Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

' J IN THE WIND U Petre Roberts (Kaw) was the winner in the final round of the Latin American Supercross Championship Series, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, December 12. The San Jose native topped Americans De rek Natvig (Kaw) a n d Mike Chamberlain (Kaw ). Jim Holley (Yam) was the Vet class winner. According to reports from Eu rope, the Raymond Roche-m anaged factory Ducati team that will contest the World Championship Superb ike Series will consist of Brits Carl Fogarty and Jami e Wh it ham. A second, Italian-run team will likely fea ture G ianca rlo Falap pa and Fabrizi o Pirovan o. Fogarty finished second in the 1993 World Superbike Series; Whitham, who competed part-time in the series, finished 16th; Falappa and his Ducati were fifth ; and Pirovano was fourth on a factory Yamaha. While we're on the subject of the Worl d Champ ionship Superb ik e Se r ie s, a new sched ule was released-by the FIM on December 13 , featuring m a n y changes from th e original sched ule. Now featuring 13 events, rather tha n the original 14, the schedule is as follows: May 1 - Doningto n Park, England; May 8 - Hockenheim, West Germany; May 22 - Misano, Italy; June 12 - Es to r il, Portuga l; June 19 - Albacete, Spain; July 17 - Osterreichring, Austria; Au gust 21 Ichor, Malaysia ; Au g u s t 28 - Sugo, Japan; September 11 - Mugello, Italy; Octobe r 9 - Jer ez, Spa in ; October 30 Sentul , Indo nesia; November 6 - Buenos Aires, Argentina. The original schedule ha d da te s fo r Mon za , Ita ly; Misano, Italy; Anderstorp, Sw ed en; Spa.Francorchamps, Belgium; and Mexico City, Mexico. Things loo k set for dirt tracker Ronnie Jones to spend the enti re 1994 Gra nd National Championship Series aboard the Loral Lake Racin g Honda RS750. In '93, Jones split his time aboard three different Hondas belonging to the Loral Lake team, George Garvis and Mike Morr. "Everything looks like a go for next year," said Jones. "I'm really excited to spend the whole season aboard the same bikes. Last year was tough beca use I would have to get used to rid ing a differen t bike each week. It seemed like I spent the entire practice session at each race learning how to ride again." Jones hin ted tha t the '94 season would be his last, as he would like to pursue a career in car racing. "There's no reason tha t I shouldn 't finish in the top five next year," Jones said. "I hope to do well, especially in my last year. I we nt to a NASCAR driving school this winter and I'd like to get into car racing soon. At 33, I can still make the swi tch and be con sidered yo ung in ca r racing, whereas I'm an old guy ,as far as motorcycle racing goes." Jo nes also ad ded that he wou ld continue to promote the Oklahoma City Hall Mile National. According to tu ner a nd bike owner Eddie Adkins, he an d Rodney Farris will again tea m up for the 1994 AMA Grand National Championship Series. "Rodney was really hot last year, and m y goa l is to see him win h is first National next year," said Ad kins. "He's very focused and fired up to go racing. I expect great th ings in '94." Adkins added that he is currently wo rking on several p romising sponsorship opportunities. Farris will again be mounted on Harley-Davidson XR750s. In our conversation w ith Edd ie Ad kins, the name of AMA 250 cc Grand Prix National Ch ampi on Jimmy Filice came up. Filice raced Adkins' Harleys to sev - ~ eral d irt track National wins in the early '80s before making the transition into road racing. Though he captu red this year's 250cc championship in runaway fashion, the diminutive Cali fornian has yet to secure a road race ride for '94. "Its a shame that someone of Jimmy's ca liber hasn't been offered a ride yet, " said Adkins . "I've told h im m any tim es before, and I told him aga in recen tly, that he's always welcome to ride one of my Harleys. He's an extraordinary di rt tracker, and I'd love to see him come back and race a few of the choice miles. Rodney (Farris) and he are friends, and there would be no problem whatsoever if Jimmy wa nted to hit a few races:' Four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker re po rts that although he hasn' t signed a contract yet, he and Bill We rn er will again campaign the AMA Grand Na tional Championship Series for Team Harley-Davidson. "Things will be the same for '94. I talked to my boss at Harley-Davidson and, basically, the contract is in the mail," said Parker. "Other than that, there's not too much going on here. I'm just waiting for the lakes to freeze up so we can go ice rid ing." When asked what his plans and in tenti ons for '94 were, Parker replied, "To w in my fifth cha mpionship, wha t e lse? I think that Chri s Ca rr will be to ugh, especially since there are more short tracks and TIs. I'm not sure about Rick y Graham, though. If he rides his own stuff I think he might be taking a step backw ards and he'll be back where he was before." Road race r Dave Sadowski said at the recent D u n lop tire test at Daytona International Speedway that he would be riding a Mike Velasco-tuned Honda CBR900 for Team Labelle in the WERA F-USA series a nd the AMA GTO Endurance series. He said that the team was looking at Jacques Guenette as a second rider for the GTO class, bu t he was hoping to persuad e Tom Kip p to join him. He also said he hoped to ge t into the Daytona and Loudon superbike races aboard a Honda RC30. Sadowski was hopin g to get some laps in at Daytona aboard one of th e Fa st By Ferracci Ducati superbikes, but never got the chance when the bike that he planned to ride developed mechanical tro ubles. Australian Kevin Magee will carry the n u m b er "23" o n his Smokin' Joe's Racing Honda RC45 superbike this year, the same numbe r that Mike Hale will use on h is Honda CBR600 supersport machine. "The reason we're using the number 23 t hi s year is that it 's R.J Reynolds' 23rd year in mo torsports," team owner Martin Adams said. "The NASCAR team will use the same number . Doug Polen granted us this request. Instead of cha nging nu m bers every year, the AMA has given us some conti nuity with the rider nu mbers: ' The Muzzy Kawasaki team will be running the AMA /CCS GTO Endurance Series wi th .the ne wly-introduced ZX9. Takahiro Sohwa will be one of the riders, with the se cond yet to be determined. Kawasaki Team G reen riders Larry Roeseler and Danny Hamel have both signed w ith THOR Motorsports for 1994. Roeseler, who was sponsored by the compa ny before switching to Xtreme in '93, has a five-year deal that will see him involved in public relations and prod uct d e ve lo pment following h is retirement. Hamel's one-year contract wi th THOR ended his long-time associa tion with Ans wer. SupercrossWorld Championship toInclude Atlanta? A ccord ing to a schedule issued by the FIM, Atlan ta will host a round of the World Championship Supercross Series in 1994_According to pr omoter Bill West, that won't ha pp en if he's forced to pay riders appearance money. The FIM schedule list s Atlanta as hostin g the opening ro und of the nine-rou nd series on Octobe r 15, 1994. The rest of the sched ule is as follows: Bar celona, Spain (November 5-6 - 2 rounds); Paris, France (November 12-13 - 2 rounds); Tokyo, Japan (November 26-27 - 2 roun ds); Geneva, Switzerland (December 2-3 - 2 rounds) . "We've got a d ate, bu that' s not cast in stone," West said on Monday, December 13. "We're not going to pay ap pearance money to the riders. We're no t going to pay somebody before they go to work. We've put a date in, but only if we can reach some kind of agreement. They have a format for tw o-day events whic h is just stupid. We're not going to do it unless some problems can be worked out. It's got to complimen t our 'regular supercross series and righ t now it doesn't do that. Right now, it takes away from ou r regular series. I'm not go ing to p ay a Jeff -Sta nton to show u p fo r a Wo rld Championship event in Atlanta in October, when he does n' t get paid to go to the regular series race in Atlanta in February." The Morning Briefing section of the Los Angeles T imes recently reported this item : "When residen ts of Southampton, New York, complained about motorcycle racing at the nearby Bridgehampton race circuit on Long Isla nd, the track was ordered to comply with a strict noise abatement ordinance. Still, the comp laints came. Six were called in when the track held its annual Soap Box Derby, one from Manhattan - more than 80 miles away. Soap Box De rb y cars have no engines:' Well said. August 1 and December 31. Beginn ing in January, 1994, the one-day school will travel to 20 locations across the country. The co u r se, valued at $200 , will be offered to qualified consumers for a $25 administrative fee. For more information contact your local Yamaha dealer. Roos t America is no w acce p tin g resumes for 1994 Race Season Support in all levels of rid er co mpetition. Resu mes should be sent to: 1030 Ca lle Somb ra, Su it e F, De pt. C N , San Clemente, CA 92673, 714/361 -9300. Jack Barbacovi phon ed to let us kno w that he and the CRC crew will be taking a holiday vacation from December 25 to January 7, but that open practice at Los Angeles County Raceway will resume on Satu rday, Jan uary 8. For more information call 805/ 272-8889. Pro Sport will return as a sponso r of the U.S. Women's MX Team in 1994, and will supply all Pro, Vet a n d Intermedia te riders on th e team with off-road apparel and handleba rs . In addition, the company has posted $6000 in contingencies to wo men riders wearing Pro Spo rt apparel at selected events across the country. For more in formation call 708/597-3340. Former factory Yamaha r ider D o u g Dubach will assist multi-time Supercross and National Cham pion Ri ck Joh n so n in teaching Yamaha 's ' Track Techniques Riding School, a n instructional progra m available to cus tomers who purchase any 1994 Yama ha YZ or WR, or pri or year model, between Round one of the 1994 WSRA/I.C.E. World Cup Ice Spe edway Series will be a two-day event, held January 7-8 a t Arco Aren a in Sacramento, Ca lifornia. For more information call 303/262-9067. Swede Jorgen Nilsson, who finished second in the '93 World Championship 500cc MX Series, damaged two ve rtebrae in a November 27 crash while competing at a supercros s in St u tt g a rt, Germany. Nilsson was init ia lly pa ra lyzed from th e waist down, b u t has since regained some feeling in his legs. Doctors say that the vital core of the verteb rae was not damaged. Six days following the crash, the 30-year-old Swede was flown back to Goteborg, Sweden, w here he hopes to get back on his feet in eight weeks. Nilsson is still planning to return to action for next year's 500cc GP season. He has already fina lized terms with Geo rges Jobe to ride an HRC Hond a in '94. 1

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