Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eIN THE WIND ~ By Papa Wealey Team Harl ey-David son 's Chris Carr wrapped u p hi s fou rt h-consecutive AMA 600cc N at io n al Di r t Track Champio nship by wi nning the Castle R o c k TT, h el d i n Cas tl e R o ck , Wash in gt on , Sep tem ber 21. Fo llowin g Carr across the finish lin e were Aaron Hill (H- D) a nd Mickey Fay (H -D). Hon da rider Larry Pegram, th e on ly rider with a chance of deth ronin g Carr, fin ished ninth a nd ended the season second in th e fin al poin t sta ndi ngs, 27 points behind Carr. And now that he's wra p ped u p that titl e, Chris Carr can concen tra te o n scor ing hi s first-ever Ca me l Pro Series Grand Na tional Ch ampionship. Carr has held th e seri es poin t lead for nearly th e entire se ries, but h is o nceco m fo rtab le p o ints lead has been whittled down to a si ngle point by his H arley-Davidson teammate, threetime Grand National Champi on Scott Parker. With two rounds left, . Carr says he will "ride as hard as Chris Carr can," in hopes of breaking ' Par ker 's title-streak. Former Na tio nal Enduro Champion Kevin Hines (Suz) was th e overall wi n ne r in round six o f the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in New Waverl y, T exas, September 22. Kurt Hough (Ka w) was the runner-up, while seri es points leader Jeff Russell (KT M), Matt Stavish (KTM) a n d defendin g Na tion al Enduro Cha m p io n Randy Hawkins (Suz) r ou nded out the top five, _ respectively. Scott Summers (Hon) wo n rou nd 10 of the AMAIWiseco/ Yok oh amal Yamaha G randNa tio nal Cross Country Series in Bu nner Ridge, West Virginia, September 22. Terry Cunningham (Kaw ) finished secon d while' Duane Conner (Kaw) cap tu red th ird. Rich Oliver (Yam) won bo th legs to win th e WERA Formula USA ra ce at Mo ro so Mo to rsp orts Par k in West Palm Beach , Florida, Sep tember 22. O liver to pped hi s Marlboro Yamaha teammate Robbie Petersen in both races. Donald Jacks (Suz) finished third in the first race wi th Chuck Graves (Suz) doing li kewise in th e second ra ce. The Formula II race a t Moro so was won by Donnie Greene (Yam) over Danny Walker (Yam) and J oe Col e (Yam) . Mike Healey, th e runner-up in thi s year 's World Ch ampionship 250cc MX Series, has switched to th e Sylvain Ge boe rs' Bieffe Suzuki team. The 22year-o ld southern Ca liforn ia n sig ned a two-year con trac t a nd will be th e team m a te of 125cc World Ch ampion Stefan Everts. H eal ey takes the place of 1990 l25 cc Wo rld Champion Donny Schmit, wh o will switch to Mi chel e Rinald i ' s Ch es terfield cigarette-backed Yamaha team . 2 IRTA (Inte rnatio nal Racing Teams Associ a tion) has signed a co n trac t for TV a n d m arket ing righ ts for a n alternative roa d raci ng cham p ionsh ip wi th a company own ed by Bernie Eccelstone. T he co ntract signing co m es aft e r mee tings were h eld between IR T A a nd Dor na , the Spanish com pany whi ch holds a five-year TV righ ts co nt ract for th e FIM World Championship R o ad Ra ce Series beginning in 1993. Sources clo se to th e nego tia tions, however, say it is likel y th at Eccelstone will reach an agreement with Dorna, allo wi ng th e FIM to sta y invo lved with the champ io nship. IRTA an no u nced that a ra ce sch edule will be released o n October 10. Am erican Motocr o ss d es Nations teammates Damon Bradshaw , Mike Kiedrowski a nd Jeff Stanton prepared for th e September 15 event in Valkenswaard , Holl and, with two days o f testin g under the guida nce of U.S. tea m manager Ro ger DeCoster across the border at Lom mel, Belgium, th e site of Am erica's first triumph in the World Ch ampionshi p team event in 1981. The riders wh o ac hieved that first · U.S. victory in th e '81 250cc Trop hee des Nations co ns isted o f Honda teammat es Danny LaPorte, Chuck Sun, Donnie Hansen a nd Johnny O ' M a r a . Am erican Mo to cr oss d es Na tions teams have won th e Peter Chamberlain Trophy, pr esented to th e winning team by th e Briti sh Auto Cycle Union since 1947 in mem ory o f a distinguished ACU a nd FIM official, just four times less th an Great Britain, who holds the record of 15 Motocross des Nations titl es. Belgium has won the trophy nine times, Sweden seven , th e Soviet Union two, and Czechoslovakia once. A close exa mina tio n o f th e trophy by Cycle News correspondent Al ex Hodgkin son reveal ed 10 plaques for Belgium on the ba se as th ey claimed victory in 1946 even though th e inaugural co n test was held a year lat er in Holland. T he Soviet Union Mot ocro ss des Nati on s team was completely cha nged fro m th e one initiall y entered on th e Augus t 18 deadl i ne. The origi nal lin eu p included riders from Latvia, the Ukraine and Estonia , bu t th ey were replaced wi th a trio of rid ers from th e Ural mountain di stri ct of Russia, and at ope ning ceremonies they displayed the flag of th e Ru ssia n Republic. T he 1992 Motocross des Nations will tak e p lace September 6 a t Cos y Cree k, Aus tralia, which is locat ed 200, mi les so uth o f Pe rt h in Western Australia. Commo nwealth Racing team ' owner Martin Adams m ak es no bo nes abou t the fact that he wa nt s Canadian Miguel DuHamel to retu rn to hi s H ond a team fo r th e 1992 AMA Nat ional Championship Su perb ike Ser ies. DuHamel , th ou gh , has reportedly received an offer fro m Rob Mu zzy to spearhead hi s Kawasak i team in th e AMA series wi th the added in centive of se lec ted World C ha m p ions hi p Superbike Series rides. "( Rob) Muzzy is really ra ising th e cos t," Adams sai d o n Friday, September 20. " He' s trying to stick us, but I'm ready to fight on this one. I think Miguel is th e fastest rising star in Am eri ca , since Doug Chandler, and I'm j us t not go ing to lose this guy. I don 't want to have to race aga ins t him o n Muzzy's bikes. Whatever it takes, I'm fighting for it. " While Muzzy can offer a World Superbike ride to DuH am el , Ad am s is hoping he can go ,one bett er a nd get th e Canad ian a Honda RSK250 for th e Un it ed St ates Gran d Prix an d a possibl e 500cc test session at th e end , o f '92. " I think Miguel is looking more for an op port unity tha n he is for just money," Ada ms said. " T hese guys wa nt a career assis t, someone who ca n show some com m itment. T he Laguna Seca th ing is an absol ute must. Now I' ve got to convi nce Honda th at he's cro ssed over th e thresh old, th at he's in ' th at specia l room." Ada ms was n't sayin g wh o his seco nd rider will be on th e 1992 team tha t will lik ely be backed aga in by Ca me l. Wh en asked, he said: " I know, but I ca n 't say at this point. ". How abo ut Tom Rainey, Schwantz injured in Malaysia N ewly-crowned 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey (righ t) and T exan Kevin Sch wantz suffered season -ending injuries during separate testing crashes at the Shah Alam circu it in Malaysia on September 22. Rainey su ffered th e worst o f the two injuries, a crac ked right thigh bone and a broken bone in hi s left hand wh ile Schwantz escaped with two brok en fingers o n his left hand. Both cra shes occurred during th e IRTA (Intern a tional Racing T eams Associ at ion) tests in preparation for th e fin al round of th e World Ch ampionship Road Race Series in Mal aysia on September 29. The tests concluded with Rainey's Marlboro Yamaha teammate J ohn Kocinski clocking the fastest lap at one-minute, 25.10-seconds. Rothmans H onda's Michael Doohan, meanwhile, recorded a 1:25.70 lap. I The 500cc grid in Mal aysia will be seriously depleted without Rain ey and Schwantz, wh o now join Cagiva 's Eddie Lawson and Alex Barros on the injured . list. Scotland's Niall Mackenzie and Australian Kevin Magee, however, will race in Malaysia with Mackenzie aboard a Sonauto Yamaha YZR500 and Magee aboard . a facto ry-back ed YZR. Kipp? " It a nswered. might be ," Adams While the second Commonwealth Honda CBR600 will likely be ridden by John Choate a t the Texas World ro u nd o f th e series in October, the bike was almost set to be ridden by former MX Wo rl d Ch ampion a nd cu rre nt 250cc Nationa l and Supercross champi on J ean-Michel Bayle a t the fin al round in Miami in Octob er. " It was a real dea l," Ada ms said. " But he had a conflict with th e da te, a supercross in Monte Carlo or so meth ing. So be it. It 's interesting; it wo u ld ha ve been grea t for th e sport." The 1991 ed ition o f th e BSA Ow ner 's Club-hosted All British Swap Meet will be h eld o n No vem ber 10 in Ca noga Park, Ca liforn ia. As in the past, th e swap meet wi ll tak e pl ace from 8 a.rn, to 2 p .rn. in th e pa rking lot o f National Papers at 7870 Deerin g Avenue. It's free to a ll bu yers and sellers , a n d P a pa , speaki ng fro m experience, recom mends th at yo u plan a n early arrival whe the r you 're displayin g items in ho pes of sell ing them or you 're looking for a particular part. For more i n fo rma tio n, ca ll Ba rr y Sm ith a t 805/2 73-7005. And in the G rand Ca nyo n Stat e, th e Southe rn Arizon a Vin tag e Motorcycle Enth usiasts (SAVME) will host th eir 4th Annual Antique B ik e Show on Su nday, O ctob er 20, a t th e Wild cat House in Tucson. All en tries in th e judge d com pe ti tio n must be o f pr e1976 manufacture, and be original or restored to as near original as practi cal. For more information, call 602/8833817. A new grou p o f classes will be run a t the Novem be r 2- 3 White B r o s . W orld Veteran's MX Champion. ship a t so uthe rn Ca lifornia 's Perris Raceway. T he 30-39 Novi ce and Intermediate classes will be brok en into two age groups - 30 to 34 years of age , a nd 35:39. As in the past, free overnight ca mp ing at the track is available o n Fri day and Sa tu rda y nights. For more inform a tion, ca ll 714/ 554-9442. If you 're pl anni ng on staying in a motel during th e 20th Annual Florida Winter National Olympics you mi gh t want to give th e Holida y Inn nea r G atorbac k Cycle Park a ca ll. T hey're located. o n th e west side o f Gain esvill e, just off 1-75 at th e SR26 exit, a nd th ey' re holding 50 roo ms ' which are available o n a fir st come, first served basis. Call 800/ 426-4287. Pre-entry form s for th e Oc tob er 27 2 8th Annual Delaware S tate N ational Enduro , a round of the ' AMA Nati on al Championship Enduro Seri es, are now ava ilable. The ! host club, th e Delaware Enduro Rid- • ers, expec t over 500 entries and urge , th ose who wis h to compete to obtain an entry form ASAP . Write to: Charles ) Stapleford, I S. Main s i., St. Georges, DE 19733, or call 302/834-44 1I. , ~ On Two Wheels, a series o f o ne-hour ; television shows tha t document supercross races th a t too k pl ace from 1975 : through 1988, will begin airing o n Prime Ticket on T h urs da y, Octob er 3, · a nd contin ue for 26 co nsecu tive weeks . T he first o ffering covers th e 1975 Los( Angeles Su perbowl of Mo tocross. Air time for th e Mo tovideo Home Video- . produced shows is 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Pacific time. Check you r local listings. The Emde Report ... On Motor- I cycle Retailing, a mon thl y ne ws let- I ter published by Inlosport a nd edi ted J by 1970 Day tona 200 winner Don Emde, is celebra ting th e co mp letio n of ' its first year. T he September issue de livers positive news in th e form of • a su rvey of motorcycle deal ers wh o f su bscr ibe to th e new sletter. Emde reports that nearl y 40% of th e polled J Suzuki deale rs report a year-to -da te (as i o f th e August survey ) in crease o f 10% or more in unit sales, 30%o f th e polled H onda deal ers rep ort th e same, fol- 1 lowed by 20%of th e Kaw asak i deal ers, an d 17% o f th e Yamaha dealers. In addi tio n , Suzuki deal ers led other I brand dealers in revenue growth with 51%o f them reporting increases of 10% or more. A o ne-year The Emde Report subscription (12 issues) cos ts $149. For more information, call 714/249-2270 . Mik e Kidd Promo tions will p romote the four-round Dixie Classic Supercross S e rie s durin g th e Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Sal em , North Carolina . The AMA semi-pro events will tak e pl ace on October 4, 5, II a nd 12, a nd $16,000 will be u p for gra bs. Doug "The Wh eelie Kin g" Do mo kos will perform o n all dat es. T he Ra mada Inn No rt h-Airport is the ra ce hea dq ua rte rs a nd a special $39 rat e is being offered ; call 919/767-8240. Roscetti Corporation , the Bim ota importer, has a n no unced a three yea r lease program for Bimota motorcycles . For details, see yo ur local Bim o ta deal er or call Roscetti a t 800/ 437-4494.

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