Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Peterhansel and Nevada Rally winner Alain O li vier. The enduro features a unique format in which 100 riders advance from a 125-mile morning "qualifier" to . the challenging 125-mile evening section. Much of that section is held in the da rk; cold weather and snow are also common. Only 15 riders made it to the finish last year, where they were greeted by 10,000 spectators. Entries close on Jan uary 31. For more information, call 33/1.46 .56 .56 .84 , or fax 33/1.40.92.14.30. The Wes tern Road Racing Associa tion will be holding a fou r-race winter series at the Las Vegas Speedway Park. The opening race da te is scheduled for January 15-16, to be followed by tentative dates of February 5-6 and March 1223 . The series fina le will be held on March 26-27. For more information contact Jeff Hagardy 805/681-5849 or Steve Ziatlow 702/644-8878. According to tea m manager C h u ck Aksla nd, the Kenny Roberts-owned 250cc World Championship Road Race Series team which will feature his son, Kenny Ro b er ts [ r., has almost been finalized. "They're working on it," Aksland said. "Hopefully, we'll know what's going on in the next few weeks:' Aksland said the team is hoping to field two riders. "That's what we're hoping for," Aksland said. The White Bros. National MX Championships will be held at Lake S uga r t re e Moto cr oss Rac eway in Axton, Virginia, on August 27-28, 1994, according to TNT Pro ductions ' Hal Sanguinetti. The event will be held under AMA sancti on a nd with major sponsorship from White Brothers. Lake Sugartree is currently undergoing renovation in order to be ready for the season opener on April 23-24. The fourth annual GFI $10, 000 Supercross Invitational will be held on Ja nuary 2, 1994, a t Perris Raceway. Confirmed entries include: Jeff Emig, Michael Craig, Damon Huffman, Phil Lawrence, Ryan Hugh es, Jamie Dobb, To m m y Cl owers, D o n Upton, Mike Metzge r, J eff Ma tia s e vi ch, Sha u n Ka lo s, Bobby M o ore and Ped ro Go nza les . For more information contact GFl Racing at 909/371-3434. For those with plans of contesting the 1994 Nevada Rally this August, Sunset Off-Road will be offering motorcycle rentals a nd pit support. Though the rentals are aimed primarily at fore ign riders, they are also an option for people who don't want to put the ir own bike through the tortures of a 2000-mile event. Sunset is offering a wide variety of brands and models, including both two- and four-strokes, and all are broken in a nd rally-prepped with large tanks, road-book holders, odometers, etc .. Rental prices ran ge from $3200 to $3800, and include te chnical support throughout the race. A $1000 deposit is required by May 15. Those with their own bikes can purchase technical assistance only for $300. For more information, call 909/676-6366. An 11-member advisory committee to Federal Transportation Secretary Fred erico Pena passed 13 recommendations December 3 aimed at strengthening the N a ti onal Recr ea tional Trails Funding Pro gram, despite the lack of federal money for the current year, according to the MIC. The program is authorized at $30 million annually under the National Recrea tional Trails Fund Act of 1991, but received only $75 m ill ion in fisca l year 1993 . Congress failed to appropriate any funds for 1994. Key among the recommend at ion s are requests tha t the Dep a rtmen t of Transp ortation p rovide interim administrative funding for fiscal year 1994 and seek permanent funding authori ty for the program in the next session of Congress. Another recomm en d a tion states that the DO T should withhold National Recreational Tra ils Fund Act monies from California until the sta te fully complies with the in tent of the Trails Act. The entire pack age of recommendations will go to Secre tary Pena through th e Federal H ighwa y Administration, which administe rs the trails program. Japan's Kohji Ohkawara will return to the U.s. to compete on the AMA Camel Supercross and 250cc Nationa l MX circuits for 1994. Once aga in, Ohkawara will rid e a Jim Holley Racing-backed Yamaha YZ250 with added backing fr o m Yamaha of Japan and U .S. Yamaha. AI Holley, Jim Holley's father, will be Ohkawara's .tuner. Last year, Ohkawara qualified for si x Camel Supercross main events until breaking both arms in a heat-race crash at the last round of the series in Las Vegas. He will be sporting national number 83 in 1994. Eight-year-old pee-wee racer Sidney Bu r r ow s, o f Brentwood, Cali forn ia, passed away on Sunday, December 12. Burrows crashed and suffered a ne ck injury earlier that day at Sandhill Ranch in Brentwood, California. Donations can be sent to Bank of America, Sidney Burrows, 241 Oak Street, Brentwood, CA 94513. For more information, call 510/706-9050. GFI Racing North has changed its name to the California Motocross As so ci a t io n (CMA). Beginning on December 15, Pat Pipes will run the CMA and all GFI North membership cards w ill be replaced with CMA, cards prior to January 1, 1994 . Tim Quinn will co n tin ue a s ma rketing director for the CMA . Good news, Steve Morehead fans! The wily 38-year-old from Find lay , Ohio, reports that he will definitely campaign the 1994 AMA Grand National Championship Series . "Retire? Heck no, I've been training three days a week in my workout room, and on my days off I've been moving hay out in the bam. I'm as fit as ever, " said Morehead. "I'll have basically the same program for next yea r: I'll be racing my own HarleyD a vid son s and Skip Eaken will be building my motors. I've already started wo rking on the equipment; we already have the new pa int jobs all done." The '94 season will mark Morehead's 20th year of Grand National com p eti tion; and Mo rehead plans to have a 20th anniversary logo painted atop his hel met. "That would be neat, wouldn't it?" Morehead said. "I have 17 National wins under my be lt and I hope to ge t some more next year. Heck, if it hadn't been for Ricky Gra ham, I would have won three Nationals last year!" And speaking of ve terans, three-time Grand National Champ ion Jay Springsteen will also spend at least one more season on th e oval tracks . "Nothing's different fo r '94," said Sp ringsteen, who has for the past few yea rs competed under the Bartels' Harley-Davidson banner. "We finished the '93 season real strong, and I'm fired up for next yea r:' When asked if he had been spending the off season preparing for '94, Springsteen laughed and replied, "Heck no! I've been hunting! I'm still waiting for the lakes to freeze up so we can fire up our ice bikes. They just started to freeze up a few days ago, but it's still not solid eno ugh. I threw a stick out on to the lake and sent my d og out after it, but it started to creak and crack a little. Not thick enough yet!" The 103rd Cong ress adjou rn ed its first session at Thanksgiving, with a number of bills that are important to the motorcycle ind ustry still pending. The MIC's government relations office reports that it continues to monitor over 40 bills in both houses of Congress th at affec t mo torcycle businesses an d consumers. All the bills carry over into the second session, which begins January 25 . Among the most important carry-over bills is Th e California Des ert Protection Act (5.21), which passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in October, and could go to a full Senate vote in 1994. The version that came out of commi ttee contains amendments that will allow OHV use to continue in some desert riding a reas. A . companion bill, H.R .518, remained in the House National Parks, Forests & Public Lands Sub committee following one hearing last June. Over 11 million acres in seven states are under consideration for Federal wilderness designation in seven carry-over bills. Another bill, des ignating over 600 ,000 acres in Colorado as w ilderness, passed the Congress in August, bu t the final version preserved access to several notable OHV routes. Eight bills dealing with endangered species and "biodiversity" that could adversely affect land access for OHVs also carryover. The So u t he rn California Flat Track Association has scheduled another open practice session on the short track at Sunrise Cycle Park near Adelanto, California, for Sunday, January 2. The December 11 session met with a poor turnout due to the threa t of ra in . Practice starls at 10:00 a.m., and the cost to enter the park is $20. For more information contact Dennis Voll at 714/9560556. The entire eight-race MTE G Stadiu m O ff- Road Se ri es will be broadcast on ESPN, with the initial airing of each show being aired during prime time. All airings are rep or ted ly confirmed and will re m a in permanent for the entire year, unlike in past years. "We are elated abou t our television package with ESPN for nex t season," said MTEG President Gary Campbell. "We feel tha t with our new da tes in De t ro it and Kansas City, as we ll as our sho w being aired in p rime time, we will be exposing our p r o d u c t and sponsors to a greater number of off-road fans nationwide." The '94 season marks the 15th anniversary of MTEG, which was founded in 1979 by the late Mickey Thompson. A commemora tive video of the 1993 BM W Ba t tle of th e Legends is now available. The 45-minute vi deo, produced by Bob Lenk of Missin g Lenk Productions, includes all the highlights o f the second annual Le ge nd s race, w h ich p itted 15 champions of North American and international motorcycle racing on identically prepared 1993 BMW R100Rs. The tape is available through BMW dealers a t a suggested retail price of $19.95. The third annual BMW Battle of the Legends race will take place Monday, March 7 at Daytona International Speedway. . MA RRIE D: Jeff Barbacovi, MX racer and son of CRC race promoter Jack Barbacovi, to Brigid Christensen, in Palmdale, California, Nove mber 27. OPEN HOUSE: At Beach Sportcycles in Cocoa, Florida, January 14 at 6:00 p .m., the night before the opening of the AMA Came l Supercross Se r ies in Orlando, Florida. Yamaha team riders Jeff Ernig and Michael Craig, DGY rid ers Chad Pederson and Jeff De men t, Noleen riders Larry Ward, Larry Brooks and Lance Smail, and Boyesen rider John Dowd will be on hand to sign au tographs. For more information call 407/631-5571. H IRED: Rick Miller as an ass ocia te to Peter Starr Entertainment, Ltd. Miller, a former overseas-based Ame rican speedway racer and member of Team USA, will be in vo lved with Starr's Motorcy cles for Movies operation. His job will include riding and the development of camera bikes. M AR RI ED : Grand N ation a l Championship Series dirt tracker Rusty Rogers, to Kelly Trammell, in Richmo nd , Virginia, November 27. NAM ED: Scott Cox, as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Pacific Powercycles Inc. CORR ECT IO N: Th e correct phone numbers for the Mid -Atl a n tic Roadracing Club ar e 301/421-1651 an d 301/990-6408. FORMED: Team Zero Gravity, by Zero Gravity Corporation. Team Zero Gra vity will compete for the 1994 AMA 250cc Grand Prix National Championship with Nick Ienatsch riding the team's Steve Biganski-tu ned Yamaha TZ250F. OPEN HOUS E: At the Cycle Shack in Houston, Texas, on January 21, the day prior to the Houston Supercross. The factory Yamaha pairing of Jeff Emig and Michael Craig will be on hand from 6:00-8:00 p .m. signing autog raphs. For more informa tion contact the Cycle Shack at 713/530-9337. OPENED: The Time Machine, a moto rcycle restoration and fabrication shop in Huntington Beach, California, by former White Bros. prototype and R&D manager Denny Berg. The shop will open on January 1, 1994. For more info rmation call 714/841-7788 . MOVED: C.E.F. (Cycle Engineeri ng Factory) to 26810-e Oak Ave., Canyon Country, CA 91351. The phone number remains the sa me at 805/298-0206. CORRECTIO N: White Bros. will be d istributing Pro Spo rt off-road and street accessories, bu t not the Pro Sport apparel line. In addition, White Bros. will not be distributing Extrem e apparel. BOR N: Brittany Webb , to Steve Webb and his wife Dian e, on December 7, 1993 in Tarzana, California. Webb is the carburetor sales coordinator for Mikuni. STO LEN: 22 pairs of Day 180 MX Boots, from the Kamikaze Sports box van, parked at the Ascot Inn in Anaheim, California, December 9. According to Kamikaze Sports President Rod Anastasia, all of the boots were white, in sizes 9, 10 and 12. Anyone with any information regarding the stolen boots should contact Anasta sia at 800/232-9090. CO RR ECTI ON: The correct phone number for dirt-track tuner Skip Eaken is 216/527-5428 . Parties in tereste d in s p o ns ori n g the Grand National Championship Series team of Eaken and rider Davey Camlin should contact Eaken at the above nu mber. CN 3

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