Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

414/871-5682. The auction will be held in conjunction with an AMA/CCS Midwest/Great Lakes Region and AHRMA road race meet. hold after breaking his heel in a frea k practice crash earlier in the year, was still bothered by the injury at the Southwick National. LITTLE KNOW FACT: Motocrosser turned road racer Jean-Michel Bayle is improving. With only five road races under his belt, the Frenchman's tarmac career had been on a steady rise going into the Japanese Grand Prix. In the first Grand Prix of the '93 season at Eastern Creek in Australia, Bayle qualified 29th with his fastest lap 3.2% off the pole position time set by Italian Loris CapirossLIn the GP itself, Bayle finished 19th, one-minute, 27.160 seconds behind race winner Tetsuya Harada and 3.3% off his race time, and 3.5% off Harada's fastest lap. In Malaysia, Bayle qualified 19th, 2.1% off Capirossi's pole position time, and finished 16th, 2.9% off Nobuatsu Aoki's race winning time and 2.5% off Aoki's fastest lap. In his debu t ride a t the Suzuka Circuit in Japan, however (likely because it is one of the series' most difficult race tracks with its extended length of 3.64 miles and 17 corners), Bayle's progress slipped somewhat. In Japan he qualified 29th, 4.6% off Harada's pole position time, and finished 21st in the race, 3.8% off Harada's race winning time. His fastest lap in the race was 3.3% slower than the record lap turned in by Capirossi. Bayle improved even more in the sixth GP of his career, finishing 14th on May 2 in Jerez, Spain and earning his first ever road racing World Championship points. The Kawasaki MX team at Southwick wasn't taking any chances of running out of gas on the horsepower-robbing Motocross 338 sand track. All four of the team riders - Mike Kiedrowski, Mike laRocco, Mike Craig and Ryan Hughes - had an auxiliary gas tank mounted to the inside of their motorcycle's left rear side panel. The small plastic containers came from Kawasaki's production KDX200 off-road bikes on which they're used to capture overflow from the engine's cooling system. Bob Bean's Action Cycle in Mishawaka, Indiana, will celebrate its 10th year of being a Husqvarna and KTM dealership with an open house on May 15 and a 70mile trail ride at Horseshoe Lake area in nearby Muskegon the following day, Sunday, May 16. Demo rides on some 1993 Huskys and KTMs will be available on Sunday. If you plan on taking part in the trail ride, let Bean know in advance. For more information or to register for the ride, call219/256-1020. The Greater Atlanta British Motorcycle Association will host the 8th Annual British In The Blue Ridge Motorcycle Rally over the August 20-21 weekend at the Bald Mountain Campground in Hiawassee, Georgia. The rally is open to all British motorcycle owners, riders and enthusiasts. For more information, call Mike Shackley at 404/476-3852. ~ The first few ATK America motorcycles have completed the journey down the assembly line at the firm's new facility in Bountiful, Utah. The first motorcycles were an electric-start 605cc dual sport bike, a two-stroke 406cc MX bike, three 406cc cross country bikes, and two 250cc MX bikes. According to Ron Griewe, ATK's general manager, one 1994 605 prototype has been built and is currently being tested. The MTEG/GFI-promoted rounds of the AMA Amateur Supercross Series that were scheduled to be held the days following tre May 15 Pasadena and June 12 Las Vegas Camel.Supercross events have been canceled. For more information, contact GFI Racing at 909/371-3434. Late Sunday night, May 2, a high-ranking Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) official revealed that four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson was in Madrid, Spain, for an anticipated test on a Honda NSR500 later in the week. HRC, Rothmans Honda, and Kanemoto Racing were all scheduled to test at Jarama in Spain on May 6-7. A Lawson return was made even more likely by the fact tha t an Italian journalist was told by Lawson's manager Gary' Howard that they have actively been trying to secure a sponsor for Lawson's effort. Some speculate that Lawson will replace Michael Doohan, allowing the Australian to take time off in an effort to fully recover from the broken leg he suffered at the Dutch GP last year. American Dirt Bike's Ken Wilkes, who recently sold ATK to a group of enthusiasts and then announced that he would continue to prodClce a four-stroke offroad bike, says the name of the new bike is Avenger. Wilkes had offered $100 to the person who came up with the best name for his new bike and he says he's sending a C note to both Corky's Cycles and Gregory D. Rooney for suggesting the name. Yamaha Motor France's Freddie Spencer was replaced by French superbike rider Jehan D'Orgeix for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on May 2. Spencer is expected to return a t the German GP following injuries suffered in his Suzuka crash on April 17. Spencer recently entered a San Francisco hospital for arthroscopic surgery on a tom ligament in his right knee. He'd had a separate operation on a badly broken fmger following Suzuka where he also had suffered fractured bones in both wrists, and a chipped bone in his right ankle. Orgeix, who turned 28 the Friday of the Spanish GP meet, fell during practice while running wet tires when the rest of the field was on intermediates. By the time he was brought in, and the intermediates were fitted, he could only post the 27th fastest time. He qualified 22nd and finished 19th. Yamaha Motor France's Bernard Garcia missed the Spanish GP after suffering a hand injury during a crash in Saturday's qualifying. When he gated at the May 2 Southwick National MX, former National 12Sec MX and Supercross Champion Johnny O'Mara competed in his first National MX since retiring after the 1991 season. O'Mara only completed the first few laps of the first 125cc moto before pulling off the track and calling it a day. O'Mara, whose comeback was put on Following a meeting of the FIM's international disciplinary court, Rothmans Kanemoto Honda's George Vukmonovich was cleared. of all charges that had been brought against him following an incident at the Malaysian GP. Vukmanovich had vehemently, and repeatedly, protested the FIM's request for three liters of fuel dur- Entries remain available for the July 4 Pikes Peak HiIlclimb. Motorcycle competition will be .conducted in four,classes, 250cc and Open in both the amateur and pro ranks. The event is a multi-day one, starting with tech inspection on July 1 and ending with the awards brunch on July 5. For more information, caIl Bill Brokaw at 719/475-2437. ing qualifying for the GP. He was suspended for 18 days, but appealed the suspension and it was withdrawn by the FIM. .However, the fine of 3000 Swiss francs (about $2100) which was levied against the team, has been maintained. The court ruled that Vukrnanovich was not subject to the rules of the disciplinary and arbitration code because there is nothing in the rule book that prohibits the sort of verbal abuse that Vukmanovich was accused of. The fine against the team stood because the team was not able to control a member of its team. The FIM also allowed the appeals of three teams, Kanemoto Racing, Team Pileri, and Carlos Cardus Team, who had protested their riders being penalized for jumping the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The reason was that the results had been made official and should not have been changed five hours after the finish. A hearing was held in Jerez where the start procedure was thoroughly examined and found to be severely flawed, as was the system for determining which riders jumped the gun. In order to prevent an occurrence at Jerez, the FIM held three separate meetings for the various classes to clarify the start procedure. Attendance wasn't mandatory, but it was recommended that the riders and team managers attend and attendance was taken. Dorna Promocion del Deporte (Doma), the Spanish concern that owns the television rights and signage rights in GP road racing, announced they had recently purchase a significant shareholding in Two Wheel Promotions (TWP), the Bernie Ecclestone concern that has overall control of the racing, except in sporting matters where the FIM has a say. Briefly put, this gives Dorna more control and shortens the lines of communication since all questions will not have to go through TWP in London. Since it means that TWP has ceded some control, many observers believe that it's a sign that Ecc1estone is losing interest in motorcycle racing and has to spend more time dealing with the problems in Formula One car racing. Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Jay Springsteen won the Dirt Track Marlboro Kenny Roberts race, lapping all but three riders on the 400 meter short track at Chapin Olympic Stadium in Jerez, Spain, May 1. Springsteen was riding a Harley 600 that Tom Cummings had brought over to Spain from his shop, Cummings Harley-Davidson. Steve Morehead was a distant second, riding a borrowed KTM after his Garvis Honda broke a piston during practice. Kenny Roberts made his return to dirt track, but the Sparky Edmondson-built Wood-Rotax that he was to share with his son, Kenny Roberts Jr., snapped a belt drive just prior to his taking part in an exhibition race with Morehead and Springsteen, bending the valves. Kenny Roberts Jr. was fast qualifier and had earlier won the second heat while turning the fastest one lap of the night during the race. When Roberts told the race organizer that his bike had expired, Springsteen graciously let him ride his Harley which Roberts rode to a wildly popular victory over Morehead. A crowd of over 6000 watched the inaugural event which promises to be an annual race. Kenny Roberts Jr. was at Jerez, fresh off his first 250cc road race win in the Calafat round of the Spanish Ducado,s Open series. Roberts Sr. said tha t among the projects he was considering for 1994 was a 250cc Grand Prix team. "Every year we look at it and look at the budgets, but, right now, it's too soon to say," Roberts said. Roberts Jr. will be one of the two wild card entries for the U.S. GP at Laguna Seca on a works Yamaha, though it has yet to be determined who the sponsor will be. Roberts Jr. also said he hoped to be racing in the 250cc World Championships next year. Supply Racing Suzuki's Noboyuki Wakai was killed in a horrifying pit lane incident during the second 250cc qualifying session in Spain on May 1 after he ran into a spectator who was crossing the pit lane as Wakai was making his way back onto the track after pitting. Both were knocked unconscious with the 25-year-old Wakai suffering a contained craneoencephalitic injury as a result of hitting the right side of his head on the step up to the pit waIl. He was taken by ambulance to the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in nearby Seville where he underwent two operations to remove blood clots, but to no avail. A moment of silence was observed at 11:15 a.m. on race day as his team laid flowers at the accident site on the pit lane and said a prayer. Flags were lowered to hall mast. There was no public podium ceremony following the 250cc race: It was replaced by a private ceremony. And race winner Tetsuya Harada was so emotional after the victory that he declined to attend the postrace press conference. Wakai had finished 10th in the 1992 125cc World Championship aboard a Honda and had one ride on the Lucky Strike Suzuki 250, finishing 7th. The spectator, Fabio Ravaioli, 28, of Italy, suffered a cranial encephalitic trauma and fractured right femur and was taken to a hospital in nearby Cadiz where he is expected to make a full recovery. Apparently, Ravaioli had a guest pass which does not allow him on the pit lane, but he was crossing it from a garage and no official had bothered to check it as he emerged from the garage. Run for Freedom Honda's Carlos Cardus fell during the second day of qualifying at Jerez, fracturing his right thumb and forcing him to withdraw from the race. Cardus had also faIlen in the morning's free training and was only able to post the 25th fastest time in the afternoon before falling again in what he says will be his last Spanish GP at Jerez. A smaIl screw was inserted in the break and Cardus is expected to be back for the Austrian GP on May 16. BORN: Matthew Allen Thome, son of Cycle News Western Sales Manager Mark Thorne and his wife Vickie, on April 26 in Newport Beach, California.. RESIGNED: Ric Miller, from his position of Dunlop Tire Corporation's senior executive vice president marketing and sales, to pursue private business interests. Robin Mitchell, currently president of Allied Tire Florida and a Dunlop central steering board member, will assume all responsibilities previously held by Miller. HIRED: Tom Monroe, by Lewis Communications, as sales representative for Action Motorsports Trade Expos East and West, the Action Motorsports Trade Expo magazine, and the Indiana Motorcycle 'and Personal Watercraft Expo. Monroe was formerly with Fieldsheer Leathers. APPOINTED: Paul Sheridan, by Cagiva North America, as marketing and sales manager, responsible for the Ducati and Husqvama lines. Sheridan was formerly national motorcycle sales manager for BMW North America. tN 3

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