Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1992 02 26

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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aggravated the injury at the Houston and An aheim ro u n ds o f th e 1992 Camel Supercross Series befor e decid ing to take some time off to let the sho u lder heal p roperly. The Mar lbo ro Roberts Yamaha team o f defend ing World Cham pi o n Wayne R ain e y a nd John K ocins ki will use Michel in tires in the 1992 World Cham pi o n ship Road Ra ce Series, despite the fact th at Ra iney won the tit le last year on Dunlops. The decision wa s ma de afte r test sessions in Mal aysia and Australia. ·" We both 'm ade the decision," R a in ey sa id , sq u elching rum ors th at it was Kocinski al on e wh o made the final cho ice on tir e bran d. " I went q u ick enoug h to help make the decision . The ti re performan ce was ver y cl o se between th e two, but with Suzuki and H onda on Mich elin we had to take that element o ut of it. T he Dunlop gu ys are gr eat an d it was not a n easy decision. " W a yne R a ine y reports th at he's p leased wi th hi s recovery fro m a badl y broken leg. " I was able to put some laps in and I' m prett y sat isfied wit h the program, " he said on Thursda y, February 13. " My goal goi ng in was to get within five seco nds of wh at j ohn (Kocins ki) was doing in Ma laysia , and I go t within a second there. I also want ed to be able to dr ag my knee by th e tim e we go t to Australia, and I ended up dragging it on the third lap in Mal aysia. It seems like I got an extra 20 degrees of movem ent o nce I was o n the bike." Although the tests went well , Rainey is reali stic wh en it comes to his chances in the o peni ng ro und of the cham pio ns h ip in j apan o n March 29. " japan is a littl e clos e, but we're bett er off tha n we thought. I'd li ke to race for the lead there, but I do n't know what my co nditio ning will be like. I hav e an open mind abo u t it and I wo n 't pu sh it if it's not ready. The cham pions hip isn 't won at th e first race." According to Co mmo nwe alth Ra cing team owner Martin Adams, defendin g AMA 250cc Gra nd Prix Natio nal Cha mp io n Jimmy F ilic e wi ll be backed by Camel in th e 1992 series. Fili ce's H o nda RS250 will be part of Adam 's Camel-backed superbike team of Mike Smith and T o m Kip p . Randy Mamola appears to be on the verge of resu m ing hi s career in the Worl d Champ ionshi p R oa d Race Series. Mam ola departed for Australia o n Thursda y, February 6, to ta ke part in a Yamaha test sessio n at Eastern Cree k, th e site of the 1992 Australian Grand Pr ix. The Californ ian has been tra in ing a t Kenny Ro berts' ran ch. in northern California and will ride o ne of last year's T eam ·Marlboro Roberts YZR500s: " Rig h t now I have a deal to go test in Australia, " Mam ola said. "T here's no thing signed, but the re is defin itely someth ing that 's trying to be p ut togeth er. T he test will give me some tim e o n a 500 again. All I know is it's o ne of th e bikes th at Wayne (Ra iney) o r j ohn (Kocinski) rode last year an d I' ll be using Michelin ti res." Wh en asked if he was exci ted at the prospect of getti ng back o n a 500, Marnol a su mmed it up with o ne word: " Aweso me." Road racer Rich Arnaiz wi ll joi n Baldassarre Monti on Oscar Rumi's H onda team fo r th e 1992 Wo r ld Ch a mpi onsh i p Su p er b i ke Series . Arn aiz, who finish ed fifth in the 1991 AMA Su per b i ke Champi onship aboard a Commonwealth H on da , will beg in hi s seaso n wit h a test sessio n in Ita ly o n March 16. The Italian team will be the o n ly Hon da World Supe rbike team receiving su pport from HRC in 1992_ Amaiz rod e for Oscar Rumi in 1990, win n in g the European Supe rbike Championsh ip on th e tea m's Honda RC30. It now appears cer tain that Kenny Roberts . Jr. will contest the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Seri es in 1992. Accordi ng to Kenny Roberts, Sr., his o n -go ing prob lem wi th the AMA regardin g its pl acement o f stickers may be resol ved. " I want him (Kenny jr. ) to ride o n th e safest race tracks and Al Baker, 1951-1992 I Baker, found er of Al Baker's XR 's On ly in Hesperia , Californ.ia, and lon g time offroad and motocross racer and en thusiast, passed away in No rt h Holl ywood, California, Su nday, Febru ary 9. Baker, 41, had been in a sem icoma tose, vegetat ive sta te since August IS, 1989, af ter th e sing le-e ngi ne light a ircra ft he was pi lo ting cras hed near Will iam s, Ari zona. Baker is perh aps best remembered for discovering a promisin g, you ng , and up-and-coming motocross racer wh o he too k under hi s wing and g uided th rou gh ou t wha t would be an illustr ious career. That you ng rider was j ohn ny O 'Mara, who went on to earn the AMA 125cc MX National Champi onsh ip titl e i n 1983 an d the AMA Su percross title in 1984. Baker f irst go t in vol ved in th e mo torcycle in d us try wh en he ope ned up a sma ll reta il stor e in Reseda , Ca lifornia , in the la te 1960s. A few years lat er, he form ed h is second bu siness, Al Baker Research and Development . He soo n hoo ked up with Hiro Honda, the son of Ho nda Mo tor Corporation founder Soich iro H onda , and the Mu gen racing team as U.S. im po rter. It was on th e Mugen team tha t O 'Ma ra first mad e a nam e for himself, winning the Mid-Oh io round of th e World Champ io nsh ip 125cc MX Series in 1980 o n the all-white H onda CR1 25. An acco mplished off-road and mo tocro ss racer, Baker carried a number-one. pl ate in AMA Distri ct 37 desert racing in the mid-60s and was a facto ry Kawasak i MX team rider in the early '70s. He also successfu lly competed in SCORE Baj a 500 and 1000 off-road races. In 1976, Baker form ed Al Bak er's XR' s On ly, a high -performance aft erm ark et co mpa ny specializing in hopping-up H onda XR s. Also , in 1988 he was hired by Suzuki to design th e company's DR line of off-road and dual-purpose fourstro ke mo torcycles. . Baker is survived by his parents Al and Bett y, and two sisters. Plans ca ll for Baker to be cremated, and hi s ashes to be spread over the high desert in southern Ca lifornia. A at this point I think the AMA has th e safest tracks." Roberts j r. rides for Wa yne Rain ey Racin g on an Otsuka . Electro n ics-backed Yam ah a TZ250, tuned by Rainey's father, Sandy. . Road racer Chris D 'Aluisio brok e the 250cc lap record at Moroso Motor spo ns Pa r k in West Palm Beach , Florida o n February 9. The New Englander turned a one-mi nute, 21.14second lap to shatter the previous mar k of 1:23.10 set by Donnie Greene d uri ng last year 's WERA Pr o Series event. D'Aluisio won the 25Occrace, beating his teammate Col in Edwards and Gr eg Esser, and finished seco n d behind Mark Ch i n in th e Sh oo tout race featur in g motorcycles o f all displacements. . N AMED: Greg Blackwell as presiden t a nd ch ief execu tive officer of Metzeler Motorcycle Tire North America Corp. Bob Gr egg, formerl y president and cha irma n o f the board rema ins chairman of the board. Blackwell wi ll be responsib le for the compa ny's o pera tion s tha t inclu de Metzeler and Pirell i mo torcycle tir e div isio ns. NAMED: Willi am S. Syfan , 33, as road racin g supervisor by Ameri ca n Suzu ki. Syfan won the WERA For mula 2 Novice Champions h ip in 1978. In 1987, he begai n working as a rac ing organizer and admi n istra tor for the AMA/CCS Southwest Region. He also served as chief rider school instr uc tor and race di rector for the regio n. MOVED: Conti ne nta l Mo rosp o r t Club (CMC) has moved its offices to G len H elen O HV Park . The new add ress is P.O . Box 9458, San Bern ardino, CA 92427-9458; p ho ne 714/ 8801733, fax 714/ 880-1734. BORN: Charles Murray, son of AMA/ CCS Mid-Atlantic Region Race Director David Murray and his wife Mary, o n j a nu ar y 8 i n Ch a rl ottesville , Virgin ia. . PROMOTED: Ri chard P. Lague, to the posit ion o f vice-presid ent and execu tive p ublisher/motorcycle gro up of Petersen Publ ishing Co. Lague has been with Petersen since 1976 wh en he began as p ublisher of Motor cycli st magazine . H e fou nded Dirt R ider magazine 10 years ago and Super/ Moto Cross magazine in 1987. T he latter has since been merged wi th Dirt Rider. Mo torcyclist is celebrating its 80th year of co nt inuo us pub lication and Dirt Rider its 10th . HIRED: R icha rd "Gu n ny " Claypoole, as general manager of the Dall as R icker Raceway Comp lex in G reenville, North Carolina. Claypoole, wh o recent ly retir ed from the Marine Corps, has ma naged the U.S. support team effort at the Internat ion al Six Days Enduro since 1978. CO R RECTION: In o ur coverage of th e February 2 final ro und of th e GFI Ca liforn ia Winter MX Series So ut h at Perr is Raceway, Mike Ch a mberlain was incorrectly credi ted with win ning the 250cc Pro class title. Althou gh Chamberla in to pped the fin al ro und, joe Waddington is th e series cha m p . T he Vet Pro class fin al sta nd ings al so sho u ld hav e listed Wadd ington as the class champ io n over Mik e Preston and Gr eg Young. ENGAGED: Bob Ham, longtime lobbyist for off-roa d interests and the motorcycle indu stry in California , to A.]. Chai, o n February 14 in Sacra mento. T he couple is p lanning o n a Sep tember 12 wedding. NEED A CiIFT THAT KEEPS ON CiIVI Cit helps _you do all your gift shopping at one time. Your family and friends get a weekly reminder of your thought fulness each time Cycle News is delivered to their door. Plus, you don't have to worry about sizes, colors or styles. Cycle News is perfect fo r everyone. 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