Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ IN THE WIND B .~ Jurgen van der Goorbergh also tried Dunlops af te r a d isappoin tin g season, althoug h he was reluctant to disc uss the ma tte r . Yokoha m a dom in ates th e Sidecar class, and are fai rly successfu l in the 125cc class, but the Japan ese company is h a v ing t roub le wi t h th eir attempts to br oad en their racing penetration. Do r i an o Romb on i, w ho ruin ed hi s 250cc World Championsh ip chall en ge to Ha rada when he broke his leg in a race crash at Assert, w ill probably miss a t leas t the next tw o races, at Mu gello 'an d Donington Park. The Italian charger had a rod inserte d in to his broken tibia the day af ter the cras h, and is now back in Italy . He -hoped he might be fit in time for the British GP, but his team doubts it, saying, "When we were figh ting for the World Champ ionshi p it would have been worth such an effort, b u t now that chance has gone and he will do better to le t h im s elf recover fully . Th e racing re turn of Freddie Sp en cer has also been pu t back even furt her follow ing news that he has only just manage d to take his firs t few tentative steps following surgery to the knee he injured in a practice crash in Japan . Originall y he ha d hoped to be back by now, bu t now the date has been deferred until sometime in Au g,ust. He may be back in time for the Czechoslovakian GP, or ma y p ossibly not be fit u n til th e last European GP, in Italy. Juan Garriga mad e a dismal 500cc GP re tu rn aft er losing h is Yamaha rid e at the end of las t season. He retu rned to h is h orn e track at Cataluny a o n a Cagi va w ild-card ride, but crashed on only his secon d lap. After that he w as still strugglin g to regain form, and even b ro ke do w n o n the first lap of racemo rn in g warmu p . H is first- se ss ion crash left hi m a n d h is bike s mea red w it h m u d , a n d interested observers sa w h im s ta n d ing outside the pit garage be ing hosed down by mechanics. Th ree G P r oad race tea m s h a v e had th eir racin g con tracts te rminated by IRTA, for various rea sons. One is the Argus team of form er rider Ni ggi S chmassman, after rider J ean-Luc Romanens walked out of what he saw as a below -par effort. A no ther is Eurorno to, w ho went bu st. They had originally entered young Fre nchman Jose Kuhn, who was taken over to ride the inj u red Spencer's bike by Yamaha Mo to Fra nce . They cou ld not afford to replace him. The final cas ualty is in the 125cc class - n ew comer co ns truc tors Rumi had a special dispensa tion to m iss Assen af ter they said th ey h ad blown up all their engi nes . When they failed to arrive in Catalunya as well, IRTA took the opportu nity to cross th em off th e lists . Rider Hans Spaan had alread y quit th e team af ter the fir st European GP in Jerez . IRTA h as ac ted to s to p th e g rowing trend for increasingly com pe titive paddock scoo ters after Loris Capirossi was timed at 87 mph in the Ca talunya paddock. Tea ms had been vying w ith one an other to extract the most performance from these humble ve hicles, and wa lking around the paddock had become more and more dangerous as all sorts of people enjoyed the new- found power of these auto-clu tch specials. Now IRTA h a s ou tl a w e d th e p rac tice, and will enforce a 12 m ph speed limi t as we ll. 2 Racing in Cat alunya w as delayed b y high w inds .tha t carne during the 250cc RoadRacer illustrateo GP warmup lap. Luckily the bikes had alr eady been pulled off the track wh en sections of a huge Marlbo ro sign came adrift and fell on to th e ci rc ui t. This prompted a press room wag to say: "It's not only Rothmans w ho is ge tt ing out of bike racing." ' Micha el D oo han is to have a n o th er operation on his injured right leg at the end of th e s eason . T he leg is badly bowed below the knee as a result of his '92 Assen injuries. "It hinders my rid.ing," Doohan said. "I can't get my foo t s idew ays on th e p eg like I used to , I can't get my knee p roperly dow n on rig ht -ha nders, and I can ' t tu ck my leg away properly. The leg will ha ve to be broken again to make it s tra ig h ter . I hope th at will also help m y an kle to regain movem en t." Corrado Catalano, who suffe red serious hea d inj uries in th e German GP at Hockenhe im, h a s made ex ce llen t progress followin g brain surgery on race evening, and may yet make a complete recovery, accord ing to d oc to rs at the Mannheim hosp ital, where he is still a patient. Al rea d y h e h a s recovered so me moveme n t, a n d is ab le to feed himself. He has not ye t spoken, but docto rs hope h e will say hi s firs t words before lea ving the hospital du rin g the next week. He ma y suffer some slight disability in the future, but is expec ted to be close to perfect, if not com pletely so. Two p rototype BM W singles made a surprise appearance in th e Cata lu nya paddock. The new dua l sport bikes, due to be la unched next year, were ridden by tw o fac tory tes te rs , w ho s a id : "They're not so to p secre t any more." Th e bikes were Au strian reg iste red, and had been ridden to Spain via the Alp s an d the Pyre nees, throu gh An d o rra. They were mildly disguised, wit h the BMW cast namepl at es on the en di ng covers roughl y ta p ed ove r, a n d the round tank badges missi ng . The en gin e is a 65Qcc Ro tax - A p rili a es peci a lly d ev eloped for the BMW, marking the first time they ar e to use an en gin e they have no t manufa ctured th e ms el v es . They are also the first BMWs to have ch a in drive. The mold-breaking ne w BMWs use tw in Mikuni carburetors , have 19-inc h front and 17- in ch rea r wheels, and have bulky bodywork and very large and quiet exhaust sy stems. The tachometers are red -lin ed at 8000 rp m, and the rear suspension preload is quickly adj ustable via a knurled p lastic k nob und ernea th the rear of the fu el tank. The AHRMA/Class ic Bik e Magazine Di rt Track Se ries s ho rt track ro un d that was rained out at Lembo Lake Park in Modena, New York, on June 5 ha s been r es ch e d u led to Ju ly 31. In addition to the vintage racing an AMA District 3 Champ ion sh ip Sh ort Track wi ll also ta k e p la ce that Saturday eveni ng . For mor e information, call 914/427-2248. Du e' to co nflic t ing wi th th e AMA Amateur MX Champ ionships at Loret ta Ly n n's, th e Gary Ba iley MX School tha t was sched uled to take p lace at Lake Sugartree Motorsp orts Park in Axton, Vir g in ia , o n A u g u s t 6-8 has bee n rescheduled to Au gu st 2-4. For more info rmation, call 703/650-1759. AUTOGRAPH SIGNI NG : At Beechmont Yama ha in Cincinnati, Ohio, Factory Yam ah a team mem bers Dam on Bradshaw, Doug Dubach and Jeff Emig , on Friday, Jul y 23 from 4:30 p.m . to 6:00 p.m . Info : 513/ 752-0088. [N ORDRYU E OR COpyT DY O A! . F or a fourth straight year, Motorcycle Road Racer Illustrated returns with its 1993 Yearbook - a complete review of the 1992 motorcycle road racing season. Everything from the U.s. National Championships to the exciting world of Grand Prix road racing, from the colorful personalities to hard-line technicalinformation on the state-of-theart motorcycles. It's all packed into a full-color, perfect-bound yearbook. The yearbook promises to give action photography from the world's top professional motorcycle racing photographers, facts and figures, and enjoyable reading from those in the . know to bring back the highlights of the 1992 season. MotorcycleRoad RacerIllustrated's 1993 Yearbookis sure to give road race fans months of enjoyment while also serving as a reference book to their favorite sport. Available now, you can be one of the first to receive MotorcycleRoad RacerIllustrated's 1993 Yearbook by ordering today. Fill in completely and dearly Domestic orders:_ _ copiesat $3.95ea. totalins__ Method of payment Foreignorders: _ _copies at $5.95ea. totaling__ 0 Check or Money Order enclosed (Sorry. no biDme', ) Name Chargemy 0 Address ~ CreditCard # City Phone # 'Slate_ _ Zip Order dale 0 ,. Expiration Date _ _ Signature Sen d to: CN P ub lishing, Motorcycle Road Racer Yearbook P.O . Box 498, Lo ng Beach, CA 90801-0498 ~ 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~ _ _ _ __ ~~

• Cover