Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

e~~n!~~.~~£)~d e Cf) 0\ 0\ ~ 0\ ~ ~ ~ American Scott Russell (Kaw) split wins in the German round of the World Championship Superbike Series in Hockenheirn, Germany, May 9. Falappa topped Italian Fabrizio Pirovano (Yarn) and Brit Carl Fogarty (Duc) in the first race, with Russell beating Spaniard Juan Garriga (Duc) and Falappa to win race two. Russell finished sixth in the opening race after suffering transmission problems. Falappa leads the championship point standings over Russell, 75-64, after two rounds. American Donny Schmit (Yarn) swept all three motos for the overall win at the sixth round of the World Championship 250cc MX Series in Kaposvar, Hungary, May 9. Fellow Yanks Trampas Parker (KTM) and Bob Moore (Suz) were second and third, and Brit Rob Herring (Hon) and American Tallon Vohland (Suz) rounded out the top five overall. With his win, defending World Champion Schmit narrowed to 14 the points lead of South African Greg Albertyn (Hon), who finished sixth overall. Belgian Johan Boonen (Kaw) was the overall winner at round two of the World Championship 500cc MX Series in Sittendorf, Austria, May 9. New Zealand's Darryl King (Kaw) was second overall, and four-stroke-mounted Belgian Joel Smets (Hbg) was third. Fourth and fifth overall went to Brit Jeremy Whatley (KTM) and Italian Franco Rossi (KTM), respectively. Fred Hoess (Hus) scored the overall win at round two of the AMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series at Stanhope, New Jersey, May 9. Randy Hawkins (Suz) and Kevin Hines (Hus) matched total points on the day, which resulted in a tie for runner-up honors. Both riders were awarded second-place points towards the series championship title. Opening round winner Rodney Smith (Suz) was third overall, and Steve Hatch (Suz) and Doug Deaton (Kaw) rounded out the top five. Spud Walters (Suz) was the big winner at round four of the CMC Sunstar Sprockets Spring Classic Nationals in Marysville, California, May 8. Walters won both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes, and Michael Brandes (Suz) was second in both divisions. Third in the 125cc class was Greg Tirheimer (Suz), while third place in the 250cc division went the way of Lowell Moura! Jr. (Hon). Dustin Bloomfield (Hon) topped the 500cc Pro class. Danny Hamel (Kaw) scored the overall and 500cc class win at the Virginia City Grand I'rix in Virginia City, Nevada, May 9. Larry Roeseler (Kaw) was the runner-up and Four-Stroke class winner, and Ty Davis (Kaw) finished third and won the 250cc division. 2 First the desert tortoise and now the gnatcatcher! According to the Riverside (California) Press-Enterprise, planned improvements at southern California's DeAnza Cycle Park and its r~pening that was scheduled for this coming fall have both been put on hold. Riverside County Parks General Manager Paul Romero announced last week that construction of a new entry road, MX and hillclimb sections, a cross country trail, etc. has been indefinitely delayed because it has been discovered that the park contains habitat for the California gnatcatcher, a songbird that was declared a threatened species by federal officials in March. Romero will discuss the issue with the California Commission on Off-Highway Motor Vehicles on May 20. "It's really hard to tell what the schedule is going to be," Romero told the Press-Enterprise. In addition to the gnatcatcher problem, it has been revealed that all six of the construction bids submitted exceeded the $2.3 million estimate for the work. The improvements were to be paid for through a grant from stat~ff-highway vehicle funds. If you can't trust a high-ranking Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) official, then who can you trust? Last week we reported that an HRC official had revealed that four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson was in Spain and scheduled to test a Honda NSRSOO at Jarama on May 6-7. Cycle News Associate Editor Paul Carruthers was in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, on May 5-7 conducting a personal watercraft shootout for Personal Watercraft Illustrated when he spotted Lawson cruising under the London Bridge in his boat. So much for a Honda test session in Spain. Road racer Tommy Lynch suffered spinal injuries - fractures of the right traverse process of the L1 and L2 vertebral body - during his crash in the AMA/CCS Monsterbike Shootout on May 2 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. According to Two Brothers Racing, Lynch will return to ride the team's Honda CBR900 at Road America on June 12 in the AMA/CCS Endurance Cha1lenge Series. The CBR caught fire in the accident, but tearn owner Kevin Erion was quick to point out the impressive work turned in by the cornerworkers at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Women's Motorsport Association has announced that it will host the 1994 Women's United States International World Cup MX at Motorcycle Raceway in Oklahoma City on May 29 of next year. Not so far in the future, the femme organization will hold a Women's MX School at southern California's Perris Raceway on July 10. Instructors include Mercedes Gonzalez, Brenda Hannah and Gale Webb. For more information, call 909 /734-2278. Robert Wehman, founder and CEO of Intercontinental Lubricants Corporation (ILC), passed away on April 25 after a long battle with. kidney disease. Wehman, established ILC in 1966 after leaving SAAB Motors USA where he served as national service manager and director of racing activities. While at SAAB, he formulated a two-stroke oil. Using the expertise gained at SAAB, he pioneered the development of the semisynthetic engine lubricants which are the mainstay of ILC's Spectro product line. Wehman was well known throughout the motorcycle industry for his lubricant seminars. He enjoyed all forms of motorsports and he, along with his wife and two daughters, was an avid motorcyclist. His wife Barbara, who has been actively involved with the company since its inception, has been serving as ILC president for the past year. There are no planned changes in management at ILC. Godspeed, Bob. World Superbike Champion Doug Polen and his Fast by Ferracci Duca ti teammate Pascal Picotte took part in an autograph session at the Promotional Silk Screens booth in the Motorcycle Mall at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the recent May Motorcycle Classic. Polen and Picotte requested that a portion of the proceeds be sent to Melanie Adamo, wife of the late Jimmy Adamo. According to Jeff Myers at Promotional Silk Screen, that's been done to the tune of $200. If you're an admirer of Italian motorcycle and cars, then you should check out the annual Concours Italiana on Friday, August 20, in Carmel, California. Held in conjunction with that weekend's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and Laguna Seca Historic Automobile Races, the event's focus is on display over competition, and entry is open to all who have qualifying bikes or cars. The Concours Italiana will be held on the grounds of the Quail Lodge Resort &: Golf Club and admission is $15. Tickets are available at the gate, and the event is open to spectators from 10 a.II\. to 4 p.rn. In addition to the concours, activities include an Italian Model <\< Literature Expo, Vintage Ferrari Concours presented by the Ferrari Club of America, and a dealer exposition area where Italian bikes and cars that are for sale will be displayed. If you're interested in entering a motorcycle or car in the concours, applications are available by faxing 206/6465458 or writing to P.O. Box 1015, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Speedway USA in Victorville, California, will host the North American Speedway Qualifier on Saturday, May 29, with racing starting at 7 p.m. The event will pit the top eight Americans who are competing in the British League versus the eight U.S.based riders who qualify for the meet via pre-qualifiers in New York, Colorado and California. The top five riders from the North American Speedway Qualifier will advance to the Overseas Final which will take place in England on June 13, and then hopefully advance to one of the semi-finals and finally to the World Individual Speedway Championship which will take place on August 28 in Germany. Dick Klamfoth, three-time Daytona 200 winner, will make his first appearance in a BMW Battle of the Legends road race when the stars of yesteryear do their thing at New Hampshire International Speedway over the Fourth of July weekend. Running along with the AHRMA National Historic Cup and BMW Classic Cup Series races, the Legends will race on both July 3 and July 4. Joining Klarnfoth on the grid at Loudon will be David Aldana, Don Castro, Yvon DuHamel, Don Emde, Dick Mann, Bart Markel, Gary Nixon, Roger Reiman and Don Vesco. The Loudon race will feature a new twist the Legends will run color-keyed number plates based on three rider age groups. Specatators will be able to see how each competitor fares against fellow racers from his era. The under-SO group will consist of Aldana, Castro and Emde; DuHamel, Nixon and Reiman will make up the over-SO category; and Mann, Markel and Vesco will be the over-57 group. An estimated 25,000 specators witnessed the Legends race at Daytona this year. That race was won by Jay Springsteen, who will miss Loudon Legends races due to a committment to compete in a Grand National Championship half mile race at Lake Odessa, Michigan, on July 3. Aldana was second in the two-leg Daytona race and DuHamel was third. DuHamel was victorious in the inaugural Legends race at Daytona in .1992. Southern California's Ventura County M.e. will host their annual Mountain Qualifier on Sunday, May 16, at the Ballinger Canyon campground in the Los Padres National Forest. The calendar section of this month's District 37 newsletter mistakenly identifies the location of the event as Red Mountain. Don't go there! But be advised that Hwy. 33 and Lockwood Valley Rd. have been closed by landslides. You can't get to Ballinger Canyon by going through Ventura/Ojai or Frazier Park. You must drive to the campground from the north. Los Angeles area entrants should go north on 1-5 past Gorman and over the Grapevine, west on Hwy. 166, then south on Hwy. 33 to the Ballinger Canyon tum-off. It's an easy drive, but allow an extra 45 minutes to an hour. The Ventura County Me. will mark the turns from the junction of Hwy. 33 and Hwy. 166. The Northwest Region round of the AMA Loretta Lynn's Qualifying Series at Roseburg, Oregon, will take place on Sunday, May 16, not the previous day as has been shown in our Calendar section listing. Hie event, the last area qualifier in the Northwest Region, will take place at the Clarks Branch MX track. As you no doubt will recall, the tradition of having the opening round of the AMA National Championship Road Race Series take place at Daytona was broken this year when Phoenix International Raceway hosted the kickoff race of the series in mid-February. Traditionalists who were upset by that will no doubt smile when they hear that the 2nd Annual Arizona Superbike Challenge will take place over the March 24-27 weekend, three weeks after Daytona Cycle Week. The WERA Pro Series will play host to 100 youngsters from Camp Sunshine, a summer camp for children who have or have had leukemia or some form of cancer, at the May 14-16 Michelin Road Atlanta Nationals. Road racer Nancy Delgado, who lives in Atlanta, put WERA Pro Series and Camp Sunshine together. Camp Sunshine opened its doors in 1983 with several dozen campers and they expect over 200 campers this year. The camp is staffed by physicians, nurses, social workers, school teachers and community help. It offers on-site, 24-hour professional medical personnel and equipment. The camp is a recreational and learning experience which provides normal adventures of growing up for children seven to 18. Nearly 1400 children from Georgia and neighboring states have attended Camp Sunshine. In addition to hosting the youngsters, WERA will donate all money received from the sale of WERA race decals at the event to Camp Sunshine. WoridSports, promoters of the San Jose Amateur Supercross, dropped Papa a line to assure us too t the race will be held on the morning of June 5, the same date that the nighttime round of the Camel Supercross Series will take place. The amateur rider's meeting is at 6:30 a.m. and the races are scheduled to be completed by 12:00 noon. For more information contact WorldSports at 813/894-

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