Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eBarstow-to-Vegas one step closer . ~ o 0') 0') 1""""4 ~ C<":l 1""""4 V C :s ~ T~~:~;~Aor~~~ ~~~~~~;~n~r~t~)i~~l :e~c:n~ra:;~~ '~~~i~~fi~~~:~~~t~~ put the a nnual Barstow-to-Vegas desert race ba ck on track. The June. I meeung, which took p lace at Federa l District Court in Los A~geles . was a direct re~ult of the recent decision by J udge J. Spencer Letts ordering the BLM to reconsider the permit application for this year 's B- l<~- V. ., ~ _ Durin g th e meeting. the Sports Co mmittee o f District 3 / presented a conce pt ~ a l course for th e 1990 runn ing of Bvto-V. Bu t unlike last year's event co u rse. which utilized a remote corner of th e Fort Irw in Milita ry Reserva tio n . th e AMA ha s proposed th at this year's Bvto-V ta~e p l~ce on a vari ation of the co urse o u tlined in th e 1982 amrnendrnent to the Ca lifornia Desert P lan. Even though District 3i isn't wa sting any time.getting th e pe~~i,t app.lication approved. th ere's sti ll a nu m ber of obstacles facmg th e even t. \~ e belt eve th e BLM ha s a responsibi lity to assist us in f,i nding ~he most appropriate co u rs~ for th e race." noted Robert Rasor. AMA vice p resid ent o f government relation s. " However BLM officials hav e ind ica ted tha t th ey'lI only" review th e co urse a lter na rives specified on th e application." Ra sor sa id th at co u ld be a possibl e a tte m p t o n the part of the BLM to impede th e necessary pl anning for th e even t . . by narrowin g o ptions availa ble to o rga n i zer~ . T he BLM will . however . o pen th e public rev iew process by announcin g the development of a d ra ft en viro n me n ta l assessm en t to determine wh eth er th e eve n t m il be co nd uc ted responsibly in en viro n me n ta lly sens itive ar eas . According to th e BLM . work o n the en viron me n ta l as sessme nt w ill begin on June 8, a nd is due to be co m p leted by June 16. Foll owing co m p letio n o f th at study. th e BLM will release its findin gs to th e pub lic. T h us. pub lic co m me n t will be acce p ted o n th e en viro n me nta l assess me n t for 30 da ys following its relea se. aft er which th e BLM will rul e on whe ther or not th e eve n t ca n tak e pl ace. During th at time. public meetings may be held to measure th e amount o f public su p port or o p pos ition to th e even t. The Ai\IA a nd Distr ict 3i will a lert members as th ose meetings are scheduled . In th e meantime. the AMA en co urages local rid ers to contact th e BLM a nd their co ngressmen to exp ress support for the co nt in ua tio n of th e Bar stow-to -Vega s even t. videotape copy. and th ey will be credited as the contributor in a ny future displays o f that ma terial at th e museum. " Dig out those o ld al bums a nd film cans and relay th e material to Da ve Despa in . 1180 Essex Road . Wat kinsvill e. GA 306ii. In ad ditio n to putting tog ether an archive of material for the American Mot or cycle Heritage Museum . Desp ain is producing new videos for the AMA Videos li ne a nd needs photos a nd film or tape of the following riders: Evere tt Brashear. Jim Davis. Corky Keener, Dick Klamloth , Ed Kretz J r.• Ed Kretz Sr., Dick Mann . Ban Mar kel , Floyd Ernde, Gary Nixon. Scott Parker. Roger Reima n . J ay Spri ngs teen and Sammy Tanner. For more information. ca ll Despa in at 4041i69-04i4 . Wo rd from Flammi ni Raci ng . prom oters of t he Wo rl d Superb i ke Champio ns hip. has Ita lia n ma n ufacturer Marvic set to relea se a new type o f composite wheel in early Au gu st. Developed in co nj u nction with T eenocompositi and d esig ned on a McDonnell- Douglas CAD /CAM computer , th e so-called " h ybride wheel " uti lizes a carbon /kev lar/aramidi c fiber-composite ch a n nel which is said to save 500 grams ( 1.1 lb.) of ex tern a l weight wit h a subsequent reductio n in gyroscopic effect. Cost is expected to be approximately $1500 U .S.. and the ' wh eels are sa id to be very strong . and qui te ca pable of lasting a n entire raci ng season . ·4 Cagiva's Randy Mamola will ski p a pl anned test sessio n to spen d th e tim e prior to th e Austrian Grand Prix with sports therap ist Wi lli e Dungl at hi s Gars. Au stria clinic. A floating bone ch i p wa s di scov ered in th e h and Mamo la injured at th e U.S. GP and it ca n on ly be cured with res t a nd th erapy. No surgery is p lanned. Dungl, who Mamo la has previ ousl y co n su lted. is credited as being responsibl e for the successfu l return to racing by F-I race ca r driver Niki Lauda followin g th e fiery acci de nt th at nearly en ded hi s caree r. Team L u c k y S t rik e S uzuki left the G erman G P at Nurburgrin g and headed north to Assen , the sit e of th e Du tch TT at the en d of June. The Circui t Van Dre n the has been wid ened and completely resu rfaced in th e hopes o f a ttracting car races. Suzuki. who has bee n cri ticized for no t doing more preseason testing, wi ll test th er e a nd later in th e season p lans to test a t Donington Pa rk in England. th e Hunga ror ing in Bud apest. and a few other GP venues. Kenny Roberts and W a yne Rainey have purchased a ho u se o n a golf co urse in th e town of Si ige s, Spa in. near Barcelo na. Ra iney wan ted a p lace to rest between G Ps a nd his friend. Sito Po ns; lives in Ba rcelo na . In an effo rt to improve th e lines o f co m m u n ica tion between th e FIM and manu fact urers o f ra cing motorcycl es in a ll categories. IR T A (International Road Racing Teams Association) is arrangi ng for the formation o f a Manufacturers T e c h n ic a l Commission. The prim e a i m of the commission will be to ass ist th e FIM in th e formu lation of future technical ru les a nd regu lations. "Us ing th e lines of co m m un ica tio n alreadv estab lished between IR T A a nd th e FiM . th e new commission will be abl e to foster improv ed understanding b etw een interested parties," IRT A ' s c h ief exec u tive officer Pa u l Butler said. "Everyone wants smooth a nd co nsistent techni ca l developm ent in all ca tegories o f ra cin g whi ch tak es accou nt of both safety a nd eco nomic fac tors. a nd th e commission wi ll be ai m ing to estab lis h a co nsensus regardin g short - a n d m ed iu m- ter m rul e cha nges. " All IRTA teams have been invi ted to ta ke part in th e first test session a t the Eastern Creek road race ci rcui t in Syd ney. Austra lia, th e site o f the 1991 Aus tra lia n Grand Pr i x . IRT A is negotiating a travel a nd freig ht package for a ll member teams to ena ble th em to co m pete in the test session on Wednesd ay. Sep tem ber 19. T he test session will be televised in Aus tra lia. K evin Schwantz's recen t win in th e German Grand Prix was the ninth . 500cc GP win of his caree r; th e T exan is now 12th on th e all -time win list. Wayne Rainey , m eanwhil e. h a s seven career 500cc GP wins a nd holds down 14th place o n th e a ll- time list. The other 1990 500cc GP winner . Wayne Gardner. ha s won 16 500cc GPs and is ninth on th e list. Among acti ve 500cc riders . Eddie Lawson ha s th e most wins with 30 which puts him third on th e list behind Gi acomo Agostini (68) and Mik e Hailwood (3i ). Gardner a nd Ra ndy 1\lamol a (13) are th e next most succ essfu l act ive rid ers a hea d o f Schwantz a nd Ra iney. J ohn K o cinski , wh o has won th ree 250cc G Ps th us far in 1990, is tied for 20th o n th e all -ti me 250cc G P win list wi th hi s five victo ries. T ha t list is h ead ed by West Ge rma n An ton Mang a nd hi s 33 wi ns . Beli eve it or not, a mo ng active 250cc riders. Kocinski and Itali an Luca Ca da lora are tops in victories with th eir five wins apiece. HIRED: Cha rles H alc o m b as off-roa d m ark et super visor in Am eri can Suz uki's adve rt isi ng de pa rt me nt ; H a lcomb was forme rly employed in America n Suzu ki's rac ing de part ment as t he o ff -roa d raci n g se r vices superviso r. Du e to popul ar demand, all future rou nds of the WERA Formula U S A Series will have a t least one heat race to determine grid positions for th e fin al. J e rry Randall of Vall ey Mot or spo rts, Inc. will be supporting road racer Dal e Qua rrerl e y at the upcoming AMA N a tional Cha m p io ns h i p Superbike Ser ies round a t N ew H amp shire In tern ational Speedw ay. Randall is th e ow ne r of th e N orth am p to n , Ma s sa chu sett s, H on da /Kaw a sa k i d eal e rship. a n d h a s lo ng b een a motorcycle racing ent h us ias t; Randall ca n a lso be found in hi s Formu la Ford co n testing SCCA-sanct ioned even ts. T he A MA/ CCS U.S. Twin Sports ro ad race for H a rley- Da vidso n 883 Sports tel'S to be held in co nj u nc tio n wi th th e Am eri can ro u nd o f th e World Superbi ke Championshi p sched u led for Brainerd. Minnesota. June 9- 10. w ill be spo nso red b y th e Cent ral Roadracing Association (C RA). The eveiu was o rig ina lly su p pose d to be spo nsore d b y th e North Countr y H arl ey-Davidson Deal ers gro u p. bu t the necessary number o f deal ers co u ld not be rea ch ed. T he CRA th en agreed to mat ch th e 883 being posted by the AMA /CCS in exc h ange for p romotion for th e dea lers group a nd th e CRA. RELOCATED: Arn o ld van R u itenbeek , sen io r vice presid ent o r Continen ta l Tire-N orth Am eri ca, is relocatin g th e co m pany 's two-wheel division o ffice to Fountai n Hi lls. Arizona. R u iten beek has been with Conti nental for 40 years. The move will be co m pl eted in th e very near future after van Ru iten beek completes a len gth y trip to Europe wh er e he'll ta ke care o f business and a lso take some vacation. Along with th e an nou nce me n t of th e move co mes word that Janet DeCandia was recent ly prom oted to ad m in istrative manager of th e tw o-wheel division and she' ll stay in Co nti ne ntal's L yndhurst . New J ersey. o ffice . Fin all y. G reg Tysor, wh o go t married o n June 2. will rem ain in Continental' s Atla n ta off ice. BORN: Alexander Kir k T u ttle, so n o f Rider magazin e ed ito r Mark T utt le Jr. a nd wife S usa n ne . in T housa nd Oaks. Ca liforn ia. Ma y 15. HIRED: Bill Stermer as editorial director of R ider magazin e; Stermer wa s formerly ed ito r o f Mo to rcycle Industr y; Stenner replaces Dan Hunt, who is now vice president of marketing for Rider's parent company. Trailer Life Enterprises. B O R N : Ar iel Elizabeth Mitchell . daughter o f Cycle N ew s advert ising sa les mana ger Mark Mit ch ell and hi s wife Sandra . in Atlanta. Georgia . May 30. MOVED: H ot Spo rts. to 2 151 Sampso n Ave.. Corona . CA 9 1 800/ 468359 2 (in Ca l ifo rnia 8001244 -1149), FAX iI 4I2i9-2885. no. CO R RECT ION: R ick Kirk . th e lat est add itio n to \VERA en d u ra nce racin g team T he Human Ra ce T eam . hails from Ok lahoma . no t Texas as we reported in ou r last issu e. HIRED: Fred Vertu cci. as R&D tech ni cian at Bo yesen En gineering. Vertucci is a form er mo tocross a n d factory snowm obile race r. RESIGNED: Jimmie O 'D ell from hi s position as gra p h ic arti st a t Cycle News; O 'D el l has acce p ted a ll edi toria l position at :\Ic:\[ullen Publ ish ing. C1' Brockton bike ban case argued in cour t T he ongoing d ispute o ver motorcycle access to city parkways in Brockton. Massa chusett s. came to a head on May 15 as a tto rneys fo r the AMA present ed ora l argu men ts in th e Massa chusetts Appeals Court to remo ve a three-yearo ld ban on motorcycles. The ban wa s first imposed in 198i when Brockton's park co m m issio n voted unanimously to elim ina te a ll mo torcycl e traffi c on D.W. Field parkways because of a lleged hazards to ped estrian traffi c a nd reponed co m p la int s about speedi ng and other "two-wheeled a n tics" of some motorcycl ists. \ Shortly after the ba n was enacted. the AMA so ught an inj u nction in P lymou th Superior Court to overturn the or di na nce. but the case was denied at th e local level. That action p ro m pted th e AMA to ' co nti n ue the suit by filing the current appeal . which is pendi ng in the Massachusett s Ap peal s Co u rt. Robert Rasor. AMA vice p resident of gove rn me nt rela tion s, su mmed up the presentat io n of oral arguments: " At this stage; it's impossib le to say that mo torcyclis ts have wo n a fina l victory in getti ng the ban lifted. but the th ree-j udge panel seemed to und ersta nd o ur arguments. O ur attorneys did a fine job o f representing motorcyclists in Massachusetts by argui ng that the ba n u nfairly discrimi na tes against motorcyclists by sti ll allow ing a u to mo biles access to the parks. " ~ AMA attorney Don Harwoo d said the city ordina nce co n flicts with sta te statutes which define motorcycles as motor vehicles. th ereby ensuring them access to highways. A final decision on the appea l should be reached by mid-September.

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