Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

forma t of the World Cham p io n sh i p Motocross Series for th e 1994 season, conti n uing the never-ending search for the ideal nu mber of motos. Instead of the three, 25-m in u te-p lu s-t w o -Ia p s motos used th is sea son, th e championsh ip will now feature two, 30-minuteplu s-two -laps motos . The AMA ha s used the latter syste m for several years in thei r Nationa ls, tho u gh th ey ann oun ced this year that they would be switchi ng to a si ngle 30-minute-plus t wo -lap moto in '94 (They are now rep ortedly con sid ering switching back to th e tradition al system). The FIM on the ot her hand, us ed two 40-mi n u teplu s-two-lap mo tos up until 1992, when they p ut th e th ree-mo to sys tem in to effect. Also undergoing FlM changes is the World End urance Road Race Series, which w ill use su perbikes only beg inning in 1994. Technical rule changes brought forth by the FlM include changing the date of the comp ulsory use of unleaded fue l for all disciplines to January 1, 1995 instead of January 1, 1996. Th e ex cep tion to the rul e is th e two-stroke engines used in road racing - the d at e for mandatory unleaded fuel use for those mot orcycles is January 1, 1997. Th e cal endar fo r the 1994 Wo rld Cha mp ionsh ip MX Series is as follows : 125cc - April 10 (France); April 24, (Brazil); May 1 (Argentina); May 15 (Spa in); June 5 (Sweden); June 19 (H un gary ); July 3 (Austra lia) ; Jul y 17 (San Marino); July 31 (Germany); Augus t 7 (England); August 28 (Belgiu m). 250cc - March 20 (Spain); Mar ch 27 (Holland); May 1 (Aus tr ia); May 8 (France); May 15 (Portugal); Ju ne 12 (Belgiu m); June 19 (Eng land); June 26 (Czechos lovakia); July 10 (Sweden); July 17 (Finla nd ); July 31 (Uni ted States - Budds Creek); August 7 (Venez uela ); Au g u st 21 (Japa n ); Sep te m be r 4 (Ge rmany). 500cc - April 10 (Switzerland ); April 24 (Au stria ); Ma y 8 (Eng la nd ); May 15 (I relan d ); Ju ne 5 (Slova k); Ju ne 19 (H olla nd); June 26 (Fra nce ); July 3 (Polan d); Ju ly 17 (Luxembou rg ); Augu st 7 (Belg ium ); Au gu st 21 (Germany). Th e Mo toc ross d es Na tions will be held in Roggenbu rg, Switzerlan d on September 11. Former AMA /CCS 600cc Supersport Champion Tom Kipp is still without a rid e for the 1994 seaso n. "I'm still talking to Martin Adams about the Honda team , but we have not come to an agreement," Smith said on Oct obe r 30 . "I gu ess th ey ha ve to sign another rider before they know what they're d oing for th e rest of the program. I'd like to race in the states again next year." Kipp has received some interest from three tea ms, one of which he says is for an in terna-' tional sched ule. A free four-color brochure contai ning schedule and ticket info r ma tio n on Camel Motorcycle Week (Ma rch 4-13, 1994) at Daytona Internat ional Speedway is now available . Mail your reques t to Daytona Intern a tion al Speedway, Public Relations, Dept . CN , P .O . Box 2801, Daytona Bea ch, FL 32120-2801. Many former Ascot dirt track race watchers m a y remember th e name Wayne Hosaka. The former d irt tracker, who s uffe red p a raly zing injuries in 1971, is now a successful artist. Hosaka will have his wo rk on displa y at the La Jolla Art Association Gallery in La Jolla, California, December 13-26, and says he wo u ld lo ve to h ear fro m the ma ny friends who helped him followi ng his accident. Hawkins earns fifth National nduro cham ionshi~ _ E and y Hawkins (ri gh t) earned his fifth AMA National Championship Enduro Series title by w inn in g the final round of the eight-round series in Bear, Delaware, October 31. Hawkins, aboa rd a Suzu ki RMX250, dropped 39 poin ts at the series finale, while h is near est rival in th e cham pi on ship , Steve H at ch , wh o a lso rode a Suzu ki RMX250, d ropped 41 poin ts. With the win, Hawkins ended up takin g the title by 16 points over Ha tch. Thi rd in both th e De lawa re even t and the se ries was 1991 Na tio nal End u ro Champ ion Jeff Russell, riding a KTM 250EXC. Russell d ropped 47 po in ts. KTM-moun ted Mike Lafferty and Su zuki rider Chris Smith rounded out the top five overall. "It was real wet and nasty, " said Ha wkins of the title-d eciding event. "We tru dged through it , and Steve and I were pushing each other back an d forth all d ay. Steve has been; pre tty much, my tough est competition ever. For me, the series had never gone down to the wire like this. My main goal in Delaware was to finish second or first and the title.wo uld come. ' "I'm real happy," con tinued the 27-year-old from Traveler' s Rest, South Carolina. "This is my fifth title (Ha w kins' other championships came in 1988, '89, '90, '92, and '93) and that puts me in sole positi on of third on the title w in-list. Dick Burleson has the mo st wins with eig h t ('74-'81), and Bill Baird is second with seven w ins ('62-'68). I don't think an ybody is goin g to bea t Burleson's record. I just don't see it happening, I know I will compete again next year , b ut after tha t, it'll be time to re-evaluate things and see what happens . I really don't know what's in the future for me." Hawkins joined the Suzuki team in 1988 and has since won 30 Nationals out of 54 events . R Gilera, Italy's oldest motorcycle manufact urer, closed its doo rs r ece n tly. Owned by th e giant Piaggio G ro u p, Gilera was found ed in 1909. A 17-percent sales drop in the Italian motorcycle market since the beginning of 1993, and a massi ve 40-percent drop in 125cc sales is bla med for the closure. Piaggio w ill continue to produce the Typhoon scooter under the Gilera name. Yet a no the r four-s troke w ill be ca mpaignin g th e 1994 500cc MX GPs, as Au strian Karl Su lzer has signed with KTM to rid e a 620cc th um per in the series, according to Trials & Motocross News . The 31-year-o ld Sulzer is no strange r to fou r-strokes, as he won the Austrian fou r-s troke title for KTM six years ago. A new fra me and sea t-tank combination are being built for the big Katoorn, alo ng wi th a revi sed linkage. KTM h opes to ge t the bike's weig h t below 235 pounds, the equivalent of the works Husky and Husaberg. Brian Deegan , Cayl on Dickenson and Timmy Ferry have been selected by the Ka yo Co rpora tion as wi nners o f the 1993 EK Chain International Award , which is p resen ted to top am ateur ride rs. Kayo w ill pay for the awa rd wi nners to go to Ja pan to compete in the prestigious Osa ka International Super cross, Nov ember 13-14. Ward signs with Sizzler/Noleen a r r y Wa rd (a bove) has officia lly signed w it h Tea m Noleen, o r Team Sizzler/ Noleen /Xtreme/Yamaha as the squad is now being called. Ward, who was formerly a factory Suz uki rider bu t for the past two year s has rid den as a factory-a ssisted p riva teer, fills the spo t left vacant by Michael Craig . Craig only rode one race for the team ,- the Mammoth Motocross - before moving up to the factory Yamaha team to replace Damon Brad shaw . Ward, w ho won the 1990 Seattle Supercross and finished 11th in the Camel Sup ercross series po int standings this year, joins Kyle Lewis and Larry Brooks, both of wh om were on the Oark Jones-managed team in '93. All three riders will cam paign the 1994 250cc Camel Supercross, MTEG Ultracross and 250cc Nationa l Champion sh ip MX Series aboar d modified Yamaha YZ250s. The bikes will sport the logo of the Sizzler restaurant chain, which Noleen has picked up as a title spo nsor for '94, and Xtreme is providing the team with special gear that also feat ures the logo. The full-coverage Rhin o bod ywork shown above is still being tested, and it is no t certain that it w ill be retained. In ad d itio n, former Kawasaki Tea m Green rid er Johnny Marley has signed with Noleen's 80cc team, as has Jerr y Aleman. L A new motocross track prepara tion systern is now in ope ration a t th e Sa nta Clara County Motorcycle Park, in sou th San Jose, California. The sys tem cons ists of an 18-sta tion wa tering system, and also recently received a tracto r-d isc unit. For mo re info rm a tion, call 408/9720810. The le g end a ry Malcolm Sm ith will host, as well as participate in, the "Firs t An n ual" Ma lcol m Sm ith Motorsports D ua l Sport Rid e on November 14, beg inning and ending in Riverside, California. The 125-mile ride will be based o u t of Smith's shop - Malcolm Smith Motorsports - and will take ride rs into the San Bernardino Moun tains, before concluding back in Riverside. For more information, call 909/687-1300. o ,.....-t H Q) ~ Q) :> o Z Now that the AMA N ational Champions hip End uro Series is said and do ne, the recentl y crow ned cha mp Randy Hawkins - is ready to ta ke a b reather . "It's time to p u t the bikes in the garage for a w hile," said Hawkins. "Oh, 111 hit a few local events here and there, but I'm goi ng to play as much golf as possible." Hawkins has sai d before tha t after h e h an g s u p h is boots for good, he'd like to compete in the PGA Senior's To u r . From what we h ave heard, he is as good at golf as he is at ridi ng end uros. In addition to en tertaining offers from Ha rley-Davidson to r id e the ir n ew Superbike in the AMA National Cha mp io nsh ip Road Race Se ries in 1994, M i g ue l D uHame l and h is m ana g er Alan Labrosse are also listening to offers from Ducati to compete in th e World Championship Superbike Series alo ngside Carl Fogarty . "It's true," Labrosse said on Monday, November 1. "D ucati has expressed an interes t, but we are s ti ll havingmany di scussions. They have a very interesting o ff e r, but Harley-Davidson h as an in te res ti ng offer as welL" Repor te dly, :Da le Q uarterley is next in line to ge t the Harley ride if DuHamel indeed goes to Ducati. Former MXer Steve Wis e will be con d ucting two motocross schools in the southern Californi a area in Novembe r. Th e first wi ll take p lace a t th e Gle n Helen OHV Park in San' Bernard ino on th e 8 th, and the seco nd at Sta rwes t Supercross Park in Moreno Vall ey on the 9th . For more informa tio n, call 714/974-9999 , or 210/686-7777. Author Allan Gird le r is looki ng fo r help . Girdler is working on a book de tailing the his tory of Harley-Davidson Sportsters and is looking for owners of such to let him photograph their motorcycles. Girdler promises th at he won't be riding the Ha rleys, and the owners can be presen t for the photo sessions. In return for their help, the owners w ill get the ir nam es in the book and as Gird ler says: "A copy for mom ." Girdler can be Continued on page 4 ... 3

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