Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Raine over Schwantz in aanese GP M arlboro Yamaha's Wayne Rainey (right) won a classic duel with Lucky Strike Suzuki's.Kevin Schwantz in the third round of the World Championship Road . Race Series at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan on April 18, with the Californian toppmg the Texan by a scant .00000f-a-second. Australian Daryl Beattie finished third in the SOOcc Grand Prix on the Rothmans Honda, only another .201-of-a-second behind Schwantz. The lead changed constantly in the 21-lap, 76-mile race, with Rainey finally getting ahead with two laps remaining to take his 22nd career 500cc GP win - putting him equal with Marlboro Team Roberts owner Kenny Roberts on the all-time win list. Schwantz, who qu~~ on pole position, actu~y slipped back to fourth with only a handful of laps remalIllI\g, and lapped traffic hindered his progress as he came up just short of Rainey at the checkered flag. Fourth place went to Japan's Shinichi Itoh on a Rothmans Honda with Spaniard Alex Criville rounding out the top five on the Marlboro Honda Pons NSRSOO. Lucky Strike Suzuki's Alex Barros of Brazil, Australian Michael Doohan on the Rothmans H?nda, Yamaha France's Toshihiko Honma of Japan, Australian Kevin Magee on a Nippon Te.leco~ Yamaha and Kirin.~ets-backedNorihiko Fujiwara of Japan filled the top 10. C~orruan Doug Ch~dler finis~ed 11th on the factory Cagiva. ~ee-tm:te .World Cham~lOn Fredd~e Spencer didn't start the race after crashing ~urmg qu.alifying .and breaking bones m both wrists and suffering a badly damaged finger which reqUIred surgery. Spencer, who flew home to Shreveport, Louisiana, on Saturday, April 17, was replaced on the Yamaha France team by Honma. . The victory gives defending champ Rainey a nine-point lead in the championship over Schwantz, 70-61. Beattie is third in the series standings with 49 points while Itoh and Criville are tied for fourth with 32 points each. Pole-sitter Tetsuya Harada of Japan won his second 250cc Grand Prix of the season on the Telkor Yamaha Valesi entry, topping countryman Tadayuki Okada on the Rothmans Honda by .6S5-of-a-second. Italian Doriano Romboni on the HB Racing Honda finished third. Italian Loris Capirossi was leading the race on his Marlboro Team Pileri Honda over Har?da ~ith half a lap. te;> go wht;,n he was high-sided. After his costly mistake, Caprrossl remounted to finish 10th. On that lap I had already decided to settle for second," Harada said. "Capirossi's Honda was too fast for me to beat." . With the victory, Harada extended his championship points lead to 21 points over a be between Okada and Nobuatsu Aoki, fourth in Japan, 7049. Lucky Strike Suzuki's John Kocinski, ninth in Japan, is tied for fourth in the championship with Romboni both riders have 38 points. The Japanese 125cc GP was won by German Dirk Raudies, keeping the Team Europa Honda team rider's perfect season intact. Raudies topped F.C.C Technical Spor~s Kazuto Sakata and Takeshi Tsujimura to win his third straight 125cc GP. Raudies leads Sakata in the championship by 15 points, 75-60. Tsujimura is third with 39 points. program would be reinstated and money would be appropriated to do that by the state legislature. The rescue plan was approved by both houses "Of the Maryland legislature in early April, and now just requires Gov. William Donald Schaefer's signature to become law. The Jimmy Adamo Benefit Auction held at Laguna Seca Raceway on April 16-18 raised $16,600 for the family of the road racer who was killed during the Daytona 200 on March 7. The Wayne Rainey Marlboro Yamaha leathers brought in an auction high bid of $3100 while Rainey's 1986 Honda leathers were purchased by Doug Polen for $1000. Bubba Shobert hosted a celebrity golf tournament at Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel Valley, California, on Monday, April 19 with $40 from each golfer going to the Adamo fund. Shobert was expecting 40 or so players for the tournament, including top racers from the AMA National Championship Road Race Series. AMA/CCS EBC Brakes Endurance Challenge Series teams Keystone Racing and Northstar Racing announced at Laguna Seca Raceway on April 17 that they will merge their efforts into a single team for the remainder of the 1993 season. KeystoneNorthstar Racing will field both Keystone's Suzuki GSXRllOO and Northstar's Yamaha FZR1000 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway round of the series on May 1. After Cha rlotte, the team will decide which motorcycle to campaign in the rest of the series. Bob Bailey, the new owner of Lake Sugar Tree Motorsports Park in Axton, Virginia, tells Papa that the facility will host its first event of the year on Sunday, May 9. Yep, that's Mother's Day and to celebrate the occasion all mothers will be admitted free. The race is the only one at Lake Sugar Tree prior to the July 4 Mega Series round. Kawasaki's Mike LaRocco, who is still recovering from a broken wrist, rode at press day and in practice at the Pontiac Supercross, though he opted not to compete. "It's still real sore," said LaRocco. "I don't think it will be as big a problem outdoors, though, because there's less pounding." According to the AMA's Roy Janson, this weekend's race at Pontiac will be the last doubleheader at the facility. Janson said the manufacturers have been wanting to make the change for some time. "Doing two races in a row is really hard on the riders, mechanics, and the officials," said Janson. "Plus, it can play too big a role in deciding the championship. If a rider gets hurt on Saturday and he can't ride Sunday, it hurts his chances. I'm sure (Damon) Bradshaw and (Michael) Craig (both of whom crashed hard on Saturday) didn't feel like riding the second day." The AMA originally began incorporating doubleheaders into the series when it was difficult to find facilities to hold Yoshimura Suzuki's Donald Jacks attempted to practice his Suzuki GSXR750 Superbike on Friday, April 16, at Laguna Seca, but the arm he broke at Phoenix International Raceway on February 15 proved to be too painful and Jacks was forced to withdraw from the April 18 AMA SUperbike National. In regard to Team Hammer's withdraw- Former Grand National Champion Teams (AMRT), an organization of teams and tire companies involved in road racing, AMRT president Malcolm Hill said: "I certainly do not agree with nor do I believe that AMRT members share John Ulrich's (the vice president of Team Hammer, Inc.) assessments of our association and its managment. Based on his credits and accomplishments in the sport, we had hoped that Ulrich could participate and contribute to AMRT in a constructive manner. I am disappointed that he resigned, but his decision does not impact our plans or business in any way." al from American Motorcycle Racing the events, but that is no longer a problem. Winning Sunday's main at Pontiac gave Jeremy McGrath a total of seven victScrib NoW e and S.l\le 65'Y,., U Name _ o Renewal Address o Please bill me City _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ State _ _ Zip Order Date o This is· a 0 New Subscription -=--- _ Please start my subscription to Cycle News: o Every week for one year (50 issues) for $35.00 (can be billed 3 monthly payments) o Every week for two years (100 issues) for $65.00 o Six months second class (25 issues) for $18.00 One year (50 issues), 2nd class Canada or Mexico and all other foreign countries ~~:~~~~~:~~~~~~~~::~~~=:~~~ _ 50 Wl'('ldy iSSUes for only 535.(JO o o Bill 3 payments of $11.67 Enclosed is my check or money order Charge my 0 Visa 0 Mastercard ~ Signature _ MC/Visa# _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Expiration Date Send to: wm~,Inc. P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 Toll Free Subscription Hotline (800) 831-2220 ~~~~~~:~~~~)~~ ~3

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