Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND 'ByPapaWealey Californian B ob M oore (KT M) was the overa ll winner at ro und eigh t of th e World Championship 125cc MX Series in Killinchy, Ireland, June 29. S t e fa n Everts (Suz) finished second overall a nd Joachim Karl sson (Kaw) ro unded o ut th e to p th ree. Cal iforn ian Willie Surratt (H on) recorded 8-10 moto finishes. Moo re gained 10 points on cham pionsh ip leader Everts and trails him 259-238 in the standings. Sweden 's Peter Jobansson (Yam) scored the overa ll win at ro und seven of the World Championship 250cc MX Series in Nisrnes, Belgium , June 30. M arnicq Bervoets (Kaw) finish ed secon d overall an d Ca lifornian Mike Healey (KT M) was third. -T r ampa s Parker (Ho n) o f Louisiana a nd defe'n ding 250cc World Champion Alessandro Puzar (Suz) ba ttled for second in the first moto, and after they collided severa l times P uzar p u t Parker down three turns before the fin ish line. Parker fin ished third , then p unched Pu zar after th e moto. Par ker had another rider land on hi m in rnoto two and finis hed 11th. Californian Micky D ymond (Yam ) pos ted 18-6 moto fi n ishes, wh ile fell o w com p a tr io t B ade r Manne h (Ya m ) fa iled to fin ish either rnoto, Pu zar leads the point sta ndings with 205 points, whi le Parker and Heal ey aretied for second at 169 po ints . Dave Strijbos (Suz), wh o recor ded 10-4 'moto fini shes, lies fo urth wit h 164 points. Georges Jobe (Hon) swept both mo tos at ro u nd si x o f th e World Ch ampionsh ip 500cc ' MX Series in Esanatoglia, Italy, J un e 30. J a c ky Marte ns (KTM ) finished second overall and Jeremy Whatle y (Kaw) compl eted the top three.. B illy Liles (Kaw) of Georgia recorded 3-15 rnoto finishes. J obe leads Martens in th e point standings, 153-138. Ron N a ylor (AT K) and Scott Summers (Hon) tied for the overa ll win at ro und six of the AMA National Cha mpionship Hare Scrambles Seri es in Sun Valley, Idaho, J un e 30. Both Naylor , who physica lly cro ssed th e fini sh lin e in first place , and Summers, who was second, were protested for two separate inci dents, Nay lor for course cu tting and Su mmers for not killing hi s engine wh ile mak in g a pit stop. After reviewin g the two protests, the AMA declared th e two riders th e event's overa ll winner(s) and both will be awa rded first-place point s toward s the series p oi nt sta n d i n gs. Duane Conner (Kaw), Todd Peugh (Kaw) and Joe Kopp (Kaw) ro unded out the top five, respe ctively. Steve Lamson (Hon ) was the big winner at the J une 27-30 24th Annual Mam moth Moun tain Motocro ss in Mammoth Lakes, California. Lamson earn ed a bo nus for being the weekend's top Pro class fin isher. He won th e 250 an d 500cc Pro classes and finis hed third in the 125cc class behind winner Doug Dubach (Yam ) and Ty D a vis (Hon ). Dubach and Larry B r o oks (Kaw) ro unded out the top three in the 250cc Pro class, whil e B ria n Man ley (Hon) and Lance S m a il (Kaw) followed Lamson acro ss th e line in the 500cc class. Rex Staten (Hon ) was the winner in the Vet Pro class, and Craig Decker top p ed th e 80cc Expe rts. Mike B rown (Hon) swep t the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at the Volunteer Stat e MX Champi onsh ips held a t Muddy Creek R aceway in Blountville, FIM's GP DfoDosal shocks the world! T he recen.tannouncement of th e FIM Management Council's decision to cha nge the engme form ula for th e 500cc World Championship Road Race Series to 500cc four-strokes only beginn ing in 1993, as reponed here last week , has sent shock waves through the road racing communi ty. . T he "a dvant ages" to the formu la change, according to an FIM press release Issued on June 24, are: "These (500cc four-strokes) can be available a lmost immedia tely, latest 1992, in the quantities req ui red from existin g sport machin es. These engi nes will also be used in Continental Championships. T hese prod uce a lower level of em ission. T he power characteristics of the engi nes make th e motorcycles easier and safer to rid e. T here is no restriction in the use of leadfree fuel for thes e engines." , . Both Grand Prix compe titors and IRTA race teams were up in arms over th e decision when the news broke. HRC's Yoshi Oguma: " We were not prepared for the decision. We now on ly have two-stroke technology in th e 500cc class . Therefore, we are not interested in this proposal." Team Marlboro Roberts' Paul Butler: " Nobody can say that we are leaving to form our own championship - now they are throwing us out. Yamaha has no intention of building something more expensive than a 500cc two -stroke and slower than a 250." . Lucky Strike Suzuki's Garry Taylor; "T his decision is so surprisin g that in the beginning we thought it was a joke by a journalist. Personally speaking, we are rarely 100 percent in agreement with Honda, but in this case the statements by their officials completely express our sentiments." The general director of Dorna Motor, who recently won a bidding war to ob tain th e TV rights to the series beginning in 1993: "The contract between Dorna and the FIM is for a complete World Championship with a full 500 grid and the best riders. We hope that th e FIM has an agreement with the Japanese manufacturers before making this decision." At th e June 29 Dutch GP, Taylor issued a press releas e that stated th e foll owin g: "I have been asked by th e Suzuki factory to make the following statement. We have no interest in the proposed formula. We have no other comment to make." HRC's lain Mackay also issued a release: "We arenot prepared for the FIM decision of 24th June, 1991. We now have two- stroke 500cc racing, therefore we have no interest in the proposed formula. We have no other comment. " Some of the riders had more colorful comments. World Champion Wayne Rainey said, " Whoever came up with that must hav e thought ab out it on ' the shiuer because it sounds like a shiny idea to me." Irishman Edd ie Laycock: " I don' t know what those gu ys were' on wh en the y made that rule, but I' d like half an ounce of it." Wayne Gardner: " An y potential spo nsor is go ing to th ink the ru ling body of the sport are comp lete idiots." Michael Doohan: "The 250s would be faster than a ' heavy 500cc four- stroke. I'm sure somebody swapped their valium boule with someth ing else." Tennessee, June 29-30. Ezra Lusk (Suz),was the runner-up in the 125cc Pro cla ss, whi le J e ff Glas s (Hon ) was third in the 125cc class and finished second in the 250cc divi sion ah ead of Davey Yezek (Kaw). Jeff M a t ia s e v ich (Kaw) topped Jeff W ard (Ka w) and New Zea lan der D a rryl King (Kaw) at the J une 29 Hawaiian International Supercross in Honolulu. Vnder the headl ine " Pro racer arrested for drunken driving," Salinas, Cal ifornia' s T he Ca lifornia n repon ed the arrest by a motorcycle po lice officer of two -time Gra nd Na tional Champion Ricky Graham, 32, for su spe cted drun ken driv in g Fr iday a fternoon , J une 21, in his hometown of Salinas. Accordi ng to the repo rt, a pol ice officer said Gra ham, who was drivi ng a van, was "speeding and weaving through traffic and at one po int forced another dr iver int o the cu rb." Graham tol d the police that he was returning fro m a golf tournament. The report added, "A jail official said Graham was previousl y convicted of drunken dr iving." Graham was arrested a t 4 p.m. and later freed on $2000 bail. Six weeks earlier, on Friday, May 10, Graham had a run-in with the law tha t caused him to miss the Pomona H alf Mil e round of the Camel Pro Seri es th e foll owing evening. As we reported, Graham said he had been drinking and had pulled off the road to rest and that the po lice impo unded h is van , but did not cha rge him with drunken drivin g. He bounced back from that episode wit h a win, his 25th Na tiona l victory, a t the May 26 Springfield Mil e aboard the Eaken-Sponseller Racing Honda RS750. The Flat River National Championship Hare Scrambles whi ch will take pla ce at St. Joe Sta te Park in Missouri, on July 21 will start a t 10 a.m. instead of th e regular tim e in hopes of keeping rid ers coo ler. Organizer Ron Ribol zi said, "Our National will be as good as, if not beuer than our first." Ribolzi added that " grea t" cam ping faci lities are ava ilable a t St. Joe State Par k and that he can be reached for more information in the evenings at 3I4/781-5865. H ere's a list of the television stations that are telecasting the taped coverage of the 1991 Camel Supercro ss Ser ies under th e show heading of Supercross '9 1 - The Ultimate Challenge: Los An gel es, KCAL ; Philadelphia , WPHL; San Fra ncisco/ O akl an d , KI C V ; Boston , W FXT ; Dall as/Ft. Wo rt h , KDFI; Cleveland/ Akro n , WOIO ; Atla n ta , WATL; Tampa/ St. Petersburg, WTMV; Seattle/Tacorna, KOMO; Denver, KDVR; Orlando/Daytona, WCPX; Indian ap ol is; WISH ; Nashville, WXMT; , Co lumb us, Ohio, WWAT ; Oklahoma City, KOKH ; W. Palm Beach , WAQ; Greensboro/ W. Sal em /H igh Po int, WAV ; Lou isville, WBNA; T u lsa , KTFO ; Flint/ Sa ginaw , WSMH ; Mo bi le/ Pe ns acola, WJTC; Au stin, KCV ; Padu cah /H arr isburg/Cape Gira rd eau , WCE E; Ced ar Ra p ids, KOCR; Corp us Ch risti, KDF; Anch orage, KYES. T he show is being telecast on either Sa turday or Sunday, depending on the area. Check your local lis tings or call the sta tio n. May? Papa mean t to say " Sep tember" wh en referr ing to the Brazilian GP rou nd of the World Ch ampionshi p Road Race Series in an item that appeared in this sectio n last week. As we reported the n, Kevin Schwantz has inspected the circu it and reports tha t th ere are sti ll tWO corn ers at the Interlagos track he feels are uns afe. T rack officia ls say th ey'll cha nge th e corners for the event that is schedu led to tak e pl ace on September 8. The ann ual B onn e ville National Speed ,W e e K at Utah 's Bonneville Salt Fla ts will take place August 1824. For more informa tio n, con tact the Sou thern Ca liforn ia Timing Association (714/ 627-9260) or Bon nevill e Nationa ls, Inc. (714/783-8293). Edgell Expositions has an no unced 10 diff erent cities for its I n terna ti on al Motorc y cle Show series d uri ng the 1991-92 winter. Sponsored by American Isu zu Motors, the series of sho ws will get underway in the H ou ston Astro H all , Novemb er 28-Decemb er I, and be foll owed by show s in southern Ca lifornia 's Ana heim Co n vent io n Center, Decemb er 6-8; Boston 's ' Baysid e Expo Center, J anuary 3-5; the Cervantes Convention Center in St. Lo u is, January 10-12 ; Ch ica go 's O ' Hare Expo Center, J an uary 17-19; New York City's Jacob javits Co nvention Center, J anuary 31-February 2; San Francisco 's Cow Palace, February 7-9; Detroit's Cobo Hall, February 1416; Philadelphia 's Valley Forge Center , February 28-M arch I ; an d at Da yt on a Internation al Speedway , March 5-8. At each of th e Intern ational Motorcycle Sho ws, Cycle World magazin e will host a R eaders ' Collection S e ries , a show for cus tom , vin tage an d classic bikes. The b ikes will be judged by Cycle Wor ld 's editorial staff. For more information . call 714/720-5300. T he "new ow nersh ip " of West Virgin ia Motor Spe edway in Min eralwells, West Virginia, that was men tioned in an item in th is section last week, is West Virgin ia Motor Spor ts Inc., wh ose principals are Pen nsylvan ian s Bob Jones and Paul Gen e Rhoade and Pa rkersburg resident Paul Jones. Bob Jones and R hoade were formerly part of th e promoting group that presented races a t Will ia ms Grove Sp eedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. They purchased West Virgi nia Mo tor Speed way from Jim Weigle. The lin e forms herel T he Rosceui Cor porat ion, the Bim ota di str ib utor for the V. S. a nd Canada , says the first sh ip ment of the 1992 Bimota Tesi ID will be arriving thi s fall. Orders are, of co urse, being accep ted at all Birnota dealers. Rosceu i says they'll import only 30 examples of th e world 's most exotic spo rt bike. If you failed to find one of the Bimota T esi ID's under yo ur Christmas tree last year and don 't thin k that the $40,000 asking price was the reaso n you came up emp ty-ha nded, Papa reco mmends that you remind your (choo se one or more) husb and/wife/boyfrien d/ girlfri end/ fa ther/ mother th a t Chr istmas isn ' t really all that far away and have him/ her call 800/ 437-4494 for th e name of your nearest Birnota dealer. An au ctio n o f racing/ racer -relat ed item s wi ll be held on Jul y 26 a t Sapu lpa" Ok lah oma's Creek Co unty Speedway to rai se funds to help dirt track racer Scott Adams , wh o su ffer ed paral yzin g in j uries recentl y, defray his medi cal expenses. In addition, specia l T- shi rts will be sold a t the track and all proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go to Adams. The sho rt track race and auc tion will take place the n ight before the O klahom a Ci ty ro und of the Camel Pro Series. For more info rmation or to donate items for the auction, call 918/ 4555664. 1

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