Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The 5th Annual Mid -Atlantic Roadra cin g Club Video Night will ta ke pl ace a t the Pot omac Park Community Center in Pot omac. Maryland. o n Saturday. No vember 9. fro m 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. T he lates t roa d rac i ng videos will be shown on a giant TV screen. and refreshments will be served . T he admission fee is $10. The not -fo rprofit clu b provides cornerworkers for m ot orcycl e races at Summit Po in t Ra cewa y. Da yto n a In te rna tion al Speedway and Ch arl o tte Motor Speedwa y. and p roceeds from events such as th is are used to support th eir safety crew. Fo r m ore in formation. ca ll Ro ger Lyle a t 301/933-2599. Racing will sta rt a t 7:30 p.m.• rather than th e usu al 8 o'clock, at both th e' Oct ob er 5 Pomona Half Mile and the O ctober 12 Sacramento Mile rounds of th e Camel Pro Series. "The earlier start will g ive fans an opportunity to party a fter th e races or get an ear ly start on their trip home if the y came a di stance, " sa i d copromoter G en e Romer o . the 1970 Grand Nation al Ch ampi on. Th e Saturday ni ght races a re th e co ncl u di ng rounds o f the ser ies a nd defending Grand N ational Ch ampi on Scott Parker has pulled to within o ne point o f his a rch ri val Gh ris Ca rr in th e title chase. Park er is shooti ng for a recordtyi ng fourth straig h t series title , whil e Carr is look ing for h is firs t. Wh il e H arley-Dav idson tea mma tes Scott Parker a nd Chris Carr will be fig h ting for the Camel Pro Series ti tle. th e " Ma de in Mil waukee" brand has already wra p ped u p the 1991 Dirt o n Monday n ights from 4:30-10:30 p.m. a nd Thursda ys from 9 a.m .-6 p .m. For more information. ca ll 714/ 261-6116. Track Manufacturers ' Ch ampionship. Going i nto th e Pomona ro u nd. H arl ey has 252 p oints. H o nda is seco nd with 199. but with only 20 points (for a wi n) a vailable a t each o f th e two remaining rounds. second is where they'll fin ish. Wo od -R o ta x is th ir d with 17 poi nts. in g after its sta r rid er . R u s s e ll W ood. cra shed the Tesi I D in G ermany and broke bones in his hand. Wood is expected to be o ut o f ac tion for six to eigh t weeks a n d Birn o ta o fficia ls ad mitted they had little idea of what would happen to the superb ike pro gram now. The team likely wo n 't show up a t the next ro u nd in France on September 29. b u t there is a possibili ty they'll contest th e Ital ia n ro u nd a t Mugell o o n O ctob er 6. Wood's injury also sets back the500cc GP twin p ro ject beca use he was soon to begin testi n g that. - A th ree-judge panel o f a U.S. Co u rt of Appeals in Den ver recently ruled th at a portion o f the 2.5-m ile Heartland Park Topeka race track in Ka n sas would have to be moved beca use it interferes wit h easement rights for two li q uid na tural gas pipeli nes tha t ru n beneath it. The a ppeal ca me from Mid-Ame rica Pipe line Co. of T ulsa. O kl aho ma. the owners o f the high-p ressu re pipes. The pa nel said th e tr ack vio la tes the p ipel ine co m pa ny' s long-st an d in g ease me n t. Mid-America sued Lario Enterp rises. th e o wne r of th e facility. and th e city of Topeka in 1988 to prevent th e track from being bu ilt a bove its pi pe lines . U.S. District Judge R ichard R ogers . however. rul ed against Mid-Am erica . all owing construction of the track to go ahead. He said th e pipelines had been inspected and found to be safe. and th e track wo u ld not change th at . Zelda's Nightcl ub in Pal m Springs. California. will host a Vote Yes party in support o f the proposed Palm Springs International Raceway on Wednesda y. O ctob er 2. T he city co u nci l vot ed to ap prove th e faci li ty. but th e issue will now go to a public vote. Road race bikes a nd race ca rs will be o n di spl ay at Zelda 's. Cruz Racing of San Gab riel, Ca li forn ia. is p ro mot ing th e mot orcycle raci ng side o f mot orsports a nd teams or. com pa nies wh o are interested in this promotional op port u n ity sho u ld co ntact Mark Cruz a t 818/284-6198. Am erican Motorcyclist magazin e inadvertedly publish ed an incorrect sta rt time a nd location for th e O ctob er 27 Riders' M.C. T u r k e y Creek Enduro. The correc t location is th e New Paris Industrial Park in New Paris, Indiana. and th e correct key tim e is 10 a.m. Additional information ca n be obtained by ca \l ing 219/ 831-4833. 533-703 1 or 269-6777. Norton team ma nager Barry Symmons wa s o n hand a t the G erman ro u nd of th e World Championship Superbike Series to discuss a number o f matters with series boss Fra nci s Barta. Apparently. Symmons has been told by th e orga nizers of the br eak away IRTA seri es th at th er e is no pl ace for hi s ro tary-powered Norton th ere. so he is looking for a place in th e superb ike series for his machine. Second ly. Diesel J eans boss Ren zo Russo is still in terested in buying th e racing team as well as producing a lin e of clo th ing using th e Norton name. A spokesman for H eartland Park T opeka has also stated that th e facility will not hos t an AMA National Championship Road Ra c e in 1992. Th e AMA h a s run three Nationals in H eartland Park Topeka wit h Dou g Ch andl er . M igu el DuHa m el a nd Sco tt Russell wi n ni ng the three Nationa ls in 1989. 1990 a nd 1991, resp ectivel y. Summer is over a nd school has begun. bu t tha t doesn 't m ean that southern Ca li fo rn ia rnoto cros sers who a re st udents ca n' t co ntin ue to brush u p o n their rid in g skills during th e wee kI Acco rding to CMC's Stu Peter s. Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino will co ntin ue to hold open practice he House Subco m mi tee o n Gen eral Overs ight and Ca liforn ia Desert Lands he~rd test im on y on two California Desert bi\ls in Washington. D.C.• 'on Sep tem ber 16. Preservationist testimony su p po rted th e California Desert Prot ecti on Act (H R2929) introduced by Subcommittee Ch airman Richard H. Le hman a nd Rep. Mel Levin e. T hat bill wo u ld pl ace 7.3 mill ion acr es o ff-li mi ts to OHV recreati on as well as to mining. grazing and military exercises. However . th e su bco m m ittee also heard testimon y on th e California Public Lands Wilderness Act (H R3 066). introduced by Rep. J erry Lewi s for th e Bu sh Adm inistration. Tha t bill would designate only 2.3 mill ion acres as federallyrestricted wilderness. less th an one- third th e area lock ed up by th e preservationists' bill. Cy J amison. th e director o f the BLM, spoke in su pport of th e Lewis bill. no ting that it em bodied 15 years of studies a nd public in put to the wi lderness designatio n process. J a m iso n voiced strong opposi tio n to the Le h man- Levine bill, sayi ng it wo ul d " resu lt in elim ina ting gen eral recrea tio na l access alo ng thousands of miles of exis ting roa ds a nd vehi cle trails . . . This a pproach destro ys the diversity o f recreation opportu nities that is pro vided in the Ca lifo rnia Desert P lan. " T hough termed a compromise. the Leh man-L evin e bill is very simila r to the highly controversia l legisla tion in troduced by Senator Alan Cra nston in 1987 and now design a ted S21. Bo th wo uld ban OHV use on millions of acres of the desert. The subcommittee set no future hearin g da te. b ut the Mo torcycle In dustry Council says there could be fu rt her action befo re th e end o f September. l-; Q.) ..0 o ... u o New Zealander Norris Farrow. th e head tuner at T eam RumilRCM a nd th e man behind th e two World Ch amp ionships Fred Merkel won in 1988 and 1989. co nfir med in Germany that he will leave the superbike team at th e end of th e season. Farrow says he has severa l op tio ns; wo rk with a nother H onda tea m; work wi th another tea m using a nother brand; set up his ow n superbike team; or ge t out of superbi ke racing co mp letely and perha ps get in volved with car raci ng. "The (Ru m i) team is di versifying into a reas whi ch are not q u ite co mpatible wit h my a m bi tio ns ... · Farr ow said. " I work on cha llenges a nd I enjoya good chal lenge and at th e moment I've lost th a t." After working d irectly wi th Merkel in th e past. Farrow m oved u p to oversee both th e Californian a nd tea m mate Balda ssarre Mont i whi le ex- Rob Muzzy m echani c Merl yn Pluml ee look ed after Merkel in 1991. Ka wasak i's World Su pe rbi ke team. managed by Aus tra lia n Peter Do yle. will return for a th ird a ttempt at th e Wor ld Ch ampionship Superbi ke Series crown in 1992. T he tea m wi ll al most certainly have Aussie Rob Phillis for a th ird season. but he may be joined by a second fi der . The sq uad is current ly in negotiat ions wi th Lucky Stri ke with th e hopes th a t th e tobacco gia nt wi ll come o n board as a m ajor sponsor. allowing the team to have th e bu dget for a seco nd rider. Topping th e list of poten tia l riders is New Zeal ander Aaron Slight. the Aus trali an Superbi ke Cha m p io n. "Our first pr eferen ce is Aaron. " Doyle said a t th e German ro u nd of the series on September 15. " But th at depends on what happens wi th his o ther negotiations . If he isn't available the n o ur nex t choice wo uld be Scott Russell. " Russell is currently tryi ng to win the AMA Superbi ke National Championship on a Ro b Muzzy-built Ka wasak i. Sligh t, meanwhile. is kn own to be chasing the Lucky Strike 250cc Grand Prix ride [or 1992. Desert bills getHouse hearing_ _ T '" C'.( The ho t rumor in th e paddock durin g th e World C ha mpio ns hip Superb ik e Series race in Germany on Sep tem ber 15 was th at three-ti me World Champ io n Freddie Spencer would make his superbi ke series deb ut o n October 6 in Mugello, Italy. A telephone call to T wo Bro th ers Racing team owner Craig Er i o n . however. quickly squelched the rumor: ..It 's news to me :' Erion said on September 19. " I seriously doubt it. In fact . Freddie's doing public relations stuff down at th e tra ck in Texas next week ." The - - - - - - Continued on page 54 The future of B imota's World Superbike program is less prornis- r-------~-------------- - -------------------- -- - - - ------------ SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name _ o T h is is a renewal Address 0 City o Bill 3 payments of $11.67 (no n -Cali fo rnia residents) 0 Bill 3 payments of $12 _59 (Cali fornia residents sales tax included) State Zip O rder Da te Please start m y subscription to Cy cl e N ews: (non -California residents) o Every week for on e year.(50 issues) for $35.00 (can be billed 3 monthly payments) o Every week for two years (100 issues) for $65.00 o Six months second class (25 issues) [or $18.00 (California residents - includes sales tax) . o Every week for one year (50 issues) for $37.75 (can be billed 3 monthly payments) o Every week for two years (100 issues) for $70.00 . o Six months second class (25 iss~es ) for $19.40 . One year (50 iuues),'2nd class Canada or MexI CO and all other fo re ign coun tnes $75.00 (U.S. funds ). 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