Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v 0ICES Letters to theeditor H istoric double victory I have been racing motocross since I was able to wa lk, including a few years o n the Nati on a l/Super cross circuit as a privateer. Sin ce I hav e lived and experienced firsthand th e struggles of being a pr ivateer, it gave me chills to read of Doug Henry's and J ohn Dowd 's victo ries at Hangtown. Critics might writ e off th eir acco m pli shments due to th e horrendo us muddy conditions, but every rider left the lin e at th e sam e time and every rider had to face th e sa me co n d i tio ns . Actua lly, the factory riders did not have the th ou gh t in the backs of their heads on how wo uld they be abl e to rebui ld their bik es, that were tra shed by the mud and wat er, for the next weekend of racing. They did not wor ry abo ut go in g a lillie slo wer through the rushi ng water, fearing th ey would seize thei r bik es. Congratulations, Do ug and John , ' on an incredible double victory that the motocros s world wi II not soon forget. Marco for h elping o ut Curt and providing mor al support. T ha n ks to J en n ifer Weindorf for cheering me up , Lan ce Hol st for taki ng the time to sto p , by, and Hi llary O lfield fo r offering her help. A big tha nk yo u to the corne r workers at Daytona for being th ere. As a racer, they are m y heroes. T ha nks to all of the medi cal crew ( EMT, ER , O R a nd Nurs ing ) pe rsonnel wh o helped me. I hope th ey read thi s becau se I don 't reall y kn ow wh o they are. In a field wh ere there aren 't too ma ny thank yo us, I hope I can make th eir job a lillie brighter by offering my heart-felt gratitude. Back hom e, I wou ld like to thank my spo nsors: Pr o-Ital ia Motors, Arai , Syed, Red Line O il, Barnell, Tsubaki , Pow er-Mi st, and Extrude-H one for sta nding behind me. I also must than k my famil y and girlfriend Berta for taki ng care of me, Dave for taking care of the busi ness, and finall y Cycle N ews for caring abo ut each and everyone of us no mailer wha t form of mo to rcycle com petition we participate in. See you a t Willow Springs in May! Kevin Gilch rist Gl endale, Al A lmost, but not quite In your co verage of the Hangtown National MX, you stated that Doug Henry scored the first-ever win by a privateer in 125cc Na tional com pe titio n. I' m sorry to point ou t that this is not true. Steve Wise of McAllen , Texas , was the first man to win a 125cc Nat iona l as a pri vateer . in Ju ly 1976 in Maryland. J oe Rodreguez Dallas, TX . Wise was a factory -backed Honda rider w hen he won th e j ul » 4 AMA Na tional. Cham pions hip 125cc MX at Keysers R idge, MaryLand. Du e to the thr eat of th e bikes belon g in g to th e fact ory teams being clai med, most of th e factory riders rode m od ified production bik es furn ish ed by com panies other than the m anufacturers. Wise rode a FLying Mach ine Factory EL sinore, tuned by Jim m y Strait, to the win in MaryLand . . . Edito r. A road racer's thanks As you ma y have read, I was involved in a n acci den t during the Dayton a Pro T wins G P2 race. I never th ought th at so man y people wou ld ca re as mu ch as th ey hav e. I especiall y mu st than k my mechanic, Bob Weindorf, fo r being at my side through out th e ent ire or deal. I do n't th ink that I can ever than k him enough . T hanks also to my crew chief, Curt H immelberger, for tru cki ng the eq u ip men t all th e way home; Earl Campbell of Pr o- Itali a Mot ors; a nd Brooks, H oward and IN THE WIND ByPapa Wealey Stadi u m .Superlite class at Mickey Thom pson O ff- Road Gra n · P ri x event s. " His advice is gr eat. He has a lot of ins ig ht tha t carries over from mo tocross and my results have been improving ," said Gonza lez. " R ick's definitely goi ng to be a threa t if he decides to race tru cks." At the Pasadena race, Gonzalez ha d just taken o ver the lead in the main event wh en her rear axle sna pped and left her with three wheels. J ohn son 's advi ce? " G et stro nger axles!" T wo- ti me 125cc Na tional Cha mpion Micky Dymond fail ed to fi nis h Mark A. Cruz San Gabriel. CA Teamwork in action On Marc h 30, A.]. Alsup an d I set out to ride the Las Vegas 300 as a team. Let me sta rt by saying tha t a team race takes two very speci al teamma tes who ca n ride and work together as a team. On th is day, no th in g cou ld be tru er as I started the race bu t on ly made it two mi les before tile impact of a dip severely fractured my wrist, making it im possible to rid e. I was close to a hig hway and was ab le to £lag down a car and make my way back to th e p its where my partner was. Already do wn by 30 mi n utes, A.J. got a ride back to the bike and rod e th e ent ire Las Vega s 300 solo. A.J .' s det ermination a n d de sire mad e it po ssib le fo r our team to finish . We may not have won o ur class, bu t in my heart, A.]. is a real winner j ust by finishing. Tha t's what a team is abou t. T ha n ks, litt le budd y. So r ry I co uld n' t hol d up my end of the team . You 'r e my hero. Anna Cod y Merritt Los Olivos, CA Letters to th e edito r sh o u ld be sen t to : Voi ces, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801 -0498. Published letters do not necessa rily reflect th e position of Cycle News, Inc. L etters sh o u ld not exceed 200 words and all letters are subject to editi n g. Please include full name, address and daytime phone n u m ber. eit her moto a t the' ope nin g ro und of the 250cc World Ch ampionship MX Seri es in H oll and . Dymond underwent surgery to repair cart ilage in his left kn ee two weeks prior to the Apri l 7 event and reinj ured the knee in the first . m o to , American 125cc MX G P conte nders Donny Schmit and Bob Moore were bot h inj ured at an Italian race on March 3 1. Schmit, the 125cc World Champ io n, su ffere d a co nc uss io n wh en he crashed, while Moore dislocated his shou lder. Moore has decided against havin g surgery o n the sho ulder and is likely to be handicapped by the injury thro ugho u t the season. - - - - - - Continued on page 66 INSIDE FEATURES ROAD RACE Rainey too tough at Australian GP 6 . Rymer aces World Championship Superbike Series opener DIRT TRACK Carr reigns at SacramentoMile 34 INTERVIEW Bernie Ecclestone on a myriad of GP subjects 28 .GP TECHTALK Twin cylinders or four in GP road racing? 32 RIDING IMPRESSION 1991 Honda CBR600F2Too good to be true? 36 . 10 SUPERCROSS Bayle shines in Florida 16 PREVIEW What does the U.S. GP at Laguna Seca have in store this year? 20 INTERVIEW GP road racer Doug Chandler Jim Filicefights back 24 26 . DEPARTMENTS LOCAL RACING CALENDAR WANT ADS RESULTS 4O _. . .47 53 1 5,68 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Fresh off hi s win at th e Australia n G P . World Champion Wayne R ainey h opes to make it two in a row w he n th e 1991 Wo rld Cha mpionship Road Race Series co mes to the U .S. a t Laguna Seca Raceway. See page 20 fo r a U .S. G P preview. Pho to by David Goldman. America's weekly motorcycle.newspaper Volume XXVIn Michael Klin ger . Pu bl isher Caroli ne Gendry , Executive Secr etary to the Publisher Editorial J ack Ma ngus, A550ciate Pub lishert Editor Kit Palmer. Associate Editor Pau l Carruthers. Associate Edito r Nat e Ra u ba, Associat e Ed itor Ken Fau gh t. Assistant Editor Don n Maeda , Assistan t Edito r Edwina Man gu s, Calendar Ed itor Grap hics and Production Ree J ohnson, Producti on Superv isor Mandy Loo, Production Manager Dennis Gr een e. Lab: T ech . Sta cey G ue st, G rap hic Artist Am y Har ris, Grap h ic A rtist Caro lyn Bran ham. T yp esett er C ir cula tion Rheba Smith , Ma na ger Sarah Taylor, Bill in g Coordi na tor Alm a Anguiano. Processing Coordinator G abriell e G ill ia m. Processin g Assistant Debb ie Well er. Dealer Coord in ato r Wan t Ads Linda Von de Veld. Want A d Sat es Natio nal H eadquart ers h. 2201 Cherry Ave.. Long Beac CA 90806. P.O. Box 198. Long Beach. CA 90801·0198 (2 13) 427·7433: 213/636-8844. FAX (213) 427-6685 Advertising Terry Pratt. 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Cycle News welco mes unsolicited edi torial material including stories. ca rtoons , photos. etc. Such mat erial . il p ubl ish ed , becomes th e exclu sive property 01 Cyde News . Suc h accep ted materia l is su bjec t to revisio n as is necessary in th e sole d iscretion of Cycle News. Unso lici ted ma terial whi ch is no' used will be retu rned il accompa nied by a self addr essed sta m ped enve lope, All unsolicited materia l will be han dled wi th reasonabl e care, however , Cycle News assu mes no responsibi li ty for th e safety, loss or damage to such material. Reprinti ng in wh ol e o r part only by pe rm ission 01 th e publishe r, Advert ising rates and circu lati on informa tio n wi ll be sen t u po n req uest. See S.R.D.S. W/Bn'A V ri AUDITED C/RCULA nON Copyright8 Cycle News,Inc. 1991.Trademark Cycle News registmd U.s. Patmt 0IIia. Allrightsreserved.

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