Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTHEWIND By Papa Wealey e .. a(') ..... lo-< Q,) ..0. S Q,) :> o Z Fren chman Jean-Michel Bayle (H on) maintained hi s perfect run in th e Ch esterfield Masters of Motocross Series by sweep ing both days of racing at round three in Barcelona, Sp ain, Nove mber 2-3. Larry Ward (Suz) was the runner-up both days, while third p lace went to Guy Cooper (Suz) on Satu rday and Jeff Stanton (Hon) on Sunday. Bayle leads Ward in the sixround series, 30-12. Ron Tichenor (Suz) was the overall winner at the November 2-3 Antwerp Supercr oss i n Antwerp, Belgiu m . Stefen Everts (Suz) topped Doug Dubach (Yam ) and Axel Holvoet (Ka w) in Saturda y's final , while Tich en or led Bernd Eckenbach (Yam) and H olvoet to the fin ish lin e in Sunday's main . Czechoslovakian Jan Hrehor (Suz) was th e overall winner at the final round of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in Morrison , Ill in ois, November 2. Randy Hawkins (Suz) was th e ru nner-up, while recently cro wned National Enduro Champion Jeff Russell (KT M) was third. Rounding out the top five were' Kelly Getz (H us) and Fred Hoess (H us), respe ctively. ,K y le Lewis (Yam) wo n the Ultra - cross race at th e final round of the Mickey Thompson Off-R oad Ch am pionship Gran Pr ix Series at Oakl and, Cal ifornia, Novem ber 2. Mike Craig (Kaw) fin ishe d seco nd, a nd S cott Myers (Kaw) was th ird . Craig wo n the U1tracross Championship for th e second year in a row. John Meyers (Suz) turned in a 7.687 second, 173.24 mph blast down the quaner-mile drag strip at Pomona, California, to defeat James Bernard (Suz) in th e No vemb er 3 N H RA Wi nston Finals. Bern ard 's losing numbers were 7.739/172.87. Rex Staten (H on) swept the Vet Pro ' class at th e November 2-3 Wh ite Bros. World Veterans MX Ch ampionsh ip s in Perris, Cal ifornia. Staten topped Zoli Berenyi (Ho n) arid J eff Watts (Hon) on the first da y of compe tition , then Watts was th e runner-up and Bob Hanrahan (Hon) finished th ird in the featured Vet Pro fina le on day two. Three of five nominati ons have been anno unced for th e 1991 AMA/MotoWorld Professional Athlete of the Year Award. Carry in g on a trad ition begun in 1976, the AMA will nam e from among the nominees its to p ath lete of the 1991 season. For the first time , the award will also carry a cash Trails bill h earing h Washington eldin W subco mmi ttees of the House Interior Committee conduc ted a joint hearin g o on recrea tiona l trails in Wash in gton, D.C. on October 31, the first such hearing in th is session of Congress. Although not int ended to consider speci fic legislation, the hearing gave both ad vocates and opponents of the American Trails Improvement Act (H R3585) opportunit y to focu s attention on tha t bill, the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reports. The hearing clarified provisions of the tra ils bill and will help ens ure that funding for trails, includin g ORV trails, is considered during upcoming H ouse/ Sen ate highway bill delibera tions. HR3585 would return federal gasoline tax es paid by off-h ighway riders to sta te programs for cons truc tion and maintenance of all types of trails. Sim ilar language is incorpo ra ted in a Senate-passed bill to reauthor ize federal hi ghway programs. Up u nti l this time, MIC reports, the House Interior Committee had been reluctant to hold hearings on trails funding. Interior 's National Parks and Public Lan ds Subco mmi ttee, chaired by Rep. Bruce Vento of Minnesota, and th e Energy and En vironme n t Subcommittee, ch aired by Rep. . Kostmayer of Pennsylvania, conducted the hearing. Rep . Thomas Petri (R -WI), sponsor of HR3585, opened the formal testimony by explain ing the rationale 'for his bill. He then took the opportunity to correct mi sinformation being spread by special-inte rest groups that o ppose motorized off-highway recreation. ' Sen . Steve Symms, author of the Senate legislation that passed in June, urged the subco mmittees to support HR3585. Symms also presented a state-by-sta te ana lysis of funding, providing subcommittee members with a powerful argu ment in favor of the trails bill. Numerous questions from subcommi ttee memb ers also addressed provisions of the trails bill. A total of 21 people testif ied on five panels. Proponents of HR3585 took advan tage of the opportunity to correct inaccurate information from no-use, preservationist .. organizations attempting to defeat the trails act, According to MIC 's Rob Dingman, tra ils bill opponents have sought to confuse the funding mechanism as a duplication of existing federal programs. Opponents also allege that th e bill will allow motorized tra ils in areas under study for federal wilderness designation. 'In fact," Dingman says, " the tra ils bill will enhance existing programs and provide badly-needed tra il maintenance funds. Furthermore, specific language in the bill prohibits motorized trails in wilderness study areas . Su ch inaccurate claims made in order to sabotage the bill only serve to damage the credibility of those making them." In his testimony, Derrick Crandall, president of the American Recreati on Coalition (ARC), corrected several of these misconceptions for sub committee members. An ARC trails task force comp rised of MIC and several other organ izations, including the Blue Ribbon Coa lition as well as th e Ameri can Motorcyclist Association, has directed strategy to pass the legis lation. Task Force Chairman, Roy Mutti, testified concerning the success of existing state programs that use gasoline taxes to fund trails. Muth, wh o is pre sident of the International Snowmobile Industry Association, urged the full Interior Committee to consider trails funding during conferen ce deliberations on th e highway bill. The House and Senate are in the process of naming conferees wh o will iron out differ ences between their respective versions of a federal highway reauthorization bill. The House passed its highway bill, without reference to trails funding, October 22. ' Because of the Symms trails provisions in th e Senate bill, the subj ect will be addressed in conference. MIC 's Dingman said th e joint House hearing has set the stage to keep trails provisions in the final highway bill. T 2 Wood-Rotax unveils '92605 flattr c er ak he Wood-Rotax 605 dirt tracker features the new air-cooled Nika sil cylinder, liquid-cool ed DOHC, four-valve head , four-stroke, single-cylinder, 598.5ec Rotax engine. The eng ine is housed in a single-backbo ne, double cradle frame. Oil is carri ed in the fram e that rides on Kosman wh eels and features a Showa 35mm front fork; a choice of Works Performance, Ohlins or White Power rear shoc k; 1O.6-inch rear disc brak e with 41mm Grimeca caliper (front brake is optiona l); and ch oice of Mikuni or Del'Orto carburetor. Claimed dry weight is "approxima tely" 230 pounds.' The Wood-Rotax 605 - sans chai n, sprocket, tires and tub es - costs $9400. The engi ne is availabl e sepa rate ly and costs $3675. For more information, call 714/ 645-0393. T award of $2500 pro vided by Seals Communications Corporation, which produces MotoWorld for ESP N. The first three nominees are dirt tra ck racing star Scott Parker, motocross ace Jean-Michel Bayle, and th e three-man American team which won th e Motocross des Nations titl e. That team included Damon Bradshaw, Mike Kie drowski and 1990 AMA Professional Athl ete of th e Year Jeff Stanton. The fin al award nominees will be announced on November II , and th e award winner or winners will be named as a high light of the 18th Annual AMA Professional Awards Banquet on November 23 in Redondo Beach , California. Don E m de is au ctioning off 10 very special copies of his bo ok, " T he Daytona 200. The History of America 's Premier Motorcycle Race." All of the proceeds from the au ction will go to benefit Paul Patrick Donnell y, th e newborn son of motocrosser Paul Donnelly who was killed recently, The books ' are autograyhed by K enny R o berts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, J oe Leo n ard , Ed Kretz, Chris Carr, plus Don and his father Floyd Emde. All are former Daytona winners with the exception of Carr. According to Emde, the auction will be conducted via the mail only, with the 10 highest bids getting the books. A minium bid of $100 has been set for these highly collectible books and the deadline is December 15. Interested parties should submit their bids by mail to Don Emde, c/ o Infosport, 300II Ivy Glenn Dr., Suite 114, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. For further details, call Emde at 714/249-22 70. The Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association will crown its 1991 champions and introduce new club officers ,at its annual awards banquet in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, November 16. The event, dubbed 'The Road Rash Bash," will also feature dancing and door prizes. Advance reservations are required; call503/22I-I487. Speedway raci ng returns to the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, Ca liforni a , on Saturda y n ight, November 9, with the running of the Ventura Fall Classic. Among the entrants are Sam Ermolenko , B illy H amill, Greg Hancock and Ronnie Correy. According to co-p romot er Harry Oxley, Ventura is one of two sites being considered for next year 's American Speedwa y Final. Former National MX Champion Broc Glov e r is one of 10 finalists in the Skip Barber Racing School $100,000 Big Scholarship competition. Glover and the other contestants will take part in a tw o-day run-off at Florida's Sebring International Raceway on November 16-17. They'll be driving Ford-powered Barber Saab Mondiales, open-wheel rac e cars, and will be judged on lap times, racing in traffic, adaptability, setup diagnosis, media relations abilities, etc. The driver judged to be the best receives a paid season of compe tition in th e 12-race , IMSA and F1A-sanctioned Barber Saab Pro Series . Drivers qualified for the competition in th is year's Skip Barber Formula Ford Series. Motocross legend Bob H annah will jo in speedway ra cers B obby Sch w artz , E ddie Castro and B rad Oxley in an autograph session at the Barber Honda-Suzuki open house in Ventura, California, this Saturday, November 9. Their appearance is in conjunction with that evening's Ventura Fall Classic speedway meet at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Hannah will also sign autographs at the track during pre-race festivities . Larry Huffman will MC the pre-race party prior to announcing the races. The fourth round of the Dixie F all M X Serie s that was to have taken place at High Point MX in Dallas, Georgia, on November 17 has been rescheduled for the same date at Hillbilly Hills in Roberta, Georgia. High Point was unable' to obtain the

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