Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

is put together , Vintage Iron has agr eed to awa rd year-end trophies. Interested parties should contact Pete Street a t P.O. Box 815, Westm ins ter, CA 92683. Four-time World Champ io n Eddie Lawson drove a jaguar GTP car duri ng a test sess ion in Sebring, Florida, in Decem ber. Lawson reportedly fared well in the session, lappi ng in the 2-minute, 5-second range. Lawson went to the test after spectating a t the Dunlop motorcycle tire tests at Daytona Interna tional Speedway. Road racer Thomas Stevens competed in his first -ever marathon recently in Florida. Stevens finished the 26-mile foot race in 3 hours. . 37 mi n u tes despi te completing extensive tire tests a t Da ytona only the day before. "At 16 m iles I flattened out, bu t I finished," Stevens said. Lo n ny H ardy, th e manager of threeti m e Worl d Cha mp io n Freddie Spencer, p ho ned Cycle News q uestioni ng the ite m we printed recent ly tha t sta ted that Spe ncer didn ' t show up for schedu led tests with Ap ri lia in Spa in : " It's rid iculous," he said. " We FAXed him (the Ap ri lia tea m manager). There was no way Fredd ie co uld go there. Maybe in j an uary, but not th en. It 's totally untrue and we've never had another conversatio n since." Tuner George Vukmanovic h , who was with th e Rep so l-Ho n da team headed up by 250cc World Championship runner-up Carlos Cardus, will join Erv Kanemoto on the Rothmans Honda 250cc GP tea m. Vukmanovich and Kanemoto last worked together wh en the two worked on Freddie Spencer's factory Hondas. Former World Champion Kel Carruthers has signed a co n tra ct with Carlos ' Cardus 'a n d will be the Repso l-H on da crew chief for the 1991 and 1992 Grand Prix seasons. Carruthers won th e 250cc World Cham p ionship o n a Benell i in 1969, and won six Wo rld Championships as a crew chief for Kenny Rober ts and Eddie Lawson. Carruthers ' sign ing for th e Honda team comes after a 19-year relationship with Yamaha. " It makes me sad that I'm leaving all the good friends that I've made a t Yamaha over th e years, but I was offered a new job that I feel will be interesting. I'll be working with a winning team and a good rider, a nd I'm looking forward to working with Carlos and Honda this coming seaso n." Cardus finished second to john Koc inski in the 1990 World Championsh ip 250cc Road Race Ser ies. This isn' t Kel Carruthers' firs t associa tio n with H onda, how ever. He was Honda 's factory rid er in Australia from 1961 to 1965, rid ing a Honda R C 1 6 1 250cc four- cylin der to the .cha rnpionshi p in both the 250 a nd 350cc classes during those years. Carruthers was also Australian 125cc Champion in '64 and '65 ridi ng a Honda CR93. In all , Carruthers won over 160 races . on the RC I61. h a ppens if we d ecide to go with Du nl o p? Will th ey ch ange th e deal a nd p ro vid e development tires for Honda's riders a nd to Rob erts' guys? The tires we use is my decision, but I didn 't ge t a chance to give th e Michelin s a nd the Dunlops a head-to -hea d test here." The Suzuki riders were able to get in only a few hours of dry testing during the three days spent at jerez. The 1991 Suzuki RGv500 weighs in at 130 kilograms, rig ht on the new Fl M minimum weight limit. According to Schwantz, it has a heftier swingarm taken from one piece of aluminum, a nd . th e frame tubes are thicker and stur d ier. The front fork has increased in diameter as well, but the bigges t differences , Schwantz says, are in weight distribution and power delivery. "We have the weight farther back now and the bike feels a lot better. The power delivery is a lot smoother no w from down low wh ich will ma ke the bi ke eas ier to ride, especially in th e ra in. It' s a new bi ke and it loo ks like we got it right this time. Now we have to decide on tires so we can get into our testing program." Italian road racer Pier- Frances co Chili will move to the 250cc class for the 1991 Grand Prix season, having signed a contract to race a works Aprilia. The team will be managed by former Italian 500cc GP competitor Alex Valesi. Quiz time! Bill " Big Time" Spencer threw the following question at Papa during the holidays a nd now Pa pa 's throwing it your way: Name the riders who have wo n both an AMA Grand Nationa l Cha mpions hip d irt track race a nd a World Championship road race. The a nswer will appear in this section next week. Bimota will return to the World Superbike Series in 1991 using their Du cat i V-tw in powered T esi. The tworider team will feat u re Italian Vittorio Scarola and a yet-to -be-signed seco nd rider. Tom Moen was named AMA Distr ict 38 (San Diego Co u nty Sports Com m ittee ) Racer of t he Year in a y oll co nducted by th e membersh ip. Troy P h e lps was named Rookie of the ·Yea r. District 38 1990 class cham p io ns are Tim Funk in the Open class, Gerry Campbell in th e 250cc class, Jeff M artin ez in the 125cc class, J o h n Bilke y in th e Sen ior d ivisio n, a nd Moen in the Vet class. Team Lucky Strike Suzuki presented their 500 and 250cc Grand Prix teams to th e European press in jerez, Spain on December 20. Belgian veteran Didie r de Radigues was co nfirm ed as th e number two rider behind Kevin Sch wa n u , with West German Martin W immer running a developmental 250cc program out of his sho p in Baveria. Australian Kevin Magee, now recovered from th e head injuries he suffered at Laguna Seca in April , was also present at the press conference. "Right now we are just giving Kevin (Magee) time to work back up to speed," tea m manager Garry Taylor said. " H e's not a third rider and he's not a test rider. We are just letting him rid e h is way back to speed. Do n ' t be surprised if we have a third bik e for him once the season gets going. " Former Grand National Champion Gary Scott tells us that th e KK A ft e r m a r k et Race Team Pro gram has paid out half a milllion d ollars to variou s riders si nce its ince p tion in 1978. In addi tion, Scott says the program 's motorcycle event poster calenda r has been a huge success a rid has been ex pa nded to incl ude nine sta tes. For more information , co nt act , Scott at hi s new address: 123 Indian Hills, Clinton, TN 37716, 615/463· 0211. Six-time World Champion road ra cer G e o ff Duk e has become a member o f the American Historic Ra ci ng Motorcycle Association (AH R MA), acco rd i n g to AHRMA Ex ecutive Dir ector j eff Smith. " Ge o ff' s race ca reer was th e stuff from which legends a re mad e, a nd we're extrem el y pleased he is now part of ou r growing organizatio n. Hi s link with AH RMA sho u ld help to bring th e North Am eri can and Briti sh cl assi c racing co m m u n i ti es closer tog ether ," said Sm ith. Duke, who divi des his time between hi s home in Dougl as o n th e Isle o f Man a nd his According to Kevin Schwantz, Michelin is offering him and other Michelin riders only one set of tires for dry , interm edia te and wet conditions. "They told us that we get one front and one rear for wet , mixed and dry. It will be the best tire from 1990. We hav e to pa y for th em and they say th at if th ere are not a t least 10 topline riders prepared to accept th is deal they will not be able to stand by th is o ffer. It leaves us up in the air. What vill a in Majorca , holds th e title of officer of th e Order o f th e Briti sh Empire. AH R MA will kick off its 1991 raci ng sch edule on Mar ch 2 with the ruJlning of the first ro u nd o f the AHRMA Historic Cup Road Race Series at Ala bama's Talladega Gran Prix Ra ceway. T he following day, the vin tage racing grou p will host a motocross race in con j unctio n with the AM A National MX at Ga torback Cycle Park in Gainesville, Florida. Mo nday, March 3, the second round of the Historic Cup Road Race Series will be conducted at Daytona International Speedway. The annual AHRMA A wards Banquet will take place o n Tuesday, March 5, at Daytona's Hawaiian Inn with Dick O'Brien of Harley-Davidson fame a nd 90-year-old racing legend j im Davis as featured speakers -, The first rounds of, the AHRMA/Vintage I r o n National MX Series and th e AHRMA Vintage Trials Series will be held a t Oca la MX Park on Wednesday, March 6. Oca la is loca ted abo ut an hour west of Da yton a Beach. Wra pping up AH RMA's Daytona Cycle Week ac tivities will be the Frida y, Mar ch 8, 11th Annu al Concours d'Elegance a t Daytona International Speedway. For more information about these events, call 715/842-9699. California resi den ts are now required by la w to pay a $5 annual fee for ino p e r a b l e m o tor v e hicles , incl uding motorcycles. In other words, if you have a bike stored aw ay or one th a t yo u do not o perate but keep as a co llectible item , you must sign a sta tement under penalty of perjury that th e bike won't be used . Owners of such vehicles who don 't file and don 't pay th e $5 fee before November 1,1991 , will be required to pay for full regi stration a nd pay a fine. Previously, th e owner of a motor vehicle could allow registration to lapse and then renew it by claiming the vehicle hadn't been used . " We can't accept that at face value an ymore ," DMV spokesman Bill Gengler told th e Lo s Angeles Daily News. " What we're do ing with this new law is requiring people to say up fro nt they won't be opera ting that vehicle. " With the wrecking ball set to dr op on Asco t Park, th e Aga janians are co nsidering five so u th ern California sites for the location of a racing complex. Word that the Soboba Indian Reservation near San jacinto has joined Fontana, Irwindale, Lancaster and Ventura as a possible si te was released in lat e December. The Soboba si te would drop from th e list if the Palm Springs City Council approves --------------------------------------------------------------------------. 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