Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

hasn't secured a ride for the coming season and ma y not race. "I d on't know what I'm doing," D'Aluisio said recently . "I don't have anything cooking." Though he rode for Southwest Motorsports in 1993, and finished second in I the championship for the third year in a row, he won't be back with the team in \ 1994. "They still say they're goin g to j race with one rider and I'm not that rider. Danny (Walker ) is. That's fin e Wit h me. They w ent way too far la st year and they knew they were doing it," D'Aluisio Said, in reference to the team's ove rs pe nd in g . D 'Aluis io .spo ke w it h people who wanted him to contest the \ 125cc World Championship class, but he was n' t given a start because h is background is in the 250cc class. "They said I could do a 250 if I got a 250 ride." Bu t the Connecticut resident isn' t shutting the door on the season. "I'm d efinitely open for prop osals. If someone decid es that they can't rid e halfway throu gh the season I'd be open for talking to them." I Dave Harold, who head s the Southwest Motorsports racing team, said the team ' had found new backing and was reorganizing, though they would be downsizing. "Our race team is going to campaign Danny Walke r in the AMAF2 (250cc) cl ass a nd we ' ll a lso h ave Tomm y Ha yd en on our AMA team as . well as in the WERA F-2 class. We're also going to be su ppo rting Tommy and N ick y H ayden in the WERA 12Scc class," Harold sa id. The team bought Jimm y Filice' s' ch ampionship -w inning Yamaha TZ250s for the H aydens and will hav e a 1994 TZ250 Yam aha for Walker; they will run Honda RSI25s in the WERA 125 cc class. Asked why there would be only one rider, and why that rider w ou ld be Walker, Harold said, "We ran out of money last year and we had a change of ownership. We're not in the financial position to do the same team we had (in '93) th is ye a r. Erich (Klementich, the previous principal in SWM) has pulled ou t. That was the cru x of the problem. Unfortunately, Erich didn't tell anybody about it until midseason. We've been re-grouping. We're not as big a team as we were in the past. In order to run Chris (D' Aluisio) arid Danny (Walker) with go od per sonnel and good equipment...we didn't have the resources. Danny's been employed b y the shop throughout th e pa st year and was able to brin g so me fina ncia l resources to help out." The new majority owner is Jason Harwell, a businessman from Dallas who's involved in the a viation bus in ess. The Southwest Motorsports team will continue to be spons ored by Du nlop Tires, Arai Helm ets, Red Line Oil , Vanson Leathers, and SBS Brakes. Like m any southern Californians, employees at O'Neal USA were affected b y th e recen t Northrid ge earthquake th at rocked the so uthland. The company's Cha tsworth facility is located three miles from the quake's epicenter, and th eir warehouse sustained some interior d am age during the trembler. Still, O'Neal stepped up to the plate to help ou t local residents. Company president Jim O 'Neal a n d severa l emp loyees loaded up a box van and d rove to a local park, w h e re they han d ed o ut $5000 worth of fre e T-shirts, swea tshi rts and other clo thing. O'Nea l has also ch allenged other businesses in the motorcy cle industry to meet or beat their donation. , Kawasaki Motor Corp. also pitched in to assist in earthquake relief, do na ting 20, SOOO-watt portable power generators . Eight units were provid ed to Operati on USA, an international relief and development agency headquartered in Los Angeles. Five of th ese generators ar e being used to supply lighting and power fo r s he lters and parks, while three others went to disaster prepared. ness facilities at three area high schools. . The additional 12 uni ts were dona ted . to the City of Los Angeles, Gene ra l Ser. vices Administration , for use by police, fire arid other city agencies. Former Daytona 200 winner Dave Sadowski has signed a contract with Tom Parrot of the Ducati Enth usiast Membership Organization (DESMO) and will ride a Fast By Ferracci-prepped Du cati in the 1994 AMA U.s. Sup erb ike Championship. "I am elated to be back in the Helm'et·law lans on the rise F reed om of choice for motorcyclists is in danger in 11 sta tes, accord ing to the AMA. The new legislative seaso n is underway, and alrea dy bills in 11 states are being considered that would restrict freedom of choice for adult m otorcyclists regard ing the issue of mandatory helmet-use laws. Thos e me asures would affect motorcycle riders in Alaska , Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklah oma , Rhode Island, South Carolina and Utah. Among the helmet-use initiatives this year, the Colorado bill is the most controversial. In addition to mandating helmet use by motorcyclists of all ages, House Bill 1047 would require riders to enroll in the state' s no-faul t insurance program. Studies hav e consistently sho wn that in accid ents involving a motorcycle and another vehicle, the driver of the other vehicle is at fault the majority of the time. Nevertheless, the Colorado bill would require all motorcyclists to pay for expensive coverage to insure themselves against any inju ries inflicted by automobile drivers. In addition, the measure would bar unhelmeted riders from taking legal action to recover damagessuffered in accidents involving another motorist. "This bill is totally offensive," said Chris Kellfelz, AMA legislati ve affairs specialist. "On one hand it takes away the freedom of choice for ad ult riders, bu t it also would cost motorcyclists dearly in higher insurance premiums, all the w hile barring some injured riders from the legal right to sue for damages inflicted upon them .". 'J{ r The Colorado bill, like those in the 10 other states, is a direct result of a helmet-use provision included as partof the 1991 feder al qigi,tyiay,ficmd ing bill. Under,the jerms of the original plan, all states .were required to P~~.~~to.ry helmet-uselawsby Oc;toberl993. o ol,9r blei '51 T' However, only Maryland has acted to bring its laws into compliance with the federal mandate since that highway funding bill was passed. Another 25 states have left helmet use to the discretion of adult motorcyclists; all 25 sha ve been in technical violation of the federal law since October 1; 1993. Riders in sta tes that are considering mandatory helmet-use law s this year are urged to make the ir views known on this issue. AnaheimStadium damaged by earth uake A nah eim Stadium sustained an estimated $4 million in da mage d ue to the 6.6-magnitude earthquake that hit sou thern California on Monday, January 17, desp ite the fact tha t the ven ue is located approxima tely 50 miles from the Northridge epice nter. The 17-ton "Little A," which ho uses the large "d iamond-vision" screen and is normally perched on the rim of the stadium, was shaken loose in the quake and came to a rest on at least 1000 seats. (The "Big A," w hich sits outsi de in the stadi um's parking lot, was not dam aged ). No one was in the stadi um when the quake hit at 4:31 a.m., but work crews had been in the stadium the day before, preparing the field for the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group's Stadium Off-Road Series. A round of the series had been scheduled for'January 22, bu t the prom oter opted to postpone the event until February 12 to allow time for repairs. The Ana heim Supercross will take place as plann ed, on January 29, by whic h time th e "Little A" will ha ve been removed, and the 1000 d ama ged seats roped off. Closer to the epicenter, the trembler caused damage to several companies in the motorcy cle industry, including Answer, AXO, O'Neal, Sinisalo and Hi-Torque Publications. ' "This really makes me identify wi th the peo ple in St. Louis, where they ha d all the floods an d every thing," said Sinisalo's Bob Rath camp. "When all that happened , we 'w ere sitting there wa tchin g TV, going, 'that's too bad, let's hav e dinner: Now they're wa tching us. It's kin d of ha rd when people call up saying, 'Where's my jersey?' They don't rea lize tha t ou r whole life has been turned up side down. I gu ess everything has a bright side, though, because it should be reall y easy for people in construction to find jobs right now, and tha t should help the motorcycle industry: ' . superbike class o n a co m petitive m achine," Sadow ski said. " Everyone saw what I could do the last time I was mounted on a competitive su perbi ke, and I aim to do better tha n that. This is a front-line effort. I' ve been plugg in g (Eraldo) Ferracci for years to let me ride one of his motorcycles." Sadowski will also ride the Mike Velasco-t une d Team Labelle/MVR Honda CBR900 RR in WERA Formula USA events, including the WERA Triple Crown. On Thursday, January 13, Ita lian Fabrizio Pi rovano signed a one-year contrac t wit h Ducati, to ride in the Italian and World Superbike Champion sh ips, desp ite the fact that he had mad e a verbal agreement to ride for BYRD Yamaha . A few hours after signing the contract, Pirovano did some 30 laps on an 888 on the we t Misano course in Italy. Pirovano will be managed by Davide T a r d o zz i, but th e o t he r two Du cati pilots, Giancarlo Falappa and Carl Fogarty, still do not know who their manag- . e r will be. Ra ymond Roche 'm ay 'n ot co n tinue ninVth a t r ol e, and - Marco Lucc h inelli and Virgini'o' Ferrari are~ among those being cons idered to take his place. Accordi ng to a pr ess rele ase from the Flammini Group, promoters o f the World Superb ik e Champ ionsh ip: " ...unknown person a nd d elibera tely ca rrying out a d efamatory campaign through the propagation of completely false, deceitfull y dis torted and cunningly prep ared information to th e me di a and to our bu siness partn ers. After hav ing closely examined and evaluated the situa tio n, we h a ve instructed o ur lawyers to take immed iate legal action in order to guard our rights. We will kee p you informed on the developments." Ea rlier reports from Euro pe claim ed that the Aa mmini Group was in finan cial trouble and was looking for a partner. Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond , Ca liforn ia, sustained no d amage from the recen t ea rthquake in southern Californi a, despite the fact that it is located less than 90 miles from the qu ake's epicenter in Northridge, accordin g to operations m anag er Kenny Kopecky. Road racer Christian Gardner, who su ffer ed a badly b ro ken;fef t arm 'a t the AMA/CCS'Raceof Cha mp ions at Daytona International Speed way laSt'Od ober, says h e'll be healthy fo r ' th e AMA /CCS endurance race during Daytona Bike Week in March. " I've had three surgeries and things are getting back into shape," Gardner said. "I had - -- - - - - Continued on page 47 cJ. 0\ ~ 3

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