Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eIN THE WIND ~ ......-l O"l O"l ......-l 00 >ro ~ , By Papa Wealey Motor cross Park is in no way connected to Flo rida Mo tosports Complex, Inc. or its officers." Jackson said that Alvardo Gou lart purchased the la nd and will also be a part of the new corporat ion that will operate the facility , servi ng as a vice president. He also said that man y im pro vem en ts to the faci lity are planned for Flor ida Motosports Com p lex. "We hope to upgrade mo tocross raci ng in Florid a for th e ben efit of a ll serio us motocr oss riders wh o need a racing and traini ng facil ity of th is kind," Jackson said, EK Chain recently announced th at it is offering a free trip to Japan to the Open class cham p ion in th e AMA Grand National Cross Country Series. For more information co ntact Kayo Motorsports at 908/526-9207. Immediately following h is sixth-p lace fin ish in the April 27 Dall as Supercross, Guy Cooper ju m ped in a car and rode through the n ight so that he cou ld attend the fina l day of the AMA Na tional Championship Reliabil ity Enduro at Tulsa, Ok lahoma. Cooper arrived in tim e to watch his brother Jimmy win the 250cc A class a nd brother Ralph fin ish second in the Over 25 class. Mo tocrosser M ik e . LaRocco carries an extra number six on his factory Suzu ki - o n th e bottom of th e rear fende r. We fig ured it was so that the scorers co uld read the number when he's £lyin g high with the bike laid over, or at least so th at we wouldn't get him mixed up with som eone else in a radica l photo shot from below. But it turns out La Rocco is superstitious, and after enco unte ring bad luck with wrist and an kle injuries this year, the extra number was added so that he wouldn 't be carry ing three sixes - th e Bibl ical sign for the devil - o n hi s bike. At tota l of 24 riders have pledged n ot to a ttend the Canadian round of th e World Championship Superbike Seri es scheduled for June 2 a t' Mosport because of safety reasons. The riders made th eir decision at a meeting o n Friday, Ap ri l 26 and then reaffirmed it when they met with FIM road raci ng com m ission bos s Jo Zegwaard th e foll owin g da y, Zegwaard told th e rid ers that he accep ted th eir decis ion and that if they felt this strongly on the matter tha t they were right not to go to Mosport. Zegwaard, however, said the race could not be cancelled although Superbike Raci ng Association chairma n Jean Merten s is continuing to push the issue. T he meeting with Zegwaard was marred by a clash with Raymond Roche, the FIM man telling the World Champion to stop inter- rupting while he was talk ing to St ephane Merten s. Roch e left th e mee ri ng Tmmedia tely, lettin g l egwaard kn ow what he thought of him o n the way out the door. The riders h av e received th e support of the Flammini Group and of Diesel J eans, th e series sponsor. Polen llerfectin Sll..:..::..=:aine..:..-- _ exan Doug Polen (righ t) won bo th legs of the Spanish round of th e World Championship Superbike Series in Jarama, Spain, on April 28 and now leads the championship point sta ndings by 15 points. Polen qualified his Fast By Ferracci Ducati on the pole, and shattered the lap record en route to winning both races. The field for the first leg was d ecimated by a 12-rider cras h in the first comer that eliminated many, including Worl d Champion Raymo nd Roche and Belgian Stephane Mertens. Second place in the first race went to Australian Rob Phillis (Kaw) with Spaniard Juan Lopez Mella (Hon) finishing third. In the second leg, Polen topped Mertens (Due) and Roche (Due) to take the win . Californian Fred Merkel (Hon) su ffered a broken bone in hi s hand during the first-leg, first-lap melee and th en cras hed again with T erry Rymer in the second race. Polen lead s the championship chase by 15 po ints from Phillis and Italian Fabrizio Pirovano, 60-45. T It now ap pea rs that roa d racer Mike Baldwin will rid e a Yamah a TZ250 in the remaining AMA 250cc Grand Prix Championship races in 1991. Although he has yet to sign a con trac t, Baldwin will likely be sponsored by Earth Refer en ce Systems, a Long Beach , Cal ifornia-based oil exploratio n co m pa ny , according to team ma nager Morris Murra y. Murray is also looking for another experienced roa d race mechanic for the team; he can be reached at 213/493-354 6. The 13th running of the AMA/CCS Championship Finale at Daytona International Speedway has been moved to ' O ctober 18-20 fro m its traditional da te on the last weekend in October. The date move was made pri marily to beat the time change to Eastern Sta ndard Time from Eastern Daylight Time wh ich occurs on the fina l Sunday in October. Laguna Seca U.S. G P weekend. The bike belonged to Fairfield Kawsaki of Fairfield, California. The VIN number is J KAlXDHI2 KA003268 a nd the engi ne number is 0029006. The bike is green and had 19,700 miles on the odo meter. Di stinguishing features on the Kawasaki spo rt bike include a blue Zero Gravity Screen, You ng's custom seat and tank cover, in let ducts over the fuel tank painted powdercoa ted blue, and a personalized license tag that reads , LEAN OV R. If you have any information on the whereabouts of the bike , call Dan at 707/429- 1913. told him where the rumor got started, Peters said, " It (the item ) was worded po orly. " Start checking your local cab le TV listings for th e Prime Network a££ilia te in yo ur area. WERA 's F-USA road race series has alread y started a iri ng in most areas, and the seco nd rou nd o f th e series from Willow Springs Internati onal Racewa y in sout hern California will begin airing thi s week. T he Washing ton Mo to rcycle Road -Racing Associat ion (WMR RA) will hold its annual Six-Hour Enduranc e Race at Seattle Int ernat ional Racewa y in Kent, Washington , on May II. The endurance race, which has been run annua lly since the mid- '70s, will serve as a ben efit for the March o f Dimes , The next day, May 12, a full program of sprint races will be run. Reminder: CBS-TV ;s coverage of the Laguna Seca U.S. 500cc GP will air on Sa turday, May 4. Check your local listings. Stop the presses! T han ks to Larry Hu gh es we've finall y found someth ing that verifi es that rapper Vanilla Ice really did take part in motocross races. Va n illa Ice, th en kno wn as Robby Van Winkle, rode a Yam ah a to a seve n th p lace fin ish i n the 125cc In term edia te class in th e 198·! GNC Texas Moto cro ss Seri es. Keith Foytik was the class winner, Brent Carrizales was second and Tram pas Parker, wh o would go o n to win the 125cc Worl d Champions hip in 1989, was th ird. CORRECTION: The correct pho ne nu mber for L&M Ra cin g Supply of Chesnee, Sou th Carolina, is 803/5785240. PROMOTED: Kerry Bryant, to the posi tio n of director of marketing and sa les fo r Su pe rT ra p p a n d Kerker motorcycle, personal watercraft : automotive and ma rine products. Bryant was form all y responsibl e fo r the motorcycle and personal watercraft divisions o nly. He repl aces former automo tive and marine marketing director Mar k Liebert who is no longer wi th the company. A ru mor that CMC's Stu Peters had re-opened sout hern California's Sad dIe back Park sur faced as a resu lt of an item that ap peared in the p rogr am for the open ing speed way race a t Gl en Helen OHV Park. The item, whi ch mentioned long-cl osed Sa dd lebac k Park, referred to o pen riding practice days at Gl en Hel en , not Saddleback Park. Peters , who at first wasn 't aware of how the rumor go t started, said, " We've gotten about 100ca lls this past week about Saddleback." Once Papa MOVED: Fox Racin g Shox to 3641 Charter Park Dr., San Jose, CA 95.136, 408/269-9200. FORMED: T he Motor Sports Com,pany of Wisconsin, In c., by David J. Kircher. The Brookfi eld, Wisconsinbased finn will promote races in Wisconsin, starting with the July 7 National 600 Classi c HaI£ Mile, a round of the AMA 600 National Championship Dirt Track Series, at Hales Corners Speedway in Franklin. The firm also intends to promote car and kart races. Kircher's experience in motorsports incl udes 23 years as an SCCA official. CO RRECTI O N : Accord ing to road racer Mike Smith, his Yoshimura Suzuki's tires did not lose air pressure in the Ap ril 14 WERA F-USA race at Willow Springs. "I just cooked the tires early in the race ," Smith sai d. The Georgian fin ished fourth after leading the race early. TERMINATED: Wayne Cornelius, as vice president of Torsten Hallm an Origina l Raci n g (T H O R ). Befo re working for T H O R. Cornelius was the vice president of product development at Malcolm Smith Racin g Pr oducts. He can be reached at 619/ 723-7459, STOLEN: A 1989 Ka wasa ki zx-i Ninja from the Doubletree Inn parking garage in Monterey, California, over the r--------------------------------------------------------------SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name _ Address _ City O rde r Date State lip _ _ Pl ease Sta rt my subscription to Cycle News : o Ever y week for one year (50 issu es) for $35.00 (can be billed 3 monthly payments)' o Every week for two years (100 issues) for $65.00 n Six months second class (25 iss ues) for $18 .00 4 L One year (50 issues]. 2nd class Canada or Mexico an d a ll ot her for eign cou nt ries S75.00 (U.S. funds) , First elm and airmail rates available upon request. ~ o T his is a renewal o Plea se b ill me o Bill 3 paym ents of $ 11.67 o Enclosed is my check or money o rder Charge m y 0 Visa 0 Mastercard r;;... -ii1 ~ • - ~ ~ ~' I-=- Signature _ MC/ Visa # .:-- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - Exp ira tio n Da te Send to: Cycle News, Inc., P.O . 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