Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

_ BmmM~~~_aw_~~q ~ o , N ~ Q) tu .... o Horrendous weather in Assen, Holland made scoring on the opening day of the 68th International Six Days Enduro on Monday, October 11, nearly impossible, causing a delay in first-day results. Our man on the scene reports that most of the teams have suffered major losses and 22 of the 37 US. riders have already been eliminated. An FIM Jury was scheduled to meet on Monday night and there is a chance that some of the riders who have been eliminated will be allowed to continue. Stay tuned. Paul Pinsonnault (Hon) and Tom Reiser (H-D) won the 540 and 800cc classes, respectively, in the 10th round of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series in Oregonia, Ohio, October10. Pinsonnault topped Michael Debusk (BSA) and Steve Dresser (Suz) in the 540cc class while Reiser topped Lou Gerencer Jr. (H-D) and Wade Williams (Hon) in the 800cc division. Brazilian Alex Barros (Suz) won the Big Road Race in Sugo, Japan, October 10. Barros beat Shinichi Itoh (Hon) and Masafumi Abe (Hon). Tim Ferry (Yam) was the 250cc/Open Pro class winner at the third round of th e AMA/Dirt Shirts Fall Classic MX Series, held at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, October 10. Todd DeHoop (Hon) was second and Steve Childress (Suz) was third . DeHoop returned in the 125cc Pro class an d scored the win over Damien Plotts (Suz) and Barry Carsten (Suz). Acc ord ing to reports from Europe, Aaron Slight is close to signing a deal with Honda to ride a factory Honda R545s in the 1994 World Championship Su perb ike Series. The New Zealander currently lies third in the 1993 World · Championship Superbike Series on his Muzzy Kawasaki. The official Honda team will be based in England. Brit Kurt Nicoll, who was the top finishing 250cc rider at the MX des Nations in Austria in September, will remain with Honda Britain in 1994. Nicoll wil l contest the British National Championship and the 250cc Grands Prix. He will again be backed by Castrol, and will receive a works kit from HRC. Husaberg has signed American Billy Liles to join Belgian Joel Smets in contesting the 500cc World Champio nship MX Series. The '94 H usaberg thumpers are said to feature stronger fram es, the latest WP inverted fork, a new Ohlins shock, and stronger wheels, swingarm and footpegs. Engine modifica tions include a stronger drivesid e crankcase half, a new camshaft and a redesigned clutch. If you plan on attending On Trac Even ts' Arenocross '93 in th e Lives tock Event Center in Reno, Nevada, No vember 1921, be sure to check your closet for extra coats. No, unseasonably cold weather is not expected, but e vent s p o nso rs Scollaries Markets and the Sa lva tio n Army are holding a coat d rive in conjunction with the event. Bring a usable coat to any Scollaries Ma rket and you will receive a voucher for one free child 's ticket for Friday night (as long as a paying adult also attends). Pros will race on Friday and Saturday nights, a nd the amateurs will run on Sunday.Tor hotel and race information, call 702/267-4392. Rumor has it that the single-moto format may not be a sure thing for the 1994 AMA National MX Champ ionship Californiadesert bill passes Senatecomm ittee S 2 ena tor Dianne Feinstein's California Desert Protection Act has passed an important hurdle on its way to becoming law, according to the AMA. On October 5, a Senate committee voted to send the bill-designated S.21 - to the full Senate for approval. This marks the first time this highly restrictive plan for the desert has been sent to the Senate floor. Although motorcyclists won several hard-fought victories along the way, the current version of the bill remains highly controversial. If approved, the bill would ban motorized travel throughout vast stretches of the California desert. "The clock is ticking," said Robert Rasor, AMA vice president of government relation s. " And there may be no stopping the desert bill now. But we'll continue to advance the interests of motorcyclists through the final phases of the legislative process." Earlier in the year, Senator Feinstein made some movement toward.modifying the bill. As a result of intense lobbying by the AMA, she agreed to several changes that would allow continued access on 42 miles of trail corridors, plus the 62,(J(J()-acre South Algodones Dunes riding area in Imperial County, California. But that , the senator insisted, was as far as she would go. Feinstein's concessions, while welcomed, fell far short of making S.21 a measure the AMA could support. However, AMA lobbyists Jim Bensberg and Dana Bell stepped up that effort when the bill went before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on October 5. The result was approval of an amendment offered by Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho). That amendment, the only change approved for the bill by committee members, involved shifting an additional 35 miles of travel routes in four areas to a category that would allow limited motorized access. In all, the AMA's efforts to modify the desert bill helped preserve access to nine motorized corridors and the popular South Algodones Dunes area. But the core of the Feinstein proposal remains the same. It would still designate huge tracts of public land in the desert as wilderness, closed to all motorized travel. It also would upgrade two national monuments to national park status and create another new park, without providing any funds to run them. And it still means that some 8 million acres of desert would be closed forever to motorized travel . The next showdown on the legislation will come on the Senate floor, as well as in the U.s. House of Representatives. It's unclear when a Senate vote might be taken, but action on 5.21 appears imminent. At the same time, the House is expected to take action on a companion bill, known as H.R. 518. Motorcyclists are urged to contact their senators, asking them to keep the AMA's amendments to 5.21 intact. Contact senators at the U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. CarnellAMA to end relationship after 1994 racin season A MA President Ed Youngblood has announced that R.J. Reynolds and its Camel brarid of cigarettes will again be a major sponsor of AMA professional racing in 1994, but that the AMA and Camel will conclude a 21-year relationship after the 1994 season. Camel will pay a $150,000 point fund for the 1994 AMA Camel Supercross Series, bringing Camel bonuses paid in the supercross series since 1989 to $1 million. Camel pa id a $200,000 point fund in the '93 series, of which $100,000 was paid to series champio n Jeremy McGrath. Ca m el will also continu e it s long involvement in AMA Grand National Cha mpionship Series as a contributor to a $100.000 series po int fund in 1994. The point fund contribution will take the place of the $100,000 R.J. Reynolds put into its five-lap Camel Challenge races that were held at 10 selected dirt track even ts throughout the '93 seaso n. Since 1974, Camel has paid $4.1 million to dirt track riders in point fund awa rds and through Camel Challenge purses. The 1994 sponsorships will take Camel's total contribution to AMA pro riders past the $5 million mark. "AMA is grateful for the support Camel has put behind AMA professional racing during the past two decades," Youngblood said. "And we're pleased to have shared objectives with a company that is recognized as a pioneer in sports marketing. We certainly wish them every success in all future endeavors." In addition to the above mentioned point funds, Camel will continue its relationship with Mar tin Adams' Commonwealth Honda team. The Camel Honda learn will again contest the 1994 AMA Superbike National Championship and the AMA/CCS 600cc Supersport Series. Se r ies . Se veral event promoters and tea m m anagers have apparently requ ested that the new format be put on ho ld for a t least one more year, until so me of the bugs can be worked out. Most of the complaints center on the fact tha t a single 30-minute, plus two-lap moto is not enough to challenge the rid ers. To use longer motos, however, the AMA would either have to alter their "product ion rules," which currently require the use of a stock fuel tank, or give the manufacturers time to incorporat e larger tanks on their production bikes. Michael Ray Craig has signed a one-year contract with Yamaha to contest the 250cc Supercross and 250cc National Series, filling the void left by the recently-retired Damon Bradshaw. Craig had originally signed with Team Noleen Yamaha for the 1994 season, buttearn owner Clark Jones released Craig in order to allow him to join the factory team. "I'm pumped. I'm so excited that it's like racing my first race again," said Craig, who resides in Lakeside, California. Craig will be teamed with mechanic Brian Lunniss, and reunited with Team Yamaha Manager Keith McCarty. Craig was a member of the Yamaha support team in 1989. "Mike appears to be hungrier than ever," said McCarty. "With Mike's intensity, we are e xpecting great things to happen in 1994." According to Erv Kanemoto, reports from Europe that Spaniard Alex Criville has inked a contract to ride Kanemoto's Hondas next season are erroneous. "That's not correct," Kanemoto said on Friday, October 8. "We talked about the possibility, but we haven't talked since Jarama (the last GP of the season on September 26). It's a big zero right now. I can tell you 100 percent that we haven't signed anything." With the withdrawal of Rothmans backing, Kanemoto says his biggest challenge right now is finding sponsorship for the 1994 World Championship Road Race Series. After winning the October 10 Pomona Half Mile Grand National Championship Series finale, Grand National Champion Ricky Graham dedicated his win to t he recently-injured Wayne Rainey. "Wayne's crash really opened my eyes and made me appreciate things," said Graham. "We've been good friends for a long time and I was deeply sadd ened when I heard the news. A lot of people don't realize that we as racers put our lives on the line every time we get on the track. You can be on top of the world one second, and knocked down the next." And speaking of Ricky Graham, many of the 12,893 spec ta tors on hand at the Pomona Fairplex and Exposition Center on October 9 were thrilled to see the northern California native win his first west coast Na tional of the year. Though he had won 11 races prior to the seasonending Pomona Half Mile, Graham had failed to win a race on his home coast. With 38 National w in s to hi s credit, Graham sits third on the all-time National win list, but is fast closing in on Jay Springsteen, who is second with 40. Scott Parker continues to hold down first-place honors with 52. After Ricky Graham won the Pomona Half Mile Nati onal, Arai Helmet's Bruce Porter presented the new Grand National Champion with a new helmet, custom painted with a #1 on the top. "After Ricky won, he was supposed to stop and put his new helmet on before he took his victory lap, but in the excitement he forgot to stop," said Porter. The helmet's paint job came compliments of Joe Shmoe Graphics, Team Undo's newest sponsor. Though he failed to qualify for the Pomona Half Mile National, Brisbane, California's Ben Bostrom, 19, was named as the 1993 AMA Grand National Championship Rookie of the Year. Bostrom ended the series 25th overall with 18 National points, four better than his closest rivals, Bret Beyer and Bre tt Landes, who each had 14. Bostrom scored his National points by turning in a pair of sixth-place finishes at the Peoria TT and Castle Rock TT rounds of the series. "I couldn't seem to get away from that number," joked Bostrom at the Castle Rock TT, referring to his pair of sixth-place finishes and the #6Y plate that he carries. The secret is out! Well, not really. After the Pomona Half Mile, 1992 Grand National Champion Chris Carr announced that - as expected - he would carry the #4 plate in 1994. " Everyone

• Cover