Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ B-iy_Papa Wealey INTHEWIND As reported last week, KTM Austria I is facing major financial p roblems. KTM Austria has filed the equivalent of U.S. Chapter 11 - which gives KTM temporary pro tectio n from credi tors while the company is restructured. A "T ru stee" has been appointed by the Austrian court system to man age reorganization. According to a press release from KTM , "An o ffer and operational concep t has already been presented to the Trustee to take over the Sport Motorcycle division of KT M Austri a (KT M also produces bicycles, a nd motorcycle and car radiators). This offer has been tendered by a major inv estor, a group of stro ng KTM im porters / d istri b utors a n d, m os t importantly, a group of lon g experien ced ' motorcycle insiders,' with a vast knowledge of the sport motorcycle industry." There have been many rumors circulating that the KTM factory in Austria has been padlocked, or has ceased pr oduction, bu t according to KTM America President Rod Bush, " Bus-. in ess cont inues as usual. KT M Austria is sti ll shipping parts, prod ucing and selling KTM motorcycles. T here is already an ample su p p ly of 1992 models on hand a nd in tran sit , as well as assurance from all vendors tha t 'the flow of spa re pa rts will cont inue when needed to su pplement ou r cu rrent large parts inventory." KTM Austria's employees will be taking their customary holiday vacati on , as planned, from December 20 th rough January 7, 1992. What do pro racers do in the offseason ? Well , Dou g Ch and le r , .who campaign ed a T eam Roberts Yamaha in road race GPs during the season, spent an afternoon of h is off-season competing in th e Two-Hour Endurothon at northern California 's San Jose Fa irgrounds on Sunday, December 15. Chandler, riding a Yamaha in the 250cc class, led all the way, finishing nearl y a mi nute in front of runner-up Suzuki 250-mou t'lled Chris Carr, the 600cc National Dirt Track Champion who finished in a tie for first in the Camel Pro Series point standings. T he team of Mark Smi th and Dan .Malfatti (Suz) fin ished th ird. The next round of the five-race Endurotho n Series will take place on December 29. America 's on ly two -time MX World Champion Trampas Parker and h is Honda teammate M ic k y D y mond ar e planni ng to contest several rounds of the Camel Supercross Series before going to Europe where they will compete in the Wor ld Championship 250cc MX Series: Parker, th e 1989125cc and 1991 250cc World Champion, and 1986-'87 125cc Nat ional Champion Dymond will compete on H RC-kitted CR250s. Also plann ing to compete in severa l Ca mel Supercross rou n ds is 125cc .World Ch ampion Stefan E verts of Belgium. Everts will miss the January II openi ng round in Orlando , Florida , and the February 22 event in Atlan ta, Geo rgia, but pl ans to compete in eig h t of the first 10 rounds before returning to Europe for the 250cc MX GPs. Everts says he will compete in the 250cc class an d will live in a motorhome while in America, as he does while following th e G P circu it, Trampas Parker a n d Micky Dymond are among the latest riders promoter Goat Breker has sign ed up for the Decemb er 28 Goat Gere $10,000 In vitational Supercross at southern California's Perr is Ra cewa y. Erik Kehoe an d the Vohland brothers , Tyson and T all on , hav e also recen tly ~ confirme d that they will com pete in th e eve n t. T hey ' ll be co mpe ti ng agai ns t th e lik es of Jeff W a r d , Dam o n Bradshaw and Johnny O' M ara. Motocrosser Larry W ard fin ished near th e top o f many post-season Eu ropean supercross even ts this fa ll, wh ich may have surprised thos e who figured Ward's career to be in disarray a fter h e wa s demoted to Suzuki's su p port team for 1992. Bu t Ward actually credits Suzuki for his newfound speed . "S uzuki was real down on me after th e (American) season, but they gave me one more chance because they 've seen me ride fast and (they) feel th at I can be a win ner," said Ward after fini shi ng th ird at the Decem ber I Tokyo Su percross and second to J ean Michel Bayle in th e Masters of Motocross Series. " It mean s a lo t to th e facto ry when you stand on the podium in Tokyo and I hope Suzuki appreciates th is as much as I appreciate their help. " Five-time AMA Ama teur MX National Champion Tim F erry m ad e his professional supercross debu t at th e Tokyo Supercross, where he was a guest of Yokoh am a Tires, EK Chain and American-based Kayo Corporation as a represen ta tive of the AMA's amateur mo tocross program. Ferry , q ua lified for th e 21-rider mai n event by win ning the Last Ch an ce Q ual ifier, but crashed on the first lap of the main 'and retired. to jump sh i p if they so desi red , National Hare & H ound Champion Danny Hame l secured a deal with Kawasak i for the 1992 season. Ham el, who less th a n a week earl ier had ren ewed hi s cont ract with KTM . will focu s on defending his hare and hound title, as well as competing in SCO RE and H DRA races. H amel will also race in a number of selected events, including rounds of the National Champion sh ip Rel iability Enduro Series. KT M-ba cked motocrosser Mike Fisher says he' ll stay with the Aus trian firm. ''I'm goi ng to stick it out, I want to continue with KT M," said Fisher just before leaving southern California on December 12 to compete in an Italia n su percross even t. " I signed my contract a little over one mo nt h ag o an d they've already gi ven me my first payment. I already have my bikes nd most of the parts for '92. Far iol i, die Ital ia n KTM importer, is behind me an d if there's any problem they will help me ' ou t." Fisher is schedu led to contest the Camel Supercross Series and a few 250cc National s, th en compete in the remainin g 250cc GPs in Europe. Kawasaki Team Gree n will field a twoman team in th e 1992 Mickey Thompson O ff-Road Gr an Prix Ultracross Series. Returning will be two- time defendin g champ Michael Craig and Gene Naumec. Craig and Naumec will also contes t th e AMA Nat ion al Championsh ip 250cc MX Series and most of the , Camel Supercross and 500cc National MX Series even ts. Recently crowned World Su perb ike Champion Doug Polen was seen spectating at the exhi bi tio n dirt tra ck" races held during the Bologna Motor Sho w in Bologna, Ital y, Decemb er 7/ 8. " I lik e to see the big rooster tai ls they shoot," said Polen, who was on hand for a celebration party thrown in his hon or by the Duca ti factory . "I th ink di rt track is some of the mo st exciting raci ng around." M ichael Cr a ig cli nc hed th e FIM Rod il Su percross Championship wi thout contesting the fifth and final ro und held Decemb er 7 in Poona, India. Craig wo n all three' of the events he competed in. The Rodil Championshi p, wh ich never achieved popularity in its six-year run, has been dropped fro m th e '92 FIM sch edule. Shortly after KTM 's announcement that the company is having serious financial problems and that all of their con tracted factory team riders were free In conjunction with the Jan uary 18 Houston Astrodome ro u n d o f th e Ca m el Supercross Ser ies, Tex a s Kaw asaki of Pasadena will host an open ho use on Friday , January 17. Team Gr een 's M ike Kiedrowski, Jeff Ward, Jeff Matiasevich and Mike LaRocco will be on hand for autographs and ben ch raci ng from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. For more inform ation, call 713/ 472-3694. Hugo W olters, 60, passed away on November 29 in Uni versity of Maryland Hos pital in Baltimore. Wolters had recently undergone a triple-bypass heart operation. He had tended to the BMWs and Hondas campaign ed by vin tage class road racer Kurt Liebma n n for " 10 to 15 years." Liebman n said, "I am crushed. I do n 't know if I' ll continue to race. " Wo lter s is survived by two daughters and a son . HosPI T al STOP: Sou thern California rnotocrosser Duane Benner , 21, sustained serious head injuries in a practice crash while riding at American Honda 's test faci lity in Sim i Valley , California.D ecember 3. Benner dri fted in and out of a coma ' for two da ys, but is now awake and listed in good condi tion. " It was j ust a day of p ractice ridi ng," said Benner in a phone conversatio n from Simi Vall ey Hospital. " I don't remember wh at hap pened, but ma ybe that's better. " Benner will remain in th e hospi ta l for furth er observation unt il Decemb er 20. , Cards and letters may be sent to Benner, c/o -North CountyYamaha, 1315 N . Nutmeg , Esco ndido , CA 92026. HosPITal stop: Wayne Scott, 16, sus tained severe head injuries in a crash at the Florida Winter Ol ympics, November 30. The Piscataway, New Jersey, rider is listed as sta ble, bu t suffers paralysis of th e right side of his body. Cards and lett ers ma y be sent to Scot t a t 92 Brett St., Piscataway, NJ 08854. The U.S. Forest Service has anno unced it will re -route a se~m en t of the pop ular Snowy Off -Highway Vehicle Trail in California's Los Padres Na tio na l Forest to improve conditions for wildlife in an area west of Hungry Valley. The decision came last week 1

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