Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Pekka Veh konen of Finlan d in the sta ndings, 60· 46, with two ro u nds remai ning. The Shenandoah Off Road Vehicle Association, along with the L u theran Brotherh ood and Sugar Loaf Farm, made a $1500 donation to Ride wi th Pride, a thera peut ic hor se rid in g prog ram for han dicapped perso ns, wi th proceeds ra ised a t th e Se p tem be r 15 Sto ney Broke H are Scra m b les eve nt in Middl ebro ok, Vi rg in ia. 'An addi tio na l $300 was do na ted to the Middleb rook Volunteer Fire Dep artment. Stoney Brok e was ro und n ine of the 12-round Vir ginia Sta te Cham pionship Hare Scra m bles Series and was won by Brian Hes s . Australian road racers Michael Doohan and Wayne Gardner will have th e o pport u ni ty to avenge the ir loss to John Kocinski in th e final ro und of the Worl d Ch a mpionsh ip Road Race Seri es in Mala ysia wh en th e tri o tak e part in the Superprestigio Solo Mot o internationa l road race in Spain o n Octob er 13. Kocin ski, Doohan and Gardner will hea dline th e event which will be held ' at the new Circu it de Catal unya near Barcelo na. Canadian Miguel DuHame,1 will have a on e-off tri al ride o n o ne of th e Sona uto-backed Yam ah a YZR500 G P bi kes a t the Superprestigio race. Team , manager and fo rmer World Champion Chri stian Sarro n will be giving th e young Canadian a look as a possible n umber two rider for hi s team in 1992. The number o ne jo b on the Sonau to team loo ks like it will be taken by Sco tla n d 's Niall Mackenzie, but Aust ra lia n Kevin Magee will a lso ri de one of the Yamah as in French co lors a t th e Superprest igi o. T he team 's regular riders, j ean-P h il ip pe Ruggia and Adri en Mori llas ha ve been d ropped by Sonau to. An other rid er wh o may have h is first race o n a 500cc GP bike in the Span ish race is Alex Criville. The for mer 125cc World Cha mp io n tested Sito Pons' Campsa-backed Ho nda NSR500 in Malaysia and acco rdi ng to John Kocinski, Cri vill e " rode the bi ke better than Sito." Pons is cons idering retirement bu t needs a Spanis h rider to take h is pl ace. Pons is also cons idering making an offer to form er 500cc World Cha mp io n Wayne Gardner. " If Gardner is avai lable he would be an ideal rider in th e event that I do ret ire and Alex steps in becau se it wo uld be a big help to Alex to hav?, a rider o n the team like Gardner who kn ow s NSRs better th an anyone," Pons said. Ca liforn ia n Rich Oliver will also race in the Superprestigio, taking the pl ace of the injured Wayne Rainey o n the cha m p ions h i p- wi n n i ng Ma rl bo ro Yamaha YZR500. In addi tio n, 'Oliv er is at the top of Austr ia n tu ner Harol d Bartol 's list for th e his new Gilera 250cc team that is curren tly being fo r med . Ba rt o l sa id h e wa s ver y impressed by Ol iver's abi li ty to set up a bike. Gilera is also determined to obtain the services of two -time 125cc Wo rl d Champion Loris Capirossi. T he Italian com pa ny has said th ey are willing to pay over $1 million extra to free the young Italian from hi s co ntract with H o nda. pi o n s Bobb y Schwartz, Brad Oxley , Steve Lucero and the retirin g Alan Christian. HosPITal Stop: North Carolina MXer an d H ammerhead Graph ics ow ner Kevin Au stin suffered a bro ken foo t whi le competi ng at H idden 'Acres MX in Kin gsp ort, T ennessee, o n Sep tem ber 29. Cards and letters can be sent to Aus tin at his home: Rt. 4, Box 495E, Yad ki nville, NC 27055. T he AM A Pro A wards Banquet will be held at the H oliday Inn Crown e Plaza in Redondo Beach, Ca liforn ia on November 23. Li mited public sea ti ng is available for the dinner and awards ceremony wh ich will be co-hos ted by television personali ties Dave Despain and Lar ry Maiers. Among the highlights of the ceremony will be the n amin g o f th e .1991 Profess io nal Ath lete of the Year and the P rofessio nal Sportsmen of the Year . Ken Maely , the man who shod s th e boots of dirt trackers everywhere wi th h is steel shoes, will undergo kneerepl acement surgery on October 15. Mael y won 't be available to make shoes until Nove mber 30. In addition, his speedway practice track in Corona , Ca li forn ia , will a lso be closed until th e 30th . ' Road racer Jeff Heino has joined Yam ah a o f J a cks on ville for the remainder of the AMA/CCS En durance Series. The Craig Crumplerow ned endura nce team com pe tes in the GTO division of th e series. T he 1991 United States Speedway National Championship will take pl ace at Co sta Mesa, Californi a 's Oran g e County Fairgrou nd s o n October 12. In the past, the even t has been held on th e first Sa turday in October, but p romoters have decided to extend the regu la r speedway season and thus push th e cha mp ionsh ip bac k a week. For th e first time ever there will be five National Speedway Champions in the field - defending cha mp ion Mike Faria and former cha m- Ever wondered wh ere you co uld get a hold of th e RS Taichi motocross gea r th at Jeff Matiasevich and Larry Ward have worn throughout the 1991 seaso n? Well , JT USA will be the officia l U.S. p roducer and distributor of the J apan ese styled riding gear. Ava il abil ity is sche d u led fo r la te November. Jeff Matiasevich, who brok e his thigh at the Augus t 11 125/500cc Na tional MX in Mill vill e, Minnesota, is rapidly recovering from hi s injury. " I'm almost positive I' ll be ready for J an uary (II, the open ing round of th e Camel Supercross Seri es)," said Matiasevi ch . " L' rn wo r ki n g h a rd with weights, bicycling and taking some p ill s from (perso na l train er ) Jeff Spen cer to help it heal. Every week I can see a big improvement. I've just started to rid e with (Je ff) Ward. I don 't wan t to push it rig h t no w, I'm j us t riding to get m y reflexes back." House subcommittee passes desert bill T he House Int er ior subco mmi ttee on general o versight and California desert lands passed House Bill 2929 by a 4-1 vo te o n Tuesday, October I. The bill, whose sponso rs are Reps. Richard Lehman (D-Sanger) and Mel Levine (D-Santa Mo ni ca), is simila r to Sen . Ala n Cransto n 's senat e bill, the so-call ed Ca lifornia Desert Prot ection Act. T he Lehman-Levine house bi ll calls for 4.4 milli on acres of desert in Ca li forn ia's southeast corner to be designated as wild erness, th us banning OHV use. T he bi ll is expec ted to be pa ssed by th e House, but will face a fight in the Senate. If passed in its current form , it is ant ici pa ted that th e legislation would be vetoed by President Bush , wh o earlier th is su m mer propos ed that on ly 2.1 million acres receive wi lderness designation . T he bill provides for 250,000 mor e acres for off-roa d vehicle use, minin g, etc. than an earl ier version, ho wever, in addit io n to th e 77 new wilderness areas that would cover 4.4. milli on acres , it would create two new parks, the 3.3 million acre Death Valley Nat ional Park and the 800,000 acre J osh ua Tree Na tio nal Park . Ke v in Atherton , wi n ne r o f th e Octob er 5 Pomon a Ha lf Mile, ma y have been the most skilled ri der of the even ing, bu t not in th e eyes of th e Michigan Depar tment of Motor Veh icles. Appar en tly, Athe rton failed th e skill portion of th e mo torcycle licen sing test for go ing too fast. " I took th e test on my Duca ti Superbike, and th e lad y told me it was too big for me and I sho uld get a sma ller bike," la ughed Atherton. Jeff Straw of Buena Pa rk, Ca lifo rnia, was th e big wi nner in the dr awing fo r a 1992 Suzu ki DR350S donated by Ameri can Suzuki at the 2nd Annual California Trail R id e s l Cycle N e ws Dual Sport Jamboree near Big Bear, California , Oc tober 6. Each . time a rider ente red a Califo rn ia T ra il R ides du a l-sport event in 1991, his/her n ame was au to ma tica lly ente red in th e pool for th e drawing. In case you m issed it , m ore tha n 270 rider s, including passen gers and one dog , • took ad vantag e of the free barbecue and 100-plus miles of trail ridin g at the Cycle N ews·sponsored even t. .... v ..0 .o ..., u O· Heading west for the' winter. That's wh ere for mer National MXer Gary Semics will be taking his MX schools in Novem ber. Sernics, wh o normally co nd uc ts h is classes in the O hi o ar ea, will be hol din g classes throughout so u th er n Ca liforn ia bet ween Novem ber and April. For more information , you can call Semics at 216/ 424-3382, or after November 20 at 714/ 244-561 3. E n -rou te to Ca lif orn ia , Sem ics will sto p for a group class o n October 26 in Denver, Colorado. For more informat ion o n th e Denver school, call 303/ 663-3356. Grand P rix road race star Kevin Schwantz will be on hand to sign a utogra p hs at th e WE RA Grand Na tional Fin al s at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georg ia , November 2-3. Th e E ngl a nd -b ased Kawasaki Europe motocross team will swi tch its effor ts fro m the World Champio nshi p 500cc MX Seri es to th e 250cc class in 1992 with an all-British teenage trio co nsis ting of Paul Malin, James Dobb and Justin Morris. Malin, 19, fini shed fourth in th e 1991 World Championship 500cc MX Seri es and became th e youngest-ever 500cc G P winner with his victo ry in th e French G P. Dobb , a lso 19, broke hi s collarbone at th e beginning of th e seaso n and had a disappointing year in the Wor ld Cham p ionship 250cc MX Series, wh ile Morri s is a newcomer to the GP circuit, having just come o ut of th e Bri tish youth ran ks. At their September 15 Lo ne Ranger T ri als, sou the rn Ca lifornia 's Plonkers Tria ls Club collec ted over 30 letters for ,..--- - - - Cont inued on page 4 r--------------------~------------------~----------------------- SUBSCRIPTION ORDER }'ORM Name _ Add ress _ City Order Date State Zip _ Please start my subscription to Cycle News: (non-Californ ia residents ) o Every week for one year (50 issues) for $35.00 (can be bill ed 3 monthly payments) D Every week for two years (100 issues) for $65.00 D Six months second class (25 issues) for $18.00 (Californi a residents - includes sales tax) o 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 o Six mo nths second class (25 issues) for $19.40 On e year (50 issues), 2nd class Canada or Mexico and all other foreign coun tries S75.00 (U.S. funds ). L~~~~==~~=~~a~~~ ~~ _ o This is a renewal o Pl ease bill me o Bill 3 paym ents of $11.67 (no n -Califo rnia residents) o Bill 3 paym ents of $ 12.59 (California residents sa les tax incl uded) ., ~ o Enclosed is my check or m oney order r:; Charge m y o Visa o Mastercard . , ~ ' I"" Signature MC/Visa # _ Expira tio n Date _ Send to : Cycle News, Inc., P .O. Box 498, L ong Beach, CA 90801-0498 Toll Free Subscription Hotline (800) 831-2220 ~~:~~~~~~~~~~ J 3

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