Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

___ '_~ Swedish riders dominated their homecountry round of the World Championship 500cc MX Series, held in Nykoping, Sweden, May 16. Swede Jorgen Nilsson (Hon) was the overall winner, while fellow countryman Marcus Hansson (Hon) finished second. New Zealander Darryl King (Kaw) finished third. Nilsson sits atop the series point standings. Round four of the World Championship 125cc MX Series at Gdynia, Poland, May 16, saw Frenchman Yves Demaria (Suz) nab the overall win ahead of Dutchman Peter Beirer (Suz). Swede Joakim Karlsson (Suz) finished third. Frenchman Mikael Pichon was fourth, while Dutchman Pedro Tragter (Suz) finished fifth and continues to lead the series point standings. Floridian John Ashmead (Kaw) won the opening round of the WERA F-USA road race series at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, on May 16, topping the Formula II (2S0cc) bikes of Chris D' Aluisio (Yam) and Rich Oliver (Yam) in the two-race format. The first leg saw TZ250-mounted Oliver take the win over TZ250-mounted D'Aluisio and ZXR750-mounted Ashmead, with Ashmead taking the win in race two over D'Aluisio and Oliver. Ashmead's win in race two was enough to break the tie between himself and D'Aluisio. D'Aluisio, though, bounced back to win the Formula II race, topping Oliver and Takahito Mori (Yam). The F-III race was won by Tommy Hayden (Hon) over his brother Nicky Hayden (Hon) with Rodney Fee (Hon) rounding out the top three. Team Suzuki Endurance II (Suz) won the four-hour WERA National Endurance Series round at Road Atlanta on May 15. Gold Hill Racing (Yam) finished second and Dutchman . Racing (Yam) was third. Kurt Hall, Michael Martin and Chuck Graves shared the riding duties for the winning team. Tim Frazier scored the 800cc class win at the opening round of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series, held at the Iron Horsemen Clubgrounds in Goshen, Indiana, May 16. Bob Castledine was second, ahead of Greg Williams. Scott Everett topped Steve Dresser in the 540cc class. Rodney Smith (Suz) won the fifth round of the AMA/Wiseco/Yamaha/ Dunlop Grand National Cross Country Series in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, May 16. Smith topped defending champ Scott SummeJ;S (Hon) by just one bike length. Fred Andrews (Yam), Tom Norton (Kaw) and Doug Blackwell (Kaw) rounded out the top five overalL Danny Hamel (Kaw) scored the overall win at the final round of the National Championship Hare & Hound Series in Wells, Nevada, May 15. Ty Davis (Kaw) was second ahead of Greg Zitterkopf (KTM). Fourth and fifth overall went to Dan Richardson (Hon) and Larry Roeseler (Kaw), respectively. Camel Honda's Tom Kipp underwent surgery on May 7 to repair the leg he broke in his crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 2. Kipp, who crashed into Miguel DuHamel's fallen Kawasaki while running second in the AMA Superbike National at Charlotte, had a rod placed in his right tibia (lower leg) at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Kipp could be out from six weeks to three months, according to doctors. "I'm gonna miss Road America (June 13) and probably Loudon Gune 20), but I am going to try and be ready for Road Atlanta Guly 18) and for sure Mid-Ohio (August 8)," Kipp said. "The leg looks really good for as badly as it has been traumatized, it looks almost better than my g~ one. The doctors say it normally takes 10 to 14. weeks for a full recovery but I think because of the great job they did on me and the way it looks right now, I could be fully recovered in nine to 12 weeks. I'm going to be walking in less than a month." Kipp's Honda RC30 will be used as a backup bike by teammate Mike Smith and will not be offered to another rider, according to team owner Martin ~By~~~mMW~~ SC~k~~~'~~~:~r~~~f!~~'~?~~~~I L Honda's Michael Doohan m the AustrIan Grand Pnx m Salzbur~ Austria, o~ May 16, taking his third SOOcc GP win of the season and the 22nd of his career. WIth the win, Schwantz took the lead in the SOOcc World Championship over Marlboro Yamaha's Wayne Rainey, who was third in Austria, 111-106. . Schwantz, who the day befQre had recorded his fifth straight pole position, and Doohan 'battled throughout the 76-mile race at the ultra-fast Salzburgring, with the Texan topping the Australian by a scant .49-of-a-second at the finish line. Rainey was another 4.4 seconds behind the lead duo, and only .062-of-a-second in front of Lucky Strike Suzuki's Alex Barros. Fifth place went to Rainey's Marlboro Yamaha teammate Luca Cadalora. Cagiva's Doug Chandler finished eighth, the Californian battling through suspension and throttle sticking problems after leading the race in the early laps. In the 500cc point standings, Schwantz, with 111 points,.is five clear of Rainey's 106 points. Rothmans Honda's Daryl Beattie, seventh in Austria, is third with 68 points. Doohan and Marlboro Honda's Alex Criville, a non-finisher in Austria, round out the top five with 55 and 48 points, respectively. Italian Doriano Romboni scored the first 250cc Grand Prix win of his career in Austria, the HB Honda rider narrowly defeating fellow Italian Loris Capirossi, on a Marlboro Honda, and HB Honda Germany's Helmut Brad!. Aprilia's Loris Reggiani and Rothmans Honda's Max Biaggi rounded out the top five finishers. The 250cc World Championship, though, continues to be led by Teklor Yamaha's Tetsuya Harada, who finished sixth in Austria. The Japanese rider has 105 points to Romboni's 68. Biaggi and Lucky Strike Suzuki's John Kocinski, seventh in Austria, are tied for third with 58 points with HRC's Tadayuki Okada, who <3'ashed and suffered a broken·arm in Austria, fifth with 55 points. The 125cc GP was also won by a first-timer, Japan's Takeshi Tsujimura on the F.C.C. Technical Sports Honda. Tsujimura topped his teammate and fellow countryman Kazuto Sakata by .012-of-a-second with German Dirk Raudies third on the Team Europa Raudies Honda. Italian Ezio Gianola was fourth on the Daytona Pit-Lane Racing Honda with Elf Team Kepla Honda's Akira Saito of Japan rounding out the top five finishers. . Sakata leads Raudies in the champions~p, 105-91, with Tsujimura third with 80 points. RaIf Waldmann, ninth in Austria, and Herri Torrontegui, 11th in Austria, fill the top five with 48 and 46 points, respectively. Adams. "If he (Kipp) was out for the season, then we'd find somebody to ride it, but Tom's coming back. He'll be at all the races and I think putting somebody on the bike would be sending a bad message to Tom Kipp, and we don't want to do that. Mike (Smith) will have two bikes and that should get us to a race set-up faster." Smith, who has not ridden a 600 since Daytona, will rejoin the class, riding a Camel Honda· CBR600 in the AMA/CCS 600cc Supersport races in Kipp's absence. "I had offered the second 600 to Mike Hale, but he had some conflicting dirt track races," Adams added. ARMOR, the AMA's accident medical insurance plan, is now being offered for the first time to members participating in any AMA-sanctioned, non-professional road-riding or racing event. Members who buy ARMOR insurance will have their choice of three levels of coverage: 1) An annual $75 premium provides $2500 medical and dental coverage, phis $15,000 accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) benefits. 2) $100 per year provides $5000 medical/ dental; $25,000 for AD&D. 3) $150 per year provides $10,000 medical/4ental; $25,000 AD&D. Members can also buy 'optional income protection coverage. For more information or to request an application form call 800/AMA-JOIN. Coverage is effective as soon as your application and premium are received at the AMA office. There is no waiting period. Schwantz'tries four wheels K evin Schwantz took a break from riding his Lucky Strike Suzuki SOOcc Grand Prix bike to participate in the Porsche Supercup in Catalunya, Spain, whi~ ~s held in conjuntion with the Formula One car GP, on May 9. In what was hiS f1r5t-ever car race, Schwantz qualified 14th out of 36 entries in the Shell-sponsored Pqrsche 911, but failed to finish. The Texap was running 15th in the race when he was struck by another car and forced off the track. "It was bitchin.' Next time I'd like to drive something with a little more horsepower. Maybe a Williams/Renault (a F-l car) would be good," Schwantz joked. The Rose Bowl track on which Team Honda's Jeremy McGrath scored his runaway Camel Supercross title-clinching win last Saturday night was a firstever design by long-time Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) employee Glenn Scott. "Glenn did an outstanding job with his first offical track design," said Ric Miller, MTEG vice president operations. "It is unusual to have so many complimentary remarks about a track from so many people who know the sport best. We're proud of Glenn." C-r') 0'\ 0'\ ~ .... \0 C'l :>... m "'::::::l ~ In the days leading up to the Pasadena Supercross, Team Kawasaki suffered two more injuries in what has already been an injury-riddled season. First it was Team Green support rider Craig Decker, who broke his right femur and fractured his right wrist while practicing on Kawasaki's practice track in Corona, California, during the week. Decker came up short over a double after hitting neutral, landing so hard that he broke both the bones without even crashing. After having a metal rod inserted in his leg, Decker returned home to Palm Desert, California. Meanwhile, factory rider Michael Craig, who has been having an impressive season and was sitting in sixth place going into Pasadena, broke his left ankle in practice the day before the race. Craig came up short over a triple and was thrown over the bars. Craig had a cast placed on the injured ankle and is hopeful of returning to action for either the next supercross round in San Jose on June 5, or the final round in Las Vegas on June 12. On a positive note, team rider Ryan Hughes competed in his first supercross of the year after breaking his leg in a pre-season crash. Hughes, who first returned to action last week at round two of the 125cc National MX Series in Southwick, Massachusetts, placed a respectable fourth in the 12Scc main event. Mike Kiedrowski is the only top Kawasaki rider not to have been injured this year, as round-one winner Mike LaRocco missed several rounds with a broken wrist. Kawasaki Team Green hot-shot Robbie Reynard, one of the most highly-touted young riders to come on the professional MX scene in many a year, has signed a three-year contract with Team Kawasaki, and will contest next year's Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross and 125cc National MX Series. Reynard turns 16 on May 27, when he will receive his AMA Pro license. The rider from Moore, Oklahoma, will compete at the remaining supercross and motocross rounds on this year's sched- 1

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