Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

9INTHEWIND e Steve Morehead (H -D) won round six of the AMA 600cc National Championship Dirt Track Series, the August 18 Hamburg Half Mile at the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York. Terry Poovey (H -D) finished second and Junior class rider Wink Frietas (W-R) was third. Defending series champ Chris Carr (H-D ) finished 14th after crashing, but with just two rounds to go has a commanding lead in the point standings, 90-57, over Larry Pegram (WR), who finished sixth at Hamburg. Frietas won the Junior National held in conjunction with the 600 National. Billy Hamill, who qualified for' the Augu st 31 World Ind ividual Speedway Championships in Gothenberg, Sweden, by winning the August II semi fin al in Ru ssia, will be joined by fellow Californians Sam Ermolenko and Ronnie Correy at th e World Finals. Ermolenko and Correy fini shed fourth and sixth , respectiv ely, in th e August 18 sem i final in Abensberg, Germany, which was won by threetime World Champion Hans Nielsen of Denmark. The top eigh t fini shers from each of the sem i fina ls ad van ced to the final s. Failing to qualify was Californ ian Kelly Moran , who pl aced l l th. Florida 's Tim Ferry (Kaw) won the 125cc A Stock and Mod ified classes at th e August 13-17 10th Ann ua l AMA/ Honda Amateur / Youth MX National Cham p ions hips a t Loretta Lynn 's Dude Ranch in Hurri cane Mills, T ennessee. Ben Heibel (Kaw) of Missouri was the 250cc A Stock class winner, Californian Tommy Clowers (Kaw) won the 250cc A Modified class, and Floridian Gene Naumec (Ka w) topped th e Open A class. Californian Mercedes Gonzalez (Kaw) won the Women's class title for the fifth time, then announced she would retire at the end of the year . Californians Craig Decker (Kaw) and Mike Metzger (Suz) were the top riders in the Senior Mini classes. Michael Craig (Kaw) topped Brian Manley (ATK ) and Ron Lechien . (Kaw) in the Open Pro class at the Commotion by the Ocean MX, August 17-18 in Carlsbad, California. Western Regi onal 125cc Su percross Champion Jeremy McGrath (Hon) won th e 125cc Pro class over Bubba Erickson (Suz) and Dana Wiggins (Yam). FIM President Jos Vaessen announced during a pres s conference at the San Marino Grand Prix on August 17 that the FIM will keep the existing rules for the 500cc World Championship Road Race Series, at least until January I, 1994. Earlier this year, th e FIM su rprised the GP world by announcing tha t the series would be using fou r-cylinder 500cc fourstrokes beginning in 1992. Vaessen also announced that a GP . Bureau would be formed, consisting of IRTA (Int ernational Racing T eams Association), ROPA (Race Organizers and Promotors Asso ciation ) an d Dorna, the Spanish company that recently won a bidding war for th e worldwide television rights to Gr and Prix road racing. The announcement, however, may not be enough to stop an al ternate series from beginning in 1992. Members of IRTA stressed in Italy that the FIM's announcemen t may be a case of too li ttle too late. The Kenny Roberts-led group is planning a pre sen tation in September to detail p lans on the new series. The Brazilian round of the World Championship Road Race Series has been cancelled and will be replaced by a race at Le Mans in 'F r ance on the same date , September 8. Spanish road racer Alex Criville is scheduled to test Sito Pons' Honda NSR500 on Monday, August 26, in AMA MX schedule reduced in 1992 T he AMA's 1992 Camel Supercross and National Champion ship Motocross Series schedule has been reduced by four events, with two events slashed from the Camel Supercross Series schedule and two from the National MX 2 list. The schedule reduction was made in an effort to reduce travel and to help reduce the cost for competitors to follow the series. "We recognize that budgets are tight as everybody bounces back from the recession," said AMA Communications Manager Bill Amick . The Camel Supercross Series kicks off January II in Orlando, Florida, and concludes June 20 in Los Angeles , California. All II rounds of the National Championship MX Series, which begins March I in Gainesville, Florida, will include 125cc class competition. The first six Nationals will also feature 250cc class action, while 500cc machines will share the bill with the 125s at the five remaining rounds of the series that concludes October 4 in Budds Creek, Maryland. In addition to the If-event AMA Camel Supercross Series and an II-race National Championship MX Series, U.S. 250 and 500cc Grand Prix rounds have been tentatively scheduled. The U.S. 500cc MX GP has been moved from its traditional summer date to April 5, making it the opening roundof World Championship 500cc MX Series instead of the series finale. The U.S. 250cc MX GP at Unadilla is tentatively scheduled for July 19. The complete schedule is as follows: Camel Supercross Series National Championship 1111 Orlando, FL 125/250cc MX Series 111 8 Houston, TX 3/1 Gainesville, FL 1125 Anaheim, CA 5/17 Southwick, MA 2/1 Seattle, WA 5/24 Mt. Morris, PA 2/8 San Diego, CA 6/13 Sacramento, CA 2/22 Atlanta, GA 7/5 Buchanan, MI 317 Daytona Beach, FL 7/26 Troy, OH 3/14 Charlotte, NC 3/21 Indianapolis, IN National Championship 3/28 St. Petersburg, FL 125/500cc MX Series 4/11 -12 Pontiac, MI 8/16 Millville, MN 4/25 Las Vegas, NV 8/23 Washougal, WA 5/2 Dallas, TX 9/20 Binghamton, NY 6/6 San Jose, CA 9/27 Delmont, PA 6/20 Los Angeles, CA 10/4 Budds Creek, MD Rainer, Cadalora nrevail in Italy_ ar lboro Yamaha's Wayne Rainey and Rothmans Honda's Luca Cadalora (right) extended their respective championship point leads in the 500 and 250cc World Championship Road Race Series with wins in the San Marino Grand Prix' in Mugello, Italy, August 18. Rainey beat Lucky Strike Suzuki 's Kevin Schwantz by, 2.946 seconds with his main championsh i:> rival Michael Doohan finishing third on the Rothmans Honda. Doohan's teammate Wayne Gardner and Scotland's Niall Mackenzie, riding a Sonauto-backed Yamaha YZR500, rounded out the top five finishers. Marlboro Yamaha's John Kocinski -fin ished sixt h with fellow American Doug Chandler fin ish ing ninth on the Roberts Yamaha. Cagiva's Eddi e Lawson failed to finish . Rai ney now leads Doohan .by 15 points with three rounds remaining in th series, 205-190. Schwantz is third with 173 points. Cadalora also enhanced his chances of winning his first 250cc Worl Championship with a win in Italy. The Italian beat Repsol Honda's Carlos Card by 11.5 seconds with Aprilia's Loris Reggiani finishing third. Cardus' second place finish moved him past HB Honda's Helmut Bradl, wh crashed in Italy, and into second place behind Cadalora in the championshi Cadalora leads Cardus by 35 points, 209-174. Bradl now trails Cardus by a singl point with 173 points. . T he 125cc GP was won by Rotax-mounted Peter Oetll over defending Worl Champion Loris Capirossi and his AGV Pileri Honda teammate Fausto Gresini Capirossi, however, still leads the championship with 188 points to Gresini's 168 M Brno, Czechoslovakia. Criville, who curren tly lies 15th in the 250cc World Championsh ip, won the 125cc World Championship in 1989. Pons is set to retire at the end of this season with Crivill e a can dida te to take his place on the Campsa Honda. Four- time World Champion Eddie Lawson was scheduled to test Dunlop tires on his factory Cagiva on Monday, August 19, in Italy, but the team had problems securing ambulance service at th e Mugello circuit. Lawson is reportedly unhappy with his Michel ins and a move to Dunlop is likely. It 's officiall Jeff Stanton, Damon Bradshaw and Mike Kiedrowski will represent the U.S. at the September 14 Motocross des Nations in Valkenswaard, Holland. Stanton, 23, will be riding in his third consecutive Motocross des Nations event, but for the first time he'll compete' in the 500cc class on a factory Honda. Yamaha's Bradshaw , 19, a' member of last year 's winning team , has been entered in the 250cc class, and Kiedrowski, 22, who helped the U.S. win in 1989, will be aboard a Kawasaki in the 125cc class. The U.S. team will.be shooting for an unprecedented lIth straight victory in th e World Championship event. The AMA Amateur I Y outh Grand National Dirt Track Championships will cont in ue to take place at th e same Peoria, Illinois, tracks that ha ve hosted the races for the past three years. Offi cers of the AMA, the Peoriabased T ote Gray Racing Association and the Peoria M.e. have reached an agreeme n t to keep the week-long • program a t the same venues for at least five more years. T he 13th Annual Hap Jones Golf Invitational will be held at the Sunol Golf Course in Sunol, California, on Monday, September 16, the day after the San Jose Mile round of the Camel Pro Series. The Hap Jones Distributing Company-sponsored event gets underway with a shotgun start at 12:30 p. rn. an d following the afternoon session of chasing the little white ball there'll be a cocktail hour, co-hosted by Motorcycle Industry Magazine, whi ch will be foll owed by dinner a 7:00 p.m., co-hosted by Motorcycl Product News. The cost per pl ayer i $75 and that includes the greens f cocktails and dinner. To see if you cal get on the invite list or for mor information , call Christine at 408/432 1918, extension 21. The 17th Annual Friends of t West Coast Rallies Motorcycl Show will take place at EI Camin College, which is in the Torrance ar of Los Angeles County, on Saturda October 5. In addition to the judge show, which is limited to antique classic bikes (" no choppers" ), .th will be a field meet and a swap mee For a regi stration form or mo information, call Wil Dickey at 805 772-2038. What's a Ducatisti? Well, he or she a Ducati owner who believes th motorcycles transport the body , b Ducatis transport the soul. At Ie that's what members of the Duca International Owners Club thin The club was founded in 1976 an according to David Morris, publish of the club's magazine, mernbershi stands at5000. The magazine replace a newsl ett er and starting with t September issue, it will be publish five times a year. A one-year membe ship costs $30 and includes the rna azine , a T -shirt, a membership car and a 10% discount on the wealth items (boo ks, videos, apparel, access ries, etc.) the club offers. For mo information , con tact the club at B 750857, Miami, FL 33265-0857, 30 255-5007. Dirt tracker Ronnie Jones, w carded Camel Pro Series wins this ye at the season-opening Daytona Sho Track, Oklahoma Half · Mile a Rapid City Half Mile, will be looki to score his first-ever National win a mile track at the August 24 Indi napolis Mile. "Things have be getting better and better as the seas progresses," Jones said. "I can de nitely see a mile win coming this yea I would have liked to have won t Peoria TT also, but, hey, I guess y can't be too greedy. " Jones' most rece win at the Black Hills Speedway h put him back into serious contenti

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