lynn Vick Products, d istributor of motorcycle accessories, to 1192 N. Grove, Anahe im, CA 92806, 714 /632 9500, Fax 714/630-3966. NAMED: Hal Sanq ui netti, formerly with Wh ite Bros., as head of the acco u n t execu tive departm ent of Santa Ana Heights, California-based WK Concepts, a full service advertisin g age ncy. Chris D'Aluisio of Georgetown, Connecticut, who finished eighth in the 1989 AMA Castrol 250cc Grand Prix Road Race Series, has hi red David Harold of Davhar Racing to tune his Yamaha TZ250 on the 1990 AMA 250cc GP and WERA Formula USA circuits. D'Aluisio also recently signed a sponsorship deal with Dunlop • ti~e$ . . & J I.. ..I kins, IS DE gold medalist Dave Bertram, and two-time 600cc National Dirt Track Champion Chris Carr. Gary Surdyke, president of H usaberg America, In c., an nounced an ISDE support program for American riders competing on Husaberg motorcycles. According to Surdyke, if an Ameri can qualifies for the ISDE riding all scoring events on a H usaberg , Husaberg America will rent him a motorcycle for the cost of $600 for use in the 1990 ISDE in Vastera s, Sweden , Septemb er 3-8. In addition, H usaberg will provide setup help a t the facto ry and the event; practice and test sessio ns arra nged at the facto ry, and transportat ion of motorcycles to and from the event. For more information , contact Gary or Greg Surdyke a t 1/800-748-8454. Team Suzuki's Ron Tichenor flew to his home state of Florida to compete in the fourth round of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series in Ocala on January 21. Tichenor had been testing in California, but rainy weather forced him to return home. "I wanted some time on a dry track before the Anaheim (California) Supercross, so I called my dad and he arranged for Stan ley Tipton to set up my practice bike so I could race." Tichenor won the 250cc Pro class. Ta king over as Suzuki MX raci ng team manager is Ron Heben. Heben was 1986-87 125cc National Champi on Micky Dymon d 's mechanic wh en Dym ond wa s with T eam Yam aha. Yamaha recently announced it s official Off-Road Support Team for the 1990 season. Returning to campaign YZ250WRs in the AMA National Championship Cross Country and Hare Scrambles Serie s are eight-time Cross Country Champion Ed Lojak and 1988 Hare Scrambles Champion Tony Hendon. Jeff Russell will again campaign the AMA Nat ional Championship Enduro Series, while ISDE gold medalist Fritz Kadlec will challenge the National Champ ionship Hare & Hound Series. The Western/Eastern Roadracers' Associ ation (WERA) an nou nced that it will cha nge th e color of Novice number plates for the 1990 seaso n and beyond. The plates will now be yellow with black numbers, in stead of black with white numbers as before. The 1990WERA rulebooks will be in the mai l th is week. BORN: Dave Westwood III, son of WERA Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Region officials Dave and Barbara Westwood, in Royers Ford, Pennsylvania, on January 11. AT K a lso anno unced its motocross and off-roa d team rid ers for 1990. Greg Zitterkopf, Will y Musgrave an d Randy .Rodriguez will head ATK 's mot ocross effort, while Dale Knapp, Paul Krau se, Garth Sweetland, Ch ris Cra n da l , Ron Naylor, Scott Summers, Johnny Martin, J oe Zierman an d Matt Stavis h will make up AT K's off-road team . On January 9, Illinois Gov ernor J ames T ho mpson signed House Bill 1359, sp o ns o red by R ep . Larry Woolard (D-Sp r in g fie ld) , whi ch ends a $45 registration fee that was previo usly required for off-highway motorcycles and ATV s operated on private land. The new law became effective upon the governor's signature. Under the term s of the ame nded law, only. those rid ers who own and operate dirt bikes and ATV s on their o w n land a re exe m p t from th e regi stra tion fee, provided the offhighway veh icle is not oper ated elsew he re in th e sta te. Previous legislation , ap proved in 1987, levied the regis tration fees to raise funds for a Dep artm en t o f Conserva ti on (DO C) program to operate sta tesu ppo rted riding areas. American Honda has announced a $249,000 road race contingency program for 1990 AMA Superbike, AMA /CCS Supersport and WERA Formula USA competition. More than $10,000 will be available for Honda RC30 riders at each AMA Superbike National, paying $5000 for first place down to $600 for fifth, with the Superbike Series Championship worth an additional $20,000. R ide rs of VFR750s and CBR600Fs in AMA/CCS Supersport races, and RC30 riders in WERA F-USA events will vie for $1500 for a win down to $200 for fifth , with a championship in one of those c ia sse's worth $10 ,000. Factory high performance kit parts for RC30s will soon be available (for racing purposes only); to obtain a parts book, contact American Honda's Brian Uchida at 213/604-2427. ISDE gold medalist an d 1989 Baja 1000 winner, T eam Green's Larry Roeselerhas left long-time appa rel , spo nsor Malcolm Smith Racing and ink ed a deal with JT Racing. On the subject of apparel, Yoko Racewear and Alpinestars Boots have signed Team Suzuki motocrosser Larry Ward, MXer Tallon Voh land , two -time National Enduro Champion .Randy Haw- I Pa ige Thomas, 21, has been named Miss Camel by the R.J . Reynolds Tobacco Co. and she'll be on hand at a ll 18 Camel Supercross Series events. In addition to her duties as Miss Camel, Tho mas will complete her undergraduate studies at the Un iversity of North Carolina in Greensboro. She expects to graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in socia l work. Following her graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school at Florida State Uni versity and obtain a Master's degree. Thomas was born in Richmond, Virginia, but grew up in Roanoke. Camel didn 't send a photo of Paige, but Papa's sure the editors will burn up some film taking p ictures of her at the open ing ro u n d of the Camel Supercross Series on Saturday night" January 27, at Anaheim.,

• Cover