Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTHEWIND By Papa Wealey e Grand Nationa l Champion Chris Carr (H-D) clinched his six th -consecutive 600cc Na tiona l Championship ti tle w i th a win at the Ju ly 24 Main e Asphalt Sho rt Track, held at Oxford Pla ins Speedw a y in Oxford, Maine. Brian Tillson (Rtx) was the runner-up, while Ma tt Wait (Rtx) finished third. The race was the fourth round in the five-race series, and Carr has won every round thus far. The series finale will take p lace September 11 a t Hannagan Speedway in Bellingham, Washington . T ea m Suzuki Endu ran ce (Suz) won the WERA /Performance Mach ine National Endurance Series round at Indianapolis Racewa y Park in Clermont, Indiana, July 25 . The d efend ing series champs comple ted 230 miles in the four-hour race, topping Virginia Breeze Racing (Yam) by two laps. Team 20/20 (Kaw ) finished third. Tom Norton (Kaw) earned the overall win at round six of the AMA Nat ional Hare Scrambles Series in South Edmeston, New York, July 26. Scott Summers (Hon) finished second overall in his first ride back from a broken wrist, with Jan Hrehor (Yam) placing third . Completing the top five were defending champ Scott Plessinger (KTM ) and Le igh Letellier (KTM). Rodney Smith, who led the points chase coming into the event, was a noshow. Jordi Tarres (G-G) led a sw ee p by Spaniards of the top four positions in the Spanish round of the World Championship Observed Trails Series that took place in Viella-Valle de Aran, July 25. Marc Colome (Bet) was second, Joan Pons (G-G) third and Amos Bilbao (Mon) fourth. Just six points separated the top four; Tarres turned in a winning scor e of 32, two marks less than the 34 posted by Colome, Pons wa s just two points b ehind Colome with 36 and Bilbao was two behind Pons at"38. With four roun ds rem ain ing in the series, Tarres has a 28 po int lead over Colome, 161-133. De fend ing champ Tommi Ahvala (Apr) of Finland, sev enth on the da y, is thi rd with 120 points. Former 250cc World Ch amp ion John Kocinski tested a factory 500cc Cagiva in Ca ta lu yna, Spain, July 21-22, and reportedly circulated faster than the top three finishers in the recent Grand Prix of Europe. Accord ing to eyewitness accounts, Kocinski , who was recently fired from the Lucky Strike Suzuki 250cc GP team, lapped the circuit in one-minute, 49.0-seconds, some .34-of-a-second under the fastest lap of the GP set by Wayn e Rai ney . Kocinski was rid ing Doug Chandler's Cagiva at the two-day test using standa rd issue Michelin tires . Although it is unlikely that Kocinski will race a Cagiva a t the . nex t round of the series a t Doni ngton Park in Engla nd on Aug ust 1, it is likely tha t he'll ra ce the bi ke in th e . Czechos lova kian GP on August 15 and for th e rest of the season - incl udi ng the U .S . GP a t La gu na Seca o n Septemb e r 12. A th i rd Ca g iva will alr ead y be ridden by Brit Carl Fogarty at the British GP; Foga rty, who gained the wild card e n t ry fo r Donington Park, will join Chandler and his teammate Mat Mladin. Cagiva team manager Giacomo Agostini was impressed w ith John Kocinski's test in Spain. An It alian magazine quoted th e 15-time World Champion as saying: "John (Kocinski) can ride one of our bikes any time he wants to. We can provide bikes for him, and if we have any trouble getting enough mechanics I'll work as a mechanic for him myself.'" Dunlop conducted tire testing at Daytona International Speedway, July 20-21, with AMA National Championship Superbike points leader Doug Polen and his Fast by Ferracci Ducati teammate Pascal Picotte. The Ducati-mounted pair spent the majority of both days on the 3.56-mile circuit provid ing feedback on both front and rear tires. Jim Allen, head of Dunlop's U.S. racing program, wa s jo ined by Dunlop's ch ief motorcycl e d esign er Dave Watkins, and compound expert Gary Barrett, both of Dunlop Tyres . RusselVSlightgive Kawasaki first Suzuka win G 2 eo r g ia n Scot t Ru ssell (r ig h t) and Ne w Zealander Aaron Slight teamed up to win the Coca-Cola Suzuka 8-Hour end urance road race in Suzuka City, Japan, July 25, giving Kawasaki its first-ever victory in the prestigious race. In addition, the top three teams each featured an American ride r. Russell and Slight completed 207 laps of the 3.5mile Suzuka Circui t at an average clip of 93.830 mph for the eight-hour race to top the Honda RVF750mounted team of Californian Eddie Lawson and Japan's Satoshi Tsujimoto by two minutes, 25.085 seconds . In third place, one lap behind the winning pair, cam e the Honda RVF750 team of Georgian Mike Smith and Japan's Takuma Aoki. Australian Grand Prix regulars Michael Doohan and Daryl Beattie finished fourth aboard a factory Honda, with Kawasaki's Shoichi Tsukamoto and Keiichi Kitagawa filling the top five. . Russell took the lead at the start of the race but was caught and passed by Lawson . On the 24th lap, Lawson crashed and the team lost some three minutes making repairs. Doohan also took a turn at leading; but he crashed on the 88th lap , nece ssitating repairs. Russell and Slight, mean while, had no problems en rou te to taking the victory. Kenny Roberts Jr. was the next highest placing American in the race. Despite losing his nu mber one teamma te Kevin Magee to injury in practice, Roberts and replacement rider Katsuyos hi Takaha shi finished eigh th on a Yam aha YZF750SP. Califo rnian Richard Moore and England's Simon Buckmaster finished 18th on a Kawasaki; Virginian Randy Renfrow and Canad ian Steve Crevier ended up 42nd; Wisconsin's Scott Zampach and Texan Mike Hale failed to complete enough laps to be clas sified ; and Mich igan's Kevin Atherton, who team ed with Japan's Shin ichi ron Ohura, suffered a similar fate. . DuHamel left clutchless ast week in our coverage of the AMA Superbike National Championship road race at Road Atlanta we reported the incident in tum five that left Muzzy Kawasaki's Miguel DuHamel without a clutch lever. This week we have a photo of the aftermath of the DuHamel/Dale Quarterley collision. As Quarterley (32) leaves the scene of the crime, DuHamel (17) is trying to figure out where his clutch lever has disappeared to. The lever is visible just above the track 's surface between the two riders. DuHamel continued on to eventually re-pass Quarterley to finish fifth. Photo by Tiny Franks. L U.K . "We aren't specifically testing tires for next year's Daytona 200 or the upcoming races here in October," Watkins said, "But what we learn from this test will certainly be put to use in tire design and compounds. for Daytona as well as other tracks. The weather conditions at the Speedway in July aren't the same ones we fac e in either of th e races, but we needed to test in the extreme to give us an outer limit in which the tires need to per- carbohydrate food a nd drink mix in powder form. "It's not a snake oil or thirst quencher," Carr said, "it's an energy fuel for all sports people." Carr says the firm "wants to provide product for serious evaluation to selected motocross, road race, d irt tr ack and enduro contenders:' If you're a "contender," write to Carr, c/o La Carrera, P.O. Box 1605, Studio City , CA 916044214. form ." Race fans wishi ng to avoid the traffic at the September 12 U. S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca can d o so by tak ing Tra v elCraft's helicopter shuttle o n race day. Th e whirlybird lea ves from Monterey a nd lands abo ut 100 ya rds fro m turn one. After the races the helicop ter returns to Monterey. The cost is $80 pe r person round trip . To make reservations, call 800/241-1223. Foll owing the trophy presentation a t the July 18 U.S. 250cc MX GP at Budds Cre ek, Maryland, o v erall winner Stefan Evert s presented his trophy and empty cha mpagne bottle to Pete Fox, of Fox Ra cing. Fo x and Cy cle News con trib utor Davey Coombs put th e sou venirs in the trunk of their car and headed back to their hotel. Later, while Coombs and Fox were d riving around town in search of a fax machine, they w ere stopped by a police officer, who found the em p ty cham pagne bo t tle and, suspecting th at th ey had b een d ri n ki ng, detained th em for ov er an ho ur. Both Coombs and Fox were eventually allowed to go on the ir way. Defending Worl d 250cc MX Champion D o nn y Schm it announced at Budds Creek that he will most likely re turn home to the U.S. to ride the final three 500cc MX Na tionals aboard a 360cc-kit ted Yamaha YZ250. "1 feel like I've lost a Ii ttle bi t of my speed, and racing a few Nat ionals migh t help ," sa id Schmit. Road race en thusiasts will cer tainly remember a Brit named Cliff Carr for h is performances in the U.S. in the early 70s aboard Kawasaki s fielded by Kevin Cameron. After ha ngi ng up his racing leathers, Carr was among o ther t h in gs a Harle y-Da vid so n d ealer in Sa n ta Ba rb ara , Ca lifornia , and the owner of a Brit ish Speedway Leag u e team. He 's no w living in h is native England and d istributing Maxim, a Due to the recent hurricane in Mexico, the October 3 Acupulco Supercro ss has been cance led . Two-time 250cc World MX Champion Heinz Kinigadner has joined the list of riders to compete in the Augus t 21-28 Nevada Rally. With the deadline for entri es closing fas t, o ther to p riders who hav e signed up include form er Ven ezu elan National Enduro Champion Fran co Sommacal, World Four-Stroke Endu ro Champion Fabio Farioli, forme r French Nationa l Enduro Champion Thierry Magnald i, multi-time Venezuelan Na tional MX and Enduro Champion Al r e d o H errera, IS DE . veteran and Cycl e World magazine ed itor Jimm y Lewis, Team KIM rider Greg Zitterkopf and 1982 250cc World Cha m p io n D a n n y La Po rte , Event p r o mo te r Acerb is Adven tu re has also a n nou nced that Coors Brewing Co m pany has signed on as an official event sponsor. Tric k En terprises will be p ro vid ing a racing gasoline service for riders competing in the Nevada Rally. For more info, call 619/275-0950.

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