Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND ByPap_aW ----L.ye _eal Canadian road racer Jeff Gayn o r (Suz) won round three of the WERA Formula USA Series at Shannonvill e Motorsports Park in Sh ann onville, Ontario, Canada, May 26. Ga ynor to p ped fellow Canadian Pas cal Picotte (Yam) and Ohioan Tom Kipp (Yam) to win the rain-sodden event. The WERA Formula Two race was won by Canadian Darell Cooney (Yam) over countrymen Dave Sjoblom (Hon) and Richard Nelson (Ya m) . The WERA Pro Series event also served as , the o pen ing round of the Canadian National Championship. Two of the favorites for the WERA FUSA race were knocked out of the race i n the first com er. Heat race winner Ben o it P ilon .los t control o f his Yamaha and cras hed into Marlboro R oberts Yama ha 's Robbie Petersen. Bo th riders escaped the crash wi tho u t i nj ury. Series point lea der, Rich Oliver, finished sixth in Canada after starting hi s Marlboro Yamaha on the back ro w, d ue to a hea trace cras h . ' Steve Hatch (Suz) was the In ten t class o verall winner at round three of the National Reliabil ity Enduro Series in McArthur, Ohi o, May 26. Scott Summers (Hon ) fini sh ed second overall and E d Loja k (ATK) was th ird. Terry C unnin g ha m ( Kaw) topped Duane Conne r (Kaw) and Scot t Plessin ger (Kaw) in the Non-Intent class. Pekka Vehkonen (Yam ) scored the overall win at ro und five of the World Championship 250cc MX Series in Hyvinkaa, Fin land, on May 26. American Trampas Parker .dron ) failed to fin ish one moto and fin ished 11th in the o ther, dropping to second in the (Joint sta nd ings behind Alessandro Puzar (Suz), who also failed to finish one moto in Finland. American Mike _ H e a le y (KT M) p osted 4-6 moto fini shes. A benefit fund has been started for di rt tracker S co tt Adams wh o suffered pa ralyzi ng inj uries in a recent paved oval ha lf mil e race at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia. Adams, who hails fro m Oklahoma City, Oklahoma , underwent a sp inal fusion o pe ra tio n last we ek a t R iv ersid e Medi cal Center in Newport News, Virginia, an d is expec ted to be transferred to a medical center in Okl ahoma in th e very near fu ture. Do nati o ns to h el p d efray m ounting m edica l expenses can be sent to: Scott Adams Benefit Fund, c/o Central Bank, ATTN: Linda Suggs, P.O. Box 656, Oklahoma Ci ty, OK 73101. The City of Laconia, Weirs Beach and a number of Belknap County bus inesses and or ganizations have banded together to revive the annual motorcycle parade from Laconia to New Ham pshire In ternational Speedway for the June 16 Loudon Camel Classic, a round of the AMA National Championship Road Race Series. The last such parade was held more than 10 years ago. The parade will leave from th e Fun Spot o n Ro u te 3 north of La conia at 10a.m ., tou rthrough Weirs Beach and proceed down Route 106 to the speedway . A special par king area ha s been reserve d for parade riders. Team Honda's Jeff Stanton and Jean-Michel Bayle will be o n han d at Livermore Ho nda in Livermore, California, from 5-6 p.m. on Friday, June 14, to speak with fans and sign autographs. Their appearance is in co nj unctio n with the following evening's San Jose round of the Camel , Supercross Series. Live rm ore H onda is located at 2330 Railroad Avenue. The July 13; JoI U .S. 250 cc MX GP Trails bill nasses Senate-Committee T he Nation al Recreational Trails Fund Act clea red a major hurdle in the Sen at e o n Wednesday, May 22, when the Senate Env iro nment and Public Works Committee passed th e Surface T ra ns portation Efficiency Act (S965) by a unanimous vote. T he tra ils act is in corporat ed as T itle II of that legi slation. : Little more than a week before the vote, according to the Motor cycle Industry Council (MIC), Ohio Sen ator Howard Metzenbaum an nounced tha t he would offer an am endmen t to Title II. His amendment could hav ediverted all trai ls fund mon ies to non-mo torized recreat io n. T hi s wo uld have destro yed the int ent of the trails bill as introduced by Idaho Senato r Steve Symms. According to a Symms aide, as late as Friday, May 17, the committee rem ained divided on the proposed amendment . How ever, a last-minu te flood of phone calls , mail and electronic messages from off-roa d rid ers, OHV club lead ers, dealers and motorcycle-related bus inesses in the commi ttee members' states ga ve Symms the' support he needed to keep Title II intact. , On May 21, the day before th e committee met, Symms an d Metzenbaum negotiated a minor change in language. The Ohio sena to r th en agreed to withhold his amendment. That led to a decision by th e comm ittee lead ership that Title II wou ld 'not be discussed during highway bill deliberations. Thus .t the trails act retained all the provisions supported by MIC wh en th e committee favorably repo rted the en tire highway rea u tho rization bill. T he Na tional Recreation al T rails Fund Act would channel federal gas tax reven ues from off-highway vehicle use to state trails programs, benefitting both mo tor ized an d non-motorized trail users . . Action o n S965 by th e full Senate is likely du ring the week of June 10, MIC reported. , ' New lariguage inserted in (S965) removes potential confusio n over motorcycle use of H OV lan es. Wit h assistance of the Ameri can Motorcyclist Association, Idah o Senator Symms amended the section regarding HOV lane passenger req u irements to ensure tha t mo torcycles cou ld no t be considered "single occupant vehicles." When first in tro duced, the bill set a two-occu pant m inimu m for vehicles in HOV lanes. .T ha t 'left in question whether a motorcycle an d rider could be consi dered a sin gle occu pant vehicle. Curren t federal law requ ires sta tes to allow mo torcycl es in federally-funded car po ol la nes unless deemed a safety hazard. T he comprehe nsive highway reauthorization bill con tai ns no chan ges in provisions that would enco urage states to pass mo tor cycle helm et and automobile seat belt laws. The bill would authorize funding for public motorcycle and auto safety education programs after a sta te ena cts suc h laws . After the firs t year , grants could continue only if a state ach ieves specified complian ce levels in helm et and seat belt use. Schw ntz nins Rainey- in German GP a eam Lucky Strike Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz ' (ri gh t) narrowly beat Team Marlboro Roberts Yamaha 's Wayne Rainey to win a thrilling , German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany, on May 26. World Championshipleader Michael Doohan was the ear ly race leader on his Ro th mans H onda before slo wing with tire-wear problems and event uall y finishing third. Cagiva's Eddie Lawson finished fourth with Rothman s Honda's Wayne Gardner rounding out th e to p five. Cal ifornian Doug Chandler (Yam ) finished ninth while John Kocinski (Yam) crashed out of the race. Doohan now leads Rainey by 12 points, 10694, with Schwantz moving up to third in the standi ngs with 75 points. The 250cc G P was won in dominating fashion by German Helmut Bradl on the HB -backed H onda . Bradl led the entire race , beating Rep sol Honda's Carlos Cardus by 13.5 seconds. Sh arp-Sam son Honda's Wilco Zeelenberg finished third, followed by championship leader Luca Cadalora on the Rothmans Honda an d H RC's Masahiro Shimizu. Cadalora leads the championship point standings by 19 points over Bradl, 11091. Cardus is third with 82 points. Germany's Ralf Waldmann (Hon) won his home l25cc GP, beating defending World Champ ion Loris Capirossi (Hon) across the line by a scant .288-of-a-second. H einz Lueth i (Hon) finished third. Capirossi now leads Fausto Gresini, who , crashed in Germany, 84-71, in the championship point standings. Waldmann is third with 56 points. . T at U nadill a Valley Spo rts Center in New Berlin, New York, will be televised on ESPN. The one-hour progr am , whi ch will be produced by Seals Communications, is scheduled fo r broadcast at 6 p.rn. Eastern time on August 10. Ch eck your local listings. There will be no camping permitted at Un adilla this year, and no glas s containers, scaffolding or alcoholic beverages will be a llowed o n ' th e Unadilla grounds. Ticket 'prices will be $30 for the fu ll weekend with a $3.00 dis count for advanced sal es, while Sunday-only tickets will be available at the ga te for $26. Jonat h a n D e l.n agro, wh o was injured in th e May 19 Meadl owla nd s Amateur Supercross, is in a co ma in the hospital. Cardsand letters can be sen t to: Hackensa ck Medi cal Center, ICU, ATTN: J onathan DeL nagro, 30 P rospe ct Ave., Hackensack, NJ 07601. , By winnin g his fourth consecu tive San J ose Mile race on May 19, three-time Grand Nat io n al Cham pion Scot t P a r k er scored hi s 26th National mile win and moved int o firs t on the alltime mile win list, surpassing , the record of 25 mile wins held by former Grand Na tio nal Champion Bubba Sh obert . The victory brought Parker within on e win of J ay Springsteen 's all-time National win record of 40. Before the start of the AMA 600cc Na tional Champio nship final at San Jose on May 18, Papa saw defending Grand National Champion Scott Parker , former Grand Na tiona l Champions Bubba Shobert and Jay . Springsteen, Team H arl eyDavidso n 's Kevin Atherton and Garvis Honda Town rider Ronnie Jones drawing numbers out of a hat. Each bet $5 an d drew the top 600cc riders' numbers, with the pot to go to wh oever he ld the wi nn in g rider's n umber. After defending Na tio na l Champion Chris Carr romped off to an easy win, Springsteen was seen wi th a big smile on his face as he counted his winnings. "Hell, this' ll pay my entry tomorrow !" joked Sp ringsteen , referr in g to th e following da y's San Jose Mile Nati onal. Canadian Steve Aseltine, winner of the 1990 Daytona Short Track round of the Camel P ro Series, will make what is being billed as his o nly dirt track race ap pearance in his home coun try when he takes part in the J uly I Kawartba Downs National Half Mile. Foll ow in g his 7-11 moto finishes in the 125cc class at th e May 26 Mt. Morris 125/25Occ National Motocross, Tallon Vo bland underwent surgery o n May 28 to repair the troublesome left shou lder he dislocat ed at the Meadowlan ds Supercross. Vohland, wh o compe tes in th e 125cc East ern Regional Supercross Ser ies, will m iss the Oklahoma ro und and th e East-West Show - ' down at th e final ro und of the Cam el Su p ercross Series in L os Angeles, Cal ifornia,- bu t expects to return to act io n at the July 7 Red Bud 125/250cc National in Buchanan , Michigan. Scott USA represen tative Bev o F orti devis ed an in no vative way to preven t swea t from dripping into goggles at the h ot a n d hu m id Mt. Morris National MX. Bevo cut a stri p fro m a " feminin e napkin" and taped it to the go gg le foam in or der to soak up excess sweat on a ride r' s forehead. Dublin Kawasak i and Suzuki in Dublin , California, will host an a utogra ph session from 6-9 p.m. o n June 14 featuring T eam Kawasaki rnoro cros sers Jeff Ward, J eff Matiasevi ch and M ike Kiedrowski plus Team Suzuki's l25cc National Champion Guy Cooper , Mike LaRocco, Tallon Vobland and Denny Stephenson. T he event is in conjunction wit h the J une 15 San Jose Supe rcross. Du blin Kawasaki and Suzuki is loca ted at 6044 Dougherty Road. Motocrossers Ron Tichenor, Doug Dubach , Erik Kehoe , Mike Fisher, Mike Jones , Michael Craig, Larry Brooks, Kyle Lewis and Chris Young will ' compete in Scandinavian supercross es in Goth enburg, Sweden, on September 6 and in He lsi nki, Finland, on Septe mber 8. Ra y Groo m of So. Cal. XRs called Papa with a rem in der that there are still four races left in this year 's XR Mini Series tha t w ill be h eld a t locations througho ut Southern Cal iforrti a. Cl asses are available for both 1

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