Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1990 03 28

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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ยท~ ~ IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey Fren chman Raymond Roche (Due) won th e openi ng round of the World Championship Superbike Road Ra ce Series in Jerez, Spain, on March 18. Roch e won both legs to beat defending World Champion Fred Merkel (H o n ), who garnered second- and ' third- place finishes . Roche 's new teammate, Italian Giancarlo Falappa (Due), and Belgian Stephane Mertens (Ho n) tied for third overall. Defending National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins (Suz) was the overall winner in round two of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in Maxeys , Georgia, March 18. Rounding out the top five were Jeff Russell (Yam), Czechoslovakian Jan Hrehor (Suz), Kevin Hines (KTM) and Terry Cunningham (Kaw). However, the event is under protest and all results are unofficial. Team Suzuki Endurance's Mike Smith and Kurt Hall (Suz) won the opening round of the WERA Kerker / SBS Endurance Road Race Series at Roebling Road Raceway in Faulkville, Georgia, March 17. The raindampenedrace, originally scheduled for six hours but called off during the fifth hour due to flooding, saw the defending series champs defeat The Human Ra ce Team's Andy Fenwick and Paul Bray (Yam) by one lap, with Team Uno's Mike Harth, Ron Ewerth and Troy Sorensen (Suz) finishing third. Dan Smith and Danny Hamel (KTM) teamed up to score the overall and Open class wins at the Las Vegas 300 off-road race near Ely, Nevada, March 17. The Smith/Hamel team finished approximately 18 minutes ahead of Greg Searle and Bryan Folks (KTM) , the second place team and 250cc class winners. The Scott Morris/ Mark Morris (Kaw), Brent Fox/Brandon Gerber (KTM) and Daryl Folks/ Danny Anderson (KTM) teams rounded out the top five. Team Marlboro Roberts Yamaha rider Gary Cowan, the 25-year-old Irish road racer who Crashed while leading the 250cc International Lightweight final at Daytona International Speedway on March II, remains paralyzed below the chest as the result of a spinal cord injury accompanying the major fractures and dislocations to the vertabrae in his chest and back. Dr. Albert Gillespy performed surgery on Cowan on the evening of Monday, March 12, inserting spinal rods in the affected areas to alleviate his condition. Two days after the operation, Dr. Gillespy reported that Cowan 's spirits were "excellent, considering the situation," and that he was making "good progress." He also noted that Cowan was able to be removed from his bed and placed in a chair the afternoon aft er the surgery. "T ha t was really important in this case," he said. " It . was remarkable that this was able to occur so soon." Cowan has been moved to the hospital's orthopedic ward, and is expected to be moved to a California rehabilitation center by March 23. Road racer Andy Leisner also remains in Halifax Hospital with a broken hip he suffered in the 250cc International Lightweight race, but is expected to return home to California the week of March 18. Team Yamaha motocrosser Damon Bradshaw sat out the March 17 Las ' Vegas Camel Supercross so that the foot he injured in the San Diego Supercross can heal properly. ''I'm not sure if he'll ride next week (in Pasadena, California)," said Yamaha team manager Keith McCarty. " It's (the foot) not getting any better." Road racer Richard Arnaiz showed great promise in his European Superbike Championship debut in Jerez, Spain, March 17. Arnaiz qualified on the pole for the race, run in conj unction with the World Superbike round, by some two seconds, but unfortunately crashed after another rider went down in front of him. Arnaiz, however, expressed great enthusiasm for his Team Rumi Honda RC30 when compared to the Yamaha FZR750 he raced to third in the AMA Superbike Championship in 1989: "It's like night and day ," Arnaiz said. " T h ere is no .co mpariso n," Diesel Jeans has agreed to sponsor the World Championship Superbike Series for the next three years. The Italian company has also committed rosponsor the Alstare Team, which is fielding the factory Birnotas this year. Alstare is" managed by Francis Batta who heads SBK, the group that runs the series. Batra is 'said to be looking for a team manager for Alstare. Mike Baldwin and his Australian teammate Grant Hodson stayed at home while the World Championship Superbike Series kicked off in Spain. Giuseppe Mom of Bimota said that the team's bikes were withdrawn from the race because of the late signing of the Diesel Jeans sponsorship contract Tesi's nearly ready, Bimota say-=--s_ _ T 2 h e innovative hub centersteering Bimota Tesi is nearing production after undergoing prototype testing at Italy's ' Misano circuit in late February. The first production version of the "forkless" motorcycle will be powered by a fuel-injected Ducati 851 V-twin (rather than the Honda V-4 of the original prototype), and will be known as the Tesi ID. Original testing was conducted by Italian Gianluca Galasso, with further test sessions to include Bimota Tesi ID prototype at Misano Bimota's World Championship . . Superbike Series team including American Mike Baldwin. Current plans call for unveiling the production Tesi at the September 19-23 Cologne Show, with sales to begin by the end of the year. The Riumi, Italy-based firm reports that sales of their 1990 Bellaria, YB8 and Tuatara models are strong, and that production capabilites will soon be increased through capital gained from a new shareholder, Arca Merchant, one of Italy's largest financial companies. . the week prior to the race. They'll launch the team properly and make a full assau lt from the British round on. The problem as far as Baldwin and Hodson are concerned is that the boost in budget means that a " 'name" rider is being pursued, which means one of them could be dropped. A meeting between Morri, Batta, and th e sponsor ' was scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, in Milan, Italy. The rumor sweeping through the pits at Jerez was that Freddie Spencer was the man being pursued by Alstare's Francis Barta to head up the Alstare/ .Birno ta team. The rumor was denied by Bimota's Giuseppe Morri. Mike Hale of Carrollton, Texas, the AMA's Junior dirt track National , Champion, is the early leader in the 1990 Camel Pro Series Rookie of the Year contest. Hale, 18, was the highestplaced rookie in the Camel Pro opener at Daytona's Municipal Stadium, March 10, finishing 13th in the short track's main event. Close behind was his arch-rival from 1989, 17-year-old Larry Pegram of Baltimore, Ohio. Pegram finished 15th. Hale will take a 14-12 Rookie of the Year point lead over Pegram into the next Camel Pro Series round, the April 14 Sacramento Mile. Close races are nothing new to Hale and Pegram; Hale defeated his rival by just five points to win the 1989 Junior National title. Spanish 250cc road racer Alberto Puig recently underwent five hours of surgery to repair a badly broken fibia . bone in his leg. Puig, who finished 23rd in the 1989 250cc World Championship, was testing a Yamaha YZR250 at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan when the accident occurred. Belgian Didier de Radigues will miss the opening round of the World Championship Road Race Series in Japan on March 25. De Radigues rebroke a collarbone during testing at Paul Ricard in the south of France; the factory-Aprilia rider had previously broken the collarbone while testing earlier in the off-season at Jerez in Spain. Team Marlboro Roberts Yamaha's Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey didn't make their scheduled test session at Suzuka due to flight problems leaving Los Angeles, California. The Suzuka test was the last opportunity for testing prior to the season-opening Japanese GP on March 25. Roberts' 250cc GP rider John Kocinski, who flew from San Francisco, California, did make the test and was the fastest of the 250cc riders on hand, turning a 2:18.4 lap time. Laguna Seca Raceway is offering race fans the chance to meet and get autographs from some of the top riders scheduled to compete in the April 8 United States Grand Prix. Riders will be on hand at the Monterey Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, April 5, between 5:00 and 6:30 p .m. Due to a scoring error, the provisional results for the Daytona 200 in last week's issue were incorrect. Gee Vee Honda-mounted Dale Quarterley was incorrectly credited with fifth place in the 200, according to the AMA. The corrected results list Quarterley as finishing II th, so those who finished anywhere from fifth to II th all move up a spot, with defending Daytona 200 winner John Ashmead moving to fifth place. The corrected results read as follows: 1. David Sadowski (Yam); 2. Randy Renfrow (Hon); 3. Doug Chandler (Kaw); 4. Donald Jacks (Yam); 5. John Ashmead (Kaw); 6. Mark Chin (Yam); 7. Tom Kipp (Yam); 8. Jay Springsteen (Suz); 9. Jacques Guenette, Jr. (Yam); Ottis Lance (Suz) and then Quarterley. The championship point standings now change in accordance to the new results. Also incorrect in last week 's Daytona results was the 'brand of motorcycle ridden by fourth-place 600cc Supersport finisher Mike Barnes. Barnes rode a Yamaha, not a Kawasaki. Gloria Carter Spann, 63, the sister of former President Jimmy Carter, died on Monday, March 5, a victim of pancreatic cancer. Spann was an avid motorcyclist and as such was the subject of an interview in Cycle News during her brother's presidency. She is survived by her husband, Walter, and a son, William Spann. . The Brazil 125cc MX GP, the opening round of t':Ie World Championship l25cc MX Series, scheduled for April I, has been canceled, Round one will now take place April 8 in Argentina. "Fo rmer Team Yamaha motocrosser Shaun Kalos, who now rides for the Italian Yamaha importer, dislocated his hip during a March 4 Italian National Championship race. Donny Schmit, another American motocrosser who is in Europe to contest the G Ps, broke his wrist while practicing in Italy. Schmit reportedly may return to action for the opening round of the 125cc World Championship MX Series on April 8 in Argentina. No doubt due to the fact that American teams have clinched the Motocross des Nations team championship in the second of three motos the past two years, the FIM has changed the rules so that the title can't be decided before the end of the third. Beginning with this year's event in Vimmerby, Sweden, each three-rider team's best five of six moto finishes will count towards the title instead of the best four of six finishes used in the past. The FIM 's provisional 1991schedule has the event ' taking place in Valkenswaard, HoIland, September 15. FIM provisional U.S. GP dates for 1991 are April 21 for the Laguna Seca round of the World Championship Road Race Series, July 14 for the 250cc MX GP at Unadilla Valley Sports ' Center in New Berlin, New York, and August 25 for a 500cc MX GP in San Bernardino, California. According to sources at American Honda, effective April I, CR Support crews will not be on hand at races. Steve Carter, who headed up the East crew, and Gary Martin, who was responsible for the support effort in the West, have both been reassigned to other positions. John Hasty was re-elected chairman ' of the board at the AMA board of trustees meeting at Daytona Beach, Florida, March 9. Hasty was defeated ' in the AMA Southeast Region individ- ' ual member election by Mike Cova, but as the past chairman is allowed . to continue serving as a trustee for a period of one year. Hasty said the coming year will be one of "transition" : and that he will train other officers in I the duties of chairman during the year

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