Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTHEWIND ~ Fren chm an Stephane P e terhans el (Yam ) was the motorcycle division winner of the Paris-Da kar Rally . Fellow Frenchmen G illes Lalay (Yam ) and Thierry Magn al di (Yam) finished second and third, respectively. Brian MacElroy (Suz) won both the 250cc Pro and 250cc A classes at the third round of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series a t Dade City , January 20. Timmy F e rry (Ka w) topped the 125cc Pro class and Pat Barton (Suz) was the 125cc A class winner . Tommy Clowers (Kaw) won the 250cc Ultracross at the ope n ing ro und o f th e Mickey Thompson OffRoad Championship Gran Prix Series at Anah eim, Ca liforn ia, on J anuary 19. J im Holl ey (Yam) finished second and Kyle Lewis (Yam) was third. Defen d in g Ultracross cha mp Michael Craig (Kaw) fini shed sixth. Michael Craig (Kaw) was the overa ll winner in both the 125cc and 250cc Pro classes at ro u nd four of the CMC Golden State Nationals South, in Ca rlsb ad , Ca lifo rn ia , J a nua ry 20. M ike H ealey (KT M) topped th e 500cc Pro class, wh ile Broc Glover (Ho n ) won the Vet Pro class. Willie Surratt (Ho n) to pped Rodney Smith (Suz) in both th e 250cc and 500cc Pro classes at ro und four of the CMC Golden State Nationals North in Marysvill e, Ca liforn ia , J an uary 20. Smith stormed back to take th e 125cc Pro class, while Da ve Coupe (Hon) swept both motos in the Vet Pro class. Phil Lawrence (Kaw) was the overa ll winner in the 125cc Pro cla ss a t round four of th e southern portion of the GFI California Winter Series North- " South Showdown held J a nuary 20 in Pal mdal e, Ca lifornia. Kyle Lewis (Yam) wo n th e 250cc Pro class, Greg Zitterkopf (Hon) topped the 500cc Pro cla ss and Ken Zahrt (Yam) was the winn er in the Vet Pro class. In the northern portion of the 'G F I California Winter Series NorthSouth Showdown, held J anuary 20 in Brentwood, Ca lifornia , Danny Paladino (Yam) was the win ner in the 125cc Pro class , Todd Nelson (H on) won the 250cc Pro class and Al e x Jorgensen (Suz) topped the Vet Pro class. Accordi ng to SBK, the marketin g arm of th e World Ch ampionshi p Superbike Series, Stephane Mertens has sig ned a co nt ract to join Ducati for th e 1991 series. Mert ens will join Worl d Ch am p ion Raymond Roc he a nd Gian carl o Falappa on the Itali an learn . Mertens finis hed third in the 1990 cha mp ionsh ip on a H onda. Ho nda 's World Superbi ke conti ngent. meanwhil e. will consist of two learn s. T he first will be th e Italian Ru mi learn of American Fred Merkel and Ita lia n Baldassarre Monti. and the second will be a British-based team with Carl Fogarty handl in g the riding cho res. There is a lso specula tio n that las t year's fou rth pl ace finis her in the 500cc World Championship , Niall Macke n zie . ma y join the British H onda team . T he World Cha mp io ns hip Su pe rbi ke Series ge ts un derway a t Donington Par k in Eng land on April I. 2 Reports from Europe say that th e Italian Federati on of the FIM. and most notabl y its president Fran cesco Zerbi , ha ve been granted permission from the ow ners of Cagi v a to lease three 500cc Grand Prix bik es for th e '91 season. Quiz t ime a nswe r: Last week 's question was: What feat did Lee Humiston accomplish that ensures his name i n motorcycling hi story ? Excelsior-mou nted Humiston was the first motorcycle racer to be offi cial y timed at 100 mph, performing that feat in 1912 at southern California's Playa del Rey Motordrome. Glen Curtiss is recognized as the first motorcyclist to un officiall y break the 100 mph barrier, havin g turned in a 137 mph pass on Florida's Orm o nd Bea ch in 1907 aboard a V-8 mot orcycle of hi s ow n design. The run was not timed by a recog n ized sanc tioni ng body. as was Humiston 's lap of a board track. Quiz time: Nam e the o ldest rider to win a Wor ld Champion Road Race Series titie. Billy Davis of J acksonvill e, Arkansas, is the Gra nd Pr ize winner of the Cycle N ews 1991 Daytona Sweeps t a k e s . Davis' entry was drawn first by Publisher Mike Klin ger and he has won the T ravelStar Bike Week Package that includes two roun dt rip tickets on U.S . Ai r to Dayton a , fiv e n igh ts lodging for two at the Wh itehall Hotel. a rental car for six days , two VIP tickets to Camel Motorcycle Week races, and a o ne-year su bscription to Cycle News. Steve Torok of Bradn er. Ohio. is the second pr ize winner and he'll receive a 1991 Hon da Cub and a one-year Cycle News su bscription. Roger Chester of Medina , Ohio, is the third prize winner and he' ll receive two Arai helm ets and a one-year Cycle News subscrip tion. Flat track racin g will return to th e half mile oval at Volu sia County Speedway in Bar bervill e, Florida. du ring Daytona 's Camel Motorcycle Week. T he ban ked oval was paved a fter the 1989 runn ing of the 15th Annual Barberville Half Mile a nd the Su nday afternoon , March 3, event will mark the first time motorcycles have raced at the facility since then. Promoted by On Track Prom ot ion s, the event will be for Jun ior and Expert-ranked riders only and will offer a total p urse of $ 15,000 - $5000 in the 600cc class and $ 10.000 in the 750cc div ision. For mor e infor mation. contact Ken Lill y at 803/ 626-7959 or 272-9938. Ernie Wise. 91. passed away on Decemb er 31. Wise. who remained active as president of Cosmopolitan Motors in H atboro , Pen n sylva n ia . u nti l two weeks before h is death. sta rte d distributing motor cycles in 1949, opening the doors to America to ma ny motorcycle brands and products o f cont ine n tal Europe. Among th e many marq ues he im ported were Jawa. C:Z. Zundapp, Vitor ia , Parill a, MV Agu sta , Ca priolo , Benell i, La mb retta and Montesa. H is son, La rry Wise. will carry on the bu sin ess. To commemorate BMW's 75th anni ver sar y, th e Monda y, Ma rch 4, AH R MA Vint age roa d race meet at Dayton a will be kn own this year as the Daytona BMW Anniversary Classic Cup Races. Hans Koudella , vice president of BMW' s Mot orcycle Group. calls the Daytona vintage races "a grea t o p po rt u nity to ce lebrate BMW's hi stor ic triumphs wit h some of the die-hard motorcycling enthusias ts and mach ines that were part of that h isto ry. Koud ella will awa rd two special trophies to BMW riders Ero n Flory and Ozzie Auer at the AHRMA Award s Ban quet on March 5. Flory 199 rCamel Pro Series schedule and formats announced 17-event schedul e. stream lined race formats and a point system revision have been a nnounced by th e American Motorcyclist Associa tion (AMA) for its 1991 Grand Na tio na l Champ ionship/Camel Pro Series. T he 1991 Came l Pro Series will carrv over I million in pos ted awards in cludin g a $400,000 prize fu nd from long-time corpora te sponsor R.]. Reynolds T obacco. The series cha mpion will pi ck up a $ 100,000 bonus from Ca mel ciga rettes as part of a $200,000 point fu nd . And II selected even ts will also fea ture five-lap Ca mel Cha llenge races match in g up the da y's six fa ste st q ua lif ier s in $ 17,500 races pa ying $10,000 to A win. AMA Grand Nat'l C'sh ip Ca mel Pro Series 03/9 Dayton a Beach. FL ST 0 4/ 6 Sacra mento, CA M Pom on a, cA H M · 5/ 11 San J ose, CA M • 5/ 19 Springfie ld, IL M • 5126 Louisvill e. KY H M • 6/8 Lima, O H H M 6/29 H agerstown, MD HM 7/ 13 Park ersburg, WV H M 7120 07 /27 Oklaho ma Cit y. OK HM 08/4 Peor ia, IL TT 0817 Ra pid Ci ty, SD HM Indianapol is, IN M • 8124 Sp ri ngfi eld. IL M 9/1 9/15 San J ose, CA M Pomona , CA HM 10/ 5 o 10/12 Sacrament o, CA M o Came l Cha llenge Along wit h its 1991 schedu le AMA a lso outli ned revision s to the Ca mel P ro Se ries race format wh ich are design ed to provide a smoother-ru nni ng and more en terta i n i ~g program for spec ta tors. And th e po int system in use for the past 15 seasons will und ergo a mi nor modificati on. Four n ew venues on '9 1 calendar The 1991 season will kick off with a featured event of Camel Motorcycle Week on Saturday eveni ng, March 9, a t Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach , Florida. The schedule anno unced includes the Short T rack Nat ional in Daytona Beach , the traditiona l Peor ia (Ill ino is) TT on August 4, seven mil e dirt track events and eig ht half m ile races. . . T wo faci li ties will host [irst-everCamel Pro Series events and two others WIll return to the sched u le after length y absences. . . . New to the series will be a pa ir of half mi le races at sout hern California 's Pomona Fai rplex on May II and October 5 and a ha lf mil e at Black ':'ills Speedway in Rap id Cit y, Sou th Dakota , on Wednesday August 7. That rare mid-week CaI? el Pro event will coincide with week-long festiviti es at the 51st Annual Black H Ills Motorcycle Classic in and aro und Sturgis, South Dakota. And the race~ in Pomona fill th e void created by the closing of legen dary Ascot Park followi ng the 1990 seaso n. Returning to the schedu le after an absence of two years is the half m i~e o,:a l of West Virgi ni a Moto r Speedway in Parkersburg, on J ul ~ 20. And hosting Its first Ca mel Pro Series event in 15 seasons. on July 27, WI ll be the Ok lah oma State Fairgroun ds in O kla homa Cit y, Oklahoma. Vetera n AMA pro racer Ronnie Jones of Oklah oma City, will have a du al ro le in the revived Ok lahoma H alf Mile Nati onal , as a competi tor and the promoter of the even t. Format streamlined Foll owi ng the season-o pe ner in Daytona Beach , the year's on ly short trac k Nat ional, th e new, stream lined race format will be introduced. All half mile, mile and TT Nat ionals will begin with one-lap time trial s. adva ncing the fastest 42 rid ers into three I.O-Iap heat races: ~e top thr ee ~i nish ers from each heat will qualify for -the main event, and Iin ishers 4-11 will move on to one of two 10-lap semi finals . From each semi fina l, eit her three or four riders will qual ify for the ma in event. completing feature field s of 15 or 17 rid ers depending on individual track cha racte ris tics. T he po pu lar Ca mel Ch all enge will be staged after th e semi fina ls, f<;>ll ow~ at ma ny even ts by a support class feature (see below ) a nd then the pomt-paymg AMA Camel Pro Series Nati onal. Ca mel Pro Nationa ls at half m ile trac ks will be 20 laps, wh ile sho rt tra ck. TT an d mi le events will go 25 laps. Support class forma ts Man y Ca mel Pro Series race programs will include a su pport ing event to the Nationa l program. The sta nda rd support class form at will ca ll for "scratch heats " in p lace of one- lap tim e trial s, with 24 riders advanci n.g to t.he r.ace program. . T here will be two six-lap heat races, each adva ncing SIX riders to a 12-rtder, 12-lap ma in event. An alterna te form at wou ld be for an invitatio nal su ppo rt class with rid ers cont esti ng "scratch heat s" to earn spo ts in a sing le IO-Iap feature. M inor point sys te m revision Additiona lly, AMA approved a minor revision to the point system whi ch ~as been used in the series since 1976. Un der the revised system. all riders who qualify for the Cam el Pro Series feature' will earn at least one champ ions hip point. In the past. riders fini shing 15th or lower did not receive point~. Now, riders finis h ing in the 14th th rough 17th pos itions will each receive one po m t, won the 1990 AH RMA 750cc Sports man class on a 1972 R75/ 5 and Auer took the Pre-1940 class title on a 1939 R51. T he AHMRA Historic Cup Series will not ru n as part of the AMA National meets as in the past. ins tead the bulk of the ni ne-event series will

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