Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v 0ICES INSIDE Motorized apartheid FEATURF.S U.S. GP ROAD RACEPREVIEW A spectator's guide to Laguna Seca Grand Prix season preview John Kocinski describes a lap of Laguna Seca 12 INTERVIEWS 250cc World Champion Sito Pons Rothmans Honda'sETV Kanemoto 16 22 SUPERCROSS Ward leaves 'em behind at the Rose Bowl. Morga top amateur in Las Vegas 6 10 ENDURO Hawkins hauls in Cherokee Nat'l . .. 38 DRAGRACE Spina quickest in Florida 42 MOTOCROSS Kizzer collects Muddy Creek MX . . . . 44 . OFF-ROAD Smith/ Hamel win Las Vegas 300 . .. .46 18 DEPARTMENTS 40 ROAD RACE Roche dominates World Superbike opener in Spain 28 Team Suzuki wins wet WERA endurance opener in Georgia . . '. . ... 32 RIDING IMPRESSION Honda's more powerful CBR600F ... 34 NEW PRODUCTS 31 WORKBENCH 48 EDITOR'S MEGAPHONE 49 LOCAL RACING 50 CALENDAR 58 RESULTS . _... . . . . . . .. . . . .. • .. 64,76 WANT ADS 65 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson in action during a Jerez. Spain, test session. Photo by David Goldman. America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volu me XXVII Sharon Clayton. Publisher Mike Klinger, Com ptroller Rheba Smith, Circulation Ma nagl!T Caroline Gendry, Executive Secretary to th e Publ isher Editorial Jack Mangus, Associate Publish....! Edi tor Kit Palmer. Ass ociate Editor Paul Ca rru thers. Associate Edi to r Na te Rauba , Associate Editor Brian Catterson, Associate Editor Ken Faught, Assistant Ed itor Edwina Mangus, Calendar Edit or Advertisi ng Terry Pratt, SenioTSales Manager Mark T home, Western Sales Manager Ron Davidson , Western Sales Manager T homas R. Gonter, Western Sa les Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, East"," Sales Mana ger Joan Russian, WesteTn Ad Coo rdinator Carla Borden, East"," Ad Coordinat or Accounting/Data Processing Graphics and Producti on Ree J ohnson, Production Supervisor Mandy 1..00, Producti on Manag~r Dennis Greene, Lab . T ech . Stacey Guest, G raph ic A rtist Jimmie O'Dell, G rap hic A rtist Carolyn Branham, T yp esett er Alma Ang uia no, Assistan t Herlane Richmond, Assistant Carol Maggio, Assistant DealerSales Eric Reece, Manager Want Ads Debbie Weller, Wa nt Ad Sales Service and Support Chris Aitcheson, H eadquarters R eception ist Leonard Herring, Serv ice and Suppo rt National H ead quart ers EasternOIfice 2201 Cherry Ave.; Lo ng Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498. Lo ng Beach , CA 90801-0498 4190 First AV~•• Tucker. GA. -'0084; mailing address P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-31 12 Cycle News (USPS 141-340 ) is published weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00 per year by Cycle News, Inc., 2201 Cherry Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. Second classpostage paid at Long Beach, CA, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Smdaddress changes toCycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Ile2cb, CA 90801·0498. To determ ine the expiration date of yo ur su bscription. check: th e fou r numbers o n the firSt line of your address label. The first two digits indicate the last .issue number you'll receive and the last two characters indicate the year of the last issue. Subscription rates: Rates for the United States and its possessions for one year, (50 issues), $50.00; two years (100 issues), $95.00; six months, (25 issues), $26.00 ; trial sub ( 15 issues), $19.00. Canada and Foreign, one year (50 issues), $90.00; two years (100 issues), $175.00 ; six months (25 issues), $45.00; trial sub (15 issues), $38.00. Cycle News welcomes unsolici ted editorial ma teria l incl ud ing stories. cartoons, photos, etc. Such material, if published, becomes the exclusiv property of Cycle News. Such ace cep ted ma terial is sub ject to revisio n as is necessary in the so le discretion of Cycl e News . . Unsolicited material which is not used will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. All unsolicited material will be handled with reasonable care, however, Cycle News assumes no responsibility for the safety, loss or damage to such material. Reprinting in whole or pan only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulation information will be ~nt upon request, See S.R.D.S. YSPA I want to th ank a ll th e Cycle N ews readers who donat ed to th e American Challenger T eam Fund. While unforeseen setbacks prevented u s from co m peting a t Daytona, th e contributions h ave been set as ide specifically for ra cing th e Challen ger as soon a s present diffi cult ies h a ve been overcome. I a lso want to state th at while Dav id Aldana was co ntra cted to ride th e Challenger a nd lent his name a nd statement to be u sed in th e ads, th e appeal for donations was strictly from m yself a nd MMI , an d not from David. Frankie Zit ks New Amsterdam, NY ~~~noN Copyright. Cycl. News, Inc. 1990. Tradmwl Cycle Newt rtgistmd U.s. Patent Offia. A rights .......ed. ll Dav e Ijams President, MMI R ichmond, CA Ijam s says th e "setbacks" included " hav in g th e shop I leased sold out from under m e, backup finan cing evaporate, and hu rting my finger in a mill." H e also said that at the pr esent tim e he has no timetab le fo r fielding the Challenger in eit her a test session or . race . . . Editor. Reggie bashing Individual clout I was surprised and disappointed to learn that Reggie J ackso n was to be th e gu est spea ker a t the American H eritage Foundati on fund -raising breakfast. I couldn 't understand why he had been chosen when there were sco res of p eople who have co n trib u ted to th e sport o f motorcycling and would appear much more deserving of this h onor. I have never co ns ide red Reggie J acks on a " tea m pla yer " a nd a fter reading a bo u t hi s acti ons a t Da ytona , it seems he hasn 't cha nged. The bottom line is, I beli eve it wa s insulting for th e AMA to feel it was necessa ry to go ou t of th e sport to ob ta in a " h ig h profile" personal it y to draw people to th eir fund-rai sing event. I on ly h ope th ey didn 't have to pay Jackson much because it ap pea rs th ey didn 't ge t m uch for their money. It 's only a suggestion, but having just written a length y letter to Assemblywo ma n' Gwen Moore on the subject of lane splitting, I wo ndered why you have n ot published a full or half-page letter setting o u t th e m ain points o f opposition to AB2560 to which your readers need add o n ly th eir name, address a nd signatu re a n d wh ich th ey co u ld then mail to Ms. Moore. I feel sure th at this would yield a far greater response th an a request to write a lengthy letter. (I shou ld add th at I ha ve rece n tly moved here from En gl and a n d this method of ca nvassi ng is o ften used th ere by yo ur co unterpart , Motor Cycle New s, to great effect.) Sarah Taylor, Ass istan t Accts R eceivable Coor dinator Ge neva Repass. Assistant Lisa Gill, Credit (2 13) 427-7433 ; 213/636-8844. FAX (213) 427-6685 American Challenger You probably won 't print this, but con trary to common be lief, th e on ly truly international (partici p an t) sport is the Ol ympics. In you r (Day to na preview , March 7 issue) , " T he foreign invasion ," I quote, " Sadly, whatever yo u r political feelings might be, th e sca rci ty of Sou th Afr icans in interna tional motorcycle sport is sad." I su bm it that apart h eid is a Bri tish. Am eri can export a t a higher stage o f development in Am er ica and yo u r n ewspaper as well as its (motorcycle racin g) participants reflect this co m position clearly. Motorcycle ra cing is a n international European sport for the most part, however you .define yourselves, ' carr ied out on Japanese a nd E uropean bikes. As a free lance photographer for the N .Y. Associated Pr ess and the New York T imes, we try to ac curate ly represe nt th e facts to the extent that our con stituen cy permits. You ow e yo u r subscribers tha t accuracy. Ci rcu lation Donna Bryan, 4 Letters to the editor Kay C. Mann Richmond, CA We'll again apolog ize 10 Mr. Jackson for fal sely reporting thai he failed to appear at th e open in g ceremonies on th e final day of Cycl e Week at Daytona I nter national Sp eedwa y. As w e repo rted last wee k, he w as at th e open ing ceremonies bUI th e bik e on w hich he w as to have taken a lap of hon or wasn 'I. The future baseball Hall of Fam e m ember w asn't pa id for h is appearance at Daytona , althou gh h is p lane fare and lodg ing were prov ided by the A M A .. . Ed itor. Shocked spectators The Daytona Pro Twins races wer e exce lle nt again this yea r. H owever , (the people in ) th e grandstands I sat in for th e P ro Twins G P2 race wer e a ll sh ocke d a t th e unprofes siona l co m me nts made by Craig Erion after finishing second. It so u n ded like hi s excu se in th e winner's circle was, " I wa s runnin g out of ga s, and some of us have to go to work on Monday morning." Give me a break. Was h e mad because the winner of the race rode better, or could it be possib le th a t he was out-spent? Bob Hanbury Upper Marlboro, MD Kevin Erion fin ished second in the Daytona Pro T w ins GP2 race, not his brot her Craig . . . Editor. . A. Barba Compton, CA In th is cou ntry, Mr. Barba, individual lett ers 10 po litician s have more impact than form letters. L etters do not have to be lengthy . Statin g your opposition to the' bill in q uestion, AB2560, and ' opposition or su ppo rt of any other bill can be don e in a brief letter. For exam p le: " Dear Ms. Moore: I am a m otorcyclist w ho rides regularly on California freeways and I am opposed to yo ur bill , AB2560. L ane sp litti ng, part icularly in near-gridlock or gridlock con di tio ns , helps the traffic flow and in m y ex perience is not a dangero us man eu ver. " Se n d le t te rs t o Assemblyw oman Gwen Moore, 3683 Cre ns h aw Blud. , 5 t h Fl o or , L os Angel es, CA 90008; or 2II 7 State Cap it ol , S ac ramen to, CA 95814 .. . Editor. Victory in Ohio I've been promoting fla t track races at Deerfield Speedway for several years now. Last August , Deerfi eld Township filed for a n injuncti on to close th e tra ck or " a t least" stop us from run ning motorcycles. It seems th at th ey didn't want that " element" in their town. Since I've lived in Deerfield a ll m y life and rode an d raced motorcycles almost as long , I co u ld n 't stand by a nd a llow the m (the zoning peop le) to get a way with that. . After several m o nt h s a nd a whole b unch of money a n d grief. we ' were victorious in co u rt on Ma rch 15. We wa nt every flat tracker we ca n fin d to come on out to a track with people who care! Roy Kays Deerfield, OH

• Cover