Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1990 11 28

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

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ยท~ IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey British ro ad rac er Terry Rymer (Yam ) split wins wi th Australian Rob Phillis (Kaw) in the final round of th e World Ch ampionship Superbike Series in Mansfeild, New Zealand, o n November 18. Rymer topped new lycro wned World Ch ampion Ra ymond Roch e (Duc) and fell ow Brit Rob McElnea (Yam) in the firs t race, an d fin ished second beh ind Phillis in the second leg. New Zeal a nd er Aaron Slight (Kaw) ,fin ished th ird in the ' second leg. T exan Doug Polen has in ked a cont ract that will see hi m ride a Fas t By FerracciDucati in the 1991 AMA Na tio na l Champio nship Superbike Road Race Series. Polen , riding a Yosh imura Suzuki, won the AIIJ apan F-I Championship in 1989 and ' finished third in th e same series th is year, and als o won the on ly AMA National he competed in this year at Ro ad Atlanta. "It sho uld be a refresh ing cha nge," Po len said on Monday, Nov ember 19. "The bike (Du ca ti) should be a lo t easier to ride and it will be more than competitive. Coming back her e (to the U.S.) to race is kinda ni ce. T here will be less traveling and no languag e problem ; I th ink it will be a lot of fun. " Polen says he's hoping to change the current trend of fast racers heading elsewhere to ' road race; " I'd like to be ab le to make American racing interesting again. I'd like to help in getting racing here to the pointwhere they feel like they don 't need to go an y place else. I want to try and help the sport tha t has pu t me where I am now ." According to Pol en 's manager Bob Laws on, Polen will be tu ner Era ldo Ferracci's on ly rider. Wit h Polen taking th e lone Ducati ride, i t is ' u n kno wn wh at Jamie James will be aboard in 1991. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw) was th e winner at the No vemb er 18 Tokyo Supercross, ro und five of the Masters of Motocross Seri es, held in T oky o, Japan. J eff Stanton (H on) fini shed secon d and G uy Coo per (Suz) was third. Stanton lead s 250cc World Ch ampion Alessandro Puzar (Suz) in the Masters of MX point standings, 5133 with one ro u n d rema ining. It appea rs that Stanton's H onda teammate, Jean-Michel Bayle, who has 31 points, will be hi s main obs tacle on .the way to the series title because Puzar will miss th e Novemb er 24 round in Holland, o p ting ins tead to test his 1991 Suzukis in Japan. BLM closes B-to-Varea, Sahara Club seeks temnorary- restraining order he u.s. Bur eau of Land Management (BL M) announced on November 15 that the y will temporarily close the traditional Barstow-to-Vegas starting area and all former pit areas and courses from November 21 through December 2 due to a threat of protest rides. , The closure begins on public lands north of 1-15 in the Alvord Road area and contin ues northeast through San Bernardino County to the Nevada State border. The closure will go into effect at 12:02 a.m . (PST) on Wednesday, November 21, and end at midnight on Sunday, December 2. "W e are particularly concerned about possible impacts to the desert tortoise , and its habitat," said BLM 's California Desert District Manager Gerald Hillier. " O ur environmental assessment for 'the 1990 event indicated the potential for significant impacts from an organized race. An unau thorized, unorganized, and uncontrolled even t co u ld cause even more damage. " , Accord ing to Hillier, BLM will have law enforcement personnel on site to enforce the closure. "Rumors of a possible unauthorized mo torcycle event surfaced immediately after th e American Motorcyclist Association 's District 37 announced cancela tion of the 1990 Barstow-to-Vegas race in September,"Hillier said. " Altho ugh we acknowledge that individuals have every right to express disapproval of an y Bureau action, ri di ng th rough sensitive desert resources is not the way to protest." . In a telephone interview conducted on November 16, Rick Sieman of the Sahara Club, USA, Inc., a non-profit California cor po ration that has been describ ed by the Los Angeles Times as being " a maverick group of off-road enthusia sts," said . his group is no t threatening to stage a protest ride , it will stage one. ' "We hav e a court order that permits us to ride in a group of less than 50 and we intend to do so on Saturday , November 24," Sieman said. " We will start a t the Alvord Road area and ri de the trails and fire roads along the freewa y SO we won ' t disturb the desert tortoise habitat. We' ll get arrested if necessary and if we are harassed or arrestedwe'Il sue the BLM for $100 mill ion for conspiracy and violation of existing land use law s for their convenience." A Sahara Club press release refers to the aforementioned court or der as a " federal court stipulation/order" that Sieman and Louis "The Phant om Duck" McKey .have " that permits - and in fact encourages - them to hold a protest ride. This order, though issued 10 years ago, was never rescinded or modified in any way." . . "We also have heard rumors that environmentalists may be protesting against the Barstow-to-Vegas (race) or against the pro test riders," BLM 's Hillier said. "Obviously, this temporary closure applies to them as well." Maps showing the areas affected by the closure are available from BLM's Riverside, Barsto w and Needles offices or by calling 714/ 276-6394. ' The BLM has aut ho rized an alternative race within the Johnson Valley OHV Area for November 24. Called the Ba ttle to Victory, the Sports Committee District 37 AMA Inc.-organized event is a 120-mile hare and hound race that will take pl ace at Anderso n Dry Lake near Lucerne Valley, California. Just two ho urs before th is issue went to p ress on Monday, November 19, Sieman said that the Sahara Club was seeking a temporary restraining order against the BLM. A pet ition , as filed .on Monday and Sieman said they expected a hearing w would take place on Tuesda y, November 20. The petition requests that "a tem por ar y restraining order be issued against th e Bureau of Land Management prohibiting their illegal land closure order. .. until the issue can be resolved after proper study" and "that the BLM be enjo ined from threatening, harassing, or int im ida ting any p rotest riders wh o choos e to exercise their First Amendment rights on Thanksgiving weekend, 1990." T Honda CBR600F2 debuts at Day-tona eff Farm er (pictured), Randy , Ren frow, Rueben McMurter and Honda R&D rider Yukiya Ue da .res ted Honda 's new CBR 600F2 on November 13-14 at Daytona Int ernational Speedway in prep aratio n for ' Camel Motorcycle Week '9 1. Farmer, winner of the 1990 Day tona 600cc Supersport In tern a tio n al Cha lle nge race aboa rd a p rivateer Yamaha FZR600, and Renfrow will have factory -p repared bikes from American Honda for the Daytona event. McMu rte r, meanwhile, will spearhead H onda Canada's effort in the March 10 runni ng of the race. Farmer, Renfrow and McMurter will also co ntest the 50th ' ru nn ing of th e Daytona 200 by Arai later the same day on Honda RC30s . Farmer, whose Honda was shod in Bridgestone rubber, was brimming with co nfidence after two days of testing the CBR600. "I think we've got a good chance of winning again ," Farmer said. "The bike is fast I" " I would say we're qui te pumped about how good the bike is," said Gary Mathers, Honda 's manager of motorcycle sports. "It's the first all-new design CBR in three years and it's going to be a winner. We're just getting things sorted out an d J eff (Farmer) has 'been cons istently turning lap s in the 2:02 range. " Last year's race times were in the 2-mi nute, three-second range. J According to a press release from Jacques Guenette, Jr., the Canadia n road racer has signed a contract with Team Muzzy Kawasaki to ride in the 1991 AMA Superbike National Championship and AMA/ CCS Supersport Series. Muzzy was un available for comment at press time. North Ca rolina's Charlotte Motor Speedway will host Super Cycle Week, Ju ly 2-6. In cluded in , th e ac tivities are a round of the AMA Na tiona l Championship Road Race Se ries , an AMA P ro -A m MX , a H D RA Na tional C ha mpionshi p Dra g Race, a custom bike show an d a consumer trade show. Dave and Rita Coombs, p ro mo ters of the M1. Morris, Pen n sylva nia , National MX and the Blackwater 100, will produce the July 2-3 MX. The July 4-5 d rag meet and the July 5 custom bike show wi ll b e p r o du ced by t h e North Carolina Harley-Dealers Associa tion. P h il and Janet Ku n de of Janet Thompson Trade Show Manage ment are p u tt ing on the Jul y 3-6 consumer trade show. Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted its on ly previous AMA Nat ional Championship R oad R ace Series round in 1977, an event won by twotime Gra nd N ationa l and World Champio n Kenny Roberts . An AMA Pro-Am event was ru n at Charlotte in 1980. Defendi ng 250cc G P Champion Doug Brauneck, 35, will be one of a select few riders wh o were on hand for the 1980 event and will return for the 1991 National. In fact, Brauneck has waited I I years to defend the 250cc Grand Prix victory he scored at Charlotte in 1980. Wi th Charlotte being added to the schedu le, the 1991 AMA Nationa l Championship Road Race Series will consist of 10 event s. Daytona will host the o pening ro und, Marc h 1-10. After more than a two -month break, the ,series resumes at Road Atlanta, May 17-19, with subseq ue nt ro unds taking place at Brainerd International ' Raceway, J une 7-9; New Hampshire International Speedway , June 14-16; Road America, June 28 -30; Charlotte Motor Speedway, July 4-6; Miami, J uly 2021; Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 2-4; Heartland Park Topeka , September 6-8; and Willow Springs I n terna tio n al Raceway , September 20-22. T he 1991 Camel Supercross Series schedu le appears in the Calendar sectio n of th is issue. New to the series next year will be the J anuary 12 opener at th e Citrus Bowl in Orlan do, Florida; the March 16 ro und at Sun Devil Stadium in T em pe, Arizona ; and the April 6 round at the Suncoast Dome in St. Petersbu rg, Florida. The April 27 Dallas Su percross moves from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium. Bridgestone conducte d a two-day tire test sessio n at Daytona Internatio na l Speedway in Dayton a Beach , Flo rida, November 13-14. See sidebar item in this section regarding testing , of the new Honda CRB600F2 during that session. . Dunlop will test a t Daytona on Decem ber 5-7, and it will mark Doug Pol en 's first ri de on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati. Mike Moores and Doug Lofgre n , of the Moor es Lo fgren road racing team, have received permission from Diamond P Sports to use portions of the Mid -Ohio telecas t that ran on TNN's Ame rican Sports Calvacade ear lier this year. Moores and Lofgren will use th e footage in a promotional video that w ill be part of their sponsor-seeking efforts for the 1991 season. Moores, who fin ished 10th in the '90 600 SuperSport Series and 16th in the 750cc SuperS po rt Series, will ' again compete in bo th series next year., and would also like to compete in the 250cc GP Series. Moores can be contacted at 612/25 1-2082. Moores encourages o ther road racers an d fans to wri te Diamond P Sports and thank them for their television coverage of mo tor cycle rac ing. Letters can be sent to: Dick Dodson, Diamond P Sports, 9675 4th S1. North, St. Petersburg, FL 33702. Holders of ticke ts for the rained-out September 9 S yracuse Mile round of the Camel P ro Series should send them to Syrac use Gold Cup Mile Mo torcycle Race, P.O . Box 453, Syracuse, NY 13209, fo r a refund. Although the tickets were originally slated to be accepted at the 1991 runni ng of the Syracuse Mile, that ,event has been canceled, according to promoter Don Brymer. Dave Metz, southern California's numero uno.. motorsports fan, tells

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