Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND By Pap_aW_eal--l-ey Ronnie Tichenor (Suz ) topped Damon Bradshaw (Yam) and John Dowd (Hon) in the 250cc Pro class at round two of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series in Ocala, Florida, January 5-6. Brian Swink (Hon) was the 125cc Pro class winner over Ryan Hughes (Kaw) and Doug Henry (Yam). Jeremy McGrath (Hon) was the overall winner in both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes in round two of the CMC/NGK Golden State Nationals in Adelanto, California, January 5-6. Steve Lamson (Hon) finished second in the 125cc Pro class ahead of Mike Young (Suz), while Mike Kiedrowski (Ka w) was the runner-up in the 250cc Pro class over . Lamson. Willie Surratt (Hon) topped Mike Healey (KTM) and Billy Frank in the 500cc Pro class, Dave Coupe (Hon) won the Vet Pro class and Mercedes Gonzalez (Kaw) topped the Women's Pro class. Reigning 125cc MX World Champion Donny Schmit (Suz) won the 250cc Pro class at round two of the southern portion of the GFlCalifomia Winter Series North-South Showdown in Palmdale, California, January 6. Kyle Lewis (Yam) won the 125cc Pro class, Willy Musgrave (ATK ) was the 500cc Pro class winner and Ken Zahrt (Yam ) topped the Vet Pro class. Action in the northern portion took place in Marysville and saw Rick Ryan (Suz) win the 125cc Pro class, Ray Crumb (Kaw) victorious in the 250cc Pro class and Eric McKenna (Hon) top the 500cc and Vet Pro classes. Chuck Springsteen (Hon) turned in a perfect performance at the January 4 AMA Invitational Indoor Pro Ice Race at Muskegon, Michigan. Springsteen, the brother of three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen won all five "heat" races he participated in and capped the night with a victory in the main event . Dan Ingram (Hon) finished second in the main with Bryan Villella (Hon) taking third. Danny LaPorte, the former 250cc MX World Champion, is the only American motorcyclist taking part in the Paris-Dakar Rally. At the end of the 375-mile fifth stage of the rally which took place in Libya on January 4, Yamaha-mounted LaPorte was in fourth place out of the 101 motorcycle entrants (the event drew 175 entrants in the car class and 101 in the truck division), 5 minutes, 29 seconds behind the leader. Five-time National Hare & Hound Champion Dan Smith, 27 , has decided to quit motorcycle racing to pursue a career in SCORE Class 3 orrroad truck racing. Smith, who lives in Corona, California, recently signed a one-year contract with Ford Motor Company to race a team Rough Riders Ford Bronco. "It's a pretty big change, but I'm really looking forward . to driving trucks," said Smith. " I .had only driven a real o£f-road truck once , before I joined Ford, and that was a long time ago. We've done a lot of testing lately and you'd be surprised how many similarities there are between driving an off-road truck compared to a motorcycle in the desert. " Smith's contract prohibits him from racing motorcycles. "I haven 't ridden a bike since I hurt my knee prerunning the Baja 1000 last November, but I want to go trail riding soon ." Smith's first race in the Ford Bronco will be. the Parker 400, January 26. European Superbike Champion Rich Arnaiz has signed a contract that will see him join Randy Renfrow on the Martin Adams-owned Commonwealth Racing team. Arnaiz , like Renfrow, will ride Honda RC30s in the 1991 AMA National Championship Superbike Series. " I had offers to ride in Europe again, " Californian Arnaiz said. "But the offer from Commonwealth was just as good. I'd prefer to race in the U.S. as long as I can get competitive equipment. It's always been a dream of mine to ride for Honda in the U.S." Commonwealth Honda will again use Dunlop tires in '91, and the motorcycles will be tuned by Ray Plumb in American Lawson to Cagiva,Kocinski to 5 00s I n related moves, four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson (right) appears to be on the verge of signing to race Cagivas in 1991, and Kenny Roberts has confirmed that John Kocinski will forego the opportuni ty to defend his 250cc World Championship as he will join Wayne Rainey on the all-500cc Marlboro Roberts Yamaha squad. Reached at his home in Upland, California, on January 2, Lawson said: "Gary (Howard, Lawson 's manager) is working on it and he said any discussion sheuld go through him." Howard confirmed that a deal with Cagiva is in the works: " It's not a done deal," Howard said. " Cagiva is closed and they won't be back until the 10th of January. We can 't discuss various things until then and there are still things to be finalized. Anything can change at this point. But we're making progress and going forward in that direction." Roberts said that his 500cc team will consist of 500cc World Champion Rainey and 250cc champ Kocinski, both on Yamaha YZR500s. "At this point there won 't be any 250 team," Roberts said. When asked if Kocinski is disappointed at not being able to defend his 250cc crown, Roberts said : "I think he would have liked to have gone a year more on 250s, but he's got to move up sometime. 250cc racing is not what it appears, but there's no use in talking about it because nobody understands; it costs the same, but there's nobody to pay for it." There is still nothing to report on the Franco UncinilYamaha team rumored to consi st of AMA Superbike Champion Doug Chandler: " Nothing has happened, officially,' Roberts said. "It's still too early." Lawson's move would mean the third change of manufacturers in three years for the four -time World Champion. Reports from Europe indicate Lawson 's soonto-be signed contract is for two years and, as expected, is worth a considerable sum of money. Other reports say that former Kocinski tuner Bud Aksland will .be contracted to Cagiva for technical assistance. _ BLM rejects D-37 permitapplication for1991Barstow-toI Veg.:..:..::..a s...::....::cra=--=--=ce_ _ n an expression of concern over the impact to the desert tortoise and environmental resources, the Bureau of. Land Management has thrown a monkey wrench into AMA District 37's plans to bring the Barstow-to-Vegas desert race back to life in 1991. Recently, the BLM released an of£icial decision rejecting District 37's permit application for next year's Barstow-to-Vegas race based on the conclusion that the event would have "significant and unacceptable adverse impacts" on the desert's • wildlife and environment. The BLM's latest action supersedes its earlier decision to prepare an extensive environmental study of the proposed Barstow-to-Vegas race course prior to issuing a final decision on the application for the 1991 event. On the heels of an environmental assessment of the 1990 Barstow-to-Vegas, which concluded that the event had the potential to impact tortoise habitat, the BLM announced that an environmental impact statement would be required before the race route could be approved. Shortly thereafter, race organizers decided to amend the 1990 application to apply to the 1991 event in order that there would be plenty of time to conduct the additional research and settle the issue. However, the BLM, after reviewing the preliminary findings of the 1990Barstowto-Vegas and developing an environmental assessment for the 1991 event, determined that further consideration of the race was not warranted. "We see no purpose in developing a lengthy environmental impact statement since the environmental assessment has identified adverse impacts of such significance as to disallow the proposed 1991 event," said BLM's Desert District Manager Gerald Hillier. He added that it was unreasonable to subject District 37, BLM starr and the general public to futher expense and effort since there is no cause to believe that additional research would alter the decision. "We believe the BLM's decision is flawed," countered Robert Rasor, AMA vice president of government relations. " For that reason, we are actively consulting with our District 37 affiliate to determine which of our legal and administrative options would be most prudent under the circumstances, and what course of action would best serve our members in California. " Hillier .said he hoped that individuals from all sides of the issue would sit down together and discuss their concerns. "I hope we can set the specific question of the Barstow-to-Vegas race behind us now and move on to the broader issue regarding off-highway vehicle (O H V) competitive racing in the desert," he said. " In the coming months, we will be holding public workshops to help us identify criteria and permitting conditions for consideration of events outside of our designated OHV open areas in the California Desert Conversation Area." . Copies of the BLM's decision record are available by writing the BLM's desert district office at 1695Spruce Street, Riverside, California 92507-2497, or by calling (714) 276-6383. . Honda's race shop in Torrance, Ca lifornia. Bob Conway , manager of HarleyDavidson's racing team , reports that the short track races conducted in conjunction with the Bologna Motorcycle Show in Italy were a huge success. "We ran two races per day for three days straight (December 7-8-9) and drew over 50,000 spectators in inclement weather. The races were more exhibitions than racing, but the fans loved them." Scott P ark e r , Chris Carr, J a y S p r in g s t e e n , Kevin Atherton, Mike H ale, D a v id D u r e lle, S te v e Aseltine and Speedy Kell made up the American contingent that competed against a group of Italian speedway racers. Camel Pro Series Rookie of the Year Hale suffered a broken left wrist and Canadian AseItine su£fered vertebrae damage in the races. Avon is posting $52,8 50 in c ontingency p rize s for club road racers in 600cc and 750cc Modified and Production classes. Award certificates good toward the purchase of Avon tires at local dealers will be issued for the first five places in club level events to riders using the AM22 and AM23 GP series tires. Riders will be required to have an Avon logo on both sides of the bike as well as use Avon tires on both the front and rear of the motorcycle. First place finishers will receive $125 certificates, second place $95, th ird place $65, fourth place ·$40 and fifth place $25. For claim sheets and! or more information, see your local dealer or con tact: Customer Service, P.O. Box 336, Edmonds, WA 98020, 206/771 -2257. Team Honda's Jean-Michel Bay le , the 1988 125cc and 1989 250cc MX World Champion, spent some of his off-season riding a Honda NSR250 road racer in test sessions at France's Paul Ricard Circuit and Japan's Suzuka Circuit. Bayle, who has a clause in his contract with American Honda that provides him with the opportunity to ride road racer bikes in test sessions, reportedly came within two seconds of Honda's Masahiro Shimizu's best .Iap time at Suzuka. Bayle's time would have put him on the third row of the starting grid at last year's Japanese 250cc GP. An AMA Invitational Indoor P ro Ice Race will be held at Cincinnati on Sunday, February 17. The event, which will take place in Cincinnati Gardens, is being run in conjunction with the annual Cincinnati Trade Show. Announcement of the race comes on the heels of the word that the Staton Lorenz-promoted annual ice race series had been relegated to a single event this year - a race in Muskegon that took place on January 4 - due to the fact that Lorenz was unable to book facilities. Southern California's Desert Vipers M.C. will host the 11th Ann ual Adelanto Grand P rix, February 2- . 3. The weekend's activities will feature racing in II classes, including a $4000 plus 75% entry fee payback Pro class, and a newly formed division, Obsolete. Bikes built in 1979 or earlier, with no restrictions, are eligible for the Obsolete class. The Desert Vipers are interested in hearing from other clubs or promoters who are interested in hosting Obsolete class races. If a series

• Cover