Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

COIhes Californian Doug Tolan d (Ho n) wo n the FIM Worl d End urance Championship by fin ishing fifth in the Bol d 'Or 24-h ou r endurance road ra ce at Ci rcuit Paul Ricard in the so uth of France, Sep tember 19. Toland teamed with Peter Linden and And re Lussiana. The race was w on by th e facto ry Suzuki tea m of Dom inque Sar ron , Bruno Bonhuil and Je an-M arc Deletang ove r the Honda of Alex Vierra, Jean Jacq ues Lovichi and Rachel Nico tte. maym e the Thevcan alSO save him. Scott Su mmers (Hon) was the wi nner of the AMA Wiseco/Yamaha /Yokohama Natio n al Cross Country Se ries' nin th ro und in Bunner Rid ge, Wes t Virginia, Sep tember 20. The defendi ng champ finished ahead of se ries points leader Fred Andrews (Yam), and Terry Cunningham (Kaw), Craig Jones (Kaw) a nd Tim Shephard (Ya m) ro unded o u t the to p five. Danny Hamel and Larry Roeseler (Kaw) scored the overa ll win at the Case y Folks' Best in the Desert Series Ton opah 300 offroad team race in Nevada , September 18. Jim Gray and Donnie Book (Kaw) finished approxima tel y seven and a hal f m inutes behi n d th e w innin g du o . Rounding out the top three wa s the Dan Ashcra ft and Johnny Campb ell (Hon) team. The Bol d 'Or 24-h o u r end urance race marked the debut of the factory Du ca ti . effort in endura nce racing and it didn't go well. The team o f Doug Po len, Pas ca l Pico tte and Stephane M ert ens failed to finish afte r encou n te ri ng a myriad of mechanical problems. The tea m eventually p ulled ou t during the early hours on Sunday morning after running into clutch problems and electrical p roblems. The secon d fac tory D u cati te a m of Fre d Merkel , Simon Cra far a nd Florian Ferracci dropped out of the ra ce when Cra far cras hed in his own oil when the engine blew up. The Bol d'Or rare was marred by a cras h involving Brit Simon Bu ckmaster and French man Michel Graz iano . Wh il e G ra z ia n o w a s a b le to continu e, Buckmaster suffered leg an d foot injuries. He was flown to a hos p ital in nea rby Marseille where he underwent surgery to amp utate his lower leg. Buckmaster went into th e Bol d'O r race tied with Dou g Tol a n d fo r th e lead in the W orld En durance Ch ampio nship, an d Tol and dedicated his championship to his injured form er teammate. Steve Crevier (Ka w) wra p ped up his th ird s traight Canadian National Road Racing Ch ampionship with a vic tory in the final round of th e Mot oplan-Castrol N a ti o na l Series a t Sh annonv ill e Mo to rspo rts Park in Ontario, Canada, September 19. The Port Coquitlam , British Co lumb ia res ident toppe d M ic h a e l Taylor (Kaw) and LinnJey Oarke (Yam) in winning the event. In ad dition, Crevier also won the 600cc Supersport class, keeping his perfect seven-for-seve n 600cc class win streak intact. Dirt tracker Mike Hal e, the 1990 Camel Pr o Roo kie of th e Yea r, may no t have q ualified fo r th e m ai n event a t the Sep tember 18 Castle Rock IT, bu t the 20year-ol d was all smiles a ny way . Th ree day s earlier, Hale s igned with Tea m Cam el Commo nwea lth Honda to contest th e 1994 AMA /CCS 600cc Sup ersport Road Race Series . " I' m really excited," Hale said. "Dirt track will always be my first love, but with the lack of major spo nsorshi p be hi nd the se ries, I had to loo k o u t for my fu tu re. Th e best thing ab out my Ho nda con tract is that it will allow me to race the dirt tracks that don't conflict." Hale was also being courted by Rob Muzzy's factory -backed Kawasaki team. ...?1..,. • ~, The Lod i M.e. will host the 2nd Annual l00cc Four-Stroke Na tional Champions h ip s a t Lo d i Cycle Bo w l in Lod i, Califo rnia, October 23. Accord ing to Lodi M.e. President Ja mes Mahoney, th ere will be three classes : Women's, Stock and Expe rt. Ch ris Carr, the defending l00cc Expert National C ha mpion, will be o n hand to defend his title. For more info rmation, ca ll 408 / 371-6871 or 209/5441027. Accordin g to the press relati ons department a t Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California, Wayne Rainey was in stable condi tion following the opera tion to stabilize h is spi ne on Tu esday, Sep tem be r 14. " Rainey, his fam ily and tea m ha ve aske d u s no t to ma ke any s ta temen ts abo ut his condition other than to say that he 's in stab le co ndition, " th e hospital spo kesman said . "They will be making a statement w hen they are prepared to do so." The thr ee-time World Cha mpion suffered spi na l inju ries tha t have left h im p ara lyz ed fro m th e middle of the chest down in h is cr ash a t th e Ita lian G rand Prix on Sept ember 5. The 1993 edition o f th e AMA Professional Awards Banquet wi ll tak e p lace on No vember 20 in Long Bea ch , California. The eve nt is held each yea r to honor Ame rica' s finest racing talents and it s h ighli ght is th e namin g .o f the Mot oW orld Profession al At hlete of th e Year a nd the AMA P ro fes s ion a l Sportsman of the Year . The ban quet will be held at the Sheraton Long Beach Hotel. A cocktail pa rty will begin at 6 p.m., followed by d inn er a t 7:30, with presentation of awards to follow. Persons attending the formal ba nq uet will be eligib le for a d raw in g aw ardi ng two round-trip fligh ts to H awa ii, co urtesy of Ar ch e r Travel Service. Television com menta tors Dave Despain and Larry Maiers will cohos t the event. The banquet is open to the public, an d a lim ited number of tickets are ava ilable for $60 per person. For more info rmatio n, o r to o rder tic ke ts, sen d checks or m on ey o rd ers to : AMA P ro Awa rd s Banqu e t, P.O . Box 61 14, Westerv ille, OH 43081-6114, Attn: Connie Flem ing. Fo r room reservations at a special rate a t the Shera ton Long Beach, call 310/436-3000 and men tion the AMA Pro Awards Banquet. Supercross Cha mp ion Je re my McGrath and World Speed way Cha mp ion Sam Erm olenko have been nam ed as the first two nominees for the 1993 A MA Mot oWorld Athlete of the Year Awa rd. McGrath ' s n omi n ation co m es o n the heels of the most su ccessful season ever turned in by a rider in the AMA Ca mel Supercross Series. The Team Honda sta r, w ho won back-to -back AMA Weste rn Regiona l 125cc Supercr oss Championships in 1991 a nd 1992, was a Ca me l Supercross Series roo kie in 1993. But he took th e series b y s to rm, w in ning a record 10 ra ces on his way to the series cha mpionship. Ermolenko could become just the second speedway racer to recieve the prestigious award . Bru ce Penha ll was a recip ient in 1981 after wi n ning th e World Ind ivid ual Speedway Cha mpionship. The 1993 season has been a remarkable one for Ermoleno, He was the yea r's high -point rider in the British Speed way Leag ue, w on the World In divid ual Speed way Ch ampion ship, and jus t last weekend ancho red the U.S. team tha t w on th e Wo rld Team Sp eedw ay Cham pio n-ship. Additiona l nom inees for th e Mo toWorld A th le te of th e Yea r Aw a rd will be a n no u nced in comi ng weeks. The aw ard carries a $5000 honora ri u m fro m MotorWorld , a w eek ly ESP N prog ram prod uc ed b y Seal s Com munications . Dir t tr acker Kirk Strong su ffe re d two bro ken fem urs and a sha ttered pelvis in a crash at the September 11 600cc National Short Tra ck at Bellingh am , Wash ington . Stro ng is expec ted to re main in Harborview H os p it al in Sea ttle, Wa s h in gton, fo r u p to two m onth s. Stro ng's med ica l b ills are expect ed to ex ha us t h is insu ra nce coverage, a nd donations, as we ll as card s and letters can be sent to Strong c/o Seattle Cycle Center, 10203 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98133. " ,. . Nobody wants to bail on their dirt bike, but even the best riders occasionally have an encounter with nature th at's a little closer than they planned. That's why they always wear a helmet, eye protection and pro tective clothing. Reading your owne r's manual helps too. And of course, never ride while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The best-dressed riders know protective appa rel isn't just a matter of fashi on. It's common sense. ~HONDA Come ride with us. Benjami n Will iam s, so n of Cycle News contributors Barbara and Loren Williams, su ffered close d head injuries , plus fractu res o f the p elvi s, left forearm , righ t ankle an d righ t kneecap in an auto accident on September 11 in Sou th Carolina and is comatose. Cards an d letters can be se nt to 1019 Robbs School Rd., Gaff ney, SC 29341. Warren Reid, w ho man y will reme mber for his achievements as a pro mo tocrosse r during the la te 70s and early 'BOs such as bein g the firs t rider to win all three p ro classes at the Mammoth MX in 19BO, will re tu rn to racing in the up co ming AMA Fall Classic MX Series. Reid, who is now a Honda d istrict serv ice manager based in Pen nsyl van ia , w ill co m pe te aboard a Honda XR600 sup plied by Honda of Troy w ith s upport and techn ical assista nce Check Out Matarcycl. Aics.r Skill. Traininq t·800-447·4700 ee " mesuoe from Ollie. of ""'O"way Sa*Y and MOler \WIele OMIO"I 01 the OeoIrtrnent Of Tral"SPC)rtltlOl'l 1

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