Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BmTHEMND~ __ w_~~q~~~~~~~~~~~~_ a ~ T exa n Kevin Schwantz (Suz) edged Ca lifo rnian Wayne Rainey (Yam) by less tha n seven -tent h s of a second to win the Dutch TT at Assen , H oll and, J un e 30, in fron t of a cro wd of 131 ,000 road race fans. Defending cha mp Eddie Lawson (Yam), who was making his return 10 GP road racing after suffering in juries a t th e U.S. GP in April , fin ished , thi rd , n earl y "'2 4 seco nds ......... ......... behind Ra in ey. Ca liforn ian Randy Mam ola (Cag) fin ished 18th , fo ur laps ;;.-. behind th e winner. Rainey remains o n top of the point sta ndings, lead in g ~ Schw an tz 148 to 124. ""3 John Kocinski (Yam) won th e 2S'Occ race at the Dutch TT, edg ing Sp aniard Carlos Cardus (Hon) by 0.976 seconds. The win increased the Ameri can 's lead in the point standin gs over Cardus 10 22 points, 129 to 107. Cal ifornian Bob Moore (KTM ) won the seco nd moto a fter finishing second in th e first moto to scor e the overa ll win at round seven of th e World Ch ampionship 12Scc MX Series held June 30 in Killinch y, Ireland. Points leader Donny Schmit (Suz) was second with I-S finishes and Irishman Alan Morr ison (Hon ) third with a 43 score. Schmit lead s fell ow American Moore in the point standings, 20S-186. Italian Andrea Bartolini (Ho n) moved to third with 133 points af ter 6-10 fini shes, while American Mike Healey (KT M) dropped to fourth in the point standi ngs when he failed to score any points. Trampas Parker (KT M) was the o vera ll winner at round nine of the World Championship 2S0cc MX Seri es in Rothenthurrn, Switzerland, July I. The l2Scc World Champion from Lo uisia na posted 3-1 moto fini shes. H olland's John Van den Berk (Suz) was second overall with a 2-8 score, while En gland's J am es Dobb (H o n ) too k third overall with a I-II perfor mance. Italian Alessandro Puzar (Suz), who fini shed fifth in moto one then pulled out of the second rnoto when officia ls wouldn 't recall an irregular start, leads Van den Berk by 100 points in the standings, 284-184. Finn Pekka Vehkonen (Yam ) is th ird with 172 points. Belgian Stephane Mertens (H on ) came aw ay from the julyI Austrian ro und of the World Championship Superbike Seri es as the top points scorer via his 2-1 fini she s. The first race win went to Fab rizio Pirovano (Yam) with Mert ens second and Rob Phillis (Kaw ) th ird. Championship leader Raymond Roche (Duc ) finished second to Mertens in the second leg with Piro van o third. Californ ian Fr ed Merkel Hon ) ended the day with 7-4 fin ishes. Roche lead s the series point standi ngs over Mert en s, 223-198. Merkel is third wit h 186 points. Factory Du cati road racer Giancarlo Falappa broke both his left and righ t femurs, sha ttered hi s left sho ulder and rebroke his left wrist in a qualifyin g cras h at the World Superbike ro und in Austria. Falappa is likel y 10 mi ss the remainder of the season , but his spo t on the Ducati team will most likely not be filled, acco rding to team manager Marco Lucchinelli. " If I give it to anyone, I give it to Lucchinell i," the former World Champion said. "T he only o ther rider is maybe Jamie James, but I'm not su re because (Ray mo nd) Roch e do esn 't need help. Also I have respec t for Falappa - he has a big heart and is a fantastic guy - I do n 't want to gi ve away his bik es." Ron Naylor (ATK) was the o verall winner in round seven of the AMA National Ch ampionship Hare Scrambles Seri es at Sun Valley, Idah o, June 30. Naylor finished IS minutes ah ead of runner-up J oe Zierrnan (AT K). Rounding o ut th e top five were Larry Roeseler (Kaw), Dave Porter (Suz) and Scott Summers (H on). Dutchman Racing's Dale Quarterley and Tom Kipp (Suz) won ro und five of th e AMA/CCS EBC Brakes Enduran ce Challenge Seri es at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, June 30. The Human Race T eam 's And y Fenwick, Rick Kirk and Phil Kress (Yam) finished second with T eam Magic 's Jan Erik Svensson and Craig Shambaugh (Yam) third. ' J o h n n y O'Mara (Kaw) turned out to be the big winner without winning an Expert cla ss final at th e 23rd Annual Mammoth Mountain Motocross held June 28-July I in Mammoth Lakes, California. O 'Mara won the $SO O O Expert class shootout for being the mo st co nsisten t rider in the 125, 2S0 and Open classes with ,2-3-3 fini shes. T allon Vohland (Kaw) won the 12Scc Expert class, Jeff Mat iasevich (Kaw) took the 2S0cc divi sion and Doug Dubach (Yam ) was the Open class winner. In other Expert class racing, Damon Huffman (Kaw) won the Mini Expert division, Mercedes Gonzalez (Kaw) topped the Wom en 's Expert class and Ron Turner (Hon) was the Vet Expert class winner. Nearl y 1400 ent rant s co mpe ted in the event held in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Honda's new/old 750 Four revealed A 2 merican Honda has released ph otos of the " new" 7S0 Four ,. that they revealed in mock-up " form to the press earlier th is year, an d wh ich we reported on in our April 18 issue. T he 1991 model , whi ch bears a stro ng resemblance to the early '80s 650 Nighthawk, is aimed at the mature rider who is considering a return to mo torcycling, and H onda is hoping to lure those riders back to motorcycling , with a target price below $4000. I T he bike is powered by a 7S0cc air-cooled, DOHC, in-line fou r-cylinder eng ine. complete with fou r valves per cylinder and maintenan ce-free hydraulic valve adjusters. T he engi ne is hou sed in a traditiona l double-cradl e tubular steel fram e, with sing le disc- front and drum rear brakes, du al shocks and cha in dri ve. The yet-to-be-named mach ine will be officially unveiled at Honda' s new mod el sho w in Columbus, O hio, Septemb er 2S-28, and sho uld be available at dealers in late fall; it will be sold o nly in the U.S. and Canada. Sou thern Californian Gary Hicks suffered a brok en leg in a semi-fina l ro und of the Under-2 1 World Sp eedway Cha mpio nships in Norway o n Jul y I. Yamaha has informed dealers tha t its a ma te u r co m pe tit io n co n ti nge nc y progr am will be in creased by a whopp in g $ 1 m illi on in 1991 , to a to tal of $1. 7 m illion. The June 27 deal er mail ing a lso informs th e deal ers that the 1991 YZ2S0BI will carry a sugges ted ire ta i l pri ce of $3999, th e YZI2SBI $3499, and the YZSOBI $1699, The suggested reta il price of the 1991 WR 2S0ZB is $4199. -The list of 1991 model s does not incl ude a YZ490. Ame rican roa d racer Doug Polen , (Suz) fini shed fourth in the Suzuka 200, whi ch was held at th e Suzuki Circuit in Suzuka, J apan, June 10. Australian Daryl Beattie (Hon ) won with J apanese riders Keni chiro Iwah ashi (Ho n) seco nd and Sh oji Miyazak i (Hon) th ird. Polen 's Yosh imura Suzuki tea m ma te, Can adian Mi gu el DuHam el, fini shed seventh after q ua lifying on the front ro w. Cycle World magazin e associate editor a nd en d ura nc e ro ad ra cer Doug Toland recent ly broke hi s femur in a stree t/o ff-roa d ridin g accide n t, Toland acci dentally wh eelied a Suzuki DR6 50 off a cliff during a ph oto shoo t. AXO/Pro Circu it- sponsored Erik Kehoe suffered a broken sho ulder in a main event get-off at th e June 23 Los An geles Supercro ss. Earlier in th e evening, th e H onda rider had been voted th e recipient of the $1000 Coors Extra Effort Award after winning a heat race, Cards and letters can be sent 10 IISIS Sophia Ave., Gren ada Hills, CA 91344. WRN Radio personalit y and motorcycle en th usias t Bob Collins will lead the July IS Ride For Kids to ra ise m on ey for brain tum or re search. Organized by the Chicag o-based Association for Brain Tumor Research, the ride will start at 9:30 a.m. at Oakbrook Center Mall in Oak Brook, Illinoi s, and end at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove. Interested motor cycli sts can ca ll 312/404-1219 for more infor mation and a registration kit . Contribute $10 and one new toy and you can take part in the July IS Run for C.H.A.S. & R.M.H. that will start at the Crossroads Sh opping Center in Carmel, California, and end approximat ely 7S miles later at the Corbin factory in Castroville. Sign-in will take place at Carmel from 8:00 a.m . to 10:00 a.m. Pr esented by Mike Corbin, the ride will benefit the Ronald McDonald H ouse a nd Children 's Hospital at Stanford. For more informat ion, ca ll 408/ 633-2SOO. Out-of-state riders who are planning on allendin/? the Block & Tackle AMA National Championship Enduro in Gunnison, Col orado, July 22, should co n tact the promotin g club befor e head ing out o n the highways. According to th e Block & T ackle M.C.' s Morril Griffith, unseasonably dr y conditions in the area could force a last-minute cance la tion of the event . Call 303/ 641-0883 during the day and 641-6339 at night. Defending National Hare Scrambles Champion Scott Plessinger su ffered a broken coll arbone, a separated sho ulder, lacerations and a crac ked bon e in his ankle a t th e Sun Vall ey GP National Hare Scra m bles in Idaho, June 30. Plessinger hit a hidden rock near the start and cartwheeled. "All I remember is hitting something and that was it, " said Plessinger in a phone con versation o n Monday, July 2. "I won't be able to ride th e last two rounds. I'm go ing to take it easy and let everyth ing heal. " The KTM rider was flown back to hi s Hamilton. Ohio, home July I. Former 125 and SO Occ MX National Ch ampion Broc Glover wa s present at the Su n Valley GP. On Saturda y, just before the start of th e National , Hare Scra mbles race, Glover com peted .in the Su n Valley Mountain Bike Ra ce and scored th e overa ll win. Steve Stackable, the 1975 AMA SO Occ Supercross Champion, from Au stin, T exas; was serio usly injured in an automobile accident, late Saturda y night, June 30. According to an Austin newspaper , Stac kable was a pa ssenger in a friend 's van when a n onco mi ng car veered into their path and th e two vehicles coll ided head on. Both driv ers were kill ed in the collisio n, while Stackahle was adm itted to th e intensiv e care unit at Midland Hospital, in Midland, T exas, with a1. poss ible broken back and neck. Stackable was listed in cri tical but stable conditio n on Monday, July 2. Sta ck- I able and hi s friend were heading out r of state for a hang gliding co m pe titio n wh en th e accident occurred. Cards and letters can be sent to Stackable at Midl and Memorial Hospital ,Intensive Care Un it, 2200 W. Illinois, Midland, TX 79701. World Ch ampionship 2S0cc MX Series points leader Alessandro Puzar has been riding with a knee injury he su ffered wh il e pract icing near hi s hom e in Italy in early June. The Italian, who has dom inated the serie s a nd will likel y wrap up the championship at the July IS 250cc U.S. MX GP at Unadilla, will need a minor opera tio n to repair the cart ilage, and tha t operation is planned for early August so that he will be back in action for th e August 26 fin ale in BieIstein , Germany. Former T eam Suzuki rnotocrosser Willie Surratt has been riding a Yamaha in Italy this year for Portelli Motors. "I have been winning a lot of races and I am running high in the Italian championships," the 21-yearold Californ ian said. " I decided from ' the start that I would use th is year to get used to the Eu ropean scen e so I will be ready 10 race the G Ps next year. I have been to the Belgian and Swiss 2S0cc GPs, but I was not ready." Surra tt DNF the first rnoto at the July • I Swi ss GP and finished 26th in moto two, three laps behind winner Trampas Parker. . Troubled with grip problems in hi s left hand since a cras h in the Czech 2S0cc MX GP that left h im unconscio us, Dut chman Davey Strijbos ha s since found ou t that he ha s a cracked bon e in th e hand. America n Shaun Kalos returned to hi s Lit chfield Park , Arizona, home aft er he suffered an elbow injury at the June 24 Belgi an 2S0cc MX GP. Kalos, who was sidelined earlier in the season du e to kn ee and shoulder problems. is du e back in Europe for the final 2S.0cc GP in Germany and the autumn races such as the Masters of Motocross. During a press con ference at the July I 2S0cc MX GP in Rothenthurm,

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