Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I 0IN THE WIND ~ B Guy Cooper (Suz) sewed up the World Supercross Championship at the final round in Geneva, Switzerland, December 3-4. South African Greg Albertyn, Cooper's only rival for the crown, sat out the event with the flu, but Cooper put on an inspiring performance nonetheless. In Friday night's pointspaying race, the 31-year-old suffered a midpack start and a crash, but charged through with bent handlebars to a fourth-place finish. Larry Ward (Suz) won, with Steve Lamson (Hon) finishing second. American Ron Tichenor (Suz), who has been contesting the Japanese National Championships for the past year, placed third, and Dutchman Pedro Tragter (Suz) was fifth behind Cooper. Ward won again in Saturday's exhibition race, followed by Lamson, Ron Lechien (Kaw), Ryan Hughes (Kaw), and Erik Kehoe (Hon). Ty Davis (Kaw) scored the overall and 250cc Pro class win at the U.S . World Championship Hare Scramb les in Laughlin, Nevada, November 4. The event was the last round of the Casey Folks Best in the Desert Series. Davis crossed the finish line with one minute and 18 seconds to spare over Danny Hamel (Kaw), who scored the 500cc Pro class win. Greg Zitterkopf (KTM) fin ished third overall and second in th e 250cc division while Dave Ondas (KTM) grabbed fourth overall and second in the 500cc division. Completing the top five was 500cc class rider John Flores (Ho n). Scot Harden (KTM) scored the Over-30 class victory and wa s seven th overall, while Steven Tichenor (Suz) topped the 125cc class and was 18th overall. Davis completed the 95-mile ra ce in three hours and 10 minutes. Brit Robert Dunlop (Yam) beat countryma n Jeremy McWilliams (Yam) to win the Indonesian Motorcycle Gra nd Prix, an in ternational road ra ce he ld at the Circui t Sentul in Indonisia, December 5. Engla nd' s Steve Hisl op (Yam) finish ed thir d with New Zealander Andrew Stroud (Yam ) and Californian Ch uck Graves (Suz) commpleting the top five. 2 AMA Superbi ke N a tional Ch ampion Doug Polen was at the Dunl op tire test session at Da ytona International Speedway on December 1-3 and, though he wouldn't confirm or deny his plans for 1994, it appears that he'll be heading to the World Superbike Championship aboard a factory Honda RC45 . Polen said he had been released from his contract with the Cagiva factory on Wednesday, December 1, but that he hadn't signed with anyone and that the announcement would be made once that was done. "By the middle of next week," was when he said it would become official. What was holding it up 'was "my signature on a piece of paper. It's headed in that direction." He added that "they play the same way I do," in reference to their being in agreement on the timing of the announcement. Polen will be teamed with former Muzzy Kawasaki World Superbike rider Aaron Slight and plans to make his debut with the team at the Daytona 200. The major hold-up had been Cagiva releasing him from the second year of his two-year contract. It was believed that Cagiva wanted to be paid to be bought out of the contract. Whether it was don e or not isn't known since highly-placed sou r ces in both camps have given conflicting reports. The split appears to hav e been an amicable one since Polen spent a great deal of time with Eraldo Ferracci and his team during the three-day test. Polen's company also manages Jason Pridmore and Larry Pegram, both of whom got test rides aboard th e Ferracci Ducatis. He also said he was working on other deals. for them and that there we re "a few more slots to finish." At Daytona, Polen fitted his on-bike camera equipment to a Camel Commonwealth Honda RC30 which Kevin Magee rode for sev eral laps. The footage will be used in the motorcycle simulator that travels to the races in the Smokin' Joe's promotional trailer. '''I'm down here just to try a Superbike," Jason Pridmore said at Daytona prior to his stint aboard the Fast by Ferracci Ducati 888. Pridmore didn't view the ride as a try-out, though he added "I thought there might be a chance. I talked to Ferracci about leasing one. I have some private people working to help me. I got the offer from Doug Polen to ride a superbike. I didn't get as many laps as I wanted. I have to leave tomorrow. (Friday) morning. I was hoping to get more laps. They flew somebody in from Australia and me and Larry (Pegram) had to split the bik e. We were being courteous to each other and only do ing six or seven laps at a time . We weren't buming up the bike or tires. It was great. I did a 55 flat. It was the first time I was on a superbike and I'd nev er ridden a Ducati. It's definitely a faster machine. I think I could find another two or three seconds if I could get the bike set up for me. There 's a big dif ference between my weight a nd Larry' s. I had someth ing going th at session w here I cou ld ha ve gotte n d own to 54's and 53's and then the ba ttery broke. I've still got a lot of op tions open right now. There are a lot of good riders and not eno ugh seats. I'm looking forward to getting on something real goo d . I want ed a supersport de al with Kawasaki, 600 and 750 and maybe ride their end urance bike." The indignity of the three-day Daytona tire tes t was suffered b y Yoshimura Suzuki's Britt Turkington . The Texan crashed his Suzuki GSXR750 Supersport machi ne in fron t of one of the Speedway tour vans and the Suzuki photographer, Tom Riles, on Thursd ay afternoon. The tou rists in the van applauded wild ly. "I th ink th ey th ought it was part of th e tour:' Tu rkin gton said. He was able to return to the pits un der his own power. Rob Muzzy and Scott Russell turned a salesman at Jim Pe acock Chrysl e rPl ymouth into th e ha pp iest man in Daytona Beach on Friday, December 3. During the test session 's lunch break, the pair went to the d ealer sh ip and each bought a Dodge Vip er wo rth ab out $60,000. Russell's fath er d rove his back to Georgia on Frid a y afternoon a nd Muzzy was planning on shi p pi ng his' back to Bend, Oregon. Former Commonwealth Cam el Honda rider Tom Kipp attended th e Daytona test, "doing a little scou ting, I guess. Right now I hav e nothing nailed down, " he said . "I'm forced to play the waiting game, check things out. In one sense it's late because a lot of positions are filled up . There are a lot of thing s that can happen . I've been talking to people overseas and have one or two options in Japan and one or two in Au stralia . I'd like to stay in the States if I ca n g e t on th e equipment that could d o the job. I'd like to stay here and get my mom entum back up on the race tracks that I know." Kipp said out most of 1993 with a series of racing injuries, the la st one coming a t Brainerd. "Physically I'm doing we ll. I really didn't start therapy un til a month ago . I had ,s u rge r y two a nd a ha lf months ago and it did the trick. There's been a lot of progress since then . In the next month and a half [ should be 100% to where I can run . They took a chunk of WERA Pro Series announces EBC Tri Ie Crown ERA has released a tentative schedule for the five-round 1994 WERA Pro Series, featuring an EBC-backed Triple Crown that will award $60,000 in purse money with the winners set to take home $20,000. The series will begiri at Road Atlanta on April 24 before moving to Shannonville Motorsports Park in Shannonville, Ontario, Canada, on June 26. The third round of the series will take place at Pocono International Raceway in Pocono, Pennsylvania on August 7 before heading to Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, on August 28. The series will conclude on October 30 at Road Atlanta. A sixth round was originally scheduled for Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, but that has been remo ved from the schedule. According to WERA's Doug Gonda, WERA tried hard to make the schedule so that it would be easier for teams competing in the AMA National Championship Series to race in the Pro Series events. The EBC Triple Crown Championship will be based on the performance of both riders on a two-rider team. The Triple Crown F-USA races will be held at Pocono, Portland and the final round at Road Atlanta. "We're hoping the factory teams will race in the Triple Crown:' said Gonda. "But we also hope to encourage the formation of top privateer teams to compete in the series. It could be a great opportunity for some of those riders." Larry Lawrence W bone out of my fibula and reamed out the whole length of the tibia and put in a 14-inch titanium rod . The sole reason was a bone graft. When the reamer came ou t it blew healthy bone tissue into the fracture site. There's been plenty of bone grow th." Kipp said the rod would stay in his leg for a year or a year and a half. He also said that the right foot that he broke at Brai nerd was fine six we ek s later and tha t it was now more flexible than his left foot. "It's just been a fru strating thing, this last five, six months." esophageal cancer. In his you th, O' Dell was an AMA National H igh Point Novice and Amateur class winner before earning a factory Triumph ride in the la te 1950s. After retiring from racing, O'Dell sponsored and tuned for a number of riders, including Sammy Tanner, who rode O'Dell's BSA Goldstar to victory at the 1966 Elkho rn Na tional. In leiu of cards and letters, O'Dell Jr. requests that d onations be made in memory of his father to the Clayton Foundation at 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806. As ususal, cha nges, changes an d more changes are taking place in dirt track racing c ircles, b u t no one wants to talk abou t them! So far, reports have former Team Ha rley- Da vid so n r ider Kevin Atherton and Larry Pegram leaving the Texas Harley- Davidso n team fielded by Skip Eaken. It is ru mored that Atherton elected to leave the team in favor of a lucra tive d ea l w it h a Mich igan-based team, while Pegram is in search of a road race ride. Roy Turner, Kawasaki's MX race team manager, w anted to set th e record straigh t about MXer Ryan Hughes, who recentl y switched fro m wea ri ng Kawasaki factory team colors to wearing those of the Splitfire / Hot Whee ls/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. "Som e peo ple have been saying tha t Ryan was 'fired: or 'demo ted' to the Splitfire team , but tha t is just no t the cas~ at all. Totally un true: ' said Turner. "It was at his own reques t to ride fo r Mitch Payton 's Splitfire team : Our (Kawasaki's factory team ) main effort is geared towards the 250cc class, so Hu ghe s though t it would be in his best intrests for him to join the Splitfire team, since their main focus is t he 125cc championships (Western Regional 125cc Supercross and outdoor Na tional Series). Thi s is an import ant year for him, and he feels that in lieu of the Splitfire team's excellent track record (four 125cc Supercross Championships) he could do better with them. There, they can focus all of their effort on him testing, etc .. We (Kawasaki) back the Splitfire team and Ryan 100%. Ryan will still get a factory bike from us and we'll still pay him a salary. Right now , he is on his second year of a two-year con tract. Our 125cc program works in conjunction with Mitch; basically, we're doing it through him - not in-house. The bottom line is that in no way did we fire, can or demote him. It is just really dis' couraging to hear people say this, especially when no one has talked to me about it." Another rumor has Larry Pegram working on a deal with Johnny and Sarah Goad to r id e the second Tea m Undo H ond a RS750 ; thus far, only Brett Landes is co nfirm ed to return to th e • tea m in '9 4. But what about Grand National Champion Ricky Graham ? He's not saying what his plans are yet, but don 't be surp rised to see "Ricky G" on a Honda road racer in '94. With th e d eparture of Kevin Atherton and Larry Pegram, what's Skip Eaken to do? According to former factory Honda mechanic Eaken, he has been negotiating with Rock Island , Illinoi s' Davey Camlin. ''I' m very impressed with Davey's enthusiasm:' said Eaken. "He had some strong performances on the mile tracks last year, and I think that if we can get a good sponsorship package together, we'll be a force to be reckoned with ." Int erested sponsors may reach Eaken at 216/527-5498. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell will se rve as the Grand Marshall at the Mod ified Motorcycle Association's 15th Annual California Capitol Toy Run, December 12. The run winds through the streets of Sacramento, California, and will benefit the Toys for Tots Program. For mor e information call 916/363-4944. Form er Cycle News Graphic Artist and professional speedway racer Jimmie .O'Dell informed u s that his father, ·J im m ie O 'Dell, Sr. passed away on November 29 in Grandin, Missouri, after a short b attle with a non-operable Once again, the editorial staff claimed the top positions at the annual Cycle News Staff "Grudge" Race, held in conjunction with the Racing Enterprises Christmas GP at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, Californ ia, December 5. Associate Editors Donn Maeda, Chris Jonnum and Kit Palmer scored the top three spots, respectively, while the top finishing "ad guy" was fifth-placed Mark Thome. Once again, Editor Paul Carruthers came out on top in his yearly duel with National Accounts' Manager Terry "Vintage" Pratt. Carruthers fin-

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