Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GINTHEWIND ByPapa Wealey e Fi na llyl Yep. the FIMITWP-Eccleston e/IRTA/ Dorna folks have released a 1992 World Champion sh ip R oad R a c e Series sched u le. All events include 125. 250 and 500cc classes. The FIM says several rounds will also have Sidecar class races, but just which o nes has no t yet been determined. The series will start with the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuki on March 29, and will co ntinue with the Australian GP (Eastern Creek) on April 12. Malaysian G P (Shah Alam ) April 19. Spanish GP (Jerez) May 10, Italian GP (Mugello) May 24, European G P (Ca talunya in Spain) May 31, German GP (track to be announced) J une 14, Dutch TT (Assen) June 27, Hungari an G P (Hungarori ng ) Ju ly 12, French GP (TBA ) J uly 19, British G P (Don ing ton Park) August 2, Brazilian GP (Interlagos), and the So u th Afri can GP (Kyalami) o n Sep tember 6. Mike Chamberlain (Yam) wra pped up th e 125 and 250cc Pro class titl es at the March I G FI Ca lifornia Winter MX Series North-Sou th Sho wdow n a t sou thern Ca lifornia's Perri s Raceway. Chamberlain was th e overa ll winner in the 125cc Pro class and was th e ru nner-u p to M icky Dymond (Ho n) in the 250cc division. Ch amberlain and Dymon d also won the 125 and 250cc Pro classes, respectively, the previo us day in a ma ke-up event for the final round of the no rt hern portion of the GFI California Winter MX Series. Greg Zitte r kopf (Kaw) scored the overall and 250cc class win at the Mesq u i te G ra n Prix in Mesq uite, Arizona, Febru ary 29. The ru nner-up an d Open class win ner was Na tional Hare & Ho und Cha m pio n Danny Hamel (Kaw) , T y Davis (ATK), Dave Ondas (KT M) and Brent Fox (Kaw) ro unded ou t the top five. The race was th e second ro und of the Casey Folks' Best in the Desert Series. Yvon DuHamel was the big winner at th e Monday. March 2, AH RMA vin tage roa d races at Daytona Internationa l Speedw ay. The Canadian rod e a 1971 BSA Rocket 3 .to victor y in the Formula 750cc and Formula G P Heavyweigh t classes. H e cap ped h is day' by winning the BMW Battle of L egend s race . DuH am el fi n is hed second behind Gary Nixon in the first leg of the Legends race. and then won th e second leg. Jay Springsteen was second overa ll, posting 3-2 perform an ces. Nixon was third overall . add ing a fifth p lace fin ish to his first leg wi n. In ot her AH RMA action, John Crons h a w rode a 1962 Matchless G50 to victory in the 500cc Premi er class. Ste ve Morehead (H -D) wo n the Expert main event at the MARS Half Mil e, which was ru n o n Su nday . March I, o n the pave d ova l at Vol usia Co u !1ty Sp~edway ~n Barber vill e, Fl o rida . ' WIll Da VIS (KT M) was seco nd. The J unior main event was won by James Hart (W-R). 2 T he H ol iday Inn at Bradley Intern ationa l Airport in Hartford, Connecticu t. has been designated the officia l race headquarters for the May 17 1 2 5 / 2 5 0 c c National MX at MX338 in So u th wick. Massachusetts. Th e South wick Nation al will celebra te its 20th anniversary with ama teur raci ng the day befor e th e Na tio na l and o ther special events. T hose wh o plan to , attend the event and want to tak e advantage of spec ia l $79 rat es a t the Holiday Inn sho uld make reservatio ns quickly as there are several o ther even ts tak in g pl ace in the area that weekend. To mak e a reservat ion, call 203/ 6275 171 an d mention MX338. T eam Obsolete bik es spo rted Doctors Ought to Care (DOC) spo nso rship logos at Daytona durin g Cam el Motorcycle Week's AH RMA Na tional Vintage Road Ra ce Ser ies round on Monday , Marc h 2. The logo features th e cartoo n camel th at R.]. Reynolds uses in adverti sing its Cam el brand ciga rettes - only DOC has a slash going through it and the slogan, " No kiddin'... "Since 1977, DOC' s mott o has been.T.aughin' the pu shers o ut of town,' .. said Dr. Alan Blu m. founder and chairma n of DO C . " And in Dayton a we aim to show that wit hin a few years o ther sponso rs can throw to bacco pu shers o ut of sports." DOC says that they are a nation al orga n izatio n of docto rs th at has " freq uent ly ridicu led cigarette promo tio ns." Team Ob solete o wner RobIannucci , a New York City lawyer and former district att orney in Broo klyn . said , " My decision to collabora te with DOC is based o n a desire that there be a very active public debat e on the appropriateness of advert ising of any form of cigarettes a nd to bacco p roduct s. I believe very stro ng ly that the public, especially young people, shou ld be given every opportu nity to discu ss and debate th is issue in a public foru m. We are j us t helping to brin g th is to th e public's a ueruio n." Alt houg h Camel sponsors the "week" at Dayto na an d Saturday's AMA Grand National Champ ionship /Camel P ro Series Short Track and Camel Supercross Series round, they have no sponso rship investment in vintage raci ng. Memor ial services for AI Baker, who passed away o n February 9, will be held at 2 p.m. o n Sa turday, March 7, at the Ran ch o Santa Fe Mobile Ho me Park cl ubho use. The pa rk is loca ted a t 916 1 Santa Fe Ave., j ust off Main St. in H esperi a . Ca lifornia. near the Bakers' bu siness, XR s Onl y. T here will also be a 40-mi le Memo rial T rai l Ride on Sunday, March 8, at the Baker ran ch in Silver La kes (Helenda le). In lieu of fl ow ers, th e famil y requ est s th at friends take a mo mem to jo t down the spec ia l rememb erances they have of AI. Those wi ll be sha red at the services. A speci al ISD E T eam AI Baker Donation Fund will be established to hel p American riders com peti ng in the Six Days. For more infor ma tio n regarding the services or th e trai l ride, call Bill Fu llmer at 619i945-7621 or XR 's On ly at 619/244- 2626. It appears as tho ugh sou thern Ca lifo rnia 's DeAnza Cycle Park may be reopened soon. The popu lar riding area. 'loca ted just east o f Mo ren o Valley, was closed on J an uary 2 when concessionaire Do ug Hall 's contract with th e R iverside County Pa rk s Depar tm ent expired. Improvements are plan ned for the park and with no liabi lty ins ura nce p ro tection, the Parks Departm en t an no u n ced they were closing the area until renova tio ns were com p lete. Bu t th ose im provements weren 't expec ted to be completed fo r nearl y a year, and after a meetin g with DeAnza supporters, Parks Departm ent officia ls agreed to exam ine ways to reopen th e pa rk, at least unt il construction begin s in Aug us t. Insuran ce has been made availab le and Riverside Co un ty Par ks Departm en t Deputy Director Bud Germ an sa id th at a cont ract sho uld be completed the first week of March . That cont ract mu st then be ap proved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, which acco rdi ng to Germ an wo uld take abo u t ano ther three weeks, then Hall wi ll be ab le to reopen the facilit y. H all said it wou ld take hi m about o ne week to prepa re the pa r k for opera tio n. Snencer endorses Pro-Rider nrogram he 1992 version of the American Motorcyclist Association 's P ro-R ider program ha s won the support of a rea l pro rider: Threetime World Ch ampion Freddie Spencer. T he Pro-Rider program, now in its third year, was develo ped jointly by th e A:\IA a nd the Nat ional H ig hway Traffic Safet y Administration (N HT SA) to prom ote mot orcycle safety and help cont in ue th e downward trend in motorcvclerela ted accidents and fata lities. ' As i n the past , the cornersto ne o f the program will be the Pro-Rider Cod e, a set of common-sens e g uideli nes to motorcycling. In addi tio n to urging motorcyclists to enroll in a rider tra in ing co urse, the P ro-Rider' Code encourages riders to becom e licen sed, wear protecti ve head gear and avoid drink ing and ridi ng. As pa rt of the 1992 progra m, Spe ncer , who will compete in the AMA's Na tio na l Cha mp ions hip Su per bike Series thi s year, will be featu red on a color poster a nd ot her prom ot ion a l mat erial tha t ca lls atten tion to the licensing aspect of the P roRider Code, Spe ncer 's message will be: " I need a license to race o n th e track. You need a license to ride o n the street. Be a Pro-Rider. " " Freddie's message reflects the motorcyclin g communi ty's desire to decrease th e number of unl icensed riders - a grou p over-rep resented in national accident statistics." says AMA Washington Representative J im Bensberg, the program's ad mi n istrator. Adds Ben sberg, "Spencer's notor iety mak es him a great role model for new and inexperienced riders, and we're delig hted to have him endo rse this year's Pro-Rider campaign." In March . selected mo torcycle dea lersh ips and rider-ed ucation centers around the cou ntry wi ll receive promotiona l material s and a counter d isp lay. These ma teria ls include informatio n about the program, and give mo torcyclists an opportu nity to participate by signi ng a p ledge to uph old the Pro-R ider Code. In return for sig ning the p ledge , riders will receive a free set of helmet decals . The stickers, done in red , whit e and blue , are made of reflective material for extra safety. " in ce the program 's inception in 1990. over 11 ,000 mo torcyclists hav e become Pro-Riders," notes Bensberg , " and thanks to continued funding from NHTSA, as well as the Licen sed Beverage In fo rmatio n Council, we'll be ab le to bri ng the program to even more riders in 1992." , T Anyo ne who wishes to make written c o m men ts on the expa nsion plans for DeAm.a Cycle Park has until March 20 to su bmit them to th e Riverside Co unty Parks Dep artment. T o review the plan s. contact the Par ks Department at 7141275-4310. Two-time Nati onal H are Scra mb les and Grand National Cross Country Champion Scott Summers wi ll cond uct a four-strok e preparation and rid in g semi nar durin g Da yton a 's Ca mel Cycle Week, T he semi nar will be held March 4 a t the AMA bu ild in g at Dayton a Intern at ional Speedway in co nj u nc tio n w i th sig n up for th e foll ow in g day's Alligator Enduro. Scott Summers will also be on hand to sign autographs and answer questio ns o n March 14 at J im 's Moto rcycle Sa les in Joh nso n Cit y, Tennessee, Summers' appeara nce is in co nj unctio n wit h the March 15 openi ng round of the AMA Wiseco/Yamaha/ Yokoham a Gra nd Nat ion a l Cross Country Series in Green vill e, Tennessee. The Sacramento Mile ro u nd of the AMA Grand Na tiona l Ch amp ion shi p/Ca mel Pro Series has a date c h a n ge . Ins tead of runn in g on Apri l II as origina lly sched u led, the race will take place on the foll ow in g Sa turday even ing, April 18, at th e Ca l Expo Sta te Fairgr ounds, Mike Kidd Pro mo tions has anno unced the S yracuse Twin M ile s will be held at th e New Yo rk Sta te Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York . June 13-14. Previou sly announced as the site of a sing le mile rou nd o f th e AMA G ra n d Nati on al C ha m p io ns h ip / Came l Pro Series on Sunday, June 14, th e fa med o val will now host an additio na l series rou nd on Saturday nigh t, June 13. T he addi tio n of new lighting at the fairgrounds makes the ni ght race possibl e and its running will mark the fir st-ever nighttime Grand Na tio na l race a t Syracuse. Bo th eve n ts will a lso feature J u n io r Na tio na l program s. Specia l two-day discount tickets will be ava ilable, For ad ditio na l inf ormat ion. ca ll 800/7836686 or 817/834-2298. The AMA has an no u nced th at seventim e Nati onal Enduro Cham p ion Bill Baird was elected to the board of trustees, he repl aces Gary Dell as the North Central Region representative, Dal Smilie was reelected to represent the Nort h West Regio n. Paul Dean retu rns as cha irma n of th e board . Smilie as vice chairma n . and Bob P erkins as treas ure r. Carl Reynolds was n a med secretary, a nd Denis LaBonge as assistant treasurer. WER A will deb ut the Vanso n Pro Twins Clas sic at the openi ng round of the WERA Pro Series at Will ow Spri ngs Raceway, April 3-5, The new road race class will a llo w riders on twin-cylinde r four-stroke mac h ines of unl imi ted disp lace ment if they're ai rcoo led and up to 750cc water-coo led. No o ther restri ctions apply, with th e excep tio n of fuel as per Chapter 7 of th e 1992 WE RA Ruleboo k. WERA says that with Vanson 's commi tment to the Pro Series twins class" they hope to launch a complete twins series in '93. A second Pro Series twins race will be held as part of the Pocon o Cycle Jam '92, Aug us t 21-23. Alt hough the WE RA Pro Series will host just two twins even ts thi s season , each of the 46 reg u lar WERA Nat iona l Championship sprint race events will host the new Unlimited Twins class, T he class a llo ws un limited di sp lacem ent twin - a n d si ng le-cy li n de r machi nes th at co nfo rm to WE RA superbike rules. The class was created in acco rda nce to riders' requests and

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