Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GIN THE WIND ByPapa Wealey e 0 ') 0') -.. 0') ..... il) ..0 o .... u o Tim Frazier (BSA) clinched the 540cc class National Championship by winning the AMA National Championship Hi llclimb Series round at Jefferson, Pennsylvania, September 29. With o n ly one round remain ing, Frazier is one win away from becoming the first rider to go undefeated in an ent ire seaso n. T ed Wilkins (Rtx) fini sh ed second in th e 540cc cla ss, while Paul P insonnault (Hon) was third. Lou D. Gerencer Jr. (H -D) moved into a three-way tie at th e top of the 800cc class point standings by winning a t J efferson. Ger encer is tied with J efferson runner-up Wade W illiams (Ho n) and Jeff Yode r (H -D), wh o was 10th on the day. H arry Schrieber (H -D) finished third in the Whi te Rose M.C.-promoted event . Danny Hamel (KT M) won the AMA N ational Champion ship Hare & Hound Series tit le by scoring th e overa ll win in the fina l round of the series at Wendover, Nevada, September 29. Garth Sweetland (Kaw) was the runner-up in th e race, while Jimmy Lewis (KT M), Paul Krause (Kaw) and Utah 's Brent Fox (Yam) rounded out the top five. Unofficially, Hamel concluded the series with 120 poin ts, and Sweetland was second with 92. Larry Roes e ler (Kaw) who was in contention for th e ti tle, suffer ed mechanical problems and finished 12th in the race and third in the final point sta ndings. Lewis cap tured the 250cc title and Jeff Capt (Yam) th e 125cc cro wn. Scott Summers (Hon) scored the overall win in the final round of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series in Lynnville, Indiana, September 29. Summers crossed the fi nis h line a head of Duane Conner (Kaw), Aaron Hough (Kaw), former Natio nal H a re Scram bles Champion Johnny Martin (AT K) and Ethan Goodrich (KTM), respectively. Unofficially, Summers, who wra pped up the cha mpionship title ear lier in the season, finis hed ou t the series with 205 points, wh ile Ron Naylor (ATK) was the ru nner -up wi th 134 poin ts. T h e FIM h as an nou nced th a t a compromise has been reached with proponen ts of an alternate roa d racing Wor ld Championship. The World Championship Road Race Series will continue to be run under th e auspices of the FIM with Two-Wh eel Promotions, headed by Bern ie Eccelstone, and Dorna , th e Sp anish concern who holds the TV righ ts contract to Grand Prix road racin g beginning in 1993, managing the champions hips. The compromise gives the FIM the right to veto an y pro po sed cha nges to sporti ng, technical or safety regulation s whil e Two-Wheel Promot ions will control mark etin g. Reports in dicate that next year's GPs will run on a ltern ate weekend s from the Formu la On e car GPs to allow for better TV coverage. Eccelstone is the president of th e Formula One Co nst ruc tors Associa tio n (FICA). Two-time Wor ld Champi on W ayne Rainey unde rwent surgery on Thursday , Sep tember 26 to repair the damage to his right th igh bone tha t was broken in a prac tice crash in Malaysia on Sep tember 22. After being flow n back from Malaysia, Rainey was opera ted on at the Seq uoia Hospital in Redwood City, Ca lifornia, by Dr. Arthur Ting, th e team doctor of the San Francisco 4gers. Rain ey suffered an intra-articular fracture of the right femur and the break requi red six screws. In addition, Rainey suffered a small fracture to the fifth metacarpal of his left ha nd , a slight concussion, and he also inhaled som e fire reta rden l. "T he trauma of th e 20-hour night from Malaysia to Ca lifornia has led the medical team to tak e precautionary measures:' Marlboro Yamaha 's team therapist Dea n Miller said. " Bu t Wayne is very sta ble and we expect full race recovery afte r extensive physiotherapy in the next 12 weeks." Kevin Schwantz is also on the mend following hi s pre-Malaysian G P test cras h. The Texan underwen t surgery on Wednesday, Septemb er 25, to repair the numerous broken and disloca ted bones in his left ha nd. The hand was pinned wit h six pins , an d Schwantz will be out of actio n for eight weeks. " J us t wh en my golf ga me was starti ng to come around," Schwantz jo ked. T he L ucky Strike Suzuki rider reports, however, that he suffered no ligament or nerve damage to hi s hand. O.T .S. and N2 Racing will com bine forces in the H eavyweigh t Superbike Kocinski wins his'first in Malay-sian GP M 2 arlboro Yamaha's John Kocinski (righ t) won the first 500cc Grand Prix of his career in the final round of the World Championship Road Race Series in Mala ysia on September 29. The 1990 250cc Worl d Champion and 500cc class rookie topped Rothmans Honda's Wayne Gardner by 6.145 seconds at the Shah Alam circuit. Third p lace went to Gardner's teammate, Michael Doohan, with Ducados Yamaha's Juan Garriga and Marlboro Yamaha's Kevin Magee rounding ou t the top five finis hers. American Doug Chandler dropped out of the race on the seven th lap with mechanical problems. World Champion Wayne Rainey, L ucky Strike Suzuki's Kevin Sch wantz and Cagiva's Eddie Lawson did not race due to inj uries. Rainey's net total (wi th the lowest two results subtracted) of 233 tops Doohan 's 224 in -the fina l cha mpions hi p point sta ndi ngs . Schwan tz ends the season th ird with 204 an d Kocinski fin ishes fourth wit h 161 po ints. Gardner also fini shes the season with 161 points, bu t Kocins ki's lone victory places h im fourth in the final standings. . T he 250cc G P saw newl y-crown ed Wor ld Cha mpion Lu ca Cada lora on the Rothmans Honda top Repsol H onda 's Carlos Cardus by a scant .074-of-a-second. HB Honda's H elmut Bradl fin ished th ird. Cadalora ended the season with 237 po ints (net) to Brad l' s 220 and Card us' 205. T wo-ti me World Champion Loris Ca pirossi ended his season wi th a win over fellow Honda riders Kazuto Takada and Nobuyuki Wakai. Capirossi's season concl udes wit h 200 net po in ts to Fausto Gresi ni's 181 and Ralf Waldmann 's 141. Steve Eklund,_19_55_-19_91 S _ teve Eklund, th e 1979 Grand National Ch ampion, who had been in a coma since bein g injured in the Albuquerque Mil e on J un e 17, 1990, died Thursday, September 26, a t his home in San Jose, Ca liforn ia. The San ta Clara County coro ner's office said Eklund died at 9:10 p.m. Eklund, 36, scored 17 wins in hi s 14 years of competi ng in the Grand Nat ional Championshi p/ Camel Pr o Series. Hi s n in e Nat ional TT victo ries are th e most in AMA hi story, and he is tied for th e most Nati onal sho rt track wins with Kenn y Robe rts, each havin g five. He won the 1979 ti tle by pos ting three victories a nd 17 top-five finis hes, but arguably his best seaso n was 1978 w~en he logged 18 top-five fini shes, including six WIn s. Eklund 's wife, Ann e, and other famil y members were at his bedsid e when he passed away. Funeral services were scheduled for Tuesday , Octob er I, with burial to follow at Oak Hi ll Memorial Park in San J ose. class for the upcomin g six- hour enduran ce race a t th e WE RA G ra nd National Final at Road Atlanta on November 2. The team will consist of Colin Edwards II, Jim Sabin and Do ug Carmichael on an O.T.S. Honda RC prepared by R.E.S. Fred d ie Spencer o n a Du cati? According to Eraldo Ferracci, there's a good chance that he and Spencer will reach an agreement that will see the th ree-time World Champion riding a Fast By Ferracci Duca ti V-twin in the AMA National Championshp Superbike Series in 1992. And if Ferracci and Doug Polen can't co me to terms, Sp encer ma y lead Ferra cci's World Championship Superbike effort. Stay tuned. Brad Lackey, the only American to win the 500cc MX World Championship, suffered a broken arm, dislocated wrist, ank le and back injuries whe n he was rear -ended while riding his Harley-Davidson near his hom e in Pleasant Hill, Ca lifo rnia. Lackey is recuperating at hom e. Cards and letters can be sent care of Vin tage Cross , 699 Vulca n Ave. #5 1B, Leu ca dia, CA 92028. Yes, Virg inia, there is a Santa Cla us, but there won 't be a Brad Lackey Christmas Grand Prix at southern Californ ia's Carlsbad Raceway this year, a ltho ugh a vintage event is being considered to repl ace the GP. Vintage riders who would be interested in suc h an event sho uld con tact Don Moore at Vintage Cross. The ph on e number is 619/ 431-7384. Grand Marshall Joe Leonard heads a list of legends who'll be at the O ctob er 20 George Lee Memorial Vintage Motorcycle Extravaganza at the Lod i Cycle Bowl in Lodi , Californ ia. Leonard will be joined by fellow Grand National Champions Dick Mann, Mert Lawwill and Kenny Roberts , plus many more sta rs of yest eryear, incl udi ng Bud Eakins, Everett Brashear, Neil Keen , Kenny Eggers, Sam Arena, Ernie Beckman, Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman. T he day will fea tur e short track and TT races , a swap meet, po ker run , and a vintage, classic and antiq ue bike show. For more information, call J &R Cycles at 209/463-8882 or Ken Heuser at 916/989-4938 (daytime). Runn ing the same day as th e Lodi vintage mee t in northern Ca lifo rnia is the AHRMA West Regional MX Series round at Los Ange les County Raceway in Pa lmdale, Cali fornia. Host club CRC is bui lding a special course that will include a long , smooth scrambles-t yp e layout void of a ll " modern" obstacles. The event will feature an a ll-vintage (1974 and older) program, with 36 classes of racing. For more information, call 213/490-0012 (days) or 71-1/897-8265 (evenings). Downers Grov e Yamaha will provide transportation s ervices fOf Vet class motocrossers living in the Midwest who would like to a ttend the November 2-3 White Bros. World Veteran 's MX Championships at southern Ca lifornia's Perris Raceway but don 't want to drive . Fora fee, DG Y will transport a motorcycle and gear from the shop in Downers Grove, Ill inois, to California and back. Space is lim ited. For mor e in formatio n , contact Ru sty O tt at 708/971-2602. Damon Bradshaw, Doug Dubach and Jeff Emig will probably return as me mbers of Yam aha 's MX team in '92. " We plan to have the same riders," said team ma nager Keith McCarty. "T hey wor k well toge ther as a team , so th ere's no reaso n to cha nge it. T here's not much in the way of getti ng all of them back." Dub ach and Emig will be negot iating new contracts, whi le Bradshaw has two years remai ning on his th ree-year contract with Yamaha. AMA/CCS has announced that the Ramada Resort in Daytona Beach , Florida, is th e offical hot el for the 1991 AMAlCCS Race o f Champions on Octob er 18-20. The Ramada will also be the site of the victory celebration on Sunday night, Octob er 20. Road racer Mike Harth has left Team Mad Dog "d ue to personal problems with (team owner) Hank Dow." Harth, who compe ted on the team 's bikes in AMA/CCS end urance races and in Na tional Superbike events, is looking for a ride. Interested parties can contact him by call ing 214/458-2360. Paul T hede of Race Tech is requesting industry su pport for a Paul Donnelly Benefit Raffle. Donnelly, a longtim e emp loyee of Race Tech and Shoe i Helm ets, passed away recent ly. " H is atti tude and commi tme nt to peo p le affected th ousands in a very postive way: ' T hede said. " His wife, Debbie, j ust had a baby bo y (see b irth an no u nceme nt elsewhere in thi s section) and their fin an cial struggle will be great. They need industry su ppo rt from industry lead ers and rid ers alike." An y donations to the ra ffle. whi ch will ta ke pl ace .durin g the Florida Winter

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