Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Scotland's Steve Hislop (Yam) won the Macau Grand Prix in Macau , November 20, topping Ireland's Robert Dunlop and Engla n d 's Mark Farmer (D u e) . Michael Barnes was the top American finisher in the road rac e with the Florid ian finish ing fourth overall in "the two-leg race. The event was marred by a three-rid er crash that saw 'Ca na d ian Michael Taylor badly injured . The 28~ year-old suffered a broken arm, leg , H C]) shoulder blad e, collarb one and ribs after crashing and being run over by Austrian Karl Truchsess. David Jefferies al so C]) crashed in the incident, but neither he U nor Tr uchsess were injured. Ta yl or is C]) recovering from a seven and a half hour operation performed by Grand Prix medic Dr. Claudio Co sta a nd lo cal Macau surgeons, and he is expected to return to Canada this week. Two other local riders were killed, one during a novice pra ctice session and the other in the ACM Trophy Novice final. ... ~ c Jeremy McGrath (Hon) won both legs of the Barcelona Supercross, November 20-21. Belgian Stefan Everts (Suz) put on a come-from- behi nd ride to fin ish second on Saturday and South African Greg Albertyn was third. Am erican Larry"Ward (Yam ) was fourth ahe ad of fe ll ow cou n tryman Steve Lamson (Hon). On Sunday, Albertyn was second, La ms on third , French m an Yann Guedard (Ka w) fourth a nd American Guy Cooper (Suz) fifth. Cooper currently lead s the World Supercross Championship po int s tand ings b y 12 points over Albertyn, 44-32. Rodney Smith (Suz) won the 250cc class in the firs t round of the End uro-then series at the San Jose Fairgrounds in San Jose, California, November 21. The 125cc class was won by the team of Dan and Don Hart (Hon ) while Ricky Ryari (Hon) took hom e the Open class victory. The next round of the series will be held on December 5. Road racer Dale Quarterley will again ride a Team Mirage-backed Kawasaki in the 199 4 AMA Superbike National Championship. Qu arterley, who finish ed second in the championship in 1993, surprisingly d idn't get any offers for a factory rid e for '94. Rumors that the New Englander had been contacted by Harley-Davidson to ride their new Vtwin Superbike were just that - rumors. "They never even called me," Quarterley sa id from his home on Friday, November 19. ''I'm basically all set for next year. The contracts are on the desk. I'm still wa iting to hear from Kawasaki, but I expect to hear from them today." After learning he had won the Mickey Thompson Award of Excellence for the second year in a row , Guy Cooper called Cycle News just before this issue went to press to express his gratitude. Cooper was absent at the annual AMA Awards Banquet held in Long Beach, California, Nov ember 20, where it was announced that he had won the award. "I'm thrilled about it," said Cooper from New York 's LaGuardia International Airport, where he was returning to his hometown of Stillwater, Oklahoma, after competing at the Barcelona (Spain) Supercross. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to attend because of my racing commitments, but I was delighted to hear the news and I'm honored. I'll put it (th e award) on my mantle over my fireplace and cherish it forever." 2 Speaking of Guy Cooper, he is currently in the middle of the "itinerary from hell:' and the recent strike by American Airlines' flight attendants hasn't helped m atters any. " It all started le av ing Oklahoma C it y. for Barcelona," sa id Cooper. "I left Oklahom a City for St. Louis, misse d my connecting flig h t to New York, caught the nex t flig h t to Washing ton, the n flew to Ne w York. Fr om New Yo r k, I flew to Zurich, Switzerland, then caught another fligh t to Barcelona . After the race, I flew from Bar celon a to Lisbon, Portugal, then to New York where I am now . My flight to St. Louis has been delayed , and it looks like I'll go through Philadelphia before getting to Oklahoma City. I hav e a day of rest at home before go in g to California and then to To kyo for a su percross. After that, I fly back home, hav e a day-and-a-half rest, then head back to Eu ro p e for th e G ene va Supercross. Believe it or not, I'm having fun. I don't hav e to worry about getting ready for the (AMA) Supercross Series in January." One of the reasons Guy Cooper is having fun is that he bea t Superc ross Champion Jeremy McGrath in a jump contest a t th e Barcelona Supercross. "That was a bla st," said Cooper. "We both hav e this thing wh ere we launch off the jump, take our right foot off the peg, and bring it around to the left footpeg. It looks pretty awesome. I ha ve to admit, though, McGrath has that move mastered." Charlie Gardner phoned the Cycle News office s recently with news that ro okie Expert Kenny Coolbeth has signed a two-year contract with th e Gardner Racing/Walters Bros. Harley-Davidson race team. The 16-year-old from Warren, Connecticut, will contest th e en ti re AMA Grand National Championsh ip Series aboard the red, white and blue machines, leaving behind the familiar florescent green color scheme that he has worn throughout his amateur career. "We expect good things from Kenny," said Gardner. "This will probabl y be a learning year but, of course, Kenny expects big things from himself." R&I Manufacturing-sponsored Coolbeth turned Pro-Am in early 1993 after his 16th birthda y, and earned enough points to turn Expert in only five months. ProLite Trailers will sponsor the nineevent 1994 AMA National Arenacross Series, according to the AMA. The series begins on December 3-5, 1993 at the MetroCen tre in Rockford, Illinois, and concludes on February 25-27 at the Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado. ProLite will post $10,000 in series cash awards, including a $5000 bonus for the National Arenacross Champion. H&H KTM will host an open house on December 3-5 at the Barry Higginsowned dealership in Douglasville, Georgia. The open house will give visitors the opportunity to meet KTM president Rod Bush as well as riders Jeff Russell and Allen Gravitt on Friday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, December 4, Higgins and the KTM technical department will conduct a technical seminar at 10:00 a.m., and the dealership will then offer test rides of the 1994 KTMs beginning at 1:00 p.m. On Sunday, December 5, the open house moves to Dallas, Georgia, for the SE&TRA hare scramble. For moreinformation contact H&H KTM at 404/9201371. Road racer Randy Renfrow has signed a contract with Team Chafong to contest the 1994 AMA /CCS 600cc Supersport Series. The Boynton Beach, Floridabased team will field two riders on Honda CBR600s, but the number two Graham named" AMA Pro Athleteof the Year A MA Grand Nati onal Ch ampi on Ricky Gra ha m was named the AMA MotoWorld Pr o fessi on al Athlete of th e Year at the American Motorcyclist Association's annual Professional Awards Banquet, this year he ld at the Sheraton Long Beach Hotel in Long Beach, California, November 20. Graham was selected from a slate of six nominees who were honored during the banquet. The AMA MotoWorid Professional Athlete of the Year Award carries a $5000 honorarium from Seals Communications, producers of the MotoWorld and MotoWorid II programs for ESPN. The award is also AMA professional racing's highest individual honor. "This is just a neat way to end such a perfect year, " said Salinas, California, resident Graham. "This year wasn't very financially rewarding, but that's not what my comeback was about. My comeback was about pride." Graham's 1993 championship was the third of his career; he won his first as a privateer Harley-Davidson rider in 1982, and scored his second title in '84 as a member of the factory Honda team. In '93, Graham stood atop the series for the second time as a privateer, thi s time as a member of the Undo Racing team. Not only d id Graham set a new record for the longest time spa n between championships (nine years), he also set the record for the most National wins in a single season (12), the most-consecutive National wins (six), most half-mile National wins in a single season (seven) , and the high est-ever single season point total (330). Graham also captured the inaugural Harl ey-Davidson 883 Dirt Trac k National Championship and the Harley-Dav idson /Continental Cup 883 Championship. Joinin g Graham as nominees for Pro Rider of the Year were Worl d Indi vidual Speedway Champion Sam Ermolenko, AMA Sup erbike National Champion Doug Po le n, 250cc National MX Ch amp ion Mike Kiedrowski, Camel Supercros s Champion Jeremy McGrath and 500c c World Road Racing Champion Kevin Schwan tz. Several other awards were presented during the banquet: Long-time AMA official and staff member W.A. "Bill" Boyce was recognized as the 1993 AMA Professional Sportsman of the Year, while motocrosser Guy Cooper was awarded both the AMA Goodwill Ambassador Award and the Mickey Thompson Award of Excellence. Cooper, wh o was unable to attend due to an internati onal racing commitment, is the first rider to ever win the Mickey Thompson Award of Excellence more than once. The Dud Perkins Award, the AMA's highest individual award ou tsid e the realm of racing, was presented to Sharon Clayton, who accepted on behalf of herself and her late husband, Chuck. The Clay tons brought Cycle News to National publishing prominence and are the founders of the Clayton Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps injured motorcycle racers . Three promoters were honored for their excellence in event promotion: Bill and Jerry West of World Sports Promotion received the Motocross Promoter of the Year Award, and Jim Haynes accepted the Road Race Promoter of the Year Award on behalf of Road America. Bert Sanders represented the Peoria Motorcycle Club, which was honored as Dirt Track Promoter of the Year. Upcoming pro riders received Rookie of the Year awards, with Takahiro Sohwa honored in Superbike Road Racing, Robbie Reynard in motocross and Ben Bostrom in dirt track. The Archer /MotoWear International Look Sharp Award was presented to Harley-Davidson TwinSports Rookie of the Year Joe Winston III. Manufacturers of the Year were Ducati in road racing, Honda in motocross and Harley-Davidson in dirt track. Champions of all AMA professional racing series were recognized by co-hosts Dave Despain and Larry Maiers, as were the riders who combined to win four individual and two team World Championships in 1993. The AMA's World Champions in '93 were Athlete of the Year nominees Ermolenko and Schwantz; World Superbike Champion Scott Russell; World Endurance Road Racing Champion Doug Toland; the Motocross des Nations team of Jeff Emig, Kiedrowski and McGrath; and the World Team Speedway Championship winning squad of Ermolenko, Billy Hamill, Greg Hancock, Josh Larsen and Bobby Ott . rider has.yet to be signed. "We are currently talking with several different riders and Randy's teammate will be named in the near future," team manager Steve Clark said. Team Chafong is the race team spin-off of Chafong, Inc., a manufacturer of race and sportbike performance products. Chafong is also ' planning to offer a contingency program for racers using its handlebars and rear sets. Bridgestone Tire recently completed two da ys of tire testing at Daytona Interna tion al Speedway in preparation for Cam el Motorcycle Week scheduled for March 4-13. The testing was done by Tw o Brothers Racing's Hikaru Miyagi and Tommy Lynch, Moto Liberty /Nankai riders Takahito Mori, Doug Carmichael and Dean MizdaJ. "This is the fourth time this season that Bridgestone Tire and Two Brothers Racing have been at Daytona for either racing or testing," said Kevin Erion, coowner of Two Brothers Racing. "Brid gestone ha ve put the information the engineers learned in our August test session into the tires we're testing now. This really shows how strong their commitment to racing is. We're proud to be a part of it." Bridgestone U.S. was represented at the test session by motorcycle tire engineer Warren Dunham and techn ician Marty Hummel. Bridgestone Japan's Don Yabuta, the company's top motorcycle tire engineer, mad e his second trip to Daytona in three months, this "time with fellow engineer Taka Ohtsuka.

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