Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey ~ variety of subjects to new racers and sponsors alike. The videos will cover: Basic rules of competition; how to set up a motorcycle for racing; an introduction to riding technique; testimonial from no vices relating the enjoyment of racing; and a step-by -step procedure on getting ready for that first day at the race track . . The A MA/ CCS has also announced plans for a Rookie of the Ye a r program for the 1991 AMA /CCS Super sport Series. The award is designed to add recognition to Expert level road racers competing in th e series. There will be a cash award for th e top -three finishers in the Rookie of th e Year program, paid directl y by AMA/CCS and / or a seri es ti tle sponsor. As a result of Camel Pro Ser ies racers passing th eir helmet s th rough th e grandstands at the San j ose Mile and an auc tio n th at was co nd uct ed foll owin g the race, approximately $ 12,000 was raised for the S t e v e Eklund R e li e f Fund. Former Grand National Ch am pi on Eklund is now in a nursing home in Saratoga, California, still in a comatose state as a result of head injuries suffered in the june 17 Albuquerque Mile. Du e to its proximity to the upcom ing 1991 Suzu ki dea ler meeting in Florida, the Suzuki DR/S demo rides that were to be avai lable at the September 23 Cycle News Dual Sport jamboree, near Big Bear, California, have been . canceled. However, DRS models will -be on display at the jamboree, and ' Suzuki representatives will be on hand to answer technical questions. . According to tuner Mike Velasco , three-time World Champion Freddie Spencer will co m pe te in the AMA/ CCS Race of Champions at Daytona In ternational Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, in October. Spencer will use th e race for track tim e in preparation for plans to contest the entire 1991 AMA National Championship Superbike Road Race Seri es. Earl Law, 32, of Chepach et, Rhode Island, su ffered fatal injuries in a street bike accident Friday, September 14. Law was a former Ossa factory rider and an ISDE silver medali st in th e '70s. Funeral services were held in Smithfi eld, Rhode Island, on Monday , September 17. Condolences can be sent to Law's famil y: Hoot Owl Farm, Snake Hill Rd ., Ch ep ach et, RI 02814. The 250cc GP win in Australia scored by John Kocinski was his seven th of the seaso n, and ninth overall. H is nine career wins puts him 12th on the alltim e 250cc GP , win list. T he all-time lead er is West German Ant on Mang with 33. S ito Pons , with 15 win s, has the highest total of 250cc wins amo ng active riders, although the Sp an iard is now co mpe ting in the 500cc class. T he 500 cc GP. win by W ayn e Gardne r in Australia was hi s 17th career 500cc GP victory. That puts Gardner ninth on the all-ti me win list, two behind the eighth -p laced Bar ry Sheene. Eddi e Lawson lead s all acti ve riders with 30 GP win s. Kev in Schwantz is tied with Randy Mamola at 13 and Wayne Rainey has II. The 1990 season was the first sin ce his rookie year in 1983 that Lawson failed to win a GP. The United States is now second in 500cc G P wins with 112, passing Ita ly (104) during the 1990 season. Great Bri tain leads the way with 135 GP wins in the 500cc class . Seven riders from th e U.S. have won 500cc GPs L awson , Kenny R o ber ts, F reddie Spen cer, R and y Mamol a , Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Pat Hennen . V.S. team scores 10th MX des Nations win J eff Stanton, j eff Ward and Damon Bradshaw sealed the U.S. team 's 10th consecutive MX des Nations title in Vimmerby, Sweden, Sept ember 16. The U.S. team edged out Belgium by one point, 9-10, to take the win , whil e Sweden fin ished third with 12 po ints. . M oto winners included England's jacky Mart ens and Leisk (500cc moto one and two), Stanton (righ t) and Italian Alessandro Puzar (25Occ rnoto one and two), and Belgian Stefan Everts and Engl an d 's Rob Herring (125ce moto one and two). Damon Bradshaw crashed wh ile running back in the pack in the second 125/250c c rnot o, and was taken to the ho spital and held overn ight with possible broken ribs and a bruised kidney. V.S. u.s. speedway team wins World Team Cup he speedway team of Kelly Moran, his brother Shawn Moran , Sam Ermolenko and Billy Hamill won the World Team Cup in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia , September 15. Kell y Moran ·(rig h t) was the top Am eri can sco rer with 12 points, followed by Ermolenko ( I I) , Shawn Moran (10) and Billy Hamill (4). T he U .S. tea m 's tota l of 37 points bested England (34), Denmark (30) and Czechoslovakia ( 19). The win was the second for the U .S. in team co m pe tit io n, th e first having co me in 1982 wh en two- time World Champion Bruce Penhall led a team that included Bobby Schwartz, Scott Autrey a nd Shawn and Kelly Moran to victory i n Engla nd . T Drag racer Ebne r Trett lowered h is own elapsed time record to 6.67 seconds a t th e Sep tem be r 8-9 IHRA U .S . Nati onals at New jersey's Atco Raceway, backed up with the quickest run ever made in the quarter-mile by a motorcycle, 6.53 seconds. T rett's speed on the record sha ttering run was 218.67 mph, . ju st shy of his 219 mph record. HIRED: Robert Weber, form er parts and accessori es man ag er at Manchester Honda in Manchester, Connecticut, as national sales manager for White Bros. Cycle Sp ecialties of Garden Grove, California. N A M E D : Ken Mallow as Acerbis USA marketing assistant, the position vacated by Mark Phares who left Acerbis to pursue other interests. Mallow will be respo ns ible fo r the management of Acerbi s USA' s rider and race su pport program and 'will assist Bill Berroth , Acerbis USA vice ANNOUNCED: john Ulrich, former editor of American Roadra cing, has anno unced the formation of a new pub lication entitled ·Ro ad ra ci n g World & Motorcycle Techno logy. Doug Gonda has been named publisher, while Bob Dragich will handle ad vertising sales. president, with all marketing and sales programs. SDanning the globe for the record'books n an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records, Monika Vega, 28, of Rio de janiero, Brazil, is trying to ride around the world aboard a two-stroke Honda MTX I25, a model not available in the U.S. Riding by herself, Vega left Milan, Italy, on March 7 and has covered approximately 20,000 miles of her scheduled 55,000 mil e trip. . " In ord er to produce the record I have to drive on all continen ts, drive at least 40,000 kilometers (approximately 25,000 miles), the circumference of the plan et, and have to start and finish in the sam e pla ce," she said. Sin ce there is no current record, her tim e, distance, engine displacement and solo sta tus will make the category. So far her trip has taken her through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, j ordon, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singa po re, Australia and to the U.S. where she arrived in Los Angeles on September 7. If her adventure is successfully comp leted, she will ha ve visited 73 countries on six' cont inen ts in 14 months. Since the continents do not all connect, Vega will have to take five flights to com plete her journey. These flights are being paid for by various airlines with the remainder of her expe nses coming from Shoei Helmets, johnson & johnson's Caref ree chewing gum and variou s H onda distributors around the wor ld. On top of creating a world record, Vega is trying to learn more abou t the world's socia l and environmen tal problems for a book she plans to write. After leaving Ameri ca, Vega will visit Can ada , Central America, So uth America, Africa and Europe. I ----------~--------------------------------------------------ISUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM . • • I N ame I Address - - - - - - - - -- • • • • 2 • • • • • • L • • -----,-• • '=---. I _ City State .,--- - - - - - - - - - -Zip _ o T h is is a renewal o Pl ea se bill me o Bill 3 paym ents of $11.67 o Encl osed is my check or money order Charge my 0 Visa 0 Mastercard • • .~~ IA ~ _ ~ ...... 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