Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1990 05 16

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127260

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 63

~ INTHEWIND By Papa Wealey ~ Californian Fred Merkel (Hon) took over the World Championship Superbik e Series point lead with hi s 1-3 finishes in H ockenheim , West Ger many, May 6. Merkel beat Rob McEInea (Ya m) and Gi ancarlo Falappa (Duc) in the firs t leg, and finished th ird behind Stephane Mertens (Ho n) and Raymond Roche (Duc) in th e seco nd leg. Merkel now leads Roche, 132-128, in th e cha mpionshi p. o ~ ~ ~ to ~ Defending Nat ional Hare Scrambles Champion Scott Plessinger (KT M) nipped jeff Russell (Ya m) for th e o vera ll win in round five of th e National Championship Hare Scrambl es Series at Hookstown, Pennsylvania, May 6. Rounding out th e top five were Scott Summers (H o n), four-time National Enduro Champion T erry Cunningham ( Kaw): and Mark Hyde (KT M). Dutchman Racing II's Donnie Greene and Donald Jacks (SUI) won ro u nd two o f th e AMA/CCS EBC Brak es Endurance Challenge Series a t Braselton , Georg ia 's Ro ad Atlanta , Ma y 5. Dutchm an Ra cing ' s Dal e Quarterley a nd T om Kipp (SUI) fin ish ed second in th e three-hour race with Keystone Racin g 's Kevin Ren tzell a nd j a y Denham (SUI) th ird . Super ' B' Racing 's Scott Zam pach a nd Rick Breuer (Yam) wo n th e GT U d ivision . Dutchman Racing's Dale Quarteriey a nd Tom Kipp (SUI) won th e Ma y 6 Monsterbike Shoot-O u t a t Road Atla nta, a five-lap sp ri nt race for th e six fast est end u ra nce teams whi ch in cl udes a mandat ory rid er cha nge. Defending 500cc MX World Cham p ion David Thorpe (Kaw) swep t both motos in round three of th e World Ch ampionship 500cc MX Seri es in S i tte n d o r f, Au stria, May 6. Eri c Geboers (Hon ) finished second overall with 2-4 moto fini sh es and jack y Martens (KTM) rounded out the top three with a 7-2 score. American BiUy Liles (Ka w), top points scorer in the first two rounds, was sixth overall after 4-6 finishes and leads Geboers in the point sta nd ings, 96-78. Pedro Tragter (SUI ) was th e overall winner in round two of the World Championship 125cc MX Series held in Halle, Holland, May 6. Americans T yson Vohland (SUI ), Donny Schmit (S UI) and Bob Moore (KT M) filled th e next three positions, a nd Mik e H eal ey (KT M) finished sixth overall following hi s win in th e seco nd moto. H eal ey failed to score any points in th e first moto. Schmit leads Tragter in th e point sta nd ings, 65-59, Heal ey is th ird with 42 points, Vohland is a point beh ind and Moore lies fifth with 38 po ints. Jeremy McGrath (Ka w) was the 250cc Ultracross winner in round six of th e Mickey Thompson Off-Road Ch ampionship Gran Prix Series a t th e Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California , Ma y 6. T ommy Clowers (Kaw) was th e runner-up and Ra y Crumb (Kaw) fin ished third. The Pa sadena M.e. will bring back a nam e from th e past - Greenhorn when it hosts th e Greenhorn DualSport Tour, May 19-20. The two-day rid e sta rts in Pa sad en a, California, a nd tak es parti cipants to Greenhorn Mountain near Kernvill e. Entries, whi ch are lim ited to 300, ar e available for both day s or individual days . The Greenhorn Dual-Sport Tour isa round of th e AMA National Trail Rid e Seri es and th e Yamaha Dual-Sport Series. For more in fo rma tion , ca ll 213/681-5317 or 8 181797-219 1. Ame rica n Rick Ryan mi ssed th e fir st round o f th e World Ch ampionsh ip I 25cc MX Seri es in Montevarchi.Ttaly, o n Ap ri l 22 wh en he was refu sed a n entry. T he entry was tu rn e down by d th e clerk of th e co u rse wh en Ryan di d n' t ar rive a t th e track until 12:30 p.m . for Sa turday'S p racti ce. Ryan said th at he was held up in custom s. EBC Brakes, form er sponsor of th e WERA National Endurance Ser ies, will now offer co nti ngenc ies in th e WERA Formula USA Series to th e five highest placing rid ers at each race wh o meet EBC 's requirem ents, provided th ey finish in th e top 10; a $2500 Championship bonus is also up for grabs. A major issue affe ct ing vocational motorcycle repair courses in th e automotive program a t Lo s Angeles Trade-Tech will be di scussed at a public meetingat 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, at East L.A. College, 1301 Brooklyn Ave. in Monterey Park. According to L.A . Community College board member Pat Owens, it is critical that th e automotive program receive public support at th e meeting. "Most of my colleagues on the board think all students should go on to Stanford or U.e.L.A. in academic programs. They don't see the need for true vocational training, even though the drop-out rate in Los Angeles schoo ls is increasing. , Everyone isn 't cut out to be a n academic; other countries, most notably japan, recognize this and Gardner/Kocinskiw inSnanishGPs R 2 o th ma ns H onda's Wayne G ardner won hi s first 500cc Grand Prix of th e 1990 seaso n a t th e Circu it de jerez in Sp ain on May 6. Gardner (at right) beat T eam Marlboro Roberts Yam aha's World Ch ampion ship lead er Wa yne Rainey by seven seconds with T eam Lucky Strike Suzu ki's Kevin Schwantz fini shing third. G ardner now trails Ra in ey, 57-37, in th e points chase. Gardner's teammat e and fell ow Au strali an Mick . Dooh an finish ed fourth with It ali an Pi erFrancesco Chili (H o n ) rounding out th e top five. Four-time World Champion Eddi e Lawson did not co m pe te du e to a still mending broken right heel sus ta ine d in hi s U.S. GP practi ce crash ; a nd Randy Mam ol a al so sa t o ut th e GP du e to extreme pain in his injured left wri st. In th e 250cc GP, Team Marlboro Rob erts Yam aha's john Kocinski won hi s second success ive GP as he passed Marlboro Agostini's Luca Cad al ora o n th e fin al corner o f th e last lap. Fast qualifier H elmut Bradl (Hon) finish ed th ird . Cadalora lead s Kocin ski , 54-42, in th e cham pions hi p point sta nd ings after three ro u nds. See next week 's issue for co m p lete coverage. MMI dedicates newtraining facility-_ M ot orcycle Mech anics Institute held a dedication ceremony for its new 58,OOO-square foot training facil ity in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday, April 30. MMI has instructed motorcycle mechanics at its existing Phoenix and Orlando, Florida, locations for th e past 14 years , and since 1982 has provided dealer technician update and entry-l evel training especia lly for Harl ey-Davidson mechani cs. Thus over 12,000 square feet of the new facility is MMI President John C. White, left, and dedicated to Harley training. Harley-Davidson CEO Rich Teerlink Speaking at the ce re m o n y, Harley-Davidson Motor Company Chief Executive Officer Rich T eerlink cited quality service as th e primary reason for Harley's number one ranking in the 1987-88 cu stomer sa tisfactio n index. Other Harley-Davidson personnel attending the dedication included Willie G. Davidson, vice-president of styling, and john Stark, manager of motorcycle servic e. In addition to it s training for Harley-Davidson mechanics, MMI is formall y endorsed and su p p lied with equipment by all four of th e maj or japanese motorcycle manufacturers. MMI is a n accredited member of th e National Assoc iat ion of Trad e a nd T echni cal Sch ool s (NATTS). th at 's one o f th e maj or rea sons for th eir success in industry." T o ge t o n th e age nda, ca ll 213/891 -2044. For more information, ca ll O wen s a t 21312251687. A Fren ch hillclimb p romot er is tryi ng to locate Gary Peterson, a Wid owmaker Hillclimb vet eran a nd past winner of th e event. If Ga ry is out there, or if an yon e kn o ws o f h is wherea bo u ts, th e AMA Pro Ra cing Department would like to put him in tou ch with th e promot er in France. Call the AMA's Bill Amick, Angie Myers or Connie Fleming at 614/8912425. The Central Coast Motorcycle Association of San Luis Obispo, California, will host a riding school at Laguna Seca Raceway on Thursday, June 7. Novice and expe rienced riders will get approximately three hours of track time, plus classroom time between track sessions. Pre-entry is required and total e n ro ll m en t is limited to 40 riders; the fee is $125. For more information, call 805/543-6723 da ys, or 8051772-8301 evenings. A new road race team by the name of American Eagle Racing made its debut at this past weekend 's Road Atlanta National. Led by three-t ime Grand National Champion jay Springsteen with teammates Donald jacks and Fritz Kling, th e team is owned by jeff Wilson of Owensboro, Kentucky, who will serve as crew chief. ' T ea m manager is Bob Lawson and promotional duties are being handled by j ennifer Winn . Springsteen finished eighth in th e Daytona 200, with j acks logging a fourth. To see how th e team did at Road Atlanta, check ? u t our coverage of th e event in th is issu e. At a Su pe rbikers-type event held o n an a u to test co u rse on April 28-29 in Mont Lehry, Fran ce , Am eri can Broc Glover (Hon) wa s th e runner-up behind two-time ISDE o vera ll winner Fr en chman St eph an Peter hansel (Ya m ) in th e main event. Guill es Salvador ( KT M) finish ed third . Following th e m ain , a Fr en chAmerican team ch allenge was held and Glover turn ed t he ta b les o n P et er h an sel. Oth er Am er ican s co mpe ting in th e event , where th e rid ers approached 130 mph o n th eir mod ified mot ocro ss machines, were Danny LaPorte, Brad Lackey. Rick Ryan , Mik e Beier a nd T om Carson. Ca na d ian Steve Aseltine, a Camel P ro Series regula r, a lso co mpeted. Former Na tio na l MX a nd Supercross Ch am p ion Bob "Hurricane" Hannah wi ll be sign ing a u togra p hs du r in g Down ers Gro ve Yamah a / Suzuki ' s Spri n g Open H ou se i n Downers G rove, Illino is, o n Saturday, Ma y 19. H annah is sch edu led to ap pea r from noon to 3:00 p.m. For more informat ion , ca ll 708/971 -2602. According to th e AMA, a n article in the May 2 Portland Oregonian newspaper, which was subsequently picked up on th e UPI national wire, incorrectly reported that a September 23 race on the mile oval at P ortland Mea d ows, promoted by Ascot's Chris Agajanian, would be a round of the Camel Pro Series. The AMA says it is "negotiating to sanction an event on that date." The late J.C. Agajanian will be inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame this month. The su ccessful race promoter, car owner and entrep reneu r was one of the Indy 5OO's most flamboyant and popular personalities. " Agg ie" .a lso promoted dozens o f AMA Grand National Championship events a t vario us locations o ver th e years, and pl ayed a major rol e in th e growth of motorcycle dirt tra ck ra cing on th e West Coast, mainly through events at Ascot in Gardena, California. If you a tte nded th e Toronto Supercross more than o nce in th e nin e years preced in g last yea r's doubleheader, yo u go t wet. Although it rained on the,' event in eig h t of its fir st nine runnings, th at won't happen th is yea r. As it did last year, th e May 25 Mols on Export Supercross will tak e place in Toronto' s SkyDome which ha s a retractable roof. If you've go t a fat wallet and want to impress yo ur friends, ca ll 800/ 828-7447 a nd book yourself a stad i u m -view room in th e Sky Dome Hotel and yo u can pull up a cha ir and wat ch the race right from yo ur room! Dunlop was sche d u led to hold a tire test sessio n a t Road Atlanta on May 7, th e day foll owing th e AMA Nati on al meet. Amo ng those sch eduled to a ttend were th e Vance & Hines Yamaha team of Dave Sad ow ski and Thomas S tevens , a lo ng with the Muzzy

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's - Cycle News 1990 05 16