Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ emMMW~~_aw_ea~l~ Torrential rains caused the French round of the World Championship 250cc MX Series to be canceled 21 minutes into the second of three motos. . Greg Albertyn (Hon) of South Africa ('ij was the winner of the first.moto with 0"1 Donny Schmit (Yam) of Minnesota sec0"1 ond and Brit Kurt Nicoll (Hon) third. 'I"'-l When the red flag waved on the second ... moto, Belgian Stefan Everts (Suz) was Lf) the leader and he was followed by Schmit and Italian Alessandro Puzar ~ (Yam). Schmit was declared the overall winner with Everts second and Puzar third. After five of 15 rounds, 125cc MX World Champion Albertyn leads Everts in the point standings, 229 to 194. Defending 250cc MX champ Schmit is third with 181 points. e >-. ::E Rodney Smith (Suz) earned the overall win .at the opening round of the AMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series in Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 22-25. Ty Davis (Kaw) was second overall, and Larry Roeseler (Kaw), Jan Hrehor (Yam) and Steve Hatch (Suz) rounded out the top five. The deadly tornado that inflicted major damage on the area struck late on Saturday and did not affect the event. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Yam) won the third round of the Ducados Spanish Open road race series in Calafat, Spain, April 25. Roberts, who finished second in the first two rounds, qualified on the pole and then went on to win the 25ecc race, topping Spaniard series points leader Luis d'Antin (Hon) and Frenchman Jean Foray (Apr). The 125cc race at Calafat was won by 125cc World Championship leader Dirk Raudies (Hon). American Motorcycle Institute has announced that Dennis Desmet of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, successfully defended his Brute Horsepower Shootout championship during Daytona Cycle Week. Desmet's turbocharged 1986 Suzuki GSXR1100 registered 342 horsepower on AMI's Dynojet dynamometer. His closest competitor was Ferd Keyes of Port Orange, Florida, whose turbocharged 1983 GSXR1100 cranked out 232 horses. Desmet has won the Brute Horsepower Shootout four times. Keith Day made his return to racing at the San Jose Mile after a season-long layoff due to injuries he sustained at last year's April Sacramento Mile. "The doctors just gave me clearance to race a couple of weeks ago:' said Day, who owns and operates a Salinas, California-based trucking business. "I had some nerve damage in my shoulder, but the doctors decided that it's as good as it's ever going to get. It's been a long year and I can't wait to get back on the track." Day failed to qualify for the main event. Three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen and Steve Morehead will miss the May 1 Sacramento Mile in order to compete in a short track race in Spain. Before the start of the San Jose Mile main event, the two shared the following with a laugh: "I told Stevie, 'Hey, let's not go out and kill ourselves. Let's just have a little fun because next week in Spain is when the REAL fun starts:" said Springsteen. 2 Team Harley-Davidson showed up at the Daytona Short Track in March with black, orange and white "dress" pit shirts with matching black pants, and at the April 25 San Jose Mile it appeared as if a few other race tearns are following suit. Papa's personal favorites are the baseball-style uniforms worn by Dave Camlin and the Camlin's Racing Team. The pin-striped jerseys feature a large "Camlin's Racing" logo on the chest in a traditional script logo, as well as Camlin's #27 on the sleeves and back. Ricky Graham and Brett Landes of Team Undo showed up at the San Jose Mile in a large fifth-wheel trailer, towed behind a brand new Ford truck. The trailer and truck are painted in matching team colors with all of the team's sponsor logos painted on the sides. Larry Pegram, the dirt tracker and parttime road racer who sustained multiple injuries in a crash at the February 15 Phoenix AMA Superbike National, was on hand as a spectator at the San Jose Mile. Though he still requires crutches, Pegram reports that he is healing well and on schedule. "My broken hip is giving me the most trouble:' said Pegram. "I should be off crutches and on my feet in a week or so, and I'm still planning on racing the (May 30) Springfield Mile." When asked if it was harder to watch than to compete, Pegram replied jokingly, "Yes, definitely. Especially when Kevin Atherton isn't winning on my bike!" And speaking of Kevin Atherton, the former team Harley-Davidson factory rider reports that his road racing debut is a little behind schedule. "I wanted to race the 750cc Supersport class at Laguna Seca, but my bike (his personal Suzuki GSXR750) isn't ready yet. My first race will probably be a WERA race near my (White Pigeon, Michigan) home." At San Jose, Atherton raced the Texas H-D/Sponseller Racing HarleyDavidson XR750 normally campaigned by the injured Larry Pegram. "It's a whole different chassis than I'm used to," said Atherton after finishing seventh in the National. "As for the motor, it's fast. I just need to get used to it." Atherton will also campaign the machine at the Sacramento Mile and Pomona Half Mile Nationals. After a seven-year absence, former Grand National Championship Series regular Lance Jones made a surprise return to racing a t the San Jose Mile aboard the Gardner Racing/Weibler Harley-Davidson XR750. "The last Grand National I raced in was way back in 1986," said the rider from Gadsden, Alabama. "I broke my hip in a road race crash at Loudon in 1987 and tried to retire, but I just couldn't stay away." When asked what he has been doing in the meantime, Jones replied, "I have a used car lot in Gadsden, and that's been taking up most of my time. I've been itching to race, and this was a great chance to try it again. I turned 33 yesterday, so this is like a birthday present." Jones qualified an impressive ninth at San Jose, but failed to qualify for the main event. Still, Jones was pleased with his return. "Considering that I haven't been on a motorcycle in five years, this is great. It all came back pretty fast, I can't wait for the next one." Jones will continue to race the Gardner/Weibler machine at the Sacramento Mile and Pomona Half Mile Nationals. Fast Track Racing of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, will promote an amateur dirt track meet on the mile oval at the Indiana State Fairgroands on July 17. In addition to a full slate of amateur classes, 125cc and up, there will also be Pro-Am competition. For more informa tion, call Ken Saillant at 219/426-5528 after 7 p.m. Central time. A 1989 Honda CRSO was recently stolen from James Massey of Buford, Georgia. Massey, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, received the bike from the Make-AWish Foundation. His family is finan- dally unable to replace it. The bike's serial number is }H2HE0401KK600135. If you have informatio~ that can lead to its recovery, please call the Masseys at 404/932-0562. Tim Silva was picked as the winner of the giant blow-up Cycle News cover featuring (and autographed by) road racer Colin Edwards. Silva's entry was among those received at the Cycle News exhibit at the Laguna Seca round of the AMA Nation'al Championship Road Race Series over the April 16-18 weekend. KR Sports Promotions Corp., the Kenny Roberts run group that is promoting the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca Raceway on September 10-12, will be selecting the wild card entries for the 125, 250 and 500cc Grands Prix for the U.S. GP. According to Bob Barnard, two wild card entries will be accepted for each of the three classes. Letters of application can be sent to KR Sports Promotions, 1021 Monterey Rd., Salinas, CA 93908. Jimmy Filice will take one of those 250cc U.S. GP wild card entries. The Californian, who rides a Yamaha TZ250 owned by three-time World Champion Wayne Rainey and sponsored by Otsuka Electronics in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series, is hoping to get his hands on a factory Yamaha for Laguna Seca. "It's not going to be easy, but I'm . going to do everything I can to get him a good (factory) bike:' Rainey said. "They're just so damn expensive and Yamaha already has good riders on their good bikes. I think Jimmy could win the race if he was on a good bike and I think he deserves the chance." Mike Doran of AM. Photo still has 16 of the 50 limited edition color prints of the spectacular photo finish between Doag Polen, Pascal Picotte and Scott Russell from the Phoenix AMA Superbike Series opener. Thirty-four of the photos were sold at .the April 16-18 Laguna Seca round of the AMA National Championship Road Race Series, with $1000 being donated to the Jimmy Adamo Fund. Doran can be contacted at 707/763-1126. Originally scheduled to open in June, the exhibit featuring the artistic talents of Kenneth "Von Dutch" Howard opens July 16 at southern California's Laguna Art Museum. Von Dutch, who passed away last September at the age of 63, was well-known in both custom car and motorcycle circles, primarily for his pin-striping technique. At one point in his career he teamed lip with Steve McQueen. In addition to doing custom refinishing on some of McQueen's bikes, Von Dutch built the Winton Flyer, the yellow automobile featured in McQueen's film "The Reivers." The Laguna Art Museum is located on the comer of Pacific Coast Highway and Cliff Drive in Laguna Beach. The Von Dutch showing will run through November 7. TAM Communications has released the first issue of Indian Motorcycle Ulustrated, a 72-page magazine they say will be published twice this year and perhaps be a quarterly next year. The magazine is available on newsstands, in motorcycle shops, or direct from TAM Communications (203/855-0008). With his win at Laguna Seca on April 18, Doug Polen moved into a tie for fifth place on the all-time AMA National Championship Superbike road race victory list. The win, Polen's second straight at Laguna Seca, was the Texan's ninth career victory, tieing him with Mike Baldwin and Kevin Schwantz. According to Polen's sponsor, Fast By Ferracci, the AMA National Championship Road Race Series has been conducted since 1976, and in the 147-race history of the Superbike Series, 29 riders have wins. The"all-time leader is Fred Merkel with 19 wins. Merkel is followed by Wayne Rainey (17), Freddie Spencer (15) and Eddie Lawson (14). Polen had been tied for eighth on the alltime list with Scott .Russell (8). Rounding out the top 10 are Wes Cooley (7) and Doug Chandler (6). The singleseason record is 10 wins, set by Merkel in 1984. Rainey holds the record for most consecutive victories, six in 1983. Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson to return to Grand Prix road racing? It now appears unlikely. It seems Lawson could have raced a Honda NSRSOO in the Japanese Grand Prix, except that the grid was already full. All other elements were in place for an unexpected return. Rothmans Honda team boss Erv Kanemoto, who guided Lawson to his fourth World Championship on a Honda in 1989, confirmed that he had an offer of sponsorship for Lawson to race a Honda at Suzuka, while the rider had confirmed earlier that he was "brushing off his leathers." The deal was scotched mainly because Kanemoto could not secure an entry, with the grid already full and new-regime regulations forbidding oneoff rides in any case. A way around the regs would be as a nominated replacement for an existing team, and Kanemoto tried to buy an entry in this way. But he contacted seven teams after the Malaysian GP without success. Although the sponsor, Kanernoto and Lawson felt that he still would have a chance at the championship if he missed only the first two races, missing three would make the odds much less favorable. Rather surprisingly, HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) chief Yoichi Oguma denied all knowledge of the proposal at Suzuka; a denial that may carry the same conviction as Lawson's avowal last year that when he left GP racing: "You will never see me again." Australian Michael Doohan found a novel solution to his rear braking difficulties at the Japanese Grand Prix - fitting a smaller extra lever above the clutch lever so he can operate the brake bicycle-style with his left hand. Due to limited ankle movement with the right leg he injured at Assen last year, Doohan has been unable to operate the rear brake fully. He uses it not only to steady the bike during hard braking but also to tighten the cornering line midbend, and while he now has just enough ankle movement to operate the pedal when he is sitting straight on the seat and travelling straight, as soon as he shifts to one side for a corner he can't reach it anymore. This caused him a lot of difficulty in Malaysia, and his team came up with the stop-gap solution for Japan. The rear disc was fitted with a pair of calipers, one operated by the foot pedal in the usual way, the other connected to the left hand lever. Doohan reported that he was using the foot lever at the end of the straight, and the hand lever in the Esses and elsewhere. "It takes a little adjustment, but once or twice I used it too hard and could feel the bike movement through the seat of my pants." But it was not a perfect solution. "I can use it at the same time as the clutch, but not when I'm also using effort on the handlebars to steer the bike." For the next race, Doohan will try a lever based on a Jet Ski throttle, operated by the thumb, which he hopes will give him full rear braking ability.

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