Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND ByPapa Wealey Belgi an Mamicq Bervoets (Kaw) was th e overall wi n ner of the opening ro u nd o f th e 250cc World Championshi p MX Series in Mill , Ho lland, April 7. Dut ch rid ers Edwin Evertsen (Kaw) and Dave Strijbos (S u z) fin is he d seco nd and th ird ov erall , res pec tive ly. American Trampas Park e r (Hon ) finished seventh overa ll, whil e d efendin g , 250cc Worl d Ch ampion Alessandro P u zar (Suz) was ninth wi th a DN F-3 score. T he opening , round o f the AMA / , NAT C N a ti on al Champ ion ship Observ ed Trial s Ser ies a t Lucerne Vall ey, California, April 6, saw Geoff Aaron (Ap r) score th e win , toppin g three-time National Champion R yan Young (Apr), 47-57. Finishing th ird was Mark Manniko (Beta) with 73 points, while Kip Webb (Fa n), 102, a nd Ron Commo Jr. (Beta), 121 , rounded out the to p five, resp ectively. Aaron dropped five points the next da y at the EI Trial de Espana exh ibition tria ls a nd scored th e overall win ahead of Manniko, who carded a 9, and Webb at 14. Defending Na tional Champion Scott Summers (Hon ) was the o vera ll winner at round three of the AMA National Championsh ip H are Scramble s Ser ies in Cadiz, Kentucky, April 7. Duane Conner (Ka w) finished second, followed across the finish line by Tony Hendon (ATK ), Matt Stavish (KT M) and Ethan Goodrich (KTM ). T he team of Larry Roeseler and Ted Hunnicutt(Ka w ) scored the overall a nd Open class win a t th e SCO RE Sa n Felipe 250, in San Felipe, B.C., Mexi co , April 6. The duo finished the 219-m ile race in th ree hours )a nd 40 seco nds , a veraging 59.98 m p h. Fin is hi n g four -and- a-half minutes behind Roeseler a nd Hun nicu tt was th e ru nner-u p team o f Garth Sweetland a nd Paul Krause (Kaw), while thi rd o ve ra ll and first 250cc wa s Darren Sanford, Tim Morten and Dave F ord (Suz). T he day after fin ishing second overall wi th tea mm a te Gart h Sweetla nd at th e Sa n Felipe 25 0, iro n m an P a u l K r a u s e co m pe ted a t the Apri l 7 Hilltoppers Grand Prix a t Carls bad Ra cewa y, in Carl sb ad , Ca lifo rn ia. Krau se sco red th e overall Expert class win a head o f' Duan e Summers (Ya m), D un V oyer (H o n ), John Rudde r (ATK) a nd Chris Cr andall (ATK). The AMA has announced that an A M A National Championship Road Race S eries e vent at Texas World Speedway in Co llege Statio n , Texas, on August 9- 11 has been added to th e 1991 schedu le. The Iirst-: ever AMA National a t Texas World Speedway will be held o n a new 2.2mi le infield road co ur se utilizing much of th e two-mile, high -banked ova l that is the faci li ty's co rnerstone. Texas World Sp eedw ay ha s been in di srepair for several years , but it is now u ndergo ing a $5 m illio n face-lift under the direction of lshin Speedsport Inc. , which acq uired the facili ty la te in 1990. The AMA 's g ranting of the 1991 National sa nctio n is contingent upon an ad ditional inspection scheduled for earl y June. The August 9-11 event will represent th e AMA's first National road race event in Texas since April of 1973. The Augus t 9-11 event will ca rr y $53,000 in g uaranteed p urse a wards. BLM, AMA cooperate on Back Country By-way-s conservation gl....=....::.oa=ls _ he Depa rtment of the In terior's Bureau of Land Ma nagement (BL M) have entered into a coope ra tive agreeme nt wi th th e American Mot o rcycl ist Asso ciation (AMA) to p ro m ot e conservat ion and improve th e managem ent o f BLM 's Back Country Bywa ys. The agreem ent, sig ned by Secretar y of th e Int erio r Manuel Lujan, BLM Director Cy Jamison and AMA Vice-President Rob ert Rasor in a ceremo ny held in Washington, D.C. o n March 15, provides a national fram ework tha t will g uide th e development of partnerships betw een BLM o fficials and AMA affilia tes a t th e regio nal , state and local levels. According to Lujan, " P ublic-private partnership is cri tica l to the success of our stewardship of th e nation 's natura l resourses a nd o ur effort to increase recrea tional opportunities for Americans. " Razor sai d, "With this agreement, Ameri can motorcyclists hav e solidified their co m mi tment to the wise use o f p ub lic la nds. The AMA and its members welcome this opportunity to formalize our ongoing working rela tionsh ip wi th the BLM." Rasor noted that his agreement is the fir st public-priva te partnership for th e AMA . Under the agreement th e AMA will identify project and service opportu nities for local individual s, cl ubs, or organizations. The BLM wi ll work with th e AMA in the deve lopment of signs, brochures, a nd other ed uca tio na l mat er ials that will motivate the Byway users to respect priva te a nd public property and minimize impact on the environment. " Im port ant partnerships with key groups su ch as the Am eri can Mot orcyclist Associat ion help the BLM accomp lish o ur go a ls to imp rove co nserv a tio n of p u blic land resources and to provide the American public o p port u ni ties to enjoy the unique and ,scenic resources a vai la ble on the nation 's p u blic lan d s," J amison adde d. ' T he BLM administers more than 270 m illion publ ic la nd acres in I i western sta tes, managing on the basis of multip le use and sus ta ined yield in a manner th at ba la nces the needs o f fu tu re genera tio ns fo r renewa ble and nonrenewabl e reso urces. T hese p ublic lands have over 30 Back Country Bywa ys, wit h more byways bei ng iden tified and developed. . T California AssemblY_Rasses helmet bill n Monda y, Ap ril I , the Cal ifornia Assembl y ap proved leg isla tio n tha t ca lls for ma ndatory hel met use by a ll motorcycle riders. T he bill, AB7, spo nsored by Assem blym an Richard Floyd (D-Carso n ), is sim ilar to two pr evious bill s, both of w hi ch were vetoed by form er G overnor Georg e Deukmejian. The bill was a p p roved by the Assembly b y a 48-24 vo te, seven more th an th e majority needed to pass. If approved by th e Sen at e, wh ere th e Los Angel es T imes rep orts it is favored by ~ majority, it is expec ted that Governo r Pete Wilson will sign it into law . Wilson is a n advocat e o f helm et law s, as a U.S. Senato r he served as a co-s po nsor o f a federa l bill that would force sta tes to pass mandatory helm et law s o r risk losing m ill ions of do llars in federal h ighwa y aid. Floyd's bill would expa nd current California law th at requ ires mot orcycle passengers 15 1/2 and yo u nger to wear helmets. Assemblyman T om McC lintock (R-T housa nd Oaks) was the most vocal of th e bill 's op po ne nts in th e Assembly a nd he ca lled th e bill 's su p porte rs "self-ap poin ted nann ies." McClintock sai d th at he will try to have the mea sure reco nsidered by th e Assem bly, a move th at effectively will prevent it from going stra igh t to th e Sen at e. California m otorcyclist s who feel , as do es th is publicati on 's managem ent, th at motorcyclists shou ld have freedom o f choice and helmet u se shou ld remain voluntary, are strongly urged to co ntact th eir representatives in th e Senate and th e governor immediatel y. In yo u r co rrespondence express your views that adult riders sh ould contin ue to have th e right to make a personal decision, regarding th e use of helmets. Send letters to sena tors to: The State Capitol , Sacramento, CA 95814: Letters for th e governor should lie addressed: The Honorab le Gov. Pete Wilson , Office o f the Governor, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 958 14. O Danny LaPorte, th e 1982 250cc MX World Champion, wh o su ffered heart a nd lu ng contusions in a crash during the Paris-to-Dakar Ra lly in J a n uary , is well on th e road to recovery. " I started training about seven weeks after my crash, and I'm probably up to about 80-percent righ t now ," sa id LaPorte in a phone conversa tion from his home in Redo ndo Beach , Ca lifornia. " Everyth i ng is co m ing a long rea lly fast, a nd I'm feeling better each day." LaPorte is currently traini ng for a 12-hour off -road endurance race in Italy, April 30, where he wi ll compete aboard a facto ry 500cc water-cooled, two-s troke Yamaha. La Porte is a m ember of the European Sonauto Yamaha team, and has p lans to contest th e P haraoh 's Rally in Eg ypt in O ctob er , as well as next year's Pari sto-Dakar Rally. Three-time World Champion Fredd ie Spencer will head a road race team co nsis tin g of Am erican and Canadi an riders th at will be bo lstered by four Europea n rid ers when it tak es on a 12-r id er Br it ish sq u ad in a ren ewed version of th e T ransatlantic Trophy Match Race s. The six -ra ce me eting will be conduc ted at England 's Mall ory Park and Brands Hatch circu its on May 5-6. In add itio n to Sp en cer, th e North Am erican team will be represented by Doug Polen , Miguel DuHam el , R ich a rd Ar na iz, J ami e J ames, Thomas Stevens, Scott Russell and Jacques Guen ett e. They 'll tak e o n a team featuring Ron Haslam, Trevor Nation , Nia ll Mackenzie, Carl Foga rty, R ob McElnea and Terry R ymer. "T he annual Cycle News Night at Spe edway will tak e place a t Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Ca lifornia, on Friday night, Ma y 3. Fans wh o sh ow th ei r mo tor cycl e driver 's license will save $2 o n admissio n to th e sp eedway ra ces a nd $1 on ad mi ssio n to th e In tershows indoor swa p meet. In additi on , Cycle News will host the People's C ho ice Cu stom' Mot orcycle Sh ow with free ent r ies for th e show bik es. All bikes will be judge d b y the fa ns a nd troph ies w i ll b e .presen ted to the o wne rs o f the to p five bi kes. For more in form a tio n, ca ll . Internation al Speedway a t 714/4929933. Rap m us ician Vanilla Ice apparently still cla im s to be a mot ocross cham pion. In a newspa per intervi ew following a recent conc ert in Binghamton, New .York, the ra p per claims to have raced at Unad ill a Valley Sports Center, site of th e 250cc U.S. MX Grand Prix, twi ce wh en he was teenager. Ice, who claimed to be a MX National Champion and a T eam Honda rid er in his biography re leased by his re cord company, said he crashe d on both occasions he com pe ted at U nad illa and tha t the course had been reversed on his second visit. According to Unadilla owner Ward Robinson , th e co urse has always been run counterclockwise a nd has never been reversed. With on ly 16 500cc G P regulars o n the entry list for th e U.S. GP a t Laguna Seca, th e starti ng grid cou ld be swell ed by more tha n 10% after th e qual ifying sessi ons b y , entr a n ts Robbie Petersen and Rich Oliver of T eam Marlboro Rob ert s. As th ey d id last year, P etersen and Oliver a re cam paigning th e WERA Formula USA Ser ies h ere in t he U .S. and th ey finished 1-2 in the o pening ro und of th at series a t Road Atla nta on Ma rch 24. You 're p rob abl y wondering, as we did, how Petersen and Oliver ob ta ined permission to com pe te in the FIMsa nc tio ned G P , seeing as ho w they did not com pe te in an AMA series la st year. According to th e AMA 's Bill Boyce, th e FIM pe rm its riders to ente r a n event like th e U.S. G P if th ey finished in th e top 10 of a n AMA pro ser ies either th e 'p revio us year or two year s previously . In 1989 , Oliver finish ed second and Petersen fourth in th e fina l point, standings o f th e AMA 250cc class. That, plus th e fact a rid er so ra nked is allowed to- go up a class o r down a class, gav e th em slo ts on the 500cc U.S. G P entry list. In co n trast to th e slim turnout of riders in the 500cc class, 44 riders ar e on the 250cc GP entry list, including the foll owing non -GP r egular s from Am eri ca : Mi k e Baldwin, Alan Scott, Chris D 'Aluisio, Rick Kirk, Dal e Franklin, Nick Ienat sch, Alan Scott , M ike S u lliva n a nd Bill Himm e l s b a c h . Ca na d ia ns R i c k T ripodi a nd David Sjoblom ar e a lso entered. The Sideca r race a t the U.S. GP has drawn 24 entries, incl uding the d efending Wo rld Champion Alain Michel, 1

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