Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND By Pap_aW_ea1-L-e y Scott Summers (Hon) took first place in round nine of the AMA Gr and National Cross Country Series in Wat erford, Oh io , September 16. Summers fin ished ahead of series points leader Tim Shephard (Yam), J eff Russell (Yam), Gene Onail (Yam ) and Doug Blackwell (Kaw). Dutchman Racing's Dale Quarterley and Tom Kipp (Suz) won round nine of the AMA/CCS EBC Brakes Nationa l Endurance Series at Willow Spring In ternation al Rceway in Rosamond, Californ ia, September 15. Team Mad Dog (Yam) fin ished second wit h Bou lder Yamah a Racin g (Yam) thi rd. Team T oomer (Yam) topped the GT U class. T he fifth round of the AMA Nat ional Championship Hare & Hound Series held in Craig, Colorado , September 16, was won by Ted Hunnicutt (Kaw). Hunnicult was followed across the fini sh line by defending National Hare & Hound Champion Dan Smi th (KT M), Danny Hammell (KTIVI), Dan Richardson (H o n) and Brandon Gerber (KT M). The Human Race Team's St eve Rodden and An dy Fen wi ck (Yam) won round 12 of the WERA Kerkerl SBS National Endurance Series, an eight-hou r event held a t Blackhawk Farms in South Beloit, Illinois, Septemb er 15. Hall 'N Still Racing (Suz) finish ed second overall and first in the Heavyweight Prod uction class, with Team Dreaded (Yam) third overall and first in th e Lightweight class. T eam Suzuki stayed home in order to prepare for the September 22-23 24-Hour a t Willow Springs. Tallon Vohland (Kaw) won round eigh t of the Mickey Thompson OffRoad Championship Gran Prix Series held in Las Vegas, September 15. Lowell Thomson (Yam ) was second and Michael Craig (Kaw) was third. The Motorcycle Heritage Museum, which opened on Augus t 16 at 33 Collegeview Road in Westerville, Oh io, has a n nou n ced weekend hours through the end of October. Effective immediately and through October 28, the facility will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, on Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. The museum, whi ch has had more than 10,000 visitors since its grand opening a month ago , is also open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.rn. on weekdays. The California Desert Coalitio n Desert Conference will take place on Saturday, October 6, at southern California 's Ir vine Marri ott Hotel : The one-day conference will open with a panel di scussion on the pros and cons of th e p ending Ca liforn ia Desert Protection Act (S IIIH R780) and will also feature statewide and nationall y known speakers addressing the interaction of politics and wild ern ess. A buffet luncheon is included in th e $45 conference fee. For more informa tion, call Patrice Davison of the Californ ia Desert Coalition office a t 714/ 6846509. Doug Dubach (Ya m) and Eric Kehoe (Hon ) topped the 125 and 250cc classes , res pec tiv ely, at the Sep tember 9 Florenzia GP in Guatema la. Other American riders help ed wave th e red, wh ite and blue, with Billy Whitley (Suz) fini shing second a nd Mer cedes Gonzalez (Kaw ) 10th in the 125cc class , and Bo b Rathkamp (Yam) topping the Vet class. Ru mors were flying at th e Inte rn ational Six Days Enduro in Sweden that Australia, the scheduled host country of the 1992 ISDE, might not hold the event after all. It seems that some of the Eu ropean countries are relucta nt to have th eir teams travel halfway around th e contine n t to co m pete, cla iming tha t travel fare is too expensive. If the Australian Six Days is canceled, it is likely tha t Poland will h os t th e 1992 event , or that the subseq uen t loca tions (Holland in 1993 and T ulsa, Okl ah oma , in 1994) will be moved up a year. You might recall tha t the ISDE was scheduled to be held in Austra lia in 1988, bu t, at the last mom ent, was changed to France. The FIM is schedu led to mak e a fin al decision on the matt er in November. Czechoslovakian Bohumil " Bubba" Posledni, who competed successfully throughout the U.S. at many National Championship Enduros, Reliability Enduros and Hare Scrambles events in 1990, and who fin ished second in the 350cc Four-Stro ke class at the Swedish Six Days, reportedly signed a one-year con tract, worth approximately $35,000, with Husqvarna for the 1991 season. Posledni will stay in Eu rope next year, competing on the European Championship Enduro circu it on a Husqvarna 350cc four -stroke . Although the name Husqvarna is almost extinct in th e U.S., it is alive and well in Europe, as was evident at the Swedis h Six Days. Of the 406 riders who competed, the most rep resented manufacturer was KTM with 99 rid ers aboard th e Austr ian-built motorcycles, while Husqvarna was second with 68. Suzuki was third with 56. Making its first pub lic appearance, a t the Swedish Six Days, was th e 1991 Sw edish-built production 350cc Husaberg four -stroke. Rumor is that th e new 350 will arrive in th e U.S. in early December and carry a $4995 price tag. Husaberg current ly offers on ly one model in both th e Europe and U.S. markets, the Husaberg 601 four -stroke. Also, talk in the pits at the ISDE says _ that Yamaha will introduce an a llnew off-road model to its 1991 lineup. Rumors have it that it will be a full-fl edged 200cc two-stro ke enduro bike, com p lete with ligh ts and an odome ter, to compete head -to-head with Kawasaki's extremely popular KDX200. Dorsey Hendon, the father of form er Na tional Hare Scrambles Champion Tony Hendon, passed away in his hometown of Murray, Kent ucky, September 3. Cards and lett ers can be sent clo Dees Transport, Inc., P.O. Box 145, Puryear, T ennesse, 3825I. Road racer Scott Ru ssell 's mechani c Vic Fasola was coun ting the days until he could return home to Geor gia after the fina l rou nd of the AMA Na tional Championship at Will ow Springs Int ern ational Raceway. Fasola has spent the season either on the road or at Rob Muzzy's shop in Hesperia, California, and th e six-foot, seven-inch mechanic was itch ing to return h ome. Asked what he misses mos t about Georgia, Fasola said : "The trees. They call these Joshua trees out here trees, but they look more like telephon e poles." . AMA Vice President of Professional Competition Ron Zimmerman announced a tentative 1991 AMA Nati on al road race sched ul e at the fin al ro und of the 1990 series at Willow Sp rings on September 15. The tentative nine-race seri es is as follows: March 1-10 - Daytona Int ernational Speedway, Florida; May 17-19 - Road Atlanta, Georgia; June 14-16 - New Hampshire Intern ati onal Speedway, New Hampshire; June 28-30 - Road America, Wi sconsin ; Jul y 5- 7 Charlotte Motor Sp eedw ay , North Carolina; Mid -Jul y - Miami G P , Flo rid a; August 2-4 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ohio; September 6-8 - Heartland Park Topeka, Kansas; Septemb er 20-22 - Willow Springs Intern ati on al Raceway, California. . T he AMA Champion ship Cup - Series (AMA/CCS) is planning to produce a video that will present a Kocinsk 250cc title Down Under iwins A merican John Kocinski (righ t) won his firstever 250cc World Championship with a hardfought win in the final round of the series, held on Phillip Island in Austra lia, September 16. Kocinski, who went into the fina l round trailing Spaniard Carlos Cardus by five points, won his seventh race of the series. The Modesto, California, resident rode his Team Marlboro Roberts Yamaha to a I.897-second win over H B Honda's Helmut Bradl. Third place went to Ital y's Luca Cadalora with Australian Darryl Beattie and Dutchman Wileo Zeelenberg rounding out the top five. Cardus ' race ended two laps from the finish when his Repsol Honda's gear shift lever broke while he was holding down fifth p lace. Kocinski finished the season, with 223 points to Cardus ' 208. Cada lora finished third in the title chase with 184 points . " I can hardly believe it," Kocinski said. "I t's been a lon g season and those two crashes set us back, bu t I had the best team and the best mechanics behind me and they never gave up. Maybe the opposition thou gh t they had it in the bag after Czecho , but we give our best every weekend " A thrilling 500cc GP saw Austra lian Wayne Gardner defeat his Rothmans Honda teammate and fellow cou ntryman Michael Doohan by .836 of a second to claim his second-straight Austral ian GP win . Third pla ce went to newly crowned World Champion Wayne Raine y with his Marlboro Roberts Yamaha teamma te Eddie Lawson finish ing fourth and Lu cky Strike Suzuki 's Niall Mackenzie fifth. T exan Kevin Schwantz crashed his Lu cky Strike Suzuki while challenging for the lead in the late stages of the race, suffering a broken bone in h is left foot an d a badly bruised back. Lori s Capirossi won the l25cc World Cham p ionship with a win in Australia. The 17-year-old Itali an topped Bruno Casanova by .267 of a second with Doriano Romboni fini shing third. Cap irossi won the cham pionsh ip over Hans Spaan, fourth ' in Australia, by nine points, 182-173. RiCk JOh-. wearsOOe. 00. Blink YOU're a bIIIIer __lIIan h8iS? e e 0 O"l O"l '"""" ~ ~ c-r l-4 (l) ..0 s ..... (l) 0- (l) o: If you wantto ride likea champion, you'vegot to act like one. That means wearing a helmet, eye protection and protective clothing. . RiderslikeRickJohnson understand their machines. Reading your owner' manual can help you s understand your bike too. And the best riders never mix alcohol or drugs with riding. So use your head.When you ride, ride like a champ. HONDA Comeride with us. Cl w A meri~an Honda M oo otor Cc.. Inc. (3/00) ,MOTORCYCL E SAFETY FOUNDATION I

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