Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

the past two years, " Fogarty said. "If the bi ke keeps going I know I ca n win." A victory by a ny of the Brits wo uld be a first in th e 51-year history of the Daytona 200. The japanese entry is led by T aka hiro Showa a nd Shoichi Tsu ka mo to, the third and fifth place finishers in the 1991 All japan TTFI Championship. Jeremy McGrath (H on) scored the win in th e 125cc Pro class at round three of th e CMC Go ld en State Nationals held january 12 at Sunrise Cycle Park in Adela nto, Ca lifornia. Tallon Vohland (Suz) topped th e 250cc P ro s, while Carlo Hulsen (H on ) scored the win in the 500cc Pro class. Form er 125cc W o rl d C hampion Domiy Schmit (Yam ) swept th e 125 and 250cc Pro classes a t round th ree o f th e GFI Ca lifornia Winter MX Series South in Car lsbad , Ca li forn ia, january 12. B rian M anley (Hon) finished second a nd Mike Chamberlain (Ya m) third overa ll in the 125cc Pro class, whi le B a d er Manneh (H on) was the ru n ner-up in the 250cc P ro cl as s and Joe Waddington (Yam) finished third. WorldS ports informs us that " due to a last minute scheduling problem at the Houston Astrodome" the j anuary 19 Astrodome Amateur Supercross has been canceled. The Camel Supercross Series round will run as scheduled o n Saturday, j anuary 18. The J 'o int organizers o f the 1992 Roa Racing World Championship, Two Wheel Pro mo tio ns (T WP) and Dorna, will a n nounce their definitive sched ule on january 21, th ree da ys af ter th e clo sing o f th e FIM 's ma nagement cou nc il meetin g in Gen eva. The French , Ital ian a nd Aus tria n G Ps are sti ll in do ubt, but IRT A sources are co nfident that a contract will be sign ed with promoters of th e French GP (Mag ny Cours) and for the Italian G P (still provisionally listed for Mugello), The date offered to the Austrian promoters (August 9) is a difficult o ne because the Salzburgring circu it is located in a summer vacation area, creating a two- fold problem: H otel accommodations are sparse in August; and traffic authorities say they will not authorize a m ajor sporting event because the infl u x o f racing fans coming across the German, Ita lian a nd Czechos lovakian borders wo uld cause maj or traffic problems. After Friday ni ght's Battle Creek Arena cros s had to be canceled du e to th e indoor tra ck being built wit h m ud dy soil, excessive car bo n mon oxide levels ca used cou nty he alth department officials to order th e evacuat io n of Batt le Creek, Michigan 's Kellogg Aren a on both Saturday and Sunday, j anuary 4-5, a nd the fin al races o f th e Battle Cre ek Arenacros s progra ms were conduc ted after th e arena was em p tied and the air cleared. Onl y peo ple with pit passes were a llowed to return to the are na for th e final few races . The WERA has announced an increase o f over 50% in the total p urs e offered in the '92 WERA P ro Series. O u t of a total series purse o f $308,850, based on ni ne events (a n average of $34,316 per event), th e winner of a Fo rm ula USA race will receive 5000, and th e winner 'o f a Formula II race, $3000. WERA also announced th at Vans o n L e athers and P e r fo r m a n c e M achine are ti tle sponsors for th e WERA National Endurance Seri es. In addition , Vanson Leathers will also spo nsor T wi ns races a t Willow Springs (Apri l 3-5) and at Pocono (August 2123). AMA 250cc Grand Prix National Champion J immy Filice will stay in the U.S . and defend his championship. Fil ice was o rig inally slated to compete in the 250cc Grands Prix, but hi s sponsorship dea l fell apart. " I' Il be running m y own team a nd doing a ll th e Nat ionals," Filice said. "T h is is the best thing for us right now." The Californian will ride a Bru ce Mausprepared 1992 H on da RS250. 2 Apparently the FIM has no t given up o n a 500cc four-stroke road race class. T he fou r-strok e idea, which was ridiculed by both IRT A (International Ra cing T ea m s Association ) a nd for- Thirty-six riders have been accep ted a nd granted permanent numbers o n th e provisional IR T A list in 'the 125 a nd 250cc cla sses of the Road Racing World Championship while 29 are included on the 500cc lis t. Americans who will be competing in th e 1992 cham pionship incl ude Worl d Champio n Wayne Rainey ( I), John Kocinski (4), Eddie Lawson (7), Doug Chandler (10) and Kevin Schwantz (34). Wi th seven places still open, there is a place for Randy Mamola, but as yet the four-time runner-up in the 500cc championshi p has been unabl e to sec ure a ny sponsorshi p. If all th e ri ders lis ted by IRTA for the 500cc class actually co mpete, the grid size wiII be back to 1988 levels with seven and eight rows o f machinery. Among the riders on the list are 12 privateers riding the new Harrisamaha production bi kes, with six su pp lied by Serge Ro sset and six by th e Harris firm itself. West German road racer Martin Wimmer is not on the 250cc list and may be forced to retire because of lack o f sponsorship. If Wimmer, who finished ninth in the 1991 250cc World Championship on a factory Suzuki, is unable to find sponsorship to run a tea m with Ap ri lia hi s pl ace on the 36man list will be ta ken by Germa n H elmut Kassner. T eam MCN , a five-rider sq ua d fro m Engla nd, plu s a two- rid er team supported by Kawasaki j apan, will head lin e th e foreign contingent for th e Mar ch 8 ru n ning o f the Daytona 200. The British li neup in cludes Steve Hislop (H onda) , joh n Reyn olds and Brian Morrison (Ka wasaki), Da vid Leach (Ya ma ha) a nd Carl Fogart y (Duca ti), " I' ve led th e Daytona 200 for pi o n Bob H annah will serve as the pi reporter. Ba rtels' H a rley-Da vidson rider Mike Hale has star ted riding a 250cc mo to crosser near his ho me in Carrolton Texas. H a le, who underwent surgery in early Decemb er to remove a tita ni um pl at e in his wrist, expects to be fu lly recovered before the March Came Pro season ope ner in Daytona, Flori da . " I' ve been running and lifting weig ht: to sta y in shape, " said H al e, th e !99< Camel Pro Seri es Roo kie of th e Year. " I figure if my wrist can take th e bumps on a motocrosser, it' ll be rea d, for d irt tra cking." Brainerd International, Inc. (BII), a motorsports management co m pa ny that o wn s and o pe ra tes Brainerd Interna tional Raceway in Minnesota and who se sha res are traded on th e n ati on al- o ver -th e-counter m ark et u nder the NASDAQ sym bo l BIRI, has reported a record net income of $49 5,069, o r $0.18 p er s h a re o n revenues of $1,336,015 for th e third quarter endi ng Sep tember 30. This compares to 1990 third quarter earnings of $147,297 or $0.054 per share on reven ues of $1,138,50 I. For th e first nin e months of 1991, BII rep orted net in co me of $265, 116 on revenues of $1,754,705 as compared to a net loss of $43,836 on reven ues o f $1,594,6 11 for th e same periodjn 1990. Gene Sn o w , chairman and ch ief execu tive o fficer of BII , said, " T hird quarter results were th e highest in the co m pany's history . . . We achieved our 199 1 go a l o f makin g eve ry event p ro fitable." French ma n Gilles Lalay , 29, suffered fatal inj uries in a crash in the Co nge o n j anuary 7, whi le com pe ting in the P aris-C a p eto wn Rall y. The T eam Yamaha Ch es terfie ld Scout factory rider wo n th e event in 1989 whe n it was th e Pa ris-Da kar Rally. La lay was a two-time Worl d End uro Cham p io n in 1985 a nd '88, a nd ni ne -time French Enduro Champion. O th er acco m plish m ents include th e overa ll victory a t th e 1985 Int ern a tio na l Six- Days Enduro in Spain , and fou r major Rally overall victories. H e is su rvived by his wife Marie and two children. Fo rm er Garvis Honda Town rider Ronnie Jones has yet to secure a sponso r for the 1992 Camel Pro Season. j ones, the th ird -ranked dirt tracker in 1990 and 1991, is considering several different offers. Might we see j on es aboard a Harley- Davidson? "If that's what it's gonna take," said j on es, who has campaigned H o nda RS750s for the past five seaso ns. " I'm real used to th e H ondas , but if nothing co mes up I may have to switch." Italian F a b rizio P irovano wiII rid e a Yamaha again in the 1992 World Championship Superbike Series . Pirovano will be aboard a Team Diemme Yamaha O WOI prepared by Byrd, the Italian Yama ha importer. Pirovano wi ll be joined by young Italian Massimo Meregalli on th e two -man team. Based on the success of the Pragu e Auto Salo n which was held in Czechoslovak ia 's ca pita l ci ty in Octob er , o ver 500,000 vi sitor s are expected for the 1 9 9 2 Pragu e International Motor Show - P IMS '92. T ha t show wiII take pl ace Sep tember 23-27, 1992 a t th e Pa lac Kultury Intern a tio nal Exhibitio n Centre. O ver 1000 com panies are expected to participat e in PI MS '92 which is ope n to both th e trade and public. For more information, contact P. MacDonal d-Bro wn , PI MS '92, 31 Warr ington Crescent, London W9 IE j , U ni ted Kin gd o m. Dirt trac ker Tim Mertens will return to Camel Pro Series ac tion after sitting o u t mo st o f the 1991 seaso n. Mertens , wh o was th e 10th -ranked Ca mel Pro rid er in 1990, broke his femur at the season-opening Daytona Sh ort T ra ck; a nd suffe red a no the r setback wh en the bone d idn 't heal properly. "T hey had to rebrea k it, " said Mertens . " It's been a long year , th a t' s for sure. I' d sa y it's abo u t 95% rig ht now, and it shou ld n' t effect me o u t on th e trac k." Mert ens will ca m paign a H onda RS750 backed by Belleville H onda. "Of co urse, I' m loo king for add itio na l backing," said Mert en s, who can be reach ed a t 618/ 233-1318. Accordi ng to Du n & Bradstreet Inter. national, it was estima ted that fina ncially troubled KTM wo uld show an $ 1 8 m illion lo s s for 199 1. D&B said th at despite an " up ward turn in th e bicycl e sector, ' the motorbike sector co ntin ued to make he av y lo sses." Concentrating o n the mountain bik e m a rk et , KT M ' s bicycl e divi sion planned to manufacture 200,000 bicy cles in '9 1, whe rea s the motorcycle di visi on had planned for 12,000 units, a n increas e o f 500 over '90 a nd 3000 over '89. According to th e report, KTM had 560 emp loyees, 180 o f whi ch were invo lved in mo torcycl e production . A repr esentative of th e Sw iss com pan y Exantra AG , the new owners of the motorcycle div ision, ca lled on KT M America last week. Accordi ng to Scott H arden , operations ' here in the U.S . will continue as in the past. Wh ile a con tract has yet to be signed, i t see ms ce rt ai n that th e Camel Supercross Se ries will be televised by ESPN. Each ro u nd of th e serie s will be vid eotaped by Sea ls Co mm u nica tio ns a nd th en edited for fu tu re ai ring, wi th the first show reported ly sched uled to a ir in April. Dave Desp ain will handl e t he "p lay- by- p lay" a n no u nc ing with La rry Maier s provid ing co lor. Former Na tional MX Cham- D on Emde reports that th e recent silent auction of special autographed copies of his Daytona 200 book raised 1826 for Pau l Pa trick Donnell y, the newborn son of the late Pa ul Donnelly. Bids ranged from $160 u p to 500. " I' d like to exp ress my appreciation to each of those wh o bid on the book, and to Ken n y Roberts, Wa yne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Floyd Emde, Chris Carr, Ed Kretz Sr., j oe Leonard and Skip Van Leeuwen, who signed th e books," sa id Emde. A driano D u ca ti, 88, th e founder of the Du ca ti factory, suffered a fatal heart attack in Milan, Ita ly, o n November 25. Du ca ti founded th e company in 1924. H e is survived by hi s brothers, Marcell o and Bruno. . ESP N will telecas t a half-hour sh ow dev o ted to the 1991 Suzuki National Cup Series Final. T he sh ow is scheduled for Saturda y, February 8, a t 10:30 p.m. East ern time (7:30 p .rn. Pacific time). The event was held at Road Atlanta. Mike Healey, who will contest th e 250cc MX G P Series aboard a T eam

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