Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1993 03 10

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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G~~~~~-~_W-O-P-~-~-i-:~!~ro-u-n-d-o-f-t-h-e-A-M-A---W-~-H-M-l-~---D-a-v-~-s-o-n-s-o-m-e-~-e-d-u-r----H-a-rl-e-y-r-i-d-in-g-a-n-d-ow-n-in-g-e-x-p-e-ri-- e ner of the two-leg BMW Battle of Legends at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, March 1. The three-time Grand National Champion won the first leg and finished second to David Aldana in the second leg. Aldana combined that win with a third place finish in the first leg to earn second overall honors. Yvon 0'" DuHamel was third overall with a 2-3 r l performance, Gary Nixon was fourth ~ with a 4-4 tally, and Phil Read was ~ fifth thanks to two fifth place finishes. ~ ' ctl National Hare & Hound Champion lo::::'I I Danny Hamel (Kaw) scored the over~ I all win in round two of the AMA National Championship Hi\re & Hound Series at St. George, Utah, February 28. Hamel, who won the series opener in California on January 24, was followed across the finish line by Greg Zitterkopf (KTM). Brandon Gerber (Kaw) finished third, Jimmy Lewis (Kaw) was fourth and Ted Hunnicutt (Kaw) fifth. Craig Decker (Kaw) and Rick Ryan (Yam) were the top guns at the final round of the GFI Winter MX Series South at Perris Raceway, in Perris, California, February 28. Decker scored the win in the 12Sec Pro class ahead of Chris Young (Suz) and Dana Wiggins (Hon), while Ryan recorded the 250cc Pro class win ahead of Decker and Young. National Championship Road Race Series at Phoenix International Raceway on February 15, following a lab report that found no performance enhancing additives in their fuel sampIes. According to Roy Janson of the AMA, the lab reports on the fuels that failed to pass an AMA field test at the race track came back negative. The AMA has reinstated the riders and no punitive action has been taken, although the riders will be responsible for paying for the lab tests. Turkington will be credited for finishing second in the AMA/CCS 600cc Supersport final, with Renfrow third and Smith fourth. Both Smith and Kipp, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Superbike National before being disqualified, will also be credited with those finishes. Marlboro-backed Kenny Roberts Jr. (Yam) finished second in the opening round of the Ducados Spanish Open road race series in Albacete, Spain, February 28, losing out to Spaniard Luis D'Antin (Hon) by only .016-of-asecond. Third place went to Roberts' Spanish teammate Sete Gibernau (Yam). Former multi-time World and National MX Champion Jean-Michel Bayle (Apr) finished 10th. The 125cc class was won by German Dirk Raudies (Hon) from Spaniard Carlos Giro (Apr) and Italian Stefano Perlugini (Apr). Robbie Reynard (Kaw) was crowned 125 and 250cc class champion at the final round of the AMA National' Arenacross Series in Denver, Colorado, February 27-28. On Friday night, Mike Jo~es (Suz) scored the wins in both the 125cc and 250cc classes, while Reynard matched Jones' performance on Saturday night. In the series points standings, Reynard topped the final 125cc class point standings with 173 points, followed by Billy Whitley (Hon) with 113, and Dennis Hawthome (Kaw) with 109. In the 250cc class, ReynMd wrapped up the title with 129 points; Whitley again finished second with 109, and Hawthorne third with 104. Spanish pre-race favorites Alberto Puig and Carlos Cardus were both noshows at the first round of the Ducados Spanish Open. Puig missed the race because of surgery to a finger he broke at the recent IRTA tests in Jerez, and Card us was a no-show because his mechanics had already left Spain for a test session in Malaysia. Pre-Daytona Cycle Week dirt track action saw Dan Ingram (Hon) win the Expert main event on the half mile oval at Jacksonville, Florida's Jax Raceway on Saturday, February 27. Jason Fletcher (Rtx) was second and Greg Sims (Rtx) finished third in the AMA-sanctioned event. Libby Collins of Tallahassee, Florida, is the winner of our Guy Cooper Suzuki Sweepstakes. Cooper drew Collins' name at the February 28 Gatorback National MX at Gainesville, I:lorida. Collins' will be enjoying a 1993 Guy Cooper-replica Suzuki RM250. Congrats, Libby! Dirt track racers took to the pavement on Sunday, February 28, in the MARS Half Mile at Vol usia County Speedway in Barberville, Florida. Will Davis (Rtx) was the winner of the 600cc main event with Terry Poovey (Rtx) finishing second and Steve Beattie (Rtx) third. Mike Hale (H-D) was the winner of the 883 class main event. Kevin Atherton seems to finally have his 1993 plans secure. The Michigan racer tells Papa that beginning with the April 18 opening round of the AMA/CCS 750cc Supersport Series at Laguna Seca Raceway, he will contest the series aboard his personal Yoshimura-tuned Suzuki GSXR750. .II was originally going' to buy a bike from a dealer and have it worked on, but it's easier to just get the bike raceready directly from Yoshimura," said Atherton. "Plus, I'm good friends with Thomas Stevens, and he rides for them. They've been talking about including me in their pre-race testing sessions at Laguna. I'm really excited." Lance Smail, who was injured in a first-turn crash at the Gatorback 125cc National MX in Gainesville, Florida, February 28, is resting comfortably at the North Florida Medical Center in Gainesville. Smail, from Maple Valley, Washington, suffered a concussion and spent the night in intensive care. On Monday, March 1, Smail was taken out of ICU but will remain hospitalized and under observation for two days. Smail hopes to compete at the March 6 Daytona Supercross. 2 Britt Turkington, Randy Renfrow, Mike Smith and TORI Kipp have been reinstated into the final results from Alberto Puig, who rides a factory Honda NSR250 in a team owned by former World Champion Sito Pons and sponsored by Ducados, has switched back to Dunlop tires after unsuccessfully trying to come to terms with Michelins during off-season testing. But what about the Harley-Davidson superbike that Kevin Atherton hopes to race? As a member of the factory karley-Davidson dirt track team from 1989 through last season, Atherton looks to be the likely candidate to race the 1000cc water-cooled V-twin-powered motorcycle that is scheduled to arrive in time for the '94 race season. "I expect to sign a retaining contract ing Camel Cycle Week ," said Atherton. "They have one complete bike made, and it's been put together, dyno-tested and torn down about a dozen times. They haven't had it on the track yet, though. I think the biggest thing in the factory's way now is that they have to make 25 of them so they can be homologated. In the meantime, I'm going to race my Suzuki and get some experience under my belt." According to Atherton, AI Stangler, his former dirt track tuner has been appointed as the official mechanic for Harley's superbike effort, and will spend the '93 season traveling to all of the road race Nationals to "check things out." "AI has a little video recorder and everything," said Atherton. "The factory said that he can help me out with my bikes a little, but he's going to be at the races primarily to watch and learn the ropes." Not one to forget his roots, Kevin Atherton will also compete in selected AMA Grand National dirt track races. At the season-opening Daytona Short Track, as well as the next three rounds - Sacramento Mile, San Jose Mile and Pomona Half Mile, Atherton will fill in for the injured Larry Pegram on the Texas Harley-Davidson/Sponseller Racing team. "Skip Eaken gave me a call after Larry got hurt and offered me the ride," said Atherton. "I asked the factory if it was okay and they thought it was a good idea. Skip is a good tuner al'd the bike is fast." In addition to the dirt track races that he will fill in for Pegram at, Atherton plans to compete in the Springfield Mile, Indy Mile and Lima Half Mile. "At those races, I'll be aboMd a factory Harley-Davidson with Al (Stangler) tuning for me," said Atherton. "There aren't any conflicting road races that Al has to go to and watch, and they aren't too far from the factory (in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)." Advanstar Expositions will market and promote the Sturgis Rally and Races which will take place in Sturgis, South Dakota, August 8-13. The newly completed Sturgis Community Center will be the site of the Sturgis Motorcycle Expo which Advanstar will be marketing and selling booth space and sponsorships for. Advanstar is the producer of the annual Cincinnati trade-only show. Speaking of Cincinnati, among the celebs signing autographs at the February 20-22 show were World Superbike Champion Doug Polen, five-time World 500cc MX Champion Roger DeCoster, Harley-Davidson Twin Sport Champion Scott Zampach, NHRA Pro Stock drag racer Steve Johnson, former National Championship and Grand Prix road racer Mike Baldwin, and former Grand National Championship Series dirt tracker Tammy Jo Kirk. Although Papa spent a lot of time in the Cycle News booth at the show, the only person who asked him for his autograph was the waitress at the rib joint in an alley that seemingly everyone from the show flocked to each evening. The waitress wanted the signature on a credit card charge slip. . Cycle World magazine has published American Big Twin; The All-Harley Magazine, a special one-off magazine devoted to, natch, Harley-Davidsons. American Big Twin fills the 'broad gap between mainstream motorcycle magazines and existing Harley-specific magazines by taking a more detailed and high-quality approach to the U ence," said Larry Little, vice president and publisher of Cycle World. American Suzuki has announced details on their 1993 road race contingency programs. Once again, Suzuki will post over $380,000 for Suzuki riders finishing first through 10th at 73 Suzuki National Cup Series events held nationwide, An additional $60,000 is posted for the Suzuki Cup Final, traditionally held in conjunction with the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta. Suzuki will also continue to provide contingency funding for AMA/CCS National Supersport events, WERA Supersport and Formula USA races, and both AMA/CCS and WERA Endurance Series races. In all, over $700,000 has been posted for road race contingency programs. Papa likes nothing better than to have an excellent adventure and for that reason here's a free plug for Rick & Dave's Excellent Adventure Road Racing School. Rick Breuer and Dave Doe will kick off their series of '93 schools with a two-day session at Michigan's Grattan Raceway over the April 10-11 weekend. In addition to other schools held at Grattan, they'll conduct sessions during the season at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Rockton, Illinois. For more information, call Rick at 414/327-0140 or Dave at 414/461-0116. Once again Willow Springs Motorcycle Club and Toyota will conduct a drawing that will see one lucky Formula 1 entrant win a new 1994 Toyota pickup truck. Additionally, entrants in each of the Toyota/Budweiser Cup Unlimited Road Race Series rounds will have a chance of winning a new Suzuki GSXRll00 superbike. The top 10 finishers in each Unlimited race at the southern California track will receive an entry in the Toyota truck drawing, and starting at the March 21 race, riders finishing in the 11th through 20th positions will receive an en try in the Suzuki drawing. The superbike will include aftermarket racing carbs, exhaust system, rear shock and racing slicks, plus full bodywork from Air Tech. For more information, call 805/256-1234. Due to extremely cold weather, the Long Island Sports Committee canceled its '93 season opening MX that was scheduled to take place at Bridgehampton Motorsports Park on February 27. The race has been rescheduled for March 14. For more information, call 516/728-7727. Come on summer! A large number of dirt bikes were stolen in the greater Atlanta metro area on SatUrday night, February 20. Seventeen thefts were reported to law enforcement agencies and it's beHeved that the thefts are the work of an organized group. In most of the cases, phone lines to the homes were cut and the bikes stolen while the owners were asleep. For those who are interested in riding Acerbis Adventure's Nevada Rally this August, but who have questions as to exactly what rallies are and how they operate, Acerbis USA's Bill Berroth will hold an information session at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 12, the day before the Tecate Enduro in Tecate, Mexico. The informal meeting will be held at the Acerbis van in the enduro pits, and refreshments will be

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