Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127547
eIN THE WIND e ....... ~ O"l C\.l ..- .t:: 0. ~ By Papa Wealey A who's who lineup of motocrossers will tak e part in a Team D unlop a u tograph session at th e AMA National 125/250cc MX Championship Seri es ro und at Motocross 338 in Southwick , Massachusetts , on Sunday , May 17. T eam Dunlop riders wh o will be sign ing au tographs betw een 10:30 a.m . a nd II :30 a.m. (irnrnediat ely foll owin g practice) are T eam H onda 's J ean- M ichel Bayle and Jeff Stanto n , T eam Kawas aki 's M ike LaRocco and Jeff Matias ev ich , T eam Suzuki 's Guy Cooper , Brian S wink and Ezra Lusk, Team Yam ah a ' s Damon Bradshaw , Doug Dubach and Jeff Emig, KTM 's Keith Johnson, T eam DG Y/ Yamaha 's Doug Henry, and Kawa saki Team Green 's John Dowd. Dunlop will be giving away special MX338 souvenir autograph cards for the riders to sign. Frenchman Raymond Roche (Duc) won the first leg and fin ished second in the. second leg to earn the most po ints d uring the second round of the World Champions hip Superbike Series in Do ningto n Park, England, April 20. Roche beat Ita ly's Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam) to win the first leg and then fin ished second to En gland's Carl Fogarty (Duc) in , the second leg. . Georgian Scott Russell (Kaw) finished third in both legs with defending Wor ld Champion Doug Polen (Due ) posting a 6-4 tally. Roche leads the po int standings over Piro vano, 66-56, with Po len third at 50 points; Russell is sixth with 39 points. American Suzuki has been designated the major sponsor of the Southwick National MX. Area Suzuki dea lers will be offering $5 discount co upo ns valid for advance sale weekend tickets . In addition, Team Suzuki's Guy Cooper, Brian Swink and Ezra Lusk will attend pre-race celebrations on May I4 fro m 7 p.m. to 10 p.m . at Louie B's on Co ngamond La ke in Sou thwick, an d on May 15 fro m 6 p.rn. to 9 p.m. at th e H ol ida y In n at Brad ley International Airport in Connec ticut. Door prizes, includin g hats, sh ins, posters and ticke ts to the Nationa l, will be given away at both events . Lou Gerencer Jr., the National 800cc Hillclimb Champion, suffered a broken ankle while trail riding near his Elkhart, Indiana, home on Saturday , Apri l 18. Gerencer will probably mis s the opening round of the AMA National Championship Hillcl imb Series at Goshen , Indiana, on May 17. According to the 1991 annual report jus t released by Harley-Davidson, th e firm shipped 68,626 motorcycles to dea lers in '91, an increase of 6168 units over 1990. " Ro ug h ly" 31.5%of production , 21,633 un its, was expo rted . Mo torcycles accounte d for 72.2% of Harl ey's revenue in '92, with defen se and "other bu sin ess" acco unt ing for 2.5%, and th e co m p any's H oliday Rambler Corp . (recrea tio na l vehi cles, etc.) 25.3%. 2 Despite the record number of motorcycles p rodu ced, H arl ey-D avidson Presi dent and CEO Richard F . T e erlink rep orted to shareholders, who now number 8700, that he " was not satisfied with H arley-Davidson, In c.'s performa nce in 1991.In the Mo tor cycle Division , we experienced our first , and hopefully last, work stoppage since we became an independent 'co mpany in 1981 . .. We experienced nagging sta rt-up problems wi th the new paint system at o ur York, Pen nsylvan ia , motorcycle manufactu rin g facil ity . . . We broke the str ing of ann ua l earn ings increases we have delive red si nc e we became a pu blicl y-h eld compa ny in 1986." Bu t Teerlink also said, " At H arl ey-D avidso n , we 're looking to o ur fu tu re wi th grea t ant icipatio n and excitement. " T eerlink was th e highest paid Harl ey exec u ti ve o fficer in '9 1, recei vin g $570,181 in pa id and deferred cash compe nsa tio n. Southern California's DeAnza Cycle . Park has been r e ope n e d follo wing a three-month closure. DeAnza will likely be closed fo r a nother three months beginning in August so that improvements can be made to the park. Until then, the popular riding area, loca ted j us t east of Moren o Valley, is open sev en da ys a week and th e mo tocross track is prepared every Wednes day , Sat urday and Sunday. For in forma tion o n park hours, ca ll 714/ 242-2140. The May issue of Run ning Times magazin e feat ures 1983 Supercross Champion David Bailey , and covers his successful venture into wheelchair racing foll owing the pa ral yzing injuries he suffered in a motocross practice session. Bailey has been a top competitor at events in Hawaii and Austra lia so far this season, and is no w co nsidered one of the top chair racers in the U.S. Road racer Scott Zampach, who finished 10th in this year' s Daytona 200 afte r having been disqualified in th e · Da ytona Harley-Dav idson Twin Sports race - a race he won on the track, has been competin g in AMA District 16 MX events in Wisconsin. " T h e ti me between Dayton a and Laguna Seca is so long th at I reall y need to race in order to keep my competi tive edge," said Zampach. " Don &: Roy's Cycles in Brookfield (Wisco nsi n) provided me with a new Honda CR I25 and I returned to my grass roots of motorcycl e racing." . Zampach's best fin ishes have been a second in the Vet Expert class and a th ird in the 125cc B class. Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Rock ton , Illinois, will have an open MX practice day on Friday, May 15. The fee is $50 per rider. For more information call 815/ 389-3323. The Shoei Helmets-sponsor ed U.S. 500cc MX GP, wh ich took place at southern Ca lifornia 's Glen H el en OHV Park on April 5, will be telecast by Prime Network o n Th ursday , April 23, at 9 p.rn, Pacific time. The program, part of Pr ime Network's 30week Motorcycle Madness Series, will repeat the foll ow in g afternoon. Prime Network will also be televisi ng th e White Bros. Four-S tro k e W o rld Clas sic, the G P' s su pport race, o n Thursday, May 28, at 9 p.m. Pacific and i t will repeat th e fo llow i ng afternoon. Ch eck your local listi ngs for chan nel and tim e. The 40th running - and maybe the last - of the San Jose Mile, the fourth round of the 1992 AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro Seri es, is set for Sunday, May 17, at the Santa Clara County Fairgr ounds. Wi th no fall running of the San Jose Mile on the schedule, it ap pears that sooner or later - perhaps soo ner 'the mile oval and the short track oval in fro nt of the grandstands will be paved. But we've heard that before. Steve Morehead won the May '88 San Jose Mile, a race that was billed Hat trick for Doohan in Malaysian GP ·R othmans Honda's Michael Doohan won his th ird stra igh t 500cc GP a s th e World Ch am pionship Road Ra ce Series visited th e Shah Alam Circuit in Malaysia o n April 19. The Aus tra lian beat defending Worl d Ch am p ion Wayne Ra in ey in th e race which was held in two legs du e to cha ng ing wea ther condi tions. The race started o n a dry race track, but was sto p ped after 16 laps because of heavy rain . Doohan was lead in g at the time and he also won the second leg which was stopped two laps from the fini sh wh en the rai n retu rned. Ra iney and his Marl boro Yama ha ended up seco nd with Spaniard Alex Cri ville third on the Campsa Honda. Criville's rostrum position made h istory as he became the first Spaniard to finish in the top three of a 500cc CP. Fourth pl ace went to ano ther Spa niard, Ducad os Yamaha's J uan Garriga, with Lu cky Strike Suzu ki's Doug Cha nd ler fin ishing fifth. ' Californian Randy Mamola finis hed seventh on th e Budweiser Yam ah a with Yamaha France's Mig uel DuHamel eig h th. Cagiva 's Eddie Lawson was a nonfinisher . Texan Kevin Schwantz did n' t compete in the GP after breaking bones in hi s hand during q ua lifyi ng o n Friday, April 17, but he is expected to be back in action at the Spanis h GP on May 10. Doo han no w holds a co mmanding 29-point lead over Chand ler in the 500cc World Championship, 60-31; Rainey is th ird wit h 30 points . Italian Lu ca Cadalora (right) also pulled o££ a hat tric k by winnin g hi s th ird stra igh t 250cc G P to open the 1992 season. T he Rothmans Honda rider topped Ducados Ap ri lia's Alberto Puig wit h Valesi Apri lia 's Pier-Fran cesco Chili finishin g th ird . Repsol Honda's Carlos Cardus an d Mitsui Yamaha 's Jochen Sch mi d rounded o ut the top five finishers . Cadalora leads Helm ut Bradl, a no n-finisher in Malaysia, 60-27; Pu ig and Card us are tied for third with 25 points. . German RaI£ Waldma nn couldn't make it three-for-three as he finis hed third behind the Aprilias of Alessandro Gramigni and Bru no Casanova in Malaysia. Waldmann , though, leads the championship by 10 points over Casa nova, 52-42. as th e last to be run on the famed dirt track oval. This year 's race will ho nor the late Loren " H ap" Jones and is being bi lled as the Hap Jones Memorial Mile. In addition, the late Steve Eklund will be honored in p rerace ceremon ies, as will 79-year-old Sam Arena, Sr., the retired ' HarleyDavidson dea ler an d legenda ry racer of the '30s. The Bultaco World Championship Trial will take place Sunday, Apri l 26, at the Rowher Flats OHV Area in Newha ll, Cal iforn ia, and is o pen to pre-1982 Bul taco, O ssa or Mon tesa trials bikes . T hree skill level cla sses will be offered, and the event includes a Best Bike Show. For more . information , call 818/771-0977. T he FIM has announced that eight ro unds of the '92 World Ch ampionshi p R oad R ace Seri es will host si deca rs. The Spanish, German, Dutch , Hungarian, French, Briti sh , Brazilian and South African rounds will feature Sidecar GPs. On this side of th e po nd, sideca r ent h usiasts will be able to observe or compete in a vintage s id e car race ' that will run as pa rt of the June 18 AH RMA road race meet a t N ew' Hampshir e International Speedway in Loudon. "While o ur rules have lon g made provision for sidecar racing, the re just didn 't seem to be much in te res t unti l n ow ," sa id AH R MA Executi ve Director Jeff Sm ith. If th ere is su££icient interest, AH RMA ma y offer another sidecar class du ring the September 19 stree t races in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Smith invites all riders with vintage rigs to contact him by calling 715/ 8429699. Other news from the FIM has the da te for th e Austrian round of the World Championship Superbike Road Race Seri es changed fro m July 12 to J une 28. The event will take pl ace at the Osterreich ring, The J u ly 19 Dutch round of the World Championshi p 500cc MX Series will take place at Valkenswaard, not at Lichtenvoorde as originally scheduled. And fin ally, the dat e of the Swedish round of. the Wo rl d Ch a m pi onsh ip Supercross Series at Goteborg has been changed fro m August 29 to August 28. Aus tra lian Wayne Gardner still has not decided wh ether he will reti re from Gr and Pr ix roa d racin g, or make a ret urn in the latter part of th is season . Hobbling wi th a plaster cast on hi s low er righ t leg, Ga rd ner ga ve an emotional bu t well -controll ed press conference during th e Austral ian CP in wh ich he descr ib ed hi s mi xed feelings follo win g hi s second crash in the season-opening Japanese GP. " I knew immediately I had broken my leg," he said. " As I lay there watchi ng the other gu ys go pa st I was wonderi ng if it was the end of my G P career." Since the crash, good medi cal attention in Japan and Australia had seen the five fractures start to heal well without requ iring pinn in g, and with no grea t th reat of future com p licatio ns. He was puttin g o££ mak in g any final decision for at least a mo nt h. " On the one hand, the Honda is better thi s year than for a lon g tim e, a n d I pu t a lot of developm ent wor k into makin g it so good ," he said. " I' m reall y sick that I can' t be ou t th ere getting the results. On th e other hand, I want to live to be an old man, and be fit eno ugh to enjoy the fruits of my success. I love the sport, but I can' t keep doing this to my bod y." Gardner broke his left leg twice in 1989, brok e ribs in 1990, and has three tim es broken bones in his feet. Daryl Beattie was drafted on to the R o th m an s H on da tea m to take Gardner's place for the Australian and Malaysian C Ps, bu t the ride will be take n by J apan 's Shinichi Itoh for the rest of th e season. Beattie finished third in Aus tra lia and six th in Malaysia.