Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

r:.: .· :.·.:·: · : >·I~ T.H.~:. WI~p;' :"1 Though a ch eckp oint w as still under protest as we wen t to press, it appea rs that Kevin Hines (Hon) scored the overall win at the snow-shortened Quicksilver National Enduro in Coal inga , California, February 20. Unofficial results have Jeff Russell (K1M) second overall, with Scot Harden (KTM) third, Lar ry Roeseler (Kaw) fourth and Matt Stavish (K1M) fifth. Mike Brown and Jo h n Dowd top ped the 125 and 250cc Pro clas ses, respectively, at the rain-delayed final round of the Winter AMA MX'Se ries at Ga tor back Cycle Park in Gain esville, Florida. In the 125cc Pro class, Brown defeated Tim Ferry and Kevin Windham, who locked up the series title with his third place finish . Ferry also finished second to Dowd in the 250cc class. Dowd won the 250cc Pro class title. Little known fact: Three-time World Champion Wayne Rainey is second on th e all- time AMA Superb ike win lis t with 17 victories. The all-time leader is Fred Merkel with 19. Freddie Spencer is third wi th 15 and Eddie Lawson an d Do ug Polen fill th e top five w ith 14 .and 13 wins, respectively. The all-time AMA 250cc class winner is Jimmy Filice w ith 19 wins, two ahead of John Kocinski. Lawson is thi rd wi th ei gh t victori es. Vance & H ines Yamaha ' s Colin Edwards II and Jamie James will ride 1995 Yamaha YZF600s in the AMA /CCS 600cc Supersport race at Da ytona Interna ti onal Speed wa y on Sunday, March 13. According to a pr ess release from Moto Liberty, the AMA 125cc Grand Prix Exhibition Series will begin at Phoenix International Raceway on March 25-27. The series will be held in conjunction with the AMA National Championship Road Race Series and will consist of four to six races. The second round will be held at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, on April 10. The o ther venues will be announced at a later date. Cycle News contributor Alan Cathcart will ride a Fast By Ferracci Ducati in the Daytona 200 on March 13. "This is a dream ride," Cathcart said. "I've been racing Daytona for over 10 years, but so far only in the twins rac es, ne ver th e ' 200. It'll make a big change from watching or reporting on the race, and I'm really grateful to Eraldo (Ferracci) for offering me a ride on such a competitive bike. I'll have no excuses for not getting . a good result. My goal is to finish in the top 20 - a ny thi n g h igh er than that would be a bonus." Cathcar t will team wi th Australian Troy Corser and French Canadian Pascal Picotte on the Ferracci squad, riding bigger-engined ver sions of Duca ti's 888. Ducati boss Massimo Bordi has decid ed to hold back the new 916 until the first round of the World Superbike Series in May, acco rding to Cathcart, who will also compete on AHRMA Vintage Da y 'a t Da ytona on March 7, riding a Ducati Supermono in the Sound of Singles race. Round six of the California Motocross Associa tio n's California Winter MX Series scheduled for Prairie City SVRA in Sacramento, California, on February 27, has been relocated to Sandhill Ranch in Brentwood, California. The promoters have added an additional top 10 Pro purse to the usual 100% Pro payback. For more inform ation contact CMA at 209/ 673-8080. The Honda Rider's Clu b of America (HRCA) plans to welcome its members to the first major tou rin g/ racin g event of the 1994 season during Camel Motorcycle Week at Daytona with a few perks. Reserved parking at Day tona International Speedway will be ava ilable for H RCA me mbers a t the Honda di sp lay in fro nt of the Winston Tower. HRCA member s w ill also be allowed to take test rides on the new Honda lineup during special reserved times from 9:00 a.m. to noon eac h d a y Tuesd a y, March 8 throug h Friday, March 11. Demo rides to the genera l public will be available from noon until 5:00 p.m on those same days. HRCA members are also invited to a "Meet the Red Riders" session with membe rs of th e Honda racing tea ms. For more info rma tion contact Gary Smith at 310/783-3787. Be su re to check out the Suzuki Consumer Show Tent Display d uring Daytona Cycle Week. Guy Coop er and road racer Chuck Graves will be on hand Friday, March 11, to meet the public and sign autographs. Coop er is scheduled to appear from 1:00-3:00 p .m; Graves from 3:00-5:00 p.m.. On Satu rday, March 12, road racers Tom Kipp , Thom as Stevens, Britt Turkington and Donald Jacks will make appearances; Kipp and Stevens will be on hand from 9:00-11:00 a.m., and Turkington and Jacks from 1:00-3:00 p .m .. Co op er will return on Sunday, March 13, from 9:00-11:00 a.m., and again from 1:00-3:00 p.m.. Harley-Davidson, Inc. has announced results for its fourth quarter and yea r earnin gs for 1993. For the year, net sales totaled $1.2 billion , an increase of $112 million or 10% over 1992. Harley-Davidson also reports that the ir worldwide motorcycl e shipments totaled 81,696- an increa se of 5201 units or 6.8 % over 1992. " We achieved our 350 units-per-da y motorcycle production sc h ed ule throughout the fou rth quarter and, as p reviously announced, increased th e schedule to 365 units-per-day on January 3," said Richard F. Teerlink, president an d chief executive officer of Harley-Da vidson, Inc. "I'm pleased to report that there have been several da ys when we have exceeded the 365 unitsper-day schedule, and if this continues we will likely increas e our daily production schedule again during 1994. Our people have done an outstanding job of rising to the challenges inherent in pr oduction schedule increases and we 're very encouraged by the imp rov ements we've seen in daily manufacturing efficie ncies, predict abili ty and produc t qu ality ." Guy Cooper has a busy schedule d urin g Daytona Cycle Week. The former 125cc Natio nal MX Champion will start things off by competing in the AHRMA/Vin. tage Iro n National Motocross at the Florida Motorsports Complex in Ocala, March 5; on Sunday, March 6, he'll compete in the opening round of the AMA Na tiona l Cha mpionshtpRfiucc MX Series in Gainesville. This will be Coop er's first major race in the U.S. since the final roun d of the AMA 250cc National MX Series last August at Glen Helen, where h e finished fifth . After Gainesville, Cooper will compete in the openi ng rou n d of th e AMA Wiseco/ Yamaha/Dunl op/Grand National Cross Country Series at Ocala, March 8. The next da y, Wednesday, Cooper will participate in the Alligator Dual Sport Ride tha t starts at th e Municip al Stadiu m, then on Thursday, he'll finish things off by taking on some of the Na tion' s best off-road rid ers in the 44th running of the .No S chwantz, no Barros forDa tona 200 R umors that either 500cc World Cham pion Kevin Schwantz or his Lucky Strike Suzu ki teammate Alex Barros would be competin g on a Suzuki GSXR750 in the Daytona 200 have proved to be false. Altho ug h the Yoshimu ra Suzuki team of Thomas Stevens, Donald Jacks and Tom Kipp will be backed by Lucky Strike for the March 13 running of the Daytona 200 by Arai, the fourth rider will be Japan's Akira Yanagawa - not Schwantz or Barros. "I'm 100% sure, positively certain that Kevin or Alex won 't be in Daytona," Lucky Strike Suzuki GP team manager Gary Taylo r said when contacted in England on Monday, February 21. "As a matter of fact, we'll be testin g in Australia at tha t time." Taylor did , however, confirm that Lucky Strike would back the Suzuki effort for the 200. "It's the same Lucky Strike that sponsors our GP team," Taylor said. "It's jus t part of the overall agreement. They had to ask permission to use the Lucky Strike logo over there because a d ifferen t company owns the Lucky Strike name in America. It's an international promotion because Daytona is an in ternational event." In his Daytona debut last year, Yanaga wa was the fastest of the Suzuki meri in qu alifying when he turned a one-minute, 53.503-second lap to put him sevent h on the grid. Yanagawa finished sixth in his Ara i Twin 50 qua lifier despi te killing the engine on the line and starting the race last. In the 200, Yanagawa ran near the front of the field before his engine expired on the 52nd lap . Alligator Enduro in the Relay Wildlife Managemen t Area . In addition to Grand National Champion Ricky Graham, who will comp ete in th e March 13 Daytona 200 aboar d a Smokin' Joe's Racing H onda RC30, dirt trackers Larry Pegram and Jay Springsteen w ill take to the pavement th e morning after their Grand National Championship Series opener. Pegram will co mpe te a boa rd a Mark Cru zow ned Fast by Fer rac ci Ducati 888, while four-ti me Grand National Champion Springsteen will race the Honda ROO owned and tuned by Skip Eaken the same mach ine that Pegram piloted last season. Pegram will also contest the following fo ur rounds of the AMA N ati onal Ch a m pions hip Superb ik e Series aboard the Ducati. Belgian trials rider Oli vier Clamagirand has signed a contract that will see him ride a Fantic in th e AMA /NATC National Trials Championship. Clarnigirand, who is now living in California, will team w ith Kip Webb and Corey Pincock. Mark Manniko may also compete in a limited number of events in 1994. In addition, Fantic Motor Italy has also signed 1992 World Champ ion Tommi Ahvala to compete for the World Championship on a Fantic. AHRMA will host a two-day event on February 26-27 at Tulare Cycle Par k in Tulare, California. The even t will feature a TT on Saturd ay and a motocross on Su nday . For more informati o n call 805/832-1955. The BMW R100R ridden by Dick Mann in the 1993 Battle of the Leg ends at Loudon and in the '92 Daytona Legends race will be auctioned off at the Jerry Wood-promoted 1994 Daytona Antique and Classic Motorcycle Auction an d Vintage Bike Meet on March 9-12 at the Armory. Wood, 47, will also be racing ' four bikes from four different decades during AHRMA's Vintage Day at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, March 7. Wood will race a 350cc Manx Norton, a '66 Rickman Tri um ph, and '74 Ducati 750SS and a '93 Ducati 888 Sf'O, For more info rmatio n con tact Wood at 904/795-8895. Former factory Suzuki mecha nic Cra ig Westwood won both the Lightweight Supersport and Superbike classes in his first outing since leaving the Yoshimura Suzuki tea m to pursu e other interests. Westwood will contest the Yamaha Seca II Challenge Series aboard a Yamaha of Jackson ville / Sad ow ski Motorsportsbacked Seca and will also head-up the Desmo Superbike team along with Mike Farg noli of Atl an tic Motorsports. The Desmo Ducati will be ridden by Dave Sadowski. In addition to the three nights of professional d irt track at Daytona Municipal St adium du rin g Camel Motorcycle Week on March 10-12, there will be two nights of Pro-Am action and a Legends Car Series even t. The Pro-Am races will take place on Sunday, March 6, with the Legends race being held on Wednesday, March 9. There are plans to hav e a celebrity Legends race, featuring some of the stars from the motorcycle races . For more information call 904/238-6001. Dixieland Speedway of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, will be hosting its first . full season of motorcycle flat track races beginning on April 15. For more information call 919/335-7412 or 804/4892797. AMA /Camel Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath will be the sta r of a new music-style vi deo , according to Two Team Video of San Diego, California. The 3O-minute video is expected to be completed by mid-August and will be distributed worldwi de. Yamaha will post $462,750 in road racing contingencies durin g the 1994 season, ac co rdi ng to a release from the comp any . The contingency program includ es th e 26-event Yamaha Seca II C ha llenge and a 42-event FZR /YZF Sprint Series. . World Su p e rcr oss Champion Guy Cooper will be the guest instructor at the Ton y D. Mo toc ro ss School in Gainesville, Florida, on March 4 and at Starwest in Moreno Valley, Californ ia, on March 22. For more information call 410/676-8234. Firestone announced at the Dealernews Powersports Expo in Cinci nna ti, Ohio, on Februa ry 18 that they are re-entering the motor cycle ti re market with th e in trod uction of a line of replacement tire s specifica lly design ed for HarleyDavidson motorcycles. The production of the Firestone VT-01 motorcycle tires will begin in March with tires available to consumers in Ap ril. "We're ve ry exci ted a bou t th is announcem ent ~ 0\ 0\ rl 1

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