Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GIN THE WIND ~ Jan O. Pedersen returned Denmark to the pi nnacle of the speedway racing world wi th a solid vic tory in the August 3 World Speedway Finals at Sweden 's Ullevi Stadium . .Taking th e coveted title with a perfect 15-point score after wi nning all five of his heat ra ces, Pedersen gave Den mark its seventh World Individual Speedway Cha mpions hi p in the past eight years. Tony Rickardsson of Sweden was second, scoring 12 of a possible 15 points. Fo rmer champ Hans Nielsen wa s th i rd, topping fellow Da n e Tommy Kn udsen in a runoff afte r both ended the regulati on program with II po ints. America's top ho peful , Ca lifornian Sam Ermolenko, who was racing with a cracked kneecap, finished seven th . America's other representatives, Ronnie Correy and Billy Hamill , finish ed 10th and 12th respecti vely. At the end of day two - T uesday, Sep temb er 3 -r- of competiti on in the International Six D a y s Enduro in _ Czechoslovakia, the Czech T ro phy and J un ior World teams stood ato p the stan di ngs. In Trophy com petition, Sweden was in second pl ace and France in third. In the Junior World sta ndin gs, Fran ce was secon d wi th Sweden third . The America n Troph y team was listed in 15th p lace, bu t according to our man o n the scene , th e organi zers in correctl y listed Trophy team rider Dave Ber tram as a DNF. Correcting that error wo uld move the U.S. up to sevent h . T he Ameri can J unior World team dropped from th ird at the end of day one to fifth at the co ncl usio n of the second da y, due to ' team rider Chris Smith losing rou te points. Seattle, Washington's Jason Dahners is the on ly American to hav e dr opped ou t of the Six Days thus far , having crashed early the first day. Dahners . su ffered a broken wrist, to e a n d collarbo ne in the accident, Defending World Champion Raymond Roche (Duc) won both legs of the World Championsh ip Su perb ike Series in Shah Alam, Malays ia , Sep tember I. Roche bea t Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam) and Davide Tardozzi (Duc) in the first leg befor e toppin g Step ha ne Mertens (Due) and Pirovan o in the second leg . Ch a mpio n shi p leader Doug Polen (Duc) fin ished fourth in the first race and fifth in the second, bu t still gained points on champion, ship rival Rob Phillis, who tallied a fifth an d DNF in Malaysia. Polen leads Phillis, 281-189, after nine rounds of th e 14-round series. T eam Suzuki Endurance (Suz) won the Memphis Motorsports Park 'rou n d of the E BC /S BS WERA National Endurance Series in Milling'ton , Tennessee, September I. Team Suzuki Endurance's Kurt Hall and Wes Cooley completed 273 laps to top Hall N' Still (Suz) by two laps. Team Suzuki II (Suz) finished third with 268 laps. Steve Crevier (Kaw) won the overall Canadian National R oa d R aci n g Championship by winning the Pro 750cc Superbike race at Shannonville Motorsport Park, September I. Crevier beat Pascal Picotte (Yam) and Linnley Clarke (Yam) in the race and edged Picotte by four points in the championship, 67-63, to earn the $20,000 ch ampionship bonus from series spo nsor Castrol. 2 Internation al Cycle E....ents has announced that the AMA Championshi p Road Race Series will return to Ch arlotte Motor Spe edw a y in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1992. The event will be held on May 1-3, accordi ng to race promoters. Yosh imura Suzuki's Mike Smith will return to actio n at the Heartland Park Topeka round of the AMA Superbike Na tion al Champ ionship o n Se p tember 8. Smith, who broke hi s left wrist at Lo udo n in June, will ret urn to his Atlanta, Geo rgia, home immedia tely after the race to have the pi ns remov ed from the wrist. Injured road racer Tripp Nobles will also return to actio n for the Heartland Pa r k Topeka rou nd of th e AMA Na tional Championship Road Race Series after separating his shoulder in a testing crash on August 18. The 26year-old flew to Laramie, Wyoming, after his crash a t T alladega to have hi s separated shoulder worked on by roa d racer/doctor Dave Kieffer at the Gem City Bone and J oint Clinic. ' Nobles then returned home to Macon, Georgia and began therapy at the Atlanta Falcons training camp under the direction of famil y friend, Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville. It appears as thoug h motocrossers Brian Swink and Steve Lamson will switc h from the Peak An tifreeze/ Pro Circuit Ho nda team to Team Suzuki in 1992. "We just had Swi nk and Lamson jump ship," said H on da T eam Manager Dave Arnold at the Sep tember I 125/ 500cc Na tional MX in Washougal, Washington. Suzuki T eam Man a ger Ra y Te the rto n wouldn't comment on the move , an d 125cc .Eastern Regi onal Supercross Champion Swink wo u ld only say "anything's possible," wh en questio n ed about the swi tc h . L am son , however, said that he would be riding Suzukis in the Camel Supercros s and 250cc Nationals in '92. It isn't known who will replace Swink and Lamson on the Peak Antifre eze team , which receives support from American Honda. Dave Arnold says he hasn't received his 1992 budget and ca n 't begin nego tia tions. Jeremy McGrath, the 125cc Western Regional Supercross Champion, is guaranteed a ride du e to a performance clause in his 1991 co ntrac t. Pro Circu it' s Mitc h Payton, who manages the Peak team , said at Washougal that Peak Antifreeze will be back as a major spo nsor. " I just had a meeting with the Peak people th is week, and they were very happy with the success of this year. Peak 's marketin g team was in on the meeting, and I think we'll see more involvement with promotions in '92:" Payton als o added th at he prefers to con tinue using Honda eq uip ment , even though a bud get from H onda hasn 't been set. "I've gotten offers from other manufactu rers to provide ma chinery for th e Peak team, bu t it will be best if we can cont inue with Honda, " sa id Pa yton . " It wou ldn' t be good for the sponsors to be jumping aro und." One rider making a mid- season switch at Washougal was Budd y Antu nez. After his cont rac t with Suzuki ran o u t at midnight on August 31, Antunez showed up the next da y at Washougal aboard a DGY-backed Yamaha YZ1 25. " My Suzuki contract expi red and they (Suzuki) weren't ready to ren ew it, so I got support from DGY ," sa id Antunez. Although most factory riders' contrac ts exp ire aft er th e seaso n is o ver, Antun ez said th a t th e rea son h is con trac t expired early was because he signed at the end of his amateur days, where th e season ends in Augu st with th e Grand National Cha mpio nsh ip s '92 Yamaha TZ250D offers 82 hD_ , amaha has anno unced that 40 of its 1992 TZ250D roa d racers will be available in the U.S. The D-mod el's 90-degr ee V-twin two-stroke powerplant will feat ure a redesigned top- end and, like th e World Championshi p-winning YZR500, the cylinders ut ilize six main scavenging ports for in creased area and flow , ins tead of the B-model 's four po rts. The com bustio n cha nger has been recontoured, from a hemi spherical sha pe to a trapezoidal one, again like those on th e YZR500. The TZ250 D features new expa ns io n cha mbers with sho rter, more tapered baffle cones, separate airboxes for each of the 38mm Mikuni carburetors, and a YZR-lik e digital CDI wit h an eig ht- bit CPU tha t monitors engine rpm and Power Valve and th rottle pos itio ns to provide more precise and mor e rapid adj us tme nt of spa rk timing (the B-model 's four-bit CP U determined timing solely from engi ne rpm). Yamaha says the cha nges are aimed a t providing more top-end power, while retaining th e B-model' s broad powerba nd. Peak power is now up to a cla imed 82 horsepower at 12,000 rpm. Other change s include redesigned shift forks for more precise shifting and better feel , and a lower water-pump-dri ve gear ra tio to increase coo lan t flow. The YZR500 influence extends to the new chassis, as well , with a new , more rigid aluminum Deltabox fram e that positions a new, sho rter rear shock 3.9 inches lower, for a lo wer cent er of gravity, and better steering response. The shock itself now uses a piggyback reservoir in place of the B-mod el's remote un it. Yamaha says Grand Prix experience also led to incorporating th e cush driv e into the rear wheel , which , along with a smaller spacer for the rear sprocket and a smallerdiameter rear brake disc (185mm as compared to the B-model's 2lOmm ), contributes to the chassis' 2.2 lb. lighter weight (claimed dry weight of the bike is 218.3 lb.). At the front end, the ma le-slider fork now uses a washer stack for valv ing, in p lace of the B-model's single washer, for more progressive and more consistent response. Finishing touches include new brake-pad material and YZR500-style chain adjusters. A redesigned fair ing features a fresh air in take on the left side that also passes through the fra me spar to the new airbox. The 1992 Yamaha TZ250 D sells for $15,000. Orders will be taken by Yamaha Racing Department T echnician Tom Hal verson o n a first-come, first-serve d basis and req uire a $1000 deposit. In cluded in the purchase price is a . comprehensive spares kit, incl uding cylinders, heads, piston rings, crank, jets , different internal and final gearing, and gaskets, and technica l bulletin gs ou tli ning mac h ine setu p and modifications to porting jetting and gearing. Spare parts will be ava ilab le through normal dealer channels. Y in Ponca City and the AMA Amateur National Champion ships. Brian Swink was competing at Washougal with an injured righ t wrist su ffered in a press-da y mishap a few days before the National. " I could hardl y move it o n Frida y, but it loosened up today," said Swink, who hadn 't sought medical attent io n for the . injury. " It on ly hurts when I land off of big jumps." The wri st obvi ously didn't hamper Swink in the second 125cc National moto as he led from start to fin ish . M ike H e ale y was ba ck in the U.S. following hi s runner-up finish to T rampas Parke r in th e World Championship 250cc MX Seri es and competed in the 500cc National at Washougal. " I'm just here to see how I can do against America 's best and ' to let everyone kn ow I'm still alive," said Healey. It was al so th ought that H eal ey would be o u t to ge t Jeff S tant on. He aley attacked Stanton, hit ting him in th e head , at the Japanese 250cc MX GP. Healey Ieltthat Stanton had cost him the 250cc World . Cha mp io nship wh en the two to uched and Healey went down in the seco nd moto, " A week ago I would've said I' be o u t to get him , but I'm not rna an ymore. It 's ou t of my system. " No I' ve got nothing to lose by riding here But if he knocks me do wn , I'll b waiting for him o n the next lap.' Healey and Stanton were never clo on the track as Heale y fell in th e firs turn in both motos and had to wor his way through the field . Suzuki's M ike LaRocco likes ridin the 125cc Nationals, but he doesn 't lik preparin g to ride a quarter-lite machine. " I have to eat less," sai LaRocco, wh o moved into the 125 class aft er th e National Championshi 250cc MX .Seri es was com pleted. " I' sti ll heavier th an most of the other I riders~" Sylvain Geb oers ' Bieff e-sponsore Suzuki MX team will be the offici Suzuki team in the 1992 Worl Championship 250cc MX Series sine Michel e Rina ldi 's Chesterfiel cigarette-backed team ha s swi tche from Suzuki to Yamaha. Geb oer hopes to retain the services of 125c World Ch ampion S t efan E v e r t despite th e Belg ian 's desire to come t Am eri ca . " T hey (Ka was a ki USA

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