Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND ByPapa Wealey Defending National Hare Scrambles Champion Scott Summe r s (Hon) scored the opening ro u nd win of th e AMA Na tio nal Championsh ip H are Scrambles Series a t Rockne, T exa s, February 24. For mer Na tiona l Enduro Ch am p ion Terry Cunning ham (Kaw ) fin ished runner-up , wh ile Ed Lojak (AT K), Aaron H ough (Kaw) a n d Du an e Co nn er (Kaw) ro unded o u t the to p five. Ste v e Lamson (Hon ) won the 125cc Pro class at the final round of the GFI North-South Sh owdown Winter MX Series at Perris, Ca lifornia, February 24. Erik K ehoe (Ho n ) was th e 250cc P ro cla ss winner, Greg Zi tterkopf (H on) won th e 500cc Pro class a nd Michael Preston (Kaw) topped th e Vet Pro class. Q u iz time answer: La st week we asked you to name th e two riders who wo n three stra igh t AMA 250cc MX National Ch ampionsh ips. Gar y J ones was the first to accomplish th at , doing so in 1972, '73 and '74. The foll owing three years, 1975 thro ugh 1977, Tony DiStefan o was the 250cc MX Nati on al Cha ~pion . Quiz time: Warren Sherwood never made it int o th e Daytona 200 winner's circle, hi s bes t fini sh bein g a fourth in 1961. But Sh erw ood holds two Dayton a records many feel will never be broken . Wh at records does he hold? Cycle News co nt ributor Alan Cathca rt has landed what he descri bes as a "dream ride" for the 1991 road race season - a works Bimo ta T e si. Cath cart will co ntest International BoTT/Pro Twin s races , start ing with the Daytona Pro Twins race, o n one of the five raci ng versions of the hubcenter stee ri ng, fu el-injected 888cc Du cati-powered T esis. "After riding the T esi I D pro tot ype last summer for a test, I was so impressed with the hand ling a nd layout that I as ked (Bi mo ta p residen t) Mr. Giuseppe Morri if I cou ld buy a racing version for 1991 T wins races. He said no, but tha t instead they would lend me o ne for the seaso n, with an optio n for 1992, and full factory sup po rt in the form of upra ted performan ce parts as they were developed!" I n th e cred it wh ere credi t is d u e department: The "poster" photo of 1990 Da ytona 200 . wi nner Dav id Sad owski passing Brit Carl Foga rt y that yo u 'll find elsewhere in th is issue was tak en by Kenny K ane of th e Da ytona Intern ati onal Speed wa y Ph oto Department. The ph oto was selected as an award win ner by th e Na ti on al Motorsports Pres s Association. You 'll find wh at Papa feels is a fascinating loo k a t racin g o n th e beach at Dayton a a t th e very back of this issu e (o n the glossy pages): D ick Mann takes yo u around the beach course in " T he Dayton a 200: On th e beach, " th e first part of a two- part series. Next week, join the two-time Dayton a 200 win ner on th e tri-oval course in "Tile Daytona 200: On the high banks." In addi tio n to Mann's firsth and acco unt of ridin g on both the beach and at the Speedway , a uthor Alan Cathcart pro vides a background o n bo th courses and th e races conducted on th em o ver the years. A specially-designed T-shirt honoring Irishman Gar y Cowan , wh o suffered paralyzing injuries in the 250cc GP road race at Dayton a last year, will be avai la b le a t the Speed wa y du ring Camel Cycle Week. Anyo ne makin g a donation of $25 or more to th e Gary Cowan S upport Fund will receive o ne of the T-shirts. They'll be ava ilab le in th e Daytona garage area, from Alan Ca thca rt in th e Syd's Cycles ga rage. The foll owing form er Daytona 200 winners will take a lap of honor during o pen ing ceremonies cond ucted prior to this year's 50th running of the Daytona 200 on Sunday, Mar ch 10: E d Kre tz, Floyd and Don Emde, Gary Nixon, Roger Reiman, Dick Mann, Dick K1amforth, Bobby Hill, Kevin Schwantz a nd John Ashmead . T here will also be a Salute to t he Stars prior to the Saturday night, March 9, AMA Camel Pro Seri es o p ene r a t Muni cipa l Stadi um in Dayto na Beach . The honorees will be severa l past Daytona Short Tra ck winners, Grand Natio nal Champions and o ther notables. Team Sil ko lene Honda's Carl Fogarty and N iall Macken zie spe nt Tuesday, February 19, testin g th eir Honda RC30s at Donington Park in England . Wit hin ho urs of th e test sessio n that saw both rid ers log mor e F fails again in court battle AWN n February 19, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal s J udge La wrence Karh on dismissed th e lawsuit bro ugh t by Friends Awar e of Wildlife Needs (FAWN) that sought a permanent injunction against motorcycle events in northern Ca lifornia's Eldorado National For est, Georgetown Ranger Distri ct. Th is is th e second time tha t FAWN ac tions were dismissed in th e last 10 months. .Last May, federal appeals court Judge Edward Garcia deni ed a similar motion for a temporary restraining order that would hav e stopped the May 6 Foo ls Gold Enduro. According to Bill Dart , AMA District 36 legis lative action officer, th e Rock Creek Area of the Georgetown Ranger District has been th e focus of an ongoing battle between FAWN, the U.S. Forest Service, the AMA District 36 Legislative Action Offi ce, and th e Ca lifo rn ia Enduro Riders Association (CERA), promoters of the Fools Gold Enduro a nd the Training Whe el Fam ily Enduro for the last 20 years in the Geor getown Ranger District. A 1987 Forest Service Enviro nmental Assessment (EA) tha t seaso nall y closed portions of th e Ro ck Creek was appea led, and la ter litigated by both FAWN and Dis trict 36/CERA. District 36 prevailed wh en the Ninth Circuit Court decided that the Rock Creek EA was insufficien t, and that a more elabo rate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) mu st be done, including a scientific deer/OHV study to determine if there is any basis to claims by FAWN that OHV are ca using a sign ificant negative impact on wildlife. Judge Karlton also ruled at that time that th e EA, whi ch included provisions for two enduros per year , would remai n in p lace whil e the EIS was being prepared. In bo th recent losses by FAWN , they have argued that a new environmental document mus t be p roduced for any enduro special use perm its to be issued, in clu ding public partici pation, th us allowing FAWN the opport unity to cha llenge fu ture enduros. But this argument was rejected by both federal j udges in a deci sive victory for the Forest Service and District 36/CERA. O Raineybeaks J track record r erez · W o rl d Cha m p io n Wayn e Rainey (ri ght ), test i ng excl u si vely with Dunl op tires, sha ttered Michael Doohari's lap record a t Jerez de Frontera in Spain during IRTA tests on Februa ry 23-24. Ra iney clocked a l-rnin ute, 47.06second lap on h is 1991 Yam ah a YZR500 to better Doohan 's 1:47.8Q whi ch was set during practice for th e 1990 Spanish Grand Prix. The race record of I:48.29, also set by Doohan in '90, was not beaten by any of th e 10 500cc riders wh o took part in the test. Surprisi ng ly, Spaniard Juan Garriga put up the . seco nd best time of th e test, turning a I:48.44 in th e final session, topping 500cc rookie J ohn Kocinski 's 1:48.68. J.P. Ruggia (1:49.25) was fourth ahea d of a disappointed Kevin Schwantz (1:49.47). A hi gh-speed crash at the end of the front straight, possibly caused by a wat er leak , o n the first day of testing detuned the T exan who was only sligh tly quicker th an Cagiva' s Eddi e La wson (1:49.58) and Alex Barros (1:49.68). Rainey .and Kocinski rode 1991 Yarnahas fitted with electronically-controlled Ohlins suspens io n 'systems, while Garriga , Ruggia and Doug Chandler (nin th quickest at 1:50.76) rode Yam ahas fitt ed with conventiona l suspension systems. The factory Hondas of Gardner, Doohan and Pon s were not pr esent in Spain du e to testing commitments in Austral ia. Cagiva will reportedl y have new fram es for testing in J apan and Australia before th e o pe ning o f th e season in Japan o n March 24. Cagiva, H onda and th e Yamaha Son auto team of Ru ggia and Adrian Morillas will use Mich elin rubber while th e rest ofthe factory riders wi ll be on Dunlo p. In 250cc testing at jerez, Wileo Zeelenberg was the qu ickest with a time of 1:50.04, bea tin g Lu ca Cadalora's 1990 race record but above the best practice time set by H elmu t Bradl in practice for the 1990 Spanish GP, a 1:49.42. T eam Marlboro Agostini's Paolo Casoli broke hi s ri ght leg during the first session and was flown back to Italy. The biggest sur pr ise of th e test came in 125cc practi ce when Spaniard Carlos Gi ro brok e the abso lute class record with the new JJ -Cob as 125. than 100 mil es, the bikes were cra ted and flown to Florida where both riders will compe te in th e Daytona 200. Repo rts from the recen t Int ernational Ro a d Race T eam s Associat ion 's (IRT A) tests in Jerez, Spain, say th at both Honda and Yamaha are pushing to make the 250cc road race Grands Prix for production r a ce r s o nly in 1992. Aprili a, meanwhi le, is aga inst the move. Headed by 600cc National Champion Chris Carr, a total of I I I rid ers have pre -entered the Friday night, March 8, 600 National Short Track whi ch will tak e place at Municipal Stadium in Dayto na Beach. Camel P ro Seri es cha mp Scott Parker is, of course, amo ng the 72 pre-entrants for th e Saturd ay ni ght , March 9, Grand National Championship Seri es o pener at Municipal Stadium. The T h urs day night, March 7, Eastern Regio na l Championshi p Short Track a t Municipal Stadium ha s drawn 112 preen tries. Parker has obvio us ly opted to wat ch fro m the sidelines that night , but most of th e top compe titors are pre-entered, including Carr, R ick y Graham, Ron nie Jon e s , Terry Poovey , Steve Morehead, Will Davi s , R o d n e y Farris , Tim M e rtens and Camel Pro Seri es Rookie of the Year Mike Hale . A total of 77 Junior and Pro- Am rid ers hav e p re-e ntered th e Wednesda y n ight , March 6, sho rt track for first and seco nd year pro racers. ATK dea lers are accep ti ng deposits on ATK 4 0 6 two- strokes that will reta il for $2995. No, they're not 1991 mod els, rather they'r e made up of 1988 through 1990 new but ob solete parts. AT K says the bik e is an "introductory" mod el and is targeted for sa le to riders wh o are inter est ed in sta rtin g or getting back into th e sport of dirt ridin g. The April 7 North Bay M.C. -hos ted Saw m ill E n d uro will take p lace at Navarro, Ca lifornia , not a t Up per La ke as has been rep orted elsewhere. The club recommends earl y pre-entry because the event " sells o ut every year." For more inf ormation, call 707/4332774 or 526-7699. ' ·As we reported earl ier, the Foxboro, Massach usetts, ro u nd of the Camel Supercros s S e ries , whi ch wa s sched uled to tak e p lace o n June I, ha s been ca nce led. The event is being replaced by a ro und at the Oklahoma Stat e Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City on Satu rda y, June 8. Oklahoma City was dropped from the or iginal 1991 sched u le to make room for th e Tokyo Supercross whi ch took p lace o n Febru ary 16. The Ok lahoma City race will be round 16 of the 18 rou nd series. For th e ninth consecutive year, Dun lop will sponso r th e AMA/Dunlop Elite G /T Touring Serie s . In additio n to th e more than 42 Distr ict Tours and Rallies, the series sched ule includes th e 199 1 National and Regi onal Road Riding Conventions. A comp lete listing of the ser ies' events is available in the form of a brochure. For a free copy, write to the AMA, P.O. Box 6114, Westerv ill e, OH 43081-6114. Amateur/Youth rno tocrossers in the South Central Area shou ld be aware of a d ate change for th e area 's AMA/ Lor etta L ynn's Amateur/ Yo uth MX Qualifie r at R io Vista, T exas. Ori ginall y sched uled for April 20, the event will now ta ke pl ace on Mar ch 16. For more information , call 8 1 7/641 ~4004. . Belgium 's 500cc MX World Ch ampion Eric Geboers is reportedly having seco nd though ts abo ut hi s retirement fro m full -time racing, reports England 's Trials and Motocross News. Apparently Geboers is still training hard despite h a vi n g an injured shou lder, and his promotion business requires little pers onal input. Insi ders say Geboers will probably go after a sixth World Championship title th is seaso n, 1

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