Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

But will people com e back for anothe r event? We demand that th e lead ers of this boycott must b e punished. Th ey cann ot be punish ed for not p art icipating but they can be punish ed for stopp ing other rid ers from participat ing, for blaming prom oters / or ganizer of a bad tr ack and for d oing everything th ey cou ld to sa b o t age a wel1-pro mo te d Grand Prix even t. Ou r dema n d is to s usp en d their lic enses three months starting April 1994." The Swed ish press reported that the boycott was ins titu ted as a protest of the FIM selling the TV rights to MX GPs for a la r ge s u m of money that the riders did not share in. The Southeastern Sportbike Association is h osting a fundra ise r to benefit th e Shepherd Sp ina l Center o n Sun d a y, September 12, at the Three Dollar Cafe in the Bu ckh e ad a r ea of A tl a n ta, Georgia. Th e Knee-Draggers Ball will fea ture a live broadcast of th e U.S. Grand Pri x from Lagu na Seca on a bigscree n TV. Several local racers will disp lay their bikes, and sponsors are providing d o or p rize s including riding . gear and gif t cer tificates for pa rts , se rvice and d yno time. Special secured parking will be p rov id ed for motorcycles . Th e even t starts at 12 noon. A $3 donation to ben efit the She pherd Spinal Center wi ll be requested at th e door. For mo re info r ma tio n, cal1 Me li ssa Buma nn at 404/ 391-8743 or Chip Olson at 404/730-2616. The Continen tal Motosp ort Club's 1993 Trans-Cal MX Series will consist of t h ree r e gional series - so u th e r n California, northern California a nd Oregon - with a two-d ay Final ShootO ut d etermining overall class champions . Contr a ry to sc he d ules tha t w ere released so me tim e ago, th e ope n ing O rego n ro u nd w ill take p la ce o n Sep tem ber 12 (not Sep tember 5) at the Albany Supercross Tra ck. The second n orthern C a lifornia r o u n d has b ee n changed from Au gust 28 to August 21 at t he No r t h Mary s v i ll e Rive rfro n t Track. Fi nal1y , North Silverstate Raceway w ill host th e third northern California ro und on September 19, no t September 5. D on Sh oemaker repo rts th a t h e has received permiss ion from the City of Temecula, California, to hos t MX, offroad and dirt tra ck races at Temecula Motorsports Park throug h May of 1995. Races h ad been stop ped for a period after Ind ian art ifac ts w ere discove red on the p rop erty. In add ition to competition even ts, the facility will be open for practice on Saturdays beginning August 21. Fo r m ore info r mation, cal1 Shoema ker Pr odu cti ons at 714/9661007 or Temecu la Mot orsp ort s Pa rk a t 909/ 698-4800. Paul Lindsey, a priva teer motocrosser fro m Colorado who a dmi ts he's had limited success in this country, has been picki ng up tro ph ie s a nd pocke ti ng money by co m peti ng in races in fa raway Indonesia. "O n [ une 19-20 I went to Indo nes ia a long wi th California motocrosser Mike Dunlop to race in round three of th e ir FIM-sanctioned Lucky Strike MX Nationa ls," Lindsey said. "There was one other in ternational rider there from France named Pierre Chatry. Well, as it tu rned out, I ended up win ning bo th th e 125 and 250cc classes ah ead of Mike and Pierre. Mike, by th e w a y, ended up brea k ing h is femur the week after I left while doing a photo shoo t in Singapor e. I retu rned to Indonesia for round four of th e series (luly 31-Au gu st 1) and took the win in the 125cc cla ss ahead of A us tra lia n David Langstone. David ca me back to beat me late in the 250 race after I lost my rear brake, so I ende d up second in that one. Local hero Johnny Pranata finished just behind us for third:' Lindsay says that in addition to start money he's b e in g s u p po r te d b y AXO, Renthal, M a xi ma, Scott, Ma x is, Pow erBar, End ura and 4 Seasons Spo rt Center of Denver. "1'11 be returning to Indonesia to race the final two rounds of the series in late September a nd Oc tober. From there I'll be living in Singapore for a month with the AXO importer and I'll use it as a base to compet e in all the rounds of the FIM Pan-Pacific Supercross Series. In betw een I'll also be doing some races in Argen tina and Chile." On Sunday, August 22, Goat Breker and his crew will host the GFI World Youth Motocross Championships a t so ut he rn Ca liforn ia' s Perris Race way. Wh ile FIM Worl d Championship certifica tes won ' t be forth co m in g after the even t, th e d ay will offer racing in 34 classes, ra nging from the 50cc Fi rst Ti m e r cl as s (max ium age 5) to the O utl a w (no age li mit) class. ("Yeah, back befor e I star ted going to school I w a s the 50cc Fi rs t Timer Worl d Cha mpio n in 1993. I cou ld ha ve had a great racing career, but right after I won that title I d iscovered girls and...") One l uc ky rid er w ill ta ke home a new Yama ha TW50 a nd the winner of th e 125cc Outlaw class (for riders over 18) w ill receive fou r ca r/ truck tires fro m D u nlo p. Sig n -u p w ill be conduc te d from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. w ith racing ge tting underway at 9:30 a.rn, For more informa tion, call GFI a t 909/371-J.134. The Greeves Riders Associa tion reports in its n e w sl et te r, Lea d in g Link, th at Bert Greeves died on July 15. Gree ves, 87, wa s the owner of the British company that bu ilt the motorcycle bearing his name . H e is s u rv ived by his w ife Yoland e and dau g hte r Jennifer Williams. Th e su m mer/fall issue of Ad ven ture We s t m a ga z in e fea tu re s a fo ur-page article en title d "H ighway to Free dom, Two-Wheeli ng Six National Parks in Six Days" by Paul McMenamin. It' s a brief bu t inf ormative article that takes the reade r a lo ng on a 1200-m ile sp in to Z ion , Br y ce Ca nyon, Capitol Reef, A rc hes, Ca nyonla nds and Gra nd Canyon Na tional Pa rks . Van ce & Hi nes Yamaha's Jamie James will be d ri vi ng in th e New England Che vy De al ers 250 race at the New H ampsh ire In terna tional Speedway on August 22. The car race will be James' first in the Busch Grand National Series and he'll d rive a Ford owned by Ronnie Silve r of Ashvill e, North Caroli n a. , James is cu rrently fourth in the AMA Su p erb ike N a tio nal Champ io n shi p point standings. Bridgestone tires recently completed a tire test a t Day to na International Speed way with Two Broth ers Racing. "Bridgestone and Two Brothers Racing are serious abou t our campaign for the 1994 season," Tw o Brothers team owner Kevin Eri on said. "We've spent two days here a t Daytona test ing in conditions m uch hotter than we en co unter either in March or the upcoming October races. Bridgestone is very receptive to our input. We told them af te r this year's March races that we needed to do a su mmer tes t he re and they ag reed . It was a very successful test. We learned a lot: ' Team member Tommy Lynch a n d guest ri ders Christian Gardner and H . Miyagi handled the rid in g cho res, using Supersp ort DOT tires as well as slicks on the team's Honda CBR900." The Midwest Ca fe Racing Association is hop ing their last two events of the '93 seas on will draw larg e tu rn o u ts to Gateway In terna tional Raceway which is loca ted jus t outside of East St. Louis, Illi n ois, across the Missi ss ip p i River fro m St. Louis. "Mothe r Nature hasn't bee n kind to the Midwest or MCRA th is season," said a MCRA spokesman, "s o we're asking everyone w ho can to participate in these las t tw o eve n ts - the W ERA National Q ua li fi e r Sprints, Su zuki Cup Series races and th e 1-44 Challenge on Sep temb er 4-5 and the MCRA 100-kilo me te r Gran Prix, dash for cash ,a n d rid er ' s school on September 19:' Th ere will also be an open pra ctice sessio n at Gateway on Friday, September 17. For more information, call Jim Pro bst at 314/771-2531 (d ays) o r Jim Sha w at 314/521-0341 (eveni ngs). A li m ited nu mbe r of en tries are s till available for the September 26-30, 1500mile Land of Ench ant men t Endurance Rally w hich will be hel d in eas te rn New Mexico. The rally, ho sted by the Clovis Spo rtcycle Associa tion, is closed to all but stree t-lega l dual spo rt motorcycles. Roger Pattison, who laid out the cour se, sa id, "While this is not designed as a p rofession al or intern a tional com p et it ion , each day will h av e a mix of time, speed and distance sections, and th ere will b e two classes: A for advanced riders, and B for intermediate rid ers. Both catag ories will be split in to two groups - Heavyweigh t (over 4OOcc) and Ligh tweig h t." Entry fees cost up to $750 . Fo r m o r e i n fo rma ti o n, call 505/985-2374. Five motorcycle classes will be include d a t the final round of the MTEG Mickey Thompson Sportsman Off-Road race a t Glen Helen OHV Park in Sa n . Berna rd ino, California, August 22. The no rma lly four-wheel vehicle-only competition will incl ude tw o four-stroke classes; tw o two-stro ke cla sses and a 250cc Ultracross class. Riders interested in com pe ting can register on Saturd ay, Aug us t 21 from 12 to 5 p.m., or on race day fro m 7 to 9 a.m. The entry fee is $40. For more informa tio n, call MTEG at 714/ 938-4100. As usu al, MX team ma nagers are be ing tigh t-li p ped about seaso n -end team changes, a ltho ugh ther e a re se veral riders who will defi ni te ly not b e swi tchi n g . H ea d ing th e lis t is Team Kawasa ki 's M ike Kiedrowski, who has in ke d a th r e e -y e a r d e al for an undisclosed su m . Kied rowski had been talki ng with Honda, b u t apparently they co uld n't agree on terms . Ryan Hughes w il1 also b e return in g to Kawasaki next year, as his current cont ract hasn't expired. How ever, word - h a s it th at Hug hes will ride for the Team Sp litfir e / Hot Wheels team, and new ly-sig ned sensa ti o n Robbie Reynard will take his place as the sole in-ho use 125cc rider. Th at leaves Mike La Rocco a nd Mike Craig as th e on ly Kawasaki riders Kawasaki have not resigned . Craig was a n o-sho w at th e Millville, Minn esota, Na tio na l, Augus t 15, afte r aggravating an ankle injury a t t h e previous round. Suz uki r id e r s whose contracts extend into next yea r include Phil Lawrence, Jimmy Button and Ezra Lus k, while Steve La m son and Jeremy McG rath w ill definitely return to Honda . Jeff Stanton and Doug Henry have still not signed. At Team Yamaha, Damon Bradshaw will be riding the second year of h is fiveyear con tract. Two-time Wo rl d Cha mpion Donny Schmit took advantage of a break in the World Ch a mpionshi p 250 cc MX Serie s and return ed to th e United States to compe te in the 125cc class at hi s h ome s ta t e N at ion al at Sprin g Cre ek in Millville, M innes ota. The Bloom ing ton , Minnesota, native rode a Yam aha YZ125 with Chest erfield col ors an d wo rks parts, but finished 15th overall a fte r dropping o u t of the sec ond moto. Schmit pl an s to return for the final two 125cc Nationals after the final 250cc MX GP in Suzuka, Japan, August 22. After the Spring Creek National, it's doubtful that Jeremy McGrath will ever aga in plan his a ir travel for Friday the 13th. Like most riders, McGrath planned to land at Rochester Airport, 'a b o u t half a n hour from the track. When the date rolled around, McGrath drove to th e Ontario Airport near his sou thern California home and boarded the a irp lan e for Rochester, Minnesota, or so he thought. Up on arriva l, he disembarke d and w as some wha t su rprised w he n the re ntal ca r agency couldn't find h is name on th e reserva tion list. Mc Gra th rented a ca r any wa y, th en asked th e clerk for d irect ions to th e H olid ay In n South, th e offici al ra ce h eadqu arters. The clerk ass u re d h im that th ere wa s no such hotel in the vici ni ty . " After a while, I figu re d out that I w as in Rochester, New York, " said McGrath. "My ticke t was right, but I wasn't paying attention a t the airport. Th e people a t the ga te didn't catch it, and I go t on the wrong airpla ne. I spent the night in New York and flew back to Minnesota on Saturday morning." Long after scoring the overall win in the 125cc cl ass a t Spring C r e e k, Team Ya maha's Jeff Emig was s till sign ing autographs in the nearly d eserted pi ts. "1 le ft re a ll y quick la st wee k (a t Wash ou gal)," said Emig as night began to fall. "1 felt really bad all wee k about leav ing early at Washougal, but I had to get some stuff d one a t home, and I only had a da y to do it because we flew to Loretta Lyn n's on Tues day to do some P.R. stuff:' Erik Keh oe sat out Spring Cree k af ter breaking two vertebrae while practicing in Pa lmdale, Californi a, Au gust 4. Kehoe wa s riding with h is Honda of Troy teammate, Todd DeHoop, when he went ove r the bars and landed on his back. He is n ow back home rec uperating, but will sit out the final two ro unds of the se ries. Honda of Troy is plann ing to expand the ir effort for '94, and Kehoe w ill most likely rem ain a part of it. Race fan Cynthia McElway ha d a d ay she'll never forget at Spring Creek. Her b o yf r iend Steve Busby cl imbed the announcer's tower, and w ith the help of race announcer Larry Maiers, used the tr ack' s P.A. s ystem to prop ose marriage. McElway said yes . OPENED: By Syd Leathers of Swansea, 'M assach usetts, a so u theast branch a t Ora nge Pl aza , Un it B110, 1134 9 S. O ra nge Blosso m T rail, Orla n d o, FL 32837; 407/857-SYED; Fax 407/8579233. AUTO G RAPH SIG N ING : At Dublin Kawasaki-Ho nda-Suzu ki in Dublin, California, Team Muzzy's Miguel DuHamel and Ta k a h i r o So hwa, on Thursday, August 27, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Info: 800/750-4135. AUTOGRAPH S IGNI NG : At Yamah a / Su zuk i Spo rt Cen te r in Seaside, Cali fo rn ia, Te a m Va nce & Hi nes/Yamah a members Jamie Jame s and Colin Edwards II, on Frid a y, Sep tem ber 12, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Info: 408/ 899-2401. CN 3

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