Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127659
Tickets at Participating Yamaha Dealers Marlboro-Yamaha fairing. Who can stop the Hondas? Certainly not Suzu ki, wh o failed to find a rider/sponsor combination even though their '94 250 is reckoned to be much improved . Harada and Pier-Francesco Chili were both candidates, but the official word is that the project is dead . It 's down to Aprilia, whose ri der Iean-Philippe Ruggia produced a strin g of stunning rides late last season, to the d eli ght of the Ita lian facto ry's n ew Chester field sponsors. Ruggia 's back this year - so, too, is former Aprilia rider Max Biagg i, after a bad yea r with Honda. Biaggi was superb on the Aprilia as a GP first-timer in '92, but there are doubts whether the machine will be good enough to keep pace with the Hondas this season, at least in the early rounds. Never mind. Aprilia also has former off-road superstar Jean-Michel Bayle on a full factory bike in Chesterfield colors, so they can rely on' fervent press coverage in Francophone countries no matter what their results. Privateers are mainly on Aprilias, and swell the grid numbers to 32. There "would have been more, but several riders, including British champion Nige l Bosworth, have had to pull out because they couldn't find the necessary ba cking. They will miss some good racing . 125cc: YAMAHA JOINS THE FUN The profile of the smallest class was changed somewhat last year by an invasion of Orientals that put four Japanese riders in the top s ix of the championship. This trend was reinforced when Kazuto Sakata, second overall, was poached from Honda by Aprilia to be come the first Japanese rider for a European factory team. " Th is year's invasion is mechanical. Yamaha is joining in, after winning the All-Japan title last year on their fir st attempt. Although the privateer bike they offered for sale late last year was very basic, the factory-backed machines have been fast in tes ts and in an early ou ting in th e Spa nish Ducados O pen Series. It is not a works bike insists the fac tory, but rider Yoshiako Katoh is a factory tester, and his mount is certainly more than merely fac tory-fettled. So, too, will be that of his team owner and team-mate, the veteran former multichampion Jorge Martinez. Stefan Prein and Manfred Baumann will al so ride Yarnahas - both are noted riders, the former a GP winner. In addition to works-rid er Sakata, Aprilia will be giving some factory support to Marlboro-backed Olivier Petruc"ciani and Ducados-sponsored Carlos Giro, who crashed in almost every race as its official works entry last year (to be fair, it wasn't always self-inflicted ). Honda's effort is even more confusing than last yea r, when the B-kit turned out to be superior to the previously coveted A-kit , and the title wa s won by Dirk Raudies on a pri vate 1992 B-kitted bike. The little German has access to higher-level tackle, but it is not yet known whether he will choose to use it. Honda has some big names, however, with Noboru Ve da, Akira Saito, Fausto Gresini, Masafumi Ono and Bruno Casanova merely some among them. . Hitherto, riding talent has generally been more important than machinery in the 125 class, and a relative shortage of horsepower ha s been a great leveler leading to very competitive racing. Let us hope that the advent of Yamaha as a third technical force will not put an end to this . CN AHA LOS ANGELES SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP APRIL 8,9,1 0 CHAMP!0NSHIP FAIRPLEX ยท POMONA TIckets: See a participating Yamah a dealer listed below for special Yamaha L.A. Superbike Championship Tickets. Includes: Special Edition Hat to 1sf 2STicket Buyers at each dealer. Parking Privileges. Plus! Parade Lop Opportunity Montc lair Yamaha Ontario. CA 91762 (900) 628-4748 John BurrCycles Fonta na. CA 92335 (900) 823-1338 Yamaha of Ventura Ventura. CA 93003 (805) 653-5884 Kearny Mesa Yamaha Son Diego. CA 92111 Yamaha of Cuc am onga Cucamonga . CA 91730 Yamaha of Covina Covina. CA 9 1722 (818) 332-6249 Beaumont Yamaha Beaumont . CA 92223 (900) 987-24 11 Dick Allen Yamaha Newhall.CA 9132 1 (805) 2S9-84tD BelllIower Yamaha Bellflower. CA 90706 (310) 925-5097 Hang Time Yamaha Lebec; C A 93243 (805) 248-2453 T& o Yamaha Lo mita . CA 90717 (310) 534-23 11 Footh il Yamaha Tujunga . CA 91042 (818) 352-3277 Bea c h Yamaha Huntington Beach. C A 92648 (714) 536-7555 Hollyw ood Moto rc yc les Hollywood . CA 90028 (213) 962-5522 Anaheim Yamaha Anaheim. CA 92805 (714) 563-1700 Long Beach Yamaha Long Beach. CA 90807 (310) 427-2779 Malc olm smnh Motorspo rts Riverside. CA 92504 (900) 687, 1300 Champion Yamaha Costa Mesa . CA 92697 (714) 642-4343 Tri City Cycles Carlsbad. CA 92008 (619) 720-7tnJ Mission Yamaha La guna Nig uel. CA 92677 (714) 582-0351 (6 19) 292-5454 (900) 845-4882 Ask About YAMAH A Financing ' Support the Dealers Who Support the Sport. Donate to THECLAYTON ~ FOUND TION A e 2201 Cherry Avenue Long Beach, CA 90806 oq< 0\ 0\ ....., 0 Ct') 310/427-7433 "We want to be yourfavorite charity" ~ u ~ ~ ::E 17