Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eINTHEWIND ~ By Papa Wealey Texan Doug Polen (Duc) wo n both legs of th e World Championship Superbike Series round in Sugo, J apan on Augu st 25, topping Australian Rob Phill is (Kaw) in the first of the two races and defending World Champion Raymond Roche (Duc) in th e second. Third p lace in the first race went to Australia n Superbi ke Ch a m p ion Aaro n Slight (Kaw) with Kevin Magee (Yam) fin ishi ng th ird in race two. Georgian Scott Russell (Kaw) finished eighth in the firs t leg. an d fifth in the second. Polen leads the championship by 79 points over Phillis, 257-178. Ma rlboro Yamaha 's Robbie Petersen (Yam) put together a 1·2 _ tall y to take the overall honors in th e sixth round of the Intersta te Batteries/ WERA F-USA Series in Pocono, Pennsylvania, August 25. Petersen beat Chuck Graves (Suz) to th e flag in th e first race and finished second behind his teammate Rich Oliver, who was a non-finisher in the first leg. in the second to take the win. Kurt Hall (Suz) finished third overall with two fourth place finishes. The win gives Petersen th e champ ionshi p points lead over Oliver. 98-85. The Formula II race at Pocono was won by Don Greene (Yam) over Alan Scott (Yam) and William Himmelsbach (Yam) . The 10th Annual Inv itational True Grits 50cc Fun Run will take place in the nort h Georgia mountains on October 27. The timed road fid e is limited to bikes of 50cc displacement with several exceptions. According to promoter Ben Cheatwood's fact sheets, " In keeping with pro racing po licies on Harley-Davidsons, Harleys can be 65cc, and any rider wh o owns 40 or more autos and is 60 years o ld, may rid e a red or bla ck motorscooter with any engine size of rider's cho ice. as long as his daughter is entered in the even t." As you can ima gine, fun is th e name of the game at th e True Grits ru n; for exa mple, the en try fee is $23 for AMA members and $379 for no nmem bers. To hopefull y get inv ited to pa rticipate, write Cheatwood at 5104 Bowers Broo k D r ., Lilburn, GA 30247 and tell him why you think you sho uld be part of the fun. Those of you who can't write, call Bob Len k at 404/9635477. The AMA is seeking a professional dirt track manager. T he pos ition h as been vacant since Art Barda resign ed earlier th is summer. Applicant mus t be knowledgeable of professional dirt track racing. Experience in race promotions and background in the motorcycle industry are desirable, Alternate Grand Prix series on the wart mbattled FIM Pres ident Jos Vaessen issued a statement and held a press conferen ce prior to the August 18San Marino Grand Prix to discuss su bstan tial changes in GP road racing, but it may have come too late to avert the formation of a new, al ternative series. Back from a recent trip to Japan, the Dutchman found no sup po rt for fourcylinder, four-strokes from any of the Japanese factories and postponed any decision regarding a different engine format until 1994. Since none of the manufacturers ever had an y plans to build them. the decision was inevitable. and served more to confirm a lack of leadership among the top of the FIM than an ything. H e also announced the form ation of a GP Bureau for 1992which would comprise of the FIM and representatives of the manufacturers. sponsors, teams (IRT A) and organizers (RO PA), and television (Dorna). The change had been requested by the Executive Board of the FIM , but it likely comes a year too late. Nothing seems likely, at this point, from stopping a breakaway series from forming. Organizers of the new series said in Mugello that there would be a pres s conference sometime after the Grand Prix at Le Mans 'on September 8 to announce i ts formation. Sources close to the new series said it would be made up of 12-14 races (half in Europe. half outside of Europe) with the possibility of two U.S. GPs; both Laguna Seca International Raceway and Daytona International Speedway are on the proposed list of race sites. The series will feature 125. 250 and 500cc classes with 28 riders in each class. Each rider will pay $25,000 to con test the series with a guarantee of making at least $75,000 if they race at every event. The dissidents have said they would believe there is a pl ace for the FIM in the new series. though what it would be is not certain: "They've screwed up th is series so much, maybe we could just ask them to hand out the trophies," World Champion Wayne Rainey said. The bigger problem about allowing them into the new series is the TV contract. Presumably. the TV rights for the new series would be retained by Bernie Eccelstone, who stands to lose the rights after next year to the Spanish company. Dorna. If the FIM is involved in any way, it's believed that Dorna's $30 mill ion. fiveyear contract would be valid and if there was an attempt to exclude them . Dorna would have solid grounds for legal action. If, however, the FIM was excluded. they could refuse to sanction events such as the Suzuka 8-Hour, a race the factories consider the mos t important of the year, and could also deny breakaway riders from competing in any FIM.approved series. However, they 'd be on shaky ground here since most countries have laws about denying someone a chance to earn a living and it would be just one more lawsuit to resolve. Although he pretends to deny the existence of the new series. Vaessen did say that he would not accept a breakaway passively. " In that. case. we will defend our position with all our strength and you' can be assured we are prepared," his statement read. A prominent leader of the breakaway faction said that their . side had no shortage of legal advice, either. IRTA later held a meeting on August 23 in Czechoslovakia and issued a statement that read: "The purpose of the meeting was to submit to the members of IRTA certai n changes to the statutes of our organization. The effect of these changes is to release IRTA from i ts obligation to be an Associate Member of the FIM · and to en able IRTA to investigate possibilities for an alternate Wo rld Championship. The changes to the statutes were adopted unanimously." No name has been chose n for th e new series, though several are being considered, and World Series is no t amo ng them. Since the FIM has no legal righ ts to the term " World Cha mp ionshi p," some believe the name will include that phrase. "World Prix" has also been mentioned. H enn y Ra y Abrams E 2 arlboro Yamaha's Wayne Rainey won his sixth 500cc Grand Prix of the season in roun d 13 of the World Championship Road Race Series in Brno, Czechoslo vak ia, on Au gust 25. The Californian topped Rothmans Honda 's Michael Doohan by 3.2 seconds to increase his lead in the cham pio nship to 18 points, 225-207, with two rounds remaining. Third place went to Rainey's teammate. 250cc World Champion John Kocinski. Kocinski finished ahead of Rothmans Honda's Wayne Gardner and Lucky Strike Suzuki's KevinSchwantz. Cagiva's Eddie Lawson and Roberts · Yamaha 'S Doug Chandler finished eigh t and 10th, respectively. While Rainey moved closer his second successive World Championship, 18year-old Loris Capirossi (right) clinched his second straight 125cc title in Czechoslovakia. The AGV Pileri Honda rider shadowed race winner Alessandro Gramigni on the Team ltalia Aprilia for the entire 20 laps, but second place was enough to give the Italian the title as his main rival, Fausto Gresini, only managed a sixth-place finish. Third place went to Gramigni's teammate Gabriele Debbia. 'This title means more to me than the first one," Capirossi said. "Last year I needed the help of others to win the title, but this year I did it alone. Today I was thinking of the championship and not the race win . . . " Capirossi has 195 points to Gresini' s 178 the 125s have only one round remaining ; in their series. Italian Luca Cadalora needed to only finish second to clinch his first 250cc World Championship, but the Rothmans Honda rider was relegated to third place on the final lap by Repsol Honda's Carlos Cardus. HB Honda's Helmut Bradl, meanwhile, was an easy winner, topping the CardusiCadalora battle by 12 seconds. Cadalora leads Bradl, 224-193, with two rounds remaining; Cardus is third with 191 points. In the Sidecar GP, the team of Biland and Waltisperg topped Streuer and Brown with the champio nship leading duo of Webster and Simmons finishing third. M ,0 and related busi ness and technical experien ce helpful. Send resume to: Dirt Track Pro gram , Pro fessiona l Competition Dep t., AMA, P.O . Box 6114, Westerville, OH 43081. Resum es only, no phone calls. Gary Nixon, the two- time Grand Nationa l Ch ampion who won the 1966 50-lap Springfield Mile, will take a lap of honor to celebra te the 25th anniversary of his win prior to th e September I Ca mel Pro Series race at the Illi nois State Fairgrounds. "Se vera l of my frien ds are sponsoring my tri p to Sp ringfield. " said Nixon, who lives in Ph oenix. Maryland. " Irv MacDougal and Mike Sponseller are picking up the tab for my ai rp lane ticket and . Roger Reim an is covering my hotel expenses." Nixon will take hi s spi n aboard a Triumph prepped by Neil Keen. Memb ers of the mo torcycle ind ustry are invited to participate i n the Sep tember 28·29 Fund Raiser '91 , which will again be held at the Burnt - Mill Beach Clu b in La ke Arro whea d, California. Due to the lim ited space avai lab le at the club . attenda nce is limited to 125 people. Money raised will be donated to th e Nationa l Motorcycle Safety Fund. Hi ghligh ts of the industry gathering incl ude a dua lsport ride. off-road rides. road ride. an d a Satur day night ba nquet: Tickets are $100 per perso n and corporate sponsors h ip packages are ava ilable. For more in form ation, call Tony or Mandy McAndrew at 714/ 337-1413, FAX 714/ 337-8564. T he 29th Tokyo Motor Show will take pl ace October 26-Novemb er 8 in the Ni ppon Convention Center in Makuhari Cit y. The biannual event features both motorcycles and cars as well as tru cks and other commercia l vehicl es, and th is year it has dra wn over 350 ex hi bi tors from 13 cou ntries aro und the wor ld. At th e previous sho w i n 1989, visitor atten dance reached 1.9 million and serio us crowding resulted. T o ease crowding, the sho w has been extended from I I to 14 days and show times extended by two extra hours dai ly. T he Eastern Vintage MX Racing Series ro und scheduled for South Berwick , Mai n e. on August 3 1Sept emb er 1 has been cancelled . The next round will run at Sout hwick. Massachusetts. on September 15. Citrus College in Gl endora, California. will again offer falI motorcycle repair ni ght classes. Enroll ment is now open for both beginning and advanced classes. For informat ion, call 818/ 9148511. For speci fic class in formation. call 714/ 596-6409. Ru ss Wh ittinghill, who will serve as th e referee for the first AHRMA National Championship Vintage Half Mile at Hend erson , Kentucky's . R iverside Downs on Sep tember 29, tell s Papa tha t a fourth class has been added to the program. Entrants wi th p re-1968 rigid frame. dirt track bikes wi thou t bra kes can compete in the 500cc O ver h ead Va lve17 50cc Side Valve class. "The last BSA Goldstar to win a Grand National Championshi p race has been ente red in the Pre1968 class. Dan Haab y rode it in the Septe mbe r 9. 1967, Asco t Half Mile Na tio na l," Wh ittinghill sa id. The vintage races will run in conj unc tio n with an AMA pro -p rogram offering a $2300 p urse. For more informa tio n. call 502/444-7593. KTM 's Mike Fisher. who suffered torn sho u lder ligam ents at the August 4 Southwick National Champion ship 250cc MX, should return to actio n at th e Washougal , Washington, National 500cc MX on Sep tember I. ATK has announced that its line of bikes will now come eq ui pped with plastic fuel tanks that "are immune to the evaporative losses, or 'o u tgassin g,' th at plag ue othe r pl astic tan ks. Usi ng a new process called Fluor·O· Sealing. a barr ier is constructed whi ch chemica lly bon ds to the surface of the tank." Accordi ng to ATK. con ventional plastic fue l tan ks a llow

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