Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

gasoline vapors to escape through the wall of the tank; whi ch has a side-effect of caus ing decals to bubble. ATK says its tanks exceed the EPA 's SHED test requ irements, and th at other manufacturers use steel tanks to meet th e EPA requiremen ts. ATK' s press rel ease concludes with: "We know that ATK rid ers are responsibl e American s who care about th e en vironmen t, so we developed a fuel tan k wh ich is en vironmen tall y friendly. We also know th at ATK ride rs are extremely cornpe titive, so we made it out of pl astic. This just goes to sho w that there is always a better way of doin g thi ngs . And usin g American ingen ui ty and technol ogy, ATK has done it ag ain." Newl y-cr owned 250cc MX World Champion Trampas Parker has scrapped his plans to return to America for the last four rounds of the National Championship 500cc MX Series. Parker is currently leading all three classes in the Italian National MX Series and coul d become the first rider in the history of that series to take the triple crown. However, Parker promises that American racing fans will be. seeing more of him next year. "I pl an on using an AMA license instead of an Italian card next year," said Parker after clinching his second World Championship title in Japan. "I want to do like Bayle did in '89 and race as many supercrosses and Nationals as my schedule permits. It 's easier to tra in in the States and riding wi th th e Americans each weekend will no doubt help keep me sharp for the GPs." For the second year in a row , riders from Florida won the team competition at the August 13-17 AMA/Honda You th /Amateur National MX Championships in Tennessee. T wo-class champion Timmy Ferry, Open A winner Gene Naumec, 85cc (7-11) Stock champ Ricky Carmichael, and Senior (Plus 30) winner Alan Andreu led the victorious Florida team. California finished second in the team results. MX Sports, organizers of the AMA Youth/Amateur MX Nationals, are making plans to add a Pro class for the 1992 event. "We've had a lot of inquiries about that from riders who have been here before but are now not eligible to race because they hold a pro license," said promoter Dave Coombs. " With practice area s so difficult to find, coming to Tennessee for a week in between Nationals would give these riders a place to ride and race. We'll have a nice ' purse and hopefully get some top pros in for the kids to wat ch." Coombs mentioned that th e Pro class would not require Area and Regional . qual ifying as th e other 27 You th and Amateur classes do at Loretta Lynn 's. Classic bikedonated to Clay-ton.Foun a n dtio For the third year in a row Kayo Corporation and Yokoham a T ire s are se n di n g Lore tt a Ly nn 's class winn ers usin g their products to the Tokyo Supercross in Japan. Alan Andreu , Tommy Martin , Steve Lewis, R yan and Roby Leach a ll won clas s titles at th e lOth An nual AMAlH onda Amateur. Na tion al Championsh ip finals using Yok ohama Tires. Also, three riders have been ch o sen to participate in th e J ap anese supercrosses at Tokyo and Osaka as rep resentatives of the Loretta Lyn n 's race. Fi ve -time Ama te u r Cham p ion Timmy Ferry and Davey Yezek will participa te in th e prestigi ous eve nts. Four -time L oretta L yn n's winner Kevin Foley will serve as team captain. Ohio's Mark Musselman will also be making the trip to Japan after having been voted the winner of the Most Impressive Effort Award at the Youth/Amateur Nationals. KTM supported. Musselman raced to third overall in the Open A class aboard a 300cc motorcycle equipped with Yok- ohama tires . Dick Maxwell, who as we reported last week has been h ired to head the AMA professional racing department, will assume his duties on September 9. According to AMA President Ed Youngblood, Maxwell comes to th e AMA after just taking an early retirement from Chrysler Corporation where he directed the company's motorsports programs, conducted vehicle performance planning, man· aged racing teams , did special markets planning, managed motorsports techni cal operations, and other relevant tasks since 1964. H e has a BSME from the University of Illinois and a Master s in Au tomotive Engineering from the Ch rysler Institute. Youngblood says Maxwell will fill a new position titled Vice Pre sident of Sports Marketing and will manage a staff through directors of professional racing, administra tion, and marketing. Maxwell will report to Youngblood. The new position was the result of a new mi ssion statemen t for the racing department, the work of AMA Chairman of th e Board Paul Dean, th e editorial dir ector of Cycle World magazine who chairs a professio nal racing strategic planning com mittee, and Youngblood. An AMA appeal s jury overtu rned a rough riding ruling and $1000 fin e imposed on J e ff Matiasevich for an in cident at the June 15 San Jose Supercross wh ere Matiasevich tangled his 1924 Brough Superior S580 will orn ament the Clayton Foundation booth at the November 2-3 Hansen Dam Dirt Days in southern Californ ia's H ans en Dam Park. The 67-year-old classic will be don ated as a fund-rai ser to the Clayton Foundation - a new charity that helps ou t injured motorcycle racers financially. Reade rs are invited to see it , bid on it if you wish, and make a con tributi on. Hansen Dam Park is loca ted in the no rthwest sector of the greate r Lo s Angeles area, at the Osborne Street exit of the 210 freeway. T with'Guy Cooper on the last lap and the y both crashed. " I appealed because I felt it wa s just ra cing and not intention al ," said Mati asevich . " It was just two riders go ing for the lead on the last lap that ended in a crash." Joe Bilotta, an AMA District 37 congressman who was a member of the threeman jury that unanimously ruled in favor of Matiasevich, said, " We spent fou r hours viewing th e video tape of the incident, and from the evidence presented we decided it was just racing, perhaps a n accident due to poor judgement." Mati asevich donated the returned $1000 to Debbie Donnelly, widow of the late Paul Donnelly, who is expecting a ch ild . Jeff Matiasevich was a spectator at the August 25 U.S. 500cc MX GP in San Bern ardino, California, and was walking through th e pits with the aid of cru tches. Two weeks prior to th e GP, Ma tiasevich broke his femur (th igh bone) at the opening round of th e Nat ion al Championship 500cc MX Seri es. " I ca n walk without the cru tches, but (Kawasa ki MX Team Manager) Roy Turner won 't let me. The leg is coming along real good, bu t I'll be out for at least eight months. I real ize I can 't come back too soon, and I want to be loo-percent when I do return." Matiasevich plans to attend a spo rts car driving school wh ile he recuperates. The one-hour production of the July 14 U.S. 250cc MX GP at Unadilla is scheduled to air in its entirety on ESPN on October 17. A portion of th e sho w was preempted on its origina l air date of August 10 by live tennis covera ge that ran beyond _scheduled tim e lim its. Almost th e en tire second moto, which featured a close battle between Jeff S t a n t on and Mike LaRocco, was deleted in the preempted showing. MOVED: RZlRD 500 Owners Group, to 313 Yacon St., Vista, CA 92083, 619/ 726-5786. DEPARTED: Alan M. Jones, from O'Neal U.S.A., where he had been general manager and employee of over seven years. According to J im O 'N eal , Jones has left O 'Neal to pursue other in terests. Jones may be con tacted at 20754 Blackhawk St., Ch atsworth, CA 91311,818/ 341-2447. CORRECTION: Keith Bowen rode a Tuf Racing-backed 500cc KTM at th e August II Millville, Minnesota, 125/ 500cc National MX, not a Kawasaki. B ORN: Laura Esth er Winn, da ug hter o f AHRMA founder and current professor of safety man agem ent a t West Virginia Institute Gary Win n an d wife Sherry , in Morgantown, West Virginia , on August 17. --------------------------------~--------------------- - - - - - - - - -- SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name _ Address _ State City O rder Date Zip _ Please start my subscription to Cycle News: (non-California residents) D Every week for one year (50 issues) for $35.00 (can be billed 3 monthly payments) D Every week for two years (100 issues) for $65.00 D Six months second class (25 issues) for $18.00 (California residents - includes sales tax) D Every week for one year (50 issues) for $37.75 (can be billed 3 monthly payments) D Every week for two years (100 issues) for $70.00 P Six months second class (25 issues) for $19.40 One year (50 issues), ¥nd class c:anada or Mexico and all other foreign countries $75.00 (U.S. fund s). 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