Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1992 04 29

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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And from AHRMA comes wor d of the new Pacific Coast Vi ntage Roadrace S e rie s , a five-ro und series that will offer racing in six classes - Pre1952, 25Occ, 35Occ, 500cc, 750cc a nd Fo rm ula G P. T he best three finishes will co unt toward year-e nd a wards. The da tes, loca tions a nd host organizations are: J une 6, Las Vegas Interna tional Ra cewa y, AH RMA H istoric Cup Round; J une 20-21, Seattle Interna tiona l Racewa y, V M E/W M R RA; J ul y 4-5, Willow Springs Ra ceway, A H R MA/V ARA; Septem ber 26-27 , P o rtl and In tern at ion al R a ce wa y, OM RRAICROC; a nd November 2829, Sears Poin t Raceway, AH RMAI VARA . The Georgia Motorcy cle Safety Program wi ll spo nsor it s 4 th Annual Capitol Ride-In on Sunday, May 3, at I p .rn. T he Ride-In signals the beginning of the progr am 's ann ua l motorist a wareness cam paign, which is tit led Mo torcy cle Awareness and You. Mot orcycl ists a re in vited to rid e to the state capito l in Atlanta on May 3 to demonstrate th eir su pport and intere st in th e . motorist awaren ess ca m pai g n . Washin gton Street in Atlanta will be closed for reserved motorcycle parking. Complaints abo ut th e new Fl -derived qualifying system a t th e ro ad race GPs, with just two timed afternoon sessions repl acing th e previous three timed sessions, were voted down by International Race Teams Ass ocatio n (lRT A) memb ers befor e the start of the Aus tra lia n GP. In J apan, the new system drew criticism which seemed full y justified whe n a quirk in th e weather meant that both afternoon sessions were wet - excep t for a la p or two a t the sta rt o n Saturday afternoon. As a result, a n um ber of pri vateers fai led to q ual ify, while more sign if ica nt ly, works rider Randy Mam ola and even tual race-wi nner Mich ael Doohan both only scraped in a t th e end of the las t sessio n. IR T A held a poll in which 57.3% vo ted to maintain the new two -sessio n system, and 40.6%wa nted the tim ed sessio n on Saturday mornin g to be restored. As one team manager exp lai ned: " We' d also lik e th e timed sessio n back, bu t we vot ed to keep the status q uo on principle, because we felt tha t changin g the ru les wi lly nill y wo uld set a bad p recedent." The qualifying problems in Japan did mean tha t the slower privateers co nvenien tly faded int o the woodwork. In Australia, they were much in evidence , tu rni ng 500cc-class la p times tha t would have meant a poor showi ng in any N ationa l su pe rbike race, a n d barely fast enough to wi n a local 250cc production event. T hese riders came in for a barrage of cri ticism from th e fast men , wh o predicted there wo uld soo n be a n accide nt if they were no t rem oved . " It's so dangerous," said World Champion Wayne Rainey . "They' re go ing so slow that the y can cha nge their lin e any o ld ho w - bu t wh en you're going fast and overtaking the m, you 're com m itted to the one safe line. I've been avo id ing passin g them in corners beca use yo u have no idea of where they're going to go nex t." Both he a nd Marlbo ro Roberts teammate John Kocinski were at pains to point out tha t there were only a ha ndfu l o f riders invo lved . Th ey wo uldn't na me names, but Kocinski said: "It's the same four or five guys at every race track." Rainey added: " You only have to look at the time sheets to see who they are ." At a se para te p ress con Ierence, M ichael Doohan criticized the presence o n th e trac k of riders wh o shou ld rather have stayed at home and tri ed to win their ow n Nationa l Cha mpionships. At least one of th e new privateer ri ders - Corrado Catalano - had originally p lanned to enter the 250cc class, but because h is perform ance in th e class last year had been so lackluster he was refused a p lace o n IR T A's lis t of entrants. H e went out and bought a 500cc machi ne, and easil y obtained an entry in th e under-subscribed class. In th is way, the su pposed Blue Ribbo n class of road racing has become a n easy home for no-hopers from other classes. It is iro nica l tha t good-quality riders are deni ed the cha nce to sta rt in their home G Ps because of strict IR T A rules. It is all the more iro nical th a t the priva teers wh o didn't q ualify at Suzuka were paid anywa y, while the no nIRT A memb ers whose en tri es had been for ced th rough by the J apanese federation, most of wh om di d rather well in their ho me races , were not o nly unpaid bu t were not co nsidered eligible for World Cham pionship points. The a rg ument o ver th e points from J apan contin ued in A u s tralia 'wi th IRTA and th eir cohorts havi ng backed themselves into a d ifficult (not to say ab surd) po sitio n, a nd showi ng every sign of serious parano ia. The con tro versy co ncerns extra riders in J apan, wh o were allo wed to race. After the race was over, th e FI M officials decid ed tha t they were eligible for points (although not for IRTA prize money). No sooner had th is stateme nt been issued wh en th e IRT AIDornal TWP cadre issued a decree poin ti ng out that accor ding to th eir interpretation of th e regulations, the one-race riders were not eligible for po ints . Giv en th is di sagreement, we m ust wait for a final (,Yling from the threemem ber G P commission. T he problem of the J apanese " g host riders" was th e direct result of veiled threats fro m the factor ies to pull ou t of the race if their local riders were not a llowed to start . Now further factory intervention threatens to sp ice up the situa tio n still further. The serie s ru les requi re inj ured riders to be rep laced, but Daryl Bea tt ie (rid ing Wayne Gard ner's Ho nda ) will probably not be ava ila ble after th e third race of th e season. T hen, HRC will put forward J a panese rider Shin ich i Itoh to ride the Ro th ma ns H onda. Ito h was the hig hest-p laced non -IRT A rider at Suzuka, crossi ng th e line fourth , although not mentioned in th e IRT AI TWP points list. But if Itoh rides as a replacement for Gardner, he would beco me a legitima te points-scorer in h is n ew position, but would be expected to forfe it the points he earn ed in Japan. H m mmm. Seven -tim e World Champ ion John Surtees was a t Eas tern Cr eek d uring th e Australian GP weekend, visiti ng th e track to run a demon stration lap or two o n his four-cylinder MV Agusta, Paddock h umori sts noted that Surtees, who is not a n IRTA member , was effective ly a ghos t rider , and n ot eligible for poin ts or priz e mon ey. H owever, h is MV was eligi ble for poi nts, sin ce th e firm had just been p urchased by Cagiva, who are IRTA stalwarts. Yokohama tires ar e -now a definite G P road race presence, adding a fourth element to the equation dominated by Mich elin and Du nlop , with Brid gestone somewhere in bet ween . The Japanese firm is very active in domestic racing, a nd is sta ndard original equipment o n Honda's RS I25 production racers in Japa n. Last year they put a toe in th e water of GP raci ng in th e 125cc class wi th Dutch rider Jos van Do ngen. This year th ey are supporting Gazzaniga -Honda 125cc riders Ma uri zio Vital i a nd G iovanni Pa lm ieri, as well as Du tch newcome r Loek Bodelier and Frenchman Allai n Bronec. They have also entered the 250cc class with a low profile effort fielding two class newcomers: Du tch rider J urgen van der Goorbergh and Swiss rider Yves Briguet, L u cky Strike Suzuki rider Doug Chandler was testing a new digital das h board on o ne of his mach ines eq uipment borrowed fro m FI cars . This no t o nly includes rev counter and temperature gauge, but also gives laptime readings, and can be program med to almost any of the many pa ra me ters availa ble from modern o n-board computer data-gathering eq uipment. T he dashboard wa s developed by P I Resea rch , who also su pply the team's o n-board eq u ipme nt. After over two decades of a tte m p ting to stage a motor cycle race on th e fiveeig h th s of a mile oval at Maryland's T imonium Fairgrounds, th e Baltimor e Country T rai l Riders Associ ation (BCTRA ) has been given the gr een li ght. " We ra n tests o n th e tra ck o n Ap ril 9 - Taylor White a nd two o ther . riders turned laps aboard 600s - and we were told th at we can run a race there following the horse race seaso n wh ich e nds Sep tember 15," sa i d BCTRA s pokesma n Brian Van W right, who said the club's first effort wo uld be a Pro-Am race with hopes to stage an AMA 600cc National th ere in '93. How seriou s is motocro ss multi-tim e cha m p io n a nd ge neral hero J eanMichel Bayle abo u t swi tching over to GP road racin g? Very seri ous, sa ys the ru mor mill , reporting tha t the Fren chman has bough t a pair o f Honda RS250s for testing, and will be en tered as a wild card in th e Jul y 19 French G rand Prix . Road racer Juan Lopez Mella is switching to Grand Prix rac in g af ter havin g what co uld be his last Wo rld Superbi ke rid e of the yea r in Albacete, The 26-year-old Spaniard's sponso rs, Nivea For Men , want more publici ty for their racin g activ ities a nd have decided to bu y him a RO C Yamaha YZR500. H e is ex pected to mak e h is first 1992 G P start in J erez, Spain, o n Ma y 10. Lopez Mell a rod e a Honda RS500 in the 500cc G Ps in 1989, and also finished eighth in the European 500cc Ch ampionship the same year. Wes Coole y is running for state senator in Oregon. No , no t the Wes Cooley who still road races, bu t his father. T he senior Cooley, who was a ' force in establis hing club road racing in southern California in the six ties, spent many years in the international pha rmaceu tical busin ess befor e mo vin g to Oregon where he has worked as a farmer and ra ncher. For more in for ma tio n , write to: Wes Coo ley for State Senator , P.O. Box 24, Powe ll Bu tte, O R 97753, or call 503/ 388-1825. T ea m Suzu ki Yo sh i m u ra ' s Bri tt Tur kington a nd D a ve Sadows ki will be signing a utographs a t an o pen house held by Suzuki Sportcen t e r in Seaside, California, on Friday , Ap ril 24, fro m 6 p .m . to 8 p .m . T he open ho use is bein g held in conj unction wi th th e weekend's AMA Na tional Cha m p io n sh i p R oad R ace Se ries round a t Laguna Seca. The shop is located at 1580 Del Monte Boul evard. For more in forma tion , call 408/899240 I. The following week , Turkington and Sadowski will be at S u z uki of Charlotte in Charlotte, North Caro lina, on Friday even ing, May I, fro m 6 to 8 p.m . They'll be at the dealers hi p in conj unction with that weeken d's AMA National Road Race at Ch ar lo tte Motor Speedwa y. The sho p is loca ted at 2500 Freedom Drive: Fo r mo re information, call 704/ 394-6666, Ca lifo rnians Dean Mats on and Ric k R yan, who are contesting the Wo rld Championship 250cc MX Series, fai led to qualify for the April 12 Swiss G P due to a timing mi x-u p. After a few la ps of their q ua lifyi ng session, bo th riders ha d been mistakenly placed h igh enough to q ua lify for the G P on th e video display un its when the screens went dead half way th ro ugh th e session. When the power was restored a few min utes before qua lifying ended, their co rrected times weren't good enough ยท to q ua lify for the G P. " I thought I was in , then th ey changed the tim es wh en there was no tim e to go out and make another lap," said Matson. Ric k R yan missed the o pening 250cc MX GP in Holland on April 5 due to a leg injury. Six Am eri cans, defending 250cc MX World Champion Trampa s Parker , two -time 125cc National Ch am pion Mic k y D ymond, 1990 125cc World Champion Donny Schm it , Mik e Healey . Bader Manneh a nd Bob Moore have q ual ified for bo th of the first two 250cc GPs held o n the vastly diffe rent circu its of the Dutch sand a nd Swis s grasslands. Manneh is the o nly American to have finished all six of the 25-minute plus two- lap mot os, BORN: Leslie Ann All en , da ughter of Cycl e N ews Eastern Advertising Coordinator Ca rla Borden-Allen and her husband John ny, o n April 16 In Deca tur, Georgia. CO RRECTI ON: A pho to caption in our April 15 issu e's coverage of Devil's Ridge MX in correctl y ide nti fied on e of th e 60cc 7-11 class riders pictured as being Travis Pastrana. It wasjoshua Summey. who finished second overall behind Arr on Lindsay. BORN: Eric Robert Storz, son of Storz Perform a nce's Steve Storz a nd his wife Joani e, on April 12 In Ventu ra , California. OPENED: Competition Suspension, by J ake Thom p son, at 153 Savarona Way, Carson , CA 90746, 310/327-479 1. N AME D : T om Monroe, as ma rke ting ma nager of Fieldsheer, Inc., the Costa Mesa , Ca lifornia-based motorcycling apparel firm, HIRED: Brandon Baldwin, by Bieffe USA as North America n sales rep . RESIGNED: Ma rk Black well as marke ting d i rec to r of Ame rican Suzuki, effectiv e " la ter th is month. " Blackwell sa id he will " be moving into a nother industry" but will " sti ll be invo lved in the recreation business," N A M E D : Wh i te Bro s. as a n ew di stribu tor of Dunlopad sintered brake pads. 3

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