Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

is-the-charm outing. The Spaniard , a tea mmate to Kenny Ro be rts J r. in the Spanish Ducados series, already had a wild card entry for Jerez, but was forced out after breaking hi s collarbone the week before the race. He had a nothe r en try for the ne xt Span ish round in Catalunya, but snapped the same collarbone a we ek before the rac e. He'll try again at the [arama round of the series on September 26. The return to Laguna Seca saw a return also of the question of safety at the controversial track. All the front-row qualifiers in the 250cc GP - Loris Capirossi, Jean. Philippe Ruggia, Max Biaggi and Dori ano Romboni - complained about the trad it ional tou gh sp o ts : th e en try to th e notoriously d ifficult Corkscrew, the final tum 11 onto the start/ finish straight, and th e fla t-o u t swe rv e a t th e end of th at s tra igh t, lin ed by a high bank. All but Ruggia were seeing the circuit for the first time. Six turns were protected by a total of 28 mod ules of the 26-foot Air Fence, but even so there were places where hay bales and concrete walls were un comfortab ly close to the trackside. The 500cc-class riders were kinder - not so s urprisingly, given a distinctly American bias, as well as some experience with the track so as to be aware of improvements. "Some places still need attention, bu t each year we come they hav e made big improvements," said John Kocinski. ''The more we come back the better it will be ." Michael Doohan concu rred. "There are a coupl e of places here that are a bit scary, but most circuits have some dan ger spots. But it has a bad name it doesn't really deserve." Kevin Schwantz had all but won th e 500cc World Championship by the time everyone got to Laguna Seca, bu t it was overshad owed by the injuries sustained by Wayne Rai ney. "I'd rath er have finish ed second than seen him hurt like that," said Schwantz. "I've raced against him for many years before we caine to the GPs, and we 've become friends over the years. We both dropped one result ' through cr as hes - mine wh en I was knocked off at Donington Park , and after tha t I was just five points ahead . Until I knew how badly he'd been hurt in Italy, I was looking forward to a good fight over th e last two races." Winning the title means that Schwantz will finally drop his long-standing racing nu mber 34 in favor of number one. "I always said I'd stay with that number until I won the title. Now I gu ess I'll have to do it." Wayne Rainey's cra sh and permanen t injury has thrown the remaining works berths into a state of some confusion. Favorite for his Team Marlboro Roberts berth is Doug Chandler, who is deeply unhappy w ith his Cagiva slot after John Koci nski was drafted in. Chandler fulfills all the other criteria, including being Californian. Kocinski would be another good choice, but it is un likely Kenny Roberts would want h im back, a nd almost certain that Marlboro would not. Meanwhile, the bad atmos phere in Team Marlboro Pons between team ow ner Sito Pons and rider Alex Crivill e seems certain to result in'a split. Criville w ill take the Ma rlboro mon ey, and his name is now being linked with Erv Kanemoto for next year . Kanemoto is (along with Cagiva) the only possib le 500 team boss anxious to get hold of Kocinski, an d acquisition of Ma rlb oro money a lo ng with Criville may allow that to happen. Unless Marlboro blocks the move. Thi s leaves Cagiva w ith nobody. Unl ess the y can persuade Kocinski to stay after all. The 250cc Suzuki has seemed ill-favored since John Kocinski walked out on the Lucky Stri ke team halfway through the seaso n. Mo re bad luck saw wild ca rd rider Jim my Filice crash out of the Ll.S, GP during qualifying, where the AMA 250cc Grand Prix National Ch am pion and former U.S. GP winne r might have turned in a good result. There was much delight in their pit when news came that the bike had wo n an All-Japan na tional rac e against top factory opposition on September 12. Rider Noriyaki Numata had led the previous AIl-Japa n race un til the last corner, where he wa s ramme d by a Honda rid er, dropping him to fifth. The crash suffered by Freddie Spencer in the final Laguna Seca qualifying session was perfect ly in keep ing with his rotten luck all yea r, a nd was taken by man y observers to signa l the en d of his GP caree r. However, Yamaha Fra nce team boss Serge Ross et (w ho also builds the Roc privat eer chassis for the 500cc class) said tha t if he could find a bike for Spen cer nex t yea r, he would d efinite ly gi ve him a ride. Spencer blam ed th e cra sh on his s till- tro u bleso me right hand in ju ries sustained in Japan, in practice for the third race of the year. "I went in to tum three on new tires, and though I felt the fron t go, my wrist was too stiff to allow me to close the throttle fast enough." Earlier, he had been as high as seventh in practice. Trackside graffiti at Laguna Seca paid tribute to absent hero Wayne Rainey, who had returned to hospital in Los Angeles tw o days before the Ll.S, GP. On e sign read: "It's always a Rainey day in Monterey. We love you Wayne." Rainey was sche d uled for s u rge ry on Tu esday to rebuild shatter ed bone in his sp ine to make it more comfortable for him to sit up. Yamaha has threa tened to stop supp lyin g privateer level e ngines to 500cc tea ms after th ey di sco ver ed that some private teams have been bu ying cheape r copy spare parts from other sup pliers, including Bartol and Ziegler. The threat was contained in 'a letter sent to all the private Yamaha team s at Laguna Seca. The making of pattern parts, the Yamaha letter sa id , constit u tes not only a br ea ch of Yamaha 's secrecy bot also undermined th e sac rifice s they had made to provide privateer level engines. They also said they hop ed to mak e 10 "Big Bang" engine s ava ilabl e to privateers next year , five to Harris and five to Roc. However, these would .not be sold, but leased to favo red teams . Di rt Sh irts Inc. has reached agreement with the AMA to become the title sponso r of the ina ug u ral Fall Classic MX Series. The six-event series will featu re AMA professional expert and pro-am riders, as well as expert amateurs, in two classes of competition. Red Bud Track 'N Trail in Buchanan, Michigan, will host the opening event on Septemb er 26, and ' the series will conclude six weeks later at Gato rba ck Cycle Park in Ga in esville, Florida, on Octob er 31. The Open class will feature no maximum di splacement li m it, a nd will be accompanied by a 125cc d ivision. A series sweepstakes will provide a grand p rize winner with two round -trip airfares to the opening event of the 1994 Camel Sup ercross Series in Orlando, Florida, Janu ary 15. For his win a t the September 5 Steel City l2Sec MX Natio nal, Fox Racing rewarded Kawasaki's Robb ie Reynard with a trick dual-sus pe nsion mou ntai n bike, which was presented to him at the Sep tember 9-12 Mammoth Mountain MX. "We had a little incentive go ing," said Pete Fox. "We told him tha t we 'd ge t him a bicycle when he won his first Nati onal moto, and it just so happens that he won the overall as well ." U R~.~t~~~~~.~~~ !~Y~~~n~ngeles hos ital ~ T (righ t) arrived in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, September 10 and is set to begin his rehabilitat ion at Cen tinela Ho spital in Inglew ood , California. Rainey crashed his Marlboro Yamaha while leading the Italian GP on Sep tembe r 5, sustaining spi nal inju ries which have caused paralysis from the middle of the chest down. ' Rainey w ill be treated by two p hys icians who ha ve worked w ith members of the nearly all the Los Angeles sports franchises, including the Lakers, Kings, Dodgers, ~~~ Vintage Motorcycle Days 1994, the AMA' s annual celebration of the history of motorcycling in Am erica, will take place July 22-24. In its first two years, the event brought more than 12,000 vin tage enthusiasts to the AMA's headquarters in Westerville, Ohio, an added-events area expected to make the 1994 version even bigger. Aztalan Cycle Club's Aztalan Raceway in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, will host a motocross race for Senior and Vet class riders on October 9. The Nort h American Seniors MX Cham pionship, as the event is being called, will feature classes for riders from 25 to over 60 years old, with a $3000 purse being offe red for th e +30 class. For information, call 414/786-4420. On Saturday, Sep tember 18, Perris Raceway in Perris, California, will host GFI Dollar Day. The gate fee wi ll be just one dollar, and for ano ther b uck, GFI me mbers will be able to race. For more information, call 909/371-3434. Speaking of GFI Racing, their At Night MX Series concluded on September 4 at Perris Racew ay, and Eric Anders on, a 125cc Novice class rider, d rove home in a new 1993 Chevrolet 5-10 pick-up truck. The truck was raffled off among the top five overall series finishers in each class. Suzuki's Spor ts Promotions Press Relations Mana ger Joe Col om b e ro had a wee kend that he'd ra ther forget at the Mammoth Mountain MX. After finishing poorly in his Open Junior class heat rl N ... H Q) ..0 S Q) "A lot of ou r purpose in brin ging Wayne to Los Angeles was that he and Shae (Rainey's wife) have a lot of family and friends in the vicinity," said Dean Miller, Rainey's lon g-time trainer . "And being in a n atmosphere where other athletes are rehab ilitating was something he wanted to do. " • Rain ey was sched uled to undergo surgery on Tuesd ay, Sep temb er 14, to stabil ize his spine, which will allow him to sit up comfortably. "Other cons ul tations were mad e last week with Dr. Peter Richards, a neurosurgeon and IRTA medi cal officer, Dr. Giancarlo Caroli from Bolgna (Italy), Professor Sailliant, wh o worked with Clay Regga zon i (a former car racer ), and Berni e Eccelstone put us on to Professor Sid Watkins, the Form ula On e doc tor. They've all spoken to on eanother, and through their experience and understanding of the case, they're all in agreemen t on the stability procedure that needs to be performed." Miller and noted orthopedic su rgeo n Dr. Art Ting we re scheduled to d iscuss the pr e-rehabilitativ e, surgical procedures and po st-rehabilitation procedures to Rainey, his wife Shae, and the Rainey family on Mon day, September 13. "It could be a lengthy rehabilitation process, but knowing Wayne and his drive, we hope to cut the program shorter than expected." Marlboro Yama ha team owner Kenny Roberts visited Rainey on Satur day night, Sep tember 11, before returning to Lagu na Seca for Sunday 'S United States Grand Prix. ''' Mentally he's very, very strong, much stronger than we are, and he's got a strong wife," Rober ts said. "But we all know there will be high s and lows. We want Wayne to get on with his life, we love him and we're jus t glad he's here. • "It could have been a lot worse, that's wha t we've reflected upon. And it could've happened on a scooter on the wa y to the shops. Wayne knows he went out lead ing a race, hard on the gas. Guys like Wayne are one in a million. He's got a lot to look forward to. He's very positive, he wants to stay in the spor t, build riders and run a team. " After enjoying the best fini sh es of his career in 1993 as a Kawasak i support rider, Mi chael Craig signed with the Noleen Yamaha team for the '94 season to compete in the l2Sec National and 250cc Supercross Series. Craig debuted his new ride at the Mammoth Mountain MX, and finished fifth in the 250cc Expert class. ('f) 0\ 0\ ..... ~ Q) sr: race, Colombero gated well in his semi and looked well on his way to qualifying for the main event. It was not meant to be, however, as Colombero swapped violently over a jump and crashed into the bush es, separating his shoulder in the process. Papa witnessed the en tire ordeal, and gave Colombero a near-perfect score of 9.5. ' NAMED: Cycle News, Inc. as publisher of the 1994 Supercross Souvenir Yearbook, the officia l event program of the AMA Camel Supercross Series. BORN: Parker Edward Jon es, so n of N oleen Racing's Clark Jones and his wife Lois, in Ontario, California, on September8. PRO MOTED: Mel Harris, to the position of motorcycl e marketing director of American Suzuki Motor Corpo ration. Harris is a 12-year employee of the company, and will also conti nu e to act as nationa l sales manager for the motorcycle division . AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Longview Honda-Yamaha in Longv iew, Washington , past and present d irt track heroes Edd ie Mulder, Skip Van Leeuw en, Sonny Burres, Gary Scott, Chuck Joyner, Randy Skiver, Ja y Springsteen, Bra d Hurst, Ricky Graham, and Bubba Shobert, on Saturday, September 18, from' 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Info: 206/636-1220. M ARRIED: FMF's Hylton Beattie and Colleen Brow n on Sept ember 8 in Mam moth Lakes, Ca lifornia. "We met at last year's Mammoth MX, so we figu red it was only appropriate to tie the knot at this year's race," said Beatti e, who celebrated by ra cin g to 10th in th e 500cc Junio r class the following da y. ,H IRED: Brian Cornelius, as a sales rep resen tative for Regina USA, Inc. 3

• Cover