Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

; pretty much knew th at I would pick #4," said Carr. "I just didn't want to say so until the season wa s over." Carr carried the #4Y plate during h is rookie expert season. Four-time Grand National Champion Scott Pa rk er suffered two compressed vertebrae in a timed qualifying crash at the October 10 Pomona Half Mile, and according to his wife, Wanda, is expected to be in a back brace for at least three months. Cards and letters may be sent to Parker at 6080 G ra nd Bla nc Rd., Swartz Cree k, MI 48473. Rookie Expert Joe Winston III cras hed hard in hi s sem i final a t th e Pomo na Ha lf Mil e and sustaine d a broken left elbow and r ight wri s t, as we ll as a bruised heart, lung and kidney. Ca rd s and letters ma y be sen t to Winston a t P.O. Box 3249, Laguna Hills, CA 92654. Jake Thompson' s Competition Sus pension is now a ccepting m ot ocr oss resumes from racers looking for support in 1994 . Send res u mes to Com petitio n Suspension, 1732 Border Ave., Torrance, CA 90501. Be g inning o n Ja n u ary I, 199 4, the Califo rn ia Department of Motor Vehicles will accept the completion of a mot orcyclist training program in lieu of the standa rd DMV motorcycle riding test. "This law will offer an alternative to people wishing to get their motorcycle license: they can take the standard DM V test or th ey can complete an a pproved course offered by the California Motorcycle Sa fety Program," said assemblywoman Doris Allen (RCy p re ss). The California Mo torcycle Safe ty Program is opera ted under the supervision of the California Highway Patrol and was crea ted through legis lation by Assemblywoman Allen in 1986. The program is funded through a $2 per motorcycle registration fee which generates $1 million annually. Acc ord ing to a release fro m Boyesen, John Dowd, Scott Sheak a n d D a g Boy e s e n will rid e Boy es en-b a c ked Yam ahas in the 1994 AMA Na tional MX Ch ampions hip . Boyesen says the tea m will a lso ha ve backing from Yamaha and Penske, The Brothers dealership in Bremerton, Was hi ngton, has been awarded the con tract to supply the Seattle (Washington) Police Department with their first batch of BMW K75RT-P police motorcycles. The new motorcycles will be delivered on July 15, 1994. AMA Superbike National Champion Do ug Pol en is the latest nominee for the MotoWorld Athlete of the Year award . Polen joins 500cc World Champion Ke v in S chwan tz, AMA Camel Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, and World Speedway Champion Sam Ermolenko as nominees. We're betting th at AMA Grand National Champion Ri ck y G ra h am gets nominated this week. The winner will be announced at the AMA Pro Awards Banquet, November 20, in Long Beach, California. Good news for south ern California mo tocrossers: GFI Racing's G oat Breker has exe rcised his lease option and will continue to run races at Perris Raceway in Perris, California, through 1998. Two Brot h e rs Ra cing will run two teams in the final round of the AMA / CC S EBC Brakes Endu rance Cha ll en ge at Day tona Interna tional Spee dway on Octobe r 23. In addition to th eir ch ampi ons h ip -w in n in g team of To mmy Lynch and Nick Ienatsch, Two Brothers will field an additional Hond a CBR900 with Ch ri s ti a n Gardner and Rocky Miyagi. While Gardner is a lon gt ime AMA/CCS endurance r ac e r, Miyagi will make his AMA d ebut at Daytona. The Japanese rider is a former factory HRC rider who has campaigned the Japanese Formula One Series on a Honda NSRSOO. The final round of the AHRMA Vintage Iron National MX Series will be held at the Hollister Hills OHV Park in Hollister, California, Oc tober 16-17. Among those exp ect ed to compete are fo rmer Wo rld 500cc MX Cha m p ion' s Brad Lackey an d Jeff Smith, and newly cr o w ned AMA Gra nd Na tiona l Champion Ricky Graham. Australian Grand Prix s ta r Michael Dooh an w ill jo in fo rmer Grand N ation al Champion Bubba Shobert and current AMA road racing stars such as Tom Kipp in th e Northern California Rid e For Kid s in Va llejo, Ca lifornia, October 24. The ride starts and finis hes a t th e Sol ano Co u n ty Fair g ro unds in Vall ejo, nex t to Ma ri ne Worl d Africa U.S.A. Starting a t 9:00 a.m., the ride will travel through northern California's w in e country as motorcyclists raise money to fight pediatric brain tumors. Doohan is in northern California while recuperating from surgery to repair the leg he fractured in June of 1992. The American Motorcycle Ins titut e in Daytona Beach, Florida, will again open its shop and dynomometer facilities at no charge to racers competing in the AMA/CCS Ra ce of Champions at Daytona International Speedway, Oc to ber 22-24. Fo r more information contact AMI at 800/881-2AMI. The C al if orn ia Lea ding Advanced Safe ty Scho ol (CLASS), th e Reg Pridmore tau ght rid in g a nd safe ty schoo l which is spo nsored by BMW of North America, wi ll hol d its fina l 1993 sessions at Laguna Seca in Mont erey, C a lifo rnia , Oc tober 14 and 25 and Nove m be r 22; at Willow Spri ngs Race wa y in Ros a m ond , Ca lifornia, No vem be r 15; and a t Sears Point International Ra ce w a y in Sonoma, Califo rnia, October 15. For more information contact CLASS at 800/235-7228. According to reports from Europe, Italian Luca Cadalora has inked a contract with Team Marlboro Roberts Yamaha to contest the 1994 SOOcc World Championship Road Race Series for the team. Cadalora finished fifth in the 1993 500cc World Championsh ip on a Marlboro Yamaha, riding as a teammate to Wayne Rainey. Team owner Kenny Roberts is expected to name the team's second rider in the next week or so . According to his manager Lonny Hardy, three-time World Champion Fred die Spencer still doesn't have a ride for the 1994 racing season. "Freddie doesn't have a nything very positive," Hardy said. "It's a bad time as far as prospects go. Freddie has interest in World Superbike. He likes the new Honda, but we think that team has been filled . Right now we're considering everything that comes our way, and our thinking has turned towa rd the AMA series. He wants to race next year and he's keep ing his eyes and ears open." Spencer rod e for Yamaha France in the 1993 World Championship Road Race Series, but suffered with injuries for the majority of the season. The future of the Christian Sarron-managed team is in doubt. If the team does compete in '94 it is likely that they will sign a French rider. e Cf) 0\ 0\ " ,.....-1 0 N .... ;... CJ ..0 0 I ~ u YAlA A H 0 Changes in storeforYamaha TZ250 T he motorcycle of cho ice in AMA 250cc Grand Prix as well as the WERA F-I1 Series racing has long been the Yam ah a TZ250. That's not likely to change as the 1994 TZ250F will feature modifications design ed to furthe r improve the championshipw inning quarter -liter road racer. Those chan ges sta rt w ith the wa ter-coo led 249cc, V-twin two-stroke engine . Yam aha ho pes to increase mid-range and top-en d pe rfo rma nce by mod ifying the exha us t and transfer port shapes of the ceramic-com posite cylinders; and a new expansion chamber has also been designed. In an effort to improve acceleration, the COl magneto rotor size has been changed with the rotor diameter now measuring 75m m rather than las t year's 88mm, th us reducing the inertia movement 42 percent. In addition, the advance curve of the d igital ignition has go ne from four degrees to six degrees. The clutch plate thickness (2 mm up to 2.3 rom) and primary gear face width have also been increased for better heat capacity and durability. Although the dimensions on the Delta box aluminum frame remain unchanged, the rear subrame will be detachable on the '94 model. The cha nge was made to make servicing the rear shoc k and regular mainten an ce easier. Aerod yna mics and air intake have bee n improved, tha nks to a new fairi ng tha t uses inn er d ucting simila r to that featu red on the factory TZ250M. The sea t cowling ha s also chan ged to help improve aerodyna mics. The TZ250F will fea ture upsid e-down fork and rear-rising rate, link- typ e rea r suspension. Both front and rear are fully ad justable in p reloa d , compress ion, an d rebound dam p ing, as we ll as rid e heigh t. The rear wheel w idth ha s been bumped up to 55-inches, allowing for the use of a wider rear tire. Yamaha will be accep ting d eposits of $1000 for the race-only TZ250Fs beginning this month and d elivery is scheduled for January, 1994. The p rice for the new TZ has been se t a t $19,000 and Yamaha is offering a li mited number of '93 -model TZ250s for $16,500. Road racer Jason Pridmore qualified for the AMA/Harley-Davidson 883 Dirt Track National at the Pomona Half Mile, Octobe r 9, in what was essentially his first-ever dirt track. Pri dmore's Harley broke a gearbox on the first lap of the National, forcing the Californian out of the race . "It was a blast," said Pridmore, a two-time winner in the 1993 AMA/CCS 750cc Supersport Series. "This is my first dirt track. In fact, this is the first time I've ever ridden a HarleyDavidson. I really wanted to finish." According to team owner Rob Muzzy, two-time. World Superbike Champion Fred Merk el has signed a multi-year contract to ride in the AMA Superbike National Championship and the AMA/CCS 750cc Supersport Series on Muzzy Kawasakis . Merke l, w ho won two World Superbike Championships on Hondas before switching to Yamahas and more recently a Ducati, wo n three straight AMA Superbike crowns in 1984, 1985 and 1986 on factory Hondas. Muzzy also reports that current World Superbike points lead er Sco tt Ru ssell has signed a multi-yea r contract with Kawasaki. Russell will again campaign the World Championship Superbike Series. The number two riders on both the AMA and World Superbike tea ms have not been signed yet, Muzzy said on Monday, October 11. Mu z z y Kawasaki will also field a team in the AMA/CCS Endurance Series in '94, uti1izing Kawasaki's new 900. The October 22-24 AMAlCCS Race of Champ ions has attracted 1475 entries from 39 states, Washington D.C. and Canada. Add to that a 51-rider HarleyDa vidson Twin Sports field, 80 teams with an average of three riders each in the three-hour AMA/CCS EBC Brakes End urance Challenge, and the field for the Honda CBR Challenge, and the total entries should top out at a record 1800plus. An account has been set up to help defray funeral costs for Bob Inm an, the Cirello Racing employee and friend of speedway who passed away on September 29 after a long battle with cancer. Contributions can be made to the Bob Inman Memorial Fund, High Desert National Bank Account # 001327763, 17071 Main St. Hesperia, CA 92345. Beginning w ith the '93 Internationa l Six Days Enduro in Holland th is mo n th , event competitors will no longer be required to wear helmets painted in recognizable team designs and colors, as identification stickers will be suppiied by the organizers. Still, it is likely that mos t Continuedon page 4 3

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