Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127369
By Paul Carruthers alm Springs is for the wealthy. the retired. or college kids on spring break. Th e street that run s through th e heart of the southern California desert resort town reeks of money. The area is home to a zillion co un try clubs, and Bob Hope. The city government is controlled by its mayor, Sonny Bono. Yep. Cher's ex. Only a few miles from town, road racer Rich Arnaiz sits by th e pool of his rented duplex. It 's an image that makes you rub your eyes. Arnaiz would look more comfortable shu ffling his shoes in dirt wh ile leaning agai nst a spl it rail fence in h is real home of Stockton. in rural northern Cal ifornia. But it 's here. in Palm Springs. that Arnaiz has chosen to make his home. albeit temporarily. While the rich shop and golf, this Rich runs and rides motocross bikes in the desert. in preparation for his assault on the 1991 AMA Superbike National Championship. While it may not be Stockton, Palm Springs is as close to home as Arnaiz has been since the end of the 1989 racing season. After finishing third in . the '89 AMA Superbike standings. Arnaiz and his wife Kim and daughter Kristin headed across the Atlantic. They've since returned, bringing with them the 1990 European Superbike Championship. Arnaiz earned the title whil e riding Oscar Rumi-owned Honda RC30s after battles with foreigners whose names he ha s tro uble pronouncing. Now he's returned to race gu ys with names like Pol en . Stevens. Russell , DuHamel and James in an effort to win the AMA Superbike titl e. He 'll be armed with RC30s aga in , thi s tim e from Martin Adams ' Commonwealth Racing stable. Although Arn aiz doesn 't regre t his one-year stint as a stranger in a strange land, he's lookin g forward to racing at home. " I think going over there was a real good decision. " Arnaiz sa id. "Things worked out real well, a lot better than I planned. I didn 't reall y know what to expect as far as going over there. I on ly knew what Fred had told me abo u t it." When Arnaiz speaks abo ut a Fred. he 's talking about th e two-time World Superbike Champion, Fred Merkel. It was Merkel who go t Arn aiz the rid e on the the Rumi team , and it was with Merkel and the rest of the team that Arnaiz spent the majority of th e year with, in Bergamo , Ital y, the team 's headquarters. But while Merkel tried in vain to win his third World Championship, Arnaiz took the European title while riding on the Rumi B-team . The former dirt tra cker won, fQar races in the nine-race series. He won ' in Austria at th e fast and famous Salzburgring, he won in Yugoslavia at Rijeka , he won a t Anderstorp in , Sweden and he won in Italy at-Mjsano. Still the titl e chase came down to th e final round at Donington Park in England. Arnaiz vs. Suzuki Germany's Sven Siedel (Rich pronounces it Spin Cycle) in a British rain storm with Rich needing to finish fourth if the German won. It was a hectic weekend for the Californian. Both riders qualified on the second row of the grid, but Siedel ยท shot out to a lead he would take to the finish. And Arnaiz struggled. "After about two laps my shield fogged up and I was going backwards." he said. "These guys kept going past me and I was thinking. 'Oh, this is it. It's all over with.' Finally, P 15