Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

at th e Pal au Sa nt Jordi Ol ympic " Stadium, par t of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics complex. But since Morehead smo ked Spain's best dirt track ri ders five month s ago, ri di ng a Spa nish importer's Husaberg 501, Spanish riders have been practicing and preparing for a second shot at the " Findlay Flyer." Three-time Grand Na tio na l Champion Jay Springsteen was also supposed to have raced in Spain in the first event, but the Gu lf War made it impossible to get hi s Har ley-Davidson shipped fro m Mich igan to Barcelona in time. This time, both Morehead and Springsteen , jet-lagged and tired after having raced at the Lima Half Mile round of the Camel Pro Series in Ohio on Saturday, arrived in Barcelona on Monday morn in g, the day of the fir st race of th e two-day event , rounds two and three of the Sant Jordi Challenge. They were accompan ied by T om Cummings of Flint, Michigan's Cummings Harley-Davidson, who looked after their bikes. Spanish riders , led by KTM mounted Juan Bulto who qualified second behind Moreh ead and in front of Springsteen, found it hard to believe that the Rotax-powered HarleyDavidson sing les with their " prim itive" rear suspension, cou ld beat the mor e sophisticated enduro and mo tocross mach in es, but then Morehead and Springsteen won th eir h ea ts, transferred to the semis and won again to start side-by-side on the in side of the front ro w for th e main. " I can see that th ese guys have been working," said Morehead , after pass ing Springs teen out of turn four 0t! the last lap to take th e $1OOQ.,p rize in the Chesterfield Chall enge, a four-lap spr int for th e five top qualifiers. "The bikes are better than in February an d the best riders are dirt tracking instead of mot ocros sin g down on th e inside. We still hav e the edge on the sho rt track for sure , but in the IT tomorrow some of these motocross gu ys are go ing to give us a hard tim e." Six of th e 10 riders who sta rted the main crashed on th e entrance to turn one when Jordi Elias tried to move over on fellow-Spaniard Ramon Riudalbas. Among th e six crashers was Spring-' steen who went over the handlebars. The race was restarted without incident .and Morehead and Sprin gsteen took th e lead from the en tra nce to turn one and held it right through to the checkered flag. Spr ingsteen and Morehead di ced for the entire 20-lap main, passing an d repa ssin g each other every lap on the 230-yard oval, but at one point they slowed each oth er up eno ugh to all ow Bulto to get within 10 yards of them. Mor ehead led in to turn three but Springsteen go t better drive out of four and wheelied across the start-finis h a half wheel-width ahead of Moreh ead to take the $4000 first prize. Morehead earned $2000 for second, with Bul to, son of the foun der and former owner of the Bul taco factory , finishing th ird , delight ed to share the podium with the two AMA veterans. First of th e motocrossers was Yamaha-mounted J ordi Elias, who was fourth in front of Span ish enduro ace and Paris-Dakar star j ordi Alcarons, who rode a Cagiva. Sixth was former two-time 250cc motocross World Champion, Heinz Kinigadner. Kinigadner, a six-foot, five-in ch 250 pound Austrian who now lives on the , Spanish island of Thiaza and who is reigning Spanish enduro champion riding for KT M, was looking forward to the following nigh t' s IT race with front brakes prohibited by the Spanish organizers. . Morehead, not known as a IT specialist, was not. "T he IT section that takes you from turn two into the infield and through a righ t-hander over the jump is so tight and slo w that it 's going to be real hard to pass and the motocross bik es are going H.. outjump th e Harleys," Morehead said. Springsteen found that th e onl y way to pass in the timed IT qual ifyin g hea ts was to do a little old -fashi on ed handlebar bumping. "A couple of guys cam e over to say somethi ng u nfriendl y in Spanish to me after practice," said Springsteen , " but it was me who got · knocked off once and bumped a lot of times . The good riders aren't complaining. It 's just the gu ys who are so slow that you have to move them over. A lot of these guys are real good rid ers and if you don 't get a good start here it 's goi ng to be hard goi ng ." Kini gadner, on hi s 600cc four-stroke KTM, was fastest over the timed four laps that determined grid po sitions. Morehead was second ahead of Alex L1obet , Czechoslovakian motocross and endurance champion Estanislaev Spacek and Carlos Mas. Springsteen, balked badly in his qualifying heats, was eighth and worried. Kinigadner, showing his world-class motocross flair and styling over the jump, won his heat from Springsteen , while Morehead with a very good start, won his heat from Bulto and 10-time Spanish MX Ch ampion T oni Elias. But in th e first semi Springsteen and Moreh ead had to be content to transfer to th e main with a third and fourth pla ce beh ind Kinigadner and Bulto. Space k won semi two from Alcarons, Riu dahbas and Llobet with form er Spanish road ra ce champion Edwardo Cots making it to the main with a win in the La st Chance Qu alifier over Carlos Mas, who also transferred via promoter 's op tion. But when the money was on the table for the Chesterfield Challenge it was Morehead who got the holeshot and won the four-lap sprint for $1000 from Carlos Mas. What was th e differnce that made the bike work so mu ch better between the sem i and the challenge? "T he differ ence was a thousand bucks," said the Ohio rider, but he added, " Now we've got our gearing 'right for th e en tra nce to th e IT section and if we don 't get knocked off or balked I think either me or Springer can beat Kinigadner and Bulto here. T rouble with Kinigadner is he weighs so damn much , he gets more drive than we do. " With Kinigadner on the po le beside Juan Bulto and Spacek, Springsteen , fourth on the five-rider fro nt row was now hop ing to get th ro ugh turn one without a crash. Morehead was on the inside of the second row . . . not such a bad place to be as th in gs turned out. At th e star t Bulto and Kinigadner tangled and when the giant Austr ian went down and Bulto went wide, Morehead shot through into the lead. "Those two guy s opened a hole big eno ug h for me to have driven a truck th roug h," Moreh ead said. Springsteen was not so lucky. When the du st cleared fro m the Kin iga dner crash, Springsteen was next to last and had h is work cut out for him in the 20-lap main. Morehead got clear of th e BultoSpacek dice.a nd started p ulling out a lead . Bu lto an d Space k bumped severa l tim es and tha t let Llobet on his KT M through into second with Mas th ird. When Spacek heard Sprin steen 's Har-: ley he moved over just eno ugh to let the Ameri can by before slamming th e door in Bulto' s face. This so outraged Bulto that he event ually ran Spacek off the trac k and while Morehead raced to victory and an inspired Llobet held off Sp ri ngsteen, Bu lto and Spacek (Left to right) Jenny, Nicky and Roger Hayden dominated the Lawrenceburg ST . came to a full stop on the ou tside of tu rn three and yelled an d gestured into each other 's faces. Moreh ead took the $4000 win , giving him a total take of $8000 for the two days. Springsteen went home with $5000 and congra tu lated Llobet for his rid e. " I did everything I could to force you to make a mistake, but you hung in there ." said Springsteen to the delighted Spaniard. Ma s, fourth in th e ma in , sai d, "Whe n I was a kid growing up I used to read abou t th e battles betw een Sp ringsteen and Roberts and SCOtl, and for me being in the sam e race with h im was something I'll never forget. I was wat ching Springsteen a ll the way in th e IT main and he cou ld have knocked Ll obet off several tim es, but ins tead he tried to rid e around the outside of him and force a mi sta ke. These Americans rid e hard, bu t they ride clean . .. and th ey know how to ta ke care of themselves. I saw a cou ple of guys try some moves in th e heats on Moreh ead and Springsteen and both of the m ended up sitting on th e track an d wa tching th e Harleys dr ive away." Abo u t 5000 fans attended the twoday event, a reaso na ble cro wd cons ideri ng that th e races were held on week ni gh ts and during th e beginning of th e Spanish su mmer vacation period. The half-hour TV edit o f the even t was seen the follow ing Sunday o n TVE-2, Spain 's most impo rta nt sports chan nel and it look s as if slow ly but surely dirt tra ck raci ng is ca tching the imaginatio n of Spanish fan s. The next short track event for the four-race Sant Jordi cha llenge (orga nized by Solo Moto magazine) is provisiona lly sched uled for Sep tember in Sevill e and the next short trac k race to be held in Barcelona will take pl ace on the first weekend of February, 1992, . a t the San t Jord i O lympic Stad ium. Already promoters are .beginn in g to schedule short track even ts at su m mer fairs around Spain and the Span ish Federation is considering th e possi bi lity of ru n ni ng a short track Nati onal Championship Series in 1992. "These guys are learning fast, " said Morehead, who left Barcel on a on Wednesday to compe te in a paved short tra ck event back in th e Sta tes a t Charlotte, North Carolina, "so I hope the Spanish organizers can 'come up with a half mile track sometime soon becaus e these gu ys have just about go tten the short stuff figured out." I:N Resul ts SHORT T RACK: I. Jay Springsteen (H-D); 2. Steve Morehead (H· D):3. Juan Bulto (KTM); 4. Jordi Elias (Yarn); ' 5. Jordi Alcaro ns (Cag) ; 6. Heinz Kinigadner (KT M): 7. Ricard {o ve (G-G): 8. Carlo, Mas (Yam); 9. Agustr i Val (Suz) ; 10. Ramon R iud elbas (Hgb). Time: 4 min .• 35.71 sec. TT: I. Sreve Mo reh ead (H-D); 2. Alex Llobet (KT M): 3. Jay Springsteen (H-D): 4. Carlo. Mas (Ya m); 5. Jordi Alcaron ns (Ga g) ; 6. Edwa rdo Cots (Yam ); 7. Heinz Kinigadner (KT M); 8. Estan islav Specek (Hbg): 9. J uan Bulto (KT M): 10. Ramon Riudalbas (Hgb). Time 5:20.75. SANT lORDI CHALLENGE POINT STAND- IN G S:1. Steve Morehead (3 1); 2. l ay Springsteen (17); S. {"rdi Alcarons (14): 4. Alex Llobet (8): 5. Juan Bu to (6): 6. (TIE) Carlo, Ma./J ordi Elias/Heinz Kinigadner/ J ordi Puig/j aim e Marti nez de la Rosa . (4). Hardens top Lawrenceburg ST By Bert Shepard LAWRENCEBURG,IN, JUNE28 The talented H ayd en fam ily: Rog er Lee, 8, Jenn y, II , Nid y, II , and T ommy, 13. made the ir appearance a t th e Amateur Short T rack National Qualifier at Lawrenceb u rg Speedway wo rth their wh ile. The famil y of racers took the measure of the "regu lars " a t the H ershel Benkert-run facili ty, wmning four o f the six motorcycle events ru n. David Wolf kept his u ndefeated string i ntact in the 50cc class as the West H arrison .Tndiana, racer took control fro m the sta rt a nd led the event from wire to wire. Roger Ha yden quickly moved fro m a slow stan and ended up seco nd in fro nt of Zach Palmer. Nicky a nd Je n ny H ayden res u med th eir sibling rivalry in the 80cc class, J en n y worked o n her brother b ut couldn't find a way by. She finis hed seco nd a her keepi ng Matt Aux ier in third place, The 125cc final saw the Hayden s go a t it again . This ti me it was Tommy o n his 125 against the field and b ro th er Nicky on his BO. Nicky was all ove r Tommy, b ut th e 35cc differen ce seemed to be the differen ce, as weilas a perfect ri de by th e eldest o f the H aydesn . Third-p lace finisher Ben Bell ma n had a firstrate sea t to watch th e battle for th e lead . Pat Beh rl e wo rked on Neil Keen /Har t R a cing /K i w i Hel mets /"T -S hi rt Shoppe/ Bobby Le wis/Slump In su rance/Merli and ROOI Hart-backed T o mmy H ayden in th e 250cc main to no 'a vail. G ary Sto gsdill came home third. It was Bob Co llins and David Veil 's tum to chase Hayden in th e Open B even t. but T ommy's qu id star t was a ll he neded to secure h is third win o f th e evening. Pa t Behrl e bo unced back in th e Open A to tu m bad Rax Fisher a nd Doug Davis in a war. Results !'JO: I. David Woll (Hon); 2. Roger Haydm ( Yam); S. Zach~ Pal mer (H on). 80: 1. Nicky Ha ydm (Yam ); 2. Jenny Ha ydM (Y,un ); ' .Mom Auxin (H on ). 125: 1. Tommy Ha yden (Ya m ); 2. Nick y H ayden (Ya m ); ' .8m &oilman (Hon ). j 250: 1. Tommy Hayden (YamO;2.Pac Bdl rle (Hon); 5. Gary SIl",1dill (Yam). O PEN B: 1. Tommy Ha yden (Yal'll);2. Bob Collins (Hon); 5. David Veil (Yam ). OPEN A:. 1. hI Bdlrl(' (H on ): 2. Rn: Filhn- (W· R ): 3. Doug Davi s (H on ). Beauchamp is champ at Low Country Motocross By Kyle Myers sc. HARDEEVIll.E. JULY 9 Ro u nd three o f th e FMC Tony Haynes Seri es was held at Low Country MX_ Heavy rain and lighting made for o n ly o ne m oto , at his bene fit race , as Lo u isian a rider Brett Beaucham p was the top rid er in th e 125cc A class. When th e gate dropped in the 125cc A cla ss Beauch amp ripped th e hol eshot with Travis Blackburn and Kevin Crine following. At th e end o f lap o ne, th e o rder was th e same , but o n lap two Cri ne slid by Blackburn )0 tak e over the seco nd spot, but too late to ca tch lea der Beauch amp. At th e fini sh it wa s Beauch amp wi th th e wi n, Grine and Blackburn ro undi ng out th e top th ree, respec tively . Resu l ts P/ W: I. Tyler Shl"ilch (Yam ). 60: I. Cammn Dubroioe ( Ka w) : 2. Ty ler Shei lds (JU w) . 80: J. Garren Pyln (SUI ); 2. J am t'l Marl in (Ya m); 3. 10.\ Ha ynn (Ha n ); i . T("I"rMlu' ROOK (Sw ): 5. j ason T ripp er!! ( K.aw) . - 80 8 : l. Rabbit Horton ( K.ia w ); 2. Richard H ~ nl!o (SUI). 80 A; 1. Rich it Horton ( Ka w). S/ MINl: I. R ichi(' Hor ton (lU w); 2. Robb ie Horton ( K.aw); 5. Richa rd Heins (Suz); t . Terrence Rod gers (Suz). 125/250 BEG: I. Lucian Bonkowiloki (K.ilw ); 2. T om Hol hn.iln (Ha n); 5. Dan San (SUI); 4. jered Blounl ( K.aw) ; 5. Darrin M. r lin (Ya m ). a 27

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